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User Guide Version: 1.7.
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User Guide Version 1.7.1 Last Revision: 2018-05-23 Objectif Lune, Inc. 2030 Pie-IX, Suite 500 Montréal, QC, Canada, H1V 2C8 +1 (514) 875-5863 www.objectiflune.com All trademarks displayed are the property of their respective owners. © Objectif Lune, Inc. 1994-2018. All rights reserved. No part of this documentation may be reproduced, transmitted or distributed outside of Objectif Lune Inc. by any means whatsoever without the express written permission of Objectif Lune Inc.
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Table of Contents Table of Contents 4 Welcome to PReS Connect 1.7.
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Impacts upon other Applications and Services Uninstallation Wizard The DataMapper Module 72 73 74 Basics What's next? Data mapping configurations Creating a new data mapping configuration Opening a data mapping configuration Saving a data mapping configuration Using the wizard for CSV files Using the wizard for databases Using the wizard for PDF/VT and AFP files Using the wizard for XML files Data mapping workflow Creating a data mapping workflow Testing the extraction workflow Data source settings Extrac
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CSV and Database Files XML File Text and PDF Files CSV and Database Files XML Files Left operand, Right operand Condition Operators Text file PDF File CSV File XML File JavaScript Toolbar Welcome Screen DataMapper Scripts API Using scripts in the DataMapper Setting boundaries using JavaScript Objects Example Example Examples Example Example Example Examples Examples Example Example Example Text XML Functions The Designer Basic Steps Features Templates 200 201 205 207 209 213 215 215 216 217 219 219 221 221
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Contexts Sections Print Creating a Print template with a Wizard Print context Print sections Pages Master Pages Media Email Designing an Email template Creating an Email template with a Wizard Email context Email templates Email header settings Email attachments Web Creating a Web template with a Wizard Web Context Web pages Forms Using Form Elements Using JavaScript Capture OnTheGo COTG Forms Creating a COTG Form Filling a COTG template Testing the template Sending the template to the Workflow tool Using C
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Element types Editing HTML Attributes Inserting an element Selecting an element Deleting an element Styling and formatting an element Barcode Boxes Business graphics COTG Elements Date Forms Form Elements Hyperlink and mailto link Images Table Text and special characters Snippets Adding a snippet to the Resources Adding a snippet to a section Creating a snippet JSON Snippets Styling and formatting Local formatting versus style sheets Layout properties Styling templates with CSS files Styling text and paragr
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Personalizing Content Variable data Conditional content Dynamic images Dynamic tables Snippets Scripts Loading data Variable Data Formatting variable data Showing content conditionally Dynamic Images Dynamic table Personalized URL Writing your own scripts Script types Creating a new script Writing a script Managing scripts Testing scripts Optimizing scripts Loading a snippet via a script Control Scripts The script flow: when scripts run Designer User Interface Dialogs Keyboard shortcuts Menus Panes Toolbars
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Examples Examples Examples Examples Examples Examples Examples Examples Examples Examples Examples Examples Example Example Example Example Example Examples Creating a table of contents Example Examples Examples Examples Examples Replace elements with a snippet Replace elements with a set of snippets Example Example Control Script API Generating output Print output Email output Web output Optimizing a template Scripts Images Generating Print output 813 814 817 819 820 821 822 823 825 825 826 827 827 828 82
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Saving Printing options in Printing Presets. Connect Printing options that cannot be changed from within the Printer Wizard.
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Connect 1.7.1 General Enhancements and Fixes Connect 1.7.1 Designer Enhancements and Fixes Connect 1.7.1 DataMapping Enhancements and Fixes Connect 1.7.1 Output Enhancements and Fixes Workflow 8.7 Enhancements and Fixes Known Issues Previous Releases Overview OL Connect Send Connect 1.6.1 General Enhancements and Fixes Connect 1.6.1 Designer Enhancements and Fixes Connect 1.6.1 DataMapping Enhancements and Fixes Connect 1.6.1 Output Enhancements and Fixes Connect Workflow 8.
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Welcome to PReS Connect 1.7.1 Note Since we are always looking for new ways to make your life easier, we welcome your questions and comments about our products and documentation. Use the feedback tool at the bottom of the page or shoot us an email at doc@ca.objectiflune.com. PReS Connect is a series of four tools designed to optimize and automate customer communications management. They work together to improve the creation, distribution, interaction and maintenance of your communications.
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Note Complementary information that is not critical, but may help you better use PReS Connect. Tip Information that is useful or suggests an easier method. Warning Information that is potentially critical to using PReS Connect. Pay close attention.
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Setup And Configuration This chapter describes the PReS Connect installation and the different considerations that are important in regards to the installation and use of PReS Connect. l "System and Hardware Considerations" below l "Installation and Activation" on page 28 l "Server Configuration Settings" on page 62 l Uninstalling System and Hardware Considerations There are a variety of considerations to be aware of.
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l Microsoft Windows 8.1 l Microsoft Windows 10 (Pro and Enterprise versions only) Note Windows 8.0, Windows XP, Windows 2003 and older versions of Windows are not supported by PReS Connect. Minimum Hardware Requirements l NTFS Filesystem (FAT32 is not supported) l CPU Intel Core i7-5960X @ 3.00GHz (8 core with Hyper-Threading) l 16GB RAM l Disk Space: At least 10GB (20GB recommended) Note For tips and tricks on performance, see "Performance Considerations" on page 24.
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Note While some virtual machine environments (from VMWare and Microsoft) are supported, other virtual environments (such as Parallels, Xen and others) are not supported at this time. Terminal Server/Service PReS Connect does not support Terminal Server (or Terminal Service) environment as possible under Windows 2000, 2003 and 2008. This is to say, if Terminal Service is installed on the server where PReS Connect is located, unexpected behaviours may occur and will not be supported by Objectif Lune Inc..
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l Click on Start, Run. l Type in services.msc and click OK. l Locate the Windows Search service and double-click on it. l Change the Startup Type to Disable, and click Stop to stop the service. l Try the installation again. l Once completely, you may re-enable the service and start it. Commandline switches and .ini entries PReS Connect is intended to work stably and reliably, based on Java and the Eclipse framework.
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available. l l max_allowed_packet = 500M : In some implementations, especially when using Capture OnTheGo, large packet sizes are required to allow transferring binary files. This substantial packet size maximum setting ensures that the data received by PReS Connect will be able to be stored within the database. character-set-server = utf8 , collation-server = utf8_unicode_ci , default-characterset=utf8 : These indicate database support for UTF-8/Unicode.
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Installing Connect using an existing Microsoft SQL Server instance If Microsoft SQL Server is already present and you wish to use it, the following should be taken into consideration: Warning If you chose not to install the supplied MySQL database, and instead opt for using a preexisting (External) database then you yourself must ensure that the External database is accessible to Connect. Objectif Lune Inc. will take no responsibility for database connections to any but the supplied MySQL database.
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l On Update from 1.4.2 or earlier, the DB Configuration Page will always default to MySQL connection settings, and if the installation was manually tweaked to connect to MS SQL Server, the user has to switch to "Microsoft SQL Server" type and enter connection details again. When modifying Connect l l If local MySQL is removed from an installation, the DB Configuration page will offer additionally the Microsoft SQL Server db type with respective default values.
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7. After the dependency has been removed, it is possible to stop the supplied MySQL service (OLConnect_MySQL). Warning If a Connect 1.5 user wants to use Microsoft SQL instead of MySQL for the Connect Server, there are several points to be taken care of: l l IF there should possibly be available some foreign MySQL instance, which could be used intermediately, then this should be selected during the setup. This ensures, that no stuff gets installed.
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external MySQL was configured as database), then the Update to 1.6 will allow to select either external MySQL or external Microsoft SQL on the DB Configuration Page. Network considerations The following should be taken into consideration in regards to network settings and communications l If a local proxy is configured (in the Internet Explorer Options dialog), the option Bypass proxy server for local addresses must be checked, or some features depending on local communication will not work.
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l Issues can sometimes be encountered in menus and templates when running PReS Connect on a non-English operating system. These are due to encoding issues and will be addressed in a later release. Performance Considerations This page is a comprehensive guide to getting the most performance out of PReS Connect as well as a rough guideline to indicate when it's best to upgrade.
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For each engine, it's necessary to modify the .ini file that controls its JAVA arguments. Edit as follows: l l l l For the Merge Engine: see C:\Program Files\Objectif Lune\OL Connect\MergeEngine\Mergeengine.ini For the Weaver Engine: see C:\Program Files\Objectif Lune\OL Connect\weaverengine\Weaverengine.ini The parameters are -Xms640m for the minimum RAM size, -Xmx640m for the maximum RAM size. Explaining Java arguments is beyond the scope of this document.
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Hardware configuration When processing speed is important, the following is suggested before looking into Performance Packs to enhance performance. l l l l l l Consider using a physical machine instead of a virtual machine. When running on a Virtual Machine, the machine may report that it has sufficient hardware (cores) available, but in a virtual environment you need to make sure that this hardware is not being shared with lots of other virtual machines.
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IT managers and IT professionals then may decide the anti-virus strategy to follow for their internal requirements and needs depending on the statements outlined herein. Directories and folders Main installation folder All Connect applications are installed under an arbitrarily selectable main folder. We will speak of the "Installation Target" in the following. This installation target will hold the executables and required files and folders for the operation of the whole product suite.
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the responsible person for the computer protection has to decide about the monitoring of such temporary folders following the company guidelines. Database 2 Another database instance for Connect will be hold and used under the folder, which is intended to hold data, accessible by and for all users. The path to this folder is stored in the standardized system variable %PROGRAMDATA%. The Connect database instance is located in the subfolder "Connect\MySQL".
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Installation - important information For important information about the Installation, including requirements and best practices, please see the following topics: l Installation Prerequisites l User accounts and security l The importance of User Credentials when installing and running Connect l Migrating to a new computer Installation - "How to" guides For information on how to conduct the installation itself, chose from the following topics: l Installation l Silent Installation l Installation
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Users of Connect 1.1 In order for users of PReS Connect 1.1 to upgrade to any later version through the Update Manager it is necessary to install a later version (1.1.8 or later) of the Objectif Lune Update Client. If you do not have such a version installed already, the next time you run your Update Client it will show that there is an update available of itself to Version 1.1.8 (or later). Simply click on the download button in the dialog to install the new version of the Update Client.
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l l l l In Windows, open the Control Panel, Administrative Tools, then Services (this may depend on your operating system). Locate the service called Serverengine_UUID , where UUID is a series of characters that depend on the machine where the software is installed. Right-click on the service and select Properties. In the Connection tab, define the account name and password that the service should use. This can be a local account on the computer or an account on a Windows Domain.
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restrictions and policies, which will block one or more of these capabilities. In such cases, the respective network administrator should provide a valid user account for the installation. User Account The user account shall be used to later RUN one of the Connect Server flavors (Server or Server Extension). This dedicated user account has to be entered on the respective installer dialog page and must be allowed to START, STOP and RUN services on this machine.
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Server (Extension) Configuration Tool This component needs to access the settings of the Server. As these are stored and read by the Server, it should be clear that the user used to run the Configuration tool should be the same as the Server Service user as explained above. Installing PReS Connect on Machines without Internet Access Installing PReS Connect1.7.1 in offline mode requires some extra steps. These are listed below. GoDaddy Root Certificate Authority needs to be installed.
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methods. One of these checks, done during the installation process, uses the Windows certificate validation check. . The Windows certificate validation process not only checks the integrity of a file against its signature, but also usually checks if the certificate itself is still valid. That check is done against the current Certificate Revocation List (CRL), which needs to be retrieved from the internet.
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Please refer to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=21 for more details on how to install Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, if this is not already done. Note If the same version of PReS Connect is already installed on the target machine, you will be presented with options to either Uninstall or Modify the existing instance. If Modify is selected, the standard installation Wizard sequence will be followed, but with all options from the existing installation selected.
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option is not selected. Warning If you chose not to install the supplied MySQL database, and instead opt for using a pre-existing External database then you must ensure that your External database is accessible to Connect, yourself. Objectif Lune Inc. will take no responsibility for database connections to any but the supplied MySQL database. See "Database Considerations" on page 18 for more information about setting up External databases.
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l l l l Disk space required: Displays the amount of space required on the disk by the selected components. Disk space available on drive: Displays the amount of space available for installation on the drive currently in the Installation Path. Recalculate disk space: Click to re-check available disk space. This is useful if space has been made available for the installation while the installer was open. Source repository location: Displays the path where the installation files are located.
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Note When updating from an earlier Connect version, the appropriate MySQL password must be entered or the update will fail. If the password is subsequently forgotten, then the MySQL product must be uninstalled and its database deleted from disk before attempting to reinstall. l l Confirm 'root' Password: Re-enter to confirm the password. Both passwords must match for installation to continue. TCP/IP Port Number: The port on which MySQL will expect, and respond to, requests.
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external requests. Configuring External Database Connection The Database Connection page appears if the supplied MySQL Product module was not selected for installation. This page is for setting up the connection to the existing External database. l l l l l l l Database Configuration: Select the database type to use for the PReS Connect Engine. Currently only MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server are supported. Administrator Username: Enter the username for a user with administrative rights on the database.
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PReS Connect Server/Server Extension Configuration The Server Configuration page is where either the Connect Server or Connect Server Extension component is configured, depending upon whether the Connect Server or Connect Server Extension option was selected as part of the installation. The Connect Server settings are as follows:. l Run Server as: Defines the machine username and password that thePReS Connect Server module's service uses.
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Note Before installing the software, make sure that both TCP/IP ports 3306 and 9340 are open on the Connect Master Server and Connect Extension Server, in both the Inbound and Outbound Firewall Rules. Access within the Private and Domain profiles is sufficient.
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Note There is no requirement for the Master and Extension servers to belong to the same IP subnet. IP subnetting is beyond the scope of this documentation, but more information can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subnetwork l l l Port: Enter the port to use to communicate with the Connect Server. The Connect Server controlled by the OLConnect_Server service communicates through port 9340 by default.
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application, it will be updated to the latest version and will retain the settings previously specified. Select the desired options and then click OK to query the server and obtain a list of any updates that are available for your software. l l Note that the Product Update Manager can also be called from the “Objectif Lune Update Client” option in the Start menu. It can be uninstalled via Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features.
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l Comment Lines, starting with # (e.g. # The options to configure an external database) l Key = Value pairs (e.g. install.product.0 = Connect Designer) For supported keys, please refer to the next paragraph. Note install.properties file notation must follow commons configuration rules. Please refer to Properties files for more details. Required and optional properties Required properties depend on the specified product. Only fields related to that specified product must be entered.
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Verbose logging (optional) By default, the Silent Installer will log the same way as the GUI installer. That means logging of error and warnings, and certain information during database configuration. A more verbose logging can be switched on by using logging.verbose = true. Product selection (optional) By default, if nothing is entered for the products to be installed (install.product.
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server.master.username = server.master.password = Database configuration Case 1: MySQL is among the selected Connect products to be installed (new MySQL installation) If MySQL is selected and there is no previous MySQL configuration on the machine, the following properties should be defined: database.password = (required and must meet the rules) database.port = (3306 is the default port value) database.
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Case 2: The Connect Server or the Connect Server Extension is selected and the MySQL Product is not selected In this case, an external database must be configured for the Server (and other Connect products included in the Silent installation) to be used. 2a: Configuring an external MySQL database To configure an external MySQL database, the following properties should be defined: database.type = mysql (required) database.host = (default value is localhost, otherwise required) database.
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Repository selection The Connect installation process requires a repository from which the installer copies (locally) or downloads (online installation) all selected Connect products. In Silent Installer mode, the installation process looks for the property product.repository in the install.properties file and then proceeds with the following steps: 1. If the property exists, and its value contains an existing file location with a repository, the installer will attempt to install from that repository. 2.
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l en-US (English, US) l de-DE (German, Germany) l fr-FR (French, France) l ja-JP (Japanese, Japan) l zh-CN (Chinese, China) l zh-HK (Chinese, Hongkong) l zh-MO (Chinese, Macau) l zh-TW (Chinese, Taiwan) l it-IT (Italian, Italy) l pt-BR (Portuguese, Brazil) l es-419 (Spanish, Latin America) Locale selection by defining user.language and user.country If both user.language and user.country are defined in the install.
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1. If the System Locale is in the list of supported Locales, it will be selected. 2. Otherwise, if there is an entry in the list of supported Locales, which matches the System language, it will be selected (e.g. on a fr-CA system, fr-FR is selected). 3. As last resort, the first Locale in the preinstall.ini is selected (usually that should be enUS). Getting the exit code of a silent installation If getting the exit code of a silent installation is desirable, use the following procedure. 1.
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Sample batch file @echo off preinstall.exe if errorlevel 10 goto err_installer if errorlevel 2 goto err_unknown if errorlevel 1 goto err_preinstall echo Success goto:eof :err_installer echo "Installer error - see OL_Install_.log" goto:eof :err_unknown echo "Unknown preinstall error - see preinstall_err.log" goto:eof :err_preinstall echo "Preinstall error - see preinstall_err.
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l Open the Start Menu l Click on All Programs, then Objectif Lune, then PReS Connect l Open the PReS Connect Designer [version] shortcut. l When the application opens, if it has never been activated or the activation has expired, the Software Activation dialog appears: l License Information subsection: l l l l l l l l l l Name: Displays the name of the application or module relevant to this activation.
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Note The Software Activation dialog can also be reached through a shortcut located in All Programs, then Objectif Lune, then PReS Connect and is named Software Activation. Since it does not load the software, it is faster to access for the initial activation.
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Activating PReS Connect To activate PReS Connect, simply save the license file somewhere on your computer where you can easily find it, such as on your desktop. You can then load the license by doubleclicking on it, or through the start menu: l Open the Start Menu l Click on All Programs, then Objectif Lune, then PReS Connect l Open the PReS Connect Designer [version] shortcut. The “PReS Connect Software Activation” tool displays information about the license and the End-User License Agreement (EULA).
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l Environment Considerations l Installation Pre-Requisites l Antivirus Exclusions Downloading and Installing the Software In order to migrate to a new workstation, the software must already be installed on the new workstation. Follow the Installation and Activation Guide to download and install the newest version of PReS Connect on the new workstation. If using Clustering, please read the Server Clustering page of this documentation for more details relevant to the installation.
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PlanetPress Workflow 8 folder directly, it's important to delete any file with the .ps7 extension so as to refresh the postscript file for the new workstation. l l l l l l l l l The Workflow configuration file itself is named ppwatch.cfg, and is backed up with the folders. However, it needs to be re-sent to the Service to be used. To do this, rename the file to .OL-Workflow, open the file with the Workflow tool, and send the configuration. Locate Custom Plugins (.
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l l If required, grant permissions to other machines (Designer clients and other servers) to send documents and jobs to the new server.
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Other Resources l l l l OL Connect Designer Templates , Data Mapper or Package files, copied from the folder where they reside. All Postscript, TrueType, Open Type and other host based fonts used in templates must be reinstalled on the new workstation. Import all dynamic images and make sure their paths match those in the old server. Make sure the new workstation can also access network or remote images, JavaScript, CSS, JSON, and HTML resources referenced in the Connect templates.
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the Workflow button on top left corner and clicking on Preferences, then reconfigure the PlanetPress Capture options under Behavior >PlanetPress Capture > Use ODBC Database l Start the Messenger 8 service on new server from the Workflow menu bar > Tools > Service Console > Messenger > right-click and select Start. OL Connect Send • Re-install OL Connect Send on the new Workstation.
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l l C:\Program Files\Objectif Lune\OL Connect\weaverengine\weaverengine.ini Now start the OLConnect_Server service Configuring the Server Extensions In the case where the OLConnect MySQL is installed on the new Master Server, it is important to reconnect all Server Extension systems to the new Master Server.
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To apply the license file received from the Activation Team: l Start the PReS Connect, PlanetPress Connect or PrintShopMail Connect Software Activation module: C:\Program Files\Objectif Lune\OL Connect\Connect Software Activation\ SoftwareActivation.exe l Click on Load License File to import the license.OLConnectLicense l Start the Software Activation module on the Extension servers, where applicable l Click on Load License File to import the above same license.
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PReS Workflow 8 can be installed in parallel on the same machine as an existing PlanetPress® Suite 7.x installation. Note however: l l l l l If both versions need to be hosted on the same machine, PReS Workflow 8 must always be installed after the legacy PlanetPress® Suite 7.x installation. When uninstalling PReS Workflow 8, you may be prompted to repair your legacy PlanetPress® Suite 7.x installation.
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The "Connect Server Configuration" dialog is separated into individual pages, where each page controls certain aspects of the software. The following pages are available: l "Clean-up Service preferences" on page 611 l "Database Connection preferences" on page 615 l "Language Setting Preferences" on page 624 l Scheduling - These entries differ between the Server Extension (Slave) and main Server module (Master or Standalone) installations.
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l l l l The number of instances to use is determined based on whether the operation is small, medium or large If there is a reserved instance for that type of command available then it will use a reserved instance If no reserved instances are available then any unreserved instance that is available will be used If no instances are available then the command will be blocked until an appropriate instance becomes available Technical For more information on instances and performance, see Performance Consid
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Email and Web output is generated only with the Merge Engine and thus their output speed is limited through this engine. However, the output speed of Print jobs is limited through the Weaver Engine, so when Print Content is generated through the Merge Engine, its speed is not limited. Additionally, you may launch up to 256 engines for Print Content generation, but Email and Web may only use the number of engines permitted by your license.
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l l l l l l Small job speed unit reservations: Enter a number of speed units reserved for small print jobs. Medium job speed unit reservations: Enter a number of speed units reserved for medium print jobs. Large job speed unit reservations: Enter a number of speed units reserved for large print jobs. Email speed unit reservations: Enter a number of speed units reserved for Email jobs. Web speed unit reservations: Enter a number of speed units reserved for Web jobs.
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l l l l l l l l l Use one internal engine: Check to limit to a single instance of the server. Useful for computers that run below the recommended System requirements, or demo machines. Total Engines Available: Read-only box indicating the current number of engines that are active or available. On the main Server of a cluster, this includes all engines in the cluster (Server Extensions). Local Engines Launched: Enter the total number of Weaver Engines desired on this server.
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l l l Small job limit: Enter the maximum number of speed units that can run small print jobs. Medium job limit: Enter the maximum number of speed units that can run medium print jobs. Large job limit: Enter the maximum number of speed units that can run large print jobs. Server Extension Scheduling Preferences The Server Extension Scheduling Preferences define the PReS Connect Server Extension (Slave) connection settings to the main PReS Connect Server module (the Master Server).
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the Installation Wizard, while the Slave Server is setup by installing the PReS Connect Server Extension module instead. Quick Howto 1. Install the Master server (PReS Connect Server module), making sure to select the MySQL module. 2. Set the appropriate bindings in MySQL's my.ini file on the Master server. 3. Grant access to the MySQL root user for the appropriate IP range on the Master server. 4. Restart the MySQL Service on the Master server. 5.
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l l Once the changes have been made and saved you need to restart the MySQL services. Access must be granted to the root user on the IPs from which the Slave server will connect: l l l Open a Command Prompt in the following folder: C:\Program Files\Objectif Lune\OL Connect\MySQL Product\MySQL\bin (tip: navigate to the folder, SHIFT+Right-click and select "Open a command prompt here!).
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l l l If the number of expected remote engines is lower than the actual number, performance will not be optimal. If the number of expected remote engines is higher than the actual number, jobs may fail and not complete. Clean-up Service requires special configuration on Clustering setups: l l Clean-up service should not run simultaneously on all machines (staggered cleanup). Doing so may cause jobs not to be processed since all servers are busy.
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l Default session length (min): Enter a session time (in minutes) that the authentication stays valid for the requested process. This can reduce the number of requests to the server since an authentication request is not necessary during the session. Uninstalling This topic provides some important information about uninstalling (removing) PReS Connect1.7.1. To uninstall PReS Connect select the application from within the Add/Remove programs option under the Control Panel.
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Uninstallation Wizard The uninstallation is done by running the PReS Connect Setup Wizard in uninstall mode. The Wizard consists of the following pages: 1. PReS Connect Setup: An information page, listing what will be uninstalled, and also warning about impacts upon running Applications and Services. 2. Data Management: A page that provides options for backing up or deleting Connect data.
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The DataMapper Module The DataMapper is the tool to create a data mapping configuration. A data mapping configuration file contains the information necessary for data mapping: the settings to read the source file (Delimiter and Boundary settings), the data mapping workflow with its extraction instructions ('Steps'), the Data Model and any imported data samples.
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2. Configure settings for the data source. The data source can be a file (CSV, PDF, TXT, XML) or a particular database. Configure how the data source is read by the DataMapper and create a record structure. See "Data source settings" on page 88. 3. Build the data mapping workflow. A data mapping workflow always starts with the Preprocessor step and ends with the Postprocessor step. You can add as many steps as you like and edit the Data Model of the extracted data as required.
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preview a template with data instead of field names. It is also possible to generate output of a data mapping configuration directly from the Designer (see "Generating output" on page 857). Creating a new data mapping configuration A new data mapping configuration can be made with or without a wizard. When you open a data file with a DataMapper wizard, the wizard automatically detects a number of settings. You can adjust these settings.
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3. Click Next. 4. Click the Browse button and open the file you want to work with. 5. Click Finish. Note PCL and PostScript (PS) files are automatically converted to PDF format. When used in a production environment (a Connect Workflow process) this may influence the processing speed, depending on the available processing power. After opening the file, you have to make settings for the input data (see "Data source settings" on page 88). Then you can start building the data extraction workflow.
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The steps to take with the wizard depend on the file type. See: l "Using the wizard for CSV files" on page 80 l "Using the wizard for databases" on page 81 l "Using the wizard for PDF/VT and AFP files" on page 84 l "Using the wizard for XML files" on page 85 Generating a counter Instead of creating a data mapping configuration for a certain type of data file, you may create a data mapping configuration that only contains a series of sequential numbers.
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l l l l l l Increment Value: The value by which to increment the counter for each record. For example, an increment value of 3 and starting value of 1 would give the counter values of 1, 4, 7, 10, [...] Number of records: The total number of counter records to generate. This is not the end value but rather the total number of actual records to generate. Padding character: Which character to add if the counter's value is smaller than the width. Width: The number of digits the counter will have.
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Using the wizard for CSV files The DataMapper wizard for CSV files helps you create a data mapping configuration for a CSV file. The wizard automatically detects delimiters and extracts all data in one extraction step. The wizard interprets each line in the file as a record. If your data file contains transactional data, you will probably want more lines to go in one record and put the transactional data in detail tables. The wizard cannot create detail tables.
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The wizard will then display the different settings it has detected, allowing you to change them: l Encoding: Defines which encoding is used to read the file. l Separator: Defines which character separates each field in the file. l Comment Delimiter: Defines which character starts a comment line. l l l Text Delimiter: Defines which character surrounds text fields in the file. Separators and comment delimiters within text are not interpreted as separator or delimiter; they are seen as text.
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4. Use the drop-down to select the database type. 5. Click Next. l From the File menu 1. In the menu, click File > New. 2. Click the Data mapping Wizards drop-down and select From databases. 3. Click Next. 4. Use the drop-down to select the database type. 5. Click Next. Wizard settings for a database file After opening a database file with a wizard there are a number of settings to make, depending on the database type (see below).
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Microsoft Access l l l Password: Enter a password if one is required. Table name: The selected database is a set of related tables composed of rows and columns corresponding respectively to source records and fields. Select a table from which you want to extract data. Encoding: Choose the correct encoding to read the file. ODBC Data Source l l ODBC Source: Use the drop-down to select an ODBC System Data Source.
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l l l l l Database name: Enter the exact name of the database from where the data should be extracted. User name: Enter a user name that has access to the server and specified database. The user only requires Read access to the database. Password: Enter the password that matches the user name above. Advanced mode: Check to enable the Connection String field to manually enter the database connection string. Connection string: Type or copy in your connection string.
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4. Click the Browse button and open the PDF/VT file you want to work with. Click Next. l From the File menu 1. In the menu, click File > New. 2. Click the Data mapping Wizards drop-down and select From PDF/VT or AFP. 3. Click Next. 4. Click the Browse button and open the PDF/VT file you want to work with. Click Next. After selecting the file, select the following options in the Metadata page: l l Metadata record levels: Use the drop-down to select what level in the metadata defines a record.
