Objectif Lune PlanetPress Workflow - 8.5 Owner's Manual
User Guide
Version:8.5
User Guide
Version 8.5
Last Revision:4/12/2017
Objectif Lune, Inc.
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Objectif Lune Inc. Inc reserves the right to alter the information contained in this documentation
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents 4
Welcome to PlanetPress Workflow 8.5 7
Icons used in this guide 7
System Requirements 9
Operating System (64-bit only) 9
Minimum Hardware Requirements 9
Basics 10
Setting Up the Working Environment 10
Setting Up Preferences 10
Create a New Process 10
Send your Configuration 11
Features 13
The Nature of PlanetPress Workflow 13
About Branches and Conditions 13
Configuration Components 14
Connect Resources 14
About Data 16
Page 4
About Documents 44
Debugging and Error Handling 46
The Plug-in Bar 56
About Printing 58
About Processes and Subprocesses 71
Using Scripts 81
Special Workflow Types 127
About Tasks 172
Task Properties 173
Variable Properties 174
Working With Variables 535
About Configurations 544
About Related Programs and Services 548
The Interface 553
Customizing the Workspace 554
PlanetPress Workflow Button 563
The Configuration Components Pane 564
Other Dialogs 591
The Debug Information Pane 616
Page 5
The Message Area Pane 617
The Object Inspector Pane 619
The Plug-in Bar 620
Preferences 621
The Process Area 662
The Quick Access Toolbar 673
The PlanetPress Workflow Ribbon 674
The Task Comments Pane 677
Copyright Information 678
Legal Notices and Acknowledgements 679
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Welcome to PlanetPress Workflow
Note
Complementary information that is not critical, but may help you better use PlanetPress Workflow.
Tip
Information that is useful or suggests an easier method.
8.5
This PDF documentation covers version 8.5. 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.
Workflow is the heart of all of our solutions. Working in conjunction with PlanetPress Connect,
PlanetPress Capture, CaptureOnTheGO, PlanetPress Imaging, PlanetPress Fax, and a variety
of plug-ins, it helps improve your communications processes. Processes such as
communication creation, interaction, distribution and even maintenance.
Workflow is the "super dispatcher". It caters for inputs from a huge variety of sources, such as
email, web pages, databases, individual files (PDF, csv, XML, etc), print streams, FTP, Telnet
and even ERP systems! This data can then be analysed, modified, stored, verified, routed and
used as triggers for other processes from entirely within Workflow. Finally it is passed to one of
our other products (or not) to be outputted in multiple ways (printed, emailed, posted, archived,
sent to third party solutions, etc..).
Consider Workflow as a set of buildings blocks that enable you to build your own customised
automated processes which will fit your environment and not the other way around. Create
processes that will save you time and money!
Icons used in this guide
Icons are used throughout this guide to point your attention to certain information.
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Technical
Information that may require specific knowledge to understand.
Warning
Information that is potentially critical to using PlanetPress Workflow. Pay close attention.
Page 8
System Requirements
Note
Windows XP, Windows 2003 and older versions of Windows are not supported by PlanetPress
Workflow.
These are the system requirements for PlanetPress Workflow 8.5.
Operating System (64-bit only)
l Microsoft Windows 2008/2008 R2 Server
l Microsoft Windows 2012/2012 R2 Server
l Microsoft Windows Vista
l Microsoft Windows 7
l Microsoft Windows 8.1
l Microsoft Windows 10
Minimum Hardware Requirements
l NTFS Filesystem (FAT32 is not supported)
l CPU Intel Core i7-4770 Haswell (4 Core)
l 8GB RAM (16GB Recommended)
l Disk Space: At least 10GB (20GB recommended)
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Basics
PlanetPress Workflow is a tool for the automation of the processing, the distribution and the
printing of your business documents. Once installed on the server, it can be set up to automate
all tasks related to document processing.
Setting Up the Working Environment
Setting up the working environment has to be done the first time you start PlanetPress
Workflow.
1. Defining the printer (see Activate Your Printers).
2. Configure PlanetPress Workflow Services (see Workflow Services).
Setting Up Preferences
PlanetPress Workflow Configuration program lets you configure a variety of options, from how
the application itself looks or behaves, to plugin specific options. For more information about
preferences accessible through the Preferences button in the PlanetPress Workflow Button,
please refer to Preferences.
