OBJECTIF LUNE PlanetPress Workflow 2020.1 User manual

User Guide

Version 2020.1

Last Revision:2021-01-04

Objectif Lune, Inc.

2030 Pie-IX, Suite 500

Montréal, QC, Canada, H1V 2C8

+1 (514) 875-5863

www.objectiflune.com

All trademarks displayed are the property of their respective owners.

reproduced, transmitted or distributed outside of Objectif Lune Inc. by any means whatsoever

without the express written permission of Objectif Lune Inc. Inc. Objectif Lune Inc. Inc. disclaims

responsibility for any errors and omissions in this documentation and accepts no responsibility

for damages arising from such inconsistencies or their further consequences of any kind.

Objectif Lune Inc. Inc reserves the right to alter the information contained in this documentation

without notice.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents 4

Welcome to PlanetPress Workflow 2020.1 13

Notes in this guide 13

Installation and setup 15

System requirements 15

Operating System 15

Virtual environments 15

Minimum hardware requirements 16

Recommended hardware requirements 17

Requirements for individual Connect modules 17

Environment considerations 18

Terminal Services 18

Virtual environments 18

32-bit or 64-bit? 19

Antivirus considerations 19

Backup software 20

Microsoft Office compatibility 21

Setting up the working environment 21

Network considerations 21

Local and network rights 21

Account requirements 22

Mapped drives 22

Network ports used by each service 22

Known Issues 24

File Count input task ignores polling interval 24

HTTP Server Input triggers all trigger-based processes 25

Microsoft patch causing handling of XLS to fail 25

Data Repository error 26

Other known issues 26

Basics 30

Related tools and resource files 30

Features 32

About Workflow Configurations 32

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Creating a new configuration 33

Open a PlanetPress Workflow configuration file 34

Saving and sending a Workflow Configuration 35

Exit PlanetPress Workflow Configuration program 37

Workflow Configuration resource files 38

Connect resources 38

PlanetPress Design documents 42

PrintShop Mail documents 48

About data 48

About documents and variable data 49

Job file 50

Job file names and output file names 50

Data selections 52

About data emulation 58

Sample Data 69

Metadata 73

Working with JSON 89

Data Repository 93

Structure 94

Accessing the Data Repository 94

Where to find the Data Repository 96

Debugging and error handling 96

About error handling 96

Using the On Error tab 97

Creating and using Error processes 98

Accessing the Logs 100

Resubmit backed up input files to a process 102

Debugging your PlanetPress Workflow process 104

About printing 108

OL Connect print jobs 108

PlanetPress Suite print jobs 109

PlanetPress Workflow printer queues 110

Shared printer queue properties 111

Windows Output printer queue 113

LPR Output Printer Queue 114

FTP Output Printer Queue 116

Send to Folder printer queue 117

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Load balancing 118

Associating PlanetPress Design documents and PlanetPress printer queues 119

Triggers 120

Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS) 121

About processes and subprocesses 124

Processes 124

Startup processes 125

Subprocesses 125

Creating a process 126

Importing processes 128

Activating or deactivating a process 129

Process properties 130

About branches and conditions 136

Converting a branch to a subprocess 138

Running a process on desktop 138

Using Scripts 141

Run Script task 141

APIs 142

The Script Editor and XSLT Editor 143

SOAP Server API Reference 149

The Watch Object 156

Data Repository API 174

Metadata API 196

Attributes 216

Count 216

Fields 216

Index 216

NodeType 217

Parent 217

Selected 217

SelectedCount 218

SelectedState 218

Add(Integer Index) 219

AttributeByIndex(Integer Index) 219

AttributeByName(const String Name) 220

Clear() 220

Copy() 220

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Cut() 220

DatapageCount() 221

Delete() 221

DocumentCount() 221

FieldByIndex(Integer Index) 222

FieldByName(const String Name) 222

FieldByNameIndex(const String Name, Integer Index) 223

IndexInDocument() 223

IndexInGroup() 223

IndexInJob() 224

Item(Integer Index) 224

PageCount() 225

Paste() 225

PasteAt(Integer Index) 225

Select(TSelectWhat SelectWhat) 226

SelectedDatapageCount() 226

SelectedDocumentCount() 227

SelectedIndexInDocument() 227

SelectedIndexInGroup() 227

SelectedIndexInJob() 228

SelectedPageCount() 228

Sort(const String Name, optional TSortFlags Flags, optional const String Name2,

optional TSortFlags Flags2, optional const String Name3, optional TSortFlags Flags3)

