Lexmark Document Distributor User manual

www.lexmark.com

Basic Script Writing

April 2002

Document Distributor

Edition: April 2002

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Table of contents

Introduction ........................................................................ 1

Chapter 1: Your First Script ..............................................2

Example of a work flow process ............................................. 2

Using the ScriptWizard to write your script ............................. 4

EmailSMTP ................................................................................ 8

ConvertToDocument ............................................................... 12

FaxByPrinter ............................................................................ 15

Compiling your new script .................................................... 18

Creating a Profile .................................................................. 20

Using the MFP ProfileWizard .................................................. 21

Summary .............................................................................. 25

Chapter 2: Parts of a Script ............................................26

Objects ................................................................................. 26

Properties and methods .......................................................... 26

Data Objects ............................................................................ 28

Action Objects ......................................................................... 32

System Objects ....................................................................... 33

Helper Objects ......................................................................... 35

Summary .............................................................................. 38

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Chapter 3: Using the Script Editor .................................39

Script Editor Toolbar ............................................................. 40

Adding an Action Using the Insert Actions Wizard ............... 41

Add Actions Manually ........................................................... 45

Compilation Prompts ............................................................ 47

Summary .............................................................................. 47

Chapter 4: Flow Control ..................................................48

Conditional Statements ........................................................ 48

If/Then ..................................................................................... 48

Switch/Case ............................................................................. 51

Repetitive Statements .......................................................... 52

Loop ......................................................................................... 52

Repeat ..................................................................................... 53

Summary .............................................................................. 54

Chapter 5: User Data .......................................................55

Creating User Data in a Script .............................................. 57

Types of User Data ............................................................... 59

Using User Data in a Script .................................................. 64

Summary .............................................................................. 65

1

Introduction

This document provides an introduction to writing scripts for the Lexmark Document Distributor (LDD)

Version 2.1. It is assumed you are familiar with basic programming concepts and have some

experience with a programming language such as C, C++, or Visual Basic. For a detailed technical

specification of the scripting language, see the “Script Reference”. To study example scripts for the

Document Distributor, see the “Script Examples”. Both of these documents are located at Start

Programs Lexmark Document Distributor Client.

Included in this book:

Chapter 1, "Your First Script"—Planning and creating your first script.

Chapter 2, "Parts of a Script"—Explores the script created in Chapter 1. Covers objects, data types,

system objects, helper objects, and Actions.

Chapter 3, "Using the Script Editor"—Add Actions and other features to scripts created with

ScriptWizard.

Chapter 4, "Flow Control"—Insert logic statements that control execution of other parts of the script.

Chapter 5, "User Data"—Prompt end users for additional information when a script is run, then use

the data in a script.

2

1

Your First Script

To unleash the power of Document Distributor you need to create a script. To create a script you will

need to understand the business process that you want to automate. Processes that are rarely

performed or procedures that require a large amount of human intervention throughout the process

probably aren't good candidates for Document Distributor automation. These guidelines can help you

decide if your process qualifies for automation:

Does your task:

• Have steps done repeatedly in exactly the same way or with only minor variations?

• Have multiple steps?

• Already have a partially automated process (Document Distributor can further automate it)?

• Have a means of getting documents into a back-end process that end users don't need to

know about?

• Have parts of a process that may change, but your end users don't need to know about it?

• Need to be simplified for your end users?

Once you've decided that Document Distributor can improve your workflow process, analyze the steps

involved in the process.

Example of a work flow process

The Human Resources Department must post job openings within the hospital every week in various

locations throughout the hospital. Each week the list of job openings is faxed to various departments in

the hospital. The recipients in the department then put the list of job openings on their bulletin board.

Some departments are willing to receive the job listing as an e-mail rather than a fax. But until

everyone is willing to receive an e-mail, someone must fax the list to those who prefer a fax and e-mail

the list to everyone else.

This is a process that is repeated regularly and has multiple steps. As more departments are willing to

accept an e-mail, the process will change as the e-mail list grows and the fax list shrinks. The end

users are Human Resource employees that are familiar with the job openings, but not necessarily with

the e-mail addresses and fax numbers of all the various departments throughout the hospital.

3

Now look at the Actions provided by Document Distributor and see how they match up with the

example process.

In the hospital example, you need to break down the Document flow and then pick the Actions that

correspond:

1 E-mail listings to departments (EmailSMTP)

2 Convert document to fax (ConvertToDocument)

3 Fax job listings to departments (FaxByPrinter)

Next, write the script using the ScriptWizard.