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l From the Welcome screen 1. Open the PReS ConnectWelcome page by clicking the select the Help menu and then Welcome. icon at the top right or 2. Click Create a New Configuration. 3. From the Using a wizard pane, select XML. 4. Click the Browse button and open the XML file you want to work with. Click Next. l From the File menu 1. In the menu, click File > New. 2. Click the Data mapping Wizards drop-down and select From XML File. 3. Click Next. 4.
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determined in the Data Model (see "The Data Model" on page 121). Together with the data source settings, the Data Model, and the sample data, this is what makes a data mapping configuration (See "Data mapping configurations" on page 75). The data mapping workflow is shown on the Steps pane at the left (see "Steps pane" on page 183). Creating a data mapping workflow A data mapping workflow always starts with the Preprocessor step and ends with the Postprocessor step.
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Rearranging steps To rearrange steps, simply drag & drop them somewhere else on the dotted line in the Steps pane. Alternatively you can right-click on a step and select Cut Step or use the Cut button in the Toolbar. If the step is Repeat or Condition, all steps under it will also be placed in the clipboard. To place the step at its destination, right-click the step in the position before the desired location and click Paste Step, or use the Paste button in the toolbar.
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l l l Input Data settings help the DataMapper read the data source and recognize data correctly. Boundaries mark the start of a new record. They let you organize the data, depending on how you want to use them. Data format settings define how dates, times and numbers are formatted in the data source. Input data settings (Delimiters) The Input Data settings (on the Settings pane at the left) specify how the input data must be interpreted. These settings are different for each data type.
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supports. For an explanation of all the options, see: "Database Input Data settings" on page 174. For a text file Because text files have many different shapes and sizes, there are a lot of input data settings for these files. You can add or remove characters in lines if it has a header you want to get rid of, or strange characters at the beginning of your file, for example; you can set a line width if you are still working with old line printer data; etc. It is important that pages are defined properly.
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page in a PDF file. It can also be something in the data that is either static (for example, the text "Page 1 of" in a PDF file) or changing (a customer ID, a user name, etc). To define a more complex trigger you could write a script (see "Setting boundaries using JavaScript" on page 229). A new record cannot start in the middle of a data field, so if the trigger is something in the data, the boundary will be set on the nearest preceding natural delimiter.
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source. They don't determine how these data are formatted in the Data Model or in a template. In the Data Model, data are converted to the native data type. Dates, for example, are converted to a DateTime object in the Data Model, and will always be shown as "year-month-day" plus the time stamp, for example: 2012-04-11 12.00 AM.
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Note For optimization purposes, it is better to add data to an existing Extract step than to have a succession of extraction steps. To do that, select that step on the Steps pane first; then right-click on the selected data and choose Add Extract Field. l Alternatively, drag & drop the selected fields into the Data Model pane. Tip In a PDF or Text file, use the Drag icon Data Model.
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Note Fields cannot be used twice in one extraction workflow. Different Extract steps can only write extracted data to the same field in the Data Model, if: l l l The field name is the same. (See: "Renaming and ordering fields" on page 127.) The Extract steps are mutually exclusive. This is the case when they are located in different branches of a Condition step or Multiple Conditions step. The option Append values to current record is checked in the Step properties pane under Extraction Definition.
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When data are dropped on the Data Model, they are by default added to the last added Extract step. Editing fields After extracting some data, you may want to: l Change the names of fields that are included in the extraction. l Change the order in which fields are extracted. l Set the data type, data format and default value of each field. l Modify the extracted data through a script. l Delete a field.
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Data selections are used to extract promotional data ("Extracting data" on page 92), transactional data ("Extracting transactional data" on the next page) and to apply a condition to an extraction (Condition step). Right-clicking on a data selection displays a contextual menu with the actions that can be done with that selection or the steps that can be added to them. That menu also displays the keyboard shortcuts.
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XML File XML data is displayed as a tree view inside the Data Viewer. To get a better overview you can also collapse any XML level. In this tree view you can select nodes just like files in the Windows Explorer: keep the Ctrl button pressed down while clicking on nodes to select or deselect them, or keep the Shift button pressed down to select consecutive nodes. You can select multiple fields even if those fields are in different nodes.
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Detail tables are created when an Extract step is added within a Repeat step. The Repeat step goes through a number of lines or nodes. An Extract step within that loop extracts data from each line or node. It depends on the type of source data how this loop is constructed exactly. For more information about detail tables, multiple detail tables and nested detail tables, see "Example " on page 166. From a CSV file or a Database The transactional data (also called line items) appear in multiple rows.
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1. Select a field in the column that contains the first line item information. 2. Right-click this data selection and select Add Repeat. This adds a Repeat step with a GoTo step inside it. The GoTo step moves the cursor down to the next line, until there are no more lines (see "Goto step" on page 116). 3. (Optional.) Add an empty detail table via the Data Model pane: right-click the Data Model and select Add a table. Give the detail table a name. 4. Select the Repeat step on the Steps pane. 5.
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From an XML file The transactional data appears in repeated elements. 1. Right-click one of the repeating elements and select Add Repeat. This adds a Repeat step to the data mapping configuration.
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elements is extracted. You can see this on the Step properties pane, as long as the Repeat step is selected on the Steps pane. In the Collection field, you will find the corresponding node path. The Goto step isn't used in XML extraction workflows The DataMapper moves through the file using Xpath, a path-like syntax to identify and navigate nodes in an XML document. 2. (Optional.) Add an empty detail table via the Data Model pane: right-click the Data Model and select Add a table.
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1. Add a Goto step if necessary. Make sure that the cursor is located where the extraction loop must start. By default the cursor is located at the top of the page, but previous steps may have moved it. Note that an Extract step does not move the cursor. 1. Select something in the first line item. 2. Right-click on the selection and select Add Goto. The Goto step will move the cursor to the start of the first line item. 2. Add a Repeat step where the loop must stop. 1.
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have to be included. This is done by adding a Condition step within the Repeat step. 1. Select the start of the Repeat step on the Steps pane. 2. Look for something in the data that distinguishes lines with a line item from other lines (or the other way around). Often, a "." or "," appears in prices or totals at the same place in every line item, but not on other lines. 3. Select that data, right-click on it and select Add Conditional.
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4. (Optional.) Add an empty detail table to the Data Model: right-click the Data Model and select Add a table. Give the detail table a name.
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5. Extract the data (see "Adding an extraction" on page 92). When you drag & drop data on the name of a detail table in the Data Model pane, the data are added to that detail table. Dropping the data somewhere else on the Data Model pane, or using the contextual menu in the Data Viewer, creates a new detail table, with a default name that you can change later on (see "Renaming a detail table" on page 163).
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Note In a PDF or Text file, pieces of data often have a variable size: a product description, for example, may be short and fit on one line, or be long and cover two lines. To learn how to handle this, see "Extracting data of variable length" on the facing page. 6. Extract the sum or totals. If the record contains sums or totals at the end of the line items list, the end of the Repeat step is a good place to add an Extract step for these data.
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Extracting data of variable length In PDF and Text files, transactional data isn't structured uniformly, as in a CSV, database or XML file. Data can be located anywhere on a page. Therefore, data are extracted from a certain region on the page. The data can be spread over multiple lines and multiple pages, however: l l Line items may continue on the next page, separated from the line items on the first page by a line break, a number of empty lines and a letterhead.
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l l l The field name is the same. (See: "Renaming and ordering fields" on page 127.) The Extract steps are mutually exclusive. This is the case when they are located in different branches of a Condition step or Multiple Conditions step. The option Append values to current record is checked in the Step properties pane under Extraction Definition.
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Using a script A script could also provide a solution when data needs to be extracted from a variable region. This requires using a Javascript-based field.
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1. Add a field to an Extract step, preferably by extracting data from one of the possible regions; see "Extracting data" on page 92. To add a field without extracting data, see "Adding a JavaScript-based field" on page 126. 2. On the Step properties pane, under Field Definition, select the field and change its Mode to Javascript. If the field was created with its Mode set to Location, you will see that the script already contains one line of code to extract data from the original location. 3.
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The Preprocessor and Postprocessor steps are special in that the first can be used to modify the incoming data prior to executing the rest of the extraction workflow while the latter can be used to further process the resulting record set after the entire extraction workflow has been executed.
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To set the value of a property you can use an Action step (see "Action step" on page 119). Preprocessors The Preprocessor step can contain any number of preprocessors. They will be run in sequence before the data is sent to the Data Mapping workflow. To add a preprocessor: 1. Select the Preprocessor step on the Steps pane. 2. On the Step properties pane, under Preprocessor, click the Add button . 3. Under Preprocessor definition, add the script.
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Configuring the Preprocessor step For an explanation of the settings for preprocessors, see: "Preprocessor step properties" on page 185. Extract step The Extract step is essential in each and every data mapping configuration. It extracts data from the data source, based on their location (a row and column in CSV or tabular data, an XPath in XML, or a region of the page in PDF and Text) or on a JavaScript. The data is placed in the record set that is the result of the extraction workflow.
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l The option Append values to current record is checked in the Step properties pane under Extraction Definition. Repeat step The Repeat step is a loop that may run 0 or more times, depending on the condition specified. It is used for the extraction of transactional data; see "Extracting transactional data" on page 97. Repeat steps do not automatically move the pointer in the source file.
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Goto step Although invisible, there is a cursor in the Data Viewer. In an extraction workflow, the cursor starts off at the top-left corner of each record in the source data. The Goto step can move the cursor to a certain location in the current record. The new location can be relative to the top of the record or to the current position. When the Goto step is used within a Repeat step, it moves the cursor in each loop of the Repeat step.
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In the Data Viewer pane, icons on the left indicate the result of the evaluation in the Condition step: when true and when false. Adding a Condition step To add a Condition step: l On the Steps pane, select the step after which to insert the Condition step; then, in the Data Viewer, select some data, right-click that data and choose Add Conditional.
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Rules are by default combined with AND. To change the way rules are combined, right-click "AND" in the Rule Tree, on the Step properties pane, and select OR or XOR instead. (XOR means one or the other, but not both.) Renaming a rule To rename a rule, double-click its name in the Rule Tree and type a new name. Multiple Conditions step The Multiple Conditions step is useful to avoid the use of nested Condition steps: Condition steps inside other Condition steps.
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Adding a Multiple Conditions step To add a Multiple Conditions step, right-click the Steps pane and select Add a Step > Add Multiple Conditions. To add a case, click the Add case button to the right of the Condition field in the Step properties pane. Configuring a Multiple Conditions step For information about how to configure the Multiple Conditions step, see "Left operand, Right operand" on page 213. The settings for a Case are the same as for a Condition step; see "Condition step properties" on page 210.
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l l l Execute JavaScript code. Set the value for a record property. Record properties are defined in the Preprocessor step; see "Preprocessor step" on page 112. Stop the processing of the current record. Normally an extraction workflow is automatically executed on all records in the source data. By stopping the processing of the current record, you can filter records or skip records partially. The Action step can run multiple specific actions one after the other in order.
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Configuring the Postprocessor step For an explanation of the settings for postprocessors, see "JavaScript " on page 221. The Data Model The Data Model is the structure of records into which extracted data are stored. It contains the names and types of the fields in a record and in its detail tables. A detail table is a field that contains a record set instead of a single value.
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pane, filled with data from the current record. The Data Model is not related to the type of data source: whether it is XML, CSV, PDF, Text or a database does not matter. The Data Model is a new structure, designed to contain only the required data. About records A record is a block of information that may be merged with a template to generate a single document (invoice, email, web page...) for a single recipient. It is part of the record set that is generated by a data mapping configuration.
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Importing/exporting a Data Model To use a Data Model in another data mapping configuration, or to use it in a Designer template without a data mapping configuration, you have to export that Data Model and import it into a data mapping configuration or template. Importing and exporting Data Models is done from within the Data model Pane, using the topright icons and . For information about the structure of the exported Data Model file, see "Data Model file structure" on page 146.
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Using the Data Model The Data Model is what enables you to create personalized templates in the Designer module. You can drag & drop fields from the Data Model into the template that you are creating (see "Variable Data" on page 530). For this, you have to have a template and a data mapping configuration open at the same time, or import a Data Model (see "Importing/exporting a Data Model" on the previous page).
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1. Use an Execute Data Mapping task or Retrieve Items task to create a record set. On the General tab select Outputs records in Metadata. 2. Add a value to a field in the Metadata using the Metadata Fields Management task. Data added to the _vger_fld_ExtraData field on the Document level will appear in the record's ExtraData field, once the records are updated from the Metadata (in the next step). Other fields have the same prefix: _vger_fld_. 3. Update the record/s from the Metadata.
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Alternatively, you can add fields and detail tables directly in the Data Model pane. Right-click anywhere on the Data Model and a contextual menu will appear. Which menu items are available depends on where you've clicked. If you right-click inside the record itself, you can add a field or a detail table. A field will be added at the end with no extraction, while a detail table will be added with no fields inside. After adding a field or detail table this way, you can drag & drop data into it.
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By changing a field's mode Alternatively you can change a location-based into a JavaScript-based field. 1. Select the field in the Data Model. 2. On the Step properties pane, under Field Definition, change its Mode to JavaScript. 3. Enter the script in the Expression field. Adding fields dynamically Outside of the DataMapper the Data Model cannot be changed. It isn't possible to add fields to it when using the data mapping configuration in Workflow.
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Note Remember that fields cannot have the same name, unless they are on a different level in the record. Setting the data type Fields store extracted data as a String by default. The data type of a field can be changed via the properties of the Extract step that the field belongs to. 1. Select the Extract step that contains the field. You can do this by clicking on the field in the Data Model, or on the step in the Steps pane that contains the field. 2.
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field. Post function On the Step properties pane, under Field Definition, you can enter a script in the Post function field to be run after the extraction. (Click the Use JavaScript Editor button to open the Script Editor dialog if you need more space.) A Post function script operates directly on the extracted data. Its results replace the extracted data. For example, the Post function script replace("-", ""); replaces the first dash character that occurs inside the extracted string.
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2. In the Step properties pane, under Field Definition, click the Remove Extract Field button next to the Field List drop-down. Detail tables A detail table is a field in the Data Model that contains a record set instead of a single value. Detail tables contain transactional data. They are created when an Extract step is added within a Repeat step; see "Extracting transactional data" on page 97. In the most basic of transactional communications, a single detail table is sufficient.
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Creating multiple detail tables Multiple detail tables are useful when more than one type of transactional data is present in the source data, for example purchases (items with a set price, quantity, item number) and services (with a price, frequency, contract end date, etc). To create more than one detail table, simply extract transactional data in different Repeat steps (see "Extracting transactional data" on page 97).
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Nested detail tables Nested detail tables are used to extract transactional data that are relative to other data. They are created just like multiple detail tables, with two differences: l l For the tables to be actually nested, the Repeat step and its Extract step that extract the nested transactional data must be located within the Repeat step that extracts data to a detail table. In their name, the dot notation (record.services) must contain one extra level (record.services.charges).
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a number of "details" such as movie rentals or long distance calls.
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The services can be extracted to a detail table called record.services. The "charges" and "details" can be extracted to two nested detail tables.
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The nested tables can be called record.services.charges and record.services.details.
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Now one "charges" table and one "details" table are created for each row in the "services" table. Data types By default the data type of extracted data is a String, but each field in the Data Model can be set to contain another data type. To do this: 1. In the Data Model, select a field. 2. On the Step properties pane, under Field Definition choose a data type from the Type drop-down. Changing the type does not only set the data type inside the record.
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l "HTMLString" on page 144 l "Integer" on page 144 l "Float" on page 143 l "Currency" on the next page l "Date" on page 140 l "Object" on page 145 Note The Object data type is only available in the DataMapper module. It can be used for properties in the Preprocessor step, but not for fields in the Data Model. Boolean Booleans are a simple true/false data type often used in conditions and comparisons.
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Boolean expressions Boolean values can also be set using an expression of which the result is true or false. This is done using operators and comparisons. Example: record.fields["isCanadian"] = (extract("Country") == "CA"); For more information on JavaScript comparison and logical operators, please see w3schools.com or developer.mozilla.org. Currency The Currency data type is a signed, numeric, fixed-point 64-bit number with 4 decimals. Values range from -922 337 203 685 477.5808 to 922 337 203 685 477.
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Building Currency values Currency values can be the result of direct attribution or mathematical operations just like Integer values (see "Integer" on page 144). Date Dates are values that represent a specific point in time, precise up to the second. They can also be referred to as datetime values. While dates are displayed using the system's regional settings, in reality they are stored unformatted.
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For the letters and patterns that you can use in a date format, see "Defining a date/time format" below. Data format settings tell the DataMapper how certain types of data are formatted in the data source. They don't determine how these data are formatted in the Data Model or in a template. In the Data Model, data are converted to the native data type.
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Note The markers that can be used when extracting dates are different from those that are used to display dates in a template (see the Designer's "Date and time patterns" on page 790). Examples of masks Value in raw data Mask to use June 25, 2013 MM dd, YYYY 06/25/13 mm/dd/yy 2013.06.25 yyyy.mm.dd 2013-06-25 07:31 PM yyyy-mm-dd hh:nn ap 2013-06-25 19:31:14.1206 yyyy-mm-dd hh:nn:ss.ms Tuesday, June 25, 2013 @ 7h31PM DD, MM dd, yyyy @ hh\hnnap Entering a date using JavaScript In several pl
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Example The following script creates a date that is the current date + 30 days: function addDays(date, days) { var result = new Date(date); result.setDate(result.getDate() + days); return result; } addDays(new Date(), 30); Float Floats are signed, numeric, floating-point numbers whose value has 15-16 significant digits. Floats are routinely used for calculations. Note that Float values can only have up to 3 decimals.
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HTMLString HTMLStrings contain textual data that includes HTML markup. They are essentially the same as String values except in cases where the HTML markup can be interpreted. Example: Assume that a field has the value He said WOW!. If the data type is String and the value is placed in a template, it will display exactly as "He said WOW!" (without the quotes). If the data type is HTMLString, it will display as "He said WOW!" (again, without the quotes).
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l Mathematical operations: Assign the result of any mathematical operation. For example: 22+51, 3*6, 10/5 or sourceRecord.property.SubTotal. For more information on mathematics in JavaScript , see w3Schools - Mathematical Operators. For more advanced mathematical functions, see w3schools - Math Object. Note When adding numbers that are not integers, for instance 4.5 + 1.2 , a round towards zero rounding is applied after the operation was made. In the previous example, the result, 5.7, is rounded to 5.
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l Extraction: l In the Data Model, select a field. On the Step properties pane, under Field Definition set the Type to String. The field value will be extracted and treated as a string. l l JavaScript Expression: Set the desired value to any string between quotes. Example: record.fields["countryOfOrigin"] = "Canada"; Building String values String values can be made up of more than just a series of characters between quotes.
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xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.objectiflune.com/connectschemas/Data ModelConfig http://www.objectiflune.com/connectschemas/DataModelConfig/1_0_0_ 3.xsd" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.
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Example: transactional details, in a simple invoice format PAGE 149
Example: nested tables (one table into another) PAGE 150
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See: l "Menus" on page 156 l "Toolbar" on page 221 l "Steps pane" on page 183 l "Step properties pane" on page 185 l "Data Model pane" on page 160 l "The Data Viewer" on page 170 l "Messages pane" on page 172 l "Settings pane" on page 173 Keyboard shortcuts This topic gives an overview of keyboard shortcuts that can be used in the DataMapper.
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Key combination Function Ctrl + N New Ctrl + O Open file Ctrl + Shift + O Open configuration file Ctrl + S Save file Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert Paste Ctrl + X Cut Ctrl + W or Ctrl + F4 Close file Ctrl + Y or Ctrl + Shift +Y Redo Ctrl + Z or Ctrl + Shift + Z Undo Ctrl + Shift + S Save all Ctrl + Shift + W or Ctrl + Shift + F4 Close all Page 152
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Key combination Function Ctrl + F5 Revert Ctrl + F7 Next view Ctrl + Shift + F7 Previous view Ctrl + F8 Next perspective Ctrl + Shift + F8 Previous perspective Ctrl + F10 Save as Ctrl + F12 Send to Workflow / Package files F4 Ignore step F6 Add an Extract step F7 Add a Goto step F8 Add a Condition step F9 Add a Repeat step F10 Add an Extract field F11 Add an Action step F12 Add a Multiple Conditions step Alt + F12 Add a Case step (under a Multiple Conditions step) Home Go
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Key combination Function End Go to the last step in the workflow Alt + V Validate records Shift + F10 or Ctrl + Shift + F10 Open context menu Viewer pane The following key combinations activate a function in the Viewer.
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Key combination Function PageDown Go to next record Alt + CR Property page Alt + PageDown Scroll down to the last field Alt + PageUp Scroll up to the first field Steps tab Key combination Function Ctrl + - Zoom out Ctrl + + Zoom in Edit Script and Expression windows The following key combinations have a special function in the Expression and in the Edit Script windows (expanded view).
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Key combination Function Ctrl + Q Comment/uncomment; this adds or deletes // before the line. Ctrl + Shift + D Delete line Shift + Tab Shift selected lines left Tab Shift selected lines right Menus The following menu items are shown in the DataMapper Module's menu: File Menu l l l l l l l l New...: Opens the Creating a New Data Mapping Configuration dialog. Open: Opens a standard File Open dialog. This dialog can be used to open Templates and data mapping configurations.
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l l Revert: Appears only in the Designer module. Reverts all changes to the state in which the file was opened or created. Add Data: Adds data either to the current data mapping configuration or to the open template. In data mapping configuration l l l l From File...: Opens the dialog to add a new data file to the currently loaded data mapping configuration. Not available if the currently loaded data mapping configuration connects to a database source. From Database...
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Data Menu l l l Hide/Show datamap: Click to show or hide the icons to the left of the Data Viewer that displays how the steps affect the line. Hide/Show extracted data: Click to show or hide the extraction selections indicating that data is extracted. This simplifies making data selections in the same areas and is useful to display the original data. Validate All Records: Runs the Steps on all records and verifies that no errors are present in any of the records.
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View Menu l Zoom In: Click to zoom in the Steps Pane. l Zoom Out: Click to zoom out the Steps Pane. Window Menu l Show View l Messages: Shows the Messages Pane. l Steps: Shows the Steps Pane. l Settings: Shows the Settings Pane. l Record: Shows the Record Pane. l l l l Detail tables : Each detail table and nested table is listed here. Click on one to show it in the Data Model Pane. Step Properties: Shows the Step Properties Pane.
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l l "The Data Viewer" on page 170. The Data Viewer shows one record in the data source. "Step properties pane" on page 185. The Step properties pane contains all settings for the step that is currently selected on the Steps pane. l "Data Model pane" below. The Data Model pane shows one extracted record. l "Messages pane" on page 172. Data Model pane The Data Model pane displays the result of all the preparations and extractions of the extraction workflow.
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l l l Default Value: Click to set the default value for a field. This value is used if no extraction is present, or if an extraction attached to this field returns no value. Collapse Fields: Collapse the fields in the selected level. Expand Fields: Clicking the icon that represents collapsed fields (for example: enables this menu item. It is used to expand the fields on one level. l Collapse All Fields: Collapse the fields on the record level and in all detail tables.
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l l l l A field name with an asterisk to the right indicates that this field is part of an imported Data Model file. A field with a grey background indicates this Data Model field does not have any attached extracted data. A field with a white background indicates that the field has attached extracted data but the step extracting the data is not currently selected. A field with a blue background indicates that the field has attached extracted data and the step extracting the data is currently selected.
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Detail tables A detail table is a field in the Data Model that contains a record set instead of a single value. Detail tables contain transactional data. They are created when an Extract step is added within a Repeat step; see "Extracting transactional data" on page 97. In the most basic of transactional communications, a single detail table is sufficient. However, it is possible to create multiple detail tables, as well as nested tables.
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To create more than one detail table, simply extract transactional data in different Repeat steps (see "Extracting transactional data" on page 97). The best way to do this is to add an empty detail table (right-click the Data Model, select Add a table and give the detail table a name) and drop the data on the name of that detail table.
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Nested detail tables Nested detail tables are used to extract transactional data that are relative to other data. They are created just like multiple detail tables, with two differences: l l For the tables to be actually nested, the Repeat step and its Extract step that extract the nested transactional data must be located within the Repeat step that extracts data to a detail table. In their name, the dot notation (record.services) must contain one extra level (record.services.charges).
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a number of "details" such as movie rentals or long distance calls.
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The services can be extracted to a detail table called record.services. The "charges" and "details" can be extracted to two nested detail tables.
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The nested tables can be called record.services.charges and record.services.details.
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Now one "charges" table and one "details" table are created for each row in the "services" table. The Data Viewer The Data Viewer is located in the middle on the upper half of the DataMapper screen. It displays the data source that is currently loaded in the DataMapper, specifically one record in that data. Where one record ends and the next starts, is set in the Data Source settings (see "Record boundaries" on page 90).
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l l l l Hide/Show line numbers the left of the Data Viewer. (Text file only): Click to show or hide the line numbers on Hide/Show datamap : Click to show or hide the icons to the left of the Data Viewer which displays how the steps affect the line. Hide/Show extracted data : Click to show or hide the extraction selections indicating that data is extracted. This simplifies making data selections in the same areas and is useful to display the original data.
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Messages pane The Messages pane is shared between the DataMapper and Designer modules and displays any warnings and errors from the data mapping configuration or template. At the top of the Message pane are control buttons: l Export Log: Click to open a Save As dialog where the log file (.log) can be saved on disk. l Clear Log Viewer: Click to remove all entries in the log viewer. l Filters: Displays the Log filter (see "Log filter" below).
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Settings pane Settings for the data source and a list of Data Samples and JavaScript files used in the current data mapping configuration, can be found on the Settings tab at the left. The available options depend on the type of data sample that is loaded. The Input Data settings (especially Delimiters) and Boundaries are essential to obtain the data and eventually, the output that you need. For more explanation, see "Data source settings" on page 88.
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l Ignore unparseable lines: Ignores any line that does not correspond to the settings above. PDF file Input Data settings PDF Files have a natural, static delimiter in the form of pages, so the options here are interpretation settings for text in the PDF file. The Input Data settings for PDF files determine how words, lines and paragraphs are detected in the PDF when creating data selections. Each value represents a fraction of the average font size of text in a data selection, meaning "0.
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l l l l l Connection String: Displays the connection string used to access the Data Source. Table: Displays the tables and stored procedures available in the database. The selected table is the one the data is extracted from. Clicking on any of the tables shows the first line of the data in that table. Encoding: Defines what encoding is used to read the Data Source ( US-ASCII, ISO8859-1, UTF-8, UTF-16, UTF-16BE or UTF-16LE ).
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l On lines: Triggers a new page in the Data Sample after a number of lines. l l l Cut on number of lines: Triggers a new page after the given number of lines. With this number set to 1, and the Boundaries set to On delimiter, it is possible to create a record for each and every line in the file. Cut on FF: Triggers a new page after a Form Feed character. On text: Triggers a new page in the Data Sample when a specific string is found in a certain location.
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instance of that node. For example, if a client node contains multiple invoice nodes, the information for the client node can be duplicated for each invoice. The DataMapper only extracts elements for which at least one value or attribute value is defined in the file. Boundaries Boundaries are the division between records: they define where one record ends and the next record begins; for an explanation see "Record boundaries" on page 90.
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l On field value: Sets a boundary on a specific field value. l l l Field name: Displays the fields in the top line. The value of the selected field is compared with the Expression below to create a new boundary. Expression: Enter the value or Regular Expression to compare the field value to. Use Regular Expression: Treats the Expression as a regular expression instead of static text. For more information on using Regular Expressions (regex), see the Regular-Expressions.info Tutorial.
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boundary can be effectively defined. For example, if a string is always found on the first and on the last page of a document, you could specify a number of occurrences of 2. This way, there is no need to inspect other items for whether it is on the first page or the last page. Having found the string two times is enough to set the boundary. l Pages before/after: Defines the boundary a certain number of pages before or after the current page.
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l l l l l l l Top/Bottom: Defines the start and end row of the data selection to compare with the text value. Entire width: Ignores the column values and compares using the whole line. Entire height: Ignores the row values and compares using the whole column. Entire page: Compares the text value on the whole page. Only available with contains, not contains, is empty and is not empty operators.
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l l Record limit: Defines how many records are displayed in the Data Viewer. This does not affect output production; when generating output, this option is ignored. To disable the limit, use the value 0 (zero). Trigger: Defines the type of rule that controls when a boundary is set, creating a new record. l On Element: Defines a new record on each new instance of the XML element selected in the Input Data settings.
