OBJECTIF LUNE PlanetPress Workflow 2019.2 User guide

User Guide

Version:2019.2

User Guide

Version 2019.2

Last Revision:2020-06-16

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 2019.2 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 considerations 21

Microsoft Office compatibility 21

Setting up the working environment 21

Network considerations 21

Local and network rights 22

Account requirements 22

Mapped drives 22

Network ports used by each service 23

Known Issues 25

Issues with Secure Email tasks in multi-byte languages 25

Microsoft patch causing handling of XLS to fail 25

Other known issues 26

About PlanetPress Fax 29

About PlanetPress Image 30

Preferences 31

Basics 32

Related tools and resource files 32

Features 34

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About Workflow Configurations 34

Creating a new configuration 35

Open a PlanetPress Workflow configuration file 36

Saving and sending a Workflow Configuration 37

Exit PlanetPress Workflow Configuration program 39

Workflow Configuration resource files 40

Connect resources 40

PlanetPress Design documents 44

PrintShop Mail documents 50

About data 50

About documents and variable data 51

Job file 52

Job file names and output file names 52

Data selections 54

About data emulation 60

Sample Data 71

Metadata 76

Working with JSON 92

Data Repository 96

Structure 97

Accessing the Data Repository 97

Where to find the Data Repository 99

Debugging and error handling 99

About error handling 99

Using the On Error tab 100

Creating and using Error processes 101

Accessing the Logs 103

Resubmit backed up input files to a process 105

Debugging your PlanetPress Workflow process 107

About printing 111

OL Connect print jobs 111

PlanetPress Suite print jobs 112

PlanetPress Workflow printer queues 113

Shared printer queue properties 114

Windows Output printer queue 116

LPR Output Printer Queue 117

FTP Output Printer Queue 118

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Send to Folder printer queue 120

Load balancing 121

Associating PlanetPress Design documents and PlanetPress printer queues 121

Triggers 123

Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS) 123

About processes and subprocesses 126

Processes 126

Startup processes 127

Subprocesses 128

Creating a process 128

Importing processes 130

Activating or deactivating a process 132

Process properties 132

About branches and conditions 137

Converting a branch to a subprocess 139

Running a process on desktop 139

Saving and sending a Workflow Configuration 140

Using Scripts 143

Run Script task 143

APIs 144

The Script Editor and XSLT Editor 145

SOAP Server API Reference 151

The Watch Object 158

Data Repository API 176

Metadata API 198

Attributes 218

Count 218

Fields 218

Index 218

NodeType 219

Parent 219

Selected 219

SelectedCount 220

SelectedState 220

Add(Integer Index) 221

AttributeByIndex(Integer Index) 221

AttributeByName(const String Name) 222

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Clear() 222

Copy() 222

Cut() 222

DatapageCount() 223

Delete() 223

DocumentCount() 223

FieldByIndex(Integer Index) 224

FieldByName(const String Name) 224

FieldByNameIndex(const String Name, Integer Index) 225

IndexInDocument() 225

IndexInGroup() 225

IndexInJob() 226

Item(Integer Index) 226

PageCount() 227

Paste() 227

PasteAt(Integer Index) 227

Select(TSelectWhat SelectWhat) 228

SelectedDatapageCount() 228

SelectedDocumentCount() 229

SelectedIndexInDocument() 229

SelectedIndexInGroup() 229

SelectedIndexInJob() 230

SelectedPageCount() 230

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

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

230

Parameters 243

Exceptions 243

Parameters 243

Exceptions 244

Parameters 245

Returns 245

Parameters 245

Exceptions 245

Parameters 245

Returns 245

Exceptions 246

Parameters 246

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Returns 246

Parameters 246

Returns 246

Exceptions 247

Parameters 247

Returns 247

Exceptions 247

AlambicEdit API reference 250

Stopping execution 284

Special workflow types 285

HTTP Server workflow 287

PDF Workflow 294

PlanetPress Capture Workflow 296

Database considerations (ODBC) 303

Workflow processes in a Connect Send solution 332

About Tasks 334

Adding tasks 335

Editing a task 336

Task properties 336

Masks 340

Selecting a resource file in task properties 341

Input tasks 343

Action tasks 402

Data splitters 476

Process logic tasks 496

Connector tasks 513

PlanetPress Capture 560

Metadata tasks 582

OL Connect Send 599

OL Connect tasks 613

Output tasks 667

Document Management tasks 688

Connection tab 691

Download tab 692

General tab 696

Login tab 701

Info Tab 702

Page 8

Connection tab 704

Upload tab 705

Advanced properties 712

Advanced properties 714

Email Services 720

Unknown tasks 726

About variables 727

Job Info variables 728

System variables 729

Local variables 734

Global variables 736

Variable task properties 738

Workflow add-ons 740

PlanetPress Capture 740

Capture OnTheGo (COTG) 769

About PlanetPress Fax 769

About PlanetPress Image 770

OL Connect Send 771

ZUGFeRD 772

About related programs and services 781

Available Input services 782

Available Output services 782

Start and stop PlanetPress Workflow Service 783

Users and configurations 784

Workflow Services 785

Preferences 788

Other preferences and settings 789

General appearance preferences 789

Object Inspector appearance preferences 790

Configuration Components pane appearance preferences 791

Colors 791

Options 791

Default configuration behavior preferences 792

Notification Messages behavior preferences 793

Preferences 793

Sample Data behavior preferences 796

Preferences 796

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Network behavior preferences 796

