Print Inputs (RAW, LPR, IPP, e-mail, folder)

A print input is one way for a print job to reach the IQ4docs system. The print input forms the point of connection to the print workflow. This connection can be established from a print input (Raw, LPR or IPP) or also from an e-mail.

To open the web administration, enter http://<hostname>/webadmin in the web browser (where hostname corresponds to the server on which IQ4docs WebAdmin was installed). In a client environment, enter the URL that you received from the client administrator (for example, http://server/webadmin/#/cf992178-4bd6-431c-b815-b9d734d0ded3). If you are not already logged in, log in with a user that has administrator rights (login and password) or as the IQ4docs system administrator (administrator with password admin by default).

In web administration, click Print > Print Inbox in the menu.

In a client environment, only predefined RAW ports can be used. Additionally, it is possible to print via LPR or IPP.

For LPR and IPP print ports, the client GUID must be specified in the print port, see also Printer Driver Installation.

The available ports for RAW printing are provided by the client administrator. When installing a printer driver, only these ports can be used, see also Printer Driver Installation.

Specify the print workflow to which the print jobs of this port are to be routed. A workflow can only be assigned to one port. If port 49500 is available, it is automatically assigned to the standard print workflow.

Field Description
Port Enter the port number you assigned when you connected the printer driver (default: 49500)
Workflow Specify the print workflow to which the print jobs of this port are to be routed. A workflow can only be assigned to one port.

An LPR print input named Standard is already available. To create a new one, click Create Print Input and select LPR Printer.

Field Description
LPR printer Enter the queue name that you assigned when connecting the printer driver (e.g.: Default)
Workflow Specify the print workflow to which the print jobs of this port are to be routed. A workflow can only be assigned to one LPR printer.

An IPP print input named Standard is already available. To create a new one, click Create Print Input and select IPP Printer.

Field Description
IPP printer Enter the name that you used in the URL when creating the IPP printer (for example: ippstandard).
Workflow Specify the print workflow to which the print jobs of this port are to be routed. An IPP printer can only be assigned to one port.

The e-mail print and web upload features are not available in a client environment.

Now click Create Print Input. Select which type of port you want to add. This depends on the type of port you have selected for the printer connection.

Field Description
Raw Port Enter the port number you assigned when you connected the printer driver (default: 49500)
Workflow Specify the print workflow to which the print jobs of this port are to be routed. A workflow can only be assigned to one port.

In the name of the print job, which is contained in the PJL header of the print job, information can be transferred to IQ4docs (e.g. from an application that is able to set the name of the print job arbitrarily).

Field Description
Print Job Owner By default this field is empty (in this case the login name of the print job owner is not read from the print job name, but determined by default).
If you want to read the login name of the print job owner from the job name contained in the PRN file, specify a regular expression that cuts the login name from the job name.
For example, the PRN contains the following: @PJL JOB NAME="text-loginname-job-name
Print job name: text-loginname-job-name
Regular expression: (?<=-)(.*?)(?=-)
Result: loginname
If the determined login name is not found in the user list of IQ4docs, the login name determined by default is used.
Print Job Name If this field is left empty, the complete job name contained in the PRN file will be used as the name of the print job by default. But you can also specify a regular expression to cut a part out of the file name.
Field Description
LPR printer Enter the queue name that you assigned when connecting the printer driver (e.g.: Default)
Workflow Specify the print workflow to which the print jobs of this port are to be routed. A workflow can only be assigned to one LPR printer.
Field Description
IPP printer Enter the name that you used in the URL when creating the IPP printer (for example: ippstandard).
Workflow Specify the print workflow to which the print jobs of this port are to be routed. An IPP printer can only be assigned to one port.

The print input E-Mail Mailbox is called an e-mail print. Learn more about how the e-mail print works under E-MailPrint. Note the supported file types.

For e-mail and WebPrint, these files are sent directly to the device. This means the devices must support direct printing of these file types. Currently the following file types can be used with IQ4docs:

  • PDF (Portable Document Format)
  • XPS (XML Paper Specification)

Note that there may be restrictions depending on the device manufacturer, file properties, and file type (e.g. for PDF files, the paper format might not be recognized by the device).

For more information, please contact your partner responsible for questions about devices.

The following file formats are supported for Office printing. These are not sent directly to the device, but are first converted into a PDF file by IQ4docs, which is then used as a print job.