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l Set as Active : Activates the selected Data Sample. The active data sample is shown in the Data Viewer after it has gone through the Preprocessor step as well as the Input Data and Boundary settings. External JS Libraries Right-clicking in the box brings up a control menu, with the same options as are available through the buttons on the right. l Add : Add a new external library. Use the standard Open dialog to browse and open the .js file. l Delete l Replace l Reload to it.
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Note Default data formats tell the DataMapper how certain types of data are formatted in the data source. They don't determine how these data are formatted in the Data Model or in a template. In the Data Model, data are converted to the native data type. Dates, for example, are converted to a DateTime object in the Data Model, and will always be shown as "year-month-day" plus the time stamp, for example: 2012-04-11 12.00 AM.
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Viewing step details Hovering over the task shows a tooltip that displays some of the details of that step. To see all details for a step, click on the step and take a look at the Step properties pane ("Step properties pane" on the next page. Clicking on any Extract step in the Steps pane highlights any area in the Data Viewer from which it extracts data. You can also click on the Preprocessor step to select all the steps in the workflow to show a complete map of all the extracted data.
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placed in the clipboard. To paste the copied step at its destination, right-click the step in the position before the desired location and select Paste Step, or use the button in the Toolbar. Step properties pane The Step Properties pane is used to adjust the properties of each step in the process. The pane is divided in a few subsections depending on the step and the data type. It always contains a subsection to name and document the selected step.
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Name: The name of the step. This name will be displayed on top of the step's icon in the Steps pane. Comments: The text entered here will be displayed in the tooltip that appears when hovering over the step in the Steps pane. Fixed Automation Properties The Fixed automation properties subsection lists all the fixed properties available from the PReS Workflow automation module. These properties are equivalent to data available within the PReS Workflow process.
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Workflow. To access this property inside of any JavaScript code within the Data Mapping Configuration, use automation.properties.ProcessName. Properties The Properties subsection is used to create specific properties that are used throughout the workflow. Properties can be accessed through some of the interface elements such as the Condition and Repeat step properties, or in scripts, through the "DataMapper Scripts API" on page 224.
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Note Entire Data Properties are evaluated before anything else, such as Preprocessors, Delimiters and Boundaries in the Settings pane (see "Data source settings" on page 88). This means these properties cannot read information from the data sample or from any records. They are mostly useful for static information such as folder locations or server addresses.
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Extraction Definition l l Data Table: Defines where the data will be placed in the extracted record. The root table is record, any other table inside the record is a detail table. For more information see "Extracting transactional data" on page 97. Append values to current record: When the Extract step is inside a loop, check this to ensure that the extraction will be done in the same detail table as any previous extractions within the same loop.
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Note If the selection contains multiple lines, only the first line is extracted. l Post Function: Enter a JavaScript expression to be run after the extraction. A Post function script operates directly on the extracted data, and its results replace the extracted data. For example, the Post function script replace("-", ""); would replace the first dash character that occurs inside the extracted string. l l Trim: Select to trim empty characters at the beginning or the end of the field.
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l Mode: Determines the origin of the data. l Location: The contents of the data selection set below will be the value of the extracted field. The data selection settings are different depending on the data sample type. l Left: Defines the start of the data selection to extract. l Right: Defines the end of the data selection to extract. l l l Top offset: The vertical offset from the current pointer location in the Data Sample (Viewer). Height: The height of the selection box.
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l JavaScript : The result of the JavaScript Expression written below the drop-down will be the value of the extracted field. If the expression contains multiple lines, the last value attribution (variable = "value";) will be the value. See DataMapper API. l l l Use JavaScript Editor: Click to display the Script Editor dialog. Use selected text: Inserts the text in the current data selection in the JavaScript Expression. If multiple lines or elements are selected, only the first one is used.
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l l Column: Drop-down listing all fields in the Data Sample, of which the value will be used. Top offset: The vertical offset from the current pointer location in the Data Sample (Viewer). l Use selection: Click to use the value of the current data selection for the extraction. Note If the selection contains multiple lines, only the first line is selected. l Post Function: Enter a JavaScript expression to be run after the extraction.
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Note If the selection contains multiple lines, only the first line is selected. l Type: The data type of the selected data; see "Data types" on page 137. Make sure that the data format that the DataMapper expects matches the actual format of the data in the data source; see "Data Format" on the next page. XML File l Field List: The Field List displays each of the single fields that are being extracted in a drop-down. Fields can be re-ordered and re-named within the Ordering and Renaming Fields dialog.
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l Post Function: Enter a JavaScript expression to be run after the extraction. For example replace("-","") would replace a single dash character inside the extracted string. l l l l Use JavaScript Editor: Click to display the Script Editor dialog. Trim: Select to trim empty characters at the beginning or the end of the field. Type: The data type of the selected data; see "Data types" on page 137.
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Note Data format settings tell the DataMapper how certain types of data are formatted in the data source. They don't determine how these data are formatted in the Data Model or in a template. In the Data Model, data are converted to the native data type. Dates, for example, are converted to a DateTime object in the Data Model, and will always be shown as "year-month-day" plus the time stamp, for example: 2012-04-11 12.00 AM.
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l Name: The name of the field. Click the field name and enter a new name to rename the field. Note If you intend to use the field names as metadata in a PReS Workflow process, do not add spaces to field names, as they are not permitted in metadata field names. l Value: Displays the value of the extract field in the current Record. l Remove button : Click to remove the currently selected field. l Move Up button : Click to move the selected field up one position.
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l Name: A name by which to refer to the action. This name has no impact on functionality. l Type: l l l Set property: Sets the value of a record property which was created in the Preprocessor step (see "Preprocessor step" on page 112). Run JavaScript : Runs a JavaScript expression, giving much more flexibility over the extraction process. Stop Processing Record: When this option is selected, the extraction workflow stops processing the current record and moves on to the next one.
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Note If the selection contains multiple lines, only the first line is selected. l l Trim: Select to trim empty characters at the beginning or the end of the field JavaScript : The result of the JavaScript Expression written below the drop-down will be the value of the extracted field. If the expression contains multiple lines, the last value attribution (variable = "value";) will be the value. See "DataMapper Scripts API" on page 224. l l l l Expression: The JavaScript expression to run.
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l l Date Language : Set the date language for a date value (ex: If English is selected, the term May will be identified as the month of May). Treat empty as 0 : A numerical empty value is treated as a 0 value. CSV and Database Files l Property: Displays a list of record properties set in the Preprocessor step (see "Preprocessor step" on page 112). l Type: Displays the type of the property. Read only field. l Based on: Determines the origin of the data.
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l l Use selected text: Inserts the text in the current data selection in the JavaScript Expression. If multiple lines or elements are selected, only the first one is used. Use selection: Click to use the value of the current data selection for the extraction. Note If the selection contains multiple lines, only the first line is selected. l Data Format: Data format settings tell the DataMapper how certain types of data are formatted in the data source.
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l XPath: The path to the XML field that is extracted. l Use selection: Click to use the value of the current data selection for the extraction. Note If the selection contains multiple lines, only the first line is selected. l l Trim: Select to trim empty characters at the beginning or the end of the field JavaScript : The result of the JavaScript Expression written below the drop-down will be the value of the extracted field.
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l Data Format: Data format settings tell the DataMapper how certain types of data are formatted in the data source. Make sure that this format matches the actual format of the data in the data source. l Negative Sign Before : A negative sign will be displayed before any negative value. l Decimal Separator : Set the decimal separator for a numerical value. l Thousand Separator : Set the thousand separator for a numerical value. l Currency Sign : Set the currency sign for a currency value.
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The properties described below become visible in the Step properties pane when the Repeat step is selected in the Steps pane. Description This subsection is collapsed by default in the interface, to give more screen space to other important parts. Name: The name of the step. This name will be displayed on top of the step's icon in the Steps pane. Comments: The text entered here will be displayed in the tooltip that appears when hovering over the step in the Steps pane.
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Rule Tree The Rule tree subsection displays the full combination rules (defined below under Condition) as a tree, which gives an overview of how the conditions work together as well as the result for each of these conditions for the current record or iteration. Condition First, the Condition List displays the conditions in list form, instead of the tree form above. Three buttons are available next to the list: l Add condition: Click to create a new condition in the list.
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extraction. l l Value: A specified static text value. l l l l l l l l Field: The Extracted Record field to use in the comparison. Expression: The JavaScript line that is evaluated. Note that the last value attribution to a variable is the one used as a result of the expression. Use JavaScript Editor: Click to display the Edit Script dialog. Use selected text: Inserts the text in the current data selection in the JavaScript Expression.
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l l l l is less than: The first specified value is smaller, numerically, than the second value for the condition to be True. is greater than: The first specified value is larger, numerically, than the second value for the condition to be True. is empty: The first specified value is empty. With this operator, there is no second value. Invert condition: Inverts the result of the condition. For instance, is empty becomes is not empty.
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l l l l l Data Property: The value of a data-level property set in the Preprocessor step. Record Property: One of the local variables that you can create and that are reset for each document as opposed to data variables that are global because they are initialized only once at the beginning of each job. Automation Property: The current value of a Document-level property set in the Preprocessor step.
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XML Files l Based On: l Position: The data in the specified position for the comparison. l l l l l l l l l l Value: The text value to use in the comparison. Use selected text: Uses the text in the current data selection as the Value. If multiple lines or elements are selected, only the first one is used. Field: The Extracted Record field to use in the comparison. JavaScript : The result of a JavaScript Expression.
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l Operators: l l l l l l is equal to: The two specified value are identical for the condition to be True. contains: The first specified value contains the second one for the condition to be True. is less than: The first specified value is smaller, numerically, than the second value for the condition to be True. is greater than: The first specified value is larger, numerically, than the second value for the condition to be True. is empty: The first specified value is empty.
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l l To rename a rule, double click on its name from the Rule tree subsection. To change the way rules are combined, right-click "AND". Select OR or XOR instead. XOR means one or the other, but not both. Condition First, the Condition List displays the conditions in list form, instead of the tree form above. Three buttons are available next to the list: l l Add condition: Click to add a new rule. This will always branch the current condition as an "AND" operator.
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l Value: A specified static text value. l l l l l l l l Expression: The JavaScript line that is evaluated. Note that the last value attribution to a variable is the one used as a result of the expression. Use JavaScript Editor: Click to display the Edit Script dialog (see "Using scripts in the DataMapper" on page 226). Use selected text: Inserts the text in the current data selection in the JavaScript Expression. If multiple lines or elements are selected, only the first one is used.
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l is greater than: The first specified value is larger, numerically, than the second value for the condition to be True. is empty: The first specified value is empty. With this operator, there is no second value. Invert condition: Inverts the result of the condition. For instance, is empty becomes is not empty. l Multiple Conditions step properties The Multiple Conditons step contains a number of Case conditions (one to start with) and a Default, to be executed when none of the other cases apply.
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l l l l l Trim: Select to trim empty characters at the beginning or the end of the field. Value: A specified static text value. Use selected text: Uses the text in the current data selection as the Value. If multiple lines or elements are selected, only the first one is used. Field: The Extracted Record field to use in the comparison. JavaScript : The result of a JavaScript Expression. l l l Value: The text value to use in the comparison.
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l Extractor Property: The value of an internal extractor variable: l l Counter: The value of the current counter iteration in a Repeat step. Vertical Position: The current vertical position on the page, either in Measure (PDF) or Line (Text and CSV). Condition The Condition drop-down displays the cases in list form. Three buttons are available next to the list: l l l Add case: Click to add a new case to the step. It will be placed next to any existing cases.
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The properties of the Goto step described in this topic become visible in the Step properties pane when you select the Goto step on the Steps pane. Description This subsection is collapsed by default in the interface, to give more screen space to other important parts. Name: The name of the step. This name will be displayed on top of the step's icon in the Steps pane. Comments: The text entered here will be displayed in the tooltip that appears when hovering over the step in the Steps pane.
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options appear below to specify in which area of each line the Gotostep checks in: l Left: The starting column, inclusively. l Right: The end column, inclusively. l l Use selection: Click while a selection is made in the Data Viewer to automatically set the left and right values to the left and right edges of the selection. Next occurrence of: Jumps to the next occurrence of specific text or a text pattern, either anywhere on the line or in specific columns.
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l Page: Jumps between pages or to a specific page. l l l From: Defines where the jump begins: l Current Position: The Gotobegins at the current cursor position. l Top of record: The Gotobegins at line 1 of the source record. Move by: Enter the number pages to jump. Next line with content: Jumps to the next line that has contents, either anywhere on the line or in specific columns.
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l Use regular expression: Check so that the Expression box is treated as a regular expression instead of static text. For more information on using Regular Expressions (regex), see the Regular-Expressions.info Tutorial. CSV File l From (CSV files): Defines where the jump begins: l Current Position: The Goto begins at the current cursor position. l l Move by: Enter the number of lines or pages to jump. Top of record: The Gotobegins at line 1 of the source record.
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The properties described below become visible in the Step properties pane when the Postprocessor step is selected in the Steps pane. Description This subsection is collapsed by default in the interface, to give more screen space to other important parts. Name: The name of the step. This name will be displayed on top of the step's icon in the Steps pane. Comments: The text entered here will be displayed in the tooltip that appears when hovering over the step in the Steps pane.
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Postprocessor definition JavaScript l l l Expression: The JavaScript expression that will run on the Data Sample. See "DataMapper Scripts API" on page 224. Use JavaScript Editor: Click to display the Script Editor dialog. Use selected text: Uses the text in the current data selection as the Value. If multiple lines or elements are selected, only the first one is used. Toolbar In the DataMapper module, the following buttons are available in the top toolbar.
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l l l l l l l l l l l l Add Condition Step : Adds a condition based on the current data selection. The "True" branch gets run when the text is found on the page. Other conditions are available in the step properties once it has been added. Add Repeat Step : Adds a loop that is based on the current data selection, and depending on the type of data. XML data will loop on the currently selected node, CSV loops for all rows in the record.
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Welcome Screen The Welcome Screen appears when first starting up PReS Connect. It offers some useful shortcuts to resources and to recent documents and data mapping configurations. The Welcome Screen can be brought back in two ways: l The Welcome Screen button in the "Toolbars" on page 689. l From the Menus in Help, Welcome Screen. Contents l Activation: Click to open the Objectif Lune Web Activation Manager. l Release Notes: Opens the current Release Notes for PReS Connect.
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l Documentation: Opens this documentation. l Courses (OL Learn): Opens the Objectif Lune e-Learning Center. l User Forums: Opens the Questions & Answer forums. DataMapper Scripts API This page describes the different features available in scripts created inside DataMapper. See "Using scripts in the DataMapper" on page 226.
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Name Description Available in scripts of type "record" on page 255 The current record in the main data set. Extract, Condition, Repeat and Multiple Conditions steps "region" on page 256 An object that defines a subsection of the input data. Boundaries "sourceRecord" on page 258 An object containing properties specific to the current source record being processed.
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Name Description createTmpFile() Creates a file with a unique name in the temporary work folder and returns a file object. deleteFile() Deletes a file. execute() Calls an external program and waits for it to end. newByteArray() Returns a new byte array. newCharArray() Returns a character array. newDoubleArray() Returns a double array. newFloatArray() Returns a float array. newIntArray() Returns an integer array. newLongArray() Returns a long array.
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Scripts can also be used in different steps in the extraction workflow. You can: l l l l l l Modify the incoming data prior to executing the rest of the extraction workflow, via a Preprocessor (see "Preprocessor step" on page 112). Edit extracted data in a field of the Data Model using a Post function script (entered on the Step properties pane, under Field Definition; see "Modifying extracted data" on page 128 and "Text File" on page 189).
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Syntax rules In the DataMapper, all scripts must be written in JavaScript, following JavaScript syntax rules. For example, each statement should end with ; and the keywords that can be used, such as var to declare a variable, are JavaScript keywords. There are countless tutorials available on the Internet to familiarize yourself with the JavaScript syntax. For a simple script all that you need to know can be found on the following web pages: http://www.w3schools.com/js/js_syntax.asp and http://www.
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Setting boundaries using JavaScript As soon as you select the On Script option as the trigger for establishing record boundaries (see "Record boundaries" on page 90), you are instructing the DataMapper to read the source file sequentially and to trigger an event each and every time it hits a delimiter. (What a delimiter is, depends on the source data and the settings for that data; see "Input data settings (Delimiters)" on page 89).
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l Compare the contents of one region with another. l Etc. To access this data in the script, use the get() function of the boundaries object. This function expects different parameters depending on the type of source file; see "Example" on page 238. Getting access to other data Data that is not passed with the event, but that is necessary to define the record boundaries, can be stored in the boundaries object using the setVariable function (see "boundaries" on page 236 and "Example" on page 240).
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Note The first line is just the header with the names of the CSV columns. The data is already sorted per year, per artist, and per album. Your goal is to examine two values in each CSV record and to act when either changes. The DataMapper GUI allows you to specify a On Change trigger, but you can only specify a single field. So for instance, if you were to set the record boundary when the "Released" field changes, you'd get the first four lines together inside a single record.
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simply the column name. The region is passed as a parameter to the get() method, which reads its contents and converts it into an array of strings (because any region, even a CSV field, may contain several lines). l l l To "remember" the values that were processed the last time the event was triggered, we use variables that remain available in between events. Note that these variables are specific to the Boundary context and not available in any other scripting context in the DataMapper.
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The purpose of the script, again, is to set the record boundary when EITHER the year OR the artist changes. The script would look like this: /* Read the values of both columns we want to check */ var zeBand = boundaries.get(region.createRegion(1,1,30,1)); var zeYear = boundaries.get(region.createRegion(61,1,65,1)); /* Check that at least one of our variables holding previous values have been initialized already, before attempting to compare the values */ if (boundaries.
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pages do not have a grid concept of lines and columns, the above parameters would instead be specified in millimeters relative to the upper left corner of each page. So for instance, to create a region for the Year, the code might look like this: region.createRegion(190,20,210,25) which would create a region located near the upper right corner of the page.
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Property Description properties Returns a ScriptableAutomation object containing additional information (file name, process name and task ID) from PReS Workflow. variables Returns a ScriptableAutomation object containing the list of local and global variables defined by the user in PReS Workflow. Note that there is no way to distinguish local variables from global ones (local variables take precedence over global variables).
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automation.properties.OriginalFilename; To access Workflow variables (declared in the Preprocessor properties): automation.variables.Same_as_workflow; boundaries Returns a boundaries object encapsulating properties and methods allowing to define the boundaries of each document in the job. This object is available when triggering document boundaries On script. Properties The following table lists the properties of the boundaries object.
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Method Description Script type getVariable () Retrieves a value of a variable stored in the boundaries object. Boundaries set() Sets a new record boundary. (See: "Record boundaries" on page 90.) Boundaries setVariable () Sets a boundaries variable to the specified value, automatically creating the variable if it doesn't exist yet. Boundaries find() Method of the boundaries object that finds a string in a region of the data source file.
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get() The get() method reads the contents of a region object and converts it into an array of strings (because any region may contain several lines). How the region is defined, depends on the type of source data; see "region" on page 256 and "Example" on page 257. get(in_Region) in_Region A region object. What type of object this is depends on the type of source data, however in any case the region object can be created with a call to region.createRegion(); see "Example" on page 257.
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set(delimiters) delimiters Sets a new record boundary. The delimiters parameter is an offset from the current delimiter, expressed in an integer that represents a number of delimiters. If this parameter is not specified, then a value of 0 is assumed. A value of 0 indicates the record boundary occurs on the current delimiter. A negative value of -n indicates that the record boundary occurred -n delimiters before the current delimiter.
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set the Boundary accordingly */ if((boundaries.currentDelim % 2) !=0 ) { /* Total is on odd page, let's set the document Boundary on delimiter further, thereby skipping the next blank page */ boundaries.set(1); } else { /* Total is on an even page, set the document Boundary to t current delimiter */ boundaries.set(); } } } setVariable() This method sets a variable in the boundaries to the specified value, automatically creating the variable if it doesn't exist yet.
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data Returns a data object encapsulating properties and methods pertaining to the original data stream. Properties The following table lists the properties of the data object. Property Description Return type filename The path of the input file. Returns the fully qualified file name of the temporary work file being processed. properties Contains properties declared in the preprocessor step (see Preprocessor Step Properties for details).
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Method Description Script type File type and Postprocessor steps "Examples" on page 251 Finds the first occurrence of a string starting from the current position. Boundaries "Examples" on page 254 Finds the first match for a regular expression pattern starting from the current position.
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separator String inserted between all lines returned from the region. If you don't want anything to be inserted between the lines, specify an empty string (""). Tip "
" is a very handy string to use as a separator. When the extracted data is inserted in a Designer template, "
" will be interpreted as a line break, because
is a line break in HTML and Designer templates are actually HTML files. Examples Example 1: The script command data.
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Example 2: The script command data.extract(1,22,9,6,"
"); means that the left position of the extracted information is located at 1, the right position at 22, the offset position is 9 (since the first line number is 10) and the regionHeight is 6 (6 lines are selected). Finally, the "
" string is used for concatenation.
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extract(xPath) Extracts the text value of the specified node in an XML file. xPath String that can be relative to the current location or absolute from the start of the record. Example The script command data.extract('./CUSTOMER/FirstName'); means that the extraction is made on the FirstName node under Customer.
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extract(columnName, rowOffset) Extracts the text value from the specified column and row. columnName String that represents the column name. rowOffset Number that represents the row index (zero-based), relative to the first row in the record. To extract the first row, specify 0 as the rowOffset. Example The script command data.extract('ID',0); means that the extraction is made on the ID column in the first row.
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extract(left, right, verticalOffset, lineHeight, separator) Extracts the text value from a rectangular region in a PDF file. All coordinates are expressed in millimeters. left Double that represents the distance from the left edge of the page to the left edge of the rectangular region. right Double that represents the distance from the left edge of the page to the right edge of the rectangular region. verticalOffset Double that represents the distance from the current vertical position.
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lineHeight Double that represents the total height of the region. separator String inserted between all lines returned from the region. If you don't want anything to be inserted between the lines, specify an empty string (""). Tip "
" is a very handy string to use as a separator. When the extracted data is inserted in a Designer template, it will be interpreted as a line break, because
is a line break in HTML and Designer templates are actually HTML files. Example The script command data.
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extractMeta() Method that extracts the value of a metadata field on a certain level in a PDF/VT. This method always return a String. extractMeta(levelName String, propertyName String) levelName String, specifying the PDF/VT's level. Case-sensitive. propertyName String, specifying the metadata field. fieldExists() Method of the data object that returns true if a certain metadata field, column or node exists. (See "data" on page 241.
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fieldExists(levelName, propertyName) This method returns true if the given metadata field exists at the given level in a PDF file. levelName String that specifies the metadata field. propertyName String that specifies the level. fieldExists(fieldName) This method returns true if the specified column exists in the current record in a CSV file. fieldName String that represents a field name (column) in a CSV file.
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Partial matches are not allowed. The entire string must be found between the two constraint parameters. The data.find() function only works on the current page. If the record contains several pages, you must create a loop that will perform a jump from one page to another to do a find() on each page. Note Calling this method does not move the current position to the location where the string was found.
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Left=26,76, Top=149.77, Right=40,700001, Bottom=154.840302 These values represent the size of the rectangle that encloses the string in full, in millimeters relative to the upper left corner of the current page. findRegExp() Finds the first occurrence of a string that matches the given regular expression pattern, starting from the current position.
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matching can be enabled by specifying the UNICODE_CASE flag (u) in conjunction with this flag. s: Enables dotall mode. In dotall mode, the expression . matches any character, including a line terminator. By default this expression does not match line terminators. L: Enables literal parsing of the pattern. When this flag is specified, then the input string that specifies the pattern is treated as a sequence of literal characters.
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Examples data.findRegExp(/\d{3}-[A-Z]{3}/,"gi",50,100); or data.findRegExp("\\d{3}-[A-Z]{3}","gi",50,100);}} Both expressions would match the following strings: 001-ABC, 678-xYz. Note how in the second version, where the regular expression is specified as a string, some characters have to be escaped with an additional backslash, which is standard in JavaScript. db Object that allows to connect to a database. Methods The following table describes the methods of the db object.
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user String that represents the user name for authentication. password String that represents the password for authentication. logger Global object that allows logging messages such as error, warning or informational messages. Methods The following table describes the methods of the logger object.
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region The region object defines a sub-section of the input data. Its properties vary according to the type of data. This object is available when triggering document boundaries On script; see "Setting boundaries using JavaScript" on page 229. Methods The following table describes the methods of the region object. This object is available in Boundaries scripts, with all file types. Method Description Return Type found Field that contains a boolean value indicating if the last call to boundaries.
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createRegion() This method sets the physical coordinates of the region object. The region is available when setting document boundaries using a script (see "region" on the previous page). PDF and Text: createRegion(x1, y1, x2, y2) Creates a region from the data, using the specified left (x1), top (y1), right (x2) and bottom (y2) parameters, expressed in characters for a text file or in millimeters for a PDF file. x1 Double that represents the left edge of the region.
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CSV or database: createRegion(columnName) Creates a region from the data in a CSV file, using the specified columnName parameter. columnName String containing the name of the column where the region is to be created. Example This script checks the first value in a certain column. If it is not the same value as in the previous record(s), a document boundary is set. if(!(boundaries.Eof || boundaries.Bof)){ var recordValue = boundaries.get(region.createRegion('ID'))[0]; if(!(recordValue==boundaries.
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1. Enter the property Name. 2. Select Each record from the Scope drop-down list. 3. Select a Type for the Property. steps Returns a steps object encapsulating properties and methods pertaining to the current DataMapper process. This object is available in an Extract, Condition, Repeat or Multiple Conditions step script. Methods and properties The following table lists the methods and properties of the steps object.
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Method Description File type currentPosition Returns the current position of the pointer in the data. Depending on the type of data being processed, the return value may be a string (e.g. XPath value in XML), an integer (e.g. line numbers in text ot tabular data), or a measure in millimeters(e.g. PDF data). All currentLoopCounter An integer value representing the current iteration of the containing loop.
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Example if(steps.currentPage > curPage) { steps.moveTo(0, steps.currentPosition+14); /* Moves the current position to 14 lines below the current position of the pointer in the data */ curPage++; } else if(curLine.startsWith("LOAD FACTOR")) { /* Extracts data to the curLine variable until the string "LOAD FACTOR" is encountered */ break; } else { lineArray.push(curLine); /* Adds the current line value (extraction) to the array */ } moveTo() Moves the position of the pointer in the source data file.
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With the scope set to 1 or steps.MOVEDELIMITERS, verticalPosition represents the index of the delimiter (as defined in the Input Data settings) to move to from the top of the record. With the scope set to 2, verticalPosition is not used. The position is moved to the next line after the current position that contains any text. Example The following line of code moves the current position in a text file 14 lines down from the current vertical position (steps.
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moveTo(xPath) Moves the current position in a XML file to the first instance of the given node, relative to the top of the record. xPath String that defines a node in the XML file. Tip The XML elements drop-down (on the Settings pane, under Input Data) lists xPaths defining nodes in the current XML file. moveTo(row) Moves the current position in a CSV file to the given row number. row Number that represents the index of the row, relative to the top of the record.
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l l l 0 or steps.MOVELINES: the current position is set to the next line. 1 or steps.MOVEDELIMITERS: the current position is set to the next delimiter (as defined in the Input Data settings). 2 (next line with content): the current position is set to the next line that contains any text. Example The following line of code moves the current position to the next line that contains any text. steps.moveToNext(2); XML scope Number that may be set to: l l 0 or steps.
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copyFile(source, target) source String that specifies the source file path and name. target String that specifies the target file path and name. Example This script copies the file test.txt from c:\Content into the c:\out folder. copyFile("c:\Content\test.txt","c:\out\") createTmpFile() Function that creates a file with a unique name in the temporary work folder and returns a file object. This file stores data temporarily in memory or in a buffer.
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writer.newLine(); } } finally{ // Close the writer of the temporary file writer.close(); } } finally{ // Close the reader reader.close(); } deleteFile(data.filename); tmpFile.move(data.filename); createHTTPRequest() Function that creates a new ScriptableHTTPRequest object, in order to issue REST/AJAX calls to external servers.
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deleteFile(filename) filename String that specifies the path and file name of the file to be deleted. Examples 1. Deleting a file in a local folder: deleteFile("c:\Content\test.txt"); 2. Deleting the sample data file used in the DataMapper: deleteFile(data.filename); execute() Function that calls an external program and waits for it to end. execute(command) Calls an external program and waits for it to end. command String that specifies the path and file name of the program to execute.
