PGC to PDF Converter

The PGC to PDF Converter tasks extracts the digital ink located in a PGC file and adds it to a blank PDF, creating one page per document in the PGC. It's main use is to process PGCs that generated errors when processing them, as part of an Error Handling process.

When adding this task to your process, you will be asked if you want to add the task as an Action or a Condition. This task should only be used as an Action. If used as a condition, it will always return False.

Input

A PGC file received from an Anoto digital pen.

Processing

The ink contained in the PGC file is converted into an EPS layer, which is then applied on an blank, empty PDF file of the size specified in the task's properties. If more than one Pattern ID is found in the PGC file, each separate Pattern ID will generate a new page on which its ink is applied.

Output

A PDF file with a blank background and only the ink data found in the PGC file.

Task Properties

General Tab

PDF page size: Choose the page size of the output PDF. The default size is A2, and changing the format does not scale the digital ink. Ink appearing outsize of the selected page size will not be visible.

This task was built using a custom plugin system and does not display the On Error tab in the regular view. To access the On Error tab, right-click on the task and select "Advanced Properties...".

Examples & Use Cases

This task is put into effect in the following use cases and example processes:

PlanetPress Capture Workflow

On Error Tab

By default, any action task, branch, splitter or condition that generates an error will simply be ignored, and the task just under it (not within a branch) will be given control of the job file without any modification. Any initial input task that generates an error will stop the process from running as a whole, and output tasks will not generate output. The On Error tab can be used to overwrite the default behaviors.

Send to Process: Check this option to send the job file to an error management process.
Error Process drop-down: Enabled only when the Send to Process option is checked. Lists any process of which the initial input task is the Input Error Bin task.
Action Group: This group is disabled in the initial input tasks and defaults to Stop Process. In all other tasks where the On Error tab is present, the following options are available:
- Ignore: The task is ignored as if it did not exist, and the job file is passed on to the next task in the process.
- Stop Branch: If the task is in a branch of the process, the branch is stopped and the job file is returned to the process after the branch. The branch will not produce any output.
- Stop Process: The process is stopped and no more processing is done. No further output is produced.
Log Message: Check this option to enable logging a custom error message in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools' log file.
Message: Enabled only when the Log Message option is checked. Enter a message that will be logged in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools' log file. You can use any variables available in PlanetPress Workflow to customize the message.
Store the message in variable: Select in which jobinfo, local or global variable you want to store the message content.
ID: Enter an error ID. This ID will be visible in the Windows Event Viewer. However, the ID is not visible in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools' log file.
Store the ID in variable: Select in which jobinfo, local or global variable you want to store the error ID.
Reset to defaults: Resets all options in this tab to their default values.

If storing the message or ID, if they are store in a jobinfo they will be available in any error handling process where errors are being forwarded. In all cases, if your process continues after the error, the contents of the variables selected in this window will be available for the rest of your process, or whenever they are overwritten.

Common Errors

Though some error messages are specific to a task in particular, others may apply to any and all tasks because they are related more to the system than to PlanetPress itself. Some examples would be W3813, W3830, W3991, W4005. These correspond to issues such as not having any space to write files, permission errors on folders or files, etc.

Comments Tab

The Comments tab, added in PlanetPress Suite 7.5, is common to all tasks. It contains a single text area (Task comments) that lets you write comments about the task. These comments are saved when the dialog is closed with the OK button, and are displayed in The Task Comments Pane.