PrintBOS Release Notes
Version 4.2.3UPD#3
June 2010
These Release Notes include the latest information about PrintBOS version
4.2.3, 4.2.1UPD, 4.2.1 & 4.2.
CONTENTS
I. Enhancement features in Version 4.2.3UPD#3
II. Enhancement features in Version 4.2.3UPD#1 & 4.2.3UPD#2
III. Enhancement features in Version 4.2.3
IV. Enhancement features in Version 4.2.1UPD
V. Enhancement features in Version 4.2.1
VI. News about Version 4.2 and Miscellaneous Features
VII. Known open issues & Limitations
VIII. END OF LIFE for old versions.
I. Enhancement Features in Version 4.2.3UPD#3
Version 4.2.3UPD#3 has 2 major enhancements:
1. Multi Output: A new mechanism of output destination, to improve performance while creating several copies of the same output for different types of destinations.
2. Web service connectivity to PB, for sending printings to PrintBOS server from anywhere on the web, and option to get back the outcome files (PDF,TIFF etc.) together with status of the printing. Read more about it on "Web service Application Notes" document.
II. Enhancement Features in Version 4.2.3UPD#1 & 4.2.3UPD#2
Version 4.2.3UPD improves Version 4.2.3 with fixes and enhancements:
1. New feature of formatting numbers. Now one can control the formatting of numbers in the output. The numbering format will be set per Queue according to the regional setting (Default), or by a custom setting. This feature answers special international/ local numbers formatting requirements.
For example: 123,456,789.00 (English USA format)
123.456.789,00 (Brazilian format)
123 456 789,00 (Russian)
etc.
For more details, look at the "Number formatting" document, in the "Documentation" folder, in your CD.
2. New option of formatting the output file name. In 4.2.3UPD#1 one can control the default output file name, for each "output file" destination. The output file name can contain by default the job number, the user name, Queue name, Group name, date, etc. One can also choose whether to create sub folder for each output, in case of multi files destination or not. One can also choose the format for numbering the different copies of that job, etc.
Here are some examples of output file names, which can be configured
in PB:
J0000001_joe_PC-JOE_string.pdf
J0000002_Group2_Copy#1.pdf
J0000002_Group2_Copy#2.pdf
J0000002_##1.pdf
J0000002_##2.pdf
etc.
3. New option of designing a global cover page. First and last page will be cover pages for each job, defined for each queue, and not dependent by any template.
4. New property was added in the designer to the table object. It is called: "Skip empty lines". Now you can choose whether or not you want to skip an empty line, or show it as empty line in the output. In this version, for old templates, where this property was not assigned, empty tags and empty lines are ignored and space is reduced. In relation to
the former issue - "Skip empty lines" options - When you want to skip empty lines, and for any reason in the coming job all the lines in that section are empty, the output can be strange: you will get a table header, but the table body will be entirely empty.
To avoid this case, you need to locate the table fields in a new subsection and apply the trigger on the subsection.
5. A new control file can be configured for fixing problems with PCL jobs. Under PrintBOS main folder, you can create a text file named:
'pclcommands.txt', and add there PCL commands that PB still doesn't recognize as PCL commands. To make PB ignore PCL commands you can add those commands to the file, and PB will ignore them.
Examples of PCL commands:
(8H
&a3L
&a120v
(The first character is 'ESC' - ASCII 27)
For more details, please consult our support.
6. New option of sending script parameters as a part of an XML job.
The parameters that are sent can be used as parameters in PB scripts, like any other PB script parameters.
For more details, please consult PrintBOS support.
7. New option was added to set Right To Left preference on a certain object, not just for the whole template.
Argentina Brasil Chile Germany Israel Mexico Spain-Portugal USA Uruguay
8. New option to get license up to 19 parallel processes.
9. New option in the license tab to browse a new license.dat and import it to PrintBOS.
III. Enhancement Features in Version 4.2.3
Version 4.2.3 improves Version 4.2.1UPD with fixes and major enhancements:
1. New option for Multi-Templates XML jobs. It is possible to create now XML jobs that can use several templates to create a dynamic output.
The control on the templates that will be used to create the dynamic output is done by pointing out inside the job what templates numbers will be used for creating the output for that job. One can use more than one template number out of a list of numbers. This feature enhances the capability to create dynamic output jobs with input from several enterprise applications sources. A large telecom customer is using this feature to create output files with integrated data from ERP, CRM & billing systems.
For more details, please contact our support.