  • JPG (image format of the Joint Photographic Experts Group)
  • TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)
  • DOC, DOCX (Microsoft Office Word)
  • XLS, XLSX (Microsoft Office Excel)
  • PPTX (Microsoft Office PowerPoint)

When converting Office formats to PDF, there may be slight variances in the display.

Click Create Print Input. Select E-Mail Mailbox. Select the desired mailbox type.

Field Description
Mailbox Name Descriptive, arbitrary name of the e-mail print mailbox.
Hostname Hostname or IP address of the e-mail server.
Port Enter the port of the incoming mail server here (default is 110 for unencrypted and 995 for encrypted), see also Encryption
Encryption Specify the type of encryption.
ProtocolDescription
NoneNo encryption, all data are transmitted unencrypted.
STARTTLSMethod for encrypted transmission using the TLS protocol (Transport Layer Security), where encryption is negotiated automatically (start of connection unencrypted).
SSL/TLSMethod for encrypted transmission using the TLS protocol (Transport Layer Security) with full encryption.

The protocol type is negotiated automatically. If there are problems with this, the protocol type can be fixed in the LocalService.config of the NotificationService. The entry below sets the protocol type to TLS 1.2:

<add key="TlsVersion" value="Tls12" />

Protocol typeDescription
SystemDefaultAllows the operating system to select the most appropriate protocol and block insecure protocols. Unless there is a specific reason in your application not to do so, you should use this value. This is the default setting, just as if the <add key="TlsVersion"... entry did not exist at all.
Ssl3Specifies the SSL (Secure Socket Layer) 3.0 security protocol. SSL 3.0 has been replaced by the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol and is provided for backward compatibility only.
TlsSpecifies the TLS (Transport Layer Security) 1.0 security protocol. The TLS 1.0 protocol is defined in IETF RFC 2246.
Tls11Specifies the TLS (Transport Layer Security) 1.1 security protocol. The TLS 1.1 protocol is defined in IETF RFC 4346. On Windows systems, this value is supported from Windows 7 onwards.
Tls12Specifies the TLS (Transport Layer Security) 1.2 security protocol. The TLS 1.2 protocol is defined in IETF RFC 5246. On Windows systems, this value is supported from Windows 7 onwards.
Authentication Specify the type of authentication. Username and password are required for all authentication methods.
MethodDescription
AutomaticThe authentication method is negotiated automatically between the PostboxService and the e-mail server.
PlainUsername and password are transmitted unencrypted.
LoginUsername and password are transmitted unencrypted in two steps.
NTLMUsername is transmitted unencrypted.
CRAM_MD5Username and password are transmitted encrypted based on the MD5 algorithm.
Username Account or username of the e-mail account to be read.
Password The password of the user specified under Username to log in to the e-mail server.
Query interval (min) Time interval in minutes at which the mailbox is checked for incoming e-mails.
Field Description
Mailbox Name Descriptive, arbitrary name of the mailbox.
Hostname Hostname or IP address of the e-mail server.
Port Enter the port of the incoming mail server here (default is 143 for unencrypted and 993 for encrypted), see also Encryption
Folder IMAP directory on the mail server.
Encryption Specify the type of encryption.
ProtocolDescription
NoneNo encryption, all data are transmitted unencrypted.
STARTTLSMethod for encrypted transmission using the TLS protocol (Transport Layer Security), where encryption is negotiated automatically (start of connection unencrypted).
SSL/TLSMethod for encrypted transmission using the TLS protocol (Transport Layer Security) with full encryption.

The protocol type is negotiated automatically. If there are problems with this, the protocol type can be fixed in the LocalService.config of the NotificationService. The entry below sets the protocol type to TLS 1.2:

