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#38441 - 02/02/12 12:59 PM New to PlanetPress - Question !!!
ragpan29 Offline
OL Newbie

Registered: 02/02/12
Posts: 14
Loc: Virginia
Hi,

I am new to PlanetPress and I have a question, which may have already been answered, but please correct me if I my understanding is wrong.

My end goal is to have the ability to take data from a web application and add it to an existing template within PlanetPress and print it out to a post script printer.

In order to realize this, A user will enter data comprising of texts and images into the web application. I will create a template for the web-application on PlanetPress Design and somehow merge the data coming from the web-application to the template, convert it to pdf and email a copy of the pdf (PlanetPressImaging) to the user and print out a hard copy and physically mail them to the user as well.

What are all the options that i have to merge data from the web application to a template? Predominantly I will be dealing with text and images so what is the best option to use? I would also like to get meta information about the text, such as font, size, color, bold or italicized from the web-application and reproduce the same text within the template.

i'd greatly appreciate it if experts residing in this forum can help me out with this!

Thanks


Edited by ragpan29 (02/02/12 01:29 PM)

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#38446 - 02/02/12 01:39 PM Re: New to PlanetPress - Question !!! [Re: ragpan29]
Raphael Lalonde Lefebvre Offline
OL Expert

Registered: 10/14/05
Posts: 4956
Loc: Objectif Lune Montreal
ragpan29,

A good option would be the HTTP Server Input. It can be used to create an HTTP action that web applications can post to, and then will create an XML file that will contain the information posted by your application. You can then work with the XML file to extract the information that you need to use, and then merge it in your form.

You can find more information about it here:
http://help.objectiflune.com/en/planetpress-workflow-user-guide/Default_CSH.html#/2551.html

Of course, you'll need to be able to know how to work with XML files, and how PlanetPress Workflow works in general. If you're new to this, you may want to visit this site:

http://ollearn.objectiflune.com/

This is a site made by our trainers that contains a lot of tutorials, courses and webinars that will help you getting started with the suite.

Hope that helps!

Regards,
Raphaël Lalonde Lefebvre

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#38451 - 02/03/12 09:46 AM Re: New to PlanetPress - Question !!! [Re: Raphael Lalonde Lefebvre]
ragpan29 Offline
OL Newbie

Registered: 02/02/12
Posts: 14
Loc: Virginia
Hi Raphael,

Thanks a lot for your reply. Yes, i certainly can POST the information to the HTTP Server and get it in the form of XML.
My question now is, if I have a document template in PPress Design, is there a way I can export it in XML??

Do i have to use DataSelection within PPress design to capture the XML sample data using XML emulation?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Raghav

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#38452 - 02/03/12 10:37 AM Re: New to PlanetPress - Question !!! [Re: ragpan29]
ragpan29 Offline
OL Newbie

Registered: 02/02/12
Posts: 14
Loc: Virginia
I have one more idea, I just need to know if it is possible. All the data in the web application gets stored in a SQL Server database. I have access to the DB and I can create an ETL script to populate a DB in the same network where PPress has been installed. Now, would it be possible for me to iterate through the rows and populate the document template with the images and text??

Please let me know if this is possible!

Thanks!

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#38462 - 02/03/12 03:49 PM Re: New to PlanetPress - Question !!! [Re: ragpan29]
Raphael Lalonde Lefebvre Offline
OL Expert

Registered: 10/14/05
Posts: 4956
Loc: Objectif Lune Montreal
ragpan29,

There are many ways you could achieve what you want. Using POST to get an XML, and using XML Emulation, would be one way, though depending on what you post, it may or may not be that simple. There may be more to do than just set the emulation to XML, more data to manipulate in Workflow, etc... No two implementations are the same, and it all depends on what you need, and how you want to proceed.

The database would be another idea. PlanetPress Workflow has PlanetPress Database connector, that can connect to a database on your system and perform SQL queries. It will then put the recordset in it's own "PlanetPress Database" format that you can use with the Database Emulation. You can then iterate through the rows, and display items, text, etc...

Do note, however, that data files loaded in PlanetPress, whether it's XML or Database, are ultimately text files, and no images can be stored in them, and used as part of data selections in PlanetPress. You can put a reference to an image, and have PlanetPress load that image as an external resource, but you cannot have images in the datastream itself.

