Hello,
I'd like to have jobs kicked off in Switch from actions from within EFI Pace (just as "Job Created" or "Status Changed").
Is there an established way to do this (or am I going about it all wrong)? I'm very new to both applications, so please pardon my ignorance.
Thank you.
Events from EFI Pace?
Events from EFI Pace?
It is a typical push-or-pull problem.
The MIS could push something to Switch, eg write an XML into a hotfolder that is picked up by Switch and that starts the processing. That is the push implementation. Perhaps there is something in EFI Pace to do that?
For the pull implementation you have to have Switch get the information from the MIS at regular intervals, a bit like scanning an FTP site every 10 minutes. This implementation will usually involve an SQL query to a database requesting a list of all the jobs with a certain status. The SQL query can be done with "Database connect" and when you put "Inject job" in front of it you can trigger that query every so many minutes. To do you have to set two properties on the outgoing connection; set "Trigger" to "Time of day" and "Repeat delay" to the number of minutes you want. For "Inject" you choose "Dummy job".
So what will happen is that "Inject job" will create an empty text file every so many minutes. That will trigger the SQL query in "Database connect" and the result will be in an XML on the Log connection. You do not need the Data connection as that is the dummy file.
The push scenario is the preferred one, because then Switch does not have to poll (meaning it is working but mostly without any results), but that is not always possible and then you try to implement a pull scenario.
Freddy
The MIS could push something to Switch, eg write an XML into a hotfolder that is picked up by Switch and that starts the processing. That is the push implementation. Perhaps there is something in EFI Pace to do that?
For the pull implementation you have to have Switch get the information from the MIS at regular intervals, a bit like scanning an FTP site every 10 minutes. This implementation will usually involve an SQL query to a database requesting a list of all the jobs with a certain status. The SQL query can be done with "Database connect" and when you put "Inject job" in front of it you can trigger that query every so many minutes. To do you have to set two properties on the outgoing connection; set "Trigger" to "Time of day" and "Repeat delay" to the number of minutes you want. For "Inject" you choose "Dummy job".
So what will happen is that "Inject job" will create an empty text file every so many minutes. That will trigger the SQL query in "Database connect" and the result will be in an XML on the Log connection. You do not need the Data connection as that is the dummy file.
The push scenario is the preferred one, because then Switch does not have to poll (meaning it is working but mostly without any results), but that is not always possible and then you try to implement a pull scenario.
Freddy
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dkelly
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Events from EFI Pace?
eve.ragins wrote: I'd like to have jobs kicked off in Switch from actions from within EFI Pace (just as "Job Created" or "Status Changed").
Switch does not ship with any connectivity to MIS/PMS systems such as Pace or Monarch.
They typically use an SQL database to store job information so you could use Switch's Database and Scripting modules to develop a custom scripting element to query the database periodically to find new jobs, query the DB for required information and submit them to Switch.
This task requires an experienced Switch script developer who also can understand your requirements and then locate where that information is stored in the MIS database tables. The MIS vendors do not disclose the database schema and they are very complex and convoluted.
Apago has implemented several Switch flows for our customers that interact with EFI MIS systems for pulling jobs, generating job-tickets, routing and JDF creation.
Switch does not ship with any connectivity to MIS/PMS systems such as Pace or Monarch.
They typically use an SQL database to store job information so you could use Switch's Database and Scripting modules to develop a custom scripting element to query the database periodically to find new jobs, query the DB for required information and submit them to Switch.
This task requires an experienced Switch script developer who also can understand your requirements and then locate where that information is stored in the MIS database tables. The MIS vendors do not disclose the database schema and they are very complex and convoluted.
Apago has implemented several Switch flows for our customers that interact with EFI MIS systems for pulling jobs, generating job-tickets, routing and JDF creation.
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eve.ragins
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Events from EFI Pace?
Thank you both. (I probably should have mentioned that I'm an experienced developer.)
Based on the research I'd done, my inclination was to try what freddy suggested of having Pace create an XML file that Switch could pick up and parse, so it's nice to have that confirmation. If for some reason that doesn't work out (such as limitations in Pace), it's good to know what some alternatives are -- I wasn't aware of the possibility of using Switch to periodically query the database for changes, for instance.
Based on the research I'd done, my inclination was to try what freddy suggested of having Pace create an XML file that Switch could pick up and parse, so it's nice to have that confirmation. If for some reason that doesn't work out (such as limitations in Pace), it's good to know what some alternatives are -- I wasn't aware of the possibility of using Switch to periodically query the database for changes, for instance.