<add key="TlsVersion" value="Tls12" />

Protocol typeDescription
SystemDefaultAllows the operating system to select the most appropriate protocol and block insecure protocols. Unless there is a specific reason in your application not to do so, you should use this value. This is the default setting, just as if the <add key="TlsVersion"... entry did not exist at all.
Ssl3Specifies the SSL (Secure Socket Layer) 3.0 security protocol. SSL 3.0 has been replaced by the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol and is provided for backward compatibility only.
TlsSpecifies the TLS (Transport Layer Security) 1.0 security protocol. The TLS 1.0 protocol is defined in IETF RFC 2246.
Tls11Specifies the TLS (Transport Layer Security) 1.1 security protocol. The TLS 1.1 protocol is defined in IETF RFC 4346. On Windows systems, this value is supported from Windows 7 onwards.
Tls12Specifies the TLS (Transport Layer Security) 1.2 security protocol. The TLS 1.2 protocol is defined in IETF RFC 5246. On Windows systems, this value is supported from Windows 7 onwards.
Authentication Specify the type of authentication. Username and password are required for all authentication methods.
MethodDescription
AutomaticThe authentication method is negotiated automatically between the PostboxService and the e-mail server.
PlainUsername and password are transmitted unencrypted.
LoginUsername and password are transmitted unencrypted in two steps.
NTLMUsername is transmitted unencrypted.
CRAM_MD5Username and password are transmitted encrypted based on the MD5 algorithm.
Username Account or username of the e-mail account to be read.
Password The password of the user specified under Username to log in to the e-mail server.
Query interval (min) Time interval in minutes at which the mailbox is checked for incoming e-mails.
Field Description
Mailbox Name Descriptive, arbitrary name of the mailbox.
Hostname Hostname or IP address of the exchange server.
URL URL of the Exchange server (e.g. https://exchange.company.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx).
User E-mail Mailbox whose e-mails are to be read (e-mail address of the user specified under Username).
Folder Exchange directory on the exchange server. If the field remains empty, the inbox is automatically used and is therefore the same as that specified under Inbox.
Username Account or username of the e-mail account to be read.
Password The password of the user specified under Username to log in to the e-mail server.
Query interval (min) Time interval in minutes at which the mailbox is checked for incoming e-mails.

You must also define the workflow settings for each inbox type.

Field Description
Keyword If this field is empty, all e-mails found in the mailbox will be used for processing. If a keyword is specified, only e-mails where the keyword is found in the e-mail subject will be processed. The position of the keyword as well as upper and lower case are not important.
Delete e-mails after processing If this function is enabled, processed e-mails are deleted from the server after processing. This applies to all e-mails, including those that cannot be processed successfully (e.g. because the e-mail attachment was missing). E-mails that are excluded due to the keyword will not be processed and will therefore never be deleted.
Workflow Select the workflow to which the files from the e-mails are to be sent.

When printing the e-mail body, a print job is created for the e-mail body (and each printable e-mail attachment respectively).

Print E-Mail Body: The e-mail body is always printed if this option is enabled.

Keyword for e-mail body printing: The keyword is taken into account when the Print E-Mail Body option is disabled. Specify any keyword. This must appear – with case sensitivity – in the subject of the e-mail for the e-mail body to be printed.

When printing the e-mail body, there may be deviations in the display.

Notifications can be sent if errors occur during E-MailPrint.

Field Description
Notification active Specify whether or not to send an e-mail for this event. If this setting is not available, the notification cannot be deactivated.
Type of notification The e-mails can be sent in HTML or text format. In some places a message can also be sent as a push notification with IQ4docs Messenger, see also IQ4docs Messenger. The length of push notifications may be limited depending on the operating system.
Recipient Specify one or more e-mail addresses (separated by semicolons) to which the e-mail should be sent. It is also possible to use the e-mail address stored with the user (%EMAIL%), see also Variables.

If this field is not displayed, the e-mail notification automatically uses the e-mail address of the user executing the workflow (this field is not available for push messages). When testing the connection, the e-mail address of the user currently logged in to WebAdmin is then used.
Sender Specify an e-mail address to be used as the sender of the e-mail. This is also the address that is used when the recipient of the e-mail clicks on Reply in the e-mail program. It is also possible to use the e-mail address stored with the user (%EMAIL%), see also Variables; this can be useful for some events, since the user who has encountered the problem can be contacted by e-mail.

If this field is not displayed, the e-mail notification automatically uses the e-mail address of the user executing the workflow (this field is not available for push messages). When testing the connection, the e-mail address of the user currently logged in to WebAdmin is then used.
Language Select the language in which the e-mails should be sent.
Subject Specify the desired text to be used as the e-mail subject.
Message Enter the desired message here. Depending on the type of notification, use plain text or HTML code here.

If this field is not displayed, the text will be supplied in full from the message template.

Send Test Notification sends a test message with the selected settings. For the test, the user data of the user who is currently logged in to the WebAdmin are used (if you make changes to the data of this user, you must log out and log in again in order for this data to be loaded). It might not be possible to resolve variables at this point because the workflow was not actually executed. When testing, also note the settings for the recipient and sender.

Load Defaults fills the fields for Recipient, Sender, Language and Subject with default settings - any values that may have been entered are replaced.

In the Test Settings area, you can query the specified mailbox. If this is successful, the number of e-mails contained in it and the number of e-mails being processed are also displayed (restriction by keyword is taken into account). The number of e-mails already processed is also displayed (e-mails are only processed once even if they are not to be deleted after processing).