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size Integer that represents the number of elements in the new array. newDoubleArray() Function that returns a new double array. newDoubleArray(size) Returns a new Double array of the specified number of elements. size Integer that represents the number of elements in the new array. newFloatArray() Function that returns a new float array. newFloatArray(size) Returns a new Float array of the specified number of elements. size Integer that represents the number of elements in the new array.
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newLongArray(size) Returns a new Long array of the specified number of elements. size Integer that represents the number of elements in the new array. newStringArray() Function that returns a new string array. newStringArray(size) Returns a new String array of the specified number of elements. size Integer that represents the number of elements in the new array. openBinaryReader() Function that opens a file as a binary file for reading purposes. The function returns a BinaryReader object.
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openTextReader() Function that opens a file as a text file for reading purposes. The function returns a TextReader object. Please note that the temporary file must be closed at the end. openTextReader(filename,encoding) filename String that represents the name of the file to open. encoding String that specifies the encoding of the file to read (UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, etc.). Example In the following example, the openTextReader() function is used to open the actual data sample file in the Data Mapper for reading.
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encoding String specifying the encoding to use (UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, etc.).. append Boolean parameter that specifies whether the file pointer should initially be positioned at the end of the existing file (append mode) or at the beginning of the file (overwrite mode). Example In the following example, the openTextWriter function is used to open the newly created temporary file for writing: var var var var fileIn = openTextReader(data.filename); tmp = createTmpFile(); fileOut = openTextWriter(tmp.
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The Designer The Designer is a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor that lets you create templates for various output channels: Print, Email and Web. A template may contain designs for multiple output channels: a letter intended for print and an e-mail variant of the same message, for example. Content, like the body of the message or letter, can be shared across these contexts. Templates are personalized using scripts and variable data extracted via the DataMapper.
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2. Fill the template Add text, images and other elements to the template and style them. See "Content elements" on page 403 and "Styling and formatting" on page 484. 3. Personalize the content Personalize the content using variable data. See "Personalizing Content" on page 518. 4. Generate output Adjust the settings, test the template and generate output: letters, emails, and/or web pages. See "Generating output" on page 857. 5. What's next Use Workflow to automate your customer communications.
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"Snippets" on page 482. Snippets help share content between contexts, or insert content conditionally. "Styling and formatting" on page 484. Make your Designer templates look pretty and give them the same look and feel with style sheets. "Personalizing Content" on page 518. Personalize your customer communications using variable data. "Writing your own scripts" on page 548. Scripting can take personalization much further. Learn how to script via this topic. "Generating output" on page 857.
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After creating a template you can add the other contexts (see "Contexts" on page 289), as well as extra sections (see "Sections" on page 290), to the template. It is, however, not possible to use a Template Wizard when adding a context or section to an existing template. Tip If an Email context is going to be part of the template, it is recommended to start with an Email Template Wizard; see "Creating an Email template with a Wizard" on page 331.
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Select a file to put its name in the File name field. Then set Save as type to Template files (*.OLtemplate) and save the template. When more than one resource (template or data mapping configuration) is open and the Designer software is closed, the Save Resources dialog appears. This dialog displays a list of all open resources with their names and file location. Selected resources will be saved, deselected resources will have all their changes since they were last saved dismissed.
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File properties On the menu, select File > Properties to view and complement the file properties. See File Properties. The file properties can also be used in scripts; see "template" on page 851. If you are not familiar with writing scripts, refer to "Writing your own scripts" on page 548.
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l A data mapping configuration that provides the variable data. You could use the data mapping configuration made for the standard template report, or create another one in the DataMapper module, using the standard XML template report as data sample. Data mapping configurations have the extension .OL-DATAMAPPER. The following zip file contains both the template and data mapping configuration that are used to generate the standard template report: http://help.objectiflune.com/en/archive/reporttemplate.zip.
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configuration file in the Browse dialog, and each of them is sent to Workflow (or added to a package file). A Data Mapping Configuration file has the extension .OL-datamapper. 4. Use the drop-down to select a Job Creation Preset to send. Click Browse to select a preset that is not in the default location for presets. A Job Creation Preset file has the extension .OL-jobpreset. 5. Use the drop-down to select an Output Creation Preset.
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1. l l In the Welcome screen that appears after startup, choose Browse Template Wizards. Scroll down until you see the Foundation Web Page Starter Template Wizards. Alternatively, on the File menu, click New, expand the Template folder, and then expand the Foundation Web Page Starter folder. 2. Select a template.
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l Primary: links on the page. l Secondary: secondary links on the page. l Text: text on the page contained in paragraphs (
). l Headings: all headings (
through ) including the heading section's subhead. 4. Click Finish to create the template. The Wizard creates: l l l l A Web context with one web page template (also called a section) in it.
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Use the Styles pane next to the Attributes pane to see which styles are applied to the currently selected element. Tip Click the Edges button on the toolbar to make borders of elements visible on the Design tab. The borders will not be visible on the Preview tab. Web Template Wizards Foundation All Web Template Wizards in Connect Designer make use of the Zurb Foundation front-end framework. A front-end framework is a collection of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files to build upon.
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Blank web page The Blank Web Page template is a very simple Foundation template that contains a top bar menu and some basic contents to get you started. Capture OnTheGo template wizards With the Designer you can create Capture OnTheGo (COTG) templates. COTG templates are used to generate forms for the Capture OnTheGo mobile application. For more information about this application, see the website: Capture OnTheGo.
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Creating a COTG template using a Wizard To create a COTG template with a Template Wizard: 1. l l In the Welcome screen that appears after startup and when you click the Home icon at the top right, choose Browse Template Wizards. Scroll down until you see the Capture OnTheGo Starter Template Wizards. Alternatively, on the File menu, click New, expand the Template folder, and then expand the Capture OnTheGo Starter folder. 2. Select a template.
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l l l Submit URL: enter the URL where the form data should be sent. The URL should be a server-side script that can accept COTG Form data. The Title and the Logo that you choose will be displayed at the top of the Form. Colors: Click the colored square to open the Color Picker dialog (see "Color Picker" on page 589) and pick a color, or enter a valid hexadecimal color code (see w3school's color picker) for the page background color.
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The method of a Capture OnTheGo form should be POST to ensure that it doesn't hit a data limit when submitting the form. The GET method adds the data to the URL, and the length of a URL is limited to 2048 characters. Especially forms containing one or more Camera inputs may produce a voluminous data stream that doesn't fit in the URL. GET also leaves data trails in log files, which raises privacy concerns. Therefore POST is the preferred method to use.
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Tip Click the Edges button on the toolbar to make borders of elements visible on the Design tab. The borders will not be visible on the Preview tab. Resources This page clarifies the difference between Internal, External and Web resources that may be used in a template, and explains how to refer to them in HTML and in scripts. Internal resources Internal resources are files that are added to and saved with the template.
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Note When referring to images or fonts from a CSS file, you need to remember that the current path is css/, meaning you can't just call images/image.jpg. Use a relative path, for example: #header { background-image: url('../images/image.jpg'); } External resources External resources are not stored in the template, but on the local hard drive or on a network drive. They are accessed using a path. The path must have forward slashes, for example 
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l l "Static Resources", as set in the preferences, are accessed using the resource path, by default something like http://servername:8080/_iRes/images/image.jpg. (For guidance on setting the preferences, search for 'HTTP Server Input 2' in the PReS Workflow help files on OL Help). Resources can also be served by processes: http://servername:8080/my_ process?filename=image.jpg (assuming "my_process" is the action in the HTTP Server Input).
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If present in the same template, a Print context and a Web context can be attached to an Email context. Outputting other combinations of contexts, and selecting sections based on a value in the data, can be done via a Control Script; see "Control Scripts" on page 566. Adding a context To add a context, right-click the Contexts folder on the Resources pane and click New print context, New email context or New web context. Only one context of each type can be present in a template.
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Tip If an Email context is going to be part of the template, it is recommended to start with an Email Template Wizard; see "Creating an Email template with a Wizard" on page 331. After creating a template, contexts can be added to it, but that can not be done with a wizard. Editing a section To open a section, expand the Contexts folder on the Resources pane, expand the respective context (Print, Email or Web) and double-click a section to open it.
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Warning No backup files are maintained in the template. The only way to recover a deleted section, is to click Undo on the Edit menu, until the deleted section is restored. After closing and reopening the template it is no longer possible to restore the deleted context this way. Renaming a section To rename a section: l On the Resources pane, expand the Contexts folder, expand the folder of the respective context, right-click the name of the section, and then click Rename.
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1. Click and hold the mouse button on the style sheet on the Resources pane. 2. Move the mouse cursor within the Resources pane to the section to which the style sheet should be applied. 3. Release the mouse button. Using the Includes dialog 1. On the Resources pane, right-click the section, then click Includes. 2. From the File types dropdown, select Stylesheets. 3. Choose which CSS files should be applied to this section. The available files are listed at the left.
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In email and web output, only one section can be executed at a time. The section that will be output is the section that has been set as the 'default'. See "Generating Web output" on page 882 and "Web pages" on page 353 and "Generating Email output" on page 874 and "Email templates" on page 336. The 'default' section is always executed when the template is run using the Create Email Content task in Workflow (see Workflow Help: Create Email Content).
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Pages Unlike emails and web pages, Print sections can contain multiple pages. Pages are naturally limited by their size and margins. If the content of a section doesn't fit on one page, the overflow goes to the next page. This happens automatically, based on the section's page size and margins; see "Page settings: size, margins and bleed" on page 311.
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section on top. To open the Preview tab, click it at the bottom of the Workspace or select View > Preview View on the menu. The Media will not be printed, unless this is specifically requested through the printer settings in the Print Wizard; see "Generating Print output" on page 860. See "Media" on page 321 for further explanation about how to add Media and how to apply them to different pages.
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Tip Use the Outline pane at the left to see which elements are present in the template and to select an element. Use the Attributes pane at the right to see the current element's ID, class and some other properties. Use the Styles pane next to the Attributes pane to see which styles are applied to the currently selected element. Print Template Wizards There are three Print Template wizards: one for a formal letter, one for a postcard and one for a Print template based on a PDF that you provide.
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The Wizard opens the Print section, so that you can fill it with text and other elements; see "Content elements" on page 403. It already has two Positoned Boxes on it: one on the front, for text, and one on the back, for the address. See "Print context" on page 300 and "Print sections" on page 303 for more information about Print templates. Formal letter The Formal Letter Wizard first lets you select the page settings, see "Page settings: size, margins and bleed" on page 311.
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l l One Media. You can see this on the Resources pane: expand the Media folder. Media 1 is the Virtual Stationery that you have selected in the Wizard. It is applied to all pages in the Print section, as can be seen in the Sheet Configuration dialog. (To open this dialog, expand the Contexts folder on the Resources pane; expand the Print folder and rightclick "Section 1"; then select Sheet Configuration.) See "Media" on page 321. Selectors for variable data, for example: @Recipient@.
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When you click Finish, the Wizard creates: l l l A Print context with one section in it; see "Print context" below and "Print sections" on page 303. The selected PDF is used as the background of the Print section; see "Using a PDF file as background image" on page 307. For each page in the PDF one page is created in the Print section. One empty Master Page.
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l l The Print context is created and one Print section is added to it. You can see this on the Resources pane: expand the Contexts folder, and then expand the Print folder. The Print context can contain multiple sections: a covering letter and a policy, for example, or one section that is meant to be attached to an email as a PDF file and another one that is going to be printed out on paper.
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Print settings in the Print context and sections The following settings in the Print context and Print sections have an impact on how the Print context is printed. Arranging and selecting sections The Print context can contain one or more Print sections. When generating output from the Print context, each of the Print sections is added to the output document, one after the other in sequence, for each record. The sections are added to the output in the order in which they appear on the Resources pane.
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To set the binding style of a Print section, see "Setting the binding style for a Print section" on page 309. Overriding binding styles in a job creation preset A Job Creation Preset can override the binding styles set for the Print sections and for the Print context as a whole. To bind output in another way than defined in the template’s settings: 1.
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Using headers, footers, tear-offs and repeated elements In Print sections, there are often elements that need to be repeated across pages, like headers, footers and logos. In addition, some elements should appear on each first page, or only on pages in between the first and the last page, or only on the last page. Examples are a different header on the first page, and a tear-off slip that should show up on the last page. This is what Master Pages are used for.
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to be printed out on paper. When a Print template is created (see "Creating a Print template with a Wizard" on page 296 and "Print context" on page 300), only one Print section is added to it, but you can add as many print sections as you need. To add a section to a context: l On the Resources pane, expand the Contexts folder, right-click the Print context , and then click New section.
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Warning No backup files are maintained in the template. The only way to recover a deleted section, is to click Undo on the Edit menu, until the deleted section is restored. After closing and reopening the template it is no longer possible to restore the deleted context this way. Arranging Print sections When generating output from the Print context, each of the Print sections is added to the output document, one after the other in sequence, for each record.
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1. On the Resources pane, right-click the section, then click Includes. 2. From the File types dropdown, select Stylesheets. 3. Choose which CSS files should be applied to this section. The available files are listed at the left. Use the arrow buttons to move the files that should be included to the list at the right. You can also change the order in which the CSS files are read. Note that moving a style sheet up in the list gives it less weight.
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is: file:///. Note: if the host is "localhost", it can be omitted, resulting in file:///, for example: file:///c:/resources/images/image.jpg. Check the option Save with template to insert the image into the Images folder on the Resources pane. l Url allows you to choose an image from a specific web address. Select the protocol (http or https), and then enter the web address (for example, http://www.mysite.com/images/image.jpg).
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Note To set the background of a section in script, you need a Control Script; see "Control Scripts" on page 566 and "Control Script API" on page 839. Setting the binding style for a Print section In printing, Finishing is the binding style, or the way pages are bound together. Each Print section can have its own Finishing settings, as well as the Print context as a whole; see "Setting the binding style for the Print context" on page 302. To set the binding style of a Print section: 1.
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Note Your printer must support duplex for this option to work. To enable duplex printing: 1. On the Resources pane, expand the Print context, right-click the print section and click Sheet configuration. 2. Check Duplex to enable content to be printed on the back of each sheet. 3. When duplex printing is enabled, further options become available. l l l Check Tumble to duplex pages as in a calendar.
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Each page in a print section has a natural position: it is the first page, the last page, a 'middle' page (a page between the first and the last page) or a single page. For each of those positions, a different Master Page and Media can be set. A Master Page functions as a page's background, with for example a header and footer. A Media represents preprinted paper that a page can be printed on. See "Master Pages" on page 318 and "Media" on page 321.
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Margins define where your text flow will go. Static elements can go everywhere on a page, that is to say, within the printable space on a page that depends on the printer. The bleed is the printable space around a page. It can be used on some printers to ensure that no unprinted edges occur in the final trimmed document. Note: Printers that can’t print a bleed, will misinterpret this setting. Set the bleed to zero to avoid this. Tip By default, measurements settings are in inches (in).
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l Do not place the promotional image or snippet inside an absolute positioned box. Whitespacing only works for elements that are part of the text flow, not for absolute-positioned boxes. 3. Select the image or the element that holds the promotional content: click it, or use the breadcrumbs, or select it on the Outline tab; see "Selecting an element" on page 407. 4. On the Attributes pane, check the option Whitespace element. 5. (Optional.
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l l Sheet number: The current sheet number in the document. A sheet is a physical piece of paper, with two sides (or pages). This is equivalent to half the page number, for example if there are 10 pages, there will be 5 sheets. Sheet count: This marker is replaced by the total number of sheets in the document, whether or not they have contents. Note When a marker is inserted, a class is added to the element in which the marker is inserted. Do not delete that class.
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3. Use the Format drop-down to select uppercase or lowercase letters or Roman numerals instead of Arabic numerals. 4. In Leading Zeros, type zeros to indicate how many digits the page numbers should have. Any page number that has fewer digits will be preceded by leading zeros. 5. Type the Number prefix. Optionally, check Add Prefix to Page Counts, to add the prefix to the total number of pages, too. 6. Close the dialog.
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1. Open the style sheet for the Print context: on the Resources pane, expand the Styles folder and double-click context_print_styles.css. 2. Add a CSS rule, like the following: p { widows: 4; orphans: 3 } Per paragraph To change the widow or orphan setting for one paragraph only: 1. Select the paragraph, using the breadcrumbs or the Outline pane (next to the Resources pane). 2. Select Format > Paragraph, on the menu. 3.
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Inserting a page break To insert a page break before or after a certain element, set the page-break-before property or the page-break-after property of that element (a paragraph for example; see also "Styling text and paragraphs" on page 494): 1. Select the element (see "Selecting an element" on page 407). 2. On the Format menu select the respective element to open the Formatting dialog. 3. In the Breaks group, set the before or after property.
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Master Pages In Print sections, there are often elements that need to be repeated across pages, like headers, footers and logos. In addition, some elements should appear only on specific pages, such as only the first page, or the last page, or only on pages in-between. Examples are a different header on the first page, and a tear-off slip that shows up on the last page. This is what Master Pages are used for. Master Pages can only be used in the Print context (see "Print context" on page 300).
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the next page. l Click OK. Initially, the master page that has been created together with the Print context will be applied to all pages in the Print section. After adding more Master Pages, different Master Pages can be applied to different pages; see "Applying a Master Page to a page in a Print section" on the facing page. Editing a Master Page Master Pages are edited just like sections, in the workspace.
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the Master Page itself; in Master Pages, elements can go everywhere on the page. Instead, the header and footer of the Master Page limit the text flow on pages in the Print sections to which this Master Page is applied. Pages in a Print section that use this Master Page cannot display content in the space that is reserved by the Master Page for the header and footer, so that content in the Print section does not collide with the content of the header and footer.
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Page on the last backside of a section if that page is empty and to skip that page from the page count. 5. Optionally, decide which Media should be linked to each sheet. 6. Click OK to save the settings and close the dialog. Deleting a Master Page To delete a Master Page, expand the Master pages folder on the Resources pane, right-click the master page, and click Delete. Note that one Master Page as well as one Media must always exist in a Print template. Just leave it empty if you don't need it.
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Specifying and positioning Media Specifying a PDF for the front: the fast way To quickly select a PDF file for the front of a Media, import the PDF file by dragging it from the Windows Explorer to the Images folder on the Resources pane. Then drag that the PDF file from the Images folder and drop it on one of the Media in the Media folder. With this method you can not set any options.
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l Url allows you to choose an image from a specific web address. Select the protocol (http or https), and then enter the web address (for example, http://www.mysite.com/images/image.jpg). Note It is not possible to use a remotely stored PDF file as virtual stationery, because the number of pages in a PDF file can not be determined via the http and http protocols. Therefor, with an external image, the option Save with template is always checked. 2. Select a PDF file. 3.
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l l l l l Front Coating: The pre-process coating applied to the front surface of the media, such as Glossy, High Gloss, Matte, Satin, etc. Back Coating: The pre-process coating applied to the back surface of the media. Texture: The intended texture of the media, such as Antique, Calenared, Linen, Stipple or Vellum. Grade: The intended grade of the media, such as Gloss-coated paper, Uncoated white paper, etc.
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4. Decide which Media should be linked to each sheet position: click the downward pointing arrow after Media and select a Media. 5. Optionally, decide which Master Page should be linked to each sheet; see "Master Pages" on page 318. Note When both Media and a Master Page are used on a certain page, they will both be displayed on the Preview tab of the workspace, the Master Page being 'in front' of the Media and the Print section on top.
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This script changes the media to Media 2 for male customers. See "Writing your own scripts" on page 548 if you are not familiar with how scripts are written. 5. Click Apply, open the tab Preview and browse through the records to see if the script functions as expected. 6. When you click OK, the script will be added to the Scripts pane. Printing virtual stationery Media are not printed, unless you want them to. Printing the virtual stationery is one of the settings in a Job Creation Preset.
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Only one Email section is created at the start, but you can add as many Email sections as you need; see "Email templates" on page 336. However, when the Designer merges a data set to generate output from the Email context, it can merge only one of the templates with each record; see "Generating Email output" on page 874. Email templates are personalized just like any other template; see "Variable Data" on page 530.
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HTML email challenges Creating HTML email isn't like designing for the Web. That's because email clients aren't like web browsers. Email clients pass HTML email through a preprocessor to remove anything that could be dangerous, introduce privacy concerns or cause the email client to behave unexpectedly. This includes removing javascript, object and embed tags, and unrecognized tags.
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Emmet Emmet is a plugin that enables the lightning-fast creation of HTML code though the use of a simple and effective shortcut language. The Emmet functionality is available in the HTML and CSS source editors of Connect Designer. Emmet transforms abbreviations for HTML elements and CSS properties to the respective source code. The expansion of abbreviations is invoked with the Tab key. In the Source tab of the Workspace, you could for example type div.row.
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Designer. When generating output from the Email context, the Designer converts all CSS rules that apply to the content of the email to inline style tags, as if local formatting was applied. Using images in email campaigns: tips Host images on a public server In the Designer you can add images as resource to the template document. When used in email messages these images are automatically embedded on sending the email. These embedded images appear instantly when viewing the message in your email client.
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Creating an Email template with a Wizard With the Designer you can design Email templates as well as PDF attachments. PDF attachments are designed in the Print context; see "Print context" on page 300. It is strongly recommended to start creating an Email template with a Wizard, because designing HTML email that displays properly on a variety of devices and screen sizes is challenging.
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2. Select a template and click Next. If you don't know what template to choose, see below; the characteristics of each kind of template are described further down in this topic. 3. Make adjustments to the initial settings (the options for each type of template are listed below). Click Next to go to the next settings page if there is one. 4. Click Finish to create the template. The Wizard creates: l l l An Email context with one section in it.
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Note that the contents of the email are arranged in tables. The many tables in an Email template ensure that the email looks good on virtually any email client, device and screen size. As the tables have no borders, they are initially invisible. Tip Click the Edges button on the toolbar to make borders of elements visible on the Design tab. The borders will not be visible on the Preview tab.
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Banded emails do. The Banded Email Action Template is a simple call-to-action email with a message, header and a button linking to a website, such as an informational or landing page. The Banded Email Invoice Template is an invoice with an optional Welcome message and Pay Now button. Settings For a Blank email you can not specify any settings in the Wizard. For an Action or Invoice email, the Email Template Wizard lets you choose: l l l l The subject.
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When an Email template is created (see "Creating an Email template with a Wizard" on page 331) or when an Email context is added to a template (see "Adding a context" on page 290) the following happens: l l The Email context is created and one Email section is added to it. You can see this on the Resources pane: expand the Contexts folder, and then expand the Email folder. See "Email templates" on the facing page to learn how to fill an Email section.
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See "Email attachments" on page 346. Email output settings The following settings in an Email context influence how the Email output is generated. Compressing PDF attachments For PDF attachments, generated from the Print context, you can set the Print Context Image Compression to determine the quality of the files, and with that, the size of the files. To set the Print Context Image Compression: 1. On the Resources pane, expand the Contexts folder, and right-click the Email context. 2. Click Properties. 3.
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In Email templates, many content elements can be used; see "Content elements" on page 403. However, special attention must be paid to the way elements are positioned. In Email sections, it is advisable to position elements using Tables and to put text in table cells. Email templates are personalized just like any other template; see "Variable Data" on page 530.
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l On the Resources pane, expand the Contexts folder, expand the Email context, rightclick the name of the section, and then click Delete. Warning No backup files are maintained in the template. The only way to recover a deleted section, is to click Undo on the Edit menu, until the deleted section is restored. After closing and reopening the template it is no longer possible to restore the deleted context this way.
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1. On the Resources pane, right-click the section, then click Includes. 2. From the File types dropdown, select Stylesheets. 3. Choose which CSS files should be applied to this section. The available files are listed at the left. Use the arrow buttons to move the files that should be included to the list at the right. You can also change the order in which the CSS files are read. Note that moving a style sheet up in the list gives it less weight.
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The default Email SMTP settings and the sender's name and address are defined in the Connect Designer preferences. They can be adjusted per run in the Send Email and Send Test Email dialogs. The subject, the recipients (To, Cc and Bcc), the sender and the Reply to address can be entered in the Email Fields at the top of the workspace. If the fields are not visible, click the words 'Email Fields' (or the small plus before them) to expand the Email Fields area.
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The language in which the script has to be written is JavaScript. For more information on writing scripts, see "Writing your own scripts" on page 548. Other header fields At some point you may need to define a header field that isn't available in the Preferences or in the Email Fields. This can be done in a Control Script. For a few examples of such scripts, see "Adding custom ESP handling instructions" on page 879. To get started with Control Scripts, refer to "Control Scripts" on page 566.
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Note When updating the software from a version prior to version 1.5, pre-existing presets will be maintained in the new version. In the "Send Email" on page 641 and "Send Test Email" on page 642 dialogs you will be able to choose one of the presets and adjust the settings to your needs. Subject To specify a subject for an email template: 1. Open the email section and expand the Email Fields by clicking Email Fields at the top of the section. 2. Type the subject in the Subject field.
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Subject scripts made with earlier versions of the software are not specific to one email section. Writing a custom Subject script The default script replaces all @field@ placeholders in the subject line with field values. This script can be modified, for example to create a subject that depends on the value of a data field. Open the Script Wizard (see "Using the Email Script Wizard" on page 340), click the Expand button and modify the script.
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Sender From address A default From name and email address can be specified in the Preferences dialog: select Window > Preferences, expand the Email preferences and click General. This name and email address will appear as the default in the "Send Email" on page 641 and "Send Test Email" on page 642 dialogs. The default can be overwritten by typing an email address directly in the From field (as long as no script is present for this field).
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Alternatively, you can drag and drop one data field into the field, or use the Email Script wizard (see "Using the Email Script Wizard" on page 340), to specify the Reply To address in a script. Email PDF password The Email PDF Password Script Wizard defines a password with which to protect the PDF generated when using the Print context as PDF Attachment option in the Send Email or Send Test Email dialogs (see "Generating Email output" on page 874).
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Email attachments Output, generated from an Email template, can have the following attachments: l The contents of the Print context, in the form of a single PDF attachment. l The output of the Web context, as an integral HTML file. l Other files, an image or a PDF leaflet for example. Attaching the Print context and/or the Web context is one of the options in the Send (Test) Email dialog.
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5. Write a script that appends a element to the results (the selector is head, so the results contain the
of the email). l l Make sure to set the rel attribute to related. The href attribute determines where the file comes from. For resources inside of the template, use 'images/file.extension' , or 'fonts/myfont.otf', etc. For external resources, you need the full path to the file, such as 'file:///c:/resources/attachments/instructions.pdf'.
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The Web context outputs one HTML web page that contains the HTML text and all the resources necessary to display it. JavaScript files are added to the
in the generated HTML file. They are useful to add special features such as those offered by jQuery and its plugins, or MooTools. Style sheets are also added to the and are used just as they would be used in a regular web page.
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Foundation All Web Template Wizards in Connect Designer make use of the Zurb Foundation front-end framework. A front-end framework is a collection of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files to build upon. Foundation is a responsive framework: it uses CSS media queries and a mobile-first approach, so that websites built upon Foundation look good and function well on multiple devices including desktop and laptop computers, tablets, and mobile phones.
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l l l l Set width to Grid: Check this option to limit the width of the top bar contents to the Foundation Grid, instead of using the full width of the page. Stick to the top of the browser window: Check to lock the top menu bar to the top of the page, even if the page has scroll bars. This means the menu bar will always be visible in the browser.
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The Wizard opens the Web section, so that you can fill it with text and other elements; see "Content elements" on page 403, "Web Context" on the facing page and "Web pages" on page 353. Web pages can be personalized just like any other type of template; see "Variable Data" on page 530 and "Personalizing Content" on page 518. Tip Use the Outline pane at the left to see which elements are present in the template and to select an element.
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important text and its "call to action" button invites a visitor to click on to more information or an order form. Contact Us The Contact Us template is a contact form that can be used on a website to receive user feedback or requests. It's great to use in conjunction with the Thank You template, which can recap the form information and thank the user for feedback. Thank You The Thank You template displays a thank you message with some text and media links.
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are meant to be used for styles that are only applied to elements in the Web context; see "Styling and formatting" on page 484. When the template is ready, you can: l l Output the web page as an as an integral HTML file attached to an Email context in the same template. Output the Web context in an automated Workflow using the Create Web Content task (see Workflow Help: Create Web Content).
