Special workflow types

PReS Workflow supports multiple input and output types, in so many different combinations that it would be hard to give example processes for each possibility. However, some types of processes like PDF and HTTP processes, and processes related to another product, are important enough to pay some attention to them.

This chapter will describe each of these special workflow types and give at least one example of an implementation that uses them.

HTTP Server workflow

An HTTP workflow receives requests from a client via a GET or POST request, sometimes only with information, sometimes with attached files. An HTTP workflow is basically an XML workflow since that is the type of file created by the HTTP Server Input task. See the HTTP Server workflow page for more details.

OL Connect Send processes

Connect Send allows for PostScript files to be received over the internet from any Windows Desktop application. It is in fact an application with two components. The first is a Windows printer driver while the other is a group of Workflow plugins (Job Processor, Get Job Data and Get Data). These two components work together indiscriminately, each needing the other to function.

OL Connect Send (see OL Connect Send) needs one Workflow process to handle the job transfer, and in licensed mode it needs at least one other process to interact with the user. Reports about the use of OL Connect Send might be produced in yet another Workflow process. For examples of these processes see Workflow processes in a Connect Send solution.

PDF workflow

A PDF workflow uses a PDF as its job file and manipulations are generally made in the Metadata instead of the PDF itself, since PDF files are much larger than most other data files compatible with PReS Workflow. The Metadata Tools are extensively used in the example presented, which is a weekly sales report sent to all the sales associates of a particular company branch. See the PDF Workflow for more details.

PlanetPress Capture workflow (PlanetPress Suite only)

A Capture workflow is divided in two steps: Creating an output of documents containing the PlanetPress Capture Fields, and retrieving the information from the Anoto Digital Pen to merge it with the original documents. See PlanetPress Capture Workflow for more details.

SOAP workflow

As SOAP can be either a client or a server, two workflows will be presented. The SOAP Client workflow presents PReS Workflow as the client and will explore how to retrieve WSDL information and how to make a SOAP request as a client. The SOAP Server workflow will show how to create a process that responds to SOAP requests, and where our own WSDL is located.