2021.2

l Phase 2: Print content items are retrieved from the Connect database using the Retrieve
Items task. The Create Job and Create Output tasks transform these items or sets into one
or more print jobs.
In order to retrieve print content from the Connect database in the second phase, some
preparatory work must be done in the first phase. What needs to be done exactly depends on
what you want to retrieve, and how.
Sorting and separating the output also requires some preparation (see "Sorting and grouping
items in print batches" on page193).
1
Database entries get cleaned up automatically as well. Make sure that the Cleanup Service is
configured appropriately, so that it doesn't remove relevant record sets and content sets before
batching starts (see "Clean-up Service preferences" on page849).
What to retrieve: content sets or content items
The Retrieve Items task can retrieve only one type of entity from the Connect database at a
time: records, record sets, content items and so forth. Since the Create Job task can only work
with print content items or content sets, in a batching print process the choice is narrowed down
to these two possibilities.
Here are a few things to consider:
l If you want the Create Job task to use a Job Creation Preset, you must retrieve content
sets. A Job Creation Preset can filter, sort, and group print content items, add meta data
and make finishing settings (see "Print Presets" on page1475).
l From a performance perspective, working with content sets is better. Retrieving content
sets is faster than retrieving content items and thus can improve performance. Also,
working with Job Creation presets is more efficient than working with individual content
items in Workflow.
l If you decide to retrieve content sets, you may still have to do preparatory work on the
content item level to enable a Job Creation preset to sort the output (see "Sorting and
grouping items in print batches" on page193).
How to retrieve: selection methods
The Retrieve Items task can retrieve items/sets by ID or based upon conditions.
Page 191