Objectif Lune PlanetPress Production - 7.4 User Guide
User Guide
www.objectiflune.com
Copyright Information
Copyright Information
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Title PlanetPress Workflow User Guide
Revision 2014-09-24
Table of Content
Table of Content
Copyright Information 3
Table of Content 5
Overview 15
Icons used in this guide 15
Other Documentation 15
Getting Started 17
Environment Considerations 17
Terminal Services 17
Virtual Environments 17
32-Bit or 64-Bit? 17
Antivirus Considerations 18
Backup Considerations 18
Microsoft Office Compatibility 18
Network Considerations 18
Local and Network Rights 19
Account Requirements 19
Mapped Drives 19
Network Ports used by each service 19
Activate Your Printers 20
PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Service Logon 21
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools 23
The Nature of PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools 23
The Three Flavors of the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools 23
Terms and Definitions 23
About Configurations 24
About Processes 25
About Subprocesses 25
About Tasks 25
About Branches and Conditions 26
About Data 26
About Data Selections 27
AboutData Emulation 27
Emulations in the PlanetPress Workflow Tools: 27
About Related Programs and Services 28
Available Input Services 28
Available Output Services 28
About Documents 29
About Printing 29
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program 31
Start the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program 32
The PlanetPress Button 32
Table of Content
Create a New Configuration 33
Open a PlanetPress Suite Configuration File 33
Saving and Sending a Configuration 33
Save your Configuration 34
Send your Configuration 34
Import Processes from Another Configuration File 35
Import Documents 36
Import PrintShop Mail Documents 36
Change the Interface Language 36
Exit the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program 37
The Quick Access Toolbar 37
The PlanetPress Suite Ribbon 38
Start and Stop the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Service 39
The Configuration Components Pane 40
Access Process Properties 41
Add a PlanetPress Suite Process 44
Manipulate Local Variables 44
Activate or Deactivate a Process 45
Convert a Branch to a Subprocess 46
Manipulate Global Variables 46
View Document Properties 47
Use Data and Metadata Files Attached to Documents 48
Use Attached Document Preview 49
Add Resident Documents in the Configuration Components Pane 49
Associate Documents and PlanetPress Watch Printer Queues 50
Using the Clipboard and Drag & Drop 50
Rename Objects in the Configuration Components Pane 52
Reorder Objects in the Configuration Components Pane 52
Grouping Configuration Components 53
Expand and Collapse Categories and Groups in the Configuration Components Pane 54
Delete Objects and Groups from the Configuration Components Pane 54
The Process Area 54
Zoom In or Out within Process Area 54
Adding Tasks 55
Adding Branches 55
Edit a Task 55
Replacing Tasks, Conditions or Branches 56
Remove Tasks or Branches 56
Task Properties Dialog 56
Cutting, Copying and Pasting Tasks and Branches 57
Moving a Task or Branch Using Drag-and-Drop 58
Ignoring Tasks and Branches 59
Resize Rows and Columns of the Process Area 59
Selecting Documents in Tasks 59
Highlight a Task or Branch 60
Undo a Command 60
Table of Content
Redo a Command 60
The Plug-in Bar 60
The Object Inspector Pane 61
Toggle the Run on Desktop Property 62
The Debug Information Pane 62
The Message Area Pane 63
Customizing the Program Window 63
Dock and Undock Areas of the Program Window 64
Show or Hide Areas of the Program Window 64
Combine and Attach Areas 65
Resize the Program Window Areas 68
Preferences 68
General User Options 69
Object Inspector User Options 69
Configuration Components Pane User Options 70
Default Configuration User Options 70
Notification Messages Preferences 70
Sample Data User Options 72
Network User Options 72
PlanetPress Capture User Options 73
PDF Text Extraction Tolerance Factors 78
Logging User Options 79
Messenger User Options 79
HTTP Server Input User Options 80
HTTPServer Input 2 User Options 80
LPD Input Preferences 81
Serial Input Service User Options 82
Telnet Input User Options 82
PlanetPress Fax User Options 83
FTP Output Service User Options 84
PlanetPress Image User Options 84
LPR Output User Options 86
PrintShop Web Connect Service User Options 87
Editor Options 87
Other Dialogs 90
Advanced SQL Statement dialog 90
Access Manager 91
SOAPAccess 93
PDF Viewer 94
The PlanetPress Suite Service Console 96
Add or Delete Document Instances 97
Virtual Drive Manager 98
Working With Variables 99
Types of Variables 99
Job Info Variables 99
Table of Content
Standard Variables 100
Available Standard Variables 100
The %i Loop Count Variable 101
Data in PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools 103
Choosing a Sample Data File 103
The Data Selector 103
Metadata tab 105
Metadata 106
Using the Metadata Data Selector 111
Using the File Viewer 112
Choosing a Database Type Sample Data File 112
Data Selections in PlanetPress Workflow Tools 112
Text-Based Data Selections 112
Database Data Selections 113
PDF Data Selections 113
Metadata Selections 114
Data File and Job File 114
Actual Data and Sample Data 115
Job File Names and Output File Names 115
Task Properties Reference 117
Input Tasks 119
Initial Input Tasks 119
Secondary Input Tasks 119
Merge PDF Files 120
Create File 122
Email Input 123
Folder Capture 125
Folder Listing 127
FTP Input 128
