Sie sind auf Seite 1von 286

Service Manual

:ApogeeX 4.0
Service Manual
September 2007

ab

Intended audience
This document is created for Agfa Service engineers only. This document should not be given to customers.
CAUTION: Changes to the default configuration settings can cause unwanted results. All testing and benchmarking
is done with the default settings and therefore we recommend to keep the default settings.
Any remarks on this document can be mailed to: Bert.Leempoels@agfa.com, Kris.Willocx@Agfa.com

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Contents - - Page 3 of 6

Contents
1 Configuring the ApogeeX System

...............................................................7

X 1 ....System Settings .......................................................................................................................................................... 8


X 2 ....Disk Storage Resource. .......................................................................................................................................... 22
X 3 ....Configuration settings of the Task Processors. ............................................................................................. 29

2 JDF
X
X
X
X

......................................................................................................... 77

1 ....JDFServer Configuration ........................................................................................................................................ 78


2 ....Stripping Configuration ......................................................................................................................................... 94
3 ....Stripping marks ...................................................................................................................................................... 101
4 ....JDF/JMF problem solving ................................................................................................................................... 104

3 Hidden TP Parameters

............................................................................. 123

X 1 ....Renderer Render Operation section. .......................................................................................................... 124


X 2 ....Generic Proofer image quality settings. ........................................................................................................ 124
X 3 ....Generic Proofer quality settings. ..................................................................................................................... 125

4 Operating Systems
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

1 ....Optimizing :ApogeeX Server Operating System Performance. ............................................................


2 ....Windows Application Log clean-up. ...............................................................................................................
3 ....Regional Settings. .................................................................................................................................................
4 ....Windows Scheduler ..............................................................................................................................................
5 ....Extracting files on Windows Systems ............................................................................................................
6 ....Networking. ..............................................................................................................................................................
7 ....Macintosh Operating System specifics. ........................................................................................................
8 ....Windows XP firewall issues. ..............................................................................................................................
9 ....Windows 2003 folder sharing (for Macintosh and Windows systems). .............................................
10 .How to Measure Network Speed .....................................................................................................................
11 .Choose the language for the OSX client: .....................................................................................................
12 .Logon with VNC to OSX 10.4 from a PC .......................................................................................................
13 .Create Print Spoolers ...........................................................................................................................................

5 System recovery
X
X
X
X

................................................................................... 127

....................................................................................... 159

1 ....:ApogeeX backup possibilities. .........................................................................................................................


2 ....Disk Mirroring. ........................................................................................................................................................
3 ....Failover Server ........................................................................................................................................................
4 ....Archiving jobs ..........................................................................................................................................................

6 Service Tools and tracing


X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

160
169
172
185

........................................................................ 189

1 ....Tracing information. ..............................................................................................................................................


2 ....Monitor tool. ............................................................................................................................................................
3 ....Providing Job information for support. ..........................................................................................................
4 ....Logging information for the Macintosh Client on Macintosh OS X. ..................................................
5 ....Show string IDs in client next to translations ........................................................................................
6 ....ApogeeX System Rename ..................................................................................................................................
7 ....Shrink the SQL database. ....................................................................................................................................
8 ....cleanup dangling job resources .......................................................................................................................
9 ....Cleanup unused resources .................................................................................................................................
10 .ApogeeX scripts .....................................................................................................................................................
11 .Logging Toolkit (MIS connection) ...................................................................................................................
12 .DataStore Recovery tool. ....................................................................................................................................
13 .Archive Recovery tool ..........................................................................................................................................
14 .Custom proofingmark: Jobparams ...................................................................................................................
15 .ApoDiag tool ............................................................................................................................................................

7 Troubleshooting

128
128
129
129
130
131
145
147
147
148
149
149
151

190
193
198
201
202
203
203
205
206
206
207
209
210
210
212

........................................................................................ 217

X 1 ....:ApogeeX Installer fails. ...................................................................................................................................... 218


X 2 ....Installation ApogeeX Satellite fails. ............................................................................................................... 218

Company Confidential

www.agfa.be

X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

3 ....Uninstall :ApogeeX fails ......................................................................................................................................