228

Parameters 233

Exceptions 234

Parameters 234

Exceptions 235

Parameters 235

Returns 235

Parameters 235

Exceptions 236

Parameters 236

Returns 236

Exceptions 236

Parameters 236

Returns 236

Parameters 237

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Returns 237

Exceptions 237

Parameters 237

Returns 237

Exceptions 238

AlambicEdit API reference 241

Stopping execution 274

Special workflow types 276

HTTP Server workflow 277

PDF Workflow 285

PlanetPress Capture Workflow 287

Workflow processes in a Connect Send solution 296

About Tasks 298

Adding tasks 299

Editing a task 300

Task properties 300

Masks 304

Selecting a resource file in task properties 305

Input tasks 307

Action tasks 375

Data splitters 447

Process logic tasks 467

Connector tasks 486

PlanetPress Capture 533

Metadata tasks 555

OL Connect Send 572

OL Connect tasks 586

Output tasks 639

Document Management tasks 665

Connection tab 667

Download tab 668

Connection tab 672

Upload tab 674

Advanced properties 680

Advanced properties 683

Email Services 689

Unknown tasks 696

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About variables 696

Job Info variables 697

System variables 699

Local variables 704

Global variables 705

Variable task properties 707

Workflow add-ons 710

PlanetPress Capture 710

Capture OnTheGo (COTG) 738

About PlanetPress Fax 738

About PlanetPress Image 739

OL Connect Send 740

ZUGFeRD 741

About related programs and services 742

Available Input services 743

Available Output services 743

Start and stop PlanetPress Workflow Service 744

Users and configurations 745

Workflow Services 746

Preferences 749

Other preferences and settings 750

General appearance preferences 750

Object Inspector appearance preferences 751

Configuration Components pane appearance preferences 752

Colors 752

Options 752

Default configuration behavior preferences 753

Notification Messages behavior preferences 754

Preferences 754

Sample Data behavior preferences 757

Preferences 757

Network behavior preferences 757

Preferences 757

PlanetPress Capture preferences 758

PlanetPress Capture Server/Client 759

PlanetPress Document Manager 760

PlanetPress Capture ODBC Settings 762

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PlanetPress Capture Pen Management Tool 764

PlanetPress Capture License Management 766

OL Connect preferences 767

PDF text extraction tolerance factors 768

General and logging preferences 770

Messenger plugin preferences 771

Preferences 772

HTTP Server Input plugin preferences 1 772

Preferences 773

HTTP Server Input plugin preferences 2 777

LPD Input plugin preferences 778

Preferences 779

NodeJS Server Input plugin preferences 1 779

NodeJS Server Input plugin preferences 2 781

NodeJS Server Input plugin preferences 3 782

Testing the server 783

Changing the Log in page 783

Setting the duration of the authentication 784

Serial Input plugin preferences 784

Preferences 784

Telnet Input plugin preferences 785

Preferences 785

PlanetPress Fax plugin preferences 786

Preferences 786

Captaris RightFax options 788

FTP Output Service preferences 789

Options 789

PlanetPress Image preferences 790

LPR Output preferences 793

Options 793

PrintShop Web Connect Service preferences 795

Editor Options 795

The user interface 800

Customizing the Workspace 801

Dock and undock areas of the Program Window 801

Show or hide areas of the program window 803

Combine and attach areas 803

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Resize the program window areas 808

Change the Interface language 809

PlanetPress Workflow Button 810

Options 810

Configuration Components pane 811

Components Area Sections 811

PlanetPress Design document properties 814

Moving and copying configuration components 817

Renaming objects in the Configuration Components Pane 820

Reordering objects in the Configuration Components pane 820

Grouping Configuration Components 821

Expanding and collapsing categories and groups in the Configuration Components

pane

823

Deleting something from the Configuration Components pane 823

Dialogs 824

Access Manager 824

Activate a printer 830

Advanced SQL Statement Dialog 831

Data Repository Manager 832

The Data Selector 835

The File Viewer 839

Data Selector display preferences 840

PDF Viewer 842

Printer utilities 844

Process properties 847

Rule Interface 853

Task Properties dialog 856

Update document 857

Virtual Drive Manager 858

The Debug Information pane 858

The Message Area Pane 859

The Object Inspector pane 860

Editing properties 861

The Plug-in Bar 861

Categories 862

Settings and customization 863

The Process area 864

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Cutting, copying and pasting tasks and branches 865

Highlight a task or branch 866

Disabling tasks and branches 867

Moving a task or branch using drag-and-drop 868

Redo a command 869

Removing tasks or branches 869

Replacing tasks, conditions or branches 870

Resize the rows and columns of the Process area 870

Collapse and expand branches and conditions 871

Undo a command 871

Zoom in or out within the Process Area 872

The Quick Access Toolbar 872

Adding buttons 872

Removing buttons 872

Moving the toolbar 873

The PlanetPress Workflow Ribbon 873

The Task Comments Pane 876

The PlanetPress Workflow Service Console 876

Controlling Services 877

Viewing log files 878

Knowledge Base 880

Legal Notices and Acknowledgments 881

Copyright Information 887

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Welcome to PlanetPress Workflow

2020.1

This PDF documentation covers version 2020.1. To view the documentation of previous

versions please refer to the PDF files available in the Downloads section of our website:

http://www.objectiflune.com/OL/Download/DownloadCenter.

