Technical information

INTEGRATION FUNDAMENTALS
147
Ways to create fax envelopes
Tags
Use the vfx -t option to supply a series of tag statements (<tag>=<value>) on the vfx
command line. This normally requires that some sort of macro or script be run from inside your
application.
Tag files
Create an ASCII text file containing tag statements (<tag>=<value>), then pass this "tag file" to
the fax server using the vfx -c <tag_file> command. Tag files are processed as if the tag
statements were entered directly in a command shell.
Batch files These are similar to tag files, but only appropriate when you want to send multiple personalized
faxes to multiple recipients.
Batch files are divided into sections. A common section contains information sent to all recipients;
recipient sections contain personalized information for that fax recipient.
Embedded tags These are most often used in print-to-fax situations. The fax server will automatically scan PCL and
PostScript files for embedded tags. If it finds them, it will process them as if they were enterd in a
command shell.
A common way to use embedded tags is to enter embedded tag statements directly into a word
processor document, print the document to a PCL or PostScipt file, then pass the file to the fax
server as a vfx command line argument.
XML-F
documents
XML-F provides eight different Document Type Descriptions (DTDs) that describe how to create
files you can pass to the fax server and the responses you can expect back from the fax server.
XML is a completely open data exchange standard without specific requirements regarding platform
or delivery mechanisms. This makes it an excellent choice for heterogeneous environments and
large enterprise-wide faxing solutions.
Print-to-fax
(saved to file)
Print-to-fax is a simple approach that does not lend itself to full automation. However, it works with
almost any application. Open the application, print to a PCL or PostScript file, then pass the file to
the fax server as a vfx command line argument.
However, if you do not specify recipient information with embedded tags, you must supply recipient
tags on the vfx command line.
See also
Refer to Command Reference in the Reference Addendum
documentation for complete documentation for the vfx
command.
If you will be creating your fax envelopes via tags, tag files, batch files, embedded tags or print-to-fax, see Using vfx
Tags.
If the application you are integrating does not run on the fax server network node see Virtual Fax Server
.
autosend directory
The autosend directory is a specific file system directory that is continuously monitored by the fax server. When the
fax server finds a tag file, batch file or XML-F document, it uses it to send a fax as if the file had been passed to it via
a vfx command (See vfx commands
).
The location of the autosend directory is $VSIFAX/autosend.
Files placed in the autosend directory must have the proper file extension.
Tag files must have a .tag extension
Batch files must have a .bat extension
XML-F files must have a .xml extension
Advantages
Excellent choice for situations where you do not have a network or email connection to the fax server but do have
access to the fax server file system (e.g., via NFS).
Disadvantages