4 ....The :ApogeeX system does not start correctly. ..........................................................................................
5 ....Satellite cannot be started when connected to Failover Server. .........................................................
6 ....Unable to lower the size of SQL DataBase ..................................................................................................
7 ....Logging on to the :ApogeeX system fails. ....................................................................................................
8 ....:ApogeeX Client shows empty Jobs and Hot Tickets windows and empty System Overview. .
9 ....Disk Storage out of sync .....................................................................................................................................
10 .Disabled disk locations ........................................................................................................................................
11 .MAC Client issues ..................................................................................................................................................
12 .Solving DNS issues ...............................................................................................................................................
13 .Problems when viewing PDF pages from my Macintosh :ApogeeX client. .....................................
14 .Autostart the ApogeeX Server after logon in Windows. .........................................................................
15 .Disable ApogeeX Client animation (jumping icon) in Mac OS X. .......................................................
16 .Imposition template is not visible ..................................................................................................................
17 .Automated mapping of imposition template spot colors. .....................................................................
18 .How to verify the ApogeeX mailserver settings .........................................................................................
19 .How to remove messages from the message board. ................................................................................
20 .Linearization Curves are not shared between PrintDrive Task Processors ......................................
21 .PrintDrive DQS and ApogeeX Inkdrive files ................................................................................................
22 .Media loading issue PrintDrive Task Processor ..........................................................................................
23 .Change the PrintDrive RIP connection name .............................................................................................
24 .Double separations in PrintDrive .....................................................................................................................
25 .Multiflow CMYK and gray with PDFReady ...................................................................................................
26 .Trapping artifact .....................................................................................................................................................
27 .Job Archiving fails .................................................................................................................................................
28 .Interpreting windows event log .......................................................................................................................

8 Info about :ApogeeX production plans


X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

................................................. 251

1 ....Render Task Processor. ........................................................................................................................................


2 ....Second Renderer (dedicated Proofing Renderer). ......................................................................................
3 ....PDFReady Task Processor. ..................................................................................................................................
4 ....Normalizer Task Processor. ................................................................................................................................
5 ....Preflight Task Processor. .....................................................................................................................................
6 ....Impose and Runlist Task Processor. ...............................................................................................................
7 ....Export Task Processor. ..........................................................................................................................................
8 ....Proofing. ....................................................................................................................................................................
9 ....Clipping on (Sherpa) proofers: ...........................................................................................................................
10 .Generic Proofers: ....................................................................................................................................................
11 .Press Task Processor. ............................................................................................................................................
12 .Actions .......................................................................................................................................................................
13 .TIPS. ............................................................................................................................................................................

9 Performance Guidelines

252
252
253
253
254
254
255
256
257
259
260
260
261

.......................................................................... 263

1 ....General ......................................................................................................................................................................
2 ....Commercial Printer Performance Guidelines ..............................................................................................
3 ....Book Printer Performance Guidelines ............................................................................................................
4 ....System Tuning ........................................................................................................................................................

10 Inside :ApogeeX

218
220
221
221
222
223
224
225
227
231
232
232
232
233
236
237
241
242
242
242
243
244
245
246
247
248

264
270
270
271

..................................................................................... 273

X 1 ....:ApogeeX Server components ........................................................................................................................... 274


X 2 ....ApogeeX Service components .......................................................................................................................... 274
X 3 ....:ApogeeX DataStores ........................................................................................................................................... 275

11 Technical Reference

.............................................................................. 277

X 1 ....DNS (Domain Name System). ........................................................................................................................... 278


X 2 ....Working with Hosts Files (no DNS server). ................................................................................................... 280

12 History

..................................................................................................... 281

X 1 ....7 April 2006 (AX3.0) ............................................................................................................................................. 282


X 2 ....2 October 2006 (AX3.5) ....................................................................................................................................... 282

Company Confidential

www.agfa.be

Contents - - Page 5 of 6

X 3 ....September 2007 (AX4.0) ..................................................................................................................................... 284

