Create Ad Hoc actions

You can create the following ad hoc rule actions.

To run business rules

Use this action to determine if you want to run business rules against input or output documents.
  1. In the Perform the following actions box, click the <Action> link, and then click Run Business Rules.
    This opens the Run Business Rules dialog box.
  2. Select if you want to run business rules against Input documents and/or Output documents.
  3. Click OK.

To set document properties

Use this action to configure document properties.
  1. In the Perform the following actions box, click the <Action> link, and then click Set Document Properties.
    This opens the Document Properties dialog box.
  2. In the grid, configure the document properties.
    1. Expand the category of the property you want to configure.
      The first node level in the category determines the print preferences for the properties it contains.
    2. In the Mode column, select how the property should be applied when a document is sent to a destination. Click in the grid cell and choose from the following options:
      • Always Apply — Always applies the specified property value. Output Manager will add commands to the print stream to enforce the print preference. If the document already contains commands for that print preference, Output Manager will modify the commands to work with the printer family where the document is being sent.
      • Apply Conditionally — Applies the property value conditionally. Output Manager will only add or modify commands for the print preference when the printer family that the document is destined for is different from the printer family the document was originally designed for.
      • Informational Only — Output Manager makes no changes to the print stream when the document is sent to the destination. The value is for informational purposes only.
    3. In the Value column, specify the document property value.
      You can use functions to insert and extract data as necessary. For more information, see Using Output Manager functions
    The grid lists the property values that can be configured grouped in the following categories: Basic options, Media selection, Document, Image adjustments, Finishing, and Other properties. To expand a category, click the down arrow next to a category name. To collapse a category, click the up arrow.
  3. Click OK.

To delete documents

Use this action to delete documents.
In the Perform the following actions box, click the <Action> link, and then click Delete Document.
No additional configuration is required.

To set the priority in a group

Use this action to set the print order when multiple documents are packaged together.

The order of the document properties set by this action determines the print order when sent to the destination.

  1. In the Perform the following actions box, click the <Action> link, and then click Set Priority in Group.
    This opens the Set Priority In Group dialog box.
  2. In the Ordering properties list, select the properties that you want to determine the print order.
    As you select properties, they are moved to the Selecting order list.
  3. To reorder properties, select properties in the Selecting order list and click Move up and Move down.
  4. Click OK.

Example package:


Doc 1: Priority 1 Total Pages: 5
Doc 2: Priority 2 Total Pages: 2

If Priority in Group is set to Priority (1st) and Total Pages (2nd), then the documents would print in Doc 1, Doc 2 order. If Priority in Group is reversed and set to Total Pages, then the documents would print in Doc 2, Doc 1 order.

To assign to document folder

Use this action to assign documents to specific document folders.
  1. In the Perform the following actions box, click the <Action> link, and then click Assign to Document Folder.
    This opens the Select Document Folder dialog box.
  2. Select the appropriate folder in the tree.
  3. Click OK.

To set document owners

Use this action to configure the document owner.
  1. In the Perform the following actions box, click the <Action> link, and then select Set Document Owner.
    This opens the Set Document Owner dialog box.
  2. You can determine the document owner from a user reference property.
    To do this, select Calculate document owner from user reference property and select User, Group, or User or Group.
  3. To specify a default owner, click the browse button (...) and select appropriate the user or group from the User and Group Selection dialog box.
    If the desired user or group is not listed, click More Users to search for additional users.
  4. Click OK.

To route to destinations

Use this action to specify the destinations where documents should be sent.
  1. In the Perform the following actions box, click the <Action> link and click Route to Destination(s).
    This opens the Select Destination dialog box.
  2. In the tree, select destinations.
    You can select multiple destinations by pressing the Ctrl or Shift keys and selecting destinations. Selecting a destination group will select all destinations in that group.
  3. In the list below the tree, choose whether to replace the destination already assigned to the document or use multiple destination routing and add to the destination already assigned to the document.
  4. Click OK.
A new routing action is shown in the actions box. The action lists all of the selected destinations.