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template, to guarantee just that; see "Creating a Web template with a Wizard" on page 348. Other approaches are described below, in "Adding a Web page" on the facing page. Adding a Web page When a Web template is created (see "Creating a Web template with a Wizard" on page 348), only one Web section is added to it. A Web context may contain various templates, but per record only one of those can be used to generate output.
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Warning No backup files are maintained in the template. The only way to recover a deleted section, is to click Undo on the Edit menu, until the deleted section is restored. After closing and reopening the template it is no longer possible to restore the deleted context this way. Filling a Web page Many of the content elements that are available for all three contexts are particularly suitable for web pages; see "Content elements" on page 403.
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Styling and formatting a Web page The contents of a Web section can be formatted directly, or styled with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). See "Styling and formatting" on page 484. In order for a style sheet to be applied to a specific section, it needs to be included in that section. There are two ways to do this. Drag & drop a style sheet 1. Click and hold the mouse button on the style sheet on the Resources pane. 2.
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l On the Resources pane, expand the Web context, right-click a section and click Set as Default. Tip Use a Control Script to dynamically select a Web section for output depending on the value of a data field. See "Control Scripts" on page 566. Including JavaScript files Which JavaScript files are included in the a Web section, depends on a setting for that section. To change this: 1. On the Resources pane, right-click a section in the Web context and click Includes. 2.
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Tip If a valid favicon image is dragged to the Web section, it will automatically be set as a shortcut icon. 4. The Meta Information Group lists all tags that will be added to the header of the HTML file generated in the output. Click the Add button to add a new tag to the list. Then you can select the type of tag, which is either name or http-equiv, and enter the value (for a name-type meta tag) or the content (for a .
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Tip To create a Capture OnTheGo template, preferably use a Template Wizard (see "Capture OnTheGo template wizards" on page 381). The Wizard doesn't just add the form, it also adds the necessary Capture OnTheGo form elements (see ), style sheets and JavaScript files, and extra pre-made elements. Adding a Form This procedure describes how to add a Form element to an existing Web context. 1. On the Resources pane, expand the Web context and double-click a Web page to open it. 2.
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6. Using the next drop-down, select the form's Encryption Type (enctype): l l l application/x-www-form-urlencoded: Default. All characters are encoded before they are sent. Spaces are converted to "+" symbols, and special characters are converted to ASCII HEX values. multipart/form-data: No characters are encoded. This value is required when you are using forms that have a file upload control. text/plain: Spaces are converted to "+" symbols, but no special characters are encoded. 7.
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11. Use the Location drop-down to select where to insert the element. l l l l l At cursor position inserts it where the cursor is located in the template. Before element inserts it before the HTML element in which the cursor is currently located. For example if the cursor is within a paragraph, the insertion point will be before the
tag.* After start tag inserts it within the current HTML element, at the beginning, just after the start tag.
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l An Encryption Type (enctype): l l l application/x-www-form-urlencoded: Default. All characters are encoded before they are sent. Spaces are converted to "+" symbols, and special characters are converted to ASCII HEX values. multipart/form-data: No characters are encoded. This value is required when you are using forms that have a file upload control. text/plain: Spaces are converted to "+" symbols, but no special characters are encoded.
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Browser validation you can only make a field required and set a maximum length. Changing a Form's validation in HTML In HTML, the validation method is stored in the data-validation-method attribute of the
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Adding elements to a Form To add an element to a Form or Fieldset, click inside the Form or Fieldset, select Insert > Form elements, and choose the respective element on the menu. (When the element isn't available via the menu, see the tip below.) Now you can change the element's settings: 1. Add an ID (required) and, optionally, a class. Note The ID will be copied to the name attribute of the element. The name attribute is what identifies the field to the receiving server-side script.
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4. The following options are only available for specific elements: l l l For a Text Area you can specify a number of rows. For a Radio Button, the submit name indicates to which Radio Button Group the Radio Button belongs. For a Button, Checkbox, Hidden Field, and Radio Button you can set the value. The value is associated with the input and will be sent on submitting the Form.
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The name attribute of Form elements is sent to the server (together with the input value) after the form has been submitted. When adding an element to a Form or Fieldset, you cannot specify a name; the ID will be copied to the element's name attribute. After adding the element to the Form or Fieldset you can change the name on the Attributes pane. Adding new HTML5 elements HTML5 added several new input element types that can't be found in the Designer menu.
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Grouping data using arrays A Job Data File is an XML file created by a Workflow process on submitting a Web Form or COTG Form. Grouping data in a Job Data File greatly simplifies both the Data Mapping workflow and looping over data in Designer scripts. A simple method to create arrays in that data file is to use two pairs of square brackets in the name of the form inputs. Put the name of the array between the first pair of square brackets.
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Note To enable submitting arrays, you need to check this option in the HTTP Server user preferences in (PlanetPress or PreS) Watch. In case multiple fields with the same name are encountered the previous value is overwritten. This way only a single occurrence of that field name will we available in the data containing the value of the last encountered occurrence of that field. This behaviour is also seen in the PHP language.
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Adding JavaScript files to the resources To add a JavaScript file to the resources: l l Right-click the Javascript folder on the Resources pane, and click New Javascript. Double-click it to open and edit it. Alternatively, drag and drop the JavaScript file from the Windows Explorer to the JavaScript folder on the Resources pane. Next, include it in a Web page; see below.
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When async is checked, the script executes asynchronously with the rest of the page (while the page continues the parsing). When neither option is checked, the script is fetched and executed immediately, while the parsing of the page is paused. 6. Optionally, for a Capture OnTheGo Form, you can check Use cached Capture OnTheGo resource, to prevent downloading a remote JavaScript file again if it has been downloaded before.
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Using JavaScript in other Contexts Email clients do not support JavaScript. Therefore, Email contexts cannot include JavaScript resources. When a JavaScript file is included in a Print section, the Designer itself acts as the browser. When generating Print output, it runs the JavaScript after generating the main page flow contents and the pagination. So, it is possible to change the Print output by a JavaScript; you could, for example, add a barcode that includes the page number to each document.
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CaptureOnTheGo). A reusable COTG Form is not deleted from the app's form library when it is submitted, so it can be used again. Creating a COTG Form A Capture OnTheGo Form is actually just a Web Form, so you could add a Form element to a Web page in the Web context without the use of a Template Wizard. It is strongly recommended however, to start the COTG Template using one of the COTG Template Wizards.
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Note For testing purposes, it is possible to use another URL for the Form's action or not to specify an action at all; see "Testing a Capture OnTheGo Template" on page 397. Filling a COTG template Before inserting elements in a COTG Form, have the design ready; see "Designing a COTG Template" on page 378. In a Capture OnTheGo form, you can use special Capture OnTheGo Form elements, such as a Signature and a Barcode Scanner element; see "COTG Elements" on page 456 and "Using COTG Elements" on page 393.
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Tip Click the Edges button on the toolbar to make borders of elements visible on the Design tab. The borders will not be visible on the Preview tab. Using JavaScript JavaScript files, libraries and frameworks can be added to a template, to add widgets and other functionality to your Capture OnTheGo Forms; see "Using JavaScript" on page 368. For COTG templates created with a COTG Template wizard, lots of features are already available through the Foundation framework; see "Using Foundation" on page 385.
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var value = event.detail.state["mywidget"]; value = value + $("#camera1 img").attr("src"); $("form p").html(value); }, false); With jQuery you must use event.originalEvent in the handler functions, for example: $(window).on("olcotgsavestate", function(event) { event.originalEvent.detail.state["mywidget"] = "test: "; }); Note that you should register for the event directly in the JavaScript file (a separate JavaScript file, preferably, not cotg-1.2.1.js). You should not do this on the document ready event.
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Using COTG data in a template When a user submits a COTG Form, a Workflow configuration may store the information in a database and/or push it into other Workflows, for example to send a letter or an email receipt. To be able to use the submitted data in a template for that letter or email receipt, follow these steps: 1. Get the data First create a Data Mapping Configuration for the data that is submitted from a certain COTG Form. This means you have to get access to a sample of that data.
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1. Choose File > New > Data mapping Wizards > From XML file. 2. Select the XML data file as its source and click Next. 3. Set the XML Elements option to /request/values. This will automatically add an extraction step for the submitted form fields. 4. Click Finish. The file is opened in the DataMapper and the form fields are automatically extracted including the data for the signature and camera object. 5. Save the Data Mapping Configuration. 3.
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5. Right-click the empty rectangle and choose New Script... in the contextual menu. The Edit Script dialog appears. The selector of the script is automatically set to the ID of the selected element (#camera). Alternatively, you could add a new script on the Scripts pane and make sure that the Selector field is set to #camera. 6. Enter the following script code: results.attr("src", record.fields.photo); The name of the data field (in this case: photo) must be that of the Camera data in your data model.
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l After creating a Capture OnTheGo template using a wizard, you can find more ready-made elements in the Snippets folder on the Resources pane. 3. Creating mockups. A mockup or wire frame will help you to layout the form and allows your customer to provide feedback early in the project. This will save you a lot of time: typically it is easier to change the sketch than to rework the code. In addition, mockups provide a way to do usability testing before actually creating the form.
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Responsive design Responsive Design is "an approach to web design aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing and interaction experience - easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling — across a wide range of devices". (Source: Wikipedia.). With the COTG app for Android or iOS, COTG forms can be viewed on a wide variety of mobile devices, with different screen sizes.
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Provide touch areas that are large enough. COTG forms are used on a mobile device (in the COTG app). Make sure that the user can easily tap the form elements, hyperlinks and buttons. The index finger of most adults covers an area that is between 45 and 55 pixels wide. There should be enough white space between the form inputs so the user won't accidentally put focus on the wrong element. Visually group related information. Use headers to mark a section. This makes it easier to navigate the form.
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Foundation All Web Template Wizards in Connect Designer make use of the Zurb Foundation front-end framework. A front-end framework is a collection of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files to build upon. Foundation is a responsive framework: it uses CSS media queries and a mobile-first approach, so that websites built upon Foundation look good and function well on multiple devices including desktop and laptop computers, tablets, and mobile phones.
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l l l l l l Event Registration. The Event Registration Template is a generic registration form asking for name, phone, email, etc. Event Feedback. The Event Feedback Template is a questionnaire containing different questions used to rate an experience. Membership Application. The Membership Application Template is a signed generic request form that can be used for memberships such as gyms, clubs, etc. Patient Intake.
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l l Style sheets and JavaScript files related to the COTG form itself and others related to the Foundation framework (see above). The style sheets can be found in the Stylesheets folder on the Resources pane. The JavaScript files are located in the JavaScript folder on the Resources pane. A collection of snippets in the Snippets folder on the Resources pane. The snippets contain ready-to-use parts to build the web form. Double-click to open them.
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Naturally, Web Form elements can also be used on COTG Forms (see "Forms" on page 462 and "Form Elements" on page 466) as well as text, images and other elements (see "Content elements" on page 403). Capture OnTheGo templates can be personalized just like any other type of template; see "Variable Data" on page 530 and "Personalizing Content" on page 518. Tip Use the Outline pane at the left to see which elements are present in the template and to select an element.
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Capture OnTheGo and Jumbotron template wizards automatically add the Foundation files v. 5.5.1 to the resources of the template. In a future version of PReS Connect, Foundation 6 will be included. If you'd rather start using the newest Foundation files right away, you have two options: l l Download the Foundation files (from http://foundation.zurb.com/sites/download.html/) and add them to the template manually. Use remote Foundation files from a CDN, such as https://cdnjs.com/ (search for Foundation).
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These classes can be combined, so that depending on the screen size, a Div can take more or less space in a row. Separate the class names with a space. Tip Start with the class for small screens. For example:
. Larger devices will inherit those styles (thanks to the mobile-first approach of Foundation's style sheet). Customize for larger screens as necessary.
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To add Grid rows and columns quickly, you could also use the Grid snippets or Row snippets, found in the Snippets folder on the Resources pane after using a wizard to create a Foundation web page or a Capture OnTheGo template. For more information about Snippets, see "Snippets" on page 482. For more information about template wizards, see "Creating a Web template with a Wizard" on page 348 and "Capture OnTheGo template wizards" on page 381.
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OnTheGo form elements. For more information about the application refer to these websites: Capture OnTheGo and Capture OnTheGo in the Resource Center. Capture OnTheGo (COTG) elements can only be added within a Form element in a Web context; see "COTG Forms" on page 371. For information about how to add and use COTG Elements, see "Using COTG Elements" on page 393. Barcode Scanner The Barcode Scanner element adds a button to trigger the device to scan a barcode.
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device itself. l Clear: Removes any existing image data from the Camera element. To omit the Take now or Library button, edit the Camera element's properties: right-click the Camera element after adding it to the form, select Camera properties and then use the Source drop-down to select which buttons will be available: Take, Pick from library, or both.
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How to use the captured or selected image in a template When the user has submitted the form, you may want to use the captured or selected image in a Designer template, for example in a letter or on a web page. To do this, insert a dummy image in the template, right-click it and select Dynamic Image. The Text Script Wizard appears. Under Field select the field that contains the base64-encoded string. The script puts the given string in the source (src) attribute of the image (![]()
).
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Geolocation The Geolocation Element adds a button to read the device's current GPS coordinates and save them in a form field. When the button is pressed, the GPS coordinates are requested and saved. When the form is submitted, the Geolocation data is sent in plain text. Image & Annotation The Image & Annotation element is meant to be used with an image that needs input from the user. When inserting an Image & Annotation element you have to select the image.
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the locale of the device on which the user is viewing the form. A Time Element displays dates in the ISO 8601 format: HH:MM. When the form is submitted, the time data is sent as plain text. A Formatted Time element submits the time in both the ISO format mentioned above and in the format that depends on the device's regional and language settings. A Time element sends the time in the ISO format only.
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2. Type a label, or choose No label under Style, to omit the label. (For Label elements there are no other options to be set.) 3. If applicable, choose a style for the label (for the label of a Checkbox, for example, you can't set a style). l l l l Wrap input with label places the input element inside the Label element. Attach label to input ties the label to the input element using the for attribute of the Label element.
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All COTG elements have a role attribute. This attribute is not supposed to be edited: without the correct role attribute, the element won't function. As noted, the name attribute is what identifies the element after submitting the form. Tip Use the Outline pane at the left to see which elements are present in the template and to select an element. Use the Attributes pane at the right to see the current element's ID, class and some other properties.
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name="company" value="Objectif Lune"> name="pinElm1[pin_0][left]" value="122"> name="pinElm1[pin_0][top]" value="253"> name="pinElm1[pin_0][type]" value="dent"> name="pinElm1[pin_1][left]" value="361"> name="pinElm1[pin_1][top]" value="341"> name="pinElm1[pin_1][type]" value="dent"> The above HTML results in the following
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Getting the status of unchecked checkboxes and radio buttons Unchecked checkboxes and radio buttons are not submitted (as per standard HTML behavior), so how to get the state of those checkboxes and radio buttons? A common approach to get the state of unchecked checkboxes and radio buttons is to add a hidden field to the Form with the same name as the checkbox or radio button, for example: Whe
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Tip In the Designer, you can test the responsiveness of a form using the Responsive Design button at the top right of the workspace. Some browsers also let you test the responsiveness of a form. In Firefox, for example, select Developer > Responsive Design to view a form in different sizes. Previewing a COTG Template in the app A COTG Template cannot only be previewed on a PC; it can also be previewed on a mobile device.
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Submitting and previewing data When you hit the Submit button in a template in the Designer (on the Live tab), the submitted data can be sent back to the Designer in the form of an XML file (see below). The advantage of this is that you can immediately start creating a Data Mapping Configuration and use the data in a template. Data submitted from the Capture OnTheGo app can be sent to you in the form of an email or saved via a Workflow configuration. Both options are explained below.
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2. Click the Get Job Data File on submit toolbar button. This replaces the default form submit action and will send the form data to the Workflow's HTTP Service (which needs to be running in the background). Note Workflow's HTTP Service must be running, but not necessarily the Workflow Service itself. 3. Hit the Submit button. Now the data file will be sent directly to the Designer. Once the Job Data File is received by the Connect server, a dialog appears asking where to store it. 4.
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Input Dummy Value Password 1234567890 URL "http://www.localhost.com" Checkbox Checkboxes in detail tables and in the Fields Table control (time sheet) are checked. Radio button Selects the first radio button that is not disabled in each radio group. The radio group will be left untouched when there is a selected radio button. Capture On The Go input dummy data values Input Dummy Value Signat ure Receives SVG signature data and the onscreen presentation of that data.
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Input Dummy Value cker (format ted and standa rd) Device Info widget " {"available":true,"platform":"Android","version":"9.9.9","uuid":"17206724b807749 1","cordova":"3.6.4","model":"Connect Designer"}" User Accou nt widget "user@localhost.com" Locale widget en-US * Note that the formatted date and time can be different from the values that the COTG app provides.
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1. Select the Form (see "Selecting an element" on page 407). 2. On the Attributes pane, paste the following URL in the action field: http://learn.objectiflune.com/services/cotg-debug?__ol__auth_key={{APIKEY}}. 3. Replace {{APIKEY}} by your API Key. When you submit the form in the COTG app (see "Previewing a COTG Template in the app" on page 398), the debug service will compose an HTML email that contains the form element names and the submitted values.
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When you add elements, such as text, images or a table, to the content of a template, you are actually constructing an HTML file. It is possible to edit the source of the HTML file directly in the Designer; see "Editing HTML" on page 405.
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Most elements are suitable for use in all contexts. There are a few exceptions, however. Forms and Form elements can be used on web pages only, whereas Whitespace elements and Page numbers can only be used in a Print context. Positioned boxes are well suited for Print sections, but are to be avoided in the Email and Web context.
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Attributes ID and class Every element in the content of a template can have an ID and a class. ID's and classes are particularly useful with regard to variable data (see "Personalizing Content" on page 518) and styling (see "Styling templates with CSS files" on page 486). You can specify an ID and/or class when you add the element to the content.
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1. Click the respective toolbar button. Alternatively, click the element on the Insert menu. 2. Add an ID and/or a class. ID's and classes are particularly useful with regard to variable data (see "Personalizing Content" on page 518) and styling (see "Styling templates with CSS files" on page 486). 3. Use the Location drop-down (if available) to select where to insert the element. l l l l l At cursor position inserts it where the cursor is located in the template.
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l Using the Breadcrumbs at the top of the workspace. Breadcrumbs show the HTML tag of the clicked element, as well as the HTML tags of 'parent elements': elements inside of which the clicked element is located. The clicked element is at the end of the line. Elements with classes or IDs show these details next to them, for instance div #contents > ol.salesitems > li. Click any of the elements in the Breadcrumbs to select that element.
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l l Right-click the element and select the type of element on the shortcut menu. Select the element (see "Selecting an element" on page 407) and select the type of element on the Format menu. See "Styling and formatting" on page 484 for more information about the formatting options. Format elements via Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) It is highly recommended to use style sheets in templates right from the start.
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1. Select Insert > Barcode on the menu or click the Barcode toolbar button 2. Choose the desired barcode type. The list is divided between 1d and 2d barcodes. 3. An ID is required. You can change the given ID and, optionally, add a class. 4. Check the option Absolute to insert the barcode in an absolute-positioned box inside the
of the HTML, but outside other elements. Alternatively, use the Location dropdown to select where to insert the Barcode.
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value minus the Checksum. To include a calculated Checksum in the barcode value, edit the barcode properties after adding the barcode to the template; see below. 6. Click OK to close the dialog. In the template the barcode shows up as a gray box. The associated barcode script is added to the Scripts pane. To see the barcode script working, toggle to the Preview tab in the Workspace.
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The barcode properties set via the properties dialog are written to the data-params attribute on the barcode element in JSON format. (To see this, select the barcode and open the document in the Source view.) Click the barcode type below for information about its properties.
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Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the barcode types OneCode, KIX Code, Royal Mail and Australia Post. For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 411. Height, width and spacing The height, width and spacing of the barcode are all measured in pixels (38 dpi).
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Aztec Code Aztec is one of the types of barcodes that can be added to a template; see "Barcode" on page 409. The barcode can be added either using the Barcode toolbar button or through selecting Insert > Barcode on the menu; see "Adding a Barcode" on page 409. Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties.
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Error Correction Level This option reserves a percentage of the symbol capacity for error correction. The recommended percentage for this type of barcode is 23. Rune When set to a value between 0 and 255, an Aztec Rune corresponding to the selected value is created. Set the Rune to -1 to disable this feature. Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width.
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Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties. To change those properties, such as the scale and color, open the Barcode properties dialog: right-click the barcode (on the Design tab in the Workspace) and select the barcode type on the shortcut menu. Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the Codabar barcode. For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 411. Module width Specifies the width of the narrow bars in centimeters.
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Color The Color property allows you to choose a different Barcode color (instead of black) and Background color (instead of white), by typing a hexadecimal color value (see for example w3school's color picker). Output format Defines how the barcode is output on the page. There are two possible formats: l l SVG: Vector format. This is smaller in size, but not compatible with Email output. PNG: Binary rasterized format. This is slightly larger than SVG but will display properly in Email output.
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Module width Specifies the width of the narrow bars in centimeters. Changing this value to a higher value will make the barcode bigger when Scale is set to None. Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width. l Fit to box: The barcode is stretched to fit the parent box in both width and height.
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Code 39, Code 39 extended Code 39 and Code 39 extended are two of the barcode types that can be added to a template. The barcode can be added either using the Barcode toolbar button or through selecting Insert > Barcode on the menu; see "Adding a Barcode" on page 409. Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties.
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Human Readable Message When this option is checked, PReS Connect shows a human readable text below or above the barcode, as defined using the Text Position, using the specified font and font size. The font size is given in points (pt). Color The Color property allows you to choose a different Barcode color (instead of black) and Background color (instead of white), by typing a hexadecimal color value (see for example w3school's color picker). Output format Defines how the barcode is output on the page.
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l Industrial 2 of 5 l Interleaved 2 of 5 l Matrix 2 of 5 For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 411. Module width Specifies the width of the narrow bars in centimeters. Changing this value to a higher value will make the barcode bigger when Scale is set to None. Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width.
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l l SVG: Vector format. This is smaller in size, but not compatible with Email output. PNG: Binary rasterized format. This is slightly larger than SVG but will display properly in Email output. Code 128 Code 128 is one of the types of barcodes that can be added to a template; see "Barcode" on page 409. The barcode can be added either using the Barcode toolbar button or through selecting Insert > Barcode on the menu; see "Adding a Barcode" on page 409.
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Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width. l Fit to box: The barcode is stretched to fit the parent box in both width and height. l Proportionally: The barcode is stretched up to where it fits either the width or height of the parent box, whichever requires the less stretching.
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The barcode can be added either using the Barcode toolbar button or through selecting Insert > Barcode on the menu; see "Adding a Barcode" on page 409. Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties. To change those properties, such as the scale and color, open the Barcode properties dialog: right-click the barcode (on the Design tab in the Workspace) and select the barcode type on the shortcut menu. Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the QR barcode.
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Preferred format Use the drop-down to select the size of the Data Matrix. Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width. l Fit to box: The barcode is stretched to fit the parent box in both width and height. l Proportionally: The barcode is stretched up to where it fits either the width or height of the parent box, whichever requires the less stretching.
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Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the barcode types UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-8 and EAN-13. For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 411. Module width Specifies the width of the narrow bars in centimeters. Changing this value to a higher value will make the barcode bigger when Scale is set to None. Show guardbars Checking this option adds guardbars to the barcode.
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Note When the chosen supplement type doesn't match the data, the supplement data will be skipped and the additional barcode will not be rendered. l l Height Factor: This is the relative height of the supplement's bars compared to the normal bars. Space Before : Defines the space between the main symbol and the supplement, in cm.
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Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties. To change those properties, such as the scale and color, open the Barcode properties dialog: right-click the barcode (on the Design tab in the Workspace) and select the barcode type on the shortcut menu. Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the barcode type GS1-128. For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 411. Module width Specifies the width of the narrow bars in centimeters.
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Output format Defines how the barcode is output on the page. There are two possible formats: l l SVG: Vector format. This is smaller in size, but not compatible with Email output. PNG: Binary rasterized format. This is slightly larger than SVG but will display properly in Email output. OneCode, KIX Code, Royal Mail, Australia Post OneCode, KIX Code, Royal Mail and Australia Post are some of the types of barcodes that can be added to a template; see "Barcode" on page 409.
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l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width. l Fit to box: The barcode is stretched to fit the parent box in both width and height. l Proportionally: The barcode is stretched up to where it fits either the width or height of the parent box, whichever requires the less stretching. Color The Color property allows you to choose a different Barcode color (instead of black) and Background color (instead of white), by typing a hexadecimal color value (see for example w3school's color picker).
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w3school's color picker). Output format Defines how the barcode is output on the page. There are two possible formats: l l SVG: Vector format. This is smaller in size, but not compatible with Email output. PNG: Binary rasterized format. This is slightly larger than SVG but will display properly in Email output.
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Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width. l Fit to box: The barcode is stretched to fit the parent box in both width and height. l Proportionally: The barcode is stretched up to where it fits either the width or height of the parent box, whichever requires the less stretching.
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The barcode can be added either using the Barcode toolbar button or through selecting Insert > Barcode on the menu; see "Adding a Barcode" on page 409. Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties. To change those properties, such as the scale and color, open the Barcode properties dialog: right-click the barcode (on the Design tab in the Workspace) and select the barcode type on the shortcut menu.
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character will be calculated. Human Readable Message When this option is checked, PReS Connect shows a human readable text below or above the barcode, as defined using the Text Position, using the specified font and font size. The font size is given in points (pt). Color The Color property allows you to choose a different Barcode color (instead of black) and Background color (instead of white), by typing a hexadecimal color value (see for example w3school's color picker).
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l Code 93 extended l Industrial 2 of 5 l Interleaved 2 of 5 l Matrix 2 of 5 For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 411. Module width Specifies the width of the narrow bars in centimeters. Changing this value to a higher value will make the barcode bigger when Scale is set to None. Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width.
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Output format Defines how the barcode is output on the page. There are two possible formats: l l SVG: Vector format. This is smaller in size, but not compatible with Email output. PNG: Binary rasterized format. This is slightly larger than SVG but will display properly in Email output. MaxiCode MaxiCode is one of the barcode types that can be added to a template; see "Barcode" on page 409.
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MSI MSI is one of the types of barcodes that can be added to a template; see "Barcode" on page 409. The barcode can be added either using the Barcode toolbar button or through selecting Insert > Barcode on the menu; see "Adding a Barcode" on page 409. Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties.
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Checksum Type The Checksum type can be MSI10, MSI11, MSI1010 or MSI1110; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSI_Barcode. Human Readable Message When this option is checked, PReS Connect shows a human readable text below or above the barcode, as defined using the Text Position, using the specified font and font size. The font size is given in points (pt).
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Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the barcode types OneCode, KIX Code, Royal Mail and Australia Post. For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 411. Height, width and spacing The height, width and spacing of the barcode are all measured in pixels (38 dpi).
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PDF417 PDF417 is one of the types of barcodes that can be added to a template; see "Barcode" on page 409. The barcode can be added either using the Barcode toolbar button or through selecting Insert > Barcode on the menu; see "Adding a Barcode" on page 409. Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties.
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Bar height Defines the height of the bars for a single row measured in pixels drawn. Compact Check this option to use Compact PDF417 instead of the PDF417 barcode. This shortened form of the PDF417 barcode is useful where the space for the symbol is restricted. Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width. l Fit to box: The barcode is stretched to fit the parent box in both width and height.
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Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties. To change those properties, such as the scale and color, open the Barcode properties dialog: right-click the barcode (on the Design tab in the Workspace) and select the barcode type on the shortcut menu. Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the barcode type Postnet. For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 411. Module width Specifies the width of the narrow bars in centimeters.
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Output format Defines how the barcode is output on the page. There are two possible formats: l l SVG: Vector format. This is smaller in size, but not compatible with Email output. PNG: Binary rasterized format. This is slightly larger than SVG but will display properly in Email output. QR Code A QR Code is one of the types of barcodes that can be added to a template; see "Barcode" on page 409.
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Encoding This option defines the encoding of the barcode. When Auto is selected, the barcode generator determines the encoding based on the supplied string. The other options are: l l Numeric: 10 bits per 3 digits, with a maximum of 7089 numerical characters. Alphanumeric: 11 bits per 2 characters, with a maximum of 4296 alphanumerical characters. l Byte: 8 bits per character, with a maximum of 2953 characters. l Kanji: 13 bits per character, with a maximum of 1817 characters.