Company Confidential

www.agfa.be

Company Confidential

www.agfa.be

Configuring the ApogeeX


System

This chapter will discuss all possible configuration settings you can find in the :ApogeeX System Overview.
NOTE: JDFServer configuration is explained in JDFServer Configuration on page 78. Stripping configuration is
explained in Stripping Configuration on page 94.
X 1 ....System Settings .......................................................................................................................................................... 8
Z 1.1........ Configuration .................................................................................................................................. 8
Z 1.2........ Job Housekeeping Configuration (Service mode only) ................................................ 12
Z 1.3........ Job Housekeeping Advanced (Service mode only) ........................................................ 14
Z 1.4........ Job Housekeeping Debug ....................................................................................................... 15
Z 1.5........ Components (Service mode only). ....................................................................................... 16
Z 1.6........ Imposition Configuration Resource .................................................................................... 18
X 2 ....Disk Storage Resource. .......................................................................................................................................... 22
Z 2.1........ Verify where :ApogeeX writes its DataStore Resources . .......................................... 23
Z 2.2........ Verify if StorageSets disks and volumes function correctly. ..................................... 23
Z 2.3........ Change a StorageSet to write to another Disk/Volume. ............................................ 24
Z 2.4........ Add a StorageSet to increase Storage Capacity. ............................................................ 25
Z 2.5........ Delete Storageset ...................................................................................................................... 26
Z 2.6........ Setup the Watermarks for Disks. ......................................................................................... 27
X 3 ....Configuration settings of the Task Processors. ............................................................................................. 29
Z 3.1........ Load Configuration settings of a TP of the same type ................................................. 29
Z 3.2........ Tracing/Debug. ........................................................................................................................... 29
Z 3.3........ Reboot options. ........................................................................................................................... 29
Z 3.4........ Input Task Processor Configuration settings. .................................................................. 30
Z 3.5........ Normalizer Configuration settings ...................................................................................... 31
Z 3.6........ PDFReady Configuration settings ........................................................................................ 34
Z 3.7........ Preflight Configuration settings ........................................................................................... 36
Z 3.8........ PDFRenderer - Configuration settings ............................................................................... 37
Z 3.9........ CPSI Renderer - Configuration settings ............................................................................ 42
Z 3.10..... Digital Film Proof, Tiff Render ............................................................................................... 49
Z 3.11..... Impose, StepAndRepeat .......................................................................................................... 50
Z 3.12..... Export Configuration Settings ............................................................................................... 51
Z 3.13..... Sherpa ............................................................................................................................................ 53
Z 3.14..... TIFF Imagesetter and TIFF Platesetter ............................................................................... 57
Z 3.15..... PS Imagesetter ........................................................................................................................... 59
Z 3.16..... TIFF Proofer .................................................................................................................................. 61
Z 3.17..... PS Proofer/PDF Proofer ........................................................................................................... 62
Z 3.18..... Accuset, Phoenix, Avantra, Galileo. .................................................................................... 63
Z 3.19..... Palladio .......................................................................................................................................... 64
Z 3.20..... PrintDrive ...................................................................................................................................... 65
Z 3.21..... SpiceLink TP ................................................................................................................................. 67
Z 3.22..... Spice TP configuration Settings ........................................................................................... 69
Z 3.23..... Press ............................................................................................................................................... 70
NOTE: To prevent the customer from making critical changes we have hidden several configuration settings. These
settings can only be accessed in Service Mode. To set your :ApogeeX client in service mode, open Preferences from
the edit Menu (:ApogeeX Windows or Macintosh Client). on Macintosh OS X systems, the :ApogeeX preferences
settings can be found in ApogeeX > Preferences. Change the Access Level to Service and enter the Service
password; "CONNECTX". Do not provide this password to any customer. Restart the :ApogeeX client.

NOTE: administrator access mode is now also protected by password: STAYAHEAD

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - System Settings - Page 8

System Settings

This chapter will cover some :ApogeeX System Settings. These settings can be accessed from the System
Overview.
NOTE: Job Housekeeping - General, Logging and Templates resources are not described in this document. These
resources are described in the :ApogeeX Advanced Tutorial - System Configuration.

1.1

Configuration

Select your :ApogeeX system in the hardware pane and double-click on the Configuration resource in the
resource pane.
NOTE: This configuration setting can be accessed in Administrator mode and Service mode

1.1.1

:ApogeeX Administrator mail address

To have all :ApogeeX system messages (engine in error, disk full, ) e-mailed to the :ApogeeX Administrator you need to select the "E-mail messages to" checkbox and enter the e-mail address of the :ApogeeX
Administrator. You can enter multiple addresses by separating them by commas.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - System Settings - Page 9

NOTE: it is essential that the Mail Server settings are specified (see below)

1.1.2

Mail Server Configuration

This tab contains the information required in order to send e-mails.

op

The Sender-Name field specifies the "From:" header in the e-mail. This entry field is optional so it may
be empty. The Sender-E-mail address is the mail address that will be used to send the e-mails. When you
would reply on e-mails that are sent by :ApogeeX then this address will be used. You must fill in the "Email address". You can only enter a single address here.