HTTP Client Input 130
HTTP Server Input 131
Input Error Bin 132
Input SOAP 133
LPD Input 135
Serial Input 136
PrintShop Web Connect 137
Telnet Input 138
WinQueue Input 139
Action Tasks 143
Add Document 143
Add/Remove Text 144
Advanced Search and Replace 145
Barcode Scan 147
Change Emulation 150
Create PDF 151
Table of Content
Decompress File(s) 153
Digital Action 154
Download to Printer 159
External Program 160
Load External File 161
Mathematical Operations 162
Open XSLT 163
PlanetPress Database 164
Rename 167
Run Script 168
Send Images to Printer 169
Search and Replace 171
Send to Folder 172
Set Job Infos and Variables 173
SOAP Client Plug-in 173
Standard Filter 175
Translator 176
Windows Print Converter 177
Data Splitters 179
About Using Emulations with Splitters 179
Database Splitter 180
Emulated Data Splitter 181
In-Stream Splitter 183
Generic Splitter 184
PDF Splitter 187
XML Splitter 188
Process Logic Tasks 191
Branch 191
Comment 192
File Name Condition 192
File Size Condition 193
Go Sub 193
Loop 194
Run Script 195
Send to Process 196
SNMP Condition 197
Text Condition 198
Time of Day Condition 200
Connector Tasks 201
Create MRDX 201
Input from SharePoint 202
Laserfiche Repository Output 203
Lookup in Microsoft® Excel® Documents 206
Microsoft® Word® Documents To PDF Conversion 208
Output to SharePoint 210
About PlanetPress Fax 213
Table of Content
PlanetPress Fax 213
Captaris RightFax Configuration 214
About PlanetPress Image 217
PlanetPress Image 217
Overview of the PDF/A and PDF/X Standards 223
PrintShop Mail 224
PlanetPress Capture 226
Capture Condition 226
Capture Fields Generator 229
Capture Fields Processor 230
Capture PGC Splitter 232
Find Capture Documents 234
Get Capture Document 236
PGC to PDF Converter 237
Metadata Tasks 239
Create Metadata 239
Embed/Extract PlanetPress Suite Metadata 240
Metadata Fields Management 241
Metadata File Management 242
Metadata Filter 243
Metadata Level Creation 244
Metadata Sequencer 245
Metadata Sorter 246
Metadata to PDI 247
Metadata-Based N-Up 247
Rule Interface 248
Sort Parameters 250
Pick Parameters 250
All In One 251
Output Tasks 253
Delete 253
FTP Output 254
Print Using a Windows Driver 255
Printer Queue Output 256
Send Email 257
Send to Folder 260
SOAP Client Plug-in 260
Variable Properties 262
Unknown Tasks 263
Masks 264
Date and Time Format 264
Special Workflow Types 265
Special Workflows 265
PDFWorkflow 265
PlanetPress Capture Workflow 265
Table of Content
HTTPServer workflow 265
PlanetPress Capture Workflow 265
The PlanetPress Capture workflow 266
The Examples 267
PlanetPress Capture Glossary 267
General Considerations 269
Security Considerations 270
20,000 Patterns 271
THE NUMBERS 271
EXAMPLE 272
EXTENDING 272
CONTAMINATION 273
SAFEGUARDS 274
CONCLUSION 274
Anoto penDirector 274
PlanetPress Mobile Application 275
PlanetPress Capture Implementation Restrictions 276
Printer limitations 276
Black ink close to patterns 276
Paper quality 277
Pattern sizes 277
Distance between patterns 278
Basic Functional Capture Workflow 278
Capture Post Processing Workflow 279
Capture Web Manager Workflow 280
Installation 281
Explanation 281
Considerations 281
HTTP Server Workflow 281
Important Configuration, Setup and Options 282
Request/Process/Response cycle 283
Example HTTPWorkflows 284
HTTP PDF Invoice Request 284
Breakdown of this URL: 284
Process Illustration 284
Task Breakdown 285
HTTP Brochure Request 285
Resources 285
Installation 285
Task Breakdown 285
PDF Workflow 286
Examples 287
Daily Sales Report from PDF Files 287
Resources 287
Task Breakdown 287
Table of Content
Printer Queues and Documents 289
PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Printer Queues 289
Shared Printer Queue Properties 289
Windows Output Printer Queue 290
LPR Output Printer Queue 290
FTP Output Printer Queue 291
Send to Folder Printer Queue 292
PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and PlanetPress Design Documents 293
Variable Content Document File Formats: PTZ, PTK and PS 293
PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and Printshop Mail Documents 294
Triggers 294
Load Balancing 295
Location of Documents and Resources 297
Debugging and Error Handling 299
Debugging your PlanetPress Suite Process 299
Debugging and Emulation changes 300
About Error Handling 301
Using the On Error tab 301
Creating and Using Error Processes 301
Accessing the Logs 302
Resubmit Backed Up Input Files to a Process 303
Knowing What to Resubmit 304
Using Scripts 305
The Script Editor and XSLT Editor 305
Use the Editor 306
Import and Export Scripts 306
Find Strings in a Script 306
Find and Replace Strings in a Script 307
Go to a Line in a Script 308
Toggle Bookmarks 308
Jump to Bookmarks 309
SOAP Server API Reference 309
SOAP API - SubmitJob 309
SOAP API - PostJob 310
SOAP API - GetProcessList 310
SOAP API - GetProcessTaskList 311
SOAP API - GetSOAPProcessList 312
SOAP API - PostJobInfoStruc 312
SOAP API - SubmitJobInfStruc 313
The Watch Object 313
Watch.ShowMessage 314
Watch.ExecuteExternalProgram 315
Watch.GetJobFileName 315
Watch.GetOriginalFileName 316
Table of Content
Watch.GetMetadataFilename 316
Watch.InputBox 317
Watch.GetJobInfo 318
Watch.SetJobInfo 318
Watch.GetVariable 319
Watch.SetVariable 319
Watch.ExpandString 320
Watch.Log 320
Watch.Sleep 321
Script.ReturnValue 322
Stopping Execution 323
Index 325
Overview
Overview
This PDF documentation covers version 7.4. To view the documentation of previous versions please refer to the PDF files
available in the Downloads section of our website:
http://www.objectiflune.com/OL/Download/DownloadCenter.
