Creating custom steps (transforms)

You can create a transform sequence through the InfoPrint Manager Web Administration Interface.

Note: Due to terminology changes, the equivalent term used for Configurable Transforms in the InfoPrint Manager Web Administration Interface is Custom Steps. For more information about Custom Steps, go to the InfoPrint Manager Web Administration Interface help system.

To create a transform, an InfoPrint Manager system administrator must use this procedure:

  1. Connect to the InfoPrint Manager server using the InfoPrint Manager Web Administration Interface.
  2. In the left-hand Objects panel, click the Servers tab.
  3. Click , the Menu icon, and select Custom Steps (Transforms)....
  4. Click the New button in the upper right corner.
  5. In the Create New Custom Step (Transform) dialog, fill in these values:
    Name
    Type a meaningful name for the transform.

    InfoPrint Manager references the transform name in transform sequences that are associated with actual destinations.

    Server
    If not filled in, either type or select the InfoPrint Manager server in which you want to create the transform.

    Transforms can only be associated with actual destinations in the same server. If the InfoPrint Manager Web Administration Interface is only monitoring one server, this field contains that server name.

    Output File Format
    Select a format for the output file produced from this transform.
    Description
    Type a description of this transform that will appear whenever you show this transform through the InfoPrint Manager Web Administration Interface.
    Transform Options
    Type the command-line transform and its options, including any InfoPrint Manager substitution variables.
    Final Step
    Specify if the transform step is the last one.
    Force Sequence Stop Return Code
    Specify a return code that indicates the transform step was successful, but the transform step is not returning data for further processing by InfoPrint Manager.
    Document Formats Allowed
    Add a format for the input file or files that are being transformed.
    Note: You can specify either one or multiple document formats. The format of the input file determines whether this transform is called for a job sent to this actual destination.
    Use Server Locale
    Specify whether to use the locale language of the server (On - default) or English (Off) for input and output of information defined in the %% substitution variables in the Transform Options field.

The transform examples that follow demonstrate common uses of transform objects, using the substitution values shown in the Transform substitution variables table. Some of these examples presume that an application programmer has created a program with the name specified at the start of the Transform Options field.

    Note:
  1. If you are specifying any substitutions for which the passed values might contain a blank space, such as job name, be sure to put quotes around the substitution so it is passed correctly. Note that this only applies to single % substitution variables. Do not put quotes around any %% substitution variables.
  2. The examples that follow presume that the PATH environment variable has been set to the appropriate path so you do not have to specify the fully qualified path name in the Transform Options field.

Transform substitution variables

Transform options substitution variables Meaning
%i The name of the input file to transform.
%o The name of the file in which to store the output of the transform.
Note: If this is a non-terminating transform, data must be stored in the file named by %o.
%e The name of the file in which to store any transform information or error messages. If anything is written to this file, it is logged in the InfoPrint Manager server log.
    Note:
  1. If the transform exits with an exit code of 0 or the value set in the Force Sequence Stop Return Code field, the error messages from the transform are logged as debug severity.
  2. If the transform exits with a non-zero return code, but not with the value set in the Force Sequence Stop Return Code field transform attribute, the error messages from the transform are logged as error severity.
  3. InfoPrint Manager writes transform error messages to either the file specified through this substitution variable, or to standard error (stderr). You should not mix output to %e and stderr in a single run of the exit program. You should use either one or the other in any given run.
%u The name of the file for updating the pages-completed and job-page-count job attributes.
Note: This file should only be accessed through the transform_update utility.
%j The name of the original print file, minus the path (from the document-file-name attribute).
Note: This should only be used to construct another name, such as a temporary file.
%n The name of the original print file, minus the path and minus the extension (from the document-file-name attribute).
Note: This should only be used to construct another name, such as a temporary file.
%d A text string that represents the document format of the input file. This value might be:
  • ASCII for ASCII line data.
  • AFPDS for Advanced Function Presentation data
  • PCL for Printer Control Language data
  • PS for PostScript data
Note: You can also acquire document format through the %%Ddocument-format substitution value.
%p The value of the document's destination-pass-through attribute.
Note: This value is passed to all subsequent transforms and the actual destination.
%q The actual destination that is processing the job.
%s The document-sequence-number for the document.
%t The value of the document's other-transform-options attribute.
Note: To write one transform, but use it differently for different actual destinations or jobs, you can pass values into the transform with this parameter.
%g The global job identifier for the job.
%# The job-identifier (10 digits maximum).
%%Aad_attribute%% The value of the InfoPrint Manager actual destination attribute specified. For example, if %%Aresource-context%%, InfoPrint Manager passes the actual destination's resource-context attribute value.
Note: See the "Considerations when using the %%Nattributename substitution control sequences" topic under the "Usage guidelines" for the other-transform-options attribute for transforms in the RICOH InfoPrint Manager: Reference before using this substitution variable.
%%Ddoc_attribute%% The value of the InfoPrint Manager document attribute specified. For example, if you use %%Ddepartment-text%%, InfoPrint Manager passes the document's department-text attribute value.
Note: See the "Considerations when using the %%Nattributename substitution control sequences" topic under the "Usage guidelines" for the other-transform-options attribute for transforms in the RICOH InfoPrint Manager: Reference before using this substitution variable.
%%Jjob_attribute%% The value of the InfoPrint Manager job attribute specified. For example, if you use %%Jjob-owner%%, InfoPrint Managerpasses the job-owner attribute value of the job that owns the document being transformed.
Note: See the "Considerations when using the %%Nattributename substitution control sequences" topic under the "Usage guidelines" for the other-transform-options attribute for transforms in the RICOH InfoPrint Manager: Reference before using this substitution variable.
Parent topic: Configuring custom steps (transforms)