2. New installation procedure that allows setup of PrintBOS in service mode.
3. New uninstall procedure.
4. New "StartNewPage" script function with the option to enable/disable page header.
5. "Pay-Per-Use" license option (count and limit by license the # of output pages).
6. New designing feature - Text flow within columns (Newspaper style).
7. "Print to output file". This feature replaces the need to use PrintBOS Archive module for the same purpose and containing new file type saving options - PostScript & PCL.
8. Improved TCP\IP connection to PrintBOS.
9. Web Service connection new option -usage of Win32-dll for calling Web Service from PrintBOS Script.
10. Sub template Substitution Editor.
A new editor application to support substitutions of sub templates according to users defined rules.
11. Support for duplex printing in Stream-in.
12. Print preview of sub-templates from the PrintBOS designer.
13. Trim sub-template object.
Trim a whole sub-template by a TrimObj script function, or by a trigger on a tag.
14. Grouping of sub-templates.
There is a new possibility to create a group for several sub-Templates inside a template.
IV. Enhancement Features in Version 4.2.1UPD
Version 4.2.1UPD improves Version 4.2.1 with bug fixes and enhancements
as follows:
1. In general, Version 4.2.1UPD supports backward compatibility to
Versions 4.01, 4.2, and 4.2.1.
2. Certified SAP-PrintBOS connectivity of XSF, RDI and IDOC formats with SAP AG.
Please ask for PBConnector-XSF 4.2 and PBConnector-RDI 4.2.
3. Support the Archiving of multiple JPEG files using automatic naming convention.
4. Support big file size attachments for sending in email.
5. Allows configuring of any SMTP port for sending emails.
6. Allows configuring of any LPR port for communicating with
PrintBOS Agent.
7. Support Slovenian character set when printing formatted document.
8. Allows PrintBOS Agent to print PDF documents without opening
Acrobat Reader.
9. Improve interactive design work with enhanced and faster drag & drop functionality.
10. Improve installation plug & play based of fax Message Manager's client.
11. Support TIFF Grey Scale when sending fax with Message Manager.
12. Improve communication channel with SAP systems when receiving job.
13. Improve throughput with qualified output PDFs in multi-process mode.
14. Updated Online Help and Tutorials.
V. Enhancement Features in Version 4.2.1
Version 4.2.1 improves Version 4.2 with bug fixes and enhancements features as follows:
1. Allows setup the number of running print processes up to the licensed maximum number.
2. Support 2 dimensional QR Denso barcode. QR Code is a kind of two dimensional symbology developed by Denso Wave aim of being symbol that is easily interpreted by scanner equipment.
3. Support 2 dimensional PDF417 barcode. PDF417 barcode is a very high-density two dimensional symbology that can encode text, numbers, files and actual data bytes.
4. Allows to setup template ID by value.
5. Allows changing page setup of sub template.
6. Allows changing (dynamically) layout design of sub template within existing template.
7. Change the size limit of memory allocation for strings in scripts to 2500 characters.
8. Enables invocation of scripts on input fields.
9. Allows wrap text and right-to-left (RTL) from GUI.
10. Allows "TrimObject" on grouped objects.
11. Allows inserting a sub template in existing sub template in create mode.
12. Allows inserting a new page before and after an existing page.
13. Optimize PBSPY, the PrintBOS Hot Folder mechanism that enables automatic fast processing of input raw data coming over file transfer protocols such as FTP or else.
14. Script calls. Allow to call a script from within another script.
15. Automatic Ordering of Table List. Allow to select automatic vertical or horizontal ordering of items in a table list.
16. Support Pre-Process. A new mechanism that invokes a PrintBOS script or a 3rd party DLL on incoming jobs.
17. Dynamic page break in Stream-in. Allows to link page break script to a specific input tag.
VI. News about Version 4.2 and Miscellaneous Features
Version 4.2 improves stability in multi-process operation and enhances support of Stream-in XML, XSF, and RDI with a new look & feel Designer tool.
Version 4.2 includes numerous fixes to minor problems that were discovered after the release of version 4.01.
A complete list of these is available from Consist Technologies Ltd.
1. Stream-in Support
a. A new Designer enables intuitive design and template b. Support XML, XSF, and RDI as input data.
c. No limitation of hierarchy levels.
d. Support links to external templates (sub-templates).
e. Support multiple of nesting levels links to external templates
(sub-templates).
f. Support page break (start new page).
g. Support adding Cover and Appendix.
h. A new engine that better supports any created Stream-in data by the new Designer.
i. See below "Known Problems & Limitations".