Workflow is the heart of all of our solutions. Working in conjunction with PlanetPress Connect,

PlanetPress Capture, CaptureOnTheGO, PlanetPress Imaging, PlanetPress Fax, and a variety

of plugins, it helps improve your communications processes. Processes such as

communication creation, interaction, distribution and even maintenance.

Workflow is the "super dispatcher". It caters for inputs from a huge variety of sources, such as

email, web pages, databases, individual files (PDF, csv, XML, etc), print streams, FTP, Telnet

and ERP systems. This data can then be analyzed, modified, stored, verified, routed and used

as triggers for other processes from entirely within Workflow. Finally it is passed to one of our

other products (or not) to be outputted in multiple ways (printed, emailed, posted, archived, sent

to third party solutions, etc..).

Consider Workflow as a set of buildings blocks that enable you to build your own customized

automated processes which will fit your environment and not the other way around. Create

processes that will save you time and money!

Notes in this guide

Notes are used throughout this guide to draw your attention to certain information.

Note

Important information that deserves your attention.

Page 13

Tip

Information that may help you use PlanetPress Workflow better or that suggests an easier

method.

Warning

Information that is potentially critical to using PlanetPress Workflow.

Page 14

Installation and setup

The installation procedure for Workflow is described in the topic Installing Workflow.

The following topics describe the different considerations that are important in regards to the

installation and use of PlanetPress Workflow.

l "System requirements" below

l "Environment considerations" on page18

l "Setting up the working environment" on page21

l "Known Issues" on page24

System requirements

These are the recommended system requirements for PlanetPress Workflow 2020.1.

Operating System

l Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 Server

l Microsoft Windows 2012/2012 R2 Server

l Microsoft Windows 2016 Server

l Microsoft Windows 2019 Server

l Windows 7

l Microsoft Windows 8.1

l Microsoft Windows 10 (Pro and Enterprise versions only)

Note

Windows Vista, Windows 8.0, Windows 2003 Server and earlier versions of Windows are

not supported by PlanetPress Workflow.

Virtual environments

PlanetPress Workflow supports the following virtual environments:

Page 15

l VMWare Environments. This includes VMWare Player, VMWare Workstation as well as

VMWare ESX Server.

l VMWare VMotion. This means the virtual machine hosting PlanetPress Workflow can be

automatically moved from one ESX server to another in a clustered installation.

l Microsoft Hyper-V/Azure infrastructure environments.

l Amazon Web Services (AWS)

PlanetPress Workflow is not officially supported on any other virtual machines such as Virtual

PC, Parallels, Bochs, Xen, etc. While running PlanetPress Workflow on these virtual machines

may work finewe have not tested them and cannot offer support for them.

Warning

The PlanetPress Workflow End-User License Agreement (EULA) specifies that a

PlanetPress Workflow software license may only be used on a single virtual or physical

PC at a time. While copying a virtual machine for backup purposes is acceptable, running

two instances of the same machine, using the same serial number, is strictly prohibited.

Minimum hardware requirements

As with any software application, minimum hardware requirements represent the basic

hardware on which the software will run. Note however that settling for the minimum

specification is unlikely to produce the performance you expect from the system. It can be used

when configuring a trial or a development system, however.

l File system: NTFS (FAT32 is not supported)

l CPU:multi-core

l RAM: 6GB

l Disk Space:At least 10GB*1

*1: Requirements will depend upon the amount of data you process through PlanetPress

Workflow. For instance, a PostScript file containing several thousands of documents could

easily take up several GBs.

Page 16

Recommended hardware requirements

Due to its versatility, OL Connect is used for a wide variety of applications. Consequently, it is

difficult to determine which hardware configuration will produce the best results for any given

implementation. The following specs should therefore be viewed as a general guideline that is

most likely to produce expected results for most implementations. You should, however, keep

in mind that it may not represent the optimal setup for your particular application.

l File system: NTFS (FAT32 is not supported)

l CPU:Intel Core i7-4770 Haswell or equivalent

l RAM: 16GB

l Disk Space: 20GB*

l Storage Type: Solid State Drive (SSD)

l Networking: 10Gb Ethernet

*: Requirements will depend upon the amount of data you process through PlanetPress

Workflow. For instance, a PostScript file containing several thousands of documents could

easily take up several GBs.

Requirements for individual Connect modules

OL Connect Products comprises multiple modules that can be operated separately on multiple

PCs. Each module has its own set of requirements that may differ from the other modules.