Route Documents Print Documents Store and Retrieve Documents

EmailExchange PrintASCII DatabaseNotes

EmailNotes PrintByAssoc FTPget

EmailSMTP PrintByDriver FTPput

FaxByPrinter PrintIP GWDiscuss

GWMail PrintPDF GWCheckIn

LaunchExe PrintTIF ODBCRead

PrintURL ODBCWrite

SaveToFile

Manipulate Documents Recognize Document Content EDMS Integration

ConvertImageFormat ConvertBarcodeToText DominoDocCheckin

ConvertToDocument ConvertForm DominoDocRetrieve

ImageCombine ConvertToText SharePointRead

ImageCrop SharePointWrite

ImageDeskew

ImageInvert

ImageMerge

ImageRotate

ImageSeparate

ImageText

4

Using the ScriptWizard to write your script

The ScriptWizard helps you quickly create scripts to automate your workflow.

1 Start the ScriptWizard by clicking the ScriptWizard icon

2 A Dialog box appears listing the steps to take to create a script. Click Next.

3 Choose which Document Server will process this script. Select Primary Server for your first

script. Click Next.

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4

Give your script a name. This is the name your end users see when selecting a profile from an

MFP or workstation. The name can be up to 15 characters long. You may also provide a longer

description to help identify this work flow process. This description can be seen by end users

who submit jobs from a workstation through Select'N'Send or Print'N'Send. For this example,

enter "JobList" as the script name. Click Next.

6

5

In the “Example of a work flow process” on page 2, the end user will scan the list of job

openings or submit the list using Print'N'Send, so select Yes, a document is required for this

job. No user data is needed in this script. To learn more about user data, see “User Data” on

page 55.

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6

Select the Actions. Choose which Actions will be used in your script. For this example, you

need one e-mail Action, one conversion Action, and one fax Action.

• Select EmailSMTP. Click Add.

• Select ConvertToDocument. Click Add.

• Select FaxByPrinter. Click Add.

There are now three Actions in your script.

When creating a script, you can add as many Actions as you want. You can also add the same

Action several times. For example, add FaxByPrinter again if you want to fax the document

twice. The Actions are carried out in the order they are added to the script. If you need to use

the results of one Action in another Action, be sure to put them in the correct order. For

example, in this script you need a PostScript document for faxing with the FaxByPrinter Action.

So you first added the ConvertToDocument Action that converts our scanned document to

PostScript before faxing it.

Now you're ready to configure each Action. Click Next.

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EmailSMTP

In order to send e-mail, you need to specify some properties. Click on each of the following to specify

the property.

• Server

• To

• From

• Subject

• Message

• Attachments

1 Click the Server Property. This property indicates the mail server that sends the e-mail. Select

Use value specified, and type in the name of the mail server.

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2

Click the To property. This property indicates to whom the e-mail is sent. Select Use value

specified, and type in the recipient of the e-mail.

3 Click the From property. This property is the sender’s e-mail address. Select Use value

specified, and type in the sender’s e-mail address.

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4

Click the Subject property. This string is the subject of the e-mail that is sent. Select Use

value specified, and type in the subject.

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5

Click the Message property. This string is the text of the e-mail that is sent, along with any

attachments. Select Use value specified, and type in the message.

6 Click the Attachments property. This property indicates what documents to attach to the

e-mail. Since this script e-mails the original document received from the user, click Use a

variable or property and choose original.document from the list. This indicates the

originally scanned document.

7 Click Next to set the properties of the ConvertToDocument Action.

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ConvertToDocument

The FaxByPrinter Action requires the input document be in PostScript format. Because of this, the

ConvertToDocument Action is used first to produce a PostScript file.

The following properties need to be set:

• Input

• Format

• Output

1 Click the Input property. This is the document the action will operate on. Click on Use a

variable or property and choose original.document from the list. This is the document

originally scanned by the user.

Note: Before using an action, check the “Script Reference” located at Start

Programs

Lexmark Document Distributor Client, to see what kind of document is required for

the Action.

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2

Click the Format property. This property specifies the file format of the output from this Action.

Choose PostScript as the conversion format.

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3

Click the output property. This property specifies where to keep the output from this Action.

Click Create a new variable called in order to create a new document variable. Type in

PSDocument as the name of the new document. This document can be used in subsequent

Actions.

4 Click Next to set the properties of the FaxByPrinter Action.

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FaxByPrinter

This Action is used to send a fax using a Lexmark MFP. The following properties need to be specified:

• Input

• IPAddress

• FaxNumber

• StationID

1 Click the Input property. This is the document that will be faxed. Click on Use a variable or

property, select the PostScript document created by the ConvertToDocument Action called

PSDocument.

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2

Click on the IPAddress property. Provide the IP address or DNS name of the fax-enabled

Lexmark printer to be used for faxing.

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Lexmark Document Distributor User manual

Lexmark Document Distributor User manual

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