2. New License Options
a. Page-in and Stream-in printing modes.
b. Barcode.
c. Labels
d. Charts.
e. Multi Process (1, 2, 3, 4).
f. Designer Tool.
g. Virtual Printing (AS/400).
h. Site License.
3. Inline Attribute
- Improve inline attributes such as bold, italic, underline for text in both, Page-in and Stream-in printing modes.
4. Error Handling
- Expand the use of error handling throughout the code.
- Improve LogViewer tracer for local & remote debugging.
5. Stop Job Mechanism
- Stop the engine from printing when output product may be corrupted Job will be held in the Queue until the problem would be fixed, and then released for execution.
6. Archive
- Support Archive of PDF files from multiple different output queues to different folders.
7. Barcode
- Support 2D Denso barcode.
8. Fax Output
- Support TIFF G4 in Fax output.
9. Email Distribution
- Email distribution allows to post up to 500 recipients.
10. Heavy thick dash line
- Printout correctly 0.1mm dash lines.
11. Wrap Text
- Support wrapping text in a table cell (via script).
12. Text Visualization
- Switch between Visual and Logical text presentation done via scripts BsVisualToLogical" and "BsLogicalToVisual".
13. Interface to Printer Status
- Provide an LPQ interface to acquire printer status.
14. Support Structured Parameters in Scripts
- Allows to transferring unlimited number of parameters to a scripting function via structure.
15. Enhance database access
- Implement access to database using user and password authentication scheme (via script).
16. Automatic PDF setup for Multi Process
- Automatic creation and assignment of PDF Writer for each process that would work in multi process mode.
17. A New Import/Export Dialog
- Implement a new "Import/Export" dialog in the Designer "Tools" that enables to import and export single and multiple selections of
Templates, sub templates, Scripts, and Images.
VII. Known Open Issues & Limitations
1. In general, the New Stream-in supports backward compatibility. This means that the New Stream-in implementation may execute "old" templates from Version 4.01 with no problems. However, if an "old" template is opened in the designer Tool, we do recommend using print preview.
2. It is recommended to print preview "old" RDI based templates (from Version 4.01) before production.
3. If "Uninstall" before new PrintBOS installation is required, then make sure to stop any of the PrintBOS Processes / services that are running.
4. In the "Configurator" application, the "Cancel" option does not cancel the values of the "Document Routing" and "User and Printer Management" setup dialogs.
5. In the case of multi-process, and if large size output PDF files may take more than 1 minute per file (job) then it is highly recommended to configure the Windows' registry flag "PDFCreatorTimeout" to any number that is larger than 1minute (1000 milliseconds).
6. In old versions, before 4.2.3, the default X & Y margins of a text in a table cell was 5 millimeters (although in the configurator, the defaults were shown as 0).
In 4.2.3 the default was changed to 0, as it is written in the configurator.
If one gets a problem in displaying tables lines in jobs with tables, it can be fixed by configure the queue X margin as 5 millimeter, instead of using the default.
7. In windows 2003 server, the PrintBOS printer is not installed under
"Printer and Faxes" during PrintBOS installation. This bug will be fixed in one of our next versions.
To resolve this we need to allow kernel-mode drivers to be installed temporarily only during the installation process and then disable them.
To allow the installation of kernel-mode printer drivers
a. Logon to Windows Server 2003 as an Administrator
b. Open Group Policy Object Editor (click Start, click Run, type gpedit.msc, and then press ENTER).
c. Under Local Computer Policy, double-click Computer Configuration.
d. Double-click Administrative Templates, and then double-click Printers.
e. Right-click "Disallow installation of printers using kernel mode drivers", and then click properties.
f. On the Setting tab, click Disabled, and then click OK.
8. While running PrintBOS in service mode, with option to interact with the desktop, the option to run Event log viewer was removed from the icon menu. Instead, you can run the Event log viewer from the windows "Start programs" menu.
9. While running PrintBOS in service mode, with option to interact with the desktop, the option to design a job from PrintBOS queue was removed from the popup menu.
Instead, open the designer from the "start programs" menu.
10. Web archive can view only one connected database, as described in the Archive configuration tab.
Currently, if more than one database is created by archive destinations, you cannot see all of them in the web archive feature. It is possible to see and work with multiple DB via regular DB tools and controllers. The option to work with multiple DB is expected to be provided via a new Web GUI in PrintBOS version 5.