Create a New Process
You can create a new process in a two different ways:
l
In the Ribbon, go to the Home tab and click the Process button in the Processes group.
l
In the Configuration Components pane, right-click on any process or the Processes
folder and select Insert Process.
Regardless of the method, a new process is created with a default name (Process1, Process2,
etc), Input Task and Output Task. The defaults are configurable in the "Default Configuration
Behavior Preferences" on page625 screen. The same methods can be used to create a new
Startup process.
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To add a PlanetPress Workflow startup process:
Note
You can only have one Startup Process in any given configuration and cannot add more.
l
In the Ribbon, go to the Home tab and click the Startup Process button in the
Processes group.
l
In the Configuration Components pane, right-click on any process or the Processes
folder and select Insert Startup Process.
Considerations
l While your configuration is limited to a maximum of 512 processes, any given process
can have as many tasks as necessary.
l A given process may include output tasks that generate files used by input tasks from
other processes.
l When you send a configuration to your PlanetPress Workflow service, all its active
processes are applied.
l Each process’ schedule determines when its initial input task can be performed.
l Other tasks included in the process are performed regardless of schedule, granted that
the previous task was performed.
Send your Configuration
PlanetPress Workflow Configuration saves entire configurations in the form of a single file. Like
any other file, configuration files may be saved and reopened, as well as rename as desired.
Simply saving a configuration has no effect on the configuration actually used by the
PlanetPress Workflow when it is started. To change any currently active configuration, you
must use the Send Configuration command.
When you use the Send command, the PlanetPress Workflow Configuration program uses the
currently opened configuration (Any_name.pw7) to overwrite PlanetPress Workflow service's
current configuration (ppwatch.cfg).
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If PlanetPress Workflow service is running when you send a new configuration, it stops and
Note
If PlanetPress Workflow service is paused when you send a new configuration, it will not
stop and restart. Since PlanetPress Workflow service reads its configuration file when it
starts up, when you resume processing, PlanetPress Workflow service will continue
using the old configuration.
restarts automatically with the new configuration. If the service is stopped, it will not start
automatically.
To send a Configuration to the local server:
1. Open the configuration you want to use as a new configuration.
2. Edit the configuration, if required.
3.
When the configuration is ready to be used, from the PlanetPress Workflow button,
choose Send Configuration, then Send Local.
To send a Configuration to a remote server:
1. Open the configuration you want to use as a new configuration.
2. Edit the configuration, if required.
3.
When the configuration is ready to be used, from the PlanetPress Workflow button,
choose Send Configuration, then Send Remote.
Alist of available servers on the local network appears.
4. Put a checkmark next to each server where the configuration should be sent.
5. Click OK.
If a server is grayed out, this may mean you do not have access to send a configuration
remotely to it. For more information, please see "Access Manager" on page599.
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Features
PlanetPress Workflow are input driven applications designed to output data in a variety of ways
through diverse means to various applications and devices. PlanetPress Workflowcan be used
as simple go between, passing along input data to output devices, but it can also perform
various types of data processing. You can combine the various PlanetPress Workflow services
to set up versatile automated processes to print jobs as well as generate other types of output.
The Nature of PlanetPress Workflow
PlanetPress Workflow act as sorts of dispatchers. On the one hand, they retrieves data and
controls plugins that retrieve 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 Workflow can also perform a variety of
operations on the data using its action plugins.
In fact, the PlanetPress Workflow plugin based architecture enables almost limitless
customization. You can create or purchase compatible plugins, drop them in any of
PlanetPress Workflow plugin folder and use them to perform other operations. You can even
find free unsupported plugins on the Objectif Lune Web site.
PlanetPress Workflow 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 Workflow configuration. A given computer can only run one PlanetPress Workflow
configuration at a time. The PlanetPress Workflow Service Console may be used to monitor the
services running on a given computer.
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.
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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.
A conditional branch (or condition) is shown as a crossing with a red diamond over it .
For the list of operations you can perform on Branches and Conditions, please refer to The
Process Area.
Configuration Components
The Configuration Components items displayed in the pane are processes, subprocesses,
variables, documents and printer queues. For more information on operations that you can
perform on each component, please refer to The Configuration Components pane.
Connect Resources
Connect resources are visible in The Configuration Components pane and are added by
using the Send to Workflow option from the PlanetPress 's File menu.
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Available Resources
l Data Mapping Configurations:Displays a list of data mapping configurations used with
the Execute Data Mapping task. Each of the templates have been sent from PlanetPress
Connect using the Send to Workflow tool. For each template in the list, the following two
items appear within them:
l Data Model:Displays the data model used in the data mapping configuration.
