2020.2

About data emulation
An emulation specifies how to interpret a data file. It is basically the method through which
PlanetPress Workflow parses and displays the data. If the emulation is set to CSV (comma
separated values), for instance, commas encountered in the data will typically be considered as
value separators. The way data selections are made depends on the emulation (see "Data
selections" on page52).
Every Workflow process has its own data emulation setting, which depends on the sample data
file you choose.
A process's data emulation is only visible in the Workflow configuration tool when using the
Data Selector e.g. to select a sample data file, but it is always set to one (Line Printer, by
default).
A process's emulation can be changed either by choosing another sample data file (see
"Choosing a sample data file" on page70) or by inserting a "Change Emulation" on page385
task in the process.
Changing the emulation is particularly important if you want to make a data selection in a file
after it has been changed to another format (see "Data selections" on page52).
Note
Even during debugging, selecting a sample data file with a different format will cause the
emulation of a process to change. In order to avoid errors, change the emulation back to
the format of the original input file before using the process again.
Stabilizing data
All emulations, except the database, PDF and XML emulations, let you perform operations on
the data to stabilize it. The following options are available in both the "Change Emulation" on
page385 task and "The Data Selector" on page842.
Add/remove characters: Enter the number of characters to add to, or remove from, the head of
the data stream, or use the spin buttons to increment or decrement the value. Positive values
add characters; negative values remove characters. This is useful when one or more characters
of input data precede the start of the first data page. Note that certain control characters can be
problematic. For example, the NUL character (hexadecimal 00) cannot be removed from the
head of the data stream, and a backspace (hexadecimal 08) can cause unpredictable behavior.
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