The Mail Server-Outgoing mail (SMTP) server field must contain the hostname or IP-Address of the
companies outgoing mail server. When using the hostname, you must be able to "ping" to the hostname
from the :ApogeeX server. The mail server must be known in the local Host file or on the DNS server.

The Mail Server "Requires secure connection" option specifies to use a secure channel in order to prevent
mail-hacking. This feature is not supported for ApogeeX 4.0.

The Mail Server-"Override default SMTP port" option needs to be used when the company mail server is
using a custom SMTP port. Normally the default SMTP port is 25.

The Mail Server "Requires authentication" option needs to be selected when you can not access the mail
server without logon.

Consult the local ITS department to verify the settings. To test the Mail Server configuration refer to How
to verify the ApogeeX mailserver settings on page 237

1.1.3

Customer Database (not implemented in ApogeeX 4.0, Service mode access)

Field mapping specifies which variable names of the customer database will be used for mapping to our
names.
Connection: specifies how :ApogeeX connects to the customer database to retrieve the customer data.

SQL server (where you need to specify Server Name, DataBase, User Name and Password).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - System Settings - Page 10

DSN (Data Source Name - setup in ODBC connections in windows control panel, specify DSN Name,
Username and Password)

Custom connection string. For more info on how this will work we would refer to the following web site:
http://www.able-consulting.com/ADO_Conn.htm#SQLClientManagedProvider.
Query field can be used for querying the :ApogeeX SQL databases. Example: 'SELECT * FROM MyCustomerTable where Order=%ORDER%'.

1.1.4

Database Maintenance

BACKUP: Setup the backup of the ApogeeX Database = replication Service (refer to Auto backup of the
:ApogeeX DataBases with the replication Service. on page 162).

OPTIMIZE: The ApogeeX system database needs to be re-indexed on a regular basis. This is needed to
maintain the performance of your ApogeeX system. During re-indexing the databases will be locked, no
processing or user interaction with the system will be possible. A Quick re-index will not lock the
complete database, the impact for the ApogeeX System is minimal. Obviously a full re-index will take
longer than a quick re-index. Therefore schedule the Full re-index at a period of low production activity.
All maintenance activities are logged as a Database maintenance event (Windows Event Viewer >
Application Log).

"Quick re-index" - <10>: Every 6 hours (you cannot change this period), a check is done if the %
fragmentation exceeds the specified Quick re-index level, if so a quick re-index will be done.
"Full re-index" - <40>: When the % fragmentation of a Database exceeds the specified Full re-index
level, a full re-index will be done at the time specified in "Do full re-index at".
"Do full re-index at" - <5:00:00>: Time scheduled when the fragmentation of the Databases is checked.
Make sure Full re-index is not done at the same time as a full backup.
You can check the current % fragmentation with the monitor (see chapter ApogeeX tools>Monitor
tool>Verify % fragmentation
NOTE: You can push Optimize now. . . to perform an Automatic database optimization now.

MEMORY (Service mode only): Define how much memory the SQL Application is allowed to use.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - System Settings - Page 11

The SQL Server uses by default uses 100 MB RAM. When the number of jobs on the :ApogeeX System
increases, the SQL Databases become bigger, the system becomes slower. In this case you might need to
add more memory to the SQL Server.

SQL memory increase indications:


Retrieving job results exceeds. 20 seconds.
Your request could not be handled because the Server is too busy. Messages are shown.
RAM memory Server

Recommendation SQL memory

Server < 2 GB memory

100 MB

Server = 2 GB memory

200 MB

Server > 2 GB memory

300 MB or more

WARNING:

Exceeding the total amount of physical memory will cause the Windows System to spool to the
hard disk (pagefile usage) which will slow down performance.

NOTE: Changing the SQL MAX memory, requires a restart of the computer.

1.1.5

Other system Configuration settings

Timeouts (Service mode only): Define how long :ApogeeX will wait before detecting a component crash
(milliseconds).

Protected fonts (Service mode only): Not used in ApogeeX 3.0. Sharing level for loading fonts is defined
in the AppleTalk parameterset. Load new fonts to the Server using AppleTalk with the Hot ticket from
template Multi Byte Font Download Hot Ticket.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - System Settings - Page 12

1.2

Job Housekeeping Configuration (Service mode only)

Select your :ApogeeX system in the hardware pane and double-click on the Job Housekeeping resource in
the resource pane. Select the Configuration tab.

