Objectif Lune Connect Send - 1.6 User Guide
User Guide
Version 1.6.1
Connect Send User Guide
2017-04-11
OBJECTIF LUNE Inc.
2030 Pie-IX, Suite 500
Montréal, QC, Canada, H1V 2C8
http://learn.objectiflune.com
© 2016 Objectif Lune Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
What is Connect Send? 4
Features List 4
Main steps in OL Connect Send 5
Installation 7
Printer driver 7
Workflow Plugins 7
Moving Workflow to another machine 8
Prerequisites 8
System Requirements 8
Installing OL Connect Send Printer Driver 10
Mass deployment of the OL Connect Send Printer Driver 22
OLCS Notifier 26
Known Issues 29
License modes 31
Basic mode 31
User mode 32
Click Charge mode 32
Incoming print jobs and the license 33
OL Connect Send in Workflow 35
Configuring the OL Connect Send Workflow processes 35
Plugins 38
Using the Printer Driver 55
Log files 57
Workflow log files 57
Printer log files 57
History log files 57
Troubleshooting 60
What is Connect Send?
Connect Send is an application with two components. The first is a Windows printer driver and
the second includes a set of Workflow plugins. These two components work together – they
cannot be used on their own.
Connect Send allows for PostScript files to be received over the internet from any Windows
Desktop application. It can be used in unlicensed mode and licensed mode.
The Unlicensed mode (default) allows users to push documents to Connect Send. They will
receive a pop-up message in the Notification Area confirming whether the job was received or
not. No web interaction is possible.
The Licensed mode causes the Connect Send printer driver to request a web page which will
be displayed in the user’s browser in order to allow them to enter job specific information. The
information from this web page can be used to tell Connect Workflow what to do next.
Connect Send, in licensed mode, can be used to create custom interactive workflows from a
centralized location, yet has the ability to be deployed and installed very easily.
Features List
OL Connect Send:
l Allows free of charge non-interactive printing over the internet.
l
Can be licensed in User mode so that specific users (domains/workstations) can print
and receive an interactive web page during the job submission process. The number of
jobs that can be printed is unlimited.
l
Can be licensed in Click Charge mode so that any user can print from anywhere and
receive an interactive web page during the job submission process. In this mode,
Connect Send requires credits which are reduced after each job received by the server.
l General
l Compresses PostScript files during transmission to minimize bandwidth.
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l Unlicensed mode
l Non-interactive job submission.
l Free to use.
l Confirms job transmission with a message in the Notification Area.
l Licensed mode
l Interactive job submission possible.
l Launches the user’s default browser to display web content produced by a Connect
server.
l Database containing domain, workstation ID, document information and page count
information.
Main steps in OL Connect Send
The main steps in the functioning of OL Connect Send are:
1.
A user prints a document to a printer using the OL Connect Send Printer Driver.
2. The resulting print job is captured by the printer driver code, zipped up, and, if applicable,
split into multiple chunks.
3.
The chunks are transferred to the Workflow process and received by the Job Processor
plugin (see "Plugins" on page38).
4. The plugin communicates with the printer driver to ensure that all data has been received
correctly.
5. The plugin combines all the chunks into a .7z file and then unpacks it to the original print
job. This is a Postscript file.
6. The plugin stores the print job at a specified location with a specified name.
7.
The plugin creates a Workflow metadata file for the print job, containing basic job
information (See License Modes – Basic Mode, below).
8. The plugin (if licensed) stores all job related info in a database.
9. The plugin returns a status message to the client, indicating a successful or failed job
transfer.
10.
The plugin sends the license status to the Printer Driver.
11.
The Printer Driver (if licensed and interactive) will launch a browser window and send an
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HTTP request to Workflow. The result of the receiving interactive process (see "Get Job
Data plugin" on page42) will be displayed in the browser. If the plugin is not licensed, or
the license is exceeded, this HTTP request is suppressed and the Printer Driver will not
launch a browser window.
12.
The Printer Driver will display status information using the Notification Area (also called
"system tray").
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Installation
Printer driver
The OL Connect Send Printer Driver must be installed on a dedicated machine and a Windows
printer must be set up using this driver. Additionally several settings regarding the host for
sending print jobs have to be set. All this is done with the Printer Driver installer; see "Installing
OL Connect Send Printer Driver" on page10.
Any OL Connect Send Printer Driver with a version number less than 1.0.5 should be
uninstalled before installing the newest Printer Driver.
1.
Open the Windows Control Panel and click Programs and Features.
2.
Select OL Connect Send Printer Driver and click Uninstall.
Workflow Plugins
The set of plugins is installed automatically with Workflow 8.6.1.
However, if you have already installed the pre-released plugins in Workflow 8.5, these plugins
must first be uninstalled, before updating to Workflow 8.6.1. Please follow these steps:
1.
Make a backup of the Connect Send database.
uninstalling OLCS plugins will also remove the database (OLCSDB.script) with all the
job information collected until that date. The database, however, can be retained by
making a copy before it is uninstalled and then copying it back after the new installation.
a.
Copy the content found in %programdata%\objectif lune\cpd\ to a safe place. Do
not copy any of the other sub folders found under %programdata%\objectif lune\.
2.
Uninstall the OLCS plugins:
a.
Open the Windows Control Panel and click Programs and Features.
b.
Select OL Connect Send plugin and click Uninstall.
3. Uninstall any previously installed OL Connect Send printers.
4. Proceed with the Workflow 8.6.1 update.
5.
Copy the database back to %programdata%\objectif lune\cpd\.
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Moving Workflow to another machine
When moving Workflow to a different machine, it s important to move the OL Connect Send
database (OLCSDB.script) to the other machine as well. The database includes all job
information collected to date.
1.
Make a backup of the Connect Send database: copy the content found in
%programdata%\objectif lune\cpd\ to a safe place. Do not copy any of the other sub
folders found under %programdata%\objectif lune\.
2. After installing Workflow on the other machine, copy the database back to
%programdata%\objectif lune\cpd\.
Prerequisites
Below is a list of components required for the use of OL Connect Send:
l PlanetPress or PReS Connect 1.5 and above
l Workflow 8.5 and above
l OL Connect Send:
l OL Connect Send Printer Driver
l OL Connect Send plugins. These are built in in Workflow as of version 8.6.1.
l An OL Connect Send license (required for interaction to take place)
System Requirements
plugin
The Job Processor plugin is designed to work with the Workflow module (Workflow) of
PlanetPress Connect and PReS Connect (Connect) which means it will run on any operating
system by those products.
Printer Driver
The OLCS Printer Driver can be installed and used with the following Windows versions:
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l Windows 7, 32 and 64-bit
Note
For installation on a Windows Server system (2008 and higher), it is a mandatory prerequisite that at
least one role is activated or installed before running the OL Connect Send Printer Driver installer.
l Windows 8.1, 32 and 64-bit
l Windows 10, 32 and 64 bit (including “Anniversary update”)
l Windows Server 2008 R2, 64-bit
l Windows Server 2012 R2, 64-bit
The following Windows versions are not officially supported:
l Any Windows version prior to Windows 7
l Windows 8.0
l Windows Server 2008 32-bit as well as Windows Server 2008 prior to R2
l Windows Server 2012 32-bit as well as Windows Server 2012 prior to R2
l Windows Server 2016
HTTP
Communications between the Printer Driver and the plugin is achieved using HTTP. It is
therefore necessary to ensure that HTTP interaction between all Printer Driver and server
machines is enabled.
Browser
After print job submission, further interaction between the OLCS Printer Driver and Workflow
is achieved using HTML. Browsers support and process HTML in different ways and so it is
important to be aware of possible browser compatibility issues when creating interactive web
pages.
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Installing OL Connect Send Printer Driver
Note
OL Connect Send Printer Driver can be found on Objective Lune's website at
http://help.objectiflune.com.
Note
Do not run the installer from the TEMP folder. As this folder is known as a location from where
malicious applications try to install themselves on a PC, it is under severe surveillance of Windows'
protection systems, including SmartScreen, which will prevent the installation to protect the PC.
Nevertheless, OL Connect Send is secure and it is Microsoft Certified, so it is guaranteed to be nonintrusive.
Setup process – new installation
The following section describes the installation process for the OL Connect Send (OLCS)
Printer Driver.
Starting the installation
Click the OLCS_Printer_Driver_Setup_1.2.5.98-22.msi file to start the OL Connect Send
Printer Driver Setup.
A message will be shown while the Setup program checks if all prerequisites are met and
prepares the machine.
When the setup is prepared, this first screen appears, containing basic information.
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Please read the legal notices and acknowledgements.
Click Next to proceed.
EULA
The next screen shows the EULA. Please read and accept it to proceed further by clicking
Next.
Communication URL settings
With this dialog the URLs for print job submission and the later interaction are to be defined.
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URL for print job submission
The URL for print job submission allows the URL for Workflow to be entered. This is the
server that will capture and process print jobs.
It needs to be entered as a full URL, for example:
http://demo.objectiflune.com:8080/olcs_transfer
The required pattern is:
<protocol>://<host>:<port>/[<path>/]<http action>
l <protocol>: Sets the communication protocol and has to be either HTTP or HTTPS. Any
other setting is invalid. As soon as https is set as protocol, the communication will
automatically run in protected mode (SSL).
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Tip
For additional information about secure file transfer, HTTPS certificates and how to
request a countersigned certificate, please see this page: SSL HowTo.
l <host>: The host name or IP address of the target machine. This is either the computer
Note
Even when the URL specification generally allows case sensitive path
components, the setup currently generalizes the URL to lowercase. This means that
if there should be an intermediate station that handles URL parts case sensitive,
this should be set to lowercase or case-insensitiveness.
Note
8080 is the default port for communications with Workflow, but it could be changed. Check this in
the Workflow preferences under plugin > HTTP Server Input 1 > Protocol options > Port.
where the related Connect Workflow is running or a gateway machine.
l
<port>: The port entry is mandatory, even if the port should be one of the standard ones
(80 for HTTP or 443 for HTTPS).
l <path>: Optional additional URL path components.
l <http action>: The HTTP action name as defined in the related Workflow HTTP Input
plugin.
The Test button can be used to check if the URL is pointing to a machine with a correctly set up
Connect Workflow with a HTTP Input plugin and the OLCS Job Processor plugin. If the test
was successful, this will be indicated by the green text "Server is ALIVE, workflow running".
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By unchecking Interactive mode you can set this specific printer to only send jobs to the
server, without further user interaction. In that case, the printer will not pop up a browser
window. Nevertheless, messages will pop up in the tray area, informing about transfer, success
or failure.
When the Interactive mode is disabled, the HTTP action for interaction field also becomes
disabled.
Accept all certificates: By default, if HTTPS is set as protocol (see above), the Printer Driver
will only accept valid certificates on the server side for the transfer. However in some cases a
self-signed certificate may be seen as sufficient for the transfer. In that case, the root validation
of the certificate can be switched off by checking this option.
HTTP action for interaction
Enter the HTTP action as defined in the related Workflow HTTP Input plugin, including any
path components.
The final URL for interaction is composed of the HTTP action for interaction and the protocol,
host and port of the URL for print job submission, because both HTTP actions must run in the
same Workflow.
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Note
If the main URL for print job submission contains any path components, these must be added here
as well.
Example
The URL for job submission is given as
http://demo.myhost.com:80/path/to/target/olcs_transfer.
The HTTP action for interaction must be entered as: path/to/target/olcs_interaction.
When done, click Next to continue.
Printer name and logging
In the Printer name and logging screen, you can set a name for the printer you wish to create
and setup the logging level.
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Printer name
Note
As opposed to the other settings, the printer name can’t be changed after installation.
By default the printer name is OL Connect Send Printer. If a printer with the same name already
exists, a number is added and increased until no matching printer name is detected. This then
becomes the proposed printer name in this dialog.
The printer name must consist of valid characters. Invalid, forbidden characters are:
l / = forward slash, 0x2F
l " = quote, 0x22
l \ = backslash, 0x5C
l * = asterisk, 0x2A
l : = colon, 0x3A
l ? = question mark, 0x3F
l < = less than sign, 0x3C
l > = greater than sign, 0x3E
l | = pipe symbol, 0x7C
l , = comma, 0x2C
Logging
The OL Connect Send Printer Driver creates one log file per printer per day. (For information
about all log files, see "Log files" on page57.) The number of log messages can be set by
choosing the log level. Available log levels are:
l
DEBUG: Logs all messages and is intended to be used only for bug research. It is not
recommended to have the log level set to DEBUG for a long period, as this will have an
impact on the driver's processing speed. This mode will include INFO, WARN and
ERROR messages too.
l
INFO: Logs initialization messages. Administrators may choose this level for an initial
installation to supervise the operation of the driver. This mode will include WARN and
ERROR messages too.
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l
Note
This setting has an impact on the number of messages shown and logged by the OLCS Notifier (see
"OLCS Notifier" on page26).
Note
Reboot requirement
Depending on what applications and Visual C++ runtimes already installed, a reboot may be
required after the successful installation of the OL Connect Send Printer Driver. A respective dialog
is shown to the user in this case, offering to do a restart right away or chose to do it at a later
moment.
If this message should be shown, a reboot is mandatory before using OL Connect Send,
otherwise it may not work correctly!
WARN: This is the default level and should be used for production use. In this mode log
files may be empty: this is by design and indicates, that the printer and the driver work as
expected. This mode will include ERROR messages too.
l
ERROR: For users familiar to OLCS, this log level reduces the overhead to a minimum. It
is intended for machines where OLCS has been working error free for several weeks.
When done, click Next to continue.
Finishing the installation
At this point Setup has collected the required information to install the printer driver and create
it. The next screen will ask you to continue by clicking the Install button.
A progress bar is shown, while the installation process is running.
After a successful installation, the Finish dialog is shown. Click Finish.
Your OLCS printer driver is now installed:
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The OLCS Notifier
Once a printer driver is installed, an application called OLCS Notifier is also installed. It
displays and logs information relating to the preparation and transfer of each print job. For more
information see "OLCS Notifier" on page26.
Adding, modifying or deleting a printer
To install an additional printer, modify a printer or delete a printer, run the installer again.
The installer will detect that it’s not being used for the first time and will present a different
screen.
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Clicking the Next button will bring you to the selection page where you can decide to:
l Add a printer.
l Modify the settings of an existing printer.
l Delete one or all existing printers.
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