Spool file names

When RICOH ProcessDirector processes a job, it generates spool files for the job. Formats for RICOH ProcessDirector spool file names are:

Syntax 1, parent or standalone job:

JobNumber.Usagetype.Datatype

Syntax 2, child job:

JobNumber.Usagetype.Datatype.ChildGroupID

where:

Usagetype
Describes the purpose or role of the spool file within the job. Usage-type keywords are case-sensitive. Although RICOH ProcessDirector has usage-type keywords other than the ones listed here, these are the usage-type keywords for spool files that external programs might want to read from or write to:
aiwlist
Contains an entry for each input file in the job and its submit type. Depending on the job, RICOH ProcessDirector might have generated one or more of the input files or they might have accompanied the input file that contained the initial job data. The aiwlist file can be useful in problem determination.

This example shows what the file contents might look like when RICOH ProcessDirector generates one or more of the input files. The information in the first column is the submit type.

Data;/aiw/aiw1/System/hf/PDF/Staged/
sample.PRD.AIW_TS.2006-04-27-08.57.31.476
Other;/aiw/aiw1/System/hf/PDF/Staged/
sample.JCL.AIW_TS.2006-04-27-08.57.31.593
List;/aiw/aiw1/System/hf/PDF/Staged/
sample.lst.AIW_TS.2006-04-27-08.57.31.534
AIWList;/aiw/aiw1/System/hf/PDF/Staged/
AIWList.AIW_TS.2006-04-27-08.57.31.794
control
A special RICOH ProcessDirector-generated control file. It contains processing parameters that were specified in a control file template that accompanied the input file for the job. RICOH ProcessDirector generates the control file from the file specified in the External control file template property for the job. When it creates the control file, it resolves any RICOH ProcessDirector-specific entries from the control file template. For example, the PDF workflow runs a RunExternalProgram step during the Prepare phase. The RunExternalProgram step specifies this External command property:

/aiw/aiw1/bin/copy_files.pl ${getControlFileName()} /aiw/aiw1/samples/${Job.ID}.info.csv

The RunExternalProgram step specifies this External control file template property:

/aiw/aiw1/control_files/external_programs/job_info.cfg

The job_info.cfg control file template contains this information: 

Job.ID,Job.Name,Job.JobType,Job.SubmitTime,Job.RequestedPrinter,
Job.InputFile.Size,Job.JobSize,Job.TotalPages,Job.TotalSheets

${Job.ID},${Job.Name},${Job.JobType},${Job.SubmitTime},
${Job.RequestedPrinter},${Job.InputFile.Size},${Job.JobSize},
${Job.TotalPages},${Job.TotalSheets}

When RICOH ProcessDirector creates a control file from this template, it resolves the values for the ${Job.ID}, ${Job.Name}, ${Job.JobType}, ${Job.SubmitTime}, ${Job.RequestedPrinter}, ${Job.InputFile.Size}, ${Job.JobSize}, ${Job.TotalPages}, and ${Job.TotalSheets} symbols to the actual RICOH ProcessDirector job properties. For example: 
${Job.ID}=10000001
${Job.Name}=Demo.pdf
${Job.JobType}=PDF
${Job.SubmitTime}=10:02.35
${Job.RequestedPrinter}=Sample
${Job.InputFile.Size}=2608549
${Job.JobSize}=26
${Job.TotalPages}=26
${Job.TotalSheets}=26
    Note:
  • Not all jobs that RICOH ProcessDirector creates have associated control files in their spool directories.
overrides
Contains a copy of the job-specific parameters that accompany the input file for the job. RICOH ProcessDirector can use these parameters with a control file to set job properties for the job.

For example, jobs that RICOH ProcessDirector receives through Download for z/OS or AFP Download Plus when the AFP Support feature is installed include datasetname.JCL files that the Download daemon generates. These files contain information that represents the values that were specified for JCL parameters. This example shows the contents of an overrides file that contains JCL values for parameters: 

"-odatat=line -ofileformat=record -occ=yes -occtype=a -ochars=GF10 
-opagedef=P1A 06462 -of=F1A10110 -ocop=001 -odatac=block -ojobn=PAYROLL 
-ous=ADMIN1 -ono=BLD PDEVL -opr=KÿSMITH -opa=forms=STD,class=C,
destination=CHI3,jobid=JOB 02357,OUTGRP=NEXT"

A control file, such as receive_jcl_jobtype.cfg in /aiw/aiw1/samples/rules/ that RICOH ProcessDirector provides, can process the overrides file.

    Note:
  • Not all jobs that RICOH ProcessDirector creates have associated overrides files in their spool directories.
print
A print file that contains the data for the job. The data might match the format of the input file that RICOH ProcessDirector received or it might be in a different format. The format depends on the processing that has occurred for the job. For example, an input file might be converted to PostScript during processing.

In addition to the usage-type keywords that RICOH ProcessDirector uses, authorized users can specify their own usage-type keywords when they use RICOH ProcessDirector methods to manipulate files in the spool directory. However, user-defined keywords should not be variations of the RICOH ProcessDirector keywords if RICOH ProcessDirector will further process a file that an external program writes to the spool directory. For example, do not use a usage type of PRINT or Print; RICOH ProcessDirector only recognizes print.

Datatype
Describes the content or the data stream type of the spool file. Whether the spool directory for a given job contains a spool file of a specific data type depends on the processing that has occurred for the job. Datatype keywords are case-sensitive. The keywords that RICOH ProcessDirector provides are:
afp
Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) format. The spool file contains job print data.
gif
Graphic Interchange Format (GIF). The spool file contains image data.
jdf
Job Definition Format (JDF). The spool file contains job-specific parameters from the job ticket.
jpeg
Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format. The spool file contains image data.
json
JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format.
linedata
Line-data format or mixed-mode format. The spool file contains job input data.
mjm
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) package with data in Portable Document Format (PDF), Job Definition Format (JDF), and Job Messaging Format (JMF). The spool file contains job input data and job-specific parameters from the job ticket.
pcl
Printer control language (PCL) format. The spool file contains job input data.
pdf
Portable Document Format (PDF). The spool file contains job input data.
ps
PostScript format. The spool file contains job input data.
text
The data stream is a plain text file. The spool file can contain non-job data, such as processing parameters or information created by an external program.
tiff
Tagged Image File Format (TIFF). The spool file contains image data.
xml
Extended Markup Language (XML) format. The spool file contains well-structured XML.
zip
Data-compression and archiving format for one or more files. The spool file can contain job input data, image data, or non-job data, depending on the format of the files in the zip file.
unknown
The data stream is of an unknown format. This is the datatype keyword that RICOH ProcessDirector initially sets for the spool file that is a copy of the original input file for the job. For more detailed information, see the description of the Input data stream job property. Files with a datatype keyword of unknown might only be in the spool directory for a very short period of time after RICOH ProcessDirector creates the job.

In addition to the datatype keywords that RICOH ProcessDirector uses, authorized users can specify their own datatype keywords when they use RICOH ProcessDirector methods to let external programs write files to the spool directory. However, user-defined keywords for the data type should not be variations of the RICOH ProcessDirector keywords if RICOH ProcessDirector will further process a file that an external program writes to the spool directory. For example, do not use a datatype of PDF or Pdf; RICOH ProcessDirector only recognizes pdf.

ChildGroupID
A unique numeric value that RICOH ProcessDirector uses to identify and group all files that relate to a child job that an external program creates. The child group ID keyword is in addition to the datatype keyword; parent jobs or single jobs do not include a child group ID keyword.
Parent topic: Using RICOH ProcessDirector methods