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Table of Contents Table of Contents Copyright Information 2 Table of Contents 3 Overview 14 Icons used in this guide 14 Other Documentation 14 Getting Started 15 Environment Considerations 15 Terminal Server/Service 15 VMWare/ESX 15 32-Bit or 64-Bit? 15 Antivirus Considerations 16 Backup Considerations 16 Microsoft Office Compatibility 16 Network Considerations 16 Local and Network Rights 17 Account Requirements 17 Mapped Drives 17 Network Ports used by each service 17 A
Table of Contents About Subprocesses 23 About Tasks 23 About Branches and Conditions 24 About Data 25 About Data Selections 25 About Data Emulation 25 Emulations in the PlanetPress Workflow Tools: About Related Programs and Services 26 26 Available Input Services 26 Available Output Services 26 About Documents 27 About Printing 27 The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program 29 Start the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program 30 The PlanetPress Suite
Table of Contents The Configuration Components Pane 38 Using the Clipboard and Drag & Drop 39 Add a PlanetPress Suite Process 41 Activate or Deactivate a Process 41 Access Process Properties 41 View Document Properties 44 Convert a Branch to a Subprocess 45 Add Resident Documents in the Configuration Components Pane 46 Associate Documents and PlanetPress Watch Printer Queues 46 Rename Objects in the Configuration Components Pane 47 Reorder Objects in the Configuration Components Pane 4
Table of Contents Undo a Command 54 Redo a Command 55 The Plug-in Bar 55 The Object Inspector Pane 56 Toggle the Run on Desktop Property 56 The Debug Information Pane 57 The Message Area Pane 57 Customizing the Program Window 58 Dock and Undock Areas of the Program Window 58 Show or Hide Areas of the Program Window 59 Combine and Attach Areas 59 Resize the Program Window Areas 63 Preferences 63 General User Options 64 Object Inspector User Options 64 Configuration Components P
Table of Contents PlanetPress Image User Options 73 LPR Output User Options 75 PrintShop Web Connect Service User Options 75 Editor Options 76 Advanced SQL Statement dialog 78 PlanetPress Suite Access Manager 78 Add or Delete Document Instances 79 Virtual Drive Manager 79 Working With Variables 81 Types of Variables 81 Local and Global Variables 81 Global Variables 81 Local Variables 82 Job Info Variables 82 Standard Variables 83 Available Standard Variables 84 Data in Plane
Table of Contents Actual Data and Sample Data 89 Job File Names and Output File Names 89 Task Properties Reference 91 Input Tasks 93 Initial and Secondary Input Tasks 94 Create File Input Task Properties 94 Folder Capture Input Task Properties 95 Folder Listing Input Task Properties 96 Concatenate PDF Files Input Task Properties 96 Email Input Task Properties 97 Error Bin Input Task Properties 99 FTP Input Task Properties 99 HTTP Client Input Task Properties 100 WinQueue Input Tas
Table of Contents Change Emulation Action Task Properties 112 External Program Action Task Properties 112 Download to Printer Action Task Properties 113 Load External File Action Properties 114 Rename Action Task Property 114 Set Job Infos and Variables Action Task Properties 114 Windows Print Converter Action Task Properties 115 Standard Filter Action Task Properties 116 Translator Action Task Properties 117 PlanetPress Database Action Task Properties 117 XSLT Editor Action Task Proper
Table of Contents Database Splitter Action Task Properties 133 Emulated Data Splitter Action Task Properties 134 In-Stream Splitter Action Task Properties 136 PDF Splitter Action Task Properties 136 XML Splitter Action Task Properties 138 Generic Splitter Action Task Properties 139 Loop Action Task Properties 142 Send to Process Task Properties 142 Metadata Tasks 145 Barcode Scan Action Task Properties 145 Create Metadata Action Task Properties 148 Embed/Extract PlanetPress Suite Meta
Table of Contents Send to Folder Output Task Properties 165 About PlanetPress Fax 167 PlanetPress Fax Output Task Properties 167 About PlanetPress Image 169 PlanetPress Image Output Task Properties 169 Overview of the PDF/A and PDF/X Standards 176 Variable Properties 176 Unknown Tasks 177 Masks 178 Date and Time Format 178 Printer Queues and Documents 179 PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Printer Queues 179 Printer Queue Advanced Properties 179 Windows Output Printer Queue Properti
Table of Contents About Error Handling 193 Error Handling Tools 193 Creating and Using Error Processes 193 Accessing the Logs 194 Resubmit Backed Up Input Files to a Process 195 Knowing What to Resubmit 196 Using Scripts 197 The Script Editor and XSLT Editor 197 Use the Editor 198 Import and Export Scripts 198 Find Strings in a Script 198 Find and Replace Strings in a Script 199 Go to a Line in a Script 200 Toggle Bookmarks 200 Jump to Bookmarks 201 SOAP Server API Reference
Table of Contents Watch.GetMetadataFilename 208 Watch.InputBox 209 Watch.GetJobInfo 210 Watch.SetJobInfo 210 Watch.GetVariable 211 Watch.SetVariable 211 Watch.ExpandString 212 Watch.Log 212 Watch.Sleep 213 Script.
Overview Overview This documentation covers PlanetPress Suite version 7.1. To view the documentation of previous versions please refer to the PDF files available in the Downloads section of our website: http://www.objectiflune.com/OL/en-CA/Download/DownloadCenter. Icons used in this guide Some icons are used throughout this guide in order to catch your attention to certain particular information. Notes: This icon shows you something that complements the information around it.
Getting Started Getting Started This chapter describes how to install the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and how to set up your working environment. Environment Considerations This page is intended to provide technical information about the environment in which PlanetPress Workflow is intended to run. Terminal Server/Service PlanetPress Suite does not support Terminal Server (or Terminal Service) environment as possible under Windows 2000, 2003 and 2008.
Getting Started Antivirus Considerations PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools generates a very large amount of temporary data on your hard disk, especially when manipulating or creating PDF files. This can sometimes cause issues when any other software is trying to access the temporary files at the same time as PlanetPress Workflow and its components are trying to read, write, create or delete those files.
Getting Started Local and Network Rights Programs, such as PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and all its services, must identify themselves in order to be granted permission to perform operations on the computer on which they run as well as on other computers accessible via a network connection. On a given workstation, you can configure your PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools to use either the local system account or any specific user account.
Getting Started Component Protocol Local Port Folder Capture TCP/UDP Default1 Remote Port Standard Windows file and printer sharing ports2: l l LPD Input FTP Input Telnet Input FTP Output Email Output (SMTP mode) TCP TCP TCP TCP TCP Email Output (Outlook mode) TCP 515 (listening port) Default1 Default1 Default1 Default1 See Email Input (Outlook mode) UDP 137, 138; TCP 139 (NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT)) UDP 445; TCP 445 (SMB over TCP/IP) N/A 21 9100 (configurable) 21 25 See Email Input (Outlook mo
Getting Started l l l l l License Number: Reference number of the activation, linked to your customer account. Magic Number: The magic number generated by the printer. If the magic number is incorrect, your jobs will output with a watermark on that printer. Activation Code: The activation code generated by your license number and magic number. If the activation code is incorrect, your jobs will output with a watermark on that printer. Printer Name (Optional): Name and/or model of the printer.
Getting Started domain name and username of the account you want to specify, it can also be very time-consuming if there are many domains. l Domain: Select the domain in which the user account resides, or enter the name of the domain manually. l Username: Enter the name of the user account. l Password: Enter the password for the user account you specified in the Username box. l Confirm password: Enter the password you entered in the Password box.
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools are input driven applications designed to output data in a variety of ways through diverse means to various applications and devices. PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools can be used as simple go betweens, passing along input data to output devices, but it can also perform various types of data processing.
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools l l l l l l l l l l l l PlanetPress Suite Workflow Configuration (or "Configuration"): The Configuration is a physical file opened by the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and it contains all of the elements (tasks, processes, documents and printer queues) that drive your workflow. Process: A single workflow within the Configuration.
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools About Processes A process is a single workflow within the configuration. A process begins with a single input task, contains one or more tasks and/or branches, and terminates with one or more output tasks. In its simplest form, a process can simply retrieve data from a given folder and save it in a different folder. In most cases, though, processes are more elaborate and configurations, which may include many processes, can be extremely complex.
