7.4

Serial Input Service User Options
Serial input user options control certain functions of the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Serial Capture service, which in turn
has a direct impact on all Serial input tasks performed by PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools on a given computer.
The available Serial input user options are as follows:
l Serial settings group
l Serial port: Select the port of the computer where the Serial input is connected to (COM1 through COM8).
l Baud rate: Select the baud rate of the Serial input. The baud rate is the number of bits transferred per second.
The transferred bits include the start bit, the data bits, the parity bit (if defined), and the stop bits.
l Data bits: Select the number of data bits defining the incoming data file on this serial port. The data bits trans-
ferred through a serial port represent the data content. This excludes the start, parity, and stop bits: these are
bits defining the beginning and end of each unit of transferred data, as well as error detection provided by the
parity bit. The majority of serial ports use between five and eight data bits. Binary data is typically transmitted
as eight bits. Text-based data is transmitted as seven bits or eight bits. If the data is based on the ASCII char-
acter set, a minimum of seven bits is required. If an eighth bit is used, it must have a value of 0. If the data is
based on the extended ASCII character set, eight bits must be used.
l Parity: Select the type of parity used for error detection. The parity transfers through the serial connection as a
single bit. It is used to verify that each set of data bits transfers correctly. It is then stripped away before the
data file passes through the rest of the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools process. Select None to ignore all par-
ity bits; no error detection occurs.
l Stop bits: Since most serial ports operate asynchronously, the transmitted byte must be identified by start and
stop bits. The start bit indicates when the data byte is about to begin and the stop bit(s) indicates when the data
byte was transferred. The start bit is always 0 to mark the beginning of the byte, but the stop bit can be a single
1, or two bits each with a value of 1.
l Time-out: Set the time in seconds the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools process waits for the transfer of bytes
in the data file before ending the transfer of this file. On a time-out, partially received data files are not passed to
the rest of the process; the Serial input resets, ready to receive further data files.
l Job delimiters: Enter the strings that tell PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools the data file being retrieved through the
Serial input is complete. Each line in the Job delimiters text box is a different delimiter. You can enter as many delim-
iters as you want, one per line. The three default delimiters that appear are three of the most commonly recognized
end of a file delimiters.
l Log (verbose): Select to keep a log of errors and other information related to the Serial input. Since these messages
can accumulate, you have the option of not logging them.
Telnet Input User Options
The Telnet input user option controls the log of the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Telnet Capture service. Since Plan-
etPress Suite Workflow Tools lets you monitor multiple Telnet inputs simultaneously, the port setting for all Telnet input tasks
cannot be set in the user options.
The available Telnet input user options are as follows:
Protocol options group
l Log all Winsock and network messages (very verbose): Select to have PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools
keep a log of all Winsock and other network messages that occur from the Telnet input. These messages are related
to files sent from other systems using a telnet connection. Since these messages can accumulate, you have the option
of not logging them.
The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program