1.2.1

Apogee PrintDrive Host

The PrintDrive Server where Jobstore sends synchronization events to (reject, delete, complete). This
name is automatically filled in when Allow Server Synchronization is enabled in the PrintDrive Task
Processors.
NOTE: For PrintDrive Server Synchronization, PrintDrive S3 Upd F SP3 is required on PrintDrive Server and
PrintDrive Pilots. The Synchronization can be enabled in the PrintDrive Task Processor configuration
resource (refer to PrintDrive on page 65).

1.2.2

Max number of docs in Public Page Store - <5000>

The maximum allowed number of documents in a public pagestore. Above this number ApogeeX sends a
notification for the Public pagestore: The Public Page Store 'PPS_1 (PPS_1)' holds more than 5000
documents. This could adversely affect system performance. Consider removing no longer needed
documents from 'PPS_1 (PPS_1)'. Alternatively, create an additional Public Page Store to store new
documents.

1.2.3

Group Documents in Task - <Checked>

Several documents will be grouped into 1 task in the activity monitor of a Task Processor. This improves
your performance (the amount of documents that will be grouped is configurable, refer to Job Housekeeping Advanced (Service mode only) on page 14). This option is very beneficial if you have jobs with
many pages and the page content is delivered as single pages.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - System Settings - Page 13

1.2.4

Slow UI Feedback (Faster processing) - <Unchecked>

If this option is checked, the update of the User Interface will only be done every x seconds. This improves
ApogeeX processing performance however updating the User Interface will be slower.

1.2.5

Store job description on disk - <Unchecked>

If you enable this option, a content.xml file is saved for each job (including PPS jobs). The xml file contains
the name and DataStore location of each PDF document that is available for that job in the OTHER
DataStore folder. The xml file can be used to export all PDFs of all jobs in an order number-job name
directory structure. This can be done with the DataStore Recovery tool. Refer to DataStore Recovery tool.
on page 143 for more information.

1.2.6

Archive Thumbnails - <Unchecked>

If this checkbox is unchecked, thumbnails available in the jobs will not be included in job archives.
Archiving is much faster if thumbnails are not included. For very large jobs e.g. archiving a 500 pages job,
archiving can be up to 5 x faster without thumbnails. More info about archiving: Archiving jobs on
page 185.

1.2.7

Use new JobID for Import - <Unchecked>

If checked, a job imported from archive will get a new ApogeeX JobID, different from the original ApogeeX
job. The ApogeeX JobID is also used to link an ApogeeX job to a PrintDrive job. So if this checkbox is not
checked the PrintDrive job will still be linked to the ApogeeX job after archive and import ApogeeX job.

1.2.8

Start ApogeeX DQS backgrounds when all pages are done - <Unchecked>

This setting only influences ApogeeX DQS jobs. When this option is checked: If unknown spot colors setting
is set to notify/keep the backgrounds will only start rendering when all pages of the complete job are
rendered. When this option is unchecked: If unknown spot colors setting is set to notify/keep the
backgrounds of a flat will start rendering when all pages of that specific flat are rendered.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - System Settings - Page 14

1.2.9

Delete on PrintDrive Required - <Unchecked>

If this setting is unchecked, you can delete any job in ApogeeX, it doesnt matter if the corresponding job is
still available on PrintDrive. If Delete on PrintDrive Required is checked and PrintDrive Server Synchronization is enabled, a user action is given if you delete an ApogeeX job and the corresponding job in
PrintDrive is still available. In this case the job in ApogeeX will not be deleted. Open the problem report, the
user action informs that the job is still available on PrintDrive. You can force delete the job by clicking delete
in the problem report. The forced delete will not delete the job in PrintDrive. If the corresponding job in
PrintDrive does not exist anymore, no user interaction is given when you delete an ApogeeX job.

1.3

Job Housekeeping Advanced (Service mode only)

Select your :ApogeeX system in the hardware pane and double-click on the Job Housekeeping resource in
the resource pane. Select the Advanced tab.

Tasks given from normalizer/preflight/PDFReady/runlist to the Render might contain multiple pages
(Multiple wuns). ApogeeX tries to split up each task to spread that task over multiple render Task
Processors. E.g.: 100 pages document in runlist for 3 render TPs = Render (34 pages) + Render_1 (34
pages) + Render_2 (32 pages).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - System Settings - Page 15

Min nr. wuns per task: minimum number of wuns a task should contain before splitting up the task.
When ApogeeX splits the Task it will try to put minimum x amount of wuns in each task.