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools l l l Input Task: Will either capture data from a specific location, or wait for input from a service or other computer to start processing. Action Task: Will manipulate the data in any number of ways. An action task is any task that is not an input or output task or a branch or condition. Output Task: Will output data to a specific location or send to a different service or computer.
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools About Data Data is what drives your business, and our software. We define data as anything that is obtained through an Input Task and used within the process itself. Once the data is obtained, it becomes the job file that is passed from one task to another and generally used to generate output.
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Emulations in the PlanetPress Workflow Tools: l l l l l l l Line Printer ASCII CSV Channel Skip Database XML PDF PDF Emulation, also called Document Input, is only available in PlanetPress Production and PlanetPress Office. If used in PlanetPress Watch, it will cause a watermark to appear in any output. For more information about each emulation and how to use them, please consult the PlanetPress Design User Guide.
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools l l l creates. You can install multiple instances of the PlanetPress Image service on your network, and have PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools send jobs to one or more of these instances. Each instance of PlanetPress Image can generate PDFs or images and dispatch them from the host on which it runs. See "About PlanetPress Image" (page 169). PlanetPress Fax: Outputs jobs as faxes.
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Send to Folder output queues let you save jobs to a local or network folder from which they can be picked up and printed. See "Send to Folder Printer Queue Properties" (page 182). Remote printing: l FTP output queues let you upload jobs to an FTP site from which they can be picked up and printed. See "FTP Output Printer Queue Properties" (page 181). l LPR output queues let you send print jobs to remote printers via TCP/IP using the LPR/LPD protocol.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program This chapter centers on the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration program, which you use to create and edit your configurations. The basic user interface elements are as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. The PlanetPress Suite Button. See "The PlanetPress Suite Button" (page 30). The Quick Access Toolbar. See "The Quick Access Toolbar" (page 35). The Ribbon Tabs.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program You can customize the appearance of the PlanetPress Workflow Tools Configuration programs to your needs. See "Customizing the Program Window" (page 58).
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l l l l Close: Closes the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration that is currently opened and creates a new PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration, with a single example process and no printer queues. Closing the current configuration file is the same as creating a new one. Recent Documents: Displays a list of the 9 most recently opened PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configurations. Click on any of them to open it.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program Type selector to the desired version (for example, .pw6 for PlanetPress Watch/Server configurations from Version 6) Saving and Sending a Configuration The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools are service applications which, once started, constantly run in the background to perform the tasks included in their current configuration file.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program Note that if PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools service is paused when you send a new configuration, it will not stop and restart. Since PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools service reads its configuration file when it starts up, when you resume processing, PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools service will continue using the old configuration.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program 2. In the File type box, select the desired file type. 3. Navigate to the document you want to import, select it and click Open. The document is imported and displayed in the Configuration Components Pane. This physically installs the documents to the Documents folder relative to the install folder of PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l l l From the PlanetPress Suite Button, choose Exit. Click the X at the top-right corner of the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program Press ALT+F4 on your keyboard. Right-click on the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program button in your task bar, and select Close. If the default configuration file (ppwatch.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program The PlanetPress Suite Ribbon The PlanetPress Watch/Office/Production Ribbon replaces the main menu and toolbars of previous versions, and centralizes commands, organizing them into a set of Tabs, each Tab containing Groups of Controls. Each tab on the Ribbon displays the commands that are most relevant to a given feature set. For instance, the Objects tab in PlanetPress Design is used to draw any of the supported objects.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l The Tools tab includes the Managers, Services and Test Page groups. l The Managers group contains: l The Install PostScript Font control allows to install a PostScript font into your PlanetPress Suite installation. l The Virtual Drive Manager control loads the PlanetPress Suite Virtual Drive. l The Access Manager control loads the Access Manager, allowing to grant/remove permissions to hosts.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l Click Tools in the PlanetPress Suite Ribbon. Click Pause in the Services Status group. The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools service temporarily stops performing jobs. Note that if you send a new configuration when PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools is paused, it will continue using the old configuration when you resume processing until you stop and restart it.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program Group, Ungroup: Triggers grouping functionality. Properties...: Displays the properties, which lets you set a default value for the global variable. Documents: Displays a list of PlanetPress Design and PrintShop Mail Design document that have been imported into PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l l Click on the component and hold the mouse button. Move the component to the location where you want to drop it. Let go of the mouse button. Moving components using the clipboard buttons: l l l l l Click on the component you want to move. Go to the Home tab of the Ribbon. Click on Cut in the Clipboard group. Click on the new location where you want the component. Click on Paste in the Clipboard group.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l Dropping documents onto printer queues does not move the documents, but rather assigns them to these queues (see "PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Printer Queues" (page 179)). Add a PlanetPress Suite Process You can create a new process in a two different ways: l l In the Ribbon, go to the Home tab and click the Process button in the Processes group.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l Right-Click on the Process in the Configuration Components Area. Select Properties. You can also double-click on the process to show its options. Subprocesses do not have the "General Tab" which is only used for scheduling, but they do have the Information Tab. PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Process Options properties are as follows: General tab l l l l l l l l l Active: Select to make the process active.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l l l l l Click on any block to select/deselect it. Click and drag from one block to another to toggle all blocks between the two. Shift-click on any block to toggle all blocks from the top-left corner of the grid to the block you click. To select all of the time segments for a given day or date, click the day or date on the top grid ruler.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program Changes made to the system time can have adverse effects on the processes managed by PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools. When changing from daylight saving time to standard time, for example, if PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools starts a given process at 2:00AM, and if the system time is then taken back to 1:00AM, the application will start a new instance of the same process when the system time reaches 2:00AM for a second time.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l Description: The description of the document as entered in PlanetPress Design. Last modified: The date and time the document was last uploaded to PlanetPress Workflow Tools. Printer Settings Tab l l l l l l Trigger Type: Select whether you want a normal trigger configuration to be used, or a custom trigger that you manually enter.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program Add Resident Documents in the Configuration Components Pane By default, the Documents group displayed in Configuration Components Pane of the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration program includes all those documents that are available on your local PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools server.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program Rename Objects in the Configuration Components Pane You can rename processes, groups, and printer queues in the Configuration Components Pane. PlanetPress Design Documents (ptk/ptz files) are different and cannot be renamed or modified using the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools. You can, on the other hand, change the name of printer-resident documents. Note that names cannot begin with a number.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l In the Arrange group, select Sort by Name. Grouping Configuration Components Groups help you organize processes, documents, and printer queues. For example, you may create the Invoices, Checks and Reports groups in the Processes section and associate individual processes with each one of these groups. You group items only within their own category.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program In the case of processes and printer queues, the object is deleted. If there is only one process in the configuration, you cannot delete it; there must be at least one process in the configuration. If you delete the last configured process, a process with two unknown tasks remains. In the case of documents, you are first prompted to confirm the deletion. You can turn off this prompt in the Notification Messages User Options.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l l l l You can insert input tasks anywhere in the process except in output task locations. When you add an output task, a new branch leading to that new task is added above the selected task or branch, except when replacing an existing output task. Dropping a task on top of another one replaces it. Dropping a task between two tasks will insert it at that location.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program When you remove a branch, all the tasks located in that branch are also deleted. When you delete a task, only that task is deleted. You cannot use the Delete option to remove an input or output task, but you can right-click on them and click Cut instead. This replaces the task with an unknown task (see UnknownTasks) To delete the path below a branch crossing (instead of the path to the right of the branch): l l Press Shift+CTRL+Delete.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program To cut and paste tasks or branches: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. In the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Process area, select the task or branch you want to cut and paste. From the Home tab in the Ribbon, choose Cut (or Right-Click and select Cut from the drop-down menu). To paste the task or branch to a different process, select that process. Select the task or branch crossing above which you want the task or branch to be pasted.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program Moving a Task or Branch Using Drag-and-Drop When you want to move a given task or branch, the simplest way is to use drag-and-drop. Using the mouse, you can drag and drop tasks and branches only within a given process. To move tasks and branches between different processes, see Cutting, Copying and Pasting Tasks and Branches.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l In the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Process area, place your cursor over the separator line dividing each section of row or column rulers. When the cursor changes appearance, click and drag up or down to resize rows, or left or right to resize columns. A dashed line appears as you drag indicating the new separation. The row or column, with all its tasks, moves accordingly.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program Redo a Command The Redo command can be used to redo commands that were just undone using the Undo command. For example, if you used the Undo command three times in a row and immediately thereafter decided to redo those commands, you could use the Redo command three times in a row to redo those commands. Note that all commands in PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration can be redone.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program Furthermore, the Plug-in bar can be customized using the Popup indicator control ( ). Customizing the Plug-in bar is mostly for third party or legacy plug-ins. Using the contextual menu displayed by the Popup indicator, you can: l l l l l l l Insert, delete and rename custom categories. Move categories up or down. Import third party or legacy plug-ins.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program 1. Select an active process in the Configuration Components Pane. 2. In the Object Inspector Pane, change the Run on desktop property from False to True, or vice versa. The Debug Information Pane The Debug Information Pane displays the current values of variables and other information useful in debugging processes (see "Debugging PlanetPress Suite Processes" (page 189)).
