Xerox DesignPro Tools for AFP User Guide

DesignPro Tools

Visual PPFA

User Guide

Elixir Technologies Corporation
721 East Main Street
Ventura, CA 93003

Copyright ©2006 by Elixir Technologies Corporation.
All rights reserved.
DP200608V200

To report any errors you might find, please send a note to [e-mail]. Please note: emails
are used to correct future versions of this guide and may not receive an individual reply. For
technical support, please see "Customer Support" on page 18.

2 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction 11

Visual PPFA Overview........................................................................11

Understanding AFP format .................................................................12

Associated DesignPro Modules...........................................................13

About this User Guide .........................................................................13

Who Should Use this Guide?..................................................................... 15

Related Guides.............................................................................. .... ......... 15

Conventions.........................................................................................16

Typographic Conventions.......................................................................... 16

Symbolic Conventions............................................................................... 17

Getting the Answers You Need...........................................................18

Customer Support...................................................................................... 18

Elixir Web Site Support............................................................................. 19

Elixir Training ...........................................................................................19

Product Help.............................................................................................. 19

Chapter 2: Visual PPFA Environment 21

Starting Visual PPFA...........................................................................21

Exiting Visual PPFA.........................................................................................22

What’s in the Workspace?......................................................................... 22

Understanding Workspace Windows ........................................................ 23

Design Area......................................................................................................23

PageDef Tree.............................................................................................. ......25

FormDef Tree...................................................................................................27

Template ..........................................................................................................27

Messages Window............................................................................................28

Using Workspace Tools............................................................................. 28

Menu Bar and Toolbars ....................................................................................29

Status Bar................................................................................. .........................29

Grid...................................................................................................................29

Ruler .................................................................................................................29

Contents 1

Guidelines ........................................................................................................30

Crosshair ..........................................................................................................30

Navigating the Workspace ........................................................................ 30

Choosing Commands................................................................................. 31

Undoing and Repeating Commands.......................................................... 32

Chapter 3: Customizing Visual PPFA 33

About User Profiles.............................................................................33

Selecting a User Profile....................................................................................34

Changing the Application Default Options............................................... 35

Setting the Application Loading Defaults........................................................36

Applying the Display Settings .........................................................................37

Setting the Spell Checking Options.................................................................37

Setting the Filing Options................................................................................38

Setting the Clipboard Options..........................................................................39

Setting the Record and Field Display Options.................................................39

Setting the Border Colors and Line Styles.......................................................40

Selecting the Paper and Printer Options ..........................................................41

Setting the Sample Data Options.....................................................................42

Customizing the Sample Data Grid .................................................................43

Setting the Grid Options ..................................................................................44

Setting the Guidelines Options ........................................................................46

Setting the Ruler Options.................................................................................47

Setting the Symbols Properties........................................................................48

Setting the Message Preferences......................................................................48

Logging the Messages............................................... .......................................49

Viewing the Parser and Converter Properties..................................................50

Registering the New File Extensions...............................................................51

Changing the Document Default Options ................................................. 52

Applying the Document Identification Settings...............................................52

Setting the Document Guidelines ....................................................................53

Setting the Document Ruler Options...............................................................53

Customizing the Toolbars and Menus....................................................... 55

Customizing the Toolbar Display .................................................................... 56

Creating a New Toolbar................................. ..................................................57

Adding Buttons to the Toolbars and Menus.....................................................57

2 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Chapter 4: Preparing to Work 59

About IBM Print Services Facility ......................................................59

Preparing Resources ............................................................................61

Setting Elixir Resource Handling Properties............................................. 61

Setting up a Resource Searching Order................................... .........................63

Importing Resources to a Resource Library.....................................................64

Setting Page Caching Options..........................................................................65

Gathering Resources..................................................................................65

Copying Resources to Appropriate Directory..................................................66

Managing Resource Objects...................................................................... 67

Verifying Resources..........................................................................................68

Exporting Resources....................................................... ..................................68

Embedding Resources ......................................................................................69

Converting Form, Font, and Image Files to AFP Resources..................... 69

Elixir Resources versus AFP Resources...........................................................69

Changing File Formats.........................................................................70

Applying Application Format Settings...................................................... 70

Application Format Commands .......................................................................70

Applying Document Format Settings........................................................ 70

Document Format Commands..........................................................................71

Specifying File Format Settings................................................................ 71

Changing Input File Format Settings ...............................................................71

Changing Output File Format Settings.............................................................73

Elixir Parameter File (.EPM) .................................................................... 74

Loading File Format Settings ........................................................................74

Clearing File Format Settings ........................................................................74

Saving File Format Settings ...........................................................................75

Chapter 5: Designing Physical Pages 77

Working with Form Definitions ..........................................................77

Creating a FormDef...................................................................................79

Setting the FormDef Properties................................................................. 80

Setting a Unique FormDef Name.....................................................................81

Setting the Physical Page Offsets.....................................................................81

Setting the Duplex Printing Options.................................................................84

Designing Constant Forms...............................................................................85

Placing Multiple Logical Pages on a Sheet......................................................86

Selecting a Paper Source ..................................................................................87

Contents 3

Applying Finishing Operations........................................................................88

Setting Print Quality and Control Parameters..................................................91

Adding Comments ...........................................................................................92

Chapter 6: Working with FormDef Lists and Objects 95

About FormDef Lists...........................................................................95

Working with a Suppression List.............................................................. 95

Adding a Suppression List...............................................................................96

Adding Suppressions to a Suppression List.....................................................96

About FormDef Objects ......................................................................97

Working with CopyGroups ....................................................................... 98

Adding a CopyGroup....................................................................................... 98

Setting CopyGroup Properties.........................................................................99

Working with SubGroups........................................................................ 101

Adding a SubGroup .......................................................................................102

Setting SubGroup Properties..........................................................................102

Specifying the SubGroup Presentation Options....................................... ......103

Defining Suppressions for a Page.................................................................. 104

Working with Overlays ........................................................................... 105

Adding Overlays............................................................................................105

Setting Overlay Properties.............................................................................106

Setting Overlay Display Properties................................................................106

About NUP........................................................................................107

Selecting NUP Type................................................................................ 108

Working with Basic NUP........................................................................ 108

Setting Basic NUP Properties........................................................................108

Working with Enhanced NUP................................................................. 110

Setting Enhanced NUP Properties .................................................................110

Viewing Full Preview.............................................................................. 114

Chapter 7: Designing Logical Pages 115

About Page Definitions .....................................................................115

Creating a PageDef.................................................................................. 117

Setting PageDef Properties...................................................................... 118

Setting PageDef Name...................................................................................119

Setting up Page Numbers............................................................................... 119

Setting the Logical Page Margins..................................................................120

Specifying Print Configurations.....................................................................121

4 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Setting the Logical Page Dimensions.............................................................122

Setting the Print Direction..............................................................................123

Adding Comments..........................................................................................124

Chapter 8: Working with PageDef Lists 125

About PageDef Lists..........................................................................125

Working with a Font List.............................................................. ........... 125

Adding Fonts to a Font List..................................................................... 129

Adding a Windows Font.................................................................................129

Adding an External Font ................................................................................131

Adding a Coded Font to the Font List............................................................131

Adding a Font Pair............................................ ..............................................132

Replacing a Font.............................. ...............................................................132

Changing the Properties of a Windows font...................................................133

Managing the Font List............................................................................ 133

Customizing Columns .............................................................................134

Working with a Color List.......................................... .... ..... .................... 135

Adding a Color List..................................................... ...................................135

Adding Colors to a Color List........................................................................136

Selecting OCA Color......................................................................................137

Selecting RGB, CMYK or CIELAB Color....................................................137

Selecting Highlight Color ...............................................................................139

Working with an Object List................................................................... 139

Adding an Object List ....................................................................................140

Adding Objects to an Object List...................................................................140

Adding a Secondary Object ............................................................................142

Working with an Overlay List.................................................................143

Adding an Overlay List ..................................................................................143

Adding Overlays to an Overlay List...............................................................144

Working with a Segment List..................................................................145

Adding a Segment List...................................................................................145

Adding Segments to a Segment List .............................................................145

Working with a TRC Reference List.......................................................146

Adding a TRC Reference List........................................................................146

Adding TRC References a TRC Reference List.............................................147

Using a TRC Reference List...........................................................................148

Suppressing Fonts....................................................................................148

Suppressing Fonts Using AFPDS Property Settings ......................................148

Suppressing Fonts Using PPFA Property Settings.........................................149

Adding Lists from the Insert Toolbar...................................................... 150

Contents 5

Chapter 9: Working with PageDef Objects 151

About PageDef Object.......................................................................151

Working with PageFormat.................................................................152

Adding a PageFormat.............................................................................. 152

Setting PageFormat Properties................................................................ 154

Setting the Display Offset for a PageFormat.................................................155

Working with Records.......................................................................156

Adding a Record ...................................................................................... 156

Setting Record Properties........................................................................ 157

Setting Name and Display Options for a Record in Traditional PageDef .....157

Setting Name and Display Options for a Record in Record Format

PageDef...................................................................................................158

Setting Sample Text .......................................................................................160

Setting Record Position..................................................................................160

Setting Record Direction................................................................................162

Repeating a Record in Traditional PageFormat.............................................162

Setting Font....................................................................................................163

Setting Color..................................................................................................164

Adding Comments .........................................................................................164

Working with Fields..........................................................................164

Adding a Field......................................................................................... 164

Setting Field Properties ........................................................................... 165

Specifying the Name and Data Presentation Settings for a Field in

Traditional PageDef................................... .......................................... ...165

Specifying the Name and Data Presentation Settings for a Field in

Record Format PageDef..........................................................................167

Setting Field Position.....................................................................................167

Working with the Barcode Field .......................................................168

Adding a Barcode Field ........................................................................... 168

Setting Barcode Field Properties............................................................. 169

Specifying the Name and Data Mapping Options for a Barcode Field ......... 169

Setting the Standard Barcode Options...........................................................170

Setting Special Properties for a 2DMATRIX Barcode..................................171

Setting Special Properties for a 2DMAXI Barcode.......................................173

Setting Special Properties for a 2DPDF417 Barcode ....................................174

Specifying the Text ........................................................................................175

Working with Conditions ..................................................................175

Adding a Condition ................................................................................. 175

Setting Condition Properties.................................................................... 176

Setting General Properties for Conditions.....................................................176

6 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Switching Pages Using Conditional Logic Statements ..................................177

Working with Floating Overlays .......................................................180

Adding a Floating Overlay.................................................................... ..180

Setting Floating Overlay Properties ........................................................ 181

Setting General Properties for Floating Overlay............................................181

Setting the Position of the Floating Overlay ..................................................182

Setting Rotation of the Floating Overlay........................................................182

Setting Offsets for the Floating Overlay.........................................................182

Merging Variable Data with a Floating Overlay............................................183

Positioning an Overlay Relative to a Record .................................................183

Loading an Overlay as a Template.......................................................... 184

Adding a Template Overlay............................................................................184

Working with Floating Segments......................................................185

Adding a Floating Segment........................................ .... ..... .................... 186

Working with External Objects .........................................................187

Adding an Object.......................................... ..... .... .................................. 187

Setting Object Properties.........................................................................187

Setting Object Position...................................................................................189

Setting Object Content Position .....................................................................189

Working with End Subpage...............................................................189

Adding an End SubPage..........................................................................189

Chapter 10: Working with DrawGraphic 191

About DrawGraphic...........................................................................191

Adding a DrawGraphic Object................................................................ 192

Setting DrawGraphic Object Properties..................................................193

Setting Object Name and Graphic ID.............................................................193

Setting Object Position...................................................................................194

Setting the Dimensions for Line and Box Objects.........................................195

Setting Object Style options...........................................................................196

Setting the Copy options ................................................................................197

Setting Object Color.......................................................................................198

Setting the Fill options for a DrawGraphic object..........................................198

Setting the Radius for a Drawgraphic Circle..................................................199

Setting the Axis for a Drawgraphic Ellipse....................................................199

About EndGraphic.............................................................................200

Adding an EndGraphic Object ................................................................ 201

Setting EndGraphic Object Properties..................................................... 201

Setting EndGraphic Name and Graph ID.......................................................202

Contents 7

Chapter 11: Performing Standard Operations on Visual

PPFA Objects 205

Opening FormDefs and PageDefs.....................................................205

Opening a Recently Used FormDef or PageDef ..................................... 205

Opening an Elixir FormDef or PageDef.................................................. 207

Opening PPFA Source or AFP Object FormDef or PageDef.................. 208

Opening a Legacy Document.................................................................. 209

Editing FormDefs and PageDefs.......................................................210

Copying Objects...................................................................................... 211