Icons used in this guide
Some icons are used throughout this guide in order to catch your attention to certain particular information.
Notes: This icon shows you something that complements the information around it. Understanding notes is not critical but may be helpful when using PlanetPress Workflow.
Warnings: This icon shows information that may be critical when using PlanetPress Workflow. It is important to pay
attention to these warnings.
Technical: This icon shows technical information that may require some technical knowledge to understand.
Other Documentation
For other related documentation , please see the drop-down menu at the top-right corner of this page.
Getting Started
Getting Started
This chapter describes how to install the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and how to set up your working environment.
Environment Considerations
This page is intended to provide technical information about the environment in which PlanetPress Workflow is intended to
run.
Terminal Services
PlanetPress Suite does not support Terminal Services environment as possible under Windows 2000, 2003 and 2008. This is to
say, if Terminal Services is installed on the server where PlanetPress Suite is located, unexpected behaviors may occur and
will not be supported by our company. Furthermore, using PlanetPress Suite in a Terminal Service environment is probably an
infringementof our End-User License Agreement.
Terminal Services may also be referred to as Terminal Server or Remote Administration Mode (Windows Server 2003 and
2008).
Single-User Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)(where only one person can use RDPat a time) is supported for PlanetPress Suite
version 6.2 and higher, however it is only supported in Windows XP or Windows 2003. While later versions of Windows may
not cause issues when accessing PlanetPress Suite through RDP, these combinations are no longer tested and may not be functional.
Virtual Environments
Both PlanetPress Suite 6 and PlanetPress Suite 7 officially support VMWare Environment. This includes VMWare Player,
VMWare Workstation as well as an ESXVMWare Installation.
PlanetPress Suite 7.1 and higher also support VMotion, which means the virtual machine hosting PlanetPress Suite can be
automatically moved from one ESXserver to another in a clustered installation.
PlanetPressSuite 7.5.1 and higher started supporting Hyper-V virtualization in addition to the previous environments.
PlanetPress Suite is not officially supported on any other virtual machines such as Virtual PC, Parallels, Bochs, Xen, etc. While
running PlanetPress on these virtual machines may work, and they are properly detected by PlanetPress Suite 7.5.1 and
higher, we have not tested them and cannot offer support for them.
The PlanetPress Suite End-User License Agreement (EULA) specifies that a PlanetPress Suite software license may
only be used on a single virtual or physical PC at a time. While copying a virtual machine for backup purposes is
acceptable, running two instances of the same machine, using the same serial number, is strictly prohibited.
32-Bit or 64-Bit?
PlanetPress Suite version 7.1.3 and higher support 64-Bit operating system. However, our application remains 32-bits in this
environment, which means that for all intents and purposes there is no difference between those two environments as far as
PlanetPress Suite is concerned.
Getting Started
Antivirus Considerations
PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools generates a very large amount of temporary data on your hard disk, especially when manipulating or creating PDF files. This can sometimes cause issues when any other software is trying to access the temporary files
at the same time as PlanetPress Workflow and its components are trying to read, write, create or delete those files.
If you experience these issues you may want to temporarily disable your antivirus "live", "daily"or "deep"scans for the following folders and processes:
Disabling any antivirus scanning permanently on any folder or program is not recommended, and ObjectifLune cannot be held reliable for any consequence of disabling your antivirus or whitelisting the folders or executables listed
here, or any other change in your antivirus protection setup!
l On Windows 2000/2003/XP:
l C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Objectif Lune\PlanetPress Suite 7\
l C:\Documents and Settings\planetpress\Local Settings\Temp\ (where planetpress is the user under which
Watch is configured)
l On Windows Vista/7/2008:
l C:\ProgramData\Objectif Lune\PlanetPress Suite 7\
l C:\Users\planetpress\AppData\Local\Temp\ (where planetpress is the user under which Watch is configured)
l On all systems:
l C:\Windows\Temp\
l Processes:
l PPAlmbic.exe
l PPWatchService.exe
l PPImage.exe
l PPMessenger.exe
Note: C:\Windows\Temp\ is used by multiple software which may cause risks on your computer. However, PlanetPress Workflow may use this folder as temporary storage, especially in the case of creating PDF files. We do not recommend disabling
scan on this folder, unless you notice performance issues when generating PDFs, and then only as a test.