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l l l l While a line is selected, press CTRL+X on your keyboard or right-click on the line and select Cut to place the line in the clipboard. Press CTRL+C on your keyboard or right-click on the line and select Copy to place a copy of the line in the clipboard. Press CTRL+A on your keyboard or right-click on any line and select Select All to select all the lines in the Message Area.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l Do one of the following: l Click either a title bar (separate or attached areas) or a tab (combined areas) displaying the name of the Configuration Components Pane, the Object Inspector or the Messages area and move the mouse pointer so as to drag the area away from its current undocked position. As you drag, a rectangle is displayed to show the landing position.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program when the shape of a tab appears at the bottom of the rectangle. To switch between combined area: l At the bottom of the combined area, click the tab of the area you want to bring to the top. If all the tabs are not displayed, use the left and right arrows to navigate between them. The left and right arrows lets you show hidden tabs.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program Drag around to the edges of another area and release the mouse button when the rectangle appears to the left or right, or 2. above or below the other area. The rectangle should not display a tab at its bottom, otherwise the areas will not be attached but rather combined. Note that you can attach an area to a group of combined areas, as well as change combined areas into attached areas.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program A) Click to maximize this area. B) Click to restore this currently maximized area. C) Click to maximize this area. D) Click to restore this currently maximized area.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l Do one of the following: l Click the title bar displaying the name of the attached area you want to take out and move the mouse pointer so as to drag the area away from the group. As you drag, a rectangle is displayed to show the landing position. Release the mouse button when the rectangle is away from the group. l Double-click the title bar of the area you want to take out. The area will jump outside of the group.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l The PlanetPress Suite Services dialog lets you select the account that the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Service uses to communicate on the server and the network. See "PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Service Logon" (page 19). You can change the appearance of the Run Script and XSLT Editor through the "Editor Options" (page 76) dialog.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program Configuration Components Pane User Options The available Configuration Components Pane user options are as follows: Colors group l This window lets you set the color of individual Configuration Components Pane elements. To change the color of a given element, select it in the list box above and then choose a color from the drop-down list below.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l Document deletion: Select to have PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration prompt for confirmation when deleting a document. Group of documents deletion: Select to have PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration prompt for confirmation when deleting a group of documents from the Configuration Components Pane.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l Prompt on Importing a non-PlanetPress Document: Select to have your PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools prompt for confirmation when a document that is not a valid PlanetPress document is about to be imported. This may occur if a non-PlanetPress document will inadvertently have a PP4 or PSI file extension.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program use the same security context when connected to a NetWare server and they each use one connection. Also note that using erroneous Tree or Context information may cause PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and its services to crash. Logging User Options Logging user options control the level of detail added to the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools log file.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l l l l l Protocol options group Port: Select the TCP port to use. The default port is 8080, the official HTTP alternate port, so as not to interfere with the standard HTTP port (80). To block any regular HTTP traffic (for example if only using HTTPS connections) the port can be set to 0. Time out: Set the timeout period in seconds. The default value is 120 seconds. Verbose log: Select to enable to keep a verbose log.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l LDP settings group l Timeout (sec): Set the time in seconds the PlanetPress Suite process waits for the transfer of bytes in the data file before ending the transfer of this file. The default value for the Time-out property is 7200 seconds (2 hours). On a time-out, partially received data files are not passed to the rest of the process; the LPD input resets and is ready to receive further data files. Log messages include the time-out duration.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program Protocol options group l l Log all Winsock and network messages (very verbose): Select to have PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools keep a log of all Winsock and other network messages that occur from the Telnet input. These messages are related to files sent from other systems using a telnet connection. Since these messages can accumulate, you have the option of not logging them.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l l l Report Success: Select to have PlanetPress Fax generate a report whenever one of the faxes in the PlanetPress Fax Job reaches its destination successfully or at least as far as the Windows Fax service is concerned. Report Folder: Enter or select the location of the report file. PlanetPress Fax generates report file names automatically with the filename extension PFX.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program PlanetPress Image User Options PlanetPress Image user options control certain functions of the PlanetPress Image service, which in turn has a direct impact on all PlanetPress Image output tasks performed on a given computer. These include error and logging options, PlanetPress Search database options, as well as networking and email options.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l l l l l l l l l Database type: Select the type of the database in which you want to create a table (Access, or SQL Server). Connection time-out: Enter the time, in seconds, that the connection to the database is maintained while no action is taking place before the connection is severed.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program LPR Output User Options LPR output user options control certain functions of the LPR Client service, which in turn has a direct impact on all LPR output tasks performed by PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools on a given computer.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program the configuration is sent to the service via the Send configuration button. Editor Options The Script Editor is used to edit scripts used in Run Script and the XSLT Editor is used to edit scripts used in Open XSLT action tasks. Most of the options listed below are valid for both editors. Those options which are only valid for a specific editor are identified as such.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l copy, paste, and print selections. If you also select Enable dragging, you can drag selections to reposition them in the code. l Enable dragging: Select to permit dragging and dropping a selection to reposition it in the program. This option works only if you also select Enable selection. l Enable search highlight: Select to highlight the search term match found in the code when you perform a search. Clear to prevent the highlighting.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program l l Line numbers on gutter: Select to display code line numbers in the gutter between the Commands and Code areas. Selecting this option has effect only if you selected the Gutter option. If you clear both this and the Line numbers on gutter option, no line numbers appear alongside the lines of code.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program 2. Define your desired accesses: l IP address: Enter a computer’s IP address and click to add this computer to the list displayed below. This lets you add computers on which PlanetPress Suite software are not yet installed. Use the Everybody/255.255.255.255 entry to define permissions for any computer on your network. l Permissions: This list box lets you see and change each computer’s access rights to the services available on this computer.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program network. You need to do this, for instance, if you plan to run documents that contain dynamic images on those computers (using the Optimized PostScript Stream option). You can then use the Virtual Drive Manager to see the images that were downloaded to your computer as well as to delete them from your virtual drive.
Working With Variables Working With Variables A Variable is basically a keyword that points to specific location in your computer's memory. This location contains data that you decide to place in it, by assigning that data to the variable name. This chapter will help you learn about these variables and how you can use them.
Working With Variables l l Double-click on the variable name in the Configuration Components Area, change the value then click OK. Right-click on the variable name in the Configuration Components Area, click Properties, change the value then click OK. Local Variables Local Variables are set at the level of the Process and are not shared with any other process or instance of that process.
Working With Variables There are only 9 Job Infos available numbered from 1 to 9. They can be accessed directly anywhere that accepts variable properties by using the number of the variable preceded by a percent sign (For example, %2 or %9). You can set the value of a job info within your process in two ways: l l Use the Set Job Info and Variable action task. See "Set Job Infos and Variables Action Task Properties" (page 114). You can use Scripts. See the chapter "Using Scripts" (page 197).
Working With Variables Available Standard Variables Variable Name Example value when interpreted Content of your job file in its %c n/a original format. %F Job File Path and Name C:\Program Files\PlanetPress Suite 7\PlanetPress Watch\Spool\job1D80328.dat Job File Name including the file %f job1D80328.dat extension. %z Job File Size in bytes. 34134 %o Original File Name invoice_june2nd.
Data in PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Data in PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools is a versatile tool that can capture various types of data files and dispatch this data to various PlanetPress Design documents. To fully understand PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and how it treats data, you must understand how it is integrated into PlanetPress Design.