Double-click on the data model to view it in your default XMLviewer (generally,
Internet Explorer).
l Sample Data File(s):Displays a list of sample files that are included in the data
mapping configuration. Double-click on a file to use it as a sample data file for the
active process.
l Document Templates:Displays a list of templates that can be used in content creation
tasks:"Create Email Content Set" on page479, "Create Web Content" on page493 and
"Create Print Content" on page490.
l Job Presets:Displays a list of Job Presets that can be used in the "Create Job" on
page482 task.
l Output Presets:Displays a list of Output Presets that can be used in the "Create Output"
on page485 task.
Resource Save Location
Any resource sent to PlanetPress Workflow from PlanetPress Connect is saved locally at the
following location: %PROGRAMDATA%\Objectif Lune\PlanetPress Workflow 8\PlanetPress
Watch\OLConnect
Resources are saved in their appropriate folder:
l DataMapper contains the data mapping configurations (.OL-datamapper)
l JobCreation contains the Job Presets(.OL-jobpreset)
l OutputCreation contains the Output Presets (.OL-outputpreset)
l Template contains the templates (.OL-template)
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Note
Package Files are not saved anywhere. The individual resources contained within the
package are extracted and placed in the folders noted above.
Resource Archives
From version 8.2, PlanetPress Workflow maintains an archive of previous versions of
resources, in the following location:%PROGRAMDATA%\Objectif Lune\PlanetPress Workflow
8\PlanetPress Watch\OLConnect\Archive , each in their own folder:
l datamapper contains archives of the data mapping configurations (.OL-datamapper)
l jobcreation contains archives of the Job Presets(.OL-jobpreset)
l outputcreation contains archives of the Output Presets (.OL-outputpreset)
l template contains archives of the templates (.OL-template)
l workflow contains archives of Workflow configurations received by the server.
The archives are saved using the template named followed by a timestamp. A maximum of 30
of each instance of a resource is kept (meaning if you have 10 different templates, a maximum
of 300 files will be present in the archive\template folder). Older archives are deleted
automatically as new archives are created.
About Data
Data is what drives your business, and our software. We define data as anything that is
obtained through an Input Task and used within the process itself. Once the data is obtained, it
becomes the job file that is passed from one task to another and generally used to generate
output.
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 PlanetPress Workflow or a PlanetPress
Design Document that is being merged with the data (for example in a printed output).
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For more information about Data, please refer to "Sample Data" on page29.
Note
Null characters present in the data may not be displayed properly when using
PlanetPress Workflow Configuration program, and that they may also be printed
differently by different printers. To ensure consistency, you should consider filtering out
such characters.
Data File and Job File
Whichever source it may come from, a serial port, an e-mail message, or an LPR request, for
instance, and whatever its format, data entering a PlanetPress Workflow process via an input
task is always referred to as a data file. Job file is a more general term, that can refer to data
files as well as other types of files traveling through a process. Image files, for example, can be
passed from task to task in order to be downloaded to a printer. So files traveling within a
process are mostly referred to as job files.
By default, job file names are generated using the %f variable. You may change the
wayPlanetPress Workflow names job files by using any combination of static characters,
variables and Job info variables. You could for instance enter Process_%w_Job_%f in the
File name box to add the process name in the name generated by the PlanetPress Workflow
Tools.
A single job file can be the source of multiple job files. This is the case, for example, when a
process includes multiple branches, as each branch is given a duplicate copy of the job file.
This is also the case when a job file is split into multiple smaller files by a Splitter action task,
for instance (See "Data Splitters" on page326).
It is important to note that job files may be used as a helpful debugging resource (See
"Debugging and Error Handling" on page46).
Actual Data and Sample Data
The actual data is the dynamic data captured by PlanetPress Workflow at run-time. The sample
data file is a static sampling of the run-time data.
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In the PlanetPress Workflow Configuration program, you use sample data files to create and
edit PlanetPress Workflow configurations.
Job File Names and Output File Names
When an input task sends a new data file down a process, it gives it an internal file name
referred to as the job file name (associated with the %f variable). The new job file typically
keeps the same name until the end of the process.
l If the job file comes to a branch in the process, PlanetPress Workflow makes a copy of the
job file and give the new file a new job file name.
l If the job file is processed by a splitter action task, the task typically creates a number of
new files which are all given new job file names.