To set the document state

Use this action to set the state of documents to hold or ready.
  1. In the Perform the following actions box, click the <Action> link, and then click Set Document State.
    The Set Document State dialog box displays.
  2. From the list, click the appropriate document state, Hold or Ready.
  3. Click OK.

To create a package of documents

Use this action to create a package of documents. This will take all of the documents that meet the criteria and put them in a multiple document package.
  1. In the Perform the following actions box, click the <Action> link, and then click Create Package.
    This opens the Create Package dialog box.
  2. Enter the Naming prefix for the package document.
    This prefix will be added to all packages created by this action. The naming prefix is especially useful when the create package action will be run by a scheduled rule. Each time the rule runs and generates a new package, the prefix will added. If you have multiple scheduled rules running that generate different packaging, you will be able to distinguish the resulting packages based on the original rule. It does not prefix any documents contained within the packages.
  3. If you want to package documents based on document properties, click Grouping property, and then in the drop-down list, select the property to group by.
    For the selected property, documents are grouped into packages by each unique value of that attribute. For example, you selected Form Name for grouping and you have 20 documents that are being packaged. In the documents, 3 have the value of "Form-A", 5 are "Form-B", 10 are "Form-C", and 2 are "Form-X". Once packaged, you will end up with 4 packages, 1 for each unique form type. All "Form-A" documents will be in their own package, "Form-B" documents in their own package, and so forth.
  4. In the Ordering properties list, select the document properties that will control the order the documents are packaged. As you select properties, they display in the Selected order list.
    Note: Only the allowed properties selected in the Configure Document Properties Utility will display in the Ordering properties list.
  5. Select properties in the Selected order list and use the Move up and Move down buttons to configure the property order.
  6. Use the following options to configure the closing conditions for the package. This will determine when the package is complete. You can configure one or more closing conditions.
    Option Description
    Closing document Select this option to close the package once the specified closing content is received. In the Closing document action box, choose if you want to remove the closing content, add it to the current page, or add it to the next page. In the When box, configure the conditions for specifying the content.
    Time elapsed since package creation Select this option to close the package when a specified amount of time has elapsed since the package was created (the first document was added to the package). Specify the time period using the options next to Elapsed time.
    Time elapsed since last match Select this option to close the package every period of time specified. Specify the time period using the options next to Elapsed time.
    Specific time of day has occurred Select this option to close the package at a specified time each day. Use the Time of day spin box to specify the time.
    Auto close (For "Run Now" or document right-click configuration) Select this option to close the package (or packages when grouping) when the last target document has been packaged by the action.
    Important: This option is used for running an ad hoc rule using the Run Now button on the Ad Hoc Rules Manager dialog box, or when right-clicking a document in the Documents grid and selecting a rule from the Run Ad hoc Rule submenu.
  7. Click OK.

To create a zip package

Use this action to zip the merged document or any other document in Output Manager.
  1. In the Perform the following actions box, click the <Action> link and select Zip Package.
    This opens the Zip Package dialog box.
  2. Enter the Zip File Name in the box.
  3. If this rule will be used after all documents have been received into Output Manager, select Used as a post-processing action.
  4. Determine what will happen to the Original documents after the zipped file has been created.
    You can leave them in the spooler, move them to retain, or delete them.
  5. Click OK.

