8.7

20,000 Patterns
When reading or learning about PlanetPress Capture, you may have seen a number pop up
here and there: "20,000 Patterns". In order to better understand what this number means and
what it entails for you, the user, this document will first present an overview of a typical
PlanetPress Capture implementation and then explain how the 20,000 patterns limitation can
be circumvented in some cases. We will also touch upon the potential pitfalls of these
workarounds as they are used.
The Numbers
First and foremost, the 20,000 patterns is a fixed number - PReS can only generate 20,000
unique patterns as this is the number of patterns that we license through Anoto.
The 20,000 patterns are, however, not all available when generating documents. There are 8
"demo"patterns that are used to generate documents when PlanetPress Capture is in demo
mode (no license activated), and react the same way that the bulk of the 20,000 patterns.
Another single pattern is used to register pens in the database, and one last single pattern is
used when printing a "Preview"from PlanetPress Design. So in reality, the number of available
patterns for document generation is 19990, but for simplicity's sake this FAQuses the round
number "20,000".
In a typical PlanetPress Capture implementation, a process in PReS Workflow generates
output (generally, this output is directly printed) and, at the same time, will "lock" one pattern for
each page that it generates, if that page contains a pattern. PReS Workflow also stores a copy
of each document in the Capture Database, in PDF format.
While a document is printed, and while this printed document has not received any ink or
signature, the document is deemed "open", the pattern it uses remains locked in the database
and cannot be re-used. Then, when someone writes on the document and sends the pen data
to PReS Workflow (through a docking station or through Bluetooth), if the required conditions
have been met, the document will be "closed", its pattern released and available to be used
immediately.
An open document can also be called a "live" document, in the sense that it is only active
between the time where it is printed and the time where ink from the Anoto Digital Pen is
processed and the document is closed. This duration is called "time to live" or "TTL", and it is
the second very important number: how long is the pattern actually needed.
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