Max nr. wuns per task: Limit the number of wuns in one task.

Number of jobs in memory: Amount of jobs kept in memory by jobstore. If more jobs are active, Jobstore
starts to swap some jobs to disk.

1.4

Job Housekeeping Debug

Save Debug Files: writes debug files containing jobdescription of a job before and after an edit.

Save MergeOperationParamset files: write more debug files with more info about job edits.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - System Settings - Page 16

1.5

Components (Service mode only).

Select your :ApogeeX system in the hardware pane and double-click on the Components resource in the
resource pane.

1.5.1

Task Processor bootup

Select the ApogeeXSystem_Servername_3 and deselect any Task Processor to prevent it from booting after
starting the :ApogeeX system. Note that if you disable a TP it is impossible to start the TP from the ApogeeX
Client. In ApogeeX 3.0, 4.0 the state of a Task Processor is also remembered the next time you boot.

1.5.2

DefaultTaskServer

Select Scheduling Algorithm - <Default>

Default: tasks will wait to Render when the output Task Processor is not available (Volatile Block
selected). If data is written to disk between render and output device, in first instance render on the
same hardware platform as the output device will be used to process tasks (optimize for output
location). If a task comes in and the render on the same platform as the output device is busy, ApogeeX
will use a render on another hardware platform to process the data. E.g.: collect for output between
render and output device, output on Tiff imagesetter_2 (on satellite.) First task will be processed by
render _2 on satellite (optimize for location.). If task 2 comes in and render_2 is busy, Render on Server
will be used.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - System Settings - Page 17

2.5: Old 2.5 way of scheduling. Tasks will wait to Render when the output Task Processor is not available (Volatile). If data is written to disk between render and output device, render on the Server will be
used to process the first incoming task (optimize for input location), it doesnt matter on which
hardware system the output device is installed. If another task comes in and the render on the server is
busy, ApogeeX will use a render on a Satellite to process the data.

No media check: Rendering will always be done even when the correct media is not loaded (Volatile
Block selected).

We recommend not to change the DefaultTaskServer settings.

1.5.3

Imposition Service:

In ApogeeX 4.0 the imposition configuration can be found in the Imposition configuration resource. See
Imposition Configuration Resource on page 18.

1.5.4

PPDGeneratorService:

By default the PPDGeneratorService will create PPDs in the Agfa\ApogeeX\Server\Supportfiles\PPD


folder however in some cases the PPD cant be created in the folder. The location where the PPDs will be
created can be configured. You can specify a local path (on the ApogeeX Server) or a UNC path. When using
a UNC path, make sure that you have sufficient write access privileges.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - System Settings - Page 18

The error which is generated when PPD creation fails is:

Alternatively you could try to change the computer DNS suffix.

Context click My computer.

Select Properties > Network identification > properties. > More

Add the DNS suffix (eg. eps.agfa.be). The full name of your computer should change in
computername.dnssuffix.

Restart your computer to activate the new configuration.

Start ApogeeX and recreate your PPD.

1.6

Imposition Configuration Resource

If you have an imposition license for Template mode you will need to configure the directories where
Templates and Marks are located. The locations can be local or remote (UNC path) however for performance reasons we recommend to have the Templates and Marks located on the ApogeeX Server.

1.6.1

General

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - System Settings - Page 19

NOTE: In ApogeeX 3.5SP1/4.0, you can double click a Preps template from the ApogeeX client to open that
template in Preps (only when running client on Preps PC). To be able to do this, the template path in the
Imposition Service configuration must end with a slash e.g.: \\ApogeeXServer\Preps\Templates\

The path to the Extra PJTF Marks is necessary to support PJTF files from various PJTF third party
creation applications (several How to create PJTF files documents have been published on Graphics
Direct Services library).

Print crop marks for bleed bounds - <unchecked>: Print crop marks at the bounds of the bleed area.

Print side center marks - <unchecked>: Print centre marks for each side.

Print punch mark - <checked>: Print a punch mark.

Print fold marks with white knockout - <unchecked>: Print fold marks with a white detour in
knockout. This makes the marks a bit more visible when the underlying content is dark.

Print crop marks with white knockout - <unchecked>: Print crop marks with a white detour in
knockout. This makes the marks a bit more visible when the underlying content is dark.