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l Proportionally: The barcode is stretched up to where it fits either the width or height of the parent box, whichever requires the less stretching. Color The Color property allows you to choose a different Barcode color (instead of black) and Background color (instead of white), by typing a hexadecimal color value (see for example w3school's color picker). Output format Defines how the barcode is output on the page. There are two possible formats: l l SVG: Vector format.
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Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the barcode types OneCode, KIX Code, Royal Mail and Australia Post. For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 411. Height, width and spacing The height, width and spacing of the barcode are all measured in pixels (38 dpi).
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Royal Mail Mailmark Royal Mail Mailmark is one of the types of barcodes that can be added to a template; see "Barcode" on page 409. The barcode can be added either using the Barcode toolbar button or through selecting Insert > Barcode on the menu; see "Adding a Barcode" on page 409. Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties.
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Color The Color property allows you to choose a different Barcode color (instead of black) and Background color (instead of white), by typing a hexadecimal color value (see for example w3school's color picker). Output format Defines how the barcode is output on the page. There are two possible formats: l l SVG: Vector format. This is smaller in size, but not compatible with Email output. PNG: Binary rasterized format. This is slightly larger than SVG but will display properly in Email output.
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Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width. l Fit to box: The barcode is stretched to fit the parent box in both width and height. l Proportionally: The barcode is stretched up to where it fits either the width or height of the parent box, whichever requires the less stretching. Supplement UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-13, and EAN-8 may all include an additional barcode to the right of the main barcode.
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w3school's color picker). Output format Defines how the barcode is output on the page. There are two possible formats: l l SVG: Vector format. This is smaller in size, but not compatible with Email output. PNG: Binary rasterized format. This is slightly larger than SVG but will display properly in Email output. Boxes Boxes are elements that are used to surround other elements, either to style them, to find them, or to place them in specific locations.
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Moving and resizing a Positioned Box Positioned Boxes can be moved by dragging the borders, and resized using the handles on the sides and the corners. Alternatively the size and position can be set on the Attributes pane. Note that the size and offset values will be displayed in the default print units as defined in the preferences.
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Inline Box An Inline Box is one that is placed within the text flow, where other elements (including text) can wrap around it. An inline box is actually a
element that is floating; in other words, it has its CSS property float set to left, right or no float. Inline Boxes can be used in Print context and in Web pages. It is common to do entire web layouts using the float property. In Email templates, it is best to use Tables to position elements.
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To wrap content in a span, select the text and other inline elements and click Insert > Wrap in Span on the menu. Give the span an ID, if you are going to add a style rule or script for it that is unique to this span; or give the span a class, if this span can be targeted by a style or script along with other pieces of content. Now you can use the wrapper's ID or class as a script's or style's selector; see "Using the Text Script Wizard" on page 533 and "Styling and formatting" on page 484.
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1. Place the cursor where the graphic should be added. 2. Click the toolbar button of the type of chart you want to add, or select Insert > Business graphic and choose the chart type. 3. An ID is required. You can change the given ID and, optionally, add a class. 4. Use the Location drop-down to select where to insert the graphic: l l l l l At cursor position inserts it where the cursor is located in the template.
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With the options to fill a chart dynamically you also have to select a detail table and a (row) label: a data field of which the value appears near the parts in a pie chart or under the bars or points of the line in a bar chart or line chart. The label is also used for the legend. Note that initially the legend is not visible. To make it visible, check the option Show legend in the chart's properties (see "Business graphic properties" below). 6.
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COTG Elements With the Designer you can create Capture OnTheGo templates. COTG templates are used to generate forms for the Capture OnTheGo mobile application. This topic is about Capture OnTheGo form elements. For more information about the application refer to these websites: Capture OnTheGo and Capture OnTheGo in the Resource Center. Capture OnTheGo (COTG) elements can only be added within a Form element in a Web context; see "COTG Forms" on page 371.
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l l Library: Opens the device's default library or gallery application to select a single image that is then saved in the form data. The accessible images and navigation depend on the device itself. Clear: Removes any existing image data from the Camera element.
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l Scale Image: Check this option to enable image scaling. Then set the maximum width and height of images before they are sent to the server. Note that only the smallest of these is applied and the size ratio is always maintained. How to use the captured or selected image in a template When the user has submitted the form, you may want to use the captured or selected image in a Designer template, for example in a letter or on a web page.
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you need. The user can click (or rather, touch) the Add button to add a row to the table. The new row will contain the same elements as the first row. The names of all elements in the first row will be extended with __0, while the names of the elements in the second row will be extended with __1, etc. Geolocation The Geolocation Element adds a button to read the device's current GPS coordinates and save them in a form field. When the button is pressed, the GPS coordinates are requested and saved.
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Time and Formatted Time The Time element and the Formatted Time element display the current time on the device when the form is first opened. When the element is touched, a time selector appears so the user can modify this time. The Formatted Time element displays times in a format that depends on the locale of the device on which the user is viewing the form. A Time Element displays dates in the ISO 8601 format: HH:MM. When the form is submitted, the time data is sent as plain text.
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Tip If you are looking to add a date, originating from a record set, to a template, see: "Variable Data" on page 530. To insert a date you could use either the drag and drop method or the Text Script Wizard, however the latter lets you set the date/time format. Changing the date Once inserted, a date can be modified directly in the template (if it does not update automatically) or through the date script (if it does update automatically). To modify the date in the script: 1.
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Forms Web templates can contain Forms. Capture OnTheGo templates always contain a Form. Tip To create a Capture OnTheGo template, preferably use a Template Wizard (see "Capture OnTheGo template wizards" on page 381). The Wizard doesn't just add the form, it also adds the necessary Capture OnTheGo form elements (see ), style sheets and JavaScript files, and extra pre-made elements. Adding a Form This procedure describes how to add a Form element to an existing Web context. 1.
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5. Using the the Method drop-down, select whether the form should be sent using the GET or POST method. 6. Using the next drop-down, select the form's Encryption Type (enctype): l l l application/x-www-form-urlencoded: Default. All characters are encoded before they are sent. Spaces are converted to "+" symbols, and special characters are converted to ASCII HEX values. multipart/form-data: No characters are encoded. This value is required when you are using forms that have a file upload control.
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11. Use the Location drop-down to select where to insert the element. l l l l l At cursor position inserts it where the cursor is located in the template. Before element inserts it before the HTML element in which the cursor is currently located. For example if the cursor is within a paragraph, the insertion point will be before the
tag.* After start tag inserts it within the current HTML element, at the beginning, just after the start tag.
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l An Encryption Type (enctype): l l l application/x-www-form-urlencoded: Default. All characters are encoded before they are sent. Spaces are converted to "+" symbols, and special characters are converted to ASCII HEX values. multipart/form-data: No characters are encoded. This value is required when you are using forms that have a file upload control. text/plain: Spaces are converted to "+" symbols, but no special characters are encoded.
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Browser validation you can only make a field required and set a maximum length. Changing a Form's validation in HTML In HTML, the validation method is stored in the data-validation-method attribute of the
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Fieldset A fieldset is a group of related elements in a form. The elements don't have to be of the same type. After inserting and selecting the Fieldset (see "Selecting an element" on page 407) you can add elements to it in the same way you add elements to a Form; see "Adding elements to a Form" on page 363. Text The Text element is a simple element with the type text. It accepts any alphanumerical characters, including special characters.
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Hidden field A hidden field can contain specific data used by the server-side script. It is not visible to the user. When adding a Hidden Field you can set the value that will be sent on submit. Label A Label element is a text displaying informative text within the form. Labels are non-interactive. Note that this type of label is not tied to an input element. At the same time you add an input element, you can add a label to that element; see "Adding elements to a Form" on page 363.
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If a Radio Button is not checked, no information is sent when the form is submitted. Fortunately, there is a workaround to submit the status of the unchecked radio button, see "Using Form Elements" on page 363. The submit name of a Radio Button indicates to which Radio Button Group the Radio Button belongs. Select A Select element is a drop-down list with multiple entries from which the user can select only one option.
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Hyperlink and mailto link Links can be added to any template but they only work in electronic output (web pages, email and PDF files). They can be a regular hyperlink pointing to a web page or a mailto link that will open the default email client when clicked. HTML element: a When you add elements, such as text, images or a table, to the content of a template, you are actually constructing an HTML file.
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Target: use the drop-down or type in the target for the link.When the target is _ blank the link will open in a new browser window or tab. For a mailto link: l l l Email: enter a valid email address that appears by default in the To: field of the email client. Subject: type a default subject that appears in the Subject: field of the email client. Message: type a message that appears by default in the Message field of the email client.
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Tip Using images in an Email template? See "Using images in email campaigns: tips" on page 330. Dynamic images Images can be switched dynamically, so that a letter, email or web page can include one image or another, depending on a value in the data set. Read "Dynamic Images" on page 541 to find out how to add such switching images. Background images Several parts of templates, such as sections and media, and elements such as positioned boxes, can have a background image.
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In the section's source file, images are ![]()
elements. The ![]()
tag has at least four attributes: src, alt, width and height. src specifies the URL of the image. alt contains the alternate text; see "Setting an alternate text" on page 475. The value of the attributes can be changed via a script; see "Attributes" on page 405. Adding images Imported or external images In templates, both imported images and external images can be used. Imported images are images that are saved within the template file.
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Via the Select Image dialog To either import an image into a template or use an external image in a template, the Select Image dialog can be used: 1. Position the cursor in the content where you want the image to be inserted. 2. On the Insert menu, click Image. Or, click the Insert Image button on the toolbar. The Select Image dialog appears. 3. Click Resources, Disk or Url, depending on where the image is located.
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For an explanation of how to do this, see "Optimizing a template" on page 858. Styling an image Images can be resized using the handles on the sides and the corners, or via the Image Formatting dialog, which opens when you right-click the image and select Image..., or select the Format > Image menu item. Images can be styled using the same dialog, or through the CSS files; see "Styling templates with CSS files" on page 486.
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Note When CSS repeating gradients are displayed in a PDF reader, artifacts, like very thin lines may occur. When this happens, try setting the gradient's position a little bit different. Table Tables serve two different purposes: they are a way to display data in a tabular format, and they are also a way to position elements on a page. In HTML email, Tables are the most reliable way to position text and images; see "Designing an Email template" on page 327.
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Inserting a Table 1. On the toolbar, click the Insert table button, or on the menu select Insert > Table > Standard. 2. Enter the table's desired attributes: l l ID: a unique identifier for the table. IDs are used to access the Table from scripts and as CSS selectors for style rules. Class: A class identifier for the table. Classes can be shared between elements and are used to access the table from scripts and as CSS selectors for style rules.
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Note Tables on a Master Page have to have an absolute position, unless they are located inside another element with an absolute position. 4. Click Next and select which fields should show up in the Dynamic Table. The order of the fields indicates in which order columns are displayed in the dynamic table, from left to right. Select a line and then use the Up and Down buttons to change the order of the columns. You could change the placeholder for each data field as well; just click a placeholder to edit it.
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Rows and columns Adding a row or column To add a row or column to an existing table, click in a cell. Then click the black triangle next to the Insert Row Above button on the toolbar, and click one of the Insert buttons, or select one of the options in the Insert > Table Elements menu. Alternatively, right-click the table and on the shortcut menu, select Row > Insert Above or Insert Below, or select Column > Insert Before or Insert After.
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l Select the Table and select Format > Table, on the menu. On the Table tab, change the width and height of the Table. Moving a Table l l l Click in the table and then drag the border to move the Table. Select the Table (see "Selecting an element" on page 407) and type the desired Y-offset and X-offset in the respective fields on the Attributes pane. Select the Table and select Format > Table, on the menu. On the Table tab, change the Y-offset and X-offset of the image.
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ConnectDesigner. Formatting options like bold, italic and formats like Heading 1, Heading 2 are maintained. Extra spaces In HTML, extra spaces are generally removed. In Designer templates this is the same, because they are HTML files. In some cases however, you want extra spaces to be shown in your output. Read this how-to to learn how to maintain extra spaces in the text: Maintain extra spaces in text. Adding special characters To add special characters: 1.
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Snippets A snippet is a small, ready-to-use piece of content in a file. Snippets can be re-used within the same template, in all contexts and sections. They can contain any contents that a section can have, such as text, images, variable data, dynamic tables, etc. Normally, a snippet is an HTML file, but it can also be a JSON file. When a snippet is added to different sections or contexts, it is displayed according to the section's or context's style sheet.
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1. Right-click the Snippets folder on the Resources pane, and click New Remote Snippet. 2. Enter a name for the file as it appears in the Snippets folder. This name is shown in the Snippets folder with the .rhtml file extension. 3. Enter the URL for the remote resource. This must be a full URL, including the http:// or https:// prefix, domain name, path and file name. Note Remote snippets may contain other resources, such as images.
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Tip To export a snippet from your template, drag or copy/paste it out of the Snippets folder to a folder on the local hard drive. Creating a snippet To turn a parts of a letter, email or web page into a snippet for reuse in the content of a template: 1. Select the part that should be saved in a snippet. 2. Right-click the selection, point to Snippet and click Create. 3. Right-click the new snippet on the Resources pane in the Snippets folder and rename it.
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l l Using local formatting. Local formatting means styling an element directly, using a toolbar button or one of the formatting dialogs. Using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Style sheets can determine the appearance of individual elements, as well as the appearance of elements that have the same class or HTML tag. Whether applied through style sheets or through local formatting, behind the scenes all layout properties in the Designer are CSS properties.
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Spacing (padding and margin) helps to position elements relative to other elements in the template; see "Spacing" on page 517. The best way to position elements depends on the output channel for which the template is intended; see "How to position elements" on page 498. The locale setting influences how dates, numbers and amounts of money are displayed; see "Locale" on page 516.
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the clicked element, as well as the HTML tags of other elements to which the clicked element belongs. The clicked element is at the end of the line. To edit the HTML text directly: l In the workspace, toggle to the Source tab. On this tab you can view and edit the content of the template in the form of plain text with HTML tags (note the angle brackets: <>). You may add and edit the text and the HTML tags, classes, ID’s and other attributes. To learn more about HTML, see for example https://developer.
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Adding CSS files To add a CSS file of your own, open an Explorer window, drag the file to the Resources pane and drop it on the Stylesheets folder. To create a new CSS file, right-click the Stylesheet folder on the Resources pane and select New Stylesheet. Note The order in which style sheets are executed, can affect the actual output. This sequence can be set per section; see "Determining the order in which style sheets are read" on page 493.
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4. Optionally, for a Capture OnTheGo Form, you can check Use cached Capture OnTheGo resource, to prevent downloading a remote style sheet again if it has been downloaded before. The file should be available on a publicly accessible location, for example: a folder location on a corporate website, hosted by a CDN (Content Delivery Network) or shared via a Workflow process.
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l An ID: #id. An ID is always preceded by #, e.g. #sender. When you create an ID, choose a name that indicates what the ID is used for, e.g. #sender would refer to the HTML element with information about the sender. Note Each ID should be unique and can only be used once in each section. l l l l An HTML element: p, h1, table, etc. Type the tag name without the angle brackets. A combination of HTML elements, separated by a comma.
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Step 2: apply CSS to the content After editing the CSS file(s), make sure that the CSS rules actually apply to one or more elements in the template. CSS rules for HTML elements, such as paragraphs, are automatically applied to all elements with the corresponding HTML tag. To make a CSS rule for a certain class or ID work for an element in your document, you have to add the class or ID to that HTML element.
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How to determine which styles are applied To see which styles are applied to an element, select the element (see "Selecting an element" on page 407) and take a look at the Styles pane that sits next to the Attributes pane. The Styles pane shows which CSS style rules apply to the currently selected element. A link next to a style rule will open the file where that particular style is defined.
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Rules for HTML elements (p, table, li etc.) are general rules. Rules for classes, pseudo classes, and elements with a certain attribute (.class, :hover, [target]) are more specific. Rules for elements with a certain ID are even more specific. The most specific are inline styles.
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1. On the Resources pane, expand the Contexts folder, expand the folder of the corresponding context and then right-click the section (or right-click the Web context). 2. Click the tab Includes. 3. From the File types dropdown, select Stylesheets. 4. The list at the left displays the style sheets that are present in the template's resources. The list at the right shows the style sheets that will be included in the output of the current section (or Web sections, if you have selected the Web context).
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l The font, font size, color and background color: l l l l l Font size. Enter the size in a measure, named size or percentage. This is equivalent to setting the font-size property in CSS. Color: this the color of the text. Select a named font color as defined in the Edit Colors dialog (see "Colors" on page 510) or click the colored square to create a new color or to enter a color manually. The color value must be a valid HTML color name or hexadecimal color code.
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l Lowercase: Sets thetext-transform to lowercase. l Small-caps: Sets the font-variant to small-caps. Note All settings in the Text Formatting dialog are in fact CSS style rules. When you change one or more settings, the selected text gets wrapped in a Span element that has an inline style tag containing the selected setting(s). Click the Advanced button to add CSS properties and values to the inline style tag of the Span directly. For more information about CSS, see "Styling and formatting" on page 484.
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l (Page) breaks: these settings are only useful in Print sections, as only Print sections have pages. l l l l Before: Sets whether a page break should occur before the paragraph. This is equivalent to the page-break-before property in CSS; see CSS page-breakbefore property for an explanation of the available options. Inside: Sets whether a page break is allowed inside the paragraph.
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l Alternatively, click the Source tab at the bottom of the workspace (or select View > Source View) to manually remove style tags. Tip When you select an element in the template, the Styles pane will show which styles are applied to that element. The link behind the style will take you to the place (the Source tab, or a CSS file) where that style is defined.
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element in relation to the other elements, by putting more space between the element and its surrounding elements. The padding is the space between an element's content and its border. It is used to position the content of the element inside the border. To learn how to set an element's spacing properties, see "Spacing" on page 517. Tip Use a negative left margin to create a hanging paragraph or image.
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properties position the element inside its parent with exact values: pixels (px), centimeters (cm), etc. Negative values are allowed. For an explanation of all values that the position property can possibly have, see http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_positioning.asp. Where to use it In Print sections, setting the position property to absolute can be very useful. It takes the element out of the text flow, so that the element stays where it is on the page.
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Rotating elements In any type of template, boxes, images, tables, text and other elements can be rotated. The toolbar buttons Rotate Clockwise and Rotate Counter Clockwise rotate the element in which the cursor is located 90 degrees at a time. To rotate an element into another angle position, use the 'angle' CSS property of the element. In most cases, this can be done in the element's Formatting dialog. In other cases, such as with text, you have to enter the CSS property and value manually.
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l l With local formatting. This means styling the table directly, using the Formatting dialog. Via Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). In a style sheet, style rules are declared for elements with different HTML tags, ID's and classes. These two methods are described below. See "Styling and formatting" on page 484 for background information about these two methods. Selecting a table, row or cell There are several ways to select a table or row: l l l Click in the table or row.
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To style all cells in a table or row at the same time via the Formatting dialog, you have to select the table or row first; see "Selecting a table, row or cell" on the previous page Next, to open the Formatting dialog, choose Format > Table Cell. The settings that you make now will be applied to all cells in the selected row or table. Via a style sheet Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) offer more ways to style a table and its contents, than the Formatting dialog does. This is especially true for Dynamic Tables.
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In CSS, refer to the table, row or cell with #ID (where ID should be replaced with the actual ID) or with .class (where class should be replaced with the actual class). Styling the first, last and nth rows The CSS pseudo-classes :first-child, :last-child and :nth-child() are very useful for styling table rows (especially in Dynamic Tables). A CSS pseudo-class follows a selector to specify a special state of that selector. It always starts with a colon.
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:nth-child(3n+1) matches child elements 1, 4, 7, 10 etc., so every third element, starting at 1. Via script (based on a data field value) To style a table, row or cell based on a data field value, you have to write a script (see "Writing your own scripts" on page 548). First add an ID or class to the table, row or cell that needs to be styled: select the element (see "Selecting a table, row or cell" on page 502) and add an ID on the Attributes pane.
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To keep all CSS style rules together you could add the style rules to a class in the CSS file (see "Styling templates with CSS files" on page 486) and assign that class to the a row or cell using addClass (see "Examples" on page 813). For another example, see this how-to: Change detail line formatting based upon a data field value. Background color and/or image In any type of template, boxes, tables and table cells can have a background color and/or a background image.
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l l l Resources lists the images that are present in the Images folder on the Resources pane. Disk lists image files that reside in a folder on a hard drive that is accessible from your computer. Click the Browse button to select a folder (or an image in a folder). As an alternative it is possible to enter the path manually. The complete syntax is: file:///. Note: if the host is "localhost", it can be omitted, resulting in file:///, for example: file:///c:/resources/images/image.jpg.
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Border In any type of template, boxes, tables and table cells, paragraphs, images and other elements can have a border. Elements have a rectangular shape, so their border has four sides. Each side of the border can have a different layout. Adding a border 1. Right-click the element and click the respective element on the shortcut menu. Alternatively, select the element (see "Selecting an element" on page 407) and on the Format menu click the respective element. 2. Click the Border tab. 3.
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Boxes, images and tables To round the corners of a box, image or table: 1. Select a Box, Image or Table element (see "Selecting an element" on page 407) and on the Format menu click the respective element. Alternatively, right-click the element and click the respective element on the shortcut menu. 2. On the first tab in the Formatting dialog (the Box, Image or Table tab respectively) specify the corner radius in a measure (10mm, 5px, 0.5in) or percentage (0 - 90%). 3.
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1. Select the paragraph (see "Selecting an element" on page 407) and then select Format > Paragraph on the menu, or right-click the paragraph and select Paragraph on the shortcut menu. 2. Click the Advanced button at the bottom of the Formatting dialog. 3. Under Property, type border-radius. 4. Under Value, type the value of the corner radius in a measure (10mm, 5px, 0.5in) or percentage (0 - 90%). 5. Click OK, and click OK again to close the Formatting dialog.
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1. Select Edit > Colors on the menu. 2. Add a color. There are two ways to do this: l l Click the New button (the green plus). Select an existing color from the list and copy it using the Duplicate button . (The Filter drop-down limits the list to colors of a certain type.) Select the new color and click the Edit button . 3. In the Edit color dialog, type a name for the color (or let the Designer create a name based on the values that you select). The color’s name can be used in style sheets.
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Defining a tint A tint is a transparent color, based on another color in the template. To define a tint: 1. Select Edit > Colors on the menu. 2. Click the New button (the green plus) to add the tint. 3. Click the Type drop-down and select Tint. 4. In the Edit color dialog, type a name for the color (or let the Designer create a name based on the values that you select). The color’s name can be used in style sheets. This name should not contain spaces or special characters. 5.
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p { color: MyColor; } CMYK colors You may use the custom cmyk() CSS function to assign a CMYK color to any element, or a series of elements. The following example assigns a steel blue color as a background for all H1 elements: h1 { background-color: cmyk(33%, 17%, 0%, 20%); } Coloring text Instead of using a style sheet (see above), you can color text locally: 1. Select text or an HTML element that contains text (see "Selecting an element" on page 407). 2.
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see "Color Picker" on page 589. You could also type a name or value in the Color field directly. It must be a valid color name (see color names on w3schools), a hexadecimal color code (see w3school's color picker), RGB color value, for example rgb(216,255,170) or CMYK color value, for example cmyk(15%, 0%, 33%, 0%). 5. Click OK or Apply. Color management Color profiles can keep colors consistent across different outputs.
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l Drag the appropriate font files into the Fonts folder on the Resources pane. When text is displayed in an imported font, the Designer can mimic the bold and italic versions of that font. If you have separate files for the bold, italic and possibly other versions of a font, you can make the Designer use the appropriate files to style text. To do this: 1. Import the files for the bold, italic and/other versions of the font into the Fonts folder. 2. On the Edit menu, click Fonts, to open the Font Manager.
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Applying an imported font Once a font is imported, it is automatically added to the Fonts drop-down on the toolbar. It can also be used in the style sheets, even in combination with other fonts, for example: body { font-family: 'MyWebFont', Arial, sans-serif; } Locale The locale is a setting that can affect date, time and currency output, and other formatting that depends on location and language. This setting is specific to each template, so changing it for one template will not affect other templates.
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letter country code (de-DE, zh-CN, fr-CA, fr-FR, etc), as defined by the international standards ISO-639-1 and ISO 3166. l Select Data Field to use a data field from the record. The locale will be recordspecific in this case. Use the drop-down to select a field within the current Data Model that contains the locale. This field must be a string and contain the exact locale to be used, such as "en" or "fr-CA". It cannot be an alias such as "english" or "french".
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2. Click the Spacing tab. Note All settings in the Formatting dialog are in fact CSS style rules. Click the Advanced button to manually add CSS properties (at the left) and values (at the right). For more information about CSS, see "Styling and formatting" on page 484. It is also possible to change an element's formatting via a style sheet; see "Styling templates with CSS files" on page 486. 3. Set the value for the padding in measure or percentage.
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Variable data Variable data are data from a database or data file that are used to personalize documents for each customer. Variable data fields can be inserted in the text directly. For example, if a person's last name can be found in your data, the field that holds the last name can be used in the text of a web page, letter or email. Scripts in PReS Connect Designer are the basis of Variable Data Printing.
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Snippets Snippets are pieces of content that can be re-used within the same template, in all contexts and sections. Snippets can contain any contents that a section can have, such as text, images, variable data, dynamic tables, etc. They are often very useful to personalize content, especially in combination with variable data and scripts. See "Snippets" on page 482 and "Loading a snippet via a script" on page 564.
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l a Data Mapping Configuration, see "Loading a Data Mapping Configuration" on the facing page l a data file, see "Adding data from a data file" on page 523 l a database, see "Adding data from a database" on page 525. A Data Model and sample data are part of a Data Mapping Configuration.
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Tip If you have no data at hand, download a demo from http://demo.objectiflune.com and open a dummy data file to test with. Loading a Data Mapping Configuration If you have used the DataMapper first, you probably already have an open Data Mapping Configuration. Its Data Model and sample data will automatically be used when you start creating a template. You might have to click the Synchronize Model button on the Data Model pane, to update the fields. To open a Data Mapping Configuration: 1.
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complete sample data file that is part of the Data Mapping Configuration. The output is not limited to the number of records shown in the Data Model pane (which is one of the settings in the DataMapper). Adding data from a data file 1. Click File, select Add Data and then click From file data source. Browse to the location of the file and select it. The Designer can open the following types of data files: l CSV files (.csv) l Microsoft Access Database (.mdb, .accddb) l XML files (.
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MDB file options o File: Include the full path to the file. o Password: If the file isn't password protected, you can click Next without filling out this field. o Table name: Use the drop-down to select the appropriate table or stored query to retrieve the appropriate data set. o Encoding: Use the drop-down to select the encoding with which to read the data in the table. XML File options Select what level of XML elements defines a record. The Trigger is what triggers the creation of a new record.
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AFP file options After selecting a file, use the drop-down to select what level in the AFP file defines a record in your data. The levels are defined in the AFP file itself. (See "About AFP files" below.) All metadata fields that belong to the chosen level and higher levels in the tree structure will be listed. The lower the chosen level is in the tree structure, the more records you will get and the more metadata fields will appear in the list. Select metadata fields to add them to your data.
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MySQL 1. Enter the appropriate information to connect to the database: l l l l l Server: Enter the server address for the MySQL database. Port: Enter the port to communicate with the MySQL server. The default port is 3306. Database name: Enter the exact name of the database from where the data should be extracted. User name: Enter a user name that has access to the MySQL server and specified database. The user only requires Read access to the database.
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SQL Server 1. Enter the appropriate information to connect to the database: l Server: Enter the server address for the SQLServer database. l Port: Enter the port to communicate with the SQLServer. The default port is 1433. l l l Database name: Enter the exact name of the database from where the data should be extracted. User name: Enter a username that has access to the SQLServer and specified database. The user only requires Read access to the database.
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JDBC 1. Enter the appropriate information to connect to the database: l l JDBC Driver: Use the drop-down to select which JDBC Driver to use for the database connection. JAR file path: Enter a path to the JAR file that contains the appropriate driver for the database below. l Server: Enter the server address for the database server. l Port: Enter the port to communicate with the server. l l l l l Database name: Enter the exact name of the database from where the data should be extracted.
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l l User name: Enter a username that has access to the Oracle server and specified database. The user only requires Read access to the database. Password: Enter the password that matches the username above. 2. Click Next and enter the information for the source table. l l l Connection string: Displays the full path to the database. Table: Use the drop-down to select the appropriate table or stored query to retrieve the appropriate data set.