To create a merge package

Use this action to create a merged file. You can use this action after creating a package to merge all of the documents in to a single document.
  1. In the Perform the following actions box, click the <Action> link, and then click Merge Package.
    This opens the Merge Package dialog box.
  2. Next to Transform, click the Configure button to configure the transform.
    This opens the Configure Transform dialog box.
  3. In the Server list, click the licensed transform server that you would like to use.
  4. In the Transform package list, you can select an existing transform package or create one. Complete the following steps to create a transform package.
    1. Click New.
      This opens the General tab.
    2. Enter the transform package Name.
    3. Select the transform package type.
    4. If you selected a third-party transform package, verify that the EXE path is set to the correct folder.
      The default EXE path is @NSiTransformDir. To change the path, type in the box or click the browse button (...).
    5. Set the Logging State.
      The logging state determines if transform logs and temp files will be saved in the document folder. By default, the Logging State is set to Yes. All log files should be inspected during installation and preproduction testing to insure that fonts are correctly mapped. In a production system, the logging can be disabled to save disk space. If the transform operation returns an error (return code not zero), the log and temp files will not be deleted, and are available for troubleshooting.
    6. On the Filter Profiles tab, specify how the transform software will handle the formatting for each data type.
      To Do this
      Configure a profile Click the browse button (...) in the Modify/New column for the appropriate formats. From the Configure Filter Profile dialog box, configure the profile as needed. The profile contains a communications and printer definition section. See Configuring a CpMillProfile resource for instructions on configuring a filter profile.
      Select a profile Click in the Configuration column for the appropriate formats and select the profile from the list.
    7. On the Resources tab, specify where the transform software will find the resources needed for the transformation.
      For example, PDF fonts are usually found at the location of an Adobe installation.
    8. On the Fonts tab, you can control the font mapping of input fonts to output fonts.
      The defaults are typically correct, but may need to be adjusted for special cases. You can add or modify fonts directly in the grid.
    9. Click OK to create the transform package.
  5. Use the Override input filter profile assigned to document check box option to determine if you want to override the input filter profile assigned to the document or if you want to use the filter profile configured in the transform package. Select the check box to use the filter profile in the transform package.
  6. In the Output format list, click the format of the output file.
  7. Configure the conversion of each input format in the Input formats grid, and then click OK.
    • For all unlicensed input formats and any input formats you don't want to use, click in the Configuration column and select Do Not Transform.
    • For licensed input formats, you can select Use Default Options or select a predefined configuration in the Configuration column. To configure a custom input format, click the ellipsis button in the Modify/New column. If Use Default Options or Do Not Transform is selected in the Configuration column, a new configuration will be created. If a predefined configuration is selected, that configuration will be modified. The custom transform options are configured on the Input options tab, Output options tab, and Page Layout tab. If BMP or PDF is selected as the output format, the Bitmap output tab or PDF output tab will also display.
  8. When the transform configuration is complete, click OK.
    The Merge Package dialog box indicates the transform has been configured.
  9. Complete the following steps to configure Package boundaries.
    1. Select Package boundaries and click Configure.
      This opens the Package Boundary Fields dialog box.
    2. From the grid, expand the sections to select the document properties that will be used as package boundaries.
    3. Click OK.
    Boundary fields are only applicable when a merged document will exceed the maximum number of exceptions (currently set at 1000). Merged documents that exceed the exception count will be split into separate documents. Boundary fields are used to control where the merged documents will be split. Each split will be on a boundary that maximizes the number of pages without exceeding the exception threshold. If you do not specify boundary fields, the split is arbitrary and will occur where the maximum number of pages can be fit.
  10. Under Merged Document Properties, determine if you want to use the document properties from the first page in the documents or the last page in the documents.
    Selecting custom properties is not yet available.
  11. Complete the following steps to configure Exception fields.
    Exception fields specify which document properties to preserve on a per-page basis in the merged document. The document properties will be analyzed to determine the baseline and the exceptions (page overrides).
    1. Select Exception fields and click Configure.
      This opens the Exception Fields dialog box.
    2. From the grid, expand the sections to select the document properties that will be used as exception fields.
    3. Click OK.
    Exception fields specify which document properties to preserve on a per-page basis in the merged document. The document properties will be analyzed to determine the baseline and the exceptions (page overrides).
  12. Determine if you need to Add blank pages between the documents being merged as needed for duplexing. This will cause documents to always start on an odd page number.
  13. Determine what will happen to the Original documents after the merged file has been created. You can leave them in the spooler, move them to retain, or delete them.
  14. Click OK.