Backup Considerations
For similar reasons, it is important to know that backup software can also access files while copying them to a remote backup
location, so you should make sure that no PlanetPress Workflow process is working during your backups.
Microsoft Office Compatibility
The Microsoft Office 2010 line of products has not been certified for use with PlanetPress Suite. Some of its products may not
be compatible with the connectors included in the Suite.
Network Considerations
While PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools is typically installed on a server machine that is only accessed by one single user such
as an ITperson, multiple users logging on to that machine is a possibility (except with terminal servers, see Environment Con-
siderations). Because each user may have different local and network rights, it may be important to consider the implications
in regards to the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools. To change the service logon information, see PlanetPress Suite Workflow
Tools Service Logon.
Getting Started
Local and Network Rights
Programs, such as PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and all its services, must identify themselves in order to be granted permission to perform operations on the computer on which they run as well as on other computers accessible via a network connection. On a given workstation, you can configure your PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools to use either the local system
account or any specific user account. When you do this, you grant the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and all its services the
same rights associated with the selected account (except for PlanetPress Messenger Service which always runs on the Local
System account).
When you are running the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration program on a workstation, if it is associated with an
account that is different from your account, the following icon is displayed in the lower rightcorner of the PlanetPress Suite
Workflow Tools Configuration program: . The icon reminds you that the logon information is different for the PlanetPress
Suite services, and that some network resources may not be accessibly by PlanetPress Suite when running a live configuration.
Account Requirements
PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and its services require administrator rights to run on any given computer and must therefore be associated with an account that has such rights.
We recommend creating a network or domain account specifically for the PlanetPress Suite services (typically called
"planetpress"or "ppress"), which has administrator credentials on the machine where it is installed, and is given proper rights
for any network resources your configuration may request.
Mapped Drives
Mapped drives (for example, drive X: leading to \\server\public\)are always user-specific and are created at logon. This
means that mapped drives are typically not available by the PlanetPress Suite services when running a live configuration. Furthermore, while the mapped drives are not shared, they are still limited to one map per computer, meaning if one user maps
the X: drive, a different user (or a service)will not be able to map it again.
This creates a limitation in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools:if you create a mapped drive as a user, you will not have
access to this mapped drive while running as a service unless you log off, and then have PlanetPress Workflow Tools map the
drive using a Run Script action inside a Startup Process.
We strongly recommended that instead of using mapped drives, you use full UNCpaths for your network drives. PlanetPress
Suite Worfklow Tools can automatically convert mapped paths to UNCpaths. For more information, please see Network User
Options.
Network Ports used by each service
The port configuration for each PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools component is described in the following table. The port
number assignments comply with Internet standards. If the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools component is not active, the
port is not used.
Component Protocol Local Port Remote Port
Email Input (POP3 mode) TCP Default
Email Input (Outlook mode) TCP see Remote Port See Microsoft Knowledge Base article 278339
Folder Capture TCP/UDP Default
1
1
110
Standard Windows file and printer sharing ports2:
l UDP 137, 138; TCP 139 (NetBIOS over
TCP/IP (NetBT))
Component Protocol Local Port Remote Port
l UDP 445; TCP 445 (SMB over TCP/IP)
LPD Input TCP 515 (listening port) N/A
FTP Input TCP Default
Telnet Input TCP Default
FTP Output TCP Default
Email Output (SMTP mode) TCP Default
Email Output (Outlook mode) TCP
See Email Input (Outlook
mode)
1
1
1
1
21
9100 (configurable)
21
25
See Email Input (Outlook mode)
Standard Windows file and printer sharing ports2:
Send to Folder Windows Queue
Output
TCP Default
LPR Output TCP Default or 721 to 731
PlanetPress Database
TCP or
UDP
Unknown
SNMP Condition UDP Default
1
l 137, 138 and/or 139 (NetBIOS over TCP/IP
(NetBT))
l 445 (SMB Over TCP/IP)
3
4
1
515
Unknown
161
4
Getting Started
1. Value is greater than 1024 and is assigned by Windows XP. This is the default.
2. Windows NT 4.0 uses NetBIOS over TCP/IP for file and printer sharing, while Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 may be configured to use NetBIOS over TCP/IP or SMB over TCP/IP. The operating system may use
additional ports. Refer to the Windows documentation for further information.
3. If the “No source port range restriction” option is checked (recommended), see footnote a. If the option is unchecked,
the local port will be chosen from a range going from 721 to 731.
4. Contact your DBMS vendor to determine which ports are used by the ODBC driver for accessing a network database.
Activate Your Printers
The Activate a Printer dialog lists the existing activated printers on the system and lets you add new activations.
Printer activations are normally given to you by the activations department electronically, including a file that will automatically add all your printers in this dialog.