Since these files are generated and managed by PlanetPress Workflow, you should not
actually pay too much attention to their names.
Many output tasks, on the other hand, let you determine exactly how you want the files they
generate to be named. In the case of Send to Folder output tasks, for example, output files are
saved under their job file names by default (using the variable %f), but you may use a static
(MyOutput.txt, for example) or variable name (%O_Invoices, for instance) of your choosing.
Variables such as %o (original file name) bring up the issue of file overwriting. If the process
receives two source files with the same name, the second output file may overwrite the first one.
This may be what you want, but otherwise you may consider using another variable, such as in
%u (unique 13-character string).
When choosing naming schemes for output files, consider the following:
l For the benefit of users who must identify files, be it in a folder or on a printer queue,
consider using names that are as meaningful and precise as possible.
l Some devices or applications may use file name extensions to know what to do with
incoming files.
Since variable properties can be entered in the boxes where you specify the folder and file
names, you can use variables, data selections and static text. You could, for example, use the
following: ClientID_@(1,1,1,1,14,KeepCase,Trim)_StatMonth_%m.
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One last consideration regarding output file names has to do with standard JPEG and TIFF files
Note
You can change the name of a previously named file using a Rename action task (see "Rename"
on page298).
generated by PlanetPress Image. When an output job contains multiple pages, multiple JPEG
or TIFF files are generated (one image per file), each one identified by a sequence number
appended to its name (this is managed by your PlanetPress Workflow). A three page job to be
called Invoice, for example, will generate three JPEGs or TIFFs called Invoice0, Invoice1 and
Invoice2. Note that this does not apply to multiple TIFFs, which can include multiple images in
a single file.
About Data Selections
A data selection could be compared to an address. It indicates a location within a data file
using coordinates. PlanetPress Workflow 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.
Data Selections
A data selection is simply a reference to a given location within the job file or metadata file,
using the current emulation. Data selections are always evaluated at run-time so they are
always dynamic and depend on the job file that is currently being processed. When you make a
data selection, the PlanetPress Workflow Configuration program converts it to text form, using
coordinates to reference the selected location.
There are three types of data selections you can use in PlanetPress Workflow. The available
type of data selection depends on which emulation you are using and whether or not you have
created Metadata.
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You can add data selections to variable properties of your tasks either automatically using the
Note
It is strongly recommended to use the automatic method, as it returns precisely the same
selections but is generally more reliable
data selector (See "The Data Selector" on page24) or manually by typing in the data selection.
Text-Based Data Selections
These selections are used for text data files such as Line Printer, ASCIIand Channel Skip
emulations. The selection refers to a rectangular selection that may contain multiple lines, rows,
columns on a given page.
Syntax
@(page number, from line, to line, from column, to column, case option, trim
option)
Here is a breakdown of the syntax (all options are mandatory):
l @():Always surrounds a data selection.
l Page Number:The data page number from which you want the data selection to grab the
data. If you want to get data from each page individually, this has to be done after a
splitter.
l From Line:The starting line of the data selection.
l To Line:the last line of the data selection.
l From Column:the leftmost character position of the data selection.
l To Column:the rightmost character position of the data selection.
l Case Options:This can be one of three options:
l
KeepCase:Keeps the current uppercase and lowercase letters as they are.
l
UpperCase:Converts all letters to their uppercase equivalent.
l
LowerCase:Converts all letters to their lowercase equivalent.
l Trim Option:Can either be "Trim"if you want to trim empty spaces before and after the
data selection or "NoTrim"if you want to retain the extra spaces.
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Alternate Syntax
@(line number, from column, to column)
The alternate "quick"syntax lets you grab data from a single line from the first data page in the
file. Here is a breakdown of the syntax (all options are mandatory):
l @():Always surrounds a data selection.
l Line Number: The line from which to get the data.
l From Column: the leftmost character position of the data selection.
l To Column: the rightmost character position of the data selection.
Database Data Selections
These selections are used for database-driven data files such as Database and
CSVemulations. The selection refers to a specific field on any given data page.