Data in PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools The only difference between both Data Selectors is that PlanetPress Workflow Tools does not directly support userdefined emulation, as it does not support the PlanetPress Talk language. In the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools, you can add data as well as variables to your variables properties using the contextual (right-click) menu. See "Variable Properties" (page 176).
Data in PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Text-Based Data Selections These selections are used for text data files such as Line Printer, ASCII and Channel Skip emulations. The selection refers to a rectangular selection that may contain multiple lines, rows, columns on a given page. Syntax @(page number, from line, to line, from column, to column, case option, trim option) Here is a breakdown of the syntax (all options are mandatory): l l l l l l l l @(): Always surrounds a data selection.
Data in PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools l l Case Option: This can be one of three options: l KeepCase: Keeps the current uppercase and lowercase letters as they are. l UpperCase: Converts all letters to their uppercase equivalent. l LowerCase: Converts all letters to their lowercase equivalent. Trim Option: Can either be "Trim" if you want to trim empty spaces before and after the data selection or "NoTrim" if you want to retain the extra spaces.
Data in PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Data File and Job File Whichever source it may come from, a serial port, an e-mail message, or an LPR request, for instance, and whatever its format, data entering a PlanetPress Suite process via an input task is always referred to as a data file. Job file is a more general term, that can refer to data files as well as other types of files traveling through a process. Image files, for example, can be passed from task to task in order to be downloaded to a printer.
Data in PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools l l For the benefit of users who must identify files, be it in a folder or on a printer queue, consider using names that are as meaningful and precise as possible. Some devices or applications may use file name extensions to know what to do with incoming files. Since variable properties can be entered in the boxes where you specify the folder and file names, you can use variables, data selections and static text.
Task Properties Reference Task Properties Reference This chapter lists all of the possible tasks that are available in the PlanetPress Workflow Tools Configuration program.
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Input Tasks Input tasks are entrances to PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools. They are used to take data from specific locations and to pass it on to other tasks included in the same process. Each process must begin with an input tasks, and although a given process may have multiple input tasks, no task can have more than one initial input task (see "Initial and Secondary Input Tasks" (page 94)).
"Other" Tab l l l Job Information group l Information elements: indicates what job infos are automatically created by the input task. l Add lines before first data page: Using the arrows keys you can add any job information directly at the beginning of your data file. Backup input files: Check this to save a copy of each data file that is captured by your input. These files are saved in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools working folders under the "Backup" folder.
The On Error Tab is common to all tasks. Details can be found on "Task Properties Dialog" (page 51). Folder Capture Input Task Properties Folder Capture input tasks retrieve data from a specified folder. You can limit the files pulled in from the folder by entering masks for the file that are more specific than the default mask *.* which captures all files in the folder.
"Other" Tab l l l Job Information group l Information elements: indicates what job infos are automatically created by the input task. l Add lines before first data page: Using the arrows keys you can add any job information directly at the beginning of your data file. Backup input files: Check this to save a copy of each data file that is captured by your input. These files are saved in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools working folders under the "Backup" folder.
l l l l l l l l l Folder: Enter the full path of the folder from which the input files are to be taken. Masks: Enter a single or multiple file names or use file name masks. See "Masks" (page 178). Since this task only supports PDF files, make sure your extension remains .PDF for all your masks. Sort files by: Select a given sorting method to prompt PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools to sort the files in the source folder before taking them (and thus to take them in a specific order).
If you use Email input tasks to capture data encoded using a Double-Byte character set (such as those used for Japanese or Chinese, for instance), it is preferable to use attachments rather than the email body to carry the data from its source to the input task, as data corruption is less likely to occur using this method. Email input task properties are as follows: General tab l l l l l Message body: Select to use the data found in the body of the email.
l l Backup input files: Check this to save a copy of each data file that is captured by your input. These files are saved in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools working folders under the "Backup" folder. Backup filename: Enter the filename that you wish the input data file backup to be saved under. On Error Tab The On Error Tab is common to all tasks. Details can be found on "Task Properties Dialog" (page 51).
"Other" Tab l l l Job Information group l Information elements: indicates what job infos are automatically created by the input task. l Add lines before first data page: Using the arrows keys you can add any job information directly at the beginning of your data file. Backup input files: Check this to save a copy of each data file that is captured by your input. These files are saved in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools working folders under the "Backup" folder.
l After you have created this queue, on every remote computer that will be sending data files to PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools you will need to create a printer queue connecting to the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools queue. To ensure that the spooled files created by the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools queue remain in the spool folder, PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools requires that the queue be paused.
l l The time that it takes to generate the response is important - most browsers will time out after a while if they do not receive an answer. For this reason, make sure your process is as optimized as possible, even if this means doing further work through another process (like book keeping, archiving or printing). You can set the HTTP Server timeout value through the "HTTP Server Input User Options" (page 68).
General tab l LPD queue name: Enter the queue name specified in the printer queue on the remote computer or computers. "Other" Tab l l l Job Information group l Information elements: indicates what job infos are automatically created by the input task. l Add lines before first data page: Using the arrows keys you can add any job information directly at the beginning of your data file. Backup input files: Check this to save a copy of each data file that is captured by your input.
A PrintShop Web Connect preferences page, accessible via the PlanetPress Suite Button | Preferences | PrintShop Web Connect, allows to provide operator credentials to your PlanetPress Suite configuration. It is mandatory to fill both username and password fields (with the values of an existing user on the PrintShop Web server) in order to use the PrintShop Web Connect Input task.
On Error Tab The On Error Tab is common to all tasks. Details can be found on "Task Properties Dialog" (page 51). SOAP Input Task Properties The SOAP Input task (or Input Soap) is used to answer calls from the SOAP Server's method SubmitJob. It can only be a primary input (i.e. the very first node of a process, never as a secondary input). General Tab l SOAP Action: The SOAP action is used with the SubmitJob API. It’s the equivalent of the process name.
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Action Tasks Use action tasks in PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools to perform a wide variety of operations. PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools includes more action tasks then input and output tasks combined. Action tasks can even be used to input data and to output data. The difference between an action task and an input task is that an action task can never be the first task of a process.
The On Error Tab is common to all tasks. Details can be found on "Task Properties Dialog" (page 51). Add/Remove Text Action Properties Add/Remove Text action tasks can be used to perform the following actions on the data file they receive: l l l To add or remove characters. To add or remove lines of data. To add the content of a text file. Note that the content must be located at the beginning or the end of the data file.
l Replace with: Enter the string of data to use as a replacement. Since this is also a variable property box, the same as above applies. On Error Tab The On Error Tab is common to all tasks. Details can be found on "Task Properties Dialog" (page 51). Advanced Search and Replace Action Task Properties Advanced Search and Replace action tasks are used to locate and replace strings of data within the job file and to replace them with other strings of data.
Occurrence related: Select to indicate that the search string must be found a specific number of times before a string replacement is performed. If the Search line by line option is selected in the Search mode group, the search counter is reset for every line. If the Search whole file option is selected in the Search mode group, the search counter is not reset before the end of the file.
l l l l l l l l l l l PDF version : 1.
General Tab l l l l l l l Zip file name: Enter the name of the zipped file. In this variable property box, you may enter static characters, variables, job information elements, data selections, or any combination of these. Output folder: Enter the name of the folder in which you want the decompressed files to be stored. File mask: Enter a file name mask to specify which files must be decompressed. Leave the default value of *.* to decompress all the files found within the zip.
External Program action task properties are as follows: General tab l l l l Executable file: Enter the name and path of an executable file (exe or com extension), batch file (bat extension), or command script (cmd extension) that can run in command mode. Note that the program will be run without user interaction. Although it may display progress information, it is better if the application has no user interface.
Load External File Action Properties Load External File Action tasks are used to replace the current job file by the designated text file. Loading an external file does not delete the original file or modify it in any way. Load External File action task properties are as follows: General tab l External file: The path to the file you want the job file to be replaced with. You may browse to the file using the browse button on the right of the field. On Error Tab The On Error Tab is common to all tasks.