The printer list displays the following information
l License Number:Reference number of the activation, linked to your customer account.
l Magic Number:The magic number generated by the printer. If the magic number is incorrect, your jobs will output
with a watermark on that printer.
l Activation Code:The activation code generated by your license number and magic number. If the activation code is
incorrect, your jobs will output with a watermark on that printer.
l Printer Name (Optional):Name and/or model of the printer.
l Comments (Optional):Comments about the printer.
The following buttons are available in this dialog:
l Add:Brings up the Printer Activation dialog. This dialog lets you enter the information for the printer (see previous sec-
tion), then click OKto save the new activation.
l Delete:Removes the currently selected activation from the list.
l Web Activation:Click to access the online activation manager on our website.
Getting Started
l OK:Save changes and exit.
l Cancel:Exit without saving changes.
You can also double-click on any existing activation to edit it.
PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Service Logon
To be able to run and to have access to local files as well as to files available on other computers in your network, PlanetPress
Suite applications and services must identify themselves using a local or network account.
The first time you start the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration program, the application automatically asks you to
choose an account (see procedure below).
You can also manually start this procedure from the PlanetPress SuiteWorkflow Tools by following this procedure:
1. Click on the Tools tab in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Ribbon, then click Configure Services.
2. Set the PlanetPress Suite applications permissions as required:
l Local System account: Select to run all the PlanetPress Suite Services (including PlanetPress Suite Workflow
Tools, PlanetPress Fax, and PlanetPress Image) under the Local System account. The Local System account is
distinct from the Administrator account. It requires no username or password, and its privileges may exceed
those of the user currently logged in. Running under this account rather than a user account prevents problems
thatmay arise if the user lacks a permission the service requires. If a configuration relies on any resources
mapped to a particular user, such as mapped network drives or shared printers, they are unavailable. It is recommended that you create a configuration for a particular user. Clear Local System account to run all the PlanetPress Suite Services under the account you specify. Use the options that become available when you clear
Local System account to enter the accountinformation—you must enter a valid user name and password to use
Microsoft Outlook as your email client for Email input and Send email output tasks.
l Display network domains and usernames: Select to have PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Con-
figuration search for existing domains and display the domains it find in the Domain box, and the usernames in
those domains in the Username box. Although this is useful if you do not know the domain name and username
of the account you wantto specify, it can also be very time-consuming if there are many domains.
l Domain: Select the domain in which the user account resides, or enter the name of the domain manually.
l Username: Enter the name of the user account.
l Password: Enter the password for the user account you specified in the Username box.
l Confirm password: Enter the password you entered in the Password box.
l Services start automatically: Select to start the required PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools automatically.
3. Click OK.. PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools applies the user account information to all the services (PlanetPress Suite
Workflow Tools, PlanetPress Fax, PlanetPress Image, LPD input, Serial input, Telnet input, FTP output, LPR output),
thatrun on this computer (with the exception of PlanetPress Suite Messenger, which always runs under the Local System account).
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration program does not test usernames and passwords, but merely associates
them with the services that require them. If you enter a bad username or password, these services will be denied access to
the selected account.
The account you choose will be used by PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and all its services, as well as by PlanetPress Fax
and PlanetPress Image (only PlanetPress Suite Messenger is not affected, since it always uses the Local System account). If
you install PlanetPress Fax or PlanetPress Image on the same computer after performing this procedure, you will have to perform it once again, so as to choose the same account for all the installed applications.
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools
PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools are input driven applications designed to output data in a variety of ways through diverse
means to various applications and devices. PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools can be used as simple go betweens, passing
along input data to output devices, but it can also perform various types of data processing.
This chapter explains how you can combine the various PlanetPress Workflow Tools services to set up versatile automated
processes to print jobs as well as generate other types of output.
The Nature of PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools act as sorts of dispatchers. On the one hand, they retrieves data and controls plugins
thatretrieve data from watched locations, and on the other hand they send data and controls plugins that send data to various
devices, for printing or to generate documents that can then be emailed or faxed. PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools can also
perform a variety of operations on the data using its action plugins.
In fact, the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools plugin based architecture enables almost limitless customization. You can create
or purchase compatible plugins, drop them in any of the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools plugin folder and use them to perform other operations. You can even find free unsupported plugins on the Objectif Lune Web site.
PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools are service applications, or if you will, applications that continuously run on a given computer and that perform actions automatically. Those actions are defined in a PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools configuration.
To create and manage PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools configurations, you use one of three possible applications called PlanetPress Watch Configuration, PlanetPress Office Configuration and PlanetPress Production Configuration. A given computer
can only run one PlanetPress Suite configuration at a time. The PlanetPress Suite Service Console may be used to monitor the
services running on a given computer.
The Three Flavors of the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools
The term Workflow Tools is a general name that includes all three flavors of the tools:
l PlanetPress Watch
l PlanetPress Office
l PlanetPress Production
To view an explanation of the Workflow Tools and their different flavors, please see the following PDFdocument:
http://www.objectiflune.com/OL/lib/en-CA/Documents/Brochure/OL-PPS-DSWORKFLOW.pdf
Throughout this document, unless we are referring to a specific version of the Workflow Tools, we will always use the term
Workflow Tools.
