AFP Editor

The AFP Editor feature is a plug-in to RICOH Visual Workbench. AFP Editor lets you create barcodes, text, and hidden areas in documents.

Barcodes and text are used for a variety of purposes, such as routing and tracking mail and adding page numbers to documents. If you hide areas in documents, no one using an AFP viewer sees the data in the area, and the data does not print. You make these enhancements in sample AFP files that represent your production AFP files.

AFP Editor creates these types of barcodes:

  • Code 39

  • Data Matrix

  • Interleaved 2–of-5

  • Intelligent Mail (IMB)

  • Portable Data File 417 (PDF417)

  • POSTNET

  • Quick Response (QR) Code

AFP Editor lets you:

  • Hide existing barcodes and replace them with new barcodes.

  • Automatically replace POSTNET barcodes with Intelligent Mail barcodes that have the same routing code.

  • Create a condition between two barcodes that determines which barcode is created in a document.

    For example, an AFP file has QR Codes on some but not all documents. You want to add a new, larger QR Code to each document that does not have a QR Code. You define a QR Code that matches the existing QR Code, and you define the new QR Code. You create a condition so that whenever a document does not have a QR Code, the new QR Code is added.

To define a barcode or text, you use the values of index tags, job properties, and static text. For example, you use the AFP Indexer mode of RICOH Visual Workbench to define a postal code as an index tag. AFP Editor lets you create a barcode that uses the value of the index tag for the postal code.

Note: AFP Editor lets you include the value of a document property in a barcode only if an index tag in the documents is mapped to the document property. For example:
  • You map an index tag that contains the postal code to the Postal code document property, and you use the value of the index tag that contains the postal code when you define a barcode. The barcode contains the value of the Postal code document property.

  • You are using the Automated Verification feature, so the barcodes must contain both the Job number and Sequence in child job properties. AFP Editor cannot create a barcode that contains the Sequence in child job document property, because the documents have no data about their relative position within a child job. RICOH ProcessDirector computes the value of the Sequence in child job document property for each document. As a result, you must use AFP Enhancer to generate those barcodes.

AFP Editor lets you put the page in the page group and the page count for the page group in barcodes and text. For example, AFP Editor lets you put Page 1 of 5 in a barcode that prints on page 1 and Page 2 of 5 in a barcode that prints on page 2.

AFP Editor lets you limit the placement of barcodes, text, and hidden areas to specific pages in each document. For example, AFP Editor lets you place a barcode on the first page of each document or text on all the even-numbered pages.

Control file used with AFP Editor

You save your AFP Editor work in a Visual Workbench control file.

When you are ready to use the barcodes, text, and hidden areas in a workflow, send or copy the Visual Workbench control file to a directory on the primary computer that RICOH ProcessDirector has access to.

New step template

AFP Editor adds the EditAFP step template. A step based on this step template uses information in a RICOH Visual Workbench control file to create barcodes, text, and hidden areas in AFP files.