Windows Print Converter Action Task Properties Windows Print Converter action tasks are designed to convert Windows print files into Line Printer files, that can then be used in a variety of other PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools tasks. Typically, Windows Print Converter action tasks are located below WinQueue input tasks (note that the latter include options specific to Windows Print Converter action tasks).
about 2). For example, if the mean character width of the font example shown here corresponds to the width of the blank character (for other fonts it may be another sign). There is another text passage found whose horizontal distance is even bigger than the first one's mean character width, multiplied by factor 1.0. The two text passages are found to not belong together.
Standard Filter action task properties are as follows: General tab l l Process job using ASCII emulation: Select to use the ASCII emulation to process the job file. This reverses LFCR end-of-line sequences that may result in unwanted double-spacing. Remove and convert HP escape characters: Select to filter HP escape character sequences from the job file. On Error Tab The On Error Tab is common to all tasks. Details can be found on "Task Properties Dialog" (page 51).
including JET 4.0. When adding a PlanetPress Database action task, you have two options: l l You can use static properties (properties that will remain the same regardless of the data processed at runtime). This option lets you use an Open DataBase Connectivity (ODCB) compliant data source. You can also edit the SQL statement that assembles the database table.
CSV Emulation: If you selected CSV in the Output file emulation box, the following options are available: l Sort on field: If you want the table to be sorted before the data page creation process is started, select the sort field from this box. l Text delimiter: Select the text delimiter to be used in the generated file. l Field separator: Select the field separator to be used in the generated file.
l Export Config: Click to export the currently displayed properties of the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools action task. The exported configuration can then be reused on other PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools workstations. Dynamic SQL tab l Use dynamic values at runtime: Select to use a dynamic database connection string and/or SQL statement at runtime. Check this box to enable the options included in this group (this disables the corresponding options in the General tab).
l l l XSLT Version l XSLT 1.0: Select if you will be entering or pasting XSLT version 1.0 code. l XSLT 2.0: Select if you will be entering or pasting XSLT version 2.0 code. Tools l Editor Options...: Opens the "Editor Options" (page 76). Help l Contents and Indexes: Opens the Editor Help (this page) The other options of the window are: l l l The script editor text box: This is where you enter your XSLT Script that will be used.
l l l Refresh: Click to prompt PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools to look again for available printers and computers. Hard disk name and path: You may enter the name and path of the hard disk to which you want to send the images. Needless to say that this option is used if the device to which you are sending the images has multiple hard drives. Print confirmation page: Select to print a confirmation page on each one of the selected printers after an image has been successfully received.
l File l l l l Import: Lets you open an existing script from an external file. This file can be in .vbs, .js, .pl or .py for language-specific scripts, or .txt for any of them. Export: Lets you save the current script as a file. Print: Prints the current script. Edit Undo: Undo the last edit. Cut: Cut the current selection (only available if there is selected text in the editor). l Copy: Copy the current selection (only available if there is selected text in the editor).
Microsoft® Word® needs to be installed for this task to be functional and to test the connection. General tab l l Microsoft Word Document: Enter a Microsoft® Word® document or template, or click the browse button to navigate to the location of the document. The supported extensions are: *.doc, *.docx, *.dot and *.dotx. Perform Mail Merge: Check when providing a Microsoft® Word® document or template configured for mail merge.
l If the database is the same for 2 processes, one of two processes aborts. Each process has to use different databases, or no more than one process with a Microsoft® Word® to PDF task. Create MRDX Action Task Properties The Create MRDX action task is used to register a job on a Suretrac server using an MRDX file. The MRDX contains information about the job and its finishing, as well as integrity features use by SureTrac.
Select Produce PostScript to generate a standard PostScript file that can then be sent to any PostScript printer. l Select JPG to generate a JPG image file. l Data file type: Select the data file type that is sent to this task, and used as a database for the PrintShop Mail document. l Distilling options file: Enter the name and path of a distilling options file (or "joboptions" file) or use the Browse button to navigate to that file. This option is only available when PDF is selected in the Output type box.
Process Logic Tasks Process Logic tasks include conditions, branches and loops. They can be used to control the flow of the data within your process either consistently or depending on certain information obtained from multiple sources. Conditions are used to create a path in your process that will either execute one branch or continue down the main trunk. The result can depend on data within your job file, external data, variables or even the result of an external script.
l secondary branch includes a secondary input task or a Change Emulation action task, then the last emulation selected in the secondary branch will be the one used for the main branch. Backup local variables: Select if you want PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools to use identical copies of the local variables for the main and secondary branches. When this option is not selected, the local variables that reaches the output task located at the end of the secondary branch is used for the main branch.
l l File name mask: Enter a file name. The condition will be tested True only in the case of an exact match, so consider using wildcard characters. Invert condition result: Select to toggle the result of the condition (true becomes false and vice versa). On Error Tab The On Error Tab is common to all tasks. Details can be found on "Task Properties Dialog" (page 51). File Size Condition Properties File Size conditions test the size of the job file they receive.
IP address: Enter the IP address of the network printer (or other device) whose status is to be checked via SNMP. l Get info: Click to retrieve information corresponding to the IP address you entered. If the information is successfully retrieved and it corresponds to a printer, the Host name and Description of the printer (or other device) appears in the corresponding boxes.
l To compare two strings. As with the test above, this test can also be used to search for a string in a given location. The difference with this test is that it gives you comparison options. Using the “Contains” operator, you can test the presence of the string “Gold member” at a given location in the job file (using a data selection), but the other operators can be used to test whether or not the first string is equal to the second one, whether it is equal or lower than the second one, etc.
Time of Day Condition Time of Day conditions test the current time and day. Using a time and day grid, you can select blocks that correspond to time and day coordinates. Various settings can be used to change time intervals, for instance, that range from 15 minutes to 24 hours. You may choose to use days or dates, and you may also select specific weeks or months.
l l l l l In-Stream Splitter action tasks are used to split non-emulated data. Emulated Data Splitter action tasks are used to split all types of emulated data, with the exception of XML and database data. XML Splitter action tasks are used to split XML data files. Database Splitter action tasks are used to split database files. PDF Splitter action tasks are used to split PDF files. In previous versions of PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools, only a single splitter, the Generic Splitter, was available.
Database Splitter action task properties are as follows: General tab l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l Split group: Use this group to indicate how you want the file to be split. Field value change: Select if you want the file to be split based on changes in the values of a selected database field (the value in the ClientID field changes, for example).
Using an emulation to format the data before splitting provides the most splitting options, but slows down the process. Splitting a data file containing a few hundred thousand pages may take several hours. So you may choose to use non-emulated data to speed up the splitting process (see "In-Stream Splitter Action Task Properties" (page 136)).
In-Stream Splitter Action Task Properties In-Stream Splitter action tasks are used to split non-emulated data files into multiple data files that are passed to subsequent tasks in the process. Note that performing the splitting process on raw, non-emulated data speeds up the splitting process.
PDF Splitter action task properties are as follows: General Tab l l l Split on page group: Select to split the data file based on pages (rather than on a word found within the PDF data) and to activate the option from this group, which is used to tailor exactly how you want the page based splitting process to take place. l Page(s) per output: Enter the number of pages to include in the file generated by the splitter in this edit box below or use the spin buttons.
XML Splitter Action Task Properties XML Splitter action tasks use the XSLT language to split XML data files into multiple XML data files that are passed to subsequent tasks in the process. The XML splitter includes options to add a new root node within the generated files, as well as to change the original file’s encoding to UTF8. Note that the XML Splitter cannot process files larger than 30 megabytes.
l l l l l l Use alternate XSLT engine group: Select this option to enable the box and the buttons included in this group. Path and parameters for the alternate engine: Enter your XSLT engine’s absolute path (use quotes for non DOS 8.3 compliant paths) followed by its required operators and parameters (you must know exactly which operators and parameters your XSLT engine requires and in which order they must appear in the command prompt used to launch the engine).
l l l l Word is between columns group l From and To: Enter a horizontal search region defined as starting from a given column and ending at a given column. If you enter 1 in the From box and 5 in the To box, the Generic Splitter will search for the string of characters only in the first five column (five first characters of every line selected above).
l l l l l l Field: Enter the name of the field that the Generic Splitter must check (only alphanumeric fields can be used—selecting a binary field, for instance, will cause the job to fail). If you enter “ID”, for example, the Generic Splitter will only look in the field named “ID” for the value entered below. In this variable property box, you may enter static characters, variables, job information elements or any combination of these. Operator: Select the appropriate comparison operator.
