Merge engine scheduling

A DataMapper engine extracts data from a data file. A Merge engine merges the template and the data to create Email and Weboutput, or to create an intermediary file for Printed output. The intermediary file is in turn used by a Weaver engine to prepare the Print output.

This preferences page defines how many Merge engines are launched and how speed units are allocated to different jobs when creating production output. By default the number of Merge engines is set to two.

You can confirm how many Merge engines are running by checking Task Manager and locating the mergeengine.exe entries in your process list.
Note: there will be an extra Merge and Weaver engine in your task manager if you run Designer.

The Merge engine is responsible for the plugins Create Print Content, Create Email Content and Create Web Content.

License restrictions only apply to the Merge engine when creating Email or Web content. They do not apply for Create Print Content. This means you are allowed to start an infinite amount of Merge engines on any given Connect Sever to run print jobs, but you will be restricted to a set number of Merge engines for your Email and HTML jobs.

For an explanation of the various engines, the terminology and their settings, see Engine configuration.
For some performance tips, see Performance considerations.

• Engine information
  • Total engines available: Read-only box indicating the current number of engines that are available. 
    On the main Server of a PReS Connect cluster, this would also include all engines in the cluster (Server Extensions).
    
    The amount of engines available on this machine is set in the Engine Setup Preferences page.
  • Local engines launched: Read-only box displaying the current number of engines that have been launched on this machine.
    The amount of engines available on this machine is set in the Engine Setup Preferences page.
  • Expected remote engines: Only available for editing on PReS Connect Server when Clustering is active (as determined by Connect license).
  • Limit in license: Read-only box indicating the maximum number of speed units useable for producing output.Reserved Count: Read-only box indicating the total number of "Reserved" engines, as set in the Engine reservations group below.

• Parallel engines per job: This area determines how many Merge engines are used for each print job of a particular size. Small print jobs always get just one engine.
  • Parallel engines per medium print job: Enter the number of engines that will co-operate on a medium print job.
  • Parallel engines per large print job: Enter the number of engines that will co-operate on a large print job.
• Parallel speed units per job group: This area determines - in the case of Email or Web content - how many speed units are used for each kind of job (for an explanation, see Speed quota: PPM and speed units). If jobs of a certain kind have more than one parallel speed unit assigned to them, that many engines will be used to run each of those jobs.
  
  If the Server receives a lot of Web requests, it is advisable to reserve a large number of Merge engines for HTML, to minimize response times. For Email output, 1 Merge engine is sufficient.
  • Parallel speed units per email job: Enter the number of speed units to use when handling an Email job.
  • Parallel speed units per HTML job: Enter the number of speed units to use when handling a Web HTML job.
  Email and Web output are generated with the Merge engine only and thus their output speed is limited through this engine.
  
  Print jobs, however, are limited through the Weaver engine, so when a Merge engine creates Print content it doesn't need to consider any Merge engine speed unit settings. It can run without limitation.

• Engine reservations group: This area is used to reserve engines specifically for certain types of jobs. Reserved engines cannot be used by any other type of job.

• Floating: Read-only box indicating the number of floating engines that can be used for any type of job. This number is equal to the Total Engines Available minus any Reservations.
  For example if 6 Merge engines are available and 4 are reserved for small jobs, then 2 will be Floating.
• Small print job speed unit reservations: Enter the number of engines to be reserved for Small print jobs.
• Medium print job speed unit reservations: Enter the number of engines to be reserved for Medium print jobs.
• Large print job speed unit reservations: Enter the number of engines to be reserved for Large print jobs.
• Email engine reservations: Enter a number of engines reserved for Email jobs.
• HTML engine reservations: Enter a number of engines reserved for Web jobs.
• Maximum concurrent engine per type: This area defines the maximum possible number of engines used for any specific job type. The limit needs to be at least the number of reserved engines or parallel speed units, whichever is lowest.
• Small print job limit: Enter the maximum number of engines that can run small print jobs.
• Medium print job limit: Enter the maximum number of engines that can run medium print jobs.
• Large print job limit: Enter the maximum number of engines that can run large print jobs.
• Email limit: Enter the maximum number of engines that can run Email jobs.
• Maximum Email limit in license: Read-only box indicating the maximum number of engines useable for Email content creation.
• HTML limit: Enter the maximum number of engines that can run Web jobs.
• Maximum HTML limit in license: Read-only box indicating the maximum number of engines useable for Web content creation.