Hi

I have a requirement to generate multiple copies of a datafile.
For example,I have 2 datapages as my datafile

DataPage1
DataPage2

So the requirement is to generate multiple copies of the data-file such that I have one pdf with 6 pages

Original
DataPage1
DataPage2

Blue Copy
DataPage1
DataPage2

Pink Copy
DataPage1
DataPage2

Original,Blue Copy ,Pink Copy are mere labels to distinguish between the same copies
Is it possible to achieve this using one planet-press designer file .I do know about setdatapage that resets the datapage,but I am not sure if that works both for Optimised and Printer Centric forms.

Joseph

Hi Joseph,

PLEASE stay away from setdatapage

I would advise, if you have the workflow software, to set branches with a job info value with a copy identifier, then use that as a condition in your form to populate the copy label field. You can put every single common object to all copies on an overlay page, design a normal page with only the label for each different copy, allowing to setup static tray calls for those pages, and using the job info value as a condition to trigger the proper normal page, according to which copy you are printing in the workflow.

I would recommend opening a support ticket so we can guide you through it if it is too complex to setup with only the newsgroup instructions.

Thanks. Regards,
Olivier

Do you have a hard requirement that this be done from the Document template itself? Because it's a job that would be extremly easy to perform with PlanetPress Workflow.

To clarify Olivier's warning and your question:



First of all, setdatapage does not work in Printer Centric mode. So if you plan on using Printer Centric, that's out of the question.

It works in Optimized PostScript, but even then, it goes against the normal flow of PlanetPress Design, which normally never moves backward in the data. It works fine in simpler cases, but if you start mixing it up in more complex solutions, this could become quite messy, both in terms of code complexity(you'd have to start dealing with data pages that you never get to see since it keeps moving in the data) and unexpected form behaviors due to breaking the normal flow, not to mention performance. It DOES have uses in certain cases, but most of the time, a different(and safer) approach can be taken, often by using Workflow.

Regards,
Raphaël Lalonde Lefebvre

@Olivier,thanks
@Philiipee,yes it was a late realisation but we have to deliver what the customer has asked us
@Raphael,the approach that I had taken was the same,i.e I used the workflow to run through the designer document such that the same datafile is passed through the designer 3 times to get the above requirement.

Was just checking with you guys to see if there was an easier way to achieve this as I wanted the same designer document to work in both printer centric and optimised mode(that was the requirement)

To add on,the workflow looked really messy with 3 branches especially when you have the same technique applied at many places in the workflow

If you DO have PlanetPress Workflow, then you don't need three branches! All you have to do is add a single Loop task that's set to run 3 times immediately before your printer output task. Just make sure you tick the Use the original data stream every time option.

I'd make the argument that, if you want to create an archive PDF of your document, then the workflow-only technique will not work. I would create three page objects that all execute per datapage, so that you get your three pages of output per datapage. Add metadata fields in design to track the document count and datapage priority. Then you could use the metadata sorter to sort your datapages, couldn't you?

@Thomas ,I would say that could be possible but not sure how you would re-organise pages to the required format through metadata sorter.I would have probably used concatenation technique to join the 3 pdf's together for archiving purpose.

@Philippe,will I be able to pass 3 values in the job info variable %9 inside the loop such that for

loop 1
Loop
||
%9=blue
||
Create PDF

loop 2
Loop
||
%9=pink
||
Create PDF

loop 3
Loop
||
%9=white
||
Create PDF


Is this possible??

Joseph,
Yes, that's exactly it. If you want to keep your process lean and mean, set the JobInfo[9] value from inside a Scripting task so that you don't have to insert several conditions inside the loop.
So in the workflow you laid out in your previous comment, replace the %9=color task with a script like this one:

@Tom: the workflow only technique will work for archiving as well because it's unlikely you'd want to generate an archive of all 3 copies. So you'd use the same technique as I explained, but you'd branch out to PlanetPress Imaging only for a single instance of the loop iteration.

@Phillipe!!!Brilliant,that was what I was after!!!Thanks