Deleting Objects...................................................................................... 211

Moving Objects....................................................................................... 212

Saving FormDefs and PageDefs........................................................212

Saving a FormDef or PageDef to Elixir Format...................................... 213

Saving a FormDef or PageDef to AFP Object or PPFA Source Format. 214

Chapter 12: Working with Overlays 217

Working with Overlays in Visual PPFA ...........................................217

Using Overlays in FormDef .................................................................... 218

Using Overlays in PageDef.................................................................. ... 219

Using Overlays as Templates............................................. .... ................. 219

Editing Overlays using Design Tools...................................................... 220

Chapter 13: Working in Project Mode 225

About Project Mode...........................................................................225

Viewing Document Design in Project Mode........................................... 225

Adding PageDef or FormDef in Project Mode........................................ 227

Loading a FormDef or PageDef in Project Mode..........................................228

Removing FormDef or PageDef from the Project Mode...............................228

Chapter 14: Working with Data 229

Data Formats for Traditional and Record Format PageDefs.............229

Data File Formats ..............................................................................229

Traditional Line Data .............................................................................. 230

Record Format Line Data........................................................................ 231

Data Encoding Formats.....................................................................231

ASCII....................................................................................................... 231

EBCDIC .................................................................................................. 232

Mixed-Mode Data ................................................................................... 232

8 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Working with Sample Data................................................................233

Loading/Unloading a Sample Data File .................................................. 233

Setting Data File Properties............................................................................234

Data Mapping.......................................................................................... 236

Mapping Records........................................ ........................................... .........237

Mapping Fields...................................... .........................................................237

Mapping Barcodes........................ ..................................................................238

Chapter 15: Proofing Designs 239

About Data Proofing..........................................................................239

Preparing for Data Proofing .................................................................... 239

Setting Data Proofing Properties............................................................. 240

Setting the Data File and Associated Properties.............................................240

Specifying Font Settings.................................................................................242

Running Proofing .................................................................................... 243

Previewing and Printing the Design Area Contents................................244

Appendix A: Workspace Glossary 247

Menu bar............................................................................................247

File Menu...................................... ........................................... .......................248

Edit Menu.......................................................................................................248

View Menu.....................................................................................................249

Insert Menu............................................................................................... ......251

Project Menu ..................................................................................................252

Tools Menu.....................................................................................................252

Window Menu................................................................................................254

Help Menu......................................................................................................254

Toolbars.............................................................................................255

Standard Toolbar.............................................................................................255

View Toolbar..................................................................................................256

Position & Dimension Toolbar.......................................................................257

Common Attributes Toolbar...........................................................................258

Filter Toolbar..................................................................................................259

Project Toolbar ...............................................................................................260

Insert Toolbar....................................................... ... ........................................261

Form Design Tools ............................................................................262

Select Toolbar.................................................................................................264

Line Toolbar ...................................................................................................264

Box Toolbar....................................................................................................265

Ellipse Toolbar................................................................................................266

Contents 9

Path Toolbar...................................................................................................267

Text Attributes Toolbar............................................. .....................................268

Image Toolbar ................................................................................................269

Barcode Toolbar.............................................................................................270

Active Button Toolbar....................................................................................270

Keyboard Shortcuts ...........................................................................271

T ext Editing Keyboard Shortcuts...................................................................271

Numeric Display Box Keyboard Shortcuts....................................................272

Zoom/Pan Control Keyboard Shortcuts.........................................................273

Appendix B: Glossary 275

Index 283

10 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Chapter 1:

Introduction

This guide provides both background and procedural information for using DesignPro
Tools Visual PPFA. Because business requirements and user preferences can vary for
each company, the material contained herein should be viewed as a general guide only.

As you step through the material, please remember that your specific business needs will
govern selection of the options and preferences described. Similarly, certain selections
will require that some tasks be repeated, while other selections will allow you to omit
tasks entirely.

Visual PPFA Overview

DesignPro Visual PPFA provides an easy-to-use visual interface for creating and editing
PageDefs and FormDefs. You can also modify the overlays that are part of the design
using the embedded Form Editor module. DesignPro Visual PPFA facilitates the AFP
print job process by providing the following set of features:

 Creates applications in a user-friendly environment, without the need for hard coding

or having complete knowledge of PPFA commands, which allows you to focus on
the application design.

 Provides a visual design environment allowing overlay insertion for ease of data

placement on single or multiple logical pages. It also enables you to set the print
direction, color, and font of individual data fields and records.

 Supports traditional, as well as record format PageDefs.
 Provides support for quick design through a sample data file using drag-and-drop

data placement or input of coordinates.

 Provides a WYSIWYG display for AFP proofing using samples of EBCDIC, ASCII,

or Mixed-mode print data in the Elixir Viewer.

 Enables setting page dimensions, print direction, font types, font rotation, and text

line spacing. Also facilitates you to place page segments for inclusion in the final
printed output.

11

 Provides support for printing multiple pages on a single sheet of paper (Multiple-Up

and NUP) using sub pages.

 Supports conditional processing to enable different data on different pages based on

variable data triggers.

 Provides design support for duplex printing.
 Provides design support for basic and enhanced NUP printing, enabling you to place

up to four pages on a single sheet of paper in simplex mode, and eight in duplex
mode.

 Enables you to position the logical page exactly on the physical sheet, and also

provides the inclusion of overlays that substitute for the preprinted forms.

 Provides import and export capabilities for PageDefs and FormDefs in industry

standard formats.

 Provides a real time display of the generated PPFA source.
 Provides design support for the required number of copies for any page of data. Also

supports quality selection and post-processing controls such as perforation, cutting,
etc.

With the help of these features you can get simplified procedures for generating and
modifying PageDefs and FormDefs for document production.

Understanding AFP format

A job is a print operation that merges variable data with fixed resources to produce a print
run. The most common way to produce a print run is to use IBM’s Advanced Function
Presentation (AFP) printers and the Print Services Facility (PSF) subsystem. Using this
configuration, you can define and run a job as follows:

 Create a FormDef source using Page Printer Formatting Aid (PPFA) form-definition

commands to specify how the printer will handle the physical sheets of the paper.

 Create a PageDef source using PPFA page-definition commands to specify how you

want to position the data on the logical page.

 Compile the above definitions on a host computer to produce FormDef and PageDef

object files.

 Run the job, specifying the data file and the required resources (e.g., fonts, static

overlays, page segments, etc.) that need to be printed.

12 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Generating source FormDef and PageDefs is a lengthy and costly process, requiring
highly skilled data processing personnel or system programmers. In-depth knowledge of
PPFA and print data streaming, as well as a trial-and-error method for calculating data
print positions on forms, are therefore required.

Associated DesignPro Modules

DesignPro Tools for AFP employs five integrated modules to provide advanced
functionality for designing forms.

Following are the DesignPro Tools for AFP modules:

 DesignPro Manager – a Windows-based desktop program for launching and

managing applications. You can also convert resource files to and from multiple
formats using the Converters application in the DesignPro Manager.

 DesignPro Form Editor – an advanced forms design tool used to create and edit

forms for AFP printers.

 DesignPro Visual PPFA – a combined form editing and application building tool

for creating IBM PPFA PageDefs and FormDefs.

 DesignPro Font Editor – a complete font design application used for creating and

editing AFP raster fonts as well as elixir and PCL fonts. Y ou can also open true type
fonts in this editor.

 DesignPro Graphics Editor – a full service bitmap editor providing various

transformations and commands for tiling graphics into raster fonts.

About this User Guide

The DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide provides definitions and step-by-step
instructions to help you design variable-data documents. DesignPro Visual PPFA is used
for visually creating physical and logical pages that make up a PPFA document. You can
also edit existing PPFA source documents.

The guide is organized to mimic the entire document creation process. It explains the
concepts and procedures involved in designing the variable data document. DesignPro
Visual PPFA User Guide is organized as follows:

Chapter 1: Introduction, provides an overview on the DesignPro Visual PPFA
functions, and identifies resources for getting the technical support you need.

Chapter 2: Visual PPFA Environment, describes the Visual PPFA operating
environment, including the workspace and application start and exit procedures.

Chapter 1: Introduction 13

Chapter 3: Customizing Visual PPFA, provides information on selecting profiles,
specifying application and document default settings, and customizing workspace menu
bar and toolbars for Visual PPFA.

Chapter 4: Preparing to Work, provides information about assembling, managing, and
converting resources required by Visual PPFA, and specifying file format settings.

Chapter 5: Designing Physical Pages, explains the basics, creation and setting of
FormDefs. FormDef is short for Form Definition. Both of these te rm s will be used
interchangeably throughout this guide.

Chapter 6: Working with FormDef Lists and Objects, describes the FormDef objects,
lists and associated overlays, including their creation, modification, and property
definition. It also provides detail on the basic and enhanced NUP.

Chapter 7: Designing Logical Pages, explains the basics, creation and settings of
PageDefs. A PageDef is a short for page definition, and both of these terms can be used
interchangeably.

Chapter 8: Working with PageDef Lists, describes the resource lists used in designing a
PageDef, and provides information on adding, maintaining and deleting these lists.

Chapter 9: Working with PageDef Objects, describes the procedures to work with
PageDef objects such as page formats, records, fields and barcode fields, conditions,
floating overlay, floating segments, external objects, and end subPages.

Chapter 10: Working with DrawGraphic, describes procedures to add drawGraphic
and endGraphic objects to your design, and set their properties. DesignPro Visual PPFA
enables you to use graphic objects relative to the variable data while designing your
PageDef. These objects, which can be added to a logical page, are referred to as
drawGraphic objects in PPFA.

Chapter 11: Performing Standard Operations on Visual PPFA Objects, describes
procedures to perform standard operations on various Visual PPFA objects, such as
copying, deleting and moving objects as well as opening and saving them in various
formats.

Chapter 12: Working with Overlays, describes how to work with an overlay in
PageDef and FormDef, and the procedure to use it as a template. It also provides
information on using the Visual PPFA form design tools for editing the overlays.

Chapter 13: Working in Project Mode, describes how to work with documents in
Visual PPFA Project Mode.

14 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Chapter 14: Working with Data, provides information about data file and data encoding
formats, and describes procedure to work with sample data.

Chapter 15: Proofing Designs, provides information about proofing designs, and
previewing as well as printing the contents of the design area.

Appendix A: Workspace Glossary, provides information on DesignPro Visual PPFA
workspace environment menu bars, toolbars, and keyboard shortcuts.

Appendix B: Glossary, provides product-specific or unique terms and abbreviations used
in the DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide.

Who Should Use this Guide?

This guide assumes you are already familiar with Microsoft Windows operations, printer
and font management operations and PC peripherals. You should also have access to
reference manuals for PC software and hardware, including any printers you are using for
the design and print process.

Related Guides

If you require further information about a specific topic or wish to obtain product
background information, reference the following resources, all of which are part of the
DesignPro Tools for AFP documentation package.

 DesignPro Tools for AFP Getting Started Guide.
 DesignPro Manager for AFP User Guide.
 DesignPro Form Editor for AFP User Guide.
 DesignPro Font Editor for AFP User Guide.
 DesignPro Graphics Editor for AFP User Guide.

Chapter 1: Introduction 15

Conventions

Elixir products adhere to Microsoft Windows conventions for using menus, menu
commands, dialogs, command buttons, icons and mouse. See your Windows manual for
more information.

This guide uses the following typographic and symbolic conventions to identify special
information.

Typographic Conventions

This guide uses the following typographic conventions to identify special information.

Convention Information Type/Example

< > (angle brackets),
<Shift> + <F1>.

Bold type

Keystrokes
Example: <Enter>
Key combinations are denoted by a plus sign between keys.
Example: <Shift> + <F1>.

 Field names within an explanation.

Example: Use rules set by selected Start on option.

 Dialog areas referenced in tasks.

Example: Select an item from the List of used Fonts. Click the
Options tab.

 Tool names referenced in dialogs/windows.

Example: Make sure the Text tool is selected.

 Button names with text written on them.

Example: Click OK to save settings.

 Any text that you must type.

Example: Enter LPT1 for the following option.

16 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Convention Information Type/Example

Italic type  References to other guides.

Example: For more information, see “Chapter 6: File Format
Dictionary” in DesignPro Manager for AFP User Guide.

 References to other chapters.

Example: For more information, see "Managing Images" on page
25 in Chapter 3: "Graphics Editor Basics"

 Toolbar names.

Example: Click any tool on the Drawing toolbar.

 Window names.

Example: Message window displays.

 File paths and directories.

Example: drive:\Elixir\Fonts\Elixir.

 Captions.

Quotation marks

 References to tasks, activities, or concepts.