If you want to enable the upload of files to be used as print jobs in the WebClient, create a print input for WebPrint (there can only be one such input). The upload then takes place in the WebClient on the My Print Jobs tab.

Click Create Print Input. Choose WebClient Upload. Then select the print workflow to which the uploaded files are to be sent.

For e-mail and WebPrint, these files are sent directly to the device. This means the devices must support direct printing of these file types. Currently the following file types can be used with IQ4docs:

  • PDF (Portable Document Format)
  • XPS (XML Paper Specification)

Note that there may be restrictions depending on the device manufacturer, file properties, and file type (e.g. for PDF files, the paper format might not be recognized by the device).

For more information, please contact your partner responsible for questions about devices.

The following file formats are supported for Office printing. These are not sent directly to the device, but are first converted into a PDF file by IQ4docs, which is then used as a print job.

  • JPG (image format of the Joint Photographic Experts Group)
  • TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)
  • DOC, DOCX (Microsoft Office Word)
  • XLS, XLSX (Microsoft Office Excel)
  • PPTX (Microsoft Office PowerPoint)

When converting Office formats to PDF, there may be slight variances in the display.

A print job can also be read from a directory. PDF files as well as PRN files (print spooler files from supported printer drivers) can be processed.

To create folder monitoring, click Create Print Inbox, and then click Monitor Folder. To edit the print input, select the desired record and click the edit icon. To delete an input, select the Delete button.

The input via a folder can consist of a maximum of three files (all with the same name except for the file extension):

  • Print file (PDF or PRN)
  • XML file for variable usage and workflow users
  • Semaphore file (for the targeted start of the workflow)

The monitoring of the folder is not done by polling at regular intervals, but by operating system events. This allows editing to begin immediately after the files are placed in the folder (as soon as the file can be opened for exclusive writing).

If you want to process only one print file (without another XML file), specify the allowed file type in the File Trigger field (e.g. *.pdf). If no specification is made in the File Trigger field, all files will cause the workflow to be executed (if, for example, *.pdf and *.prn are to be allowed). If the file type is not supported, IQ4docs discards the file. The field should only be left empty if no variables are passed via XML file.

If you want to pass data to the workflow for processing the print file, you need an XML file with the same name (e.g. file.pdf and file.xml) in addition to the image file. Since a file can also be processed without an XML file, it is important to tell IQ4docs which file should be the trigger, i.e. the file that triggers the processing. This is always the file that is stored in the folder last.

If the XML file was the last file stored in the folder, enter *.xml in the File Trigger field. Now only *.xml files can start the workflow. If the XML file exists, a print file with the same name is searched for. If it is not found, the XML file is discarded.

A semaphore is a kind of signal generator for a related process (which signals that a process has been completed). A semaphore file can be written as a signal. This is a contentless file that has the same name as the files to be processed further (e.g. File.pdf, File.xml and File.ok). So in this concrete case, the semaphore file gives the signal that the print file (and the XML file, if necessary) has been written completely and the workflow processing can start. This may be necessary, for example, if the XML file is not created in one go but is opened and closed several times.

For example, if you want to use the semaphore file File.ok as a file trigger, enter *.OK in the File Trigger field. Only once this file can be opened exclusively by IQ4docs to write will a search for the image and XML file of the same name be conducted.

If you want to pass data to the workflow for processing the print file, you need an XML file with the same name (e.g. file.pdf and file.xml) in addition to the print file. This file may have been created by an external program, but also by a IQ4docs scan workflow as a metafile, for example.

  • The information in the XML file is given priority during use (e.g. if an owner is set in the print input fields and in the XML file, the information from the XML file is used).
  • The main area <PrintOptions> must be present.
  • Options (i.e. whole lines) can be omitted. If they are present, the content is used (even if it is empty).