Loop Action Task Properties Loop action tasks are used to repeat those tasks that are located after it on a given process branch. The number of repeats can be fixed or variable, as required. Loop action task properties are as follows: General tab l l l l Number of iterations: Enter the number of times you want the following tasks on the branch to be repeated. In this variable property box, you may enter static characters, variables, job information elements, data selections, or any combination of these.
While it is possible to place a GoSub action within a subprocess, doing so will hide the subprocess from any GoSub action, in order to avoid circular referencing (aka an infinite loop). General tab l l l l l Subprocess: Drop down list containing all the available subprocesses in the current configuration. Backup job file: Select if you want to use identical copies of the job file for the main process and the subprocess.
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Metadata Tasks Metadata tasks regroups plug-ins that can create or update metadata for a job file. Metatdata is a hierarchical structure describing a print job. It is composed of 5 basic levels, from outer to inner: Job, Set, Document, Datapage, and Page.
Barcode orientations represent a barcode orientation on an image. For example, when the left-to-right option is checked, the task will try to read the barcode value assuming that the barcode data should be read in a left-to-right fashion. The fewer orientations are selected, the faster the task performs. Settings l l l l l Force checksum validation: Select to define whether the checksum validation is required for symbologies in which a checksum character is optional.
Note: If metadata was created previously in the process, the task only adds new fields to the existing metadata at the datapage level. Metadata Fields The barcode values are stored at the datapage level of the metadata. In the following defintions, the first 2 metadata fields are for standard use, while the next 8 fields contain '_1_' in their name. This number represents the barcode index on the page.
Create Metadata Action Task Properties Creates all the metadata information from a PlanetPress Design document. Documents: Select a specific PlanetPress Design document you want all the jobs metadata information generated for. To create Metadata without using a PlanetPress Design document, choose none. When this option is selected, the plugin creates a metadata file based on the current process's default emulation. It creates a single Group with a Single Document.
l l l Excel group l Excel workbook: The full path and filename of a Microsoft® Excel® workbook (.xls or .xslx file). You can use the Browse button on the right to browse to the file on your computer. l Excel worksheet: The name of the worksheet you want to use. Once a workbook is open, this drop-down will automatically list all the available worksheets. l Refresh button: If you have modified the original Microsoft® Excel® workbook to add a sheet, click this button to refresh the list of worksheets.
corresponding ItemDesc metadata fields. The Lookup in Microsoft® Excel® Documents Action task updates the value of all 'ItemDesc' metadata fields with their corresponding foreign language descriptions. Metadata Fields Management Task Properties The Metadata Fields Management task can be used to add new fields into your metadata, either for every element or through conditions. This task will automatically "loop" through the metadata and repeat its action for each of your metadata's datapage.
For a given Metadata Field Management action, all nodes of a given level might be updated with a new Field Value. To accommodate this, metadata/data selection functions have been modified to accept a wild card parameter "?", indicating the function operates on all nodes (not just one) of a given level. For example, in a PDF emulation, the format of a selected region is: region(?,0.59375,2.21875,1.85416,2.51041,KeepCase,NoTrim) where “?” represents the current physical data page processed by the task.
The task enables users to merge data pages into Documents and/or merge Documents into Groups, based on conditions. Unselected Data pages are ignored, but are moved with others Data pages if the action is applied to the current parent node. Metadata Level Creation task properties are as follows: General Tab l l Document: Create a new Document level. Note: Attributes and Fields are deleted for all new Document levels created as well as existing Groups. Group: Create a new Group level.
General Tab l l l Group: Sorts the metadata by group. Document: Sorts the metadata by document. Data page: Sorts the metadata by data page. For each parameter, three columns are available: Sort By, Then by, Then by (again). This lets you sort your document level in three different orders sequentially. Sorts are always done from left to right, top to bottom, giving you a total of 9 sorting possibilities.
Rule Interface The Rule Interface can be opened from the Condition column of the following tasks: l l l l l "Metadata Fields Management Task Properties" (page 150) "Metadata Filter Action Task Properties" (page 151) "Metadata Level Creation Action Task Properties" (page 151) "Metadata Sequencer Action Task Properties" (page 152) Input from SharePoint Task Properties Conditions are expressed using the following syntax: The and options r
As an example, consider the following conditional expression, where A, B, C and D are conditions of the form : A and (B or C) and D Such a conditional expression can be expressed by means of sub conditions in the following way: 1. 2. 3. 4. Define condition A. Select condition A and choose Add Condition. Specify the logical operator AND. Define condition B. Select condition B and choose Add Sub Condition. This will indent condition B and allow to define the condition C.
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Output Tasks Output tasks are exits from PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools processes. They can be used to send data to specific devices, such as printers, applications, such as email software, or locations, such as folders. A single process can include multiple branches, each one terminated by an output task, and so a single process may generate output via a variety of output tasks.
l l l l l responsibility to ensure the selected port is available and not being monitored by another application or PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools task. User name: Enter an FTP server user name. Password: Enter a password associated with the FTP server user name entered above. Directory: Enter the directory to which the job files are to be uploaded. If you leave this box empty, the job files are sent to the root directory of the FTP server.
l l Password: The password for the above username. Test Connection: Click to verify that the information entered in this tab is correct and the server accepts it. On Error Tab The On Error Tab is common to all tasks. Details can be found on "Task Properties Dialog" (page 51). Restrictions l l l l l l l Each Laserfiche repository output task uses a connection to Laserfiche. You can use as many Laserfiche repository output tasks at the same time as your Laserfiche license allows.
l l l l l l l Character (Char): This type may contain a string of any type of characters. This is the most flexible type of field. Use this type when you are not sure if the constraints of the other types will be appropriate. Integer: This type may contain a whole number between zero and 64,999. Long integer: This type may contain a whole number between zero and 3,999,999,999. Number: This type may contain a decimal number that supports up to 13 digits and 5 decimals. Date: This type may contain a date.
Advanced tab l l l Copies: Enter the number of copies to be printed outputs. Since this is a variable property box, you may enter a fixed value or use a data selection. Note that load balancing options have an impact on how copies are printed as well as on the total number of printed copies. Load balancing group (Options from this group are only valid if multiple printer queues were selected.) l No balancing: No load balancing means that all the selected printer queues get everything.
l l the actual printing part, so there is no way for your PlanetPress Suite Worflow Tool to ensure that all the settings you make will be applied to the printed document. Job name: Enter the job’s file name. By default, the variable %f (Job File Name) is used. You may use a different variable, but you may not use a data selection. This information may be used for the printer’s banner page. Job owner name: Enter the job owner name. You may use a PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools variable.
different architectures, languages, and operating systems. A SOAP request is an XML-based Remote Procedure Call (RPC) sent using the HTTP transport protocol. The payload of the SOAP packet is an XML document that specifies the call being made and the parameters being passed. Web services, a SOAP class of applications, expose their services via the Internet in a manner that lets other applications access them, as well as use and combine them as required.
Advanced tab l l Use proxy group: Select this option to use a proxy server and to activate this group. l Proxy address: Enter the IP address or name of the proxy server. l Proxy port: Enter the number of the port to use to contact the proxy server. Use SOAP action group: Select this option to use a SOAP action and to activate this group. l SOAP action: Select the SOAP action to use. On Error Tab The On Error Tab is common to all tasks. Details can be found on "Task Properties Dialog" (page 51).
l l l l Zip mode: Select how you want the files checked in the Attach box to be zipped. Select Zip individually to have PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools create a zip file for each file. Select Archive and Zip if you prefer to have one zip file that contains all the attached files. Zip file name: Enter the name of the one zip file that will be created if the Archive and Zip option was selected in the Attach box (this box is otherwise not enabled).
l l l l Concatenate files: If this option is selected, when PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools tries to save the job file under an existing name, it appends the content of the new job file to that of the existing file, instead of overwriting it. When using a fully composed document in a PDF emulation mode, setting a Send to Folder output task provides the opportunity to logically merge PDF outputs by checking the Concatenate files box.