Example: For more information, see “Using Colors” in Chapter 5:
“Editing Images”.

Symbolic Conventions

Look for the following symbols as you read through this guide to identify special
information.

The Note symbol calls your attention to additional information.

The Tip symbol highlights a helpful tip.

The Shortcut symbol calls your attention to an easier way of accomplishing a
task.

Chapter 1: Introduction 17

The War ning symbol warns you of problems you might encounter.

Getting the Answers You Need

Elixir Technologies provides you with multiple ways to learn and use Opus:

 "Customer Support" on page 18
 "Elixir Web Site Support" on page 19
 "Elixir Training" on page 19
 "Product Help" on page 19

Customer Support

If you purchased this product directly from Elixir Technologies, you can contact the
Customer Support Center for your region at the number listed below.

North and South America:

 [phone] ext. 3

Monday - Friday, 7:00 am to 4:00 pm Pacific Standard Time; if closed, press 2 to
reach Elixir’s extended Support coverage.

 [e-mail]

Asia Pacific:

 [e-mail]

Europe:

 [phone]

Monday - Friday, 6:00 am to 4:00 pm Central European Time

 [phone] ext. 3

Monday - Friday, 4:00 pm to 2:00 am Central European Time

 [e-mail]

An Elixir Product Specialist will take your call and ask for the following information:

 Your name, organization, telephone number and address.

18 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

 Elixir product name and version number.
 A complete description of the problem, including any error messages printed or

displayed on your monitor.

Elixir Web Site Support

You can obtain product support from the Elixir web page at www.elixir.com.
Select Support to:

 Ask a question of Elixir Support.
 Find answers from a list of Frequently Asked Questions.
 Review the latest Tips and Techniques for increasing productivity.
 Download the latest Product Releases and Patches.
 View the latest product Release Notes.
 Access newsgroups to see how others are using Elixir products.
 Sign up for an Elixir Learning Program.

Elixir Training

Elixir Technologies offers training for its full-range of Windows-based products. For
more information, contact:

Elixir Learning

[phone], ext. 4

Product Help

Elixir software uses the Microsoft Windows Help program to provide online help for all
product functions.

This online tool includes step-by-step procedures that you can follow as you work.

 Context-Sensitive Help can be activated from within the software for dialogs by

clicking in the upper-right corner of a dialog. You can also get this information by
right-clicking the control and selecting What’s This? from pop-up menu or selecting
a dialog control such as an input field, radio button, or drop-down list, and then
pressing Shift + F1.

 Online Help can be opened by selecting Help>Contents from the menu.

Chapter 1: Introduction 19

20 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Chapter 2:

Visual PPFA
Environment

In this chapter...

 Starting Visual PPFA

 What’s in the Workspace?

 Understanding Workspace Windows

 Using Workspace Tools

 Navigating the Workspace

 Choosing Commands

This chapter describes the Visual PPFA operating environment, including the workspace
and application start and exit procedures.

Starting Visual PPFA

To start a session, click Start on the Windows taskbar, and choose Programs>Elixir
Applications>DesignPro Tools>DesignPro Visual PPFA.

21

The DesignPro Visual PPFA application window launches.

Exiting Visual PPFA

To end a session, do one of the following:

 Press <Alt> + <F4>.
 From the menu bar, select File>Exit.

 Click at the top right corner of the application window.

What’s in the Workspace?

When you start working on the Visual PPFA, the workspace and all of the associated
components display. The workspace is where application objects are created and
maintained. The following illustration identifies each part of the Visual PPFA workspace:

22 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

The Visual PPFA workspace.

Understanding Workspace Windows

The workspace contains the following windows:

 Design area
 PageDef tree window
 FormDef tree window
 Template tree window
 Messages window

Design Area

The design area provides a visual representation of the active application. You can use the
design area to create drawing objects, and map tree objects and data to the application.
The design area can be vertically and horizontally scrolled.

Chapter 2: Visual PPFA Environment 23

The design area displaying mapped objects.

The design area includes the following tabs:

Front Side

Displays the front side of the logical or physical page of the active application for review
and/or design.

Back Side

This tab only displays when a FormDef is loaded in the design area and represents the
backside of the physical page for review and/or design. The Backside tab is disabled in
the simplex mode.

The design created in the design area translates to the PPFA source code at run time, and
can be viewed using the PageDef Source and FormDef Source tabs.

PageDef Source tab

This tab is visible only when a PageDef is loaded in the design area. It displays the PPFA
source code generated against the PageDef tree objects.

FormDef Source tab

The FormDef Source tab is visible only when a FormDef is loaded in the design area. It
displays the PPFA source code generated against the FormDef tree objects.

24 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

The PPFA source view displaying the PageDef source.

PageDef Tree

The PageDef Tree window is located at the left side of the design area, and provides a
hierarchical representation of the PageDef PPFA objects that are part of the application.

The PageDef Tree displaying the default nodes.

New PageDef

The New PageDef node serves as the root node of the PageDef tree (located in the
PageDef Tree window), and defines the general template for the logical page of the active
application. A PageDef can contain multiple logical pages or layout formats. Right­clicking this node and selecting the Properties option displays the Properties – PageDef
dialog enabling you to set or change the logical page properties.

Chapter 2: Visual PPFA Environment 25

Font List

The Font List node acts as a repository for fonts defined for the active application. Right­clicking this node and selecting the Properties option displays the Properties – Font List
dialog enabling you to add or delete fonts.

New PageFormat

The New PageFormat node defines the layout format for a single logical page in a design.
You can place the conditional logic, records, and fields in a logical page. Right-clicking
the New PageFormat node and selecting Properties displays the Properties – Page
Format dialog enabling you to set or change the page format properties.

NewRecord

The NewRecord node represents variable data and can contain single or multiple field
objects. Right-clicking this node and selecting the Properties optiondisplays the
Properties – Record dialog enabling you to set or change record object properties.

The above-mentioned object nodes are added with the PageDef Tree, by default, and are
the minimum requirement for any PageDef object. Other object nodes that can be added to
a PageDef include the following:

 Field
 Barcode Field
 Condition
 Floating Segment
 Floating Overlay
 Object
 End SubPage
 DrawGraphic Line
 DrawGraphic Box
 DrawGraphic Ellipse
 DrawGraphic Circle
 EndGraphic
 Color List
 Object List
 Overlay List
 Segment List
 TRC Reference List

26 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

FormDef Tree

The FormDef Tree window is visible at the immediate left pane of the design area. It
provides a hierarchical representation of the FormDef PPFA objects that are part of the
current application. The FormDef Tree is displayed as a tabbed page when loaded with a
PageDef in the application.

The FormDef Tree displaying the default nodes.

New FormDef

The New FormDef node serves as the FormDef tree root node, and defines the general
template for the physical page of the active application. Right-clicking this node enables
you to set or change the physical page properties.

New CopyGroup

The New CopyGroup node defines one set of characteristics for the physical page. Right­clicking this node enables you to set or change the CopyGroup object properties.

New SubGroup

The New SubGroup node defines a single set of characteristics for one side of the
physical sheet. Right-clicking this node enables you to set or change the SubGroup object
properties.

The above-mentioned object nodes are added with the FormDef tree, by default, and are
the minimum requirements for any FormDef object. Other object nodes that can be added
to a FormDef include the following:

 Overlay
 Suppression list

Template

The Template window is located below the PageDef Tree window , and serves as a
placeholder for the added template overlays. Although the template overlays are not a part
of the design, they help in the design of the logical page by enabling accurate data
placement. The Template window is only available with PageDef documents.

Chapter 2: Visual PPFA Environment 27

The default Template window with the Template Overlays node.

Messages Window

The Messages window is located at the bottom of the workspace. This window displays
processing and compilation errors, warnings, and informational messages generated by
the application in red, blue, and black text. You can clear the displayed messages by
pressing <Ctrl >+ <D> on the keyboard. In order to facilitate more working space, you can
close the Messages window by selecting View>Messages from the menu bar, or by

clicking at the top of the Messages window. However , the window will automatically
redisplay whenever a message is generated by the application.

The Messages window displaying an informational message.

You can customize the position and size of the windows according to your requirements.
When required, you can also float, dock, or hide the workspace windows.

Using Workspace Tools

Visual PPFA toolbars provide quick access to the most commonly used application
commands. You can perform standard Windows operations to hide, display, or dock a
toolbar in the workspace. For detailed information, refer to "Customizing Visual PPFA"
on page 33 and "Workspace Glossary" on page 247.

28 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Menu Bar and Toolbars

A menu bar with drop-down menu options is located directly below the application title
bar. These menu options provide both the standard MS-Windows, as well as application­specific options. Selecting a menu item performs an associated action or displays a
submenu or dialog.

The toolbars are located immediately below the menu bar . They contain buttons that
provide access to the most commonly used commands and tools. You can hide or display
toolbars by selecting View>Toolbars >Required toolbar from the menu bar.

Status Bar

The status bar is located along the lower edge of the design area. When you move the
mouse pointer over the design area, the status bar displays the coordinates of the mouse
pointer with respect to the design area.

Status bar displaying the coordinates of the mouse pointer.

When an object is being drawn, or you move the mouse pointer over an object in the
design area, the status bar displays the type, width, and height of the object, font used for
the object, and the coordinates of the mouse pointer. The coordinates help you draw
objects within the design area. Moreover, the status bar displays the tool tip when the
mouse pointer is placed over an icon in the design area.

Status bar displays the object type, height, and width.

Grid

You can activate the Grid by clicking on the View toolbar, by selecting View> Grid
from the menu bar, or by pressing <F4> on the keyboard. The Grid tool enables you to
position and align objects accurately in the design area.

Ruler

You can activate the Ruler by clicking on the View toolbar, by selecting View> Ruler
from the menu bar, or by pressing <F2> on the keyboard. The Ruler tool aids accurate
object placement in the design area.

Chapter 2: Visual PPFA Environment 29

Guidelines

You can activate the Guidelines by clicking on the View toolbar, by selecting
View>Guidelines from the menu bar, or by pressing <F6> on the keyboard. The
Guidelines tool helps align multiple objects in the design area.

Crosshair

You can activate the Crosshair by clicking on the View toolbar, by selecting
View>Long Crosshair from the menu bar, or by pressing <F8> on the keyboard. The
Crosshair tool enables you to visually align objects in the design area.

Visual PPFA design area displaying the Grid, Ruler, Guidelines, and Crosshair tools.

Navigating the Workspace

The workspace components are organized according to function and use. You can
navigate to any workspace component by a simple mouse click.

 To use the menu bar:

Select appropriate menu, then select the required option from the drop-down list.

30 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

 To show the toolbar:

Select View>Toolbars>toolbar name. Selection is indicated by a check mark next to
the toolbar name.

 To use the toolbar:

Click the button on the toolbar corresponding to the required option.

 To use the pop-up menu:

Place cursor on the required object in any of the workspace windows, right-click the
mouse and select the required option. The pop-up menu only lists commands
pertaining to the current selection.

Choosing Commands

A command instructs Visual PPFA to perform a specific action. You can choose a
command by either:

 Clicking a toolbar button.
 Selecting a menu option.
 Using the pop-up menu.
 Using a shortcut key.

In the following chapters, command selection is described using the most commonly used
approach for any task. However, any corresponding command selection can be used to
accomplish the same instruction.

Chapter 2: Visual PPFA Environment 31

Undoing and Repeating Commands

Visual PPFA keeps track of your editing and formatting changes. You can undo or redo
any number of command selections.

The Standard toolbar.

32 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Chapter 3:

Customizing Visual
PPFA

In this chapter...

 Selecting a User Profile

 Changing the Application Default Options

 Changing the Document Default Options

 Customizing the Toolbars and Menus

This chapter provides information about selecting profiles, specifying application and
document default settings, and customizing workspace menu bar and toolbars for Visual
PPFA.

About User Profiles

You can customize Visual PPFA to fulfill the requirements of your specific working
environment by creating and maintaining unique user profiles. A profile is a system file
that stores important file locations and other related information for Elixi r appl ications.
When an Elixir application is installed, a default profile is created and stored in the
SystemData.ini file, based on the information provided during installation. This file
establishes the basic operating environment for the specific application, and is located at

drive:\Documents and Settings\current user\Application Data\Elixir
Technologies\Profiles. This default profile is created and loaded automatically when an

Elixir application is launched for the first time.
You can also create custom profiles using the Profile Editor, which can be launched by

selecting Tools>Profile Editor from the Visual PPFA application window. These custom
profiles can be subsequently selected using the Tools>Profile Selection command.
Custom profiles selected for various DesignPro modules need to be specified separately.
A profile selected for one module does not apply to other modules and sessions.