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l l l l Padding character: Which character to add if the counter's value is smaller than the width. Width: The number of digits the counter will have (prefix and suffix not included). If the width is larger than the current counter value, the padding character will be used on the left of the counter value, until the width is equal to the set value. For example for a counter value of "15", a width of "4" and padding character of "0", the value will become "0015".
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You can use the drag-and-drop method for simple fields that do not need to be preceded or followed by a space, line break or text. Note Web templates are personalized just like any other template. There are a few extra possibilities, though; see "Using variable data on a Web page" on page 355. Inserting variable data directly (drag-and-drop) An easy, quick and direct way to insert variable data in the content is via drag and drop: 1. Open the section you want to add the data field to. 2.
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The drag-and-drop method automatically generates a script that is named after the data field (see the first column of the Scripts pane). The selector (in the second column in the Scripts pane) is the text that the script will replace. The selector that the drag-and-drop method generates for a script, is the same as the placeholder that is placed in the text. When you drag the same field to the content again, a second placeholder appears in the text, but no new script is added.
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Using the Text Script Wizard The Text Script Wizard can insert one or more data fields into your template, each with an optional prefix and suffix. It is recommended to use the Text Script Wizard for blocks of data, such as address blocks, and when data fields can be empty or need to be formatted differently. 1. Create a new text script and open the Text Script Wizard.
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l An HTML/CSS selector: n HTML elements, such as a paragraph. In the Text Script Wizard, click Selector and type the HTML tag without the angle brackets, for example: p. n HTML elements with a specific class. In the Text Script Wizard, click Selector and type the class name, including the preceding dot, for example: p.green for all paragraphs with the class 'green' or .green for all kinds of HTML elements that have the class 'green'.
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pointing arrow and select one of the formats. See "Formatting variable data" on the facing page. 7. Add as many data fields as you need, following the same procedure. 8. Optionally, you can click Options to specify where and how the script inserts its results: l l l As HTML. HTML elements in the results are processed and displayed as HTML elements. For instance, this is bold will be displayed as this is bold. This is the default setting. As text.
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of the content to move up or down. If, in a Print context, you don't want the result of the script to be part of the text flow (for example, when a letter is going to be sent in an envelope with a window), put the placeholder for the script in a positioned box (see "Boxes" on page 450 and "How to position elements" on page 498). Tip An example of how to create an address block using the Text Script Wizard is described in a howto; see How to create an Address Block.
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3. Under Format you can choose one of the following options: l l l l l l l l l Short Date displays the day, month and year in two digits each, for example 01.04.16. Medium Date displays the day and month in two digits each and the year in four digits, for example 01.04.2016. (This is also the value of the Default Date.) Long Date displays the day as a number, the month's full name and the year in four digits, for example 1. April 2016.
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Font style Text originating from variable data can be displayed in uppercase, lowercase or proper case. 1. Open the Text Script Wizard: double-click to open an existing script in the Scripts pane or create a new Text Script using the Text Script Wizard; see "Using the Text Script Wizard" on page 533. 2. Click a data field that contains text, or add such a data field to the script with the Add field button on the right. 3.
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data file or database without a Data Mapping Configuration, all fields are of the type string. l ∑ (Sum) and ∑↑ (Sum Up) are used in Dynamic Tables in a Print context. ∑ is for transport rules at the end of a page and ∑↑ shows the subtotal of the previous page. Alternatively, you can enter a custom format mask: click in the Format column for the corresponding field and start typing a pattern.
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automatically. The new ID functions as the selector of the script. You can change the selector after closing and reopening the script (double-click the name of the script in the Scripts pane). 4. Set the Action: use the drop-down to select whether to Show or Hide the element when the condition below is true. 5. Click the downward pointing arrow next to Field, to select the data field that should be evaluated. 6.
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2. Change the selector to a CSS class (for example, .male) or to an HTML element with a certain CSS class (for example, p.male). See "Using the Text Script Wizard" on page 533 for further explanation on selectors. 3. Apply the same CSS class to all elements that should be shown or hidden under the condition that you have set in the conditional script. Click each element and type the class (without the preceding dot) in the Class field.
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an external folder). It is important that they are named after the various possible values of the related data field. Adding dynamic images that are not named after a data field value requires a self-made script. To use the Dynamic Image Script Wizard: 1. Add one image to the template. See "Adding images" on page 473. 2. Right-click the image and click Dynamic Image. Or select the image and click Source (not the field, but the label before the field) in the Attributes pane.
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How to insert dynamic images if there are no data fields with the actual names of the images is described in another how-to: Dynamic image that doesn't contain the data field value. Editing a Dynamic Image To edit dynamic images added to the template earlier, right-click the image, or the space reserved for the dynamic images. Then click Dynamic Image to open the Dynamic Image Script Wizard again. Dynamic table In invoice templates, a Dynamic Table is an essential element.
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l l Detail Table: Use the drop-down to select which detail table to display within the dynamic table. Width: Enter the width of the table. A Dynamic Table is always inserted at the cursor position. 3. Click Next and select which fields should show up in the Dynamic Table. The order of the fields indicates in which order columns are displayed in the dynamic table, from left to right. Select a line and then use the Up and Down buttons to change the order of the columns.
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1. In the workspace, open the Design tab. Right-click the first line of the table if you want to add a header row, or the last line if you want to add a footer row. 2. On the shortcut menu select Row > Insert below or Insert above. The new row will be added to either the header or footer. 3. Right-click the row and choose Row > Show.
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Change detail line formatting based upon a data field value An example of how to change the formatting of a line in a Dynamic Table, based upon a data field value, is given in the following how-to: Change detail line formatting based upon a data field value. Resizing a Dynamic Table To change the width of a Dynamic Table or of a column in a Dynamic Table, select it (see "Selecting an element" on page 407) and type the desired width as a percentage in the respective field on the Attributes pane.
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l data-showin: This attribute determines the visibility of the row in different situations, if the table gets split over multiple pages: l header will make the row show up at the top of the table on the first page only. l footer will make the row show up in the footer of the table on the last page only. break used in a row in the section of a table indicates that the row should not be displayed at the top of the table on the first page, but only on following pages.
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In addition to the pURL, to generate a personalized landing page the Connect Server needs a template with a Web context and a Workflow process with the following tasks: l l l A HTTP Server Input task to capture incoming web requests (see Workflow Help: HTTP Server Input). An Execute Data Mapping task to create the record set appropriate for the template (see Workflow Help: Execute DataMapping Task). A Create Web Content task that generates the HTML files (see Workflow Help: Create Web Content).
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However, when you want to do something that goes beyond what you can do with a Wizard, like creating a conditional paragraph with a condition that is based on a combination of data fields, you have to write the script yourself. This topic explains how scripts work and how you can create and write a script. Script types There are generally two types of scripts: Control Scripts and template scripts.
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Creating a new script Writing a template script starts with this procedure: 1. On the Scripts pane at the bottom left, click New. A new script appears in the list. Doubleclick on it to open it. 2. Change the name of the script, so that it reflects what the script does. 3. Choose which kind of selector you want to use. Running a script starts with searching the template for pieces of content that match the script's selector.
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CSS selectors. See also: "Testing scripts" on page 556. There is a shorter route to create a script for an element with a specific ID: 1. In the template, click the element for which you want to create a script. 2. On the Attributes pane at the top right, type an ID. (In HTML, IDs start with #, but in this field you should type it without the preceding #). 3. Click the label to the left of the ID input field (ID)to make a new script with the ID that you typed as a selector. Writing a script 1.
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Tip In the editor window, press Ctrl + Space to see the available features and their descriptions. Use the arrow keys to select a function or object and press Enter to insert it in the script. Type a dot after the name of the function or object and press Ctrl + space again to see which features are subsequently available. For more keyboard shortcuts, see "Keyboard shortcuts" on page 656.
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When this script executes, it stores the value of the AMOUNT field from the current record in a variable and evaluates it. If the value is zero or higher, the color of text in the results the table cells in this case - will be set to green; if the value is below zero, the text color will be set to red. Tip For more examples of using conditions, see this how-to: Combining record-based conditions. Designer API Features like results and record do not exist in the native JavaScript library.
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They can not be excluded from execution for a specific context or section, using the execution scope of a folder; see "Execution scope" on the next page. What you can do is disable the script or the containing folder; see "Enable/disable scripts" on the next page. Script folders Scripts can be organized in folders. Why would you do that? For three reasons: l l l Folders have an execution scope. You can specify for which contexts and sections the scripts in a folder have to run.
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execution scope of a folder; see "Execution scope" below. What you can do is disable the script or the containing folder; see "Enable/disable scripts" below. Execution scope A particular script may be used in one context or section, but not in other contexts or sections.
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To enable or disable a script or a folder: l On the Scripts pane, right-click the script or the folder and click Disable (if the script or folder was enabled) or Enable (if the script or folder was disabled). Tip For more ways to optimize scripts, see "Optimizing scripts" on page 560. Import/export scripts Scripts can be exported - one at a time - for use in other templates. To do this: 1. On the Scriptspane, click on a script, and then click theExportbutton, or right-click a script and selectExport. 2.
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Note that scripts that use values of data fields can only be effective when a data file or Data Mapping Configuration is open. See "Loading data" on page 520. Test for errors Another way to 'test' a script is to take a look at the Scripts pane. Tip Hover over the name of a script in the Scripts pane to highlight parts of the template that are affected by the script. Icons on the name of scripts in the Scripts pane can show a warning, information or error icon.
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Tip Be aware that scripts run in a specific order (see "The script flow: when scripts run" on page 581). When one script unintentionally influences the results of another script, changing the order of the scripts in the Scripts pane may help (see "Changing the order of execution" on page 553). Testing for speed issues To measure the time that the execution of scripts will take: l On the Context menu, click Profile scripts.
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page 560. Execution: the time it takes to execute the script. If you are an experienced JavaScript coder you may be able to optimize the code to speed up the execution of the script. Tip Functions that actually change the content of the template (for example,append()) are comparatively time consuming. Avoid using such functions in a loop. For more tips, see "Optimizing scripts" on the facing page. Note that the times vary slightly per run of the Script Profiler.
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1. On the menu, select Window > Preferences. 2. Click Scripting. 3. Set a timeout in seconds (for example: 2s) and click OK. The minimum timeout is 1 second. Note The script timeout is not active when generating output. Optimizing scripts In the process of output generation, the execution of scripts may take up more time than necessary. To optimize a template, it helps to disable scripts that don't have an effect on the output; see "Managing scripts" on page 553.
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Tip When using the drag-and-drop method to insert data fields in a template: l l Press the Alt key while dragging, to wrap the placeholder in a span, give the span an ID and have that ID used as the script's selector. Press the Ctrl key while dragging, to wrap the placeholder in an absolute positioned box (a div) at the cursor position. A unique ID is assigned to the box and used as the script's selector.
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var labelElm = loadhtml('snippets/label.html'); var labelStr = ""; for( var i = 0; i < record.tables.products.length); i++) { var label = labelElm.clone(); label.find('@ProductLabel@').text(record.tables.products [i].ProductDescription); labelStr += label; } results.after(labelStr); Use replace() When personalizing HTML fragments retrieved from a snippet or from the template itself, JavaScript's replace() method shows the best performance.
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label = label.replace('@netweight@', record.tables.detail [i].fields['netweight']); labelStr += label; } results.after(labelStr); Tip The replace() method as used in the above example replaces only the first occurrence of the search string. To replace every occurrence of a search string in a given string, use a regular expression. In the following line of code, the regular expression /@product@/g makes replace() search for all occurrences of the string @product@ in the label string: label = label.
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Example The following script replaces all of the placeholders on a postcard. It takes advantage of the JavaScript replace() command. Assuming that the ID of the block that requires personalization is promoblock, the script has to have its selector set to #promoblock. var block = results.html(); var data = record.fields; block = block.replace('@name@',data.first + ' ' + data.last); block = block.replace('@address@',data.address); block = block.replace('@zip@',data.zip); block = block.replace('@city@',data.
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Note Make sure that the file name is exactly the same as the file in the Snippets folder. If the file name isn’t correct, the snippet will not appear in the template. Loading part of a snippet When a snippet contains a part that can be identified by a selector, that selector can be used to load that part of the snippet into a template. In script, use the following code: results.loadhtml(‘snippets/nameofthesnippet.html’, ‘selector’) See "loadhtml()" on page 797 for more information about this function.
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Example The following script reads the value of the LANGUAGE field in the record and uses that value as the selector in the function loadhtml(). If the snippet contains an HTML element with this ID (for example,
), that HTML element will be added to the content: var language = record.fields.LANGUAGE; results.loadhtml(‘snippets/nameofthesnippet.html’, ‘#’+ language) Another example is given in the following how-to: Using a selector to load part of a snippet.
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Some knowledge of JavaScript is needed to edit Control Scripts, just as for any other self-made scripts, because there is no Control Script Wizard; see "Writing your own scripts" on page 548. This topic explains how to add a Control Script and it gives an overview of what Control Scripts can do. It will also tell you where you will find information about each feature, including examples. What Control Scripts are Control Scripts are a special kind of Designer script.
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Tip New Control Scripts added to the template contain code to continue the page numbering over all print sections, and two examples: one to select different sections of a Print context for email and print output, and one to select a web section. What to use a Control Script for Control Scripts let you change the way a template is merged, by giving access to the template with all its contexts and sections in a script.
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Task See topic Field/function of section object page 574 Split Email attachments and rename them "Parts: splitting and renaming email attachments" on page 572 part Dynamically set a password on PDF attachments "Control Script: Securing PDF attachments" on page 579 password, ownerPassword Include/exclude sections: "section" on page 844, take a look at the examples. enabled Add sections dynamically "Dynamically adding sections (cloning)" on page 576.
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Control Script: Page numbering This topic explains how to write a Control Script that changes the page numbering in Print sections. Note that when you add a Control Script, it already contains a script to make the page numbering continue over all Print sections. For information about Control Scripts in general, see "Control Scripts" on page 566 and "Control Script API" on page 839. If you don't know how to write scripts, see "Writing your own scripts" on page 548.
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1. Section A (1 page) restartPageNumber = true 2. Section B (1 page) restartPageNumber = true 3. Section C (1 page) restartPageNumber = false 4. Section D (1 page) restartPageNumber = true The code would look like this: if (merge.context.type == ContextType.PRINT) { merge.context.sections['Section A'].restartPageNumber merge.context.sections['Section B'].restartPageNumber merge.context.sections['Section C'].restartPageNumber merge.context.sections['Section D'].
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merge.context.sections['Section D'].restartPageNumber = false; } The page numbering in the output will be: 1. Section A page 1 2. Section B page 2 3. Section D page 1 (page numbering is restarted due to section C's restartPageNumber = true) Parts: splitting and renaming email attachments In a Control Script, parts can be defined to determine which sections should be output to the same file. This way it is possible to split the Print context or the Web context into multiple email attachments.
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Examples No parts defined Assume there are three Print sections: sections A, B and C. When generating Email output with the Print context as attachment, all three Print sections will be put together in one file and attached to the email. If the email's subject is 'Take action', the name of the attached file will be 'Take action.PDF'. Splitting and renaming a Print attachment Assume there are three Print sections: sections A, B and C.
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merge.context.sections['Section 1'].enabled = false; merge.context.sections['Section 2'].enabled = false; merge.context.sections['Section 3'].enabled = true; merge.context.sections['Section 3'].part = "PDFAttach1"; merge.context.sections['Section 4'].enabled = true; merge.context.sections['Section 4'].restartPageNumber = false; merge.context.sections['Section 5'].enabled = false; merge.context.sections['Section 6'].enabled = true; merge.context.sections['Section 6'].part = "PDFAttach2"; } else if (merge.
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background of the section to either DataMapper PDF or Resource PDF (see "BackgroundResource" on page 852). For example: merge.template.contexts.PRINT.sections['Policy'].background.source = BackgroundResource.RESOURCE_PDF; A DataMapper PDF is, as you would expect, a PDF generated by the DataMapper. A Resource PDF is a PDF from another source. For a DataMapper PDF, nothing else has to be done to set the background.
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Example This scripts sets a background on a Print section using absolute positioning. var activeSection = merge.template.contexts.PRINT.sections['Section 1']; activeSection.background.source = BackgroundResource.RESOURCE_PDF; activeSection.background.url = "images/somepage.pdf"; activeSection.background.position = MediaPosition.ABSOLUTE; activeSection.background.left = "10mm"; activeSection.background.
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Note Due to resource constraints, the number of unique clones that can be created throughout a job is limited to around 20. A clone is considered unique if it has a different name. This is a rough estimate; if the template is simple, up to 60 clones may be created. The limit only applies to the amount of unique clones. There is no limit to the amount of clone() function calls.
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[section="my_section_clone_0"] h1 { color: red; } [section="my_section_clone_1"] h1 { color: green; } [section="my_section_clone_2"] h1 { color: blue; } The same selectors could be used in personalization scripts: Selector: [section="my_section_clone_0"] h1 Script: results.css('color','red'); In a template script, cloned sections can be found using merge.section: if (merge.section == "my_section_clone_0") { results.html("Clone!"); } else { results.html("Original."); } Note that in a Control Script, merge.
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if(record.fields.policy_a == 1) { addPolicy('a'); } if(record.fields.policy_b == 1) { addPolicy('b'); } function addPolicy(policy){ var resourceUrl = 'images/policy-' + policy + '.pdf'; var clone = printSections["Policy"].clone(); clone.name = "policy_" + policy; clone.background.url = resourceUrl; clone.enabled = true; printSections["Policy"].addAfter(clone); } Control Script: Securing PDF attachments The Print context can be attached to an email in the form of a PDF file and secured with a password.
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When producing a single attachment, the password(s) should be set on the first Print section. When producing multiple attachments, it should be set on the first section of each part. Password types PDF allows for two types of passwords to be set on a secured PDF file: a user password and owner password. The user password allows a limited access to the file (e.g. printing or copying text from the PDF is not allowed). The owner password allows normal access to the file.
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} } The script flow: when scripts run When Connect generates the actual output – letters, web pages or emails -, it opens a record set and merges it with the template. It takes each record, one by one, and runs all scripts for it, in a specific order, as explained below. First all Control Scripts are executed, in the order in which they appear in the Scripts pane.
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See: l "Menus" on page 662 l "Toolbars" on page 689 l "Resources Pane" on page 679 l "Outline Pane" on page 679 l "Attributes Pane" on page 673 l "Styles pane" on page 686 l "Workspace" on page 686 l "Data Model Pane" on page 676 l "Scripts pane" on page 684 l "Problems and messages" on page 677 Page 582
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Dialogs Dialogs can allow you to perform a command or make settings. They can also ask you a question or provide you with information or progress feedback. Here is a list of all panes: Bar Chart Properties dialog The Bar Chart dialog appears when a Bar Chart object is right-clicked and the Bar Chart... option is clicked. It determines how the Bar Chart is displayed when generating output and in Preview mode.
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l l l Show Line: Adds a line around each bar (or fills the bar if the bar has no fill color). Color: Enter a color for the line. The color value must be a valid HTML Color Name, or a valid HTML Hex Color. Opacity: Enter the percentage for the opacity of the line. Value Axis Tab l Title group: l Label: Enter a label for the Y axis (X axis if the graph is rotated). l Bold: Check if you want the label to be in bold style. l l l Font Size: Enter a font size for the label, in pt.
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Category Axis Tab l Title group: l Label: Enter a label for the X axis (Y axis if the graph is rotated). l Bold: Check if you want the label to be in bold style. l l l Font Size: Enter a font size for the label, in pt. Grid group: l Color: Enter a color for the grid that is displays in the graph. The color value must be a valid HTML Color Name, or a valid HTML Hex Color. l Opacity: Enter the opacity percentage of the grid. Default is 15%. l Thickness: Enter a thickness for the grid, in pixels.
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Legend tab l Show Legend: Check to show the legends in the chart object. l Legend Group: Defines how the legends are shown. l l l l l l l Equal label widths: Check so that all labels are of equal width in the Legends box. The Legend's width will accommodate the largest value. Position: Use the drop-down to select where the labels are shown: Right, Left, Top or Bottom. Align: Use the drop-down to select how to align the text in the labels: Left, Middle or Right.
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l l Border Color: Enter a valid HTML Hex Color for the border's color. Border Opacity: Enter a numerical value between 0 and 100 to define the opacity (in percentage) of the border. Box Formatting dialog The Text Formatting dialog is accessible by clicking inside a positioned box in the template and then selecting Format > Box in the menu.
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l l Clear: Use the drop-down or type in the value for clearing pre-existing alignments. Equivalent to the CSS clear property. Positioning: l l l l l l Position: Use the drop-down or type in the value for the type of positioning for the box. Equivalent to the CSS position property. Top: Set the vertical offset between this box and its parent's top position. Equivalent to the CSS top property. Left: Set the horizontal offset between this box and its parent's left position.
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Spacing Tab l Padding group: Defines padding (spacing inside the element) in measure or percentage: l l l All sides: Check to set all padding to use the Top value. Equivalent to the CSS padding property. Top, Left, Bottom, Right: Set padding for each side. Equivalent to the CSS padding-left, padding-top, padding-right and padding-bottom properties. Margin group: Defines margins (spacing outside the element) in measure or percentage: l l All sides: Check to set all margins to use the Top value.
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displays the currently selected color, while the Original shows the color currently attributed to the element. The rest of the dialog has various options for choosing colors: l Color Mode: Use the drop-down to select whether the color is set as RGB, CMYK or HEX. The color mode determines how the color is saved in the formatting properties, and how they are printed or output; see "Colors" on page 510. l RGB group: Enter the Red, Green and Blue color values from 0 to 255.
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l Delete: Delete the currently selected color. l Duplicate: Duplicate the currently selected color using the name [color]CopyX. Edit color You can edit the following color properties. l l l l Name: Enter the name of the color. This name should not contain spaces or special characters. Create name based on values: Check so that the name is automatically based on the color slider values below. Type: Use the drop-down to specify which type of color this should be: either a Tint or a Color.
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Color Settings Color Management can keep colors consistent across different outputs by using Color Profiles. When producing output to a new device, color adjustments are made to present the color as accurately as possible on this new device. l l Enable Color Management: Check to disable color management and ignore embedded color profiles when importing images (with the exception of imported PDF files as it might contain a multiple tagged sub images).
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Email Context Properties For the Email context, the Context Properties dialog defines options that are used when generating email output (see "Generating Email output" on page 874). l Print Context Image Compression: Defines the properties of the PDF when attaching the Print context to email output. l l l Lossless: Enables maximum quality in the PDF. Note that this will produce a larger PDF. Quality: Disabled when Lossless is checked. Determines the quality (aka compression) of the attached PDF.
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Edit Label Properties The Edit Label Properties defines how a Pie Chart Label displays its title and data. It contains two options: l l Label: Enter a title for Labels and Legends when they are shown (see "Pie Chart Properties dialog" on page 607). Value: Use the drop-down to select which Value to use as data within the Pie Chart as well as for Label and Legend values. Find/Replace Dialog The Find/Replace dialog can replace text within the current template.
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l Options l l l l l Case sensitive: Use a case-sensitive search, which differentiates TEXT from text or TexT. Wrap search: Loop back from the end of the template or selection to its beginning, when the Search is at the end of the template or the selection. Whole word: Searches for the source string as a whole word. Incremental: With this option selected, each letter you type in the Find field causes the editor focus to move to the first complete occurrence of the text you are typing.
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The following buttons appear to the right of the list of fonts: l New: Click to open the Edit Font dialog to add a new font. l Edit: Click to open the Edit Font dialog to edit the currently selected font. l Remove: Click to delete the currently selected font entry. l Duplicate: Click to create a copy of the currently selected font entry. Edit Font The Edit Font dialog appears when clicking New or Edit from the Fonts Dialog. l l l Name: Enter the name that should be used to refer to the font.
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Image Tab l General group: l l l l l l l l l Height: Set the height of the image in measure or percentage. Equivalent to the CSS height property. Angle: Set the rotation angle of the image in clockwise degrees. Equivalent to the CSS transform:rotate property. Corner radius: Set the radius of rounded border corners in measure or percentage. Equivalent to the CSS border-radius property. Display: Use the drop-down or type in the value for how to display the image.
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l l l Bottom: Set the vertical offset between this image and its parent's bottom position. Equivalent to the CSS bottom property. Right: Set the horizontal offset between this image and its parent's left position. Equivalent to the CSS right property. Z-index: Set the z-index of the image. The z-index defines in which order elements appear. Equivalent to the CSS z-index property.
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Line Chart Properties dialog The Line Chart dialog appears when a Line Chart object is right-clicked and the Line Chart... option is clicked. It determines how the chart is displayed when generating output and in Preview mode. General Tab l General Group: l l l l l l Stack Series: Stack the lines so that lines representing the same value do not overlap. Font: Type in the font-face to use to display text. The font must be installed on the system and defaults to Verdana if the font is not found.
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Value Axis Tab l Title group: l Label: Enter a label for the Y axis (X axis if the graph is rotated). l Bold: Check if you want the label to be in bold style. l l l Font Size: Enter a font size for the label, in pt. Grid group: l l Color: Enter a custom color for the label (Default is Black). The color value must be a valid HTML Color Name, or a valid HTML Hex Color. Color: Enter a color for the grid that is displays in the graph.
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l l Opacity: Enter the opacity percentage of the grid. Default is 15%. l Thickness: Enter a thickness for the grid, in pixels. Default is 1px. l l l Color: Enter a color for the grid that is displays in the graph. The color value must be a valid HTML Color Name, or a valid HTML Hex Color. Position: Choose Middle to centre the grid over the graph, or choose Start to make the first vertical grid lign match the value axis. Tick Length: The distance between each vertical line in the grid.
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l Values Group: Defines if and how values are shown in the Legends box. l l Show Values: Check to show values besides the Legend's label. Text: Enter the text used to display the values. Variables can be used to display specific data,
can be used to create a new line: l [[percents]] : Contains the percentage of the chart the value represents. l [[value]] : Contains the numerical value of the field.
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l l Locale: Use the drop-down to select a specific locale. Only enabled when Explicit Locale is selected above. Data Field: Use the drop-down to select a field within the current data model that contains the locale. This field must be a string and contain the exact locale to be used, such as "en" or "fr-CA". It cannot be an alias such as "english" or "french".
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l Page Size: The named page size. l Width: The width of the page. l Height: The height of the page. l Orientation: Whether the page is portrait or landscape. Virtual Stationery Tab l Front/Back group: Defines the preprinted media used for the front and back of the Virtual Stationery. l l PDF: Click the Select Image button to open the "Select Image dialog" on page 644 and select which PDF (and optionally, which page of the PDF) to display as a background for the page.
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l Back Coating: The pre-process coating applied to the front surface of the media. l Texture: The texture of the media, such as Antique, Calenared, Linen, Stipple or Vellum. l Grade: The grade of the media, such as Gloss-coated paper, Uncoated white paper, etc. l Hole Name: Pre-defined hole pattern that specifies the pre-punched holes in the media, such as R2-generic, R2m-MIB, R4i-US, etc. Paragraph Formatting dialog The Paragraph formatting controls how the selected paragraph is formatted.
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l l Widows: Specifies how to handle widows within the paragraph (lines appearing alone on the next page if the paragraph does not fit on the current one). Equivalent to the widows property. Widows and orphans are ignored if the page-breakinside property is set to avoid. Orphans: Specifies how to handle orphans within the paragraph (lines appearing alone at the end of a page if the paragraph does not fit on the current one). Equivalent to the orphans property.
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l l Style: Specify the style of the border such as solid, dashed or dotted. Equivalent to the border-style property. Color: Specify the color of the border. The color value must be a valid HTML Color Name, or a valid HTML Hex Color. Equivalent to the border-color property. Pie Chart Properties dialog The Pie Chart dialog appears when a Pie Chart object is right-clicked and the Pie Chart... option is clicked.
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l Slice Outline Group: Determines whether an outline should be added to each slice of the chart. l Width: Use the drop-down to select the width of the outline for each pie slice. Values are 0pt, 0.5pt, 1pt, 1.5pt, 2pt or 3pt. l Color: Enter a valid HTML Hex Color for the outline to appear. l Opacity: Enter the opacity of the outline. 100 is fully opaque, 0 is transparent. Pie tab l Pie Group: Defines how the pie chart is displayed in the template.
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l Text: Enter the text to use to display labels. Variables can be used to display specific data,
can be used to create a new line: l l [[percents]] : Contains the percentage of the Pie Chart the value represents. l [[value]] : Contains the numerical value of the field. l l l Any Text: Adding text (such as a dollar sign or column, etc) will make it appear in each label.
