7.3

Data File and Job File
Whichever source it may come from, a serial port, an e-mail message, or an LPR request, for instance, and whatever its for-
mat, data entering a PlanetPress Suite process via an input task is always referred to as a data file. Job file is a more general
term, that can refer to data files as well as other types of files traveling through a process. Image files, for example, can be
passed from task to task in order to be downloaded to a printer. So files traveling within a process are mostly referred to as
job files.
By default, job file names are generated using the %f variable. You may change the wayPlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools
names job files by using any combination of static characters, PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools variables and Job info var-
iables. You could for instance enter Process_%w_Job_%f in the File name box to add the process name in the name gen-
erated by the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools.
A single job file can be the source of multiple job files. This is the case, for example, when a process includes multiple
branches, as each branch is given a duplicate copy of the job file. This is also the case when a job file is split into multiple
smaller files by a Splitter action task, for instance (see "Data Splitters" (page 143)).
It is important to note that job files may be used as a helpful debugging resource (see "Debugging and Error Handling" (page
223)).
Actual Data and Sample Data
The actual data is the dynamic data captured by PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools at runtime. The sample data file is a static
sampling of the runtime data.
In the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration program, you use sample data files to create and edit PlanetPress Suite
Workflow Tools configurations.
Job File Names and Output File Names
When an input task sends a new data file down a process, it gives it an internal file name referred to as the job file name (asso-
ciated with the %f variable). The new job file typically keeps the same name until the end of the process.
l If the job file comes to a branch in the process, the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools make a copy of the job file and
give the new file a new job file name.
l If the job file is processed by a splitter action task, the task typically creates a number of new files which are all given
new job file names.
Since these files are generated and managed by the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools, you should not actually pay too much
attention to their names.
Many output tasks, on the other hand, let you determine exactly how you want the files they generate to be named. In the
case of Send to Folder output tasks, for example, output files are saved under their job file names by default (using the var-
iable %f), but you may use a static (MyOutput.txt, for example) or variable name (%O_Invoices, for instance) of your
choosing.
Variables such as %o (original file name) bring up the issue of file overwriting. If the process receives two source files with the
same name, the second output file may overwrite the first one. This may be what you want, but otherwise you may consider
using another variable, such as in %u (unique 13-character string).
When choosing naming schemes for output files, consider the following:
Data in PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools
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