33

Selecting a User Profile

To select a profile and view its contents, select Tools>Profile Selection to display the
Profile Selection dialog.

As appropriate, review the following:

Current Profile

 Profile name – lists the available user profiles.
 INI file path – displays the complete path of the .INI file containing the selected

profile.

 Description – displays a brief narrative describing the selected profile.

Pre-defined Symbols

 Symbols – displays a list of the pre-defined symbols that identify various application

objects.

 Symbol value – displays the default path of the pre-defined symbols that are

required by the current profile. This path specifies the location of the application
object(s).

To select a user profile other than those listed in the Profile name, click New to display
the Register New Profile dialog. Review the following dialog options:

 Profile name – enter a unique name identifying the new user profile.
 Profile INI file path – enter a unique profile name and file path in this text box. You

can also click to display the Open Profile Configuration File dialog for
selecting the required .INI file.

 Description – enter a brief narrative describing the new profile.

If the current user ID differs from the ID that you initially used to install the
DesignPro Tools application, you can select a profile in the Profile Selection dialog.
The dialog displays when any DesignPro module is launched for the first time, and
prompts you to select a profile before using any DesignPro Tools module.

34 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Changing the Application Default Options

Visual PPFA facilitates you to customize your work, in terms of controlling the operation
and appearance of the application environment in order to meet your business needs. You
can use the Options dialog to review, enter, and change the default settings.

The Options dialog provides twelve category settings at the application level. You can
choose to set your preferences from the various categories that are available in the dialog.
These settings are applied the next time you open a document and remain in effect until
they are changed.

Use the following steps to view and set preferences for the listed categories:

1 Select Tools>Options from the menu bar to display the Options dialog.

The Options dialog displaying the General Category options.

2 Select the required category from the Category list.
3 Specify the required settings. For details on your required settings, refer to the

relevant section below.

4 Click Apply and OK to save the settings.

Chapter 3: Customizing Visual PPFA 35

Setting the Application Loading Defaults

Loading defaults specify the application behavior at startup time. You can set display
preferences for the message and property dialogs by using them. Loading defaults include
the settings for object color, shade handling, and input setup file. The General category
facilitates you to customize the application loading defaults.

To set the application loading defaults, review the following dialog options:

Preferences

 Substitute shades with solid color – replaces the object shades with a solid color.

(1) Substitute shades with solid color option enabled. (2) Substitute shades with solid
color option disabled.

 Load last input setup file at startup – uses the setup file that was used (loaded/

saved) in the last application session for the next application startup. A setup file
(.EPM) stores the input and output property settings for the different file formats.
These settings facilitate the handling of user selected file format options during file
conversion. For detailed information on setup files, refer to the DesignPro Manager

for AFP User Guide.

 Send all messages to window – displays all error, warning, and informational

messages in the Messages window. If this option is unchecked, all of the generated
messages display individually in the form of respective message boxes.

(1) Messages sent to the Messages window. (2) Messages displayed separately in
their respective Message boxes.

36 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

 Show page properties – displays the Properties dialog for the selected object, by

default, when creating a new document. This facilitates rapid document designing.

 Workbook Mode – displays a tabbed view of the workspace, which enables you to

switch between multiple open documents.

Applying the Display Settings

The display settings include options for customizing object specific property dialogs. The
General category facilitates you to customize the display settings. To set the display
settings, review the following dialog options:

Property Dialog Mode

 Modal – sets the selected object Properties dialogs to modal, which prevents you

from switching to another application area, unless you close the dialog.

 Modeless – sets the selected object Properties dialogs to modeless, which enables

you to switch to other application areas even if the dialog is active.

 Modeless without buttons – sets the selected object Properties dialogs to modeless

without buttons, where you can switch to other application areas even if the dialog is
active. Changes specified in this dialog are immediately applied to the selected
object.

Setting the Spell Checking Options

You can specify the spell checker options in the Editor category. To perform the spell
checking function, review the following dialog options:

Spell Checking

 Spellcheck typing – activates the spell checker.
 Spell Options – displays a nested Options dialog for setting the spell checker

properties. The Options dialog displays only when a document is loaded in the
design area.

Specify the following in the Options dialog:

 Ignore capitalized words – ignores any word that begins with a capital letter (e.g.,

Elixir) while performing the spell check.

 Ignore all-caps words – ignores any word that contains all capital letters (e.g.,

PPFA) while performing the spell check.

 Ignore words with numbers – ignores any word that contains numbers (e.g.,

Barcode2of5) while performing the spell check.

Chapter 3: Customizing Visual PPFA 37

 Ignore words with mixed case – ignores any word that contains both upper and

lower case letters (e.g., PageD ef) while spell checking.

 Ignore domain names – ignores the URLs (Uniform Resource Locator, e.g.,

www.xyz.com) while performing the spell check.

 Report doubled words – reports instances of words appearing twice in a row (e.g.,

account number number) while performing the spell check.

 Case sensitive – performs case-sensitive spell check; this option is selected by

default.

 Phonetic suggestions – displays phonetic suggestions for misspelled words while

performing the spell check.

 Typographical suggestions – displays typographical suggestions for misspelled

words while performing the spell check.

 Suggest split words – displays split-word suggestions as a replacement for

misspelled words containing two joined words.

 Auto correct – performs the automatic correction of commonly misspelled words

while performing spell check.

 Main Dictionary language – specifies the primary dictionary language on the basis

of which the spell checker works.

Suggestions

 Fast but less accurate – performs fast but less accurate checking.
 Moderately fast and accurate – performs moderately fast and accurate checking.
 Slow but accurate – performs slow but very accurate checking.

Setting the Filing Options

The automation options for creating backup files and saving work at specified intervals
can be specified using the Editor category . To set the filing and auto save features, review
the following dialog options:

Filing Options

 Make backup files – creates the backup (.bak) of the file. Every time you save the

file, the file as well as its backup is stored at the same location. The backup files
enable data recovery if the original file gets corrupted.

 Autosave – enables the auto-save feature that automatically saves the file after the

specified time interval. On selecting this option the Interval box is enabled, where
you can specify your required interval in minutes.

38 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

 Allow all files in file selectors – displays all file formats specified in the file selector

feature for the Open and Save dialogs.

Setting the Clipboard Options

You can specify the cut and paste operations for the workspace in the Editor category.
Paste options enable you to preserve RTF formatting at the time of pasting, and places
data at the required location with a mouse click.

T o set the clipboard and object selection properties, review the following dialog options:

Clipboard

 Paste Rtf – preserves Rich Text Formatting (RTF) while pasting the clipboard

content.

 Paste with mouse – pastes your selection using the mouse. When the Paste with

mouse option is enabled, the mouse cursor changes from to .
You can move this cursor to the required location to paste the clipboard content.

Object selection

 Enclose – selects the object when it is enclosed within the selection box.
 Touch – selects the whole object even if a part of that object lies within the selection

box.

Setting the Record and Field Display Options

You can customize the display of mapped records and fields in the design area using the
Editor category . The mapped fields can be viewed by their respective names, or by a
string of replacement characters for accurate data placement.

To set the display properties for the records and fields, review the following dialog
options:

PageDef Display

 Name – displays the mapped records and fields in the design area by their respective

names.

 Replacement char – represents the mapped records and fields by a string of user-

specified replacement characters. On clicking this option, the associated text-box is
enabled; enter a single replacement character in this box.

Chapter 3: Customizing Visual PPFA 39

(1) Records and fields displayed by their names in the design area. (2) Records and
fields displayed by a string of replacement characters (X) in the design area.

Setting the Border Colors and Line Styles

In Visual PPFA, you can identify the logical pages, overlays, and NUP partitions using
different colored borders. The Borders & Colors category, as the name indicates,
provides options for setting the color and style of the border.

To set the border colors along with the line styles, review the following dialog op tions:

Border

Select the appropriate checkbox to activate the border color and line style lists for the
following objects:

 Logical Page
 Page Overlay
 Medium Overlay
 Selected Overlay
 NUP Overlay
 NUP Partition

Select the required option from the Border list. Click Other to open the Color dialog to
select a color other than the listed colors.

You can also distinguish suppressed fields from printed fields by setting colors and line
styles for suppression using the following options:

 Suppression – activates the suppression color and line style lists.
 Display form in one color – sets the loaded forms to display in a single (selected)

color.

40 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Selecting the Paper and Printer Options

You can specify the required printer as well as the paper size in the Paper & Printer
category. Other than the predefined options, you can also select media options and
customize the size of the paper depending upon your printer type.

To set the required printer and paper size, review the following dialog options:

Paper options

 Paper size – sets the paper size of the required document.

To select the size of the paper not mentioned in the Paper size list, select Custom to
activate the Width and Height options.

 Width – sets the width of the paper in the specified unit of measurement.
 Height – sets the height of the paper in the specified unit of measurement.

Printer options - Changeable media origin

You can use a printer that facilitates the media origin to be shifted to any of the four
corners of the paper. Select the required option from the following:

 Cutsheet – specifies that the printing is to be done on a cut-sheet printer.
 Continuous – specifies that the printing is to be done on a continuous form printer.

Similar presentation settings result in different page presentation on cut-sheet and
continuous printers.

Chapter 3: Customizing Visual PPFA 41

Printer Options - Fixed media origin

 Continuous 3800 – uses the IBM 3800 Continuous form printer for the required

printing. The 3800 printers have fixed media origin; therefore, on selecting this
option, the FormDef page presentation settings do not take effect.

Setting the Sample Data Options

You can specify the data file and sample data display options in the Sample Data
category. This includes specification of the file length, its encoding, and record format.
You can use the carriage control option for page ejection, and the TRC option for the font
modification settings.

To set sample data properties, review the following dialog options:

Sample data file

 Data File – specifies the name identifying the loaded data file. Click to display

the Open dialog for selecting the required data file.

File length

 Starting line number – sets the line number in the file from where the data is

loaded.

 Number of lines to read – specifies the number of lines of data to be read.

The recommended length of a sample data file is 100 lines.

File Encoding

 ASCII – specifies that the loaded file is in ASCII (American Standard Code for

Information Interchange) format.

 EBCDIC – specifies that the loaded file is in EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded

Decimal Interchange Code) format.

 Mixed-mode data – specifies that the loaded file is in mixed-mode data format.

42 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

A mixed-mode data file is a combination of both line data and structured fields
(known as AFP data). Mixed-mode data files can specify the beginning and end of
pages, as well as data controls for printing.

File Record Format

 File Format – specifies the required data format. The available options are:

• Stream Newline – each data record is delimited by a new line (linefeed)

character. On selecting this option, the corresponding new line character displays
in the New Line Char box.

• Record,n – each data record is delimited by record length instead of a new line

character. On selecting this option, the Record Length box is enabled to specify
the length of the input data records.

Control Characters

 Carriage Control – skips carriage control characters in the data file. Carriage

control characters manage line skipping, line spacing, and page ejection on line
printers.

 TRC – skips table-reference characters in the data file. Table-reference characters

control font selection in line data.

You can also set the Sample Data options using the Open sample data file dialog.
To launch this dialog do one of the following:

 Select Project>Load Sample Data File from the menu bar.

 Click on the Project toolbar.

Customizing the Sample Data Grid

The loaded sample data file displays in the Sample Data window in the workspace. The
Sample Data category enables you to customize the display of the Sample Data window
through the grid options.

Chapter 3: Customizing Visual PPFA 43

To set the sample data grid specifications, review the following dialog options:

Sample Data Grid Settings

 Grid options… – displays the Display options dialog for setting grid preferences for

the Sample Data window.

In the Display options dialog, specify the following:

Tiles and Guidelines

 3D – Buttons – displays 3D-buttons in the sample data grid.
 Vertical Lines – displays vertical lines in the sample data grid.
 Horizontal Lines – displays horizontal lines in the sample data grid.

Line Style

 Style – sets the required grid line style from the available options.

Color

Select the appropriate object from the list to display the corresponding color values that
are available for selection. Click the required color from the available options.

Preview

 Preview – displays a preview of the Sample Data window with the current settings.
 Set Defaults – sets the Display options fields to their default values.

Setting the Grid Options

The Grid feature provides a network of lines overlaying the design area. These lines help
in the design process but are not part of the design. Using the Grid category options, you
can specify major grid spacing, as well as the number of subdivisions within each major
grid division in both vertical and horizontal directions. Also, objects can be set to
automatically align with grid coordinates for rapid document desi gn. To set the grid
properties, review the following dialog options:

Horizontal/Vertical

 Major spacing – sets the space between the horizontal or vertical grid lines, per

specified unit of measurement (default is an inch). The major spacing is denoted by
the symbol (+) in the design area.