About PlanetPress Fax What is PlanetPress Fax? PlanetPress Fax is a service that can be used to output data and documents via a faxing software, such as Windows Fax (available with Windows 2000, XP, and Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003) or Symantec WinFax PRO, as well as via a faxing server, such as Captaris RightFax. Note that it is these applications that do the actual faxing.
l Optimized PostScript Stream: Select to merge the selected document with the data received by this task before sending it to the component that generates fax documents. Some PlanetPress Design features, such as the Time and Date PlanetPress Talk functions, require that this option be selected. Fax Report File Each fax transmission appears as a separate entry in the report file. Each entry has 4 fields: l l l l ID: Unique identifier of the fax transmission as recognized by the Windows Fax service.
About PlanetPress Image What is PlanetPress Image? PlanetPress Image is a mutli-threaded service that can generate image files in PDF, JPEG and TIFF format. As the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and PlanetPress Image are compliant AutoStore, DocAccel and KYOcapture, these formats can also be used. These image files can be archived and, depending on whether you use a PlanetPress Image output task or a Digital Action action task, sent via email.
While the Do not use a document (passthrough) is visible in this list, it is not compatible with the PlanetPress Image output if the PostScript was not generated by merging a design document with data in PlanetPRess Workflow. In order to generate an image in passthrough mode with external PostScript, please use the Digital Action task. l l l l l l l l l l l l l l Run mode group l Printer centric: Select to send the document along with the trigger and data to PlanetPress Image.
l dots, such as Statement.%y.@(1,1,1,1,25,KeepCase,Trim) or Job.%f, for example, you must add quotation marks at the beginning and end of the file name (“Statement.%y.%m.@(1,1,1,1,25,KeepCase,Trim)” or ”Job.%f”). Otherwise, when the file is saved, anything appearing after the last dot is replaced by the file’s extension characters (and the file name thus becomes Statement.2005.pdf instead of Statement.2005.255842.pdf, or Job.tif instead of Job.544872.tif).
compression method. Monochrome resolution: Select the resolution to use for monochrome images. Grayscale images group l Grayscale compression: Select the compression to use for the grayscale images. Flate is a lossless compression method, so no data is lost in the process. It works well on images with large areas of single shades or repeating patterns, such as screen shots and simple images created with paint or drawing programs.
Allow content copying: Select to let users copy content from the generated PDF files. Allowform filling: Select to let users enter information in the form fields included in the generated PDF files. Font group l Embed all: Select to embed the entire font of all fonts used in the variable content document within the generated PDFs. Using this option may result in large PDFs, especially if many fonts are used.
l l l l l l l l To: Enter the email address(es) of the recipient(s). Remember this is a variable property box and you can therefore use various schemes to use email addresses that change with each job at runtime. Use document’s Email address: Select to send emails generated by PlanetPress Image to email addresses identified by the PlanetPress Design document selected in the General tab. In PlanetPress Design, you can tag a data selection as being an email address.
Links in the Image Generation Process Since PlanetPress Image lets you create image files via output tasks as well action tasks, and since it can also be used to generate files using proprietary formats, various software may be involved in the process. l l l PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools: This is where the process is initiated either via a PlanetPress Image output task or via Digital Action actions tasks.
Name: Value: These tags wrap around all the pages part of the job. They appear after the information in the header of the XML file. Overview of the PDF/A and PDF/X Standards Introduction to PDF/A and PDF/X Standards PDF/A and PDF/X are standards that are specialized versions of the PDF document format for specific usage, specifically longterm archival and graphic art printing.
l l l l l Standard Variables. See "Standard Variables" (page 83). Local and Global Variables. See "Local and Global Variables" (page 81). Job Infos. See "Job Info Variables" (page 82). Data Selections. See "Data Selections in PlanetPress Workflow Tools" (page 86). Printer Control Characters. See "Printer Queue Advanced Properties" (page 179). These are normally only used in printer outputs.
l l l l l Cutting an input or output task will replace it with an unknown task. See Cutting, Copying and Pasting Tasks and Branches Creating a new branch will create an unknown output task in that branch. See Adding Branches Using Branch From Here... will create an unknown output task below that branch. See Adding Branches Opening a configuration that contains additional plug-ins that are not installed on that system will cause these plug-ins to be replaced by unknown tasks.
Printer Queues and Documents Printer Queues and Documents This section delves into the subjects of PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools printer queues and PlanetPress Design documents. PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Printer Queues The printer queues displayed in the Configuration Components Pane of the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration program are not to be confused with Windows printer queues.
Printer Queues and Documents Frequently Used Printer Control Characters Character name: Character code: Typical use in printing context: End-Of-Job \004 Indicates the end of a print job Backspace \b Moves a character space backwards Horizontal Tab \t Adds a horizontal tab Line Feed \012 Moves to the next line Form Feed \f Moves to the next page Carriage Return \r Moves to the beginning of the current line DOS End-Of-File \032 Indicates the end of a print job in a DOS environment Escape \033 Adds an escape
Printer Queues and Documents General tab l l l l l Printer address: Enter the IP address or host name of the printer receiving LPR jobs. Queue name: Enter the printer queue name. Based on printer and network requirements, this property may not be required. Data type: Select the proper data type. Select (l) Binary data if the job file is a standard binary file. Select (f) Formatted text to interpret the first character of each line of text as a standard FORTRAN carriage control character.
Printer Queues and Documents l l l Directory: Enter the directory to which the print jobs are to be uploaded. If you leave this box empty, the job files are sent to the root directory of the FTP server. File name: Enter the name under which the print jobs will be saved. Consider using a dynamic name, since if you use a static name every new file will overwrite the previous one. Connection mode group l Active: Select to prompt the ftp client to use the active mode when sending files to the FTP server.
Printer Queues and Documents l l Command description: Use this box to edit the description of the command currently selected in the Commands box. Command value: Use this box to edit the code of the command currently selected in the Commands box. Use the right-click menu for a list of standard printer control characters. PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and PlanetPress Design Documents PlanetPress Design lets you send documents to printers as well as to PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools servers.
Printer Queues and Documents Tools receives the file. All the resource files are stored in a sub-folder from where they are used as needed by the PressTalk Interpreter, and a smaller PTK file, containing only the actual document definition, links to the resources and PPD, is placed in the Documents folder.
Printer Queues and Documents l When the server running PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools only sends the data to the printer, because the document is already present on the printer, it adds a trigger before the data (trigger+data). PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools adds the trigger code automatically, but you may want to use custom triggers. You would do this, for example, to use special printer functions.
Printer Queues and Documents Lune Printer Driver being downloaded to the connecting host. Printer Properties setup The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools WinQueue Input task can be configured to set a Windows printer queue using Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS) to produce one of 3 different types of datafiles: EMF, PostScript, or PDF. Note that PlanetPress Watch can only produce EMF or PostScript files.
Printer Queues and Documents because every Windows printer queue using Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS) is paused by default. Once the service has started, it captures every queued job. PDF Creation Parameters PDF files retrieved from a Windows print queue using Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS) have the following properties: l l l PDF 1.4 Optimized PDF (subject to change) No down-sampling of images These settings are pre-configured and cannot be changed by the user.
Printer Queues and Documents l Watch or PlanetPress Office, a license must be available for the printer or the output will contain a watermark. In PlanetPress Production, you can output to any PostScript printer without a watermark. Windows Printer Queue: This run mode is only available through the Print Using a Windows Driver output task, and uses printers that are installed in Windows.
Debugging PlanetPress Suite Processes Debugging PlanetPress Suite Processes Debug PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools processes to correct errors and increase efficiency. You can also configure tasks and make data selections on the fly when you Debug PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools processes. The debugging features in PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration let you debug your processes and fine tune its tasks.
Debugging PlanetPress Suite Processes l l l l l l Click on View Metadata to open the data selector and see the current state of the process' Metadata. Click on View as Hex to view the current job file in the internal Hex editor. Click on the Stop button to stop the debugging process. If you use Run, Step or Skip after stopping the process, debugging starts over from the top. Use the Set Breakpoint button to tag the currently selected task, branch or condition as a breakpoint.
Debugging PlanetPress Suite Processes A) The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools services monitored by the PlanetPress Suite Service Console. B) The runtime information provided by the console. The log window only displays the 1000 most recent lines. Older lines are hidden as new ones appear to replace them. To view the log messages generated by a service: l Click the service in question in Services pane, on the left hand side.
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Error Handling Error Handling This section explains how you can build specific error behaviors into your configuration to determine exactly what is to happen when a something fails. This section presents the error handling features built into PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and explains how to set error handling properties for branches, conditions and tasks.