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<PrintOptions>

<UserLogin>m.schmidt</UserLogin>

<JobName>Invoice</JobName>

<DirectPrinterKey>Comment</DirectPrinterKey>

<DirectPrinterName>printer107</DirectPrinterName>

<ImportSource>AD Import</ImportSource>

<SendEncrypted>true</SendEncrypted>

<UseDirectPrinter>true</UseDirectPrinter>

<DelegationUserTag>Keyword</DelegationUserTag>

<DelegationUserLoginName>d.jay</DelegationUserLoginName>

<Copies>3</Copies>

<ColorMode>Bw</ColorMode>

<PunchMode>TWOHOLES</PunchMode>

<DuplexMode>LONGEDGE</DuplexMode>

<StapleMode>NONE</StapleMode>

<PrintRange>2-10</PrintRange>

<AllowChanges>true</AllowChanges>

</PrintOptions>

Field Description
UserLogin Login of the user under which the workflow is executed. If user-relevant data are used in the workflow (e.g. personal direct printer), the data of this user are used.
JobName Name of the print job.
DirectPrinterKey You can select a direct printer based on a keyword. This keyword may only be assigned to one device so that the assignment is unique. The assignment of the direct printer by keyword only works for computer-bound direct printers, see Direct printer.
DirectPrinterName Hostname or GUID of the printer on which the print job is immediately output as a direct print.
ImportSource If logins are imported from different import sources, e.g. different directory services or subdomains, the logins might also be the same (e.g. several users with Login smith). Both people can still be imported to IQ4docs with their logins. The uniqueness required to uniquely identify a login and assign print jobs (e.g. to the correct smith) is achieved by means of the import source. In other words, the combination of login name and GUID of the import source must be unique.To ensure this uniqueness, the GUID of the import source must be specified in this case. You can show the GUID in the list view of the user imports, see also LDAP Import.
SendEncrypted If the print is to be sent to the device encrypted, specify true. For unencrypted sending false (default setting).
UseDirectPrinter The default direct printer of the user specified under UserLogin can be used to immediately output the print as a direct print. To do this, enter true. If set to false, the direct printer setting of the user specified under user login will be used (i.e. direct print or print@me).
DelegationUserTag You can forward a print to a group of users. The group of users is formed on the basis of keywords (all users containing the specified keyword can print the print job). This function overwrites any delegated user already set via the interface, see also Setting delegated print. If a user in the group has printed the print job (without using Print and Hold), the print job is deleted. The job can also be actively deleted by a user (it is then no longer available for any group members).Specify the keyword here.
DelegationUserLoginName You can forward a print to another user. This function overwrites any delegated user already set via the interface, see also Setting delegated print.Enter the user's login name here.

The following settings have the same effect as for a print rule (see also Apply print rule module). If the options below are present as a line in the XML file, they are set. As with a print rule, it is possible to change them on the device in the case of a print@me print, provided that the change is permitted (AllowChanges).

Field Description
Copies Number of copies of the print job, integer value greater than 0), e.g. 3.
ColorMode Changes the color mode, possible settings:
BW (black/white)
Gray (grayscale)
Color (in color)
PunchMode Changes the hole-punch mode, possible settings:
NONE (no holes)
TWOHOLES (two holes)
FOURHOLES (four holes)
DuplexMode Changes the duplex mode, possible settings
SIMPLEX (one-sided)
LONGEDGE (double-sided turned on long edge)
SHORTEDGE (double-sided turned on short edge)
StapleMode Changes the stapling mode, possible settings:
NONE (not stapled)
LEFT (left)
LEFTTOP (top left)
PrintRange Outputs only the page range specified here (format: 3-8). Only pages that are contained in the print data stream transferred to IQ4docs can be considered. For example, if the driver outputs pages 5-8 in a 10-page document, only these 4 pages (5,6,7,8) are transferred to IQ4docs. These then count as pages 1-4 and are applied with the rule. If you define that only pages 1-2 should be printed, pages 5 and 6 of the original print document will be printed.
AllowChanges If this setting is set to true, the user has the possibility to change the changed properties of the print job (back) again on a device with Embedded Client, see Editing Print Jobs. When set to false, they can no longer be changed.

Pay close attention to the spelling of the possible settings as they are case sensitive.

Field Description
Print Job Owner Here, specify the user under which the workflow is executed. This is mandatory. If user-relevant data are used in the workflow (e.g. personal direct printer), the data of this user are used.
Apply filter: The user's login name can also be determined from the name of the print file. To do this, specify a regular expression that cuts out just the login from the name of the print job, e.g.
Print job name: Text-loginname-yet_more_text.pdf
Regular expression: (?<=-)(.*?)(?=-)
Result: loginname
Print Job Name If this field is left empty, the complete name of the supplied file (without file extension) will be used as the name of the print job by default. But you can also specify a regular expression to cut a part out of the file name.
Folder Specify a folder or a share where the files to be added to a workflow should be stored. The PrintService needs access to this folder.
File Trigger Specify a filter if you want to allow only certain file types for processing (e.g. *.ok).
Select document workflow From the drop-down list, select the workflow to which the files are to be fed, see also Workflows.