44 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

 Number of subdivisions – sets the number of divisions that are displayed between

the horizontal or vertical grid lines. The divisions are denoted by dots in the design
area.

 Show grid – displays the grid in the design area.

You can also view the grid by performing one of the following operations:

 Select View>Grid from the menu bar.

 Click on the View toolbar.
 Press <F4> on the keyboard.

 Snap to grid – sets the alignment of the design area objects according to the grid

points.

You can also snap objects to the grid by performing one of the following
operations:

 Select Tools>Rulers and Grid>Snap to Grid from the menu bar.

 Click on the View toolbar.

 Hide major spacing (+) – hides the appearance of the major spacing symbol (+) in

the design area.

1) Major spacing symbol (+) displaying in the design area. (2) Major spacing
symbol disabled.

Chapter 3: Customizing Visual PPFA 45

Setting the Guidelines Options

The guidelines facilitate you to place objects in the design area quickly by providing
visual reference points. The Guidelines category provides options to display and align the
objects. For more precise placement, you can also set a radius for the guidelines.

To set the guideline properties, review the following dialog options:

Snap

 Magnetic snap radius – sets a value for the magnetic snap radius. Any object placed

within the specified radius is snapped to the guideline.

 Show guidelines – displays the guidelines in the design area.

You can also display the guidelines by performing one of the following operations:

 Select View>Guidelines from the menu bar.

 Click on the View toolbar.
 Press <F6> on the keyboard.

 Snap to guidelines – facilitates the snapping of objects to the guidelines.

You can also snap objects to guidelines by performing one of the following
operations:

 Select Tools>Rulers and Grid>Snap to Guidelines from the menu bar.

 Click on the View toolbar

46 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

You can also drag and drop guidelines in the design area by clicking the graphic ruler, and
then dragging the guideline to the required location.

Setting the Ruler Options

The Ruler category provides options for setting units of measurement for both graphical
and digital rulers in the Visual PPFA workspace.

T o set the ruler properties, review the following dialog options:

 Units – specifies the unit of measurement for both graphic and digital rulers, as well

as for the application.

Select the appropriate checkbox to apply the grid settings, specified in the Grid category,
to the following:

 Graphic ruler
 Digital ruler

You can also specify the application units using the Units list in the View toolbar.

Chapter 3: Customizing Visual PPFA 47

You can also launch the Options dialog for setting the grid, guidelines and ruler settings
by selecting the following:

 Tools>Rulers and Grid>Grid, for Grid Category.
 Tools>Rulers and Grid>Guidelines, for Guidelines Category.
 Tools>Rulers and Grid>Ruler for Ruler Category.

The Symbols and System Data category features are currently inactive.

Setting the Symbols Properties

The Symbols category facilitates you to set the default properties for items in the System
Data.ini file, and displays the pre-defined as well as the user-defined symbols. Each item
represents a key (variable) with an associated value (path). The key and value pairs are
used to locate the required type of computer information. In DesignPro Visual PPFA, the
keys identify application objects, and values indicate the associated object paths and
types.

To set the symbol specifications, review the following dialog options:

 Key String – displays the selected key string.
 Value – sets the type and path of the selected object. You can click to display the

Browse for Folder dialog for selecting the required path.

 Real – displays a proper path for the selected key string.
 Set – sets the Real value for the selected key string.

The SystemData category is a subset of the Symbols category. It includes
information on the system symbols that are predefined by Elixir. The list of
information for SystemData also comes from the same files i.e. SystemData.ini.

Setting the Message Preferences

Visual PPFA prompts you when informational, warning, and error messages are
generated. In the Messages category, you can set the message type and display options.
Specifying the message type economizes data logging by limiting the message display
criteria. The display options for the time, date, and color of the messages can help identify
the type and severity of a message.

48 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

To set the message preferences, review the following dialog options:

Messages to View

 Information – displays informational messages in the Messages window.

Show

 Message time – displays the time of the message in the Messages window.
 Message date – display the date of the message in the Messages window.
 Use color – displays the color of the messages in the Messages window.

You can also specify the maximum number of text lines displayed at one time in the
Messages window by using the associated box. By default, the message length is 200
lines.

Logging the Messages

You can archive the messages generated by Visual PPFA in a file for future use. Logging
options provided in the Messages category facilitates you to save the information
displayed in the Messages window.

To create a log for the generated messages, review the following dialog options:

Log Options

 Log to File – enables writing of messages to the log file. On clicking the Log to File

checkbox, all of the associated options are enabled. In the first associated text-box,
type the destination path where the generated log file is to be saved. The default
value of “.\” saves the log file in the same directory as the resource file. In the second
associated text-box, type the name of the log file. The default file name is
MSG.LOG. The file can have any name and can also be saved in formats other than
LOG, e.g. .DOC.

Chapter 3: Customizing Visual PPFA 49

 Unicode – creates a log file using the Unicode character set.
 Overwrite – overwrites any existing message in the selected log file.
 Append – appends the newly generated messages to the specified log file.
 Append by date – appends messages to the log file on the basis of date.
 View Log File – displays the log file contents using Notepad.

The Log file displaying the generated message; the system date is appended with the
name of the file due to the Append by date option.

Viewing the Parser and Converter Properties

You can view the properties for all of the available parsers and converters using the Info
Server category options.

The available Input Parsers, Output Converts, and Output Data Converters display in
the form of a folder tree view. To view the properties of a particular parser or converter,
click on the relevant folder, and select the required option to display the information in
the associated fields.

50 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

View

 Show all components/Hide unlicensed components –displays all components or

only licensed components in the tree view. The button alternates between Show all
components and Hide unlicensed components options.

 Refresh –saves the changes, if any, and refreshes the folder tree view.

Component

 Name – displays a unique name identifying the selected converter or parser.
 ID – displays a unique code identifying the selected converter or parser.
 Presentation – displays the text that appears in the file filters of the Open and Save

dialogs corresponding to the selected converter or parser.

Registering the New File Extensions

You can register file extensions for a selected converter or parser using the Info Server
category . For example, if an AFPDS input parser image category displays S1*.seg, and
your .SEG files are saved with the extension .XYZ or .SEG123, you can add and register
these variations as supported file format extensions.

To register new extensions:

Resource

 Presentation – displays the text that appears in the file filters of the Open and Save

dialogs corresponding to the selected converter or parser.

 Extensions – displays the extension(s) for the selected resource. Multiple extensions

can be specified separated by semicolons.

 Default – switches the selected resource extension back to the default.

The Extensions setting applies to file extensions only, and does not affect the
supported file formats.

Chapter 3: Customizing Visual PPFA 51

Changing the Document Default Options

You can review the default appearance and settings for the document identification using
Visual PPFA. The Options dialog provides four category settings at the document level.
These display only when a document is loaded in the design area. New settings take effect
if you click Apply or OK. These settings remain in effect until they are changed.

Use the following steps to view and set preferences for the listed categories:

1 Select Tools>Options from the menu bar to display the Options dialog.

The Options dialog displaying the General category options.

2 Select the required category from the Category list.
3 Enter the required settings. For details on your required settings, refer to the relevant

section below.

4 Click Apply and OK.

Applying the Document Identification Settings

You can specify the document author, company, version number, revision number , and ID
using the General category. You can also specify the document creation date and time.

 Author – sets a unique name identifying the author.
 Company – sets a unique name identifying the company.
 Version – sets a document version identifier.
 Revision – sets a document revision identifier.
 Local ID – sets a unique code identifying the document.
 Time Stamp – sets the document creation date and time.

52 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

The Grid options provided at the application and document level are the same.
However, the options set at the document level apply only to the current
document, whereas the application level settings apply to the whole application
and act as defaults for each newly created document. For details on grid options,
refer to "Setting the Grid Options" on page 44.

Setting the Document Guidelines

You can place guidelines in the horizontal or vertical directions using the Guidelines
category. These options enable you to place objects in the design area quickly by
providing visual reference points.

1 As appropriate, select one of the following options:

 Horizontal – sets guidelines in the horizontal direction.
 Vertical – sets guidelines in the vertical direction.

2 In the Guideline position box, specify the position of the guideline relative to the

horizontal or vertical axis, per specified unit of measurement.

3 Click Set to add the guideline to the list.
4 To delete a specific guideline, select it from the list and click Clear. To clear all of

the guidelines, click Clear All.

Setting the Document Ruler Options

The Ruler category provides options for setting the units of measurement for both the
graphical, as well as the digital rulers.

T o set the ruler properties, review the following dialog options:

 Units – select the required unit of measurement for both graphic and digital rulers, as

well as for the application.

Horizontal/Vertical

T o specify the position of the zero digit on the horizontal ruler, click the appropriate Zero
position option:

 Left
 Right

Chapter 3: Customizing Visual PPFA 53

For the vertical ruler, click the appropriate Zero Position option from the following:

 Top
 Bottom

You can also customize the location of the ruler using the following options:

 Position on bottom – displays the horizontal ruler at the bottom of the design area.
 Position values to left – displays the positive values on the left of the zero.
 Position on right – displays the vertical ruler on the right side of design area.
 Position values to top – displays the positive values on top of the zero.
 Zero Offset – enter or select the page vertical offset, per specified unit of

measurement.

The design area displays the ruler with (1) Default setting of top left, and (2) bottom
right.

54 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Customizing the Toolbars and Menus

You can customize the Visual PPFA toolbars and menus to better serve your business and
personal requirements. For this, you can add the frequently used commands to toolbars,
and even remove the toolbars and toolbar items that you do not need.

To customize the Visual PPFA toolbars:

1 Select View>Toolbars>Customize from the menu bar, to display the Customize

dialog.

2 Select the required tab.
3 Enter the appropriate settings. For details on your required settings, refer to the

relevant section below.

4 Click Apply and OK.

Chapter 3: Customizing Visual PPFA 55

Customizing the Toolbar Display

You can review the toolbars that display in the workspace using the Toolbars tab. To
display a toolbar in the workspace, review the following dialog options:

 Toolbars – sets the toolbar you want to display in the workspace from the list of

available options.

The selected toolbar name displays in the Toolbar name text box. You can also display a
toolbar by selecting View>Toolbars>Toolbar name from the menu bar.

You cannot de-select the Menu bar option.

To set the appearance of the displayed toolbars:

 Show Tooltips –displays the tool tips associated with the toolbar buttons.
 Cool Look –displays the toolbar buttons in the smooth look mode.

The workspace toolbar with (1) Cool Look enabled and (2) Cool Look disabled.

 Large Buttons – displays the toolbar buttons in the enlarged mode.

The workspace toolbar (1) without Large Buttons and (2) with Large Buttons.

 Reset/Delete – resets a toolbar to the default settings. This button alternates to

Delete when a user-defined toolbar is selected, hence can be used to delete a user­defined toolbar only.

56 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Creating a New Toolbar

You can create a new toolbar using the Customize dialog. To create a new toolbar in the
Toolbars tab:

1 Click New to display the New Toolbar dialog.

2 Enter the name of the new toolbar in Toolbar name.

The names of your created toolbars can be modified at any time using the Customize
dialog, but the names of the default toolbars remain un-editable. On clicking OK, the
new toolbar displays in the workspace without any buttons added. You can add
buttons to the newly created toolbar later.

The Test toolbar displays in the workspace without any buttons.

Adding Buttons to the Toolbars and Menus

You can add buttons to the generally used toolbars using the Commands tab in the
Customize dialog. A list of available toolbars display in the Categories option, whereas
associated toolbar buttons display under the Buttons option. To add a command button to
an existing toolbar, click and drag the required button to your target toolbar in the design
area, then release the mouse. While dragging the required button, the mouse cursor

changes from to . The selected button is then appended to the required toolbar at
the point where you dropped it.

Chapter 3: Customizing Visual PPFA 57

The following image illustrate the the process of appending buttons to a toolbar:

If you drag the required button and drop it anywhere in the application window other than
the target toolbar, Visual PPFA automatically creates a new toolbar with the specified
button and displays it in the application window. If you then select the Toolbars tab, the
newly created toolbar name (default is Toolbar 1) displays in the Toolbars list.

58 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Chapter 4:

Preparing to Work

In this chapter...

 About IBM Print Services Facility

 Preparing Resources

 Gathering Resources

 Managing Resource Objects

 Converting Form, Font, and Image Files to AFP Resources

 Changing File Formats

 Elixir Parameter File (.EPM)

This chapter provides information about assembling, managing, and converting resources
required by Visual PPFA, and specifying file format settings.

About IBM Print Services Facility

IBM Print Services Facility (PSF) is a print driver program that manages resources and
jobs management for Advanced Function Printing (AFP) printers. PSF combines data
streams with the resources and converts them into Intelligent Printer Data Streams (IPDS).
IPDS contain data, as well as structured fields defining how the data is to be presented for
the AFP printers.