Move crop marks when shingling - <checked>: Move the crop marks together with the pages when
using shingling. When you deselect it, the crop marks keep their original position, as if no shingling was
applied. Note that this option also affects the moving of crop marks for bleed bounds.

Print crop and fold marks - <On top>: This option determines in which layer ApogeeX prints crop
and fold marks. It allows you to control whether crop and fold marks can be covered by e.g. the bleed
area, or whether they would print on top of e.g. a color bar.
On top: The crop and fold marks appear on top of everything, including pages and those marks that are
set to Bring to top.
On top of pages, below bring to top marks: The crop and fold marks appear on top of everything,
excluding those marks that are set to Bring to top. The crop and fold marks appear on top of the pages

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - System Settings - Page 20

(most likely the bleed area), but they can be covered by important marks such as a colorbar. In order to
be effective, you should set those important marks and only the important ones to Bring to top.
Below pages: Crop and fold marks appear below pages and marks. Select this if you want pages and their
bleed area to cover the crop and fold marks.

Text mark font - <Helvetica>: Set the default font for text marks.

Default line width - <0.088 mm>: Set the default line width for marks.

Clip marks outside sheet - <25.4 mm>: Clip the marks outside the press sheet.

Interpret $SIDE as - <Front, Back>: Configure how the Preps variable $SIDE must be handled in
ApogeeX:
Front & Back: Select this to get the ApogeeX convention: Front for front sides, Back for back sides.
A, B, C, D, ...: Select this to get the traditional Preps replacement (A, B, and so on). This system assigns
a unique identifier to each side, even on multi-web presses.

1.6.2

Split for proof

Split for proof settings are only visible if you have the split for proof license.

Limit number of sheets for folding


You can opt to limit the number of sheets that you need to fold together; the bigger the stack, the harder
it is to fold it. This option limits the number of sheets in a stack to the specified amount, making the
folding easier. Note that this modifies the page arrangement; you need to stack and fold the correct
number of sheets, otherwise the pages will not be in the correct reader order. Figure below shows an

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - System Settings - Page 21

example of a 40-page job, arranged in stacks of 4 sheets. Note that the this option is only applicable
when you use 2-up.

Limit mark-zone around pages


You can limit the page area to be proofed to the page itself and a zone that should contain the marks.
The area thus is the pages trimbox expanded with the specified amount. If you switch it off, the boundaries of the page area are determined only by the output size. Figure below illustrates the different
areas.

This option is especially useful to avoid pages from being scaled down/shifted in case of an imposition
with large sheet or plate margins.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Disk Storage Resource. - Page 22

Disk Storage Resource.

The StorageServer component is the name of the :ApogeeX component which manages where all DataStore
resources are stored. The DataStore resources are the physical files on disk (raster, PDF, scratch and system
resources) where the :ApogeeX Database refers to.
With the DiskStorage resource you can view\edit the settings of the StorageServer. In the hardware pane of the
system overview an overview of all hardware systems is displayed. Each hardware system can have a Disk Storage
resource. A StorageServer for the Server is called DefaultStorageServer; a StorageServer for a Satellite is called
LocalStorageServer.
An :ApogeeX Server hardware system always has a Disk Storage resource, a distributed hardware system only has
a disk storage resource if a LocalStorageServer is installed for that system. If no LocalStorageServer is installed for
a distributed Hardware System, the DefaultStorageServer of the :ApogeeX Server will be used to store data of
those distributed components.

In the Disk Storage resource multiple StorageSets can be configured. After Installation of ApogeeX, automatically
there will be 1 StorageSet generated per data type.

Additional StorageSets can be created to increase the storage capacity of existing StorageSets (refer to Add a
StorageSet to increase Storage Capacity. on page 25).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Disk Storage Resource. - Page 23

For every StorageSet minimum 1 disk or UNC path must be selected, all data from that StorageSet will be written
to that disk or UNC path. If you add additional disks or UNC paths to a StorageSet, all data from that StorageSet
will be mirrored between these disks or UNC paths. (For more info on mirroring refer to Disk Mirroring. on
page 169).
NOTE: Remote locations (locations not on the same hardware system as the storage server) must always be entered
with their UNC address, not with a mapped drive letter.

2.1

Verify where :ApogeeX writes its DataStore Resources .

Open the Disk Storage Resource of the ApogeeX Server (the Server is always displayed in bold).

