Working with document properties

You can define document properties from data in your PDF file that you want to use for later print processing. When RICOH ProcessDirector processes PDF files with document property definitions, it extracts, or mines, values from each page group in a PDF file. For example, you can create document properties to extract data in each page group in a PDF file and define that data as the content of a barcode that prints on a page in the same page group.

When you define a document property, you specify data in the PDF file. You can apply conditional processing rules to tell RICOH ProcessDirector Plug-in for Adobe Acrobat and RICOH ProcessDirector where to extract the data from and when to extract it. For example, you want to apply conditional processing rules that extract an account number from the first page of every page group when an account is overdue. First you create a conditional trigger on text that indicates the account is overdue. Then you define a rule with two conditions. One condition specifies that the “overdue” text is present. The other condition specifies the pre-defined rule First Front Only. You choose to apply the new rule when all of its conditions are met. Finally you define the account number as a document property and select the new rule in the Placement Conditions section. RICOH ProcessDirector Plug-in for Adobe Acrobat and RICOH ProcessDirector extract the account number from the first front page of each page group when the “overdue” text is present.

When you define a document property in RICOH ProcessDirector Plug-in for Adobe Acrobat, you select a RICOH ProcessDirector document property from a list or define your own document property name. If you define your own document property name instead of selecting a RICOH ProcessDirector document property, that document property cannot be integrated into RICOH ProcessDirector functions that save the properties to the database. You cannot use that document property for functions in RICOH ProcessDirector document processing features, or for markup content in barcodes or text. You should choose to create your own document property in RICOH ProcessDirector Plug-in for Adobe Acrobat only if you are going to extract your document properties to a file or if you know the document property will exist in RICOH ProcessDirector when your PDF files are processed. If you need to use a document property with RICOH ProcessDirector, create it in RICOH ProcessDirector and then select the document property from the list in RICOH ProcessDirector Plug-in for Adobe Acrobat.

    Note:
  • You see the database or system names for document properties in the lists in RICOH ProcessDirector Plug-in for Adobe Acrobat and the document properties list in the RICOH ProcessDirector viewer. In those lists you do not see custom or translated document property names.

Viewing document property values

After you define one or more document properties, you click Ricoh ⇒ View Document Property Values to see the values of the document properties in the active PDF file. You can verify that the conditional processing rules and the text selected for each document property are correct. Use the document property view to verify that none of the document property values are longer than the text selection box you drew. RICOH ProcessDirector Plug-in for Adobe Acrobat truncates any text that extends beyond the text selection box.

    Note:
  • The Document Property window is a useful tool for you to keep open as you define document properties. After you create your first document property and view its values, you can click the Update Table button in the Document Property window at any time to update the table with changes that you made to the document properties.

Saving document property values

If you need to use document property values outside the product, click Save while viewing document property values. RICOH ProcessDirector Plug-in for Adobe Acrobat saves the values to a tab-delimited text file.

Using document properties in RICOH ProcessDirector

You define how document properties are used in different RICOH ProcessDirector print processing steps. For example, you define how RICOH ProcessDirector uses document properties in its barcode creation function. You can also use document property values to search for a specific customer account from a PDF print job if you need to reprint a mailpiece of that one customer.

Creating new document properties in RICOH ProcessDirector

After you install your document processing feature, you define all of the custom document properties you need in the docCustomDefinitions.xml file. When you run the docCustom utility to update configuration files, those properties are added to the database. If you need to create additional custom document properties, you edit the docCustomDefinitions.xml file and rerun the docCustom utility.

    Note:
  • If you use custom document properties, starting with Version 3.11.2, you can create them on the Administration tab, using Objects ⇒ Custom Properties.

    You can choose the database name and the label that displays in property notebooks and column headings. You can also choose what kind of data to store in the property, and the default access that the different user groups have for the property, without adding them to the docCustomDefinitions.xml file.

  • If you already have custom document properties defined in a docCustomDefinitions.xml file, you can continue to use them. Do not re-create them from the Administration tab. Only use that tab to create new job or document properties.

After you load the new document properties values, they are available to you in the plug-in wherever you define document properties. For more information about editing the docCustomDefinitions.xml file and running the docCustom utility, see RICOH ProcessDirector: Installing Document Processing Features.

    Note:
  • When you define document properties you can define a document property as a limited document property. Limited document properties do not need database table space; however, they occupy space for each document in each document properties file that contains the property.

In this section:

  1. Defining a document property
    RICOH ProcessDirector features can store document property values in the RICOH ProcessDirector database. The features rely upon document properties for later downstream processing of PDF files in RICOH ProcessDirector.
  2. Defining multiple document properties
    You can define multiple document properties in a block of data in a PDF file. A block of data can be text, DataMatrix barcodes encoded as images, or both.
  3. Defining an address block
    You can define document properties in an address block in each document in a PDF file. After you define the document properties, you can extract and view them or save them in a text file.
  4. Viewing document property values
    After you create a document property in a sample PDF file, you can view the data values for that property. You view document property values to verify that you have selected the right location for the property and defined the correct conditional extraction rules. You can click a document property value to go to the first page of the page group that contains the value.
  5. Saving document property values
    After you create document properties in a sample PDF file, you can save the data values for those properties. For example, you can save the account numbers in a PDF file that you plan on printing for an audit or printed in the past for an audit.

Related information:

Custom job and document properties
Creating and activating custom properties
Parent topic: Using RICOH ProcessDirector Plug-in for Adobe Acrobat