System objects

The base product provides many kinds of system objects, such as:

• Primary server

  The system that RICOH ProcessDirector is installed on. This system holds most of the product components, including the internal database, Web server, print driver, help system, and message logs.

• Secondary servers

  Other AIX or Linux systems that can connect to the primary server. Secondary servers can be used to offload resource-intensive process steps and improve processing speed.

  Secondary servers can also be used to access applications that run on different platforms. For example, a print vendor runs a primary server on an AIX system. They want to use an impositioning application in their workflow, but it only runs on Linux. They can install a RICOH ProcessDirector secondary server on a Linux system and configure their workflows to send print jobs through that application.

  Secondary servers can only be used with RICOH ProcessDirector for AIX and RICOH ProcessDirector for Linux.

• Application servers

  Application servers share the database that the primary server uses and work with the primary server to process jobs effectively. Application servers are installed on Windows computers. They can run steps that require applications on Windows and can be used as parent servers for input devices, Ricoh PDF printers, Custom PDF printers, Ricoh TotalFlow printers, Kodak printers, Xerox printers, and Passthrough printers. They cannot run other steps (such as PrintJobs) or be used as the parent server for other kinds of printers.

  Application servers can only be used with RICOH ProcessDirector for AIX and RICOH ProcessDirector for Linux.

• Step templates

  Step templates are the basic building blocks for processing in the RICOH ProcessDirector system. Each step template contains code that does a specific action, such as setting job properties, transforming from one data stream to another, or retaining a job for a given time period.

  A step template becomes instantiated as a step when it is added to a workflow.

• Workflows

  A workflow is a set of steps, arranged and configured to meet the needs of the print provider. A print job moves from step to step in a workflow until it completes the workflow without error or reaches the end of a processing path. In some cases, a job might be processed through more than one workflow. Workflows can be linear or conditional. In a linear workflow, each step can receive jobs from one step and send jobs to one step. In a conditional workflow, each step can receive jobs from one or more steps and send jobs to one or more steps. When a step sends jobs to multiple steps, the connectors between the steps specify conditions that control which step each job is sent to.

  Important:
  • When you use the Workflow Editor to edit a job type created in a previous version of RICOH ProcessDirector, the job type becomes a workflow. It can no longer be opened on the Administration page by clicking Workflow ⇒ Job Types.
• Input devices

  Input devices receive input files, create print jobs from those files, assign the print jobs to workflows, and submit the jobs for processing. There are several kinds of input devices. You choose which kind to use based on how jobs are submitted to them.

• Printers

  Printers represent the printer hardware that is connected to the system and that can receive jobs from RICOH ProcessDirector.

When RICOH ProcessDirector interacts with other applications, the key objects are secondary servers, application servers, input devices, and step templates.

For a list of available system objects, you can use objecttypes API found in the utility section of the RICOH ProcessDirector REST API documentation. See Using RICOH ProcessDirector REST API documentation for more information.