Technical information

FAX IMAGING
73
File extensions Formatter
name
(type)
Comments
above process .docx or .xlsx files.
Manages the interface to a VSI-FAX imaging server when imaging
requests for non-Unix file types are made on a Unix server.
Imaging on a Unix fax server
Unix fax servers are commonly used in environments where legacy applications and print streams are fax enabled.
The tools used in these environments are typically .txt, .pcl, or .ps. The internal formatters can process these file
types.
If you want to fax Microsoft Office files (Word, Excel, etc.) from a Unix fax server (in a desktop faxing environment, for
example) the Unix fax server must be configured to work with a Windows imaging server. The imaging server images
file types not normally available on Unix.
See also
See Imaging Server Setup and Configuration
for additional information.
Imaging on a Windows fax server
In addition to the file types typically found on Unix servers, a fax server running on Windows is often asked to fax
native Windows documents like Word documents.
Esker has add-on formatters which handle the common Windows file types (.doc, .xls, .ppt, .htm, .rtf). Each
of these formatters are built to comply with the Windows Print mechanism:
1. A formatter program (one of the "*TOTIF.exe" files) collects the file and manages the imaging operation.
2. The application associated with that file extension, (either the applicaton that generated the file in the first
place, or a viewer program) images the fax, producing a binary file built to GDI (Graphical Device Interface)
specifications.
Note
One way to determine if an application file type can be rendered is to check for a print preview function in
the application. Rendering is essentially performing a Print Preview on the file.
3. Once the file is rendered, the bit stream is handed off to a print driver for conversion from GDI to PCL.
4. Once the PCL file is produced, a TIFF file is created and returned to the VSI-FAX server.
Windows file types not related to an internal or add-on formatter will be handled by the MSTOTIF formatter or will be
treated as an ASCII text file depending on the file extension used and whether this file extension appears in the file
types list. For a complex file type, the resulting fax will not be formatted as expected and will likely be unreadable (for
example, you try to image a spreadsheet and end up with a fax that is 200 pages of garbage text).
Note
Your Windows fax server will almost certainly have other file types registered. Launch Windows Explorer and
choose View > Options > File types to see a complete list of all supported file types on your Windows fax server.
VSI-FAX Fax Server service properties
Important
After you install VSI-FAX, we highly recommend that you change the properties of the VSI-FAX Fax Server
service to run as a normal user. By default, this service is installed to run as a "Local System Account." Some
imaging requires this service to run as a regular user account in order to gain control of the desktop and to comply
with Windows security settings.