Download to Printer

Download to Printer action tasks are used to warn printers that the files that will be sent to them are to be stored to a specific location rather than printed. Note that each Download to Printer action task must be followed by a Printer Queue output task set to "passthrough", in order for it to be sent to the printer and not merged with a document.

You can use Download to Printer action tasks to send various types of files, such as attachments, documents and fonts that are used in PlanetPress Design documents that are executed directly on the printers.

For images you should rather use Send Images to Printer action tasks (see Send Images to Printer), as they provide image quality and conversion options.

Input

Any file that you wish to upload to the printer. Note that this task does not attempt to verify that the type of file being sent is compatible with the printer, or is in a supported file format.

Processing

The currently active data file is converted into postscript.

Output

A postscript file containing the necessary code to save the data file on the hard drive.

Download to Printer action task properties are as follows:

General tab

Hard disk name and path (as required): Enter the name and path of the hard disk to which the file is to be saved (enter “%disk0%/PPFiles/Resources”, for example, to save the file to the folder [ROOT]/PPFiles/Resources located on a hard disk identified internally as “disk0”). Leave blank to save the printer’s default hard disk and path.
File name: Enter the name under which you want the file to be saved. By default, this property is set to “%o”, so the file is saved under its original name (this is often the best choice, for items such as font files, for instance).
File name case:
- Do not modify: keeps the character casing of the file name as is.
- All uppercase: changes all characters to upper case (README.TXT, for example).
- All lower case: changes all characters to lowercase (readme.txt, for example).
Keep file extension: Select to use extensions when saving files. When this option is selected, if the task receives a file with the “txt” extension, for example, it will keep this extension even if it renames the file (as specified in the File name box).
Print confirmation page: Select to print the Variable content document download confirmation page when the download is successful.

On Error Tab

By default, any action task, branch, splitter or condition that generates an error will simply be ignored, and the task just under it (not within a branch) will be given control of the job file without any modification. Any initial input task that generates an error will stop the process from running as a whole, and output tasks will not generate output. The On Error tab can be used to overwrite the default behaviors.

Send to Process: Check this option to send the job file to an error management process.
Error Process drop-down: Enabled only when the Send to Process option is checked. Lists any process of which the initial input task is the Input Error Bin task.
Action Group: This group is disabled in the initial input tasks and defaults to Stop Process. In all other tasks where the On Error tab is present, the following options are available:
- Ignore: The task is ignored as if it did not exist, and the job file is passed on to the next task in the process.
- Stop Branch: If the task is in a branch of the process, the branch is stopped and the job file is returned to the process after the branch. The branch will not produce any output.
- Stop Process: The process is stopped and no more processing is done. No further output is produced.
Log Message: Check this option to enable logging a custom error message in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools' log file.
Message: Enabled only when the Log Message option is checked. Enter a message that will be logged in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools' log file. You can use any variables available in PlanetPress Workflow to customize the message.
Store the message in variable: Select in which jobinfo, local or global variable you want to store the message content.
ID: Enter an error ID. This ID will be visible in the Windows Event Viewer. However, the ID is not visible in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools' log file.
Store the ID in variable: Select in which jobinfo, local or global variable you want to store the error ID.
Reset to defaults: Resets all options in this tab to their default values.

If storing the message or ID, if they are store in a jobinfo they will be available in any error handling process where errors are being forwarded. In all cases, if your process continues after the error, the contents of the variables selected in this window will be available for the rest of your process, or whenever they are overwritten.

Common Errors

Though some error messages are specific to a task in particular, others may apply to any and all tasks because they are related more to the system than to PlanetPress itself. Some examples would be W3813, W3830, W3991, W4005. These correspond to issues such as not having any space to write files, permission errors on folders or files, etc.

Comments Tab

The Comments tab, added in PlanetPress Suite 7.5, is common to all tasks. It contains a single text area (Task comments) that lets you write comments about the task. These comments are saved when the dialog is closed with the OK button, and are displayed in The Task Comments Pane.