7.3

Job Information definitions
l %1- URLaddress:Contains the full URL that was requested by the task. This includes any GETvariables in the
URL.
On Error Tab
The On Error Tab is common to all tasks. Details can be found on "Task Properties Dialog" (page 54).
HTTP Server Input
HTTP Server input tasks are used to receive HTTP requests made via GET or POST commands and to send replies to the
servers from which the requests were made. The HTTP server supports both http and https.
While you can insert the HTTPServer Input Task anywhere in your process as a secondary input task, in reality the
HTTPServer Input Task will only function when used as the initial input, as it is triggered when the PlanetPress Suite
Workflow Tools HTTPServer receives a request and passes it on to the correct task.
HTTP Server input tasks are typically used in one of the two following situations:
l HTML Form Action: An HTMLForm in the browser that may contain text and attached files can be filled and sent to a
process with the HTTPServer Input Task.
l HTTP Data Submission: A custom application or a server sends the request to PlanetPressSuite Workflow Tools using
either a POST or GET command. The application or server then waits for a response from PlanetPressSuite Workflow
Tools.
When the HTTPServer Input Task receives a request through either situation, it receives all the text and input fields, converts
them into an XMLformat, saves any files submitted, and passes this data to the following task. When the process completes
(when the last output has been generated), whatever was generated is returned to the client via the HTTPServer itself.
This is important for multiple reasons:
l In most cases, you would want to either return a file understandable by the client (like a PDF or a ZIPfile), or an
HTMLfile that a browser can display. This is accomplished by making sure the last action task is generating that file (be
it the Digital Action task, a Create File where you type in the HTMLor a Load External File that gets an existing
HTMLfile), and the actual output task is a Delete Output Task. Even if the job file is "deleted", it is first returned to the
application or client that made the request.
l The time that it takes to generate the response is important - most browsers will time out after a while if they do not
receive an answer. For this reason, make sure your process is as optimized as possible, even if this means doing fur-
ther work through another process (like book keeping, archiving or printing). You can set the HTTPServer timeout
value through the "HTTP Server Input User Options" (page 77).
l If you use a splitter in your process and the result of the splitter is the last output, only the last part of the split will be
returned. In most cases, splitters should be put in branches.
You can control access to the PlanetPressSuite Workflow Tools HTTP Server via the Access Manager.
Start in version 7.2 of PlanetPress Suite, you can now serve static resources through PlanetPress, which is especially
useful for images, CSSand Javascript files. See "HTTPServer Input 2 User Options" (page 77).
HTTP Server input task properties are as follows:
l HTTP action: Enter the name of the action requested of PlanetPressSuite Workflow Tools by the client. This name
corresponds to the URLthat the client will be accessing. For example, if you enter "MakePDF" here, you could trigger
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