11. Scripts in PrintBOS can be attached to either input fields or output fields.
In Stream-in flow (XML, RDI, XSF input), when scripts are connected to an input field, and that input field is also mapped in the output, the script is running twice. First time when the input filed is loaded - and second time when the output field is being printed. Therefore, it is recommended to attach scripts to an output field only, unless there is no other choice, (like @Trimgroup for example).
12. Setting the Y2 object property in a script can cause a miscalculation in
objects'' location for 2 related objects from the same section.
13. The following types of barcodes are not printed in PrintBOS: EAN2 ; EAN5 ; LEITCODE ; ISBN ; PZN, Codabar
14. The following types of barcodes printed by PrintBOS were found problematic to scan:
CODE93EX ; 20F5 ; 20F5MATRE ; ISBN_5 ; UPCA_5.
There are no PrintBOS customers currently that are using those barcodes types.
15. Assigning the "justify" property for a text is not working as expected. A fix to this issue will be provided in the next update or version 5.
16. A defect in "Line settings in "Table Properties" that was found in 4.21 was fixed in 4.23. The bottom line of a table was printed in any case, even if its color was defined as "white", or its width was ZERO.
Therefore in some cases the bottom line of a table in a template from 4.21 may not be printed in version 4.23.
Redefining the line in designer (Like, paint it in non-white color, or define its width as non zero) will fix this problem.
17. In 4.2.3 version, there is a new option to set different destinations of archive for different user\groups etc. The archive details for each destination are written inside destXXX.ini file, under the relevant sub folder under the "routing" folder. It is not written under DBArchive.ini any more.
If you have an old implementation in one of your current scripts that reads\writes from DBArchive.ini, you should change that script while upgrading to 4.2.3 version, to read\write from the relevant destination.ini file.
18. In this version a bug of a wrong calculation of relativity between objects was fixed. An object is not printed right after its relative object anymore, but keeps the distance that was defined in the template relatively. In these cases you may need to re-order your objects in the template, so the output will be as you expect.
19. If the output of one section requires more than one printed page, the option "Print on one page" in that section's properties should not be defined in the template.
20. In Page-in template you can only use sub templates that contains static objects only. There is no way to use dynamic objects depends on the content of the job, inside sub templates in Page-In mode.
21. While creating a new Stream-in template, or updating the current input fields' tree by using "change raw data". Only tags that are non empty will be taken into the tree structure.
22. An updated XSF input convertor was added to support all types of XSF tags in the coming XSF input. For those who used old 4.23 versions, it may happen that templates that were created for XSF jobs will no longer match the new XSF.XSLT file in the 4.23 official release. To avoid changing those templates, you can choose to work with "ALTXSF.XSLT" file, instead of the official XSF.XSLT by choosing the proper option under the Queue configuration.
23. On former versions, triggers were applied even on empty tags. This bug was fixed. As a result, the output in this version can be different in the triggers behavior.
24. Known problem: Order of lines for wrap text is changed when preview from Queue, while using "Visual" in the queue configure instead of "logical".
25. Known limitation: No Relativity between two objects from two different sections.
26. The default for the Wrap text option in text objects was set to YES, so for old templates the text will be wrapped and will not be cut off. If you want to change that, please change the template and set the "wrap text" option to - "NO".
27. In this version a bug of a wrong calculation of relativity between objects was fixed. An object is not printed right after its relative object anymore, but keeps the distance that was defined in the template relatively. Because of that, you may need to re-order your objects in the template, so the output will be as you expect.
28. If the output of one section requires more than one printed page, the option "Print on one page" in that section's properties should not be defined in the template.
29. XML tag names are non case sensitive in PrintBOS. For example: <NAME> & <Name> are treated as the same tag name while designing templates or during output manufacturing.
30. In operating system that has default regional setting which does not contain a dot (".") in the format of numbers, (for example - if you use Swedish, Russian, Bulgarian etc.) you may get a problem of opening the queue configuration settings dialog. To bypass this problem please call our support.
VIII. End of life for old versions.
We would like to announce that Consist Technologies Ltd. and Consist
International Inc. will not continue supporting old PrintBOS versions as from
June 30th 2008. These 'end-of- life' versions include:
Version 4.01, Version 3.51, Version 3.5, Version 2.3, and older.
All PrintBOS resellers are requested to accomplish upgrade plans with their customers by end of June 2008.
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