Terms and Definitions
The following terms and definitions will be used throughout this help file. We invite you to get familiar with them to simplify the
understanding of the documentation.
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools
l PlanetPress Suite Workflow Configuration (or "Configuration"):The Configuration is a physical file opened by
the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and it contains all of the elements (tasks, processes, documents and printer
queues)that drive your workflow.
l Process:A single workflow within the Configuration. Aprocess begins with a single input task, contains one or more
tasks and/or branches, and terminates with one or more output tasks.
l Task:A single block in a process (also known as a plugin). Tasks can be used for input, output or manipulation. Some
tasks gather data, others output data in different locations.
l Trunk:The main "branch"of a process. If a process does not have any branch or condition, that process contains one
initial input and one output on a single trunk.
l Branch:A branch in a process means your workflow will stop, follow the branch up until its output, and then return to
the main trunk to continue processing. Each additional branch in your process means you will need an additional output
task also.
l Condition:Acondition is a type of branch where the workflow will only go one way - either in the branch, or in the
main trunk. If a condition is true, the branch is followed. If the condition is false, the main trunk is followed.
l Job Info:Alocal variable that is called by its numbered id, from 0 to 9. There are only 10 job infos. Job infos are nor-
mally used to communicate information from the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools to a PlanetPress Design document,
either in printer outputs or connectors such as Image or Fax.
l Variables:A variable is a name that refers to specific information that is kept in the computer memory. Avariable can
be modified via programming or certain tasks, and are generally accessible anywhere in your process (except certain
locations).
l Job:The processing of one or more job files, through one or more processes.
l Job File:The physical file that is generated (or obtained)through a process' input task. The job file can be of multiple
formats including plain text, CSV, databases, XMLand PDFs.
l Sample File/Sample Data:Aphysical file that contains the data used to create your process, including examples of
any data that you need to rely on (such as texts for conditions, or data for variables). The sample file should be limited
in size to speed up processing time while designing your process.
l Emulation:Afilter used to read the job file that is used in your process. Emulation lets you read different types of files
ranging from text-only line printer data to more complex PDFand XMLfiles, as well as database files.
About Configurations
PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools configuration files are defined as a set of processes, subprocesses, variables, documents
and printer queues, that work together within the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Service.
PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools cannot work without a valid configuration and a PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools session
running on a given computer can only use one configuration at a time. Once you have created a configuration, you must “send”
it to the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Service. When you do this, your PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tool forgets its previous configuration and starts executing the tasks included in the new configuration.
A PlanetPress Suite configuration must be composed of at least one process, but it may include as many as 512.
For a configuration created in PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tool Configuration to actually be executed by PlanetPress Suite
Workflow Tool, it must be sent to its PlanetPress Suite service.
See the following pages for information on differentparts of the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration:
l For information about Processes, see About Processes.
l For information about Subprocesses, see About Subprocesses.
l For information about Global Variables, see Working With Variables.
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools
About Processes
Aprocess is a single workflow within the configuration. Aprocess begins with a single input task, contains one or more tasks
and/or branches, and terminates with one or more output tasks. In its simplest form, a process can simply retrieve data from
a given folder and save it in a different folder. In most cases, though, processes are more elaborate and configurations, which
may include many processes, can be extremely complex.
The available processes in your PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration are listed in the The Configuration Com-
ponents Pane. Processes in a configuration will always run concurrently. You can schedule processes to run only at certain
times or intervals (see Access Process Properties).
There are three types of processes available to you:
l A Normal process will run as soon as an input file is available through its input task or, if it is scheduled not to run at
thattime, will start processing as soon as the schedule permits it.
l Startup processes are processes that run only once before every other process in a given configuration. They can
be used to perform operations that need to be completed once before the configuration can actually be run, such as to
map network drives. You may only have one single startup process in your configuration.
l Subprocesses are processes which can be called by any other process from any action task. They can be used to per-
form and reuse redundant operations that may need to be executed numerous times. For more information on subprocesses, see About Subprocesses.
Regular and startup processes can be set to be Active (process runs normally)or Inactive (process will not run at all). An inactive process will display in the Configuration components as red and strike-through. Inactive processes can be useful for
designing new processes in a live configuration, since the process does not execute there is no danger is submitting it to the
PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Service.
About Subprocesses
Subprocesses are special processes that can be called by any other process. These act exactly as subroutines in pro-
gramming languages, allowing users to reuse existing processes by sharing them to the whole configuration file. They can
thus be used to perform redundant operations that may need to be executed numerous times; for instance, archiving a copy of
a zipped file received as the input job file, then decompressing it before sending the unzipped version of it back to the calling
process .
Whenever a PlanetPress Suite process calls a subprocess, the main process (the caller) will wait for the called subprocess to
finish its execution before carrying on with its own. This means the subprocess feature is synchronous with the main process.
This also means the calling process actually appends the subprocess to its own workflow.
About Tasks
A task is a plug-in or a block that is used to build PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools processes. Tasks can do multiple things
depending on the type of task and where they are placed. You can add as many tasks as you like to your processes and order
them in any way you can.
