Defining link options for properties
For example, you can specify whether the index tag is required, the default value for the property if the index tag is not found in a document or job, and so on. You can also edit the text value for the index tag so that the property contains only part of the index tag value.
Before you can define the property link options, you must link the property to an index tag. When you link a property to an index tag, Document Property Designer automatically displays the Define Link Options window so that you can define the options. If you have previously linked a property to an index tag, you can modify the link options.
To define link options for a property:
- In RICOH Visual Workbench, click .
- Click .
- In the Link Properties window, select the property whose link options you want to
modify and click Modify Link.To sort the properties by tag name or index tag type, click the column heading. Click once to sort in ascending order; click twice to sort in descending order.
- Optional: In the Define Link Options window, change the index tags that the property is linked to by selecting one or more of the index tags from the Linked index tag table.
- Optional: To edit the text value of the property, click Edit index value.You might want to edit the index tag value to remove any leading or trailing blanks, or to remove unwanted special characters.
- You can select more than one index tag to edit; the rules that you define apply to all of the selected index tags. When you edit more than one index tag at a time, the sample value fields at the bottom of the window do not display an example of the changed property.
- The edits you make apply only to the property value and do not change the value of the index tag itself.
- Specify one or more of these fields:
Field Action Use local value This field applies to supplemental page index tags when you have more than one supplemental page in the print stream; it specifies whether the index tag value on a particular supplemental page can be used on any subsequent supplemental pages.
Select this option if you want to make sure that a supplemental page uses only the values of the index tag for the current page group; a subsequent supplemental page cannot use the same value that was used on a previous supplemental page. If you select this option and a value is missing for the index tag in a subsequent supplemental page, and if the Required option is selected below, the production AFP job is placed in an error state.
For example, you might define an index tag for a supplemental page that includes a customer address; that address is placed on the documents associated with that supplemental page. If you select the Use local value option and the Required option, and the value of the index tag is null on the next supplemental page, the production AFP job is placed in an error state. If you do not select Use local value, and the value of the index tag is null on the next supplemental page, the system places the customer address value from the preceding supplemental page on its associated documents.
This table shows some example results based on the options selected:
Use local value Required Subsequent supplemental page index tag value Result Y Y Exists New value is used on subsequent supplemental page Y N Exists New value is used on subsequent supplemental page Y N Null Value is blank on subsequent supplemental page N N Null Current value is used on subsequent supplemental page Y Y Null Job moves to error state Required For linked document property index tags:
- Select this option if the index tag must exist in each document and set of contiguous supplemental pages found between documents. If RICOH ProcessDirector does not find the linked index tag in a document or set of contiguous supplemental pages, the production AFP job is placed in an error state.
For linked job property index tags:
- Select this option if the index tag must exist at least once in the AFP file. If RICOH ProcessDirector does not find the linked index tag in at least one document, the production AFP job is placed in an error state.
Although the Required option requires that the index tag exists, if the value of the index tag is null, an error does not occur.
Default value For linked document property index tags:
- The default value is used if the index tag is not found in a document. If you did not select Required, type a default value for the document property, or select Not set. If the index tag is not found in a document and the default value is Not set, then if the index tag exists in the previous set of supplemental pages its value is used instead for this document. In this way you can use an index tag in a supplemental page as a default for all subsequent documents and override the value on a document-by-document basis by adding the index tag to individual documents.
For linked job property index tags:
- The default value is used if the index tag is not found in any documents or supplemental pages in the AFP file. If you did not select Required, type a default value for the job property, or select the Not set option.
Minimum length Select the minimum number of characters (0 - 254) the document property value can contain. If the index tag value, after it is edited, is less than the minimum length, the production AFP job is placed in an error state. 0, the default, means no minimum length. If a value is null and the Minimum length is greater than 0, the production AFP file is placed in an error state. Maximum length Select the maximum number of characters (0 - 254) the document property value can contain. If the index tag value, after it is edited, is greater than the maximum length, the production AFP file is placed in an error state. 0, the default, means no maximum length. Maximum count Select the maximum number of times (0 - 100) the index tag can occur in a document. If the index tag occurs a greater number of times, the production AFP job is placed in an error state. 0, the default, means that the index tag can occur any number of times without error. The Maximum count option counts index tags that have null values. Ignore after nn occurrences Select which index tag (0 - 100) in a document, or in a set of contiguous supplemental pages found between documents, is to be used as the document or job property value. For example, if you select 2, the value of the second index tag in the document is the document or job property value. If the index tag occurs a fewer number of times in a document, the value of the last occurrence of the index tag is used. 0, the default, means that the value of the last index tag in the document is used as the document or job property value. Note that the Ignore after nn occurrences option counts index tags that have null values. - Click OK.