Creating Run Hot Folder Application Activities

To process a job with an external application that uses a hot folder interface, you must create a Run Hot Folder Application activity and add it to the workflow.

To create a Run Hot Folder Application activity:

  1. Log in to TotalFlow Production Manager as an administrator.
  2. In the menu bar, click Operations.
  3. In the objects pod on the left side of the page, click Workflows.
  4. Select the workflow that you want to edit, click More, then Editor and Properties.... Or, select a workflow and click Edit Workflow the edit workflow icon.

    The workflow is displayed in the Editor pod.

  5. In the Default section of the Activities pod, select the Run Hot Folder Application activity and click Copy....
  6. In the Copy Activity dialog, set values for all required properties.

    For help with specifying file names in the Retrieved file and File to send properties, see Specifying File Names in Symbol Notation.

    To specify a value for the Retrieval pattern property, use a regular expression. You can use the ${Job.Id} symbol in this regular expression to represent the job ID. Because the job ID begins the file name of job files in the spool folder, if you use the getFileName or getAbsoluteFileName method to specify the value of the File to send property, the job ID will be at the beginning of that file name. If the hot folder application returns a file with the same file name as the input file, the job ID will also be at the beginning of the file name of the returned file. The default value of Retrieval pattern, ${Job.Id}.*, matches any file name that begins with the job ID. A value of ${Job.Id}.*[Pp][Dd][Ff] matches any file name that begins with the job ID when the file extension is PDF, in any case.

    For more information about regular expressions, see Regular Expressions.

  7. Click OK.

    You see the new activity in the Custom section of the Activities pod.

  8. Add the new activity to the workflow where you plan to submit jobs for processing with the hot folder application.
Parent topic: External Activities