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l l l l l Align: Use the drop-down to select how to align the text in the labels: Left, Middle or Right. Horizontal Space: When multiple columns appear, enter a numerical value (in pixels) to define horizontal spacing between the columns. Vertical Space: Enter a numerical value (in pixels) to define vertical spacing between legends. Max Columns: Enter a numerical value to define the maximum number of columns allowed in the Legends box.
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The Preferences dialog is separated into individual tabs, where each tab controls certain aspects of the software. To open the Preferences dialog, select Window > Preferences. General preferences The General Preferences are as follows: l Always run in background: This option correlates with the "Always run in background" option selectable in the "Document Boundaries Refresh" dialog and "Print via Print Server" dialog.
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and processing power (CPU) that will be required for cleaning them up. Thus a regular Clean-up of the database (as often as possible) is recommended. This is especially the case if items are not going to be retrieved from the database at a later date. i.e. If the Connect job is not going to be re-run. The clean-up can always be set to run outside of business hours (see the Run according to the cron schedule option below), to reduce impact upon Production systems.
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l Product managing the service: Select which of the applications will run the service. Note The Server Engine is set as the default as it is generally considered the best option. This is particularly the case when using a scheduled cron job, as the Sever Engine is always running, whilst the Designer might well not be at the scheduled time (in which case the clean-up will fail to run).
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i.e. a selection of 1,000 would delete 1,000 data records within a Data Set, 1,000 content items within a Content Set, and so on. l Minimum time to retain Data Sets: The minimum time a Data Set (and all the records it contains) is retained within the database before being set for deletion. Tip In order to prevent attempts at deleting database objects which might still be in use, it is recommended that all Minimum time retention values should always be set to at least the length of your longest job.
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l l Partition Size: Enter the length of time before partitions are switched. This can be entered in minutes, hours, days, weeks or months. File Clean-up Service: l Allow file clean-up service: Check to automatically detect orphan files and set them for deletion. Orphan files could be resources and internal files used by Connect, but which are not needed by any running job.
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be recommended, as this provides the cleanest restart. l Basic Connection Settings selections: l Database vendor: Select the back-end database vendor type from drop down list. Note Moving from one vendor database to another will revert all screen selections to defaults, regardless of what may have been previously selected. l Database URL: This is a read-only summation of the current database connection settings.
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l Username: Enter the database login username. Note It is considered best practice for this user to have root privileges. l l Password: Enter the password associated with selected username. l Confirm password: Re-enter the user password. Advanced Connection Settings selections: l l Maximum concurrent threads (1.7.2) or Maximum concurrent connections (1.7.1): This option was updated in Connect 1.7.2 when it went from applying to maximum database connections, to maximum database threads.
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l l Restore Defaults: Will restore the settings to PReS Connect HyperSQL standard defaults. Apply: When a database connection is confirmed as correct this button becomes active, and is used to actually apply the database swap. Datamapper preferences Datamapper XML Preferences l Display New Line Character as ¶ : Check to show line returns as ¶ in the Data Viewer, when XML files are shown. If the option is unchecked, you will not see spaces and line returns after element names in the Data Viewer.
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templates. l Enable for Print Context: Check to enable
resizing in the Print contexts. l Enable for Web Context: Check to enable
resizing in the Web contexts. l Enable for Email Context: Check to enable
resizing in the Email contexts. Color options Many of the colors in the user interface of Connect Designer can be adjusted. Click the small colored square next to the field that holds the default color value, to open the Color dialog and pick a color (see "Color Picker" on page 589).
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l Script Result Highlighter: l Results: Hovering over a script in the Scripts pane highlights content that will be affected by the script; see "Personalizing Content" on page 518. Images preferences l Transparent PDF image preview: Check this option so that PDF resources added to the template (including in the Master Page and Media) display using transparency. Note that this can affect display performance (showing transparent PDFs is slower) but will not affect output speed.
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l l l l l l l l Name: The name of the preset. This will show up in the Send Email dialog. Host: The SMTP server through which the emails are to be sent. Can be a host (mail.domain.com) or an IP address. Port: The specified port number will be added to the host name, for example: smtp.mandrillapp.com:465. Use authentication: Check if a user name and password are needed to send emails through the host. Start TLS: Enabled if authentication is checked.
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Note Emmet is a plugin. All options listed below are Emmet's default options. They are not specifically adjusted for Connect. Common Emmet preferences l l l l Expand abbreviations by Tab key: Check to enable the Expand Abbreviation function. ... in files with extension: Enter a comma-separated list of all file extensions in which expand abbreviation will work. Upgrade web editors: This Emmet option doesn't affect how Emmet works in Connect Designer.
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l l Import: Click to open a browse dialog to import an XML file containing exported abbreviations. The imported abbreviations are added to the current list. Export: Click to open a Save as dialog to export all the abbreviations in an XML file that can be shared and re-imported. l Preview box: Shows what the selected abbreviation is expanded to. l Restore Defaults: clear all custom abbreviations.
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l l l Export: Click to open a Save as dialog to export all the snippets in an XML file that can be shared and re-imported. Preview box: Shows what the selected snippet is expanded to. To temporarily disable a snippet, uncheck the checkbox next to the name of the snippet in the list. Emmet Variables Preferences Variables are placeholders used in Emmet snippets to output predefined data. For example, the html:5 snippet of HTML syntax has the following definition: \n...
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will not be visible in the "Model" drop-down of the Print Options dialog; see "Print Options" on page 764. Available Printer Preferences: l l Selected Printers: Lists the available Printer Definition Files in the system. Note that these are not installed Windows printers or printer queues, but PReS Connect Printer Definition Files. Printer checkbox: This checkbox selects/deselects all printers in the list. Click to check all, click again to uncheck all.
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Print Measurements Preferences l l Units: Use the dropdown to specify the default measurements system used for dimensions of the template and boxes. In addition it defines the coordinates/position of box elements. The default unit will be added automatically when geometry values are entered without a unit in the Attributes pane or in the Box Properties dialog. Flip insert guide axis: Check this option to flip the axis on which guides are inserted.
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l Destination: Select the directory in which the backups should be stored. l Original: the directory in which the original file is stored. l Other directory: use the Browse button to select another directory. Backup files have the same name as the original file with two underscores and a progressive number (without leading zeros) at the end: originalname__1.OL-template, originalname__ 2.OL-template, etc.
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l Designer scripting profiling group: l Number of iterations: Enter the number of times to run scripts when running the Profile Scripts dialog. The default is 1000. Accepted values are 1 to 1000000000. Yes, that's 1 billion - which would take a long time to run! Web Preferences Web Form Preferences These preferences define the default behavior of some form elements.
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l l After element: The element is inserted after the current element where the cursor is located. For example if the cursor is within a paragraph, insertion occurs after the
tag. Get Job Data File: Defines the Workflow URL to be used when the Get Job Data File on submit toolbar button is active. This simplifies the process of creating and testing COTG Forms (see "Capture OnTheGo" on page 371). l Workflow URL: The default URL is: http://127.0.0.
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l Delta: Displays the estimated difference in performance between the current session and the previous session. Uses average values, so should still work if the previous session was stopped after a different number of iterations. Will be empty if no previous data is available. Hover with your mouse to display a tooltip indicating the breakdown of the execution time across different execution stages.
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l Wizard Results: Displays a list of the data that is sent to replace the content that matches the script's selector: l l l l l Prefix: Static text to use before the set field. For example in Dynamic Image scripts, the default prefix is images/. Field: A drop-down to select which field contents to use in the script. The field should contain a valid value. For an email script, for example, the field would have to contain an email address.
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l l l l l When checked, the option Convert fields to JSON string writes the results from the script into an attribute or text as a JSON string. This is useful for Web contexts where a front-end script can read this value easily. OK: Click to save any changes made to the script, apply the changes in the template, and close the dialog. Cancel: Click to close the dialog without saving changes. Expand: Click to convert the script generator to a regular script.
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l l l l Labels: The text of the label to display next to the Chart or within the legends. Values: The value that will be used to create the Chart. This is the name of a field within the Data Model. Add: Click to add an entry to the Data List. Opens the Edit Label Properties dialog. l Delete: Click to delete the currently selected line in the Data List. l Move Up: Click to move the currently selected line up one position. l Move Down: Click to move the currently selected line down one position.
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the specified Selector. For more information about Selectors see "Using the Text Script Wizard" on page 533. l l l l Action: Use the drop-down to select whether to Show or Hide the element when the condition below is true. Data Field: Use the drop-down to select which data field in the record the condition will be based on. Condition: Select which kind of condition is applied. Possible options are: Equal to, Not equal to, Contains, Does not contain, Begins with, Ends with.
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General tab (all Contexts) l Section group: l l l l Show PDF data mapping input as background image: Check this option to display each page of a PDF data source when using a PDF data mapping configuration. Each page of the PDF is shown, separated by the appropriate records. Note that as many pages as there are in the PDF will be created in the section. Page group: l Size: The named page size. l Width: The width of the page. l Height: The height of the page.
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l File types: l l Stylesheets: What CSS stylesheets to use in producing the output. Stylesheets are loaded in the order shown, and styles in later Stylesheets overwrites earlier ones when the same selector is used. JavaScript: Which JavaScript resources are included in the HTML header of the web output. l Up: Move the selected StyleSheet or JavaScript up in priority. l Down: Move the selected StyleSheet or JavaScript down in priority.
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There are multiple groups, each defining the settings for individual position within the section as it outputs: First, Middle and Last sheet, as well as a group for Single sheets. This tab contains the following options: l l l Duplex: Check to enable content to be printed on the back of each sheet. Your printer must support duplex for this option to work. Tumble: Check to enable tumble mode so pages are duplexed as in a notebook (on Portrait output, this would be equivalent to short-edge duplex).
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l Generalgroup: l l l PDF: Select the PDF to use as the section's background: a PDF Datamapper Input or a PDF Resource. Path: The path to a PDF Resource. Enter a path and file name or click the Browse button to open the Select Image dialog; see "Select Image dialog" on page 644. Position: l Centered: The PDF will be centered on the page and will not be resized. l Fit to Media: The PDF will be resized to fit the Media. l l l l Absolute. Set a position for the top left corner of the PDF.
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l Meta Information Group: This lists all tags that are added to the header of the HTML file generated in the output. For more information on tags, see W3Schools - HTML meta tag. l l Type: Select the type of tag. This is either name or http-equiv. Value: Enter the value of the tag, for instance when name is selected, this could be keywords or description. l Content: Enter the desired contents of the tag. l Add: Click to add a new tag. to the list.
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l l Stylesheets: What CSS stylesheets to use in producing the output. Stylesheets are loaded in the order shown, and styles in later Stylesheets overwrites earlier ones when the same selector is used. JavaScript (Web and Print only): Which JavaScript resources are included in the HTML header of the web output. l Up: Move the selected StyleSheet or JavaScript up in priority. l Down: Move the selected StyleSheet or JavaScript down in priority.
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l l Category: The category under which the document appears. If the category does not exist, it will be created on the server. Document Information group: l l l Title: The title that appears both on the Nu-Book management interface, as well as on the Capture OnTheGo application on the mobile device. Defaults to the name of the template and the currently active section. Author: The name of the author or company.
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embedded in the file. This HTML file is then added as an attachment to the outgoing email. l Outgoing mail settings: l Presets: Use the drop-down to select a preset. These presets are configured in the Email (SMTP) preferences; see "Email SMTP settings" on page 341. Note It is recommended to use an Email Service Provider to get access to tools that give you full control over your mailings, like open rates, click through rates etc. See "Using an ESP with PReS Connect" on page 878.
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l l Togroup: l l l Use Litmus: Check to also send the emails to the Litmus test email set in the Email Preferences (to go to the Email Preferences, select Window > Preferences, click the arrow next to Email, and then click General). Disabled if no Litmus email is set. Also see this how-to: Test your emails with Litmus. Select All, or click Selection and enter the range of records that should be sent. Removing the range disables the selection and sends emails to all records in the record set.
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Send to Workflow/Files dialog The Send to Workflow dialog sends templates, data mapping configurations and print presets to the PReS Workflow server, or saves it as a package file. Package files can be sent to other users of the Connect Designer. They cannot be loaded from PReS Workflow. l Files to Package group: l l l l l Template: Select the template to send. By default the currently active template is listed. Click Browse to select another template. In version 1.
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l l Path. The complete syntax of the path is: file:///. Note: if the host is "localhost", it can be omitted, resulting in file:///, for example: file:///c:/resources/images/image.jpg. Browse: opens an explorer window to browse folders and select an image. Url lets you select an image file from a specific web address. Select the protocol and then enter the URL (for example, http://www.mysite.com/images/image.jpg). A preview of the selected image will be shown below.
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If the option Same for all positions is checked, the same Master Page and Media will be applied to every page in the Print section. Each group defines: l l l l Allow content on: Selects on which face of the sheet content is allowed. If Front only or Back only is selected, the page acts as a Simplex page even if Duplex printing is enabled. Media: Defines the media that is used.
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l l l l l Edit: Click to edit the currently selected rule in the Rule List using the Edit Rule dialog. See "New/Edit Rule dialog" below. Delete: Click to delete the currently selected rule in the Rule List. Duplicate: Click to create a duplicate of the currently selected rule in the Rule List using the Edit Rule dialog. The default name for the new rule is the name of the current one plus "-duplicated". See "New/Edit Rule dialog" below.
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l l Spacing group: l l l l Background Color: Select a named font color as defined in the Colors Editor, create a new color or enter a color manually for the background color of the element. The color value must be a valid HTML Color Name, or a valid HTML Hex Color. This is equivalent to the CSS background-color property. Letter Spacing: Set the space between characters in a text in measure or percentage. This is equivalent to the CSS letter-spacing property.
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l l l First Indent: Specify the indentation of the first line of each paragraph in the element. Equivalent to the text-indent property. Display: Select how to display the element. This can also be used to hide an element completely using the none option. See CSS Display. Equivalent to the display property. Breaks group: l l l l l Before: Specifies how to handle page breaks before the element. Equivalent to the page-break-before property.
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Border Tab l l Same for all sides: Defines the border properties for all sides using the Top properties. Equivalent to the border property. Top, Left, Bottom, Right: Each group defines the following properties: l l l Width: Specify the thickness of the border. Equivalent to the border-width property. Style: Specify the style of the border such as solid, dashed or dotted. Equivalent to the border-style property. Color: Specify the color of the border.
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Table Tab l General group: l l l l l l l Height: Set the height of the table in measure or percentage. Equivalent to the CSS height property. Angle: Set the rotation angle of the table in clockwise degrees. Equivalent to the CSS transform:rotate property. Corner radius: Set the radius of rounded border corners in measure or percentage. Equivalent to the CSS border-radius property. Display: Use the drop-down or type in the value for how to display the table. Equivalent to the CSS display property.
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l l Z-index: Set the z-index of the table. The z-index defines in which order elements appear. Equivalent to the CSS z-index property. Breaks group: l l l l l Before: Specifies how to handle page breaks before the table. Equivalent to the CSS page-break-before property. Inside: Specifies whether to accept page breaks within the table. Equivalent to the CSS page-break-inside property. After: Specifies how to handle page breaks after the table. Equivalent to the CSS page-break-after property.
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Border Tab l l Same for all sides: Defines the border properties for all sides using the Top properties. Equivalent to the CSS border property. Top, Left, Bottom, Right: Each group defines the following properties: l l l Width: Specify the thickness of the border. Equivalent to the CSS borderwidthproperty. Style: Specify the style of the border such as solid, dashed or dotted. Equivalent to the CSS border-style property. Color: Specify the color of the border.
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l l Height: Set the height of the table in measure or percentage. Equivalent to the CSS height property. Vertical Align: Specify how text is vertically aligned in the cell: top, middle, bottom or baseline. With the baseline value all the table data share the same baseline. Often this has the same effect as the bottom value. However, if the fonts are in different sizes, baseline looks better.
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l Uppercase: Sets thetext-transformto uppercase. l Lowercase: Sets thetext-transformto lowercase. l Small-caps: Sets the font-variant to small-caps. Spacing Tab l Padding group: Defines padding (spacing inside the element) in measure or percentage: l l All sides: Check to set all padding to use the Top value. Equivalent to the CSS border property. Top, Left, Bottom, Right: Set padding for each side. Equivalent to the CSS padding-left, padding-top, padding-right and padding-bottom properties.
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l l l Source: click the Select Image button to select an image via the "Select Image dialog" on page 644. Equivalent to the CSS background property. Size: select auto, cover or contain (for an explanation see http://www.w3schools.com/cssref/css3_pr_background-size.asp), or type the width and height of the image in a measure (e.g. 80px 60px) or as a percentage of the parent element's size (e.g. 50% 50%). Equivalent to the CSS background-size property.
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Key combination Function Alt + Shift + S Source view Ctrl + C or: Ctrl + Insert Copy Ctrl + F Find Ctrl + I Properties Ctrl + N New Ctrl + O Open file Ctrl + P Print Ctrl + R Show/hide rulers Ctrl + S Save file Ctrl + V or: Shift + Insert Paste Ctrl + X or: Shift + Delete Cut Ctrl + W Close file Ctrl + Y or: Ctrl + Shift + Z Redo Ctrl + Z Undo Ctrl + Alt + ; Lock guides Page 657
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Key combination Function Ctrl + Shif + R Clear preview cache Ctrl + Shift + S Save all Ctrl + Shift + W Close all Ctrl + Shift + ; Snap to guides Ctrl + ; Show guides Ctrl + ' Show/hide virtual stationery Ctrl + \ Highlight master page items Ctrl + F5 Revert Ctrl + F10 Save as Ctrl + F11 Send COTG test Ctrl + F12 Send to Workflow / Package files Workspace The following key combinations activate a function in the Workspace.
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Key combination Function Ctrl + A Select all Ctrl + Shift + E Switch to Editor Ctrl + F Find (opens the Find and Replace dialog: "Find/Replace Dialog" on page 594) Ctrl + F6 Next editor (when there is more than one file open in the Workspace) Ctrl + Shift + F6 Previous editor (when there is more than one file open in the Workspace) Shift + F10 or: Ctrl + Shift + F10 Open context menu Design and Preview tab In addition to the keyboard shortcuts for menu items and the Workspace, the following ke
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Key combination Function Ctrl + T Open Text formatting dialog Ctrl + U Underline ( (works on a text selection) Ctrl + + or: Ctrl + Shift + + or: Ctrl + = or: Ctrl + Shift + = Zoom in Ctrl + or: Ctrl + Shift + - Zoom out Ctrl + 0 Zoom to page width Ctrl + 1 Zoom to page content width Ctrl + arrow up Select parent Ctrl + Shift + R or: F5 Refresh Text editors: Source tab, JavaScript, CSS, Script Editor The following key combinations have a special function in the Source tab of the Workspace (
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Key combination Function Ctrl + F Find Ctrl + I Indent (Tab) Ctrl + J (not in Script Editor) Incremental find; start typing a search string directly after pressing this key combination. (Not in the Script Editor.) Ctrl + K Find next Ctrl + L Go to line; a prompt opens to enter a line number.
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Key combination Function F2 Rename Alt + Enter Open Properties dialog Delete Delete Data Model pane You can use the following keys to browse records in the Data Model pane: l Page Up: next record l Page Down: previous record l Home: first record l End: last record. Menus The following menu items are shown in the Designer menu. For a list of keyboard shortcuts, see "Keyboard shortcuts" on page 656. File Menu l l l l New...: Opens the New (Select a Wizard) dialog.
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l l l l l l l Close All: Close any open Data Mapping Configuration or template. If any of the files needs to be saved, the Save Resources dialog opens. Close Others: Close all Data mapping configuration and templates except the one that is currently active in the workspace. Save: Saves the current Data mapping configuration or Template to its current location on disk. If the file has never been saved, the Save As dialog appears instead. Save All: Saves all open files.
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l l l l l Proof Print: Opens the "Print Options" on page 764 dialog as a Proof Print dialog which limits the number of records output. The options themselves are identical to the regular Print Output dialog. Send Email: Opens the "Send Email" on page 641 dialog; see "Generating Email output" on page 874. Send Test Email: Click to open the "Send Test Email" on page 642 dialog.
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l Text: l l Wrap in span: Wraps selected text in a element. The ID or class of the span can be used as a selector for scripts and styles. Special Characters: Displays a categorized list of special HTML characters that can be inserted at the current pointer location. When a character is clicked, its HTML Entity is inserted. This includes: l l Symbols: Use the list to insert a special symbol such as Copyright, Trademark, or Ellipsis.
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l Date: Click to open the "Date" on page 460 dialog to add a date to the template based on the current system's date and time. l Wrap in box: Puts the element in which the cursor is located in an inline box (a
). l Table l l l l l l l Dynamic: Inserts a dynamic table where the number of rows is determined by a Details table, through the Dynamic Table Wizard; see "Dynamic table" on page 543. Insert Row Above: Inserts a row above the current one.
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l Section...: Click to open a dialog to add a element (the HTML element, not a section in a context). l Header...: Click to open a dialog to add a element. l Footer...: Click to open a dialog to add a
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l l l l Checkbox Field...: Click to open a dialog to add a Checkbox; see "Checkbox" on page 468. Radio Button...: Click to open a dialog to add a Radio Button; see "Radio Button" on page 468. Select Field...: Click to open a dialog to add a Select (drop-down); see "Select" on page 469. l Button...: Click to open a dialog to add a Button; see "Button" on page 469. l Help text: Click to open a dialog to insert a paragraph (
) for help text.
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l l l l Form Wizard: Click to open the Form Wizard to add a form to a Web context; see "Forms" on page 462 Validation Wizard: Click to open the Validation Settings dialog to change the validation settings on the currently selecting tools; see "Changing a Form's validation method" on page 465. Business Graphic: Displays a list of available business graphic object to be inserted: l l l l Device Info...: Click to open a dialog to add a Device Info Element, see "Device Info" on page 458.
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l l l Paragraph...: Opens the "Paragraph Formatting dialog" on page 605 to modify the paragraph where the cursor is located. See "Styling text and paragraphs" on page 494. Paragraph Format: Displays a list of generic element types that can be used for a text element. Selecting one of them converts the element where the cursor is located into the appropriate element (for example
for Paragraph,
for Heading 3, etc). Float l l l l l l l l Left: Floats the current element to the left.
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l l l l l l l Web Page Context: Click to add a new Web context to the template if one does not exist. Delete: Click to delete the currently selected context. The last remaining context cannot be deleted. Go to: Click to open the first section in the selected context. This is the same as doubleclicking on the first section of any context in the Resource Pane. Properties: Click to open the currently selected context's properties; see "Context Properties dialog" on page 592.
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View Menu l l l l l l l 50/75/100/150/200%: Click to zoom the Workspace at the selected level. Source View: Click to show the HTML source for the template, including CSS and HTML code. Design View: Click to show the template including all styles, text and images as well as the placeholders used for variable data. Preview View: Click to show the template as it will output with the current record, with the personalized content (see "Personalizing Content" on page 518).
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l l l Problems: Shows the Problems pane, see "Problems and messages" on page 677. l Resources: Shows the Resources pane l Outline: Shows the Outline pane l Data Model: Shows the Data Model pane l Scripts: Shows the Scripts pane Reset Perspective: Resets all toolbars and panes to the initial configuration of the module. Preferences: Click to open the Preferences dialog. Help Menu l l l Software Activation: Displays the Software Activation dialog. See "Activating a License" on page 51.
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l l ID: A unique identifier for the selected element. Used for CSS selections as well as JavaScript expressions affecting single elements. Class: One or more classes that can be common to more than one elements. Used for CSS selections and JavaScript expressions that can affect multiple elements. Other These attributes are available depending on the item selected (in parenthesis).
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l l l Before page break: The row will appear on all pages except the last one. l At end of table: The row will appear only on the last page. l Always: The row will appear on every page of the table. Subtotal Line (table row inside a
only): Defines the footer row as the place where the SubTotal is displayed. This is the row where a subtotal script is expected to display the result. Type (form input element): Use the drop-down to select an input type.
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Data Model Pane The Data Model Pane displays a Data Model used to help design the template, along with (optional) extracted data. When executing a data mapping configuration or directly loading data (see "Loading data" on page 520), the resulting record set is loaded in the Data Model Pane. The information shown is the extracted information for the current record within the record set.
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Problems and messages Messages Pane The Messages pane is shared between the DataMapper and Designer modules and displays any warnings and errors from the data mapping configuration or template. To open it in the Designer module, click the Messages button at the bottom right of the window (see "Designer User Interface" on page 581). Buttons l Export Log disk. : Click to open a Save As dialog where the log file (.
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l l Event Types group: l OK: Uncheck to hide OK-level entries. l Information: Uncheck to hide information-level entries. l Warning: Uncheck to hide any warnings. l Error: Uncheck to hide any critical errors. Limit visible events to: Enter the maximum number of events to show in the Messages Pane. Default is 50. Moving and merging panes The PReS Connect interface for both the Designer and DataMapper module is highly configurable.
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l Click the Restore button next to the panel's display icon. The restored panel will return to its original docked location. To temporarily display a minimized panel: l Click the panel's display icon. When another panel, menu or toolbar is clicked, the panel will be minimized again. To maximize a panel: l Click the Maximize button at the top-right corner of the panel. A maximized panel takes the full available size for the panels. All other panels are minimized.
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Tip Images, fonts, stylesheets and snippets can be dragged or copied and pasted into the Resources Pane to add them to your template. Media Media resources define paper handling configurations for Print output (see "Generating Print output" on page 860 and "Print Options" on page 764) including page size and paper type. See "Media" on page 321 for more information. Contextual menu l l l l New Media: Click to create a new media and open its properties. Delete: Click to delete the resource.
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Contexts Contexts hold the actual content of the template that is used to generate output. See "Contexts" on page 289 for more information. Contextual menu (Context folder or individual contexts) l New Print Context: Click to create a new Print Context with a single section. l New Web Page Context: Click to create a new Web Page Context with a single section. l l New HTML Email Context: Click to create a new HTML Email context with a single section. Properties...
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Images Images are graphical elements that can be added to the page for display, either statically or dynamically. See "Images" on page 471 for more information. Contextual menu l l l New Folder: Click to create a new folder to organize resources more easily. Rename: Click to open the resource's Rename. This is the same as pressing the F2 key while the resource is selected. Delete: Click to delete the resource. This is the same as pressing the Delete key while the resource is selected.
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l Delete: Click to delete the resource. This is the same as pressing the Delete key while the resource is selected. Stylesheets Stylesheets control how contents appears on the page. It defines spacing, color, size and other properties of elements on the page. See "Styling templates with CSS files" on page 486 for more information. Contextual menu l l l l l New Stylesheet: Click to create a new Stylesheet resource. Adding a new stylesheet will automatically include it in the currently active section.
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Scripts pane The Scripts pane contains all of the scripts that are used to replace data in a template, or to modify its look; see "Personalizing Content" on page 518. Scripts can be exported and imported via the buttons or through drag & drop between the Scripts pane and any location on the computer. Note Scripts included on the Scripts pane are completely distinct from the JavaScript resources found in the "Resources Pane" on page 679 (see "Using JavaScript" on page 368).
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l l l l l l Dynamic Image script: Provided that its selector refers to an image, this script dynamically changes the image for each record. See "Dynamic Images" on page 541. Email scripts: Email scripts define the sender, recipients, subject etc. of the email that is sent, and the PDF password. See "Email header settings" on page 339. Control script: A Control script affects the output of a template per record as a whole, instead of parts of the content.
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l Enable/Disable: Click to trigger the script to be enabled or disabled. Disabled scripts are greyed out and italic and will not be executed. See "Enable/disable scripts" on page 555 l Import: load a script from a Scripts file (*.OL-script). l Export: save the script to a Scripts file (*.OL-script). l Properties (Script folders only): edit the name and execution scope of the folder. See "Execution scope" on page 555.
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Design Tab The design tab show the template including all styles, text and images as well as the placeholders used for variable data. In this tab, the template's scripts are not executed and only placeholders are shown. The top of the Design tab contains an area with the following options: l l l l Breadcrumbs: Displays the element type where the cursor is located and any of its parent elements. Elements with classes or IDs show these details next to them, for instance div #contents > ol.salesitems > li.
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Source Tab The source tab displays the HTML source for the template, including HTML Headers, CSS and HTML code. The source is displayed in a color-coded text editor, to quickly visualize the code. In this tab changes and adjustments can be made to the code. To the left of the Source tab, a bar helps visually identify the start and stop of an element. For example when clicking on the opening
