7.0

This could include a combination of the following:
• Creating variable content documents in PlanetPress Design and sending them to PlanetPress Watch/
Server or to printers, as resident documents.
• Getting all the information and permissions related to the peripherals, user accounts and addresses you
will use in your processes. This may include IP addresses, computer ports, email login information and
any other information needed to configure your PlanetPress Watch/Server input, output and action
tasks, as well as some conditions. SNMP conditions, for example, require that you specify printer
community names. This may imply the creation of new communities specifically for PlanetPress Watch/
Server.
• Sketching out the business or communication flow and tasks you want to accomplish through
PlanetPress Watch/Server processes.
Creating and Editing Configuration Components
The basic building used to create a PlanetPress Watch/Server configuration are displayed in the Configurations
Components area.
• Processes: All the tasks you require may be included in a single process or split up in as many
processes as you will. You can think of processes as groups of tasks that share common properties
(schedule related considerations mostly). Tasks from certain processes may exchange data with tasks
from other processes. Note that processes can have their own Local variables, which are only available
to their process.
• Startup processes: Processes that run only once before every other process in a given configuration.
• Subprocesses: Processes called by other processes and frequently executing redundant tasks shared
by different processes.
• Global variables: variables associated with the current configuration, useable by any task of any
process within this configuration file.
• Documents: Variable content documents, created in PlanetPress Design, may be available on the
computer running PlanetPress Watch/Server, on printers, or both. Whenever a PlanetPress Design
document is sent to a PlanetPress Watch/Server installation, it is added to the list of documents.
Resident documents must be added to the list of documents manually, because PlanetPress Watch/
Server installations have no way of knowing which documents are present on which devices.
• Printer queues: Virtual printers that can be associated either with physical printers, with FTP locations
or with folders where print jobs are to be stored. Those documents associated with a printer queue must
be available either locally or on the device that will be used to produce the output (a physical printer or
a PlanetPress Watch/Server session running on a different computer).
A) Multiple processes in one configuration. B) PlanetPress Design documents that are typically only available on
printers. C) Locally available PlanetPress Design documents. D) Printer queues, some of which are grouped. E)
PlanetPress Design document associated with a printer queue.
To start working in PlanetPress Watch/Server Configuration, you must have at least one process. Additional
processes, as well as documents and printer queues may be added as you are building your entire
configuration.
Creating and Developing Processes
A process is a sort of flowchart that begins with a data input and that ends with either a single or multiple
outputs. Most processes also include various types of actions and conditions, as well as comments.
• Input tasks take in data from given locations or connections.
• Action tasks perform various kinds of data processing.
• Output tasks generate documents in a variety of forms.
• Branches are used to duplicate the data and to pass it on to multiple tasks.
• Conditions are used to determine the route followed by the data based on specific conditions.
Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools - Key Concepts
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