Error Handling checked in that tab and an error process is selected in the drop-down list. To create an error process, simply replace the initial input task by the InputErrorBin Input Task, and that process automatically becomes able to handle error jobs sent to it. It is up to you, however, to decide how that error job will be handled. For example, you could place the job file in a specific folder, then send an email to a supervisor indicating that a job has failed.
Error Handling The PlanetPress Image and PlanetPress Fax logs are available in different folders. From the Watch folder, go up one level then go in either folders, under which you will find the Log folder for that specific software within the suite. Resubmit Backed Up Input Files to a Process Each input task includes an option that lets you back up input files. This options is not selected by default, since it has the potential to generate a very large number of back up files.
Error Handling function for other types of inputs. In these cases, the complete backup job is submitted. Knowing What to Resubmit When something goes wrong with an output job, a print job for instance, and printouts are lost, you usually need to know the following information in order to resubmit the input: l l The name of the job. This refers to the name used internally by PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools. This name is generated by the input task using parameters defined within the task.
Using Scripts Using Scripts Scripts can be used to perform various operations, such as to manipulate data, for example. PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools can perform scripts written in four different scripting languages and also provides an interface for editing scripts. While this chapter provides some very useful and detailed information about scripting within PlanetPress Workflow Tools, its focus is to inform you about the features, variables and functions unique to this environment.
Using Scripts Use the Editor The Script Editor and XSLT Editor share most of the same commands and functions. You can open the Script Editor using the Open Editor button both from the Run Script Properties dialog box and from the Open XSLT Properties dialog box. When you do so, the script currently displayed in the dialog box is pasted to the editor’s scripting box. For information on the available editor options, refer to "Editor Options" (page 76).
Using Scripts Whole words only: Select to limit the search to complete words matching the text in the Text to find box. Whole words are defined as strings that have a space or punctuation before and after the word. Regular expressions: Select to treat the regular expressions of the scripting language as text to search. If you clear this option, the regular expressions of the language are not included in the search. Global: Select to search the entire content of the script.
Using Scripts text, you move forward only within the selection. When the search reaches the end of the script or script selection, the search finishes. It does not loop back to the beginning. Backward: Select to search the script backward, from the location of the cursor or from the end of the script, depending on what you choose for the origin (From cursor begins where the cursor is currently located in the script, Entire scope begins from the beginning of the script or beginning of script selection).
Using Scripts Jump to Bookmarks Before you can jump to bookmarks, you must add bookmarks to specific lines in your script (see "Toggle Bookmarks" (page 200)). To jump to a bookmark: l From the editor’s pop-up menu, choose Go To Bookmark and a given bookmark number. If the bookmark you selected was displayed on a line, the cursor jumps to that line.
Using Scripts l ResultFile – base64Binary. If Success is different than 0 or the ReturnJobFile was set to False in the initial call, no file is returned. Otherwise, ResultFile contains the job file, as it existed at the completion of the PlanetPress Suite process (for instance, if the process creates a PDF and sets it as the current job file, the PDF is the file that gets returned to the calling SOAP client).
Using Scripts Description The GetProcessList function allows SOAP clients to request the list of available PlanetPress Suite processes, based on their authentication credentials. Parameters l l Username – String containing the username. Password – String containing the password. This value is case sensitive. Return Value l l l l l l GetProcessListResult - Structure containing the following information: Success – Integer indicating the system-defined Success/Error level of the operation.
Using Scripts l l TaskIndex – Integer : 1 based index of the task. TaskDepth – Integer : 1 based depth of the task. Notes l The TaskNames array will be sorted by the execution order of the process with the primary input of the process having an index of 1.
Using Scripts l l l l l VariableList – Array of complex type, containing pairs of variable names and variables value. The list also contains the JobInfo variables. l VariableName – String l VariableValue – String ProcessName – String - Name of the PlanetPress Suite process. TaskIndex – Integer - 1 based index of the task where the resubmission should start. FirstPage – Integer - First page of data to process. LastPage – Integer - Last page of data to process.
Using Scripts Variable Name Description Example Usage (VBScript) "Watch.GetJobInfo" (page 210) Retrieves the content of a numbered job info (%1 to %9). Example Usage: str = Watch.getjobinfo(9) "Watch.GetVariable" (page 211) Retrieves the content of a local or global variable by name. Example Usage: str = Watch.getvariable("Varname") "Watch.ExpandString" (page 212) Retrieves the content of any Workflow string, containing any variable available to Watch, including data selections.
Using Scripts Python Watch.ShowMessage("test message") Perl $Watch->ShowMessage("test message"); Watch.ExecuteExternalProgram Calls and executes an external program through a specified command line. The program's execution will be directed by the appropriate flags specified as this method's parameters. Syntax Watch.
Using Scripts Watch.GetJobFileName Returns the complete path and file name of the job. This method is the same as PW_GetJobFileName. getjobfilename() obtains the file name of a PlanetPress Suite process. This is useful for manipulating the job file, for example to replace data within it. If your script writes to this file, the modified contents will be used by the next plugin in your process.
Using Scripts VBScript Watch.GetMetadataFileName Javascript Watch.GetMetadataFileName(); Python Watch.GetMetadataFileName() Perl $Watch->GetMetadataFileName(); Watch.InputBox Starting version 7.0, the Watch.InputBox function is deprecated and may no longer work due to changes in the way in which the Watch Service functions. This function is completely disabled in PlanetPress Suite 7.3 and higher. Prompts the user to enter a string. The string is displayed as the window caption.
Using Scripts Watch.GetJobInfo Returns job information corresponding to the specified index. Index is an integer from 1 to 9. Syntax Watch.GetJobInfo(Index: integer): string Example VBScript Dim s s = Watch.GetJobInfo(3) Watch.Log("Jobinfo 3's value is: " + s, 2) Javascript var s; Watch.GetJobInfo(3); Watch.Log("Jobinfo 3's value is: " + s, 2); Python s = Watch.GetJobInfo(3) Watch.Log("Jobinfo 3's value is: " + s, 2) Perl $s = $Watch->GetJobInfo(3); $Watch->ShowMessage("Jobinfo 3's value is: " .
Using Scripts Watch.GetVariable Returns the string value of the corresponding variable name. Note that if an undeclared variable is called using this method, an error will be generated. Syntax Watch.GetVariable(Name: String): String Example VBScript Dim s s = Watch.GetVariable("MyVariable") Watch.Log "MyVariable's value is: " + s, 2 s = Watch.GetVariable("global.MyVariable") Watch.Log "global.MyVariable's value is: " + s, 2 Javascript var s; s = Watch.GetVariable("MyVariable"); Watch.
Using Scripts Python Watch.SetVariable(MyVariable, "MyVariable Value") Watch.SetVariable(global.MyVariable, "global.MyVariable Value") Perl $Watch->SetVariable(MyVariable, "MyVariable Value"); $Watch->SetVariable(global.MyVariable, "global.MyVariable Value"); Watch.ExpandString Provides access to the emulated job file and to all variables. This function returns a string that is the expanded version of the input string. Syntax Watch.
Using Scripts Level Type Text Color in Service Console 1 Error Red 2 Warning Orange 3 Information Black 4 Debug Grey Arguments Message—A string representing the message that is logged in the log file. Note that the text of the message must use the locale encoding of the system where the PlanetPress Suite software will be running, otherwise it will be unreadable. Level—An integer between 1 and 4, specifying the severity level of the error message.
Using Scripts Python Watch.Sleep(1000) Perl $Watch->Sleep(1000); Script.ReturnValue Set this variable to 1 (true) or 0 (false) in order to return a true or false status to PlanetPress Workflow, when using your script as a conditional branch. This variable will have no effect if the script is run as an action. Example This example will always return true, as the condition is static. It is, after all, simply an example. You get the idea.
Using Scripts Stopping Execution When using a script, you may come to a point where you'd like the task to fail (raise an error) and trigger your On Error tab under certain conditions. This can be done by using the scripting language's built-in error features, described here. Note that the value or description of the error will not be available to your error process if one is used. However, when available, a description of the error message will be logged in the Watch log. VBScript In VBSCript, the Err.
Using Scripts $s = $Watch->GetJobInfo(9); if (s = "") { die "Value cannot be empty"; } else { # Do something with Job Info 9! $Watch->Log("Job Info 9's value is: " .
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