PSF works only with AFP resources. It maintains a resource library for the following AFP
resource types:

 FormDefs
 PageDefs
 Overlays
 Page segments
 Fonts

59

An overview of the AFP environment.

Visual PPFA enables the AFP print job process by providing the design support for all of
the AFP resources such as fonts, overlays, PageDefs, etc. V isual PPFA also provides great
flexibility as it facilitates resource conversion to a number of different formats. The
resources that are created, saved, or exported in AFP formats using Visual PPFA and other
DesignPro Tools components can be uploaded directly to the resource library of the
specified printer.

When saving resources to an AFP object format, Visual PPFA automatically appends the
following prefixes to the resource file name:

 F1 for FormDefs
 P1 for PageDefs
 O1 for overlays

60 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

The following resource information must be provided when uploading resources to the
printer resource library:

 Name of the resource (1 to 8 characters long including prefixes).
 Path of the resource.

At print time, PSF searches for these resources in the specified resource libraries and
sends associated information to the printer with the print job.

The path and file names for the PSF host system are case-sensitive. When
submitting a job, make sure that these names have correct uppercase and
lowercase characters.

Preparing Resources

Visual PPFA supports the import, export, and use of overlays, fonts, images, and barcodes
in all the AFP object formats, common PC font and image formats, and Elixir legacy
formats. You can also use the PageDef object files created in the Elixir Application Suite
(EAS) as PageDef objects in Visual PPFA.

Visual PPFA uses built-in parsers to convert resources in the AFP object and PPFA source
formats to the Elixir format. Before importing the resources, you can specify appropriate
conversion settings for the resources. Once the resources are imported, you can modify
and save them in Elixir formats, as well as AFP object and PPFA source formats using
appropriate converters. You can also change converter properties when saving your
documents, depending on your required results and printer settings.

Setting Elixir Resource Handling Properties

Elixir resource handling properties enable you to specify global settings for opening
documents and copying resources to the Elixir resource library. You can also specify
document page caching properties for optimized application performance. These settings
can be very useful when working with large and complex documents.

Chapter 4: Preparing to Work 61

To specify the Elixir resource handling properties:

1 From the menu bar, select Tools>Application Format Settin g>Elixir Properties to

display the Elixir dialog.

The Elixir dialog displaying the Resources category options.

2 Select the required category from the Category list.
3 Enter the required settings. For details on your required settings, refer to the relevant

section below.

4 Click Apply and OK.

62 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Setting up a Resource Searching Order

You can define a resource searching order for opening your document from a list of
available converters, using Resources category options.

Resource Searching

 Available resource converters – displays the resource converter formats that are

available for selection.

 Resource Searching Order – displays the searching order for the selected resource

converters. The Input Parser is the built-in resource handler for input file resources,
and hence it cannot be shifted to the Available resource converters list.

Click and to move items between the Available resource converters and
the Resource Searching Order list.
The following image shows the steps involved in setting up a resource searching
order:

Chapter 4: Preparing to Work 63

 Set Selected Converter – displays the associated properties dialog for the selected

item in the Resource Searching Order list. You can set custom settings for the
parser, or simply view the default settings via this dialog. You cannot display or

review the Input Parser properties.

For a detailed overview of the selected converter dialog options, see “Chapter
6:File Format Dictionary” in the DesignPro Manager for AFP User Guide.

Resource Replacing

 Replace Missing Resources with Defaults – replaces the missing resources with

the default resources.

Importing Resources to a Resource Library

The Resource Library category facilitates you to set rules for importing resources to the
Elixir resource library, while opening a document or inserting a resource (font, form,
image, etc.) in the document.

You can use the following set of options to specify the rules for importing resources:

Rules for Importing Resources to Libraries

 Do Not Import Resources – specifies that no resources are imported to the Elixir

resource libraries.

 Import Missing Resources Only – imports only those resources that are missing in

the Elixir resource library.

 All Resources, Overwrite any existing – imports all of the resources, and

overwrites any existing resources with the same name in the resource library.

 All Resources, prompt before overwriting – imports all of the resources, and

prompts you for confirmation before overwriting any existing resources in the
resource library.

64 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Setting Page Caching Options

You can specify the maximum size of the virtual memory used in caching the document
pages by using the Caching category options. Caching document pages enables faster
page switching, which facilitates you to design complex documents more efficiently.

To set the caching options:

Caching

 Cache Size – specifies the number of document pages to be kept in the memory. The

cache size set as 0 indicates that an unlimited number of pages can be kept in the
memory.

 Virtual Memory Usage Limit – specifies the maximum limit (in megabytes) of the

available virtual memory.

Gathering Resources

When creating a FormDef or a PageDef, make sure that all of the required resources
(fonts, forms, and graphics) are available for your design. These resources can reside
either on the local machine or on a network drive. Along with Elixir and legacy resources,
Visual PPFA also supports AFP resources without the need of any pre-conversion.

Visual PPFA sup ports the fol lowing input and output formats:

Resource Types Supported Formats

Documents Elixir PageDef (*.epd)

Elixir FormDef (*.efd)
AFP PageDef Object (P1*.*, P1*.obj)
AFP FormDef Object (F1*.*, F1*.obj)
AFP PPF A Source (*.src, *.pfa)
Elixir AppBuilder 4.xx (Document.dbf) (.dbf documents are only

supported as an input format).

Overlays Elixir Form (*.efr)

AFP Overlay Object (*.ove, *.ovl, O1*)
AFP Overlay Source (OGL) (*.ogl)
Elixir Legacy Form (*.elx)
Resource Library (*.erc32, *.erc)

Chapter 4: Preparing to Work 65

Resource Types Supported Formats

Fonts True Type Font

Adobe Type Manager Font
Elixir Legacy Font (*.hdr)
Resource Library (*.erc32, *.erc)
AFP Coded Font (X0*, X1*, X2*, X3*, X4*)
Elixir Legacy Coded Font (X0*.cdf, X1*.cdf, X2*.cdf)
AFP Character Set (C0*, C1*, C2*, C3*, C4*)
Elixir Legacy Character Set (C0*.hdr, C1*.hdr, C2*.hdr)
AFP Code Page (T1*)
Elixir Legacy Code Page (*.cod)

Images AFP Page Segment (S1*)

Elixir Legacy Graphic (*.lp3)
Bitmap Files (*.bmp)
Joint Photography Experts Group File (*.jpeg, *.jpg)
Tagged Image Format File (*.tif)
PC Paintbrush Bitmap File (*.pcx)
Portable Network Graphics File (*.png)
Resource Library (*.erc32, *.erc)

Copying Resources to Appropriate Directory

After preparing the resources required for your design, you need to save them in the
appropriate input directories, keeping in view the specified Visual PPFA input settings.
Visual PPFA searches these directories for the required resources when a document is
opened or proofed.

DesignPro Tools for AFP creates a default directory structure for the resources. For
example, the default destination directory for saving an Elixir PageDef is
drive:\Elixir\Jobs\Elixir. You can also specify a local or network path for these resources.
For details, refer to the DesignPro Manager for AFP User Guide.

66 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Managing Resource Objects

You can manage and view the resources used in your FormDef and PageDefs usin g the
Resource Manager window. You can also view the number of references of a resource, as
well as their location in your document.

For managing the resource objects:

1 From the menu bar, select View>Resource Manager to display the Resource

Manager window in the design area.

2 Right-clicking a Resource Manager tree node displays a pop-up menu, which

options pertain to the current selection.
The Reload option refreshes the Resource Manager tree view. You are

recommended to refresh this view before performing any action using the Resource
Manager window.

The Go to first resource reference option shifts the focus of the application to the
first instance of the resource in the design area.

The Export resource… and Export all Resources… options enable you to export
one or all embedded resources in the document. Export option selections launch the
Export To dialog for selecting the Elixir Resource Library file for saving the
exported resources.

Exporting the embedded resources creates copies of the resources in a
destination resource library. However, exported resources remain embedded in
the document.

Chapter 4: Preparing to Work 67

The Remove unused resour ces option removes the unused resource references from
the Resource Manager tree, thus enabling you to view only those resources used in
the design. Any unused document resources display a count of zero in the Use Count
column of the Resource Manager window.

The Embed all resources option embeds all of the referenced resources in a
document. The Resource Manager monitors the usage of the embedded resources.
The referenced resources can only be embedded in Elixir format documents. This
feature is particularly useful in sharing or moving documents between multiple
machines.

Verifying Resources

When creating the PageDefs and FormDefs, you can verify referenced and embedded
resources by closing and reopening your document. You can also verify these resources
later by proofing your document (for details, refer to Chapter 15: "Proofing Designs" on
page 239). The Messages window, while proofing or opening your document, displays
information on the resource path and the encountered errors. These messages help
determine and troubleshoot incorrect paths and corrupt resources.

Exporting Resources

When saving AFP and Elixir legacy PageDefs and FormDefs, you can export the external
resources (e.g., forms, fonts, images, etc.) used in your layout. The export path settings
and properties can be accessed by selecting an appropriate output converter from
Tools>Application Format Settings>Output Formats options.

You can choose to save all or some specified external resource types used in your design,
and specify the associated export properties. For more information about the output
properties options, refer to “Chapter 6: File Format Dictionary” in the DesignPro
Manager for AFP User Guide.

Selecting Never prevents the export of the specified resource type, whereas selecting To
External Resource File exports that resource file to the specified location. When
exporting resources, the exported resources can be saved to either the destination directory
as the output file, or to the default resource direct ory speci fi ed in the Profile Server. You
can also choose to overwrite any existing resource file in the specified directory if any of
the exported resources have the same filename as an existing resource.

External resources are not exported if resources with the same name already
exist in the Destination Directory, unless the Replace Existing Resources option
is selected.

68 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Embedding Resources

Elixir formats enable you to insert fonts, images, objects, and overlays as embedded
resources in your design overlay. This feature is especially useful if you need to move or
change the original resource.

The images that are resized while editing an overlay are exported in the form of
segments, provided they are embedded in the overlay.

Converting Form, Font, and Image Files to AFP Resources

Prior to performing the proofing operations, you need to convert all of the Elixir resources
including the FormDefs and PageDefs to AFP format. When converting resources to the
AFP format, ensure that the naming conventions are followed. Refer to the DesignPro
Manager User Guide for more information about converting form, font, and image files to
AFP resources. For more information about converting PageDefs and FormDefs to the
AFP formats, refer to Chapter 11: "Performing Standard Operations on Visual PPFA

Objects" on page 205.

Elixir Resources versus AFP Resources

Although Visual PPFA supports its own, as well as the native and legacy resource
formats, it is advisable that you keep a copy of all the source files in the Elixir format.
Visual PPFA PageDefs and FormD efs support many features that are not available in
PPFA:

 Elixir format facilitates you to use aliases and names up to 32 characters long for

record, field, and other objects, hence providing ease of design; theses names are not
saved in the AFP format.

 Internal comments and environmental settings, such as template overlays, are only

supported in the Elixir format.

Chapter 4: Preparing to Work 69

Changing File Formats

This section provides information about the input parsers and the output converters along
with their associated properties.

You can modify the in put file format settings depending on the properties of your source
document. You can also specify the outpu t file format setti ngs whi le saving yo ur
document to the Elixir, AFP object, or PPF A source formats. The output settings are
influenced by the target printer properties.

Applying Application Format Settings

Application format settings enable you to specify the input and output format options for
Visual PPFA. These settings are applied to all of the new documents, as well as to the
documents that do not have an associated Elixir parameter file. The application format
settings are applicable to all of the ongoing sessions in the application.

Application Format Commands

You can perform the following application-level operations from the menu bar by
selecting Tools>Application Format Setting options:

 Load the application format settings from an Elixir parameter file (.EPM).
 Reset the .EPM file settings to the default values.
 Save the application format settings to an .EPM file.
 Specify the input format settings.
 Specify the output format settings.
 Specify the Elixir properties for application resource handling.

Applying Document Format Settings

Visual PPFA enables you to set input format option s at document-level, which override
the application-level settings.

This feature is useful especially when you are working with multiple documents
simultaneously. You can have several forms open at the same time, each having its own
unique input format settings. However, document format settings lose their effect if the
document is exported to another format.

70 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Document Format Commands

From the menu bar, select To ols>Document Format Setting to perform the following
document level operations:

 Load the document format settings from an Elixir parameter file (.EPM).
 Clear the .EPM file settings to the default values.
 Save the document format settings to an .EPM file.
 Specify the input format settings.

You can set the document format settings and commands only when a document
is open in the design area.

