Running the sample workflow for suppressing AFP documents

The PullAFPSample workflow for suppressing the printing of AFP documents in a job illustrates how to use a list to control print suppression. The PullAFPSample workflow creates two child jobs which process the printed and suppressed documents separately.

The sample objects and files used in this workflow include:

  • Workflow: PullAFPSample
  • Sample file: /aiw/aiw1/testfiles/Pull.afp
  • Sample pull list file: /aiw/aiw1/testfiles/pull/pulllist.txt
  • Sample property conditions file: /aiw/aiw1/control_files/pull/pullsample.csv
  • Visual workbench control file: /aiw/aiw1/testfiles/PullAFP.ctl
    Note:
  • The PullAFPSample sample workflow is provided if you have installed the AFP Support feature.

This sample workflow includes a Wait step and a SetDocPropsFromList step. The Wait step pauses the job for 60 seconds for demonstration purposes to show how the workflow can be paused until the pull list file has been placed in the correct location. In a production environment, the Wait step can be set to pause the job for a set period of time or until a specific time of day. The SetDocPropsFromList step uses the information from the sample pull list file to make sure the job is properly split to suppress the printing of the correct documents.

The GroupDocuments step identifies the group of documents to be pulled and the group to be printed based on the Pull document property. Based on that grouping, the CreateJobsFromDocuments step generates child jobs. The child jobs are resubmitted to the original workflow and follow the child job branch out of the SetJobPropsfromTextFile step. The child jobs move through their respective print and suppression branches until processing is finished and all of the jobs, the parent job and both child jobs, are completed.

To run the sample workflow:

  1. Click the Administration tab.
  2. Click Devices ⇒ Input Devices.
  3. On the Input Devices page, right-click the HotFolderAFP hot folder input device and select Copy.
  4. On the General tab of the Copy Hot Folder Input Device page, fill in or edit the values for these properties as indicated:
    • Enter an Input device name.
    • Enter an Input device description. This is optional, but recommended.
    • In the Child workflow property, choose PullAFPSample.
    • In the Folder location property, enter /aiw/aiw1/System/hf/testPullAFP
    • In the Staging location property, enter /aiw/aiw1/System/hf/testPullAFP/Staged
  5. Click OK.
  6. Click the Main tab.
  7. In the Input Devices portlet, right-click the new hot folder you created and select Enable and Connect.
  8. In the Printers portlet, right-click the Sample printer and select Enable.
  9. Navigate to /aiw/aiw1/testfiles and copy Pull.afp into /aiw/aiw1/System/hf/testPullAFP.
    The job shows up in the Jobs table.
  10. When the job reaches the Wait step it pauses for 60 seconds. The job goes into the Waiting state, but you can choose the Go to next step action if you want to speed up processing. Choose the Go to next step action only while the job is in the Waiting state.
  11. The parent job waits in the WaitForRelatedJobs step until both child jobs are complete and then finishes. The child job in the Pull path has a ManualStepWithAutoStart step, which you must manually advance. Right-click the job in the Jobs table and select Go to Next Step. Processing then continues until the parent and child jobs are Complete.
    You can see the parent job and the two child jobs in the Jobs table. You can right-click the separate child jobs and select View to see the documents produced by each child job. If you right-click the parent job, you can select View and see all of the documents, both printed and suppressed.

Related information:

PullAFPSample
SetDocPropsFromList
Setting up a workflow that processes a pull list
Parent topic: Setting up to pull documents from a job