Regards,
Raphaël Lalonde Lefebvre

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#38464 - 02/03/12 05:13 PM Re: New to PlanetPress - Question !!! [Re: Raphael Lalonde Lefebvre]
ragpan29 Offline
OL Newbie

Registered: 02/02/12
Posts: 14
Loc: Virginia
Hi Raphael,

Thanks for the update. Yes,I was trying out the database method and figured out that i couldn't read the byte array in the database. I do store the name of the image file and will be using that name to map the images. I have all the images in my virtual drive and now am trying to figure out how to dynamically attach an image based on the image name. The other question that i have is can i have multiple database connections for data?

Is there a way for me to set properties for text such as font, size and color dynamically?? It is important for me to reproduce the exact same font, size and color when printing.

Thanks for your help!

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#38466 - 02/06/12 10:35 AM Re: New to PlanetPress - Question !!! [Re: ragpan29]
Raphael Lalonde Lefebvre Offline
OL Expert

Registered: 10/14/05
Posts: 4956
Loc: Objectif Lune Montreal
ragpan29,

Quote:
The other question that i have is can i have multiple database connections for data?



PlanetPress can only use one data file at a time, so you'd have to have all information extracted in a single connection. You cannot simultaneously use data from two different data sources.


Quote:
Is there a way for me to set properties for text such as font, size and color dynamically??



Yes, but you'll require some PressTalk code to do it. I would invite you to check out the setstyle and setstyleext PressTalk commands:

SetStyle:
http://help.objectiflune.com/en/planetpress-design-user-guide/Default_CSH.html#/3038.html

SetStyleExt:
http://help.objectiflune.com/en/planetpress-design-user-guide/Default_CSH.html#/3039.html

SetStyle allows you to change to a different predefined style, while SetStyleExt allows more flexibility and allows you to change the font size, color and attribute(bold, underline, italic, etc...), as well as changing the style(and therefore the font). SetStyleExt is probably the one you want to use.

Regards,
Raphaël Lalonde Lefebvre

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#38467 - 02/06/12 10:56 AM Re: New to PlanetPress - Question !!! [Re: Raphael Lalonde Lefebvre]
ragpan29 Offline
OL Newbie

Registered: 02/02/12
Posts: 14
Loc: Virginia
Hi Raphael,

Thanks for your prompt reply. I will try setStyle/setStyleExt and let you know if i have issue. Also, can you let me know if this is possible - I am creating templates within PlanetPress Design and assigning them a name. The database from which i retrieve data contains the name of the template/Document to be used. Is there a way to automatically select the appropriate document/template based on the name? Assuming i have a row in the DB which contains the name of the document and its corresponding data in the rest of the fields, how can i automatically select that document within PlanetPress on seeing that row.

Any help on this will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

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#38469 - 02/06/12 11:33 AM Re: New to PlanetPress - Question !!! [Re: ragpan29]
Raphael Lalonde Lefebvre Offline
OL Expert

Registered: 10/14/05
Posts: 4956
Loc: Objectif Lune Montreal
ragpan29,

In PlanetPress Workflow, most output options can be set to "Dynamic Name", which allows you to dynamically select a document to use. By default, it uses %o, which is the data file's name, and expect a form with that same name, but you can actually replace that by anything you want, be it a static name, a data selection, etc... So you could select data from your database, and put it there, and use that form.

Regards,
Raphaël Lalonde Lefebvre

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#38514 - 02/13/12 03:33 PM Re: New to PlanetPress - Question !!! [Re: Raphael Lalonde Lefebvre]
ragpan29 Offline
OL Newbie

Registered: 02/02/12
Posts: 14
Loc: Virginia
Hi Raphael,

I have 2 normal pages on which I will be printing content front and back using duplex. Apart from that, I have 8 virtual pages - with picture and text objects that are be populated from the database. On my first normal page (content to be printed on the front of the page), i have 2 NUpPrinting objects and each set to a virtual page (manually set it up). On my second normal page (content to be printed on the back of the page), i have 2 NUpPrinting objects and each is set to a virtual page. Is there a way I can dynamically populate the virtual pages from the database, assuming the virtual page name and database column value correspond to the same name. For example, if i just have the 2 NUpPrinting objects on a page, can i dynamically link them to individual virtual pages?

Any help on this is greatly appreciated, even if there is another way around this. I am trying to simulate a 4 page greeting card. (Front Page,Innerleft Page, InnerRight Page, Back page). So the contents of Front and Back can be printed on the front and the innerleft and right on the back, so that after printing and folding, it becomes a greeting card!


Edited by ragpan29 (02/13/12 04:40 PM)

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