Specifying File Format Settings

AFP printers support only AFP format resources. Visual PPFA provides you design
flexibility by providing options to convert other resource types to AFP formats. The input
and output format type dialogs associated with the Application Format Setting and
Document Format Setting options enable you to set and change the format type
conversion options.

The Input Formats and Output Format s options contain selections for the following file
types:

 AFPDS – Advanced Function Printing Data Streams
 GDF/Elixir Form – Elixir Generic Document Format
 OGL – IBM Overlay Generation Language
 PPFA – IBM Page Printer Formatting Aid

Changing Input File Format Settings

To change input format settings:

1 Do one of the following:

From the menu bar, select T ools>Application Format Setting>Input Formats to
change the application-level input file format settings.

Or
From the menu bar, select To ols>Document Format Setting>Input Formats to

change the document-level input file format settings.

Chapter 4: Preparing to Work 71

2 Select the required Input Formats type.

The associated input format dialog displays with the following category selections:

Category Name

Error Handling

Font(s)

General

Main

PageDef

Prefix

Resources

Resources - Fonts

Resources - Forms

Resources - Images

Synthesizer

Tags

Encoding

3 Select the required category from the list.
4 Enter the required settings.
5 Click Apply and OK to save the changes.

72 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Changing Output File Format Settings

To change the output format settings:

1 From the menu bar, select Tools>Applicat ion Format Setting>Output Formats.
2 Select the required Output Formats type.
3 The associated output format dialog displays with the following category selections:

Category Name

Code Pages

Color(s)

Environment

Font(s)

Form(s)

FormDef

General

Images

Main

Page Objects

PageDef

Encoding

4 Select the required category from the list.
5 Enter the required settings.

Chapter 4: Preparing to Work 73

6 Click Apply and OK to save the settings.

Categories displaying in the input and output format dialogs depend on your
selected file format type.

Property field definitions for each category are provided in “Chapter 6: File
Format Dictionary” of the DesignPro Manager for AFP User Guide.

Elixir Parameter File (.EPM)

You can save your input and output file format settings in an Elixir Parameter File (.EPM)
so that the settings are not lost or forgotten between sessions. You can also transfer your
.EPM files to other PCs in your workgroup.

Although an .EPM file can hold settings for both input and output files, it is recommended
to save separate .EPM files for the input and output so that they can be used for different
conversion combinations.

Loading File Format Settings

You can load input and out put file format settings from an .EPM file at the application
level by selecting Tools>Application Format Setting>Load from the menu bar. You can
also load input and output file format settings from an .EPM file at the document level by
selecting Tools>Document Format Setting>Load from the menu bar. This displays the
Load Setup File dialog. Browse for the required .EPM file in this dialog. The default Elixir
parameter files are located at drive:\Documents and Settings\current user\Application

Data\Elixir Technologies.

Clearing File Format Settings

You can unload an .EPM file and restore the default fi le format settings at the application­level by selecting Tools>Application Format Setting>Clear from the menu bar.

You can also restore the document-level file format settings by selecting Tools>Document
Format Setting>Clear from the menu bar.

74 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Saving File Format Settings

You can save your input and output file format settings to an .EPM file at the application
level by selecting Tools>Application Format Setting>Save from the menu bar.

You can also save input and output file format settings to an .EPM file at the document
level by selecting Tools>Document Format Setting>Save from the menu bar. This
displays the Export Setup File dialog. Browse to the required target folder where you need
to save the exported file.

Chapter 4: Preparing to Work 75

76 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Chapter 5:

Designing Physical
Pages

In this chapter...

 Working with Form Definitions

 Creating a FormDef

 Setting the FormDef Properties

DesignPro Visual PPFA facilitates you to de sign documents containing variable data.
Through the use of variable data printing, you can customize your printing material by
merging the recurring contents with variable data. In the case of PPFA, the recurring
content is made part of the physical page, and the variable data is specified in the logical
page. The first step in creating the documents containing variable data involves the
designing of the physical page. A FormDef object specifies the attributes of the physical
page.

This chapter explains the basics, creation and setting of FormDefs. FormDef is short for
form definition. Both of these terms will be used interchangeably throughout this guide.

Work ing with Form Definitions

Form definitions (FormDefs) are the resources that specify how the printer controls the
processing of the physical sheets of paper. FormDefs specify the attributes of the physical
sheet, such as the paper source, number of copies, required overlay, and simplex/duplex
settings. FormDefs feature the modifications that distinguish between formatting of
different print jobs when they are derived from the same data, and can be used for all print
server files regardless of the data type. Form definitions are always required for printing
with IBM Print Services Facility (PSF).

77

DesignPro Visual PPFA provides design support for all of the FormDef features, and
facilitates you to do the following:

 Position a logical page on a physical sheet.
 Design simplex or duplex pages, with or without variable data.
 Specify print offsets for the front and back sides of a paper.
 Specify the print orientation to be either portrait or landscape.
 Insert and edit overlays, which substitute for the preprinted forms.
 Select the number of copies for any page.
 Specify field suppression, which enables you to exclude the selected fields from the

printed pages.

 Design and place up to four logical pages on a single side of the sheet.
 Select from multiple paper sources.
 Select the level of the print quality.
 Specify the post processing controls such as perforation and cutting, etc.

Visual PPFA facilitates you to create and edit FormDefs that are, by default, save d in the
Elixir FormDef (*.efd) format. You can open your existing PPFA code directly in Visual
PPFA, and can even save it in the AFP FormDef object (F1*.obj) or AFP PPFA source
(*.src) formats without a separate PPFA compiler. Visual PPFA also enables you to load
FormDefs created in Elixir Application Suite as linked resources.

A single FormDef can contain a multiple set of formatting rules called CopyGro ups. A
CopyGroup defines every physical page in the file. Each CopyGroup can contain up to
127 SubGroups, each of which creates a different set of modifications for the same page of
data. CopyGroups specify the same set of properties as FormDefs. Properties specified in
a CopyGroup override the values specified in the FormDef.

Property settings at the FormDef level are used as defaults for the CopyGroup
and SubGroup level, and are applied to each newly created CopyGroup or
SubGroup.

78 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Creating a FormDef

Use the following steps to create a new FormDef:

1 From the menu bar select File>New to display the New Resource dialog.
2 Select the FormDef icon, and click OK to create a new FormDef.

The newly created FormDef displays in the design area.

The tree displays the default nodes that highlight the structure of a FormDef object.

Visual PPFA facilitates you to create, open, and edit FormDefs. Once created, you can
define the FormDef properties and add objects such as CopyGroups, SubGroups, and
overlays to the FormDef. You can also add, copy, save, and delete the FormDef objects.

You can also display the New Resource dialog to create a new FormDef by clicking

on the Standard toolbar.

Chapter 5: Designing Physical Pages 79

Setting the FormDef Properties

The FormDef properties are used to specify the attributes of a physical page. The
properties are organized into nine categories. Use the following steps to view and set the
FormDef properties:

1 Right-click the FormDef node in the tree window and select Properties from the

pop-up menu.
The Properties – FormDef dialog displays.

The Properties – FormDef dialog displaying the General Category options.

2 Select the required category from the Category list.
3 Enter the required settings. For details on your required settings, refer to the relevant

section below.

4 Click Apply and OK to save the settings.

To launch the Properties – FormDef dialog, select the New FormDef node in the
tree view and do one of the following:

 Select View>Properties from the menu bar

 Click on the Standard toolbar.
 Press <Alt> + Enter from the keyboard.

80 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Setting a Unique FormDef Name

Assigning meaningful names to FormDefs helps in referencing the resources for later use.
Visual PPFA assigns a default name and alias to every newly created FormDef. You can
change the default values in the General category , and specify a unique name and alias for
the FormDef. This category also displays the date and time the FormDef was created and
last accessed. The date and time attributes are automatically set by the system and cannot
be modified.

To set a unique name for a FormDef:

General

 Name – sets a unique name to identify the FormDef object with a maximum of six

characters.

 Alias – sets a unique alternate name identifying the FormDef, which is displayed in

the tree view.

The FormDef Source tab and the FormDef tree reflect the settings. The FormDef
tree displays the Alias, whereas in the source tab, the Name is displayed and the
Alias appears in the form of a comment.

Setting the Physical Page Offsets

The logical page determines the area where you want to place the variable data on the
physical page. The offset parameters establish the position of the logical page relative to
the physical sheet of the paper. In the Offset category, you can specify the horizontal and
vertical attributes of the FormDef front and back offsets.

Chapter 5: Designing Physical Pages 81

The physical sheet front side offset is set to 1 inch to the right and 1 inch down from the
sheet origin. The logical page boundary displays in the design area to reflect the settings.

To set the physical page offsets:

Front, Back offset

 Horizontal, Vertical – sets the horizontal or vertical offset values of the front or

back side of the FormDef, as per specified unit of measurement.

 None – sets the default unit of measurement (for information on specifying the

default unit of measurement, refer to "Setting the Ruler Options" on page 47. You
can click the associated arrow to display a drop-down list of other units of
measurement available for selection. These are inches, centimeters, millimeters,
points, and pels.

The Back offset option is only available for duplex printing mode.

82 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Setting the Page Presentation

Page presentation specifies how printed data is positioned on the physical sheet. A
FormDef specifies the page presentation using the Presentation and Direction options
that are provided in the Presentation category of the Properties – FormDef dialog.

To set the page presentation:

Presentation

 Presentation – describes the layout of the page. Either:

• Portrait – sets to vertical presentation (page height is greater than the width).

• Landscape – sets to horizontal presentation (page width is greater than the

height).

 Direction – sets the direction of the print. Either:

• Across – prints the logical page from left to right.

• Down – prints the logical page from top to bottom.

The design area reflects the page presentation set to (1) Default setting of Portrait,
Across and (2) Landscape, Down.

The page Presentation settings only take effect when any of the changeable
media origin options are selected from the Paper & Printer category in the
Options dialog.

Chapter 5: Designing Physical Pages 83

Setting the Duplex Printing Options

Visual PPFA enables you to design pages for duplex printing. In the duplex mode,
printing is done on both sides of the sheet. Duplex printing can be performed in four ways,
which are specified in the Duplex Printing option of the Presentation category.

T o set the duplex printing options:

Presentation

 Duplex Printing – sets the required option for duplex printing. Either:

• Simplex – duplex printing is not performed and the printer only prints on one

side of the paper.

• Normal – prints in normal duplex mode with both sides of the paper having the

same orientation for side binding.

• RNormal – prints in rotated normal duplex mode with the tops of both sides of

the paper printed along the same edge. Use this option with landscape
presentation pages.

• Tumble – prints in tumble duplex mode with the top of one paper side and the

bottom of the other side along the same sheet edge for top binding.

• RTumble – printing is done in rotated tumble duplex mode with the top of one

side of the paper printed along the same edge of the sheet as the bottom of the
other. Use this option with landscape presentation pages.

84 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

The following image illustrates the Normal, Rotated Normal, Tumble and Rotated Tumble
printing options:

Designing Constant Forms

Constants forms, as the name indicates, do not contain any variable data. Visual PPFA
provides design support for printing constant forms. In the Presentation category, you
can specify whether a page prints with or without variable data using the Constant Form
option.

To design the constant form s:

Presentation

 Constant Form – sets the required option for printing fixed (constant) or variable

data. Either:

• No – turns off the constant form function, and variable data is printed.

• Front – prints a constant form on the front side of the sheet (i.e., no variable data

is printed on the front side of the sheet).

• Back – prints a constant form on the back side of the sheet (i.e., no variable data

is printed on the back side of the sheet).

• Both – prints a constant form on both sides of the sheet (i.e., no variable data is

printed on either side).

Chapter 5: Designing Physical Pages 85

Placing Multiple Logical Pages on a Sheet

You can place multiple logical pages on a single sheet of paper using the NUP (Number
UP) feature. You can divide a page into equal-sized partitions, each having its own
CopyGroup and PageFormat.

The NUP partitions are generally set prior to the Invoke options in a typical workflow for
using the NUP Type and Invoke options.

To place multiple logical pages on a single sheet:

 NUP Type – sets the required Number Up option for the print layout:

• None – does not use the NUP feature.

• Basic – enables up to four partitions per physical page side. The pages are placed

in the partition in sequential order. If you select the Basic option and click
Apply, is enabled. Click to display the Basic NUP dialog, which

specifies the basic NUP settings.

• Enhanced – enables data placement in the specified partitions. If you select the

Enhanced option and click Apply, is enabled. Click to display the
Enhanced NUP dialog, which specifies the enhanced NUP settings.

For more information on designing NUP layouts, refer to "About NUP" on page

107.

You can also use the Invoke feature to specify the placement of the next page in the
NUP partitions, or the next physical sheet.