Syntax
field(record set number, child number, field name, treatment of character case,
treatment of empty trailing cells)
Here is a breakdown of the syntax (all options are mandatory):
l field():Always surrounds database field selections.
l Record Set Number: The data page (or "record") of the data selection.
l Child Number:Line Number in the record (if there are multiple lines returned for one
single record).
l Field Name: The name of the field you want to retrieve.
l Case Option: This can be one of three options:
l KeepCase:Keeps the current uppercase and lowercase letters as they are.
l UpperCase:Converts all letters to their uppercase equivalent.
l LowerCase:Converts all letters to their lowercase equivalent.
l Trim Option:Can either be "Trim"if you want to trim empty spaces before and after the
data selection or "NoTrim"if you want to retain the extra spaces.
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Data Repository Lookups
The Data Repository selections are made through the lookup function. Selections are done
from the data located in the "Data Repository Manager" on page613. The lookup function
returns the value of a single key, which is always a string.
Syntax
lookup(group, return key, lookup key, lookup value)
Here is a breakdown of the syntax (all arguments are mandatory):
l group:The name of the group in which to retrieve the value. Does not need to be
surrounded by quotes.
l return key:The name of the key where the information you want to retrieve is located.
Does not need to be surrounded by quotes.
l lookup key:The name of the key in the group with which to look up the value. The return
key of the KeySet in which the lookup key's value matches the lookup value will be
returned.
l lookup value: A string surrounded by quotes which will be used in the lookup.
PDF Data Selections
These selections are used for PDF data files. The selection refers to a specific area of any
given page of the PDF by using precise region coordinates (in inches).
Syntax
region(page, left, top, right, bottom, case option, trim option)
Here is a breakdown of the syntax (all options are mandatory):
l region():Always surrounds PDFdata selections.
l Page:The page of the PDFfrom which to retrieve the data.
l Left:Exact horizontal position (in inches)that defines the left of the selection region.
l Top:Exact vertical position (in inches)that defines the top of the selection region.
l Right:Exact horizontal position (in inches)that defines the right of the selection region.
l Bottom:Exact vertical position (in inches)that defines the bottom of the selection region.
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l Case Option: This can be one of three options:
l KeepCase:Keeps the current uppercase and lowercase letters as they are.
l UpperCase:Converts all letters to their uppercase equivalent.
l LowerCase:Converts all letters to their lowercase equivalent.
l Trim Option:Can either be "Trim"if you want to trim empty spaces before and after the
data selection or "NoTrim"if you want to retain the extra spaces.
Metadata Selections
These selections are used with any type of file, as long as a metadata file was created by a
previous task.
Syntax
GetMeta(Field Name [, Option Flags, Metadata Path])
Here is a breakdown of the syntax:
l GetMeta():Always surrounds metadata selections.
l Field/Attribute Name:specifies the name of the field (or attribute, if the GetAttribute
option flag is set) to retrieve.
l Option Flag (optional):Sets the options for the selection (see table below)
l Metadata Path (optional):Defines the precise path where the Metadata Field is located.
Option Flags
Name Value Behavior
GetAttribute 1 Search for the name argument in the attribute collection
instead of the default field collection.
NoCascade 2 Search only the level specified by the path argument
(defaults to Page level when path argument is empty),
instead of default behavior, going from the Page level to
the Job level.
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Name Value Behavior
FailIfNotFound 4 Raise an error and crash the job is the specified name is
not found instead of returning an empty string.
SelectedNodesOnly 8 Returns values from the selected nodes only.
The Data Selector
The Data Selector is the tool you use to choose your sample data and metadata files, to select
the appropriate emulation, make data selections, and to stabilize your data.
The Data Selector is divided in two tabs:Data and Metadata. The Data tab contains the Data
Options, which let you select your emulation, and the Selector Options, which lets you
personalize the data selector's display options (see Data Selector Display Preferences)
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Depending on the chosen emulation and data file, the options in the data selector, the Sample
data file section and the Data pane itself may change to accommodate your choice. The Line
Printer, Ascii, Channel Skip and User-Defined emulations will display the default options (see
the Emulation section)and a grid-like display of each character on each line. The following
emulations however, will be slightly different.
Database Emulation
l
The Database emulation changes the Browse button( ) for the Database Emulation
Configuration button ( ), which displays the Database Emulation Configuration (see
Database Emulation).
l
Once a database has been opened and query entered, the Data pane displays the results
of the SQLQuery in a grid format, which each line representing a single returned row from
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the database. Each column represents a field returned by the query, with its field name as
a row header.
XMLEmulation
l XMLdata is represented in a tree structure which corresponds to the data in the XMLfile.
Each node of the XMLcan be expanded to see the nodes under it. See XML Data
Emulations.