There are different types of tasks:
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools
l Input Task:Will either capture data from a specific location, or wait for input from a service or other computer to
start processing.
l Action Task:Will manipulate the data in any number of ways. An action task is any task that is not an input or output
task or a branch or condition.
l Output Task:Will output data to a specific location or send to a different service or computer.
Some tasks have a multi purpose and can be used as either an input, action or output task or any combination. These multi purpose tasks are indicated as such in the task description and can be found in the most relevant section of the available tasks.
For more information on the tasks available to you in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools, see the following pages:
l Input Tasks
l Action Tasks
l Process Logic Tasks
l Metadata Tasks
l Output Tasks
l About PlanetPress Fax
l About PlanetPress Image
About Branches and Conditions
While some processes can simply start with an input task, manipulate the data with a few action tasks and finish with an output
task, in some cases you may want to have more control over the flow of your process. For example, you may want multiple
outputs, such as printing to multiple printers as well as generating a PDFand emailing it. To do this, you will need branches.
You may also want to detect certain criteria in your data and act differently depending on that data, such as sending a fax only
when a fax number is found, or printing to a different printer depending on who send you a print job. To do this, Conditions are
used.
Branches
A branch is effectively a doubling of your job file. As your job file goes down the process, when it encounters a branch it will go
in that branch, process all tasks up to the output, and return to the main trunk to continue processes. You can have branches
within branches, and all branches must have an output. For more information on branches, see Branch.
A branch is represented as a crossing .
Conditions
Acondition will either execute the branch it creates or the main trunk, but never both. As your job file goes down the process,
when it encounters a condition it will verify whether that condition results in a "true"or "false"value. If the result is true, it
goes in the branch, processes all tasks up to the output, and the process finishes. If the result is false, it goes down the main
trunk and continues processing until the process finishes. For more information on conditions, see Conditions.
A conditional branch (or condition) is shown as a crossing with a red diamond over it
About Data
Data is what drives your business, and our software. We define data as anything that is obtained through an Input Task and
used within the process itself. Once the data is obtained, it becomes the job file that is passed from one task to another and
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools
generally used to generate output.
Data can be manipulated using the tasks in the process, used as comparison for conditions and loops, complemented with data
from other sources, and used to generate your output. It originates from many different sources (as many as the Input Tasks
support), parts of it can be stored in variables, and is always accessible by the task that currently handles it.
Data is referred to using Data Selections either from the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools or a PlanetPress Design Document
thatis being merged with the data (for example in a printed output).
For more information about Data, please see the chapter Data in PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools.
Null characters present in the data may not be displayed properly when using the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools
Configuration program, and that they may also be printed differently by different printers. To ensure consistency, you
should consider filtering out such characters.
About Data Selections
A data selection could be compared to an address. It indicates a location within a data file using coordinates. The PlanetPress
Suite Workflow Tools Configuration program includes a tool called the Data Selector that helps you make data selections. The
Data Selector does two things:
l It uses the current emulation (either the emulation chosen when the sample data file was selected, or the one chosen in
the last Change Emulation action task appearing above the current task) to format the data.
l It displays the formatted data to let you make selections easily using the mouse pointer.
The Data Selector is essentially the same as the one used in PlanetPress Design.
AboutData Emulation
Emulations are like filters that can be used to read the data. When you create a document in PlanetPress Design, you choose a
sample data file and specify the emulation to use for the chosen data. The emulation setting you choose will typically always
be associated with that document. If you choose a CSV (comma separated values) file and specify the corresponding emulation, for instance, commas encountered in the data will typically be considered as value separators.
Within the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools, the same emulation tools as PlanetPress Design are available throughout your
process, using the Data Selector. One notable exception however is that User-Defined Emulation is notavailable because it
uses PlanetPress Talk code, which is not available within the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program.
The emulation that is used in your process can change during the process, and can be different than the one used in any PlanetPress Design document used in your process. PlanetPress Design documents use their own emulations, as defined in the document itself from PlanetPress Design.
Emulations in the PlanetPress Workflow Tools:
l Line Printer
l ASCII
l CSV
l Channel Skip
l Database
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools
l XML
l PDF
PDFEmulation, also called Document Input, is only available in PlanetPress Production and PlanetPress Office. If used
in PlanetPress Watch, it will cause a watermark to appear in any output.
For more information about each emulation and how to use them, please consult the PlanetPress Design User Guide.
About Related Programs and Services
Services are programs that run in the background and automatically perform tasks that often do not require any user interaction. With the exception of PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration, all the programs used by PlanetPress Suite
Workflow Tools are run as service applications. PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools can thus use them as required without the
need for any user interaction.
Although you can manually start and stop any service running on your computer, most of the basic services used by the system are started and stopped automatically. In the case of PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and their related services, you typically use a command included in your PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration program to start and stop most
services. Opening and closing your PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration program has no effect on these services.
Available Input Services
Input services are used to pull in data files. The input services used by PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools are:
l LPD (Line Printer Daemon) Input service: Inputs data sent from an LPR client. The LPD/LPR printing protocol
is a common way to send print jobs that, in turn, use the TCP/IP protocol to communicate through the network.
l PrintShop Mail Web Capture service: Monitors print requests from a PrintShop Web server.
l Serial Input service: Monitors a single serial port for incoming data. Note that all Serial input tasks use the same
serial port (set in the user options of the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration program).
l Telnet Input service: Monitors multiple telnet ports for incoming data. Note that each Telnet input task has its own
telnet port number (set in each task).
l HTTP/SOAP Server service: Monitors web pages and web sites as well as SOAP servers.