 Invoke – controls the action when a new CopyGroup is invoked. Either:

• Sheet (Default) – places the subsequent page on a new sheet.

• Next – places the subsequent page in the next selected partition on the same

sheet.

• Front – places the subsequent page in the next selected front partition on the

same sheet.

• Back – places the subsequent page in the next selected back partition on the same

sheet.

86 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

If no partitions are specified for Next, Front, and Back options, the data is
placed on the next sheet.

Selecting a Paper Source

When working with printers that support multiple paper sources, the decision about the
paper source can be made at design time. In the Bin category, you can specify the paper
source to be used. Options provided in the Properties - FormDef dialog include the
selection of the paper source type, media name, component ID, output bin, and bin error
settings.

To set a paper source:

Source Bin

 Source Bin – sets the required paper source. Either:

• Default – sets the default paper source.

• Envelope – sets the envelope paper source.

• Manual – sets the manual paper feed as the paper source.

• Other – sets any available paper source.

The associated box displays the bin number of the paper source corresponding to
the option selected in the Source bin list. The Default, Envelope, and Manual
options have fixed bin numbers. To enter a bin number value other than the
predefined value, select Other, and then type the value in the box. Set the value
in the range 1-255.

 Media Name – specifies an agreed upon media name for the source bin. In case of a

number of printers, the media name is already set, whereas you can also add the
name in other printers. Selecting the Media Name check box enables the associated
list that displays the available media names.

 Comp ID – selects a paper source bin based on the component ID. Selecting the

Comp ID check box enables the associated list that displays the available
component IDs.

Output Bin

 Out bin – sets the destination bin number. Set the value in the range 1-255.
 Jog – offsets the printout stack parts in the destination bin.

Chapter 5: Designing Physical Pages 87

Bin Error

Specifies the printer behavior when any error is encountered. Either:

 Stop – stops and holds the print job if the specified bin is not found.
 Continue – continues the print job using the default bin if the specified bin is not

found.

Applying Finishing Operations

You can use the FormDef object to request various operations with printers that support
finishing operations. The finishing options are organized in three categories in the
Properties – FormDef dialog. The Finishing category specifies the print job staple, fold,
cut, and perforate options.

Setting the finishing operations at the FormDef level applies the operations to all the print
files and documents. The finishing options are device dependent; therefore, you are
recommended to check your selections for compatibility with your printing device.

Click to add a finishing operation to the sel ected op erations list. Click to delete
options from the list. You can specify the following finishing operation options:

 Scope – specifies the page limit up to which the finishing operations are applied.

Select the required option from the following:

• Printfile – applies the finishing operation to the print file, excluding the header,

trailer, and message pages.

• All – applies the finishing operation to the entire print file, including header,

trailer, and message pages.

 Type – specifies the type of finishing operation. Select the required option from the

following:

• AFP – applies the Advanced Function Presentation (AFP)-specific operations.

• UP3I – passes the operations to the printer using the Universal Printer Pre- and

Post-Processing finishing Interface (UP3I).

UP3I is an open standard intelligent interface intended for printers, pre­processors, post-processors, and other related applications.

 Operation – sets the finishing options to be displayed depending upon your

selection of the Type opt ion (above). The following options are available if you
select AFP in Type:

88 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

• CFoldIn – the center fold in; folds the sheet inwards along the center line

parallel to the finishing operation axis.

• Corner – applies a staple into the media at the specified reference corner.

• Cut – applies a separation cut to the media along the finishing operation axis.

• Edge – applies one or more staples into the media along the finishing operation

axis.

• Fold – folds the media along the finishing operation axis.

• Perforate – applies a perforation cut to the media along the finishing operation

axis.

• Punch – inserts one or more holes into the media along the finishing operation

axis.

• Saddle – applies one or more staples into the media along the finishing operation

axis, and the media is folded outwards at the axis.

• SaddleIn – applies one or more staples into the media along the finishing

operation axis, and the media is folded inwards at the axis.

 X Operation – sets the required device-specific finishing option from the available

list. These options are only applicable to the UP3I operations.

For more information on the UP3I finishing operations, refer to the
complete UP3I specification document which can be viewed at the UP3I
website homepage http://www.up3i.org.

 Reference – specifies the reference corner for the finishing operations. Either:

• Default – sets the default edge as the reference edge.

• Top Left – places the reference corner at the top left of the medium.

• Top Right – places the reference corner at the top right of the medium.

• BotRight – places the reference corner at the bottom right of the medium.

• BotLeft – places the reference corner at the bottom left of the medium.

 Offset Value – specifies the offset of the axis of the finishing operation from the

reference edge. Set the value in the range 0 - 32767. This option is activated when
AFP CFoldIn, Cut, Edge, Punch options, or any of the UP3I options are selected
(above).

Chapter 5: Designing Physical Pages 89

 Count value – specifies the number (count) of the selected finishing operations. Set

the value in the associated box within the range 1-122. This option is only activated
when AFP Edge, Fold, Perforate, Punch, Saddle, SaddleIn options, or any of the
UP3I options are selected (above).

 Position value – specifies the offset as well as the axis of the finishing operation. Set

the value in the range 0 - 32767. This field is only activated when AFP Edge, Punch,
Saddle, SaddleIn options, or any of the UP3I options are selected (above).

Y ou can create a finishing of fset list by selecting a position value and then using
and to add or remove offsets from the list.

If a printer does not support the finishing operations specified in the Finishing category,
an error is encountered. You can use the Finishing Error category options to select the
job continuation and error reporting options. An error may be encountered when a
finishing operation is not available to the printer.

To set the job continuation options:

Finishing Error

 Stop – terminates the print job if a finishing error is detected.
 Continue – continues the print job without the unavailable finishin g operation.
 Error Report – creates an error report for the finishing operation.

You can also specify additional post-pro cessing capabilities for some selected printers by
using the Processing category options. The processing capabilities can be applied to
single or multiple pages.

To specify the processing options:

Type of cut

Sets one of the following cuts for the required printing devices at one or more fixed sheet
locations:

 Perforation cut
 Separation cut

90 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Select fixed medium

 Select fixed medium – activates the fixed media ID list. To apply a printing device

fixed media to the physical page, select the corresponding ID in the fixed media ID
list. You can select multiple ID s using thi s option.

 Use all of the current medium – applies all of the fixed media to the physical page.

Setting Print Quality and Control Parameters

For printers that support multiple levels of print quality, you can specify the print quality
at design time. In the Print Control category, you can specify the quality and control
parameters for the selected AFP printers.

T o set the print quality:

 Pels per inch – specifies the print resolution value in pixels per inch.
 Quality – specifies the level of the print quality. Set the value in the range 1-10.
 Cut Sheet – provides the information on the orientation of the medium, specified in

the Presentation category, to the cut-sheet printers.

 Font Fidelity – sets the font fidelity. If a raster font is not found on a printer, it is

replaced by an outline font. This type of font substitution can cause the text to either
overflow or underflow in the intended space on the page.

3800 Printer Only

 Adjust – specifies the range of the horizontal adjustment of the print area on the

sheet for an IBM 3800 printer. Set the value in the range 1-20; the default value is 0.

Color Value Error

 Stop – terminates the print job and issues an error if the FormDef contains color

values that the printer cannot render.

 Continue – ignores the color exception and continues the current job by substituting

colors for those FormDefs which cannot be rendered.

 Error Report – prints the color error report; this field is only activated when

Continue is selected.

Chapter 5: Designing Physical Pages 91

4000 Printer Only

You can also specify different levels of print quality with a unique, four-digit identifier for
an IBM 4000 printer.

 Verification ID – sets a unique, four-digit setup verification ID in hexadecimal

format. The ID is propagated to all of the CopyGroups in the FormDef.
Click to add the Verification ID to the control list for future use. To remove the
identifier from the list, click .

To n e r Sa v e r

 Device Settings – activates the device-specific toner settings.
 On – activates the toner saver mode.
 Off – deactivates the toner saver mode.

Setting the toner saver feature can affect the quality as well as the performance of
the printer.

Adding Comments

In the Comment category, you can add comments to the FormDef object. These
comments can be viewed with the application source code in the Visual PPFA source
view.

Comments

 Comment Sub-command – sets special descriptive comments for the FormDef or

PageDef object.

Comments are converted with the application to (.OBJ) format. Therefore, they
can be viewed both with the compiled PageDef, as well as the FormDef object
code in an AFP environment.

92 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

 Programmer Comments – sets descriptive comments for the application objects.

Programmer Comments and Comment Sub-command displaying in the Source view.

The specified Name, Alias, and Comments are retained in the object format
and can be viewed when the FormDef is loaded again.

Chapter 5: Designing Physical Pages 93

94 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

Chapter 6:

Working with
FormDef Lists and
Objects

In this chapter...

 About FormDef Lists

 About FormDef Objects

 About NUP

 Viewing Full Preview

This chapter describes the FormDef objects, lists, and associated overlays, including their
creation, modification, and property definition. It also provides detail on the basic and
enhanced NUP.

About FormDef Lists

You can set up a number of lists that DesignPro Visual PPFA offers before starting the
actual design process. This enables you to design your documents easily and more
efficiently. A FormDef object can only contain one list, called a suppression list, which
facilitates you to define the suppressed fields for storage and reuse.

Working with a Suppression List

You can customiz e yo ur document by preventing (suppressing) some selected data from
being printed on a page. The suppressions are created in a PageDef and are used in a
FormDef. To suppress fields for a SubGroup, choose a unique name identifying the
suppression, and add it both to the field that needs to be suppressed, and to the SubGroup
that prints when the fields are suppressed.

95

The unique suppression names are added to the suppression list. The names that are
included in the list appear in the A vailable Suppressions list for the SubGroup, thereby
making it easy for you to specify SubGroup suppressions. You can specify a maximum of
127 suppressions in the suppression list, and 8 suppressions for a SubGroup.

Adding a Suppression List

T o add a suppression list, right-click the New FormDef node and select Insert,
Suppression List from the pop-up menu. A Suppression List node is added in the

FormDef tree.

The FormDef Tree with the newly added Suppression List..

You can also add a suppression list by selecting the New FormDef node and
performing one of the following functions:

 From the Insert menu, select Lists, Suppression List.

 Click on the Insert toolbar, and then click .

Adding Suppressions to a Suppression List

You can add suppression s to the newly created suppression list using the following
procedure:

1 In the FormDef tree, right-click the Suppression List node.

96 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide

2 Select Properties from the pop-up menu to display the Properties – Suppression List

dialog.

3 Enter a unique name identifying the field to be suppressed in the Suppression

textbox.
The name can only contain alphanumeric characters with a maximum length of eight

characters.

4 Click to add the suppression name to the Suppression list; click to delete

the selected suppression from the list.

5 Click Apply and OK to save the settings.

About FormDef Objects

A FormDef comprises a number of objects that include CopyGroup, SubGroup, and
overlays. The CopyGroup and SubGroup objects are always needed with a FormDef, and
every time you create a FormDef, the CopyGroups and SubGroups are, by default, added
in it. The overlay object is optional and needs to be added explicitly. You can, however,
specify additional CopyGroups, SubGroups, and overlays for a FormDef, as per your
requirements. You can also view objects in the design area, and set or modify their
properties.

Chapter 6: Working with FormDef Lists and Objects 97

Working with CopyGroups

A FormDef can contain multiple sets of attributes defining the physical page called
CopyGroups. A CopyGroup defines one set of attributes for a physical page in the
document. This includes:

 Position of the logical page.
 Selection of simplex or duplex printing.
 Selection of cut-sheet paper type among multiple paper sources.
 Offset stacking or copy marking of discrete print job parts in an output stacker.
 Printing multiple logical pages on a single side of a physical page.
 A number of post-processing operations for a print job.
 Level of the print quality.

Multiple CopyGroups can be used depending on the printing requirements, as well as th e
data. A single page of data can be printed using different layouts, requiring multiple
CopyGroups. Similarly, you can also print multiple pages of data using the same layout
utilizing a single CopyGroup. Each FormDef can comprise a maximum of 255
CopyGroups. The CopyGroups are placed within a FormDef in the order they are
generated. When working with multiple CopyGroups, switching between the CopyGroups
is done using conditional processing.

For duplex mode, when data is printed on both sides of the physical sheet, a CopyGroup
specifies attributes for both of the sides. Each CopyGroup can contain up to 127
SubGroups, each of which creates a different set of modifications for the same page of
data.

Adding a CopyGroup

To add a CopyGroup, right-click a node in the FormDef tree, and select Insert>
CopyGroup from the pop-up menu. A New CopyGroup node displays in the FormDef
tree.

The Form Def Tree displaying the added CopyGroup.

98 DesignPro Visual PPFA User Guide