PDF Emulation
l
If you use a PDF emulation, the Data pane displays the data as you would see it in any
PDFreader.
l A new zoom drop-down list is displayed to let you set the zoom in percentage or fit the
PDFto the window or the width of the window.
l A new status bar, displaying the (Left, Top) and (Right, Bottom) coordinate pairs, is shown
under the Data pane.
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Metadata tab
The Metadata tab allows users to either generate the metadata file for their active sample data
file, or to associate an existing metadata file to their document.
The Sample Metadata file name is the path to the metadata file describing the current sample
data file. Buttons on the rightcan be usedto load metadata from a file or to save the current
metadata to a file.
The Generated PressTalk Expression is a PlanetPress Talk command corresponding to the
current attribute or field being selected. Its value is editable, which allows the user to customize
the string returned by the metadata selector.
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The Search options defines how to retrieve the value of a given metadata element (attribute or
field) when it is not present at the current metadata level. The possible search options are:
l Search from a specific location only.
l Search from level X to Job, where X can be any metadata level (Job, Group, Document,
Datapage, Page). With this search option, if the selected metadata element does not exist
at the specified level, then it will be searched for, starting at the lowest metadata level as
specified in the search option, then one level up until the element is found.
The Raise an error if the field does not exist option allows to control what to do when a given
metadata element is not found, regardless of the search option.
The Data page box lets the user choose which data page metadata elements to be displayed.
The Metadata level is a tree view allowing users to select the metadata level from which to
display or select metadata elements.
TheAttributes list displays all metadata attributes describing the current metadatalevel,as
selected in the Metadata Level tree view, for the current data page, as selected in theData
Page control.
The Production information list displays all metadata fields describing the current
metadatalevel,as selected in the Metadata Level tree view, for the current data page, as
selected in theData page box.
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 PlanetPress Workflow, the same emulation tools as PlanetPress Design are available
throughout your process, using the Data Selector. One notable exception however is that UserDefined Emulation is not available because it uses PlanetPress Talk code, which is not
available within PlanetPress Workflow Configuration Program.
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The emulation that is used in your process can change during the process, and can be different
Warning
PDFEmulation, also called Document Input, is only available in PlanetPress Workflow.
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 PlanetPress Workflow:
l Line Printer
l ASCII
l CSV
l Channel Skip
l Database
l XML
l PDF
For more information about each emulation and how to use them, please refer to PlanetPress
Design User Guide.
Using the File Viewer
The File Viewer is like a Data Selector without any data related options, such as emulation
settings. It is displayed when doing a data selection from the Generic Splitter task (see
"Generic Splitter" on page335) with the Use Emulation option unchecked. The only data
formatting codes to which the File Viewer responds are line breaks.
For more information on the selecting data, see "The Data Selector" on page24.
Sample Data
PlanetPress Workflow is a versatile tool that can capture various types of data files and
dispatch this data to various PlanetPress Design documents. To fully understand PlanetPress
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Workflow and how it treats data, you must understand how it is integrated into PlanetPress
Note
You can also use the PlanetPress Workflow Database action task to get data form a
database, and output in multiple different formats such as CSV. See "Database Query"
on page265.
Design.
This section covers issues relating to the sample data used to create your PlanetPress
Workflow configuration and to the actual data that PlanetPress Workflow will send to
PlanetPress Design documents. It is an important section which you should fully understand
before you start creating your configuration. Also included in this section are procedures that let
you make data selections as well as get data from the sample data file.
Since many of the concepts and explanations included in this chapter are closely related to
concepts and explanations found in the PlanetPress Design User Guide, we suggest that you
review this document, especially the Selecting an Emulation section.
Choosing a Database Type Sample Data File
The procedure for selecting a sample data file that is in fact a database is the same as doing so
in PlanetPress Design. For more information, please see the relevant page in the PlanetPress
Design User Guide.
Choosing a Sample Data File
In order to create your PlanetPress Workflow Process, the sample data you are going to use
has to correspond precisely to the job files that will be treated by that process, at least in terms
of structure.
The sample data file should have a relatively small number of pages (generally less than a
hundred)in order to be processed quickly, while your actual data may be much larger and take
more time to process. The sample data file should also contain at least one of every exception
you may want to detect, or data used for a specific condition. For example if you wanted to filter
out any data for clients in Canada, you would want to use a data file that has at least one user
from Canada, to test whether your condition removes it.
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