Preferences 796

PlanetPress Capture preferences 797

PlanetPress Capture Server/Client 798

PlanetPress Document Manager 799

PlanetPress Capture ODBC Settings 801

PlanetPress Capture Pen Management Tool 803

PlanetPress Capture License Management 805

OL Connect preferences 806

PDF text extraction tolerance factors 807

General and logging preferences 809

Messenger plugin preferences 810

Preferences 811

HTTP Server Input plugin preferences 1 811

Preferences 812

HTTP Server Input plugin preferences 2 816

LPD Input plugin preferences 817

Preferences 818

NodeJS Server Input plugin preferences 1 818

NodeJS Server Input plugin preferences 2 820

NodeJS Server Input plugin preferences 3 821

Serial Input plugin preferences 822

Preferences 822

Telnet Input plugin preferences 823

Preferences 823

PlanetPress Fax plugin preferences 824

Preferences 824

Captaris RightFax options 827

FTP Output Service preferences 827

Options 827

PlanetPress Image preferences 828

LPR Output preferences 832

Options 832

PrintShop Web Connect Service preferences 833

Editor Options 833

The user interface 839

Customizing the Workspace 840

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Dock and undock areas of the Program Window 840

Show or hide areas of the program window 842

Combine and attach areas 842

Resize the program window areas 847

Change the Interface language 848

PlanetPress Workflow Button 849

Options 849

Configuration Components pane 850

Components Area Sections 850

Process properties 853

PlanetPress Design document properties 858

Moving and copying configuration components 860

Renaming objects in the Configuration Components Pane 863

Reordering objects in the Configuration Components pane 864

Grouping Configuration Components 865

Expanding and collapsing categories and groups in the Configuration Components

pane

866

Deleting something from the Configuration Components pane 866

Dialogs 867

Access Manager 867

Activate a printer 873

Advanced SQL Statement Dialog 874

Data Repository Manager 875

The Data Selector 878

The File Viewer 882

Data Selector display preferences 883

PDF Viewer 885

Printer utilities 887

Process properties 890

Rule Interface 895

Task Properties dialog 898

Update document 899

Virtual Drive Manager 900

Workflow Services 900

The Debug Information pane 902

The Message Area Pane 903

The Object Inspector pane 904

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Editing properties 904

The Plug-in Bar 905

Categories 905

Settings and customization 906

The Process area 907

Cutting, copying and pasting tasks and branches 908

Highlight a task or branch 910

Disabling tasks and branches 910

Moving a task or branch using drag-and-drop 911

Redo a command 912

Removing tasks or branches 912

Replacing tasks, conditions or branches 913

Resize the rows and columns of the Process area 914

Collapse and expand branches and conditions 914

Undo a command 915

Zoom in or out within the Process Area 915

The Quick Access Toolbar 915

Adding buttons 916

Removing buttons 916

Moving the toolbar 916

The PlanetPress Workflow Ribbon 916

The Task Comments Pane 919

The PlanetPress Workflow Service Console 920

Controlling Services 920

Viewing log files 921

Knowledge Base 923

Legal Notices and Acknowledgments 924

Copyright Information 930

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Welcome to PlanetPress Workflow

2019.2

This PDF documentation covers version 2019.2. 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.

Tip

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

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Warning

Information that is potentially critical to using PlanetPress Workflow.

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Installation and setup

This chapter describes 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25

System Requirements

These are the recommended system requirements for PlanetPress Workflow 2019.2.

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:

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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(they are properly detected by PlanetPress Suite 7.5.1 and higher) 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.

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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*1

l Storage Type: Solid State Drive (SSD)

l Networking: 10Gb Ethernet

*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.

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 is intended to provide 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(they are properly detected by PlanetPress Suite 7.5.1 and higher) 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.

About PlanetPress Suite

In previous versions of PlanetPress Suite, not all virtual environments were supported:

l PlanetPress Suite 6 and higher support VMWare Environment.

l PlanetPress Suite 7.1 and higher also support VMotion.

l PlanetPress Suite 7.5.1 and higher started supporting Hyper-V virtualization in addition to

the previous environments.

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

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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\planetpress\AppData\Local\Temp\ (where planetpress is the user under

which Workflow is configured)

l C:\Users\planetpress\Connect (where planetpress 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

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OBJECTIF LUNE PlanetPress Workflow 2019.2 User guide

OBJECTIF LUNE PlanetPress Workflow 2019.2 User guide

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