Preparing for job submission

You can submit jobs to RICOH ProcessDirector using different mechanisms, such as the LPD protocol, FTP, SCP, file copying, or the Submit Jobs portlet on the Main page. You can group and track related individual jobs as orders, making sure that all jobs within an order are managed together and completed in a coordinated manner.

Some preparation is necessary no matter which submission method you use. If you install the AFP Support feature, you can submit jobs using Download for z/OS or AFP Download Plus.

If you install the Web Services Enablement feature, you can use SOAP or REST web service connections to retrieve files from other applications and process them as jobs.

Job submission is how you get your input files into the directory that an input device monitors. The input device then creates a job, assigns it a workflow, and initiates the workflow.

In this section:

  1. Configuring to use Download for z/OS
    Before Download for z/OS can send data sets from z/OS to the RICOH ProcessDirector system, an administrator must do configuration tasks on z/OS. The administrator also does corresponding tasks on the RICOH ProcessDirector system to configure the input devices that receive the data sets and to configure the workflows that the data sets are assigned to.
  2. Configuring to use AFP Download Plus
    Before AFP Download Plus can send data sets from z/OS to the RICOH ProcessDirector system, an administrator must do configuration tasks on z/OS. The administrator also does corresponding tasks on the RICOH ProcessDirector system to configure the input devices that receive the data sets and to configure the workflows that the data sets are assigned to.
  3. Configuring to use the LPD protocol
    Before a user can use the line printer daemon (LPD) protocol to submit jobs to the RICOH ProcessDirector system, an administrator must do configuration tasks on the RICOH ProcessDirector system to configure the input devices that receive the jobs, to configure the workflows that the jobs are assigned to, and to define the hosts that can use the LPD protocol to submit jobs to RICOH ProcessDirector. The administrator might also have to do some configuration tasks on these hosts.
  4. Configuring to use the pdpr command
    If you are migrating from InfoPrint Manager to RICOH ProcessDirector and you use the pdpr command to submit jobs, you can configure RICOH ProcessDirector to continue receiving jobs from the same pdpr command.
  5. Configuring to use JDF job tickets
    Before you can submit jobs with JDF tickets, you must configure the input devices that receive the jobs. You also must configure the workflows that the jobs are assigned to. Printers defined as Ricoh PDF printers can manage PDF jobs with JDF tickets better than printers defined as Passthrough or Custom PDF printers can.
  6. Preparing to submit jobs using web services
    RICOH ProcessDirector provides a REST web service utility that you can use to submit jobs. If you can configure your application to use REST web services, you can use the submitFile utility to submit a file to a workflow or hot folder.
  7. Configuring to receive orders
    You can submit orders by either uploading PDFs through the Submit Jobs portlet or by submitting an XML file from your existing order management system.
  8. Preparing to submit batch jobs
    Hot folder and SFTP input devices can submit every file they receive as a separate job, or they can group files together to create larger jobs, called batch jobs. The simplest batch jobs contain only data files. More complex batch jobs include files that set job properties and files that locate files that list the other files in the job.
  9. Preparing to receive XML
    How you receive and process XML files depends on the information in the files and what you want to do with the information.
  10. Preparing to receive JSON
    After you receive a JSON file, you convert it to XML. How you process the XML files depends on the information in the JSON files and what you want to do with the information.
  11. Configuring to submit jobs from the Main page
    You can submit jobs to RICOH ProcessDirector using the Submit Jobs portlet on the Main page.
  12. Submitting jobs in the Submit Job portlet
    RICOH ProcessDirector provides different mechanisms to submit jobs, including a portlet on the Main page.

Related information:

Defining input devices
Submit Jobs portlet
Supplied input devices
Parent topic: Configuring