While the hardware requirements described above are relatively generic when installing all

Connect modules on a single server, they should not be interpreted literally for each individual

module.

When installing on multiple PCs, keep the following rules of thumb in mind:

l The Connect Workflow module requires less RAM but fast hard drive access. It also

benefits from fast multi-core CPUs, in order to run processes in parallel.

l The Connect Server module requires more RAM and benefits from fast multi-core CPUs.

Disk access speed is less of a concern.

l The Connect Designer module requires more RAM and fast disk access to provide a

responsive user-experience.

l The back-end database (MySQL by default) benefits from more RAM, speedy disk access

and fast networking as it will be solicited by all modules simultaneously.

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Environment considerations

This page provides technical information about the environment in which PlanetPress

Workflow is intended to run.

Terminal Services

PlanetPress Workflow does not support Terminal Services environment as possible under

Windows 2000, 2003 and 2008. This is to say, if Terminal Services is installed on the server

where PlanetPress Workflow is located, unexpected behaviors may occur and will not be

supported by our company. Furthermore, using PlanetPress Workflow in a Terminal Service

environment is probably an infringement of our End-User License Agreement.

Terminal Services may also be referred to as Terminal Server or Remote Administration Mode

(Windows Server 2003 and 2008).

Single-User Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) (where only one person can use RDP at a time)

is supported for PlanetPress Workflow version 6.2 and higher, however it is only supported in

Windows XP or Windows 2003. While later versions of Windows may not cause issues when

accessing PlanetPress Workflow through RDP, these combinations are no longer tested and

may not be functional.

Virtual environments

PlanetPress Workflow supports the following virtual environments:

l VMWare Environments. This includes VMWare Player, VMWare Workstation as well as

VMWare ESX Server.

l VMWare VMotion. This means the virtual machine hosting PlanetPress Workflow can be

automatically moved from one ESX server to another in a clustered installation.

l Microsoft Hyper-V/Azure infrastructure environments.

l Amazon Web Services (AWS)

PlanetPress Workflow is not officially supported on any other virtual machines such as Virtual

PC, Parallels, Bochs, Xen, etc. While running PlanetPress Workflow on these virtual machines

may work finewe have not tested them and cannot offer support for them.

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Warning

The PlanetPress Workflow End-User License Agreement (EULA) specifies that a

PlanetPress Workflow software license may only be used on a single virtual or physical

PC at a time. While copying a virtual machine for backup purposes is acceptable, running

two instances of the same machine, using the same serial number, is strictly prohibited.

32-bit or 64-bit?

PlanetPress Suite version 7.1.3 and higher, as well as PlanetPress Connect, support a 64-bit

operating system. However, PlanetPress Workflow remains 32-bits in this environment, which

means that for all intents and purposes there is no difference between those two environments

as far as PlanetPress Workflow is concerned.

Antivirus considerations

PlanetPress Workflow generates a very large amount of temporary data on your hard disk,

especially when manipulating or creating PDF files. This can sometimes cause issues when

any other software is trying to access the temporary files at the same time as PlanetPress

Workflow and its components are trying to read, write, create or delete those files.

If you experience these issues you may want to temporarily disable your antivirus "live", "daily"

or "deep" scans for the following folders and processes:

Warning

Disabling any antivirus scanning permanently on any folder or program is not

recommended, and Objectif Lune cannot be held reliable for any consequence of

disabling your antivirus or whitelisting the folders or executables listed here, or any other

change in your antivirus protection setup!

l On Windows 7/2008:

l C:\ProgramData\Objectif Lune\PlanetPress Workflow 8\

l C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Local\Temp\ (where [user] is the user under which

Workflow is configured)

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l C:\Users\[user]\Connect (where [user] is the user under which Workflow is

configured)

l On all systems:

l C:\Windows\Temp\

Note

C:\Windows\Temp\ is used by multiple software which may cause risks on

your computer. However, PlanetPress Workflow may use this folder as

temporary storage, especially in the case of creating PDF files. We do not

recommend disabling scan on this folder, unless you notice performance

issues when generating PDFs, and then only as a test.

l Processes:

l FTPPutService.exe

l HTTPService.exe

l LPDService.exe

l LPRService.exe

l PPWatchService.exe

l PSWService.exe

l SerialService.exe

l SMTPService.exe

l TelnetService.exe

l ppNode.exe

l PPFaxService.exe

l PPImageService.exe

l MessengerService.exe

Backup software

For similar reasons, it is important to know that backup software can also access files while

copying them to a remote backup location, so you should make sure that no PlanetPress

Workflow process is working during your backups.

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OBJECTIF LUNE PlanetPress Workflow 2020.1 User manual

OBJECTIF LUNE PlanetPress Workflow 2020.1 User manual

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