Select the StorageSets tab.

After Installation of :ApogeeX, 4 StorageSets are created.

In the StorageSet column, the volumes\disks are shown where the data of the StorageSet will be
written.

The type of data that the StorageSet will write to disk is selected in the other columns.

A Disk Storage Resource will be available on a Satellite if a LocalStorageServer is installed, when no


LocalStorageServer is installed on the Satellite, the StorageSets of the main Hardware system will be used
to store all data.
A StorageSet for Raster data and a StorageSet for Temporary data will be created automatically on the
Satellite if the Satellite has a LocalStorageServer.
NOTE: each Satellite with a LocalStorageServer has a Disk Storage Resource.

2.2

Verify if StorageSets disks and volumes function correctly.

In the System Overview, open the disk storage resource of the Server.

Select the Disk Monitor tab.

This window shows you all disks and volumes which are in use by the StorageSets.

For every disk/volume is shown which data type is stored, which capacity can be used/is still free.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Disk Storage Resource. - Page 24

The status shows you if the disk/volume is working properly or not.

If a disk is disabled: Select that disk and press enable.

2.3

Change a StorageSet to write to another Disk/Volume.

If the location of one of the StorageSets needs to be moved follow this procedure (Fault tolerance license is
required to do this.):
Go to the System Overview and select the Hardware system where the StorageSet you want to move is
located.

Open the Disk Storage resource, select the Storage Sets tab.

Double-click (or edit) the StorageSet with the disk/shared volume which needs to be moved.

In the current StorageSet window, select the + button to add a local disk.

Enter the drive letter e.g. E:\.

Select the drive to mirror the original data from (e.g. F:\), this is the original location of the current
datastore. Click ok

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Disk Storage Resource. - Page 25

In the current StorageSet window, select ok to save the changes to this StorageSet.

The data will be copied automatically to the new storage set location. (this requires the fault tolerance
license). This copy operation is also called mirroring and can be monitored in the disk monitor tab of the
Disk Storage resource.

When the status of the new disk\volume is OK, also check with Windows Explorer if the resources are
correctly mirrored (verify DataStore folder sizes).

When mirroring is complete, the old storage set location can be removed: select the Storage Sets tab and
double click the StorageSet.

Delete the old DataStore location; click ok to save the changes.

The physical DataStore files will not be removed therefore you need to delete the old DataStore folder
with Windows Explorer eg. \\ApogeeXServer\ApogeeDataStoreF\System.

2.4

Add a StorageSet to increase Storage Capacity.

If there are 2 StorageSets which store the same type of data (e.g. Raster Data), ApogeeX will always write
data to the disk which is least full. Adding a StorageSet is not license protected.

Go to the System Overview.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Disk Storage Resource. - Page 26

Select the Hardware system you want to add a StorageSet to.

Open the Disk Storage Resource and In the StorageSets tab, select the + button to create a new
StorageSet.

Enter the Diskname\UNC shared volume to use by the StorageSet, select OK. ApogeeX will automatically generate a folder ApogeeDataStore on the selected disk. The ApogeeDataStore folder will
automatically be shared as ApogeeDataStore$Driveletter.

Select which file types need to be stored by that StorageSet, select OK to save the changes.

Verify if you see the new volume from that StorageSet in the Disk Monitor. If it is set to disabled, enable
it, if it is not shown, restart the server.

2.5

Delete Storageset

A storage set can only be deleted if there is another storageset that stores the same type of data e.g. (Raster
data). If you delete a storageset that has no alternative storageset with the same type of data you get the
following error:

NOTE: ApogeeX4.0.0 + Hotfix ApX4.0.0_HF_ALL_39141_StorageServer_DeleteStorageSet or better is


required to delete StorageSets.
Delete a storageset:

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Disk Storage Resource. - Page 27

NOTE: It is recommended not to use the ApogeeX System for production during deletion of a Storageset.

Open the Disk Storage Resource

In the StorageSets tab, select a storage set, select the X button to delete the StorageSet. Select the
target storage set that will take over the data held by the deleted storage set. The number you see next
the target Storage Set is also visible in the Storage sets pane. This number is unique for each storage set.

Click ok

Go to the Disk Monitor tab, verify if the deleted Storage Set is removed from the list.

Monitor the mirroring on the target Storageset disk

Wait until mirroring is completed (Status disk = OK).

Stop ApogeeX. Do not force kill the launchers as