Available Output Services
Output services are used to output jobs. The output services used by PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools are:
l FTP Output service: Places output jobs on a server via the FTP protocol.
l LPR (Line Printer Requester) Output service: Sends jobs to an LPD server or LPD compatible printers. The
LPD/LPR printing protocol is a common way to send print jobs that, in turn, use the TCP/IP protocol to communicate
through the network.
l PlanetPress Image: Outputs jobs as PDF files or in a variety of image formats. You can also use PlanetPress Image
to archive and/or email the files it creates. You can use PlanetPress Search to search the PDF files PlanetPress Image
creates. You can install multiple instances of the PlanetPress Image service on your network, and have PlanetPress
Suite Workflow Tools send jobs to one or more of these instances. Each instance of PlanetPress Image can generate
PDFs or images and dispatch them from the host on which it runs. See About PlanetPress Image.
l PlanetPress Fax: Outputs jobs as faxes. You use PlanetPress Fax as an interface to WinFax PRO or Windows Fax, to
send faxes you create from documents. You can install multiple instances of the PlanetPress Fax service on your network, and have PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools send jobs to one or more of these instances. Each instance of
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools
PlanetPress Fax can generate faxes and dispatch them from the host on which it runs, using a local faxing program,
such as WinFax PRO, Captaris RightFax or Windows Fax. See About PlanetPress Fax.
l PrintShop Mail:Used to generate documents using PrintShop Mail databases and documents. Communicate with it
through the PrintShop Mail and PrintShop Mail 7 Connector Tasks. See PrintShop Mail.
l Laserfiche:Used as a repository for electronic documents. Communicate with it through the Laserfiche Repository
Output Task. See Laserfiche Repository Output.
l PlanetPress Capture:Used to generate and process files using Anoto patterns. Communicate with it through the
PlanetPress Capture tasks such as the Anoto Ink Processor and the Anoto Pattern plugins.
Services must use an account to be granted the permission to use the system’s resources and objects. This information is
included in the service's configuration and most services use the Local System Account, which is granted access to all the
system’s resources. All input and output services used by PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools run under the same account. For
more information on services and system permissions, refer to Windows documentation. For more information on how to configure the account used by the services, see PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Service Logon.
The PlanetPress Suite Service Console, included in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration program, can be used
to monitor, start and stop PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools services (see About Processes, "Users and Configurations" (page
n) and "PlanetPress Suite Service Console" (page n)).
About Documents
A Document is a file sent to the PlanetPress Workflow Tools by PlanetPress Design and is used to produce an output when
merged with data. ADocument can be an invoice, a report, a receipt or anything else, but by itself it is empty and without any
variable data.
Document are typically selected in Output Tasks, but can also appear in other tasks that produce formatted data such as the
Digital Action task and the Add Document task.
Documents contain static data such as logos, addresses and graphic formatting, as well as placeholders for data. Documents
can also contain conditions and programming logic. For more information about PlanetPress Design documents, please see the
PlanetPress Design User Guide.
About Printing
To print a document using the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools, you can either use the Print using a Windows Driver output
task, or use a combination of a printer queue and a Printer Queue output task. These tasks are created and defined using Plan-
etPress Suite Workflow Tool Configuration program.
The following types of printer outputs are available in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration program:
l Local printing:
l Windows output queues let you send jobs to a local printer. See Windows Output Printer Queue.
l Send to Folder output queues let you save jobs to a local or network folder from which they can be picked up
and printed. See Send to Folder Printer Queue.
l Remote printing:
l FTP output queues let you upload jobs to an FTP site from which they can be picked up and printed. See FTP Out-
put Printer Queue.
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools
l LPR output queues let you send print jobs to remote printers via TCP/IP using the LPR/LPD protocol. See LPR
Output Printer Queue.
l Windows Driver Printing:
l The Print using a Windows Driver output task lets you send a job to any printer installed on the com-
puter, using its own drivers. In this particular case, the printer does not need to be a PostScript printer. See Print
Using a Windows Driver.
PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools provides you with three main printing scenarios:
1. Send output data to be printed as is: PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools sends a file containing only the data to
the selected queue.
2. Send output data to be merged with a document on the printer: PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools sends
one of two things:
l A file that contains only the data to the selected printer queue. The document with which the data must be
merged must be presenton the printer’s hard disk, otherwise printing will fail.
l A file that contains the data and the document to the selected printer queue. Since the data and the document
with which it must be merged are both sent to the printer, printing should never fail.
l In both cases, the document+data merging process takes place inside the printer.
3. Send output data already merged with a document:PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools sends a file that contains the document already merged with the data to the selected printer queue. The document+data merging process
therefore never takes place inside the printer.
In PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration, you may associate a single Printer Queue output task with multiple Printer Queues. If you do so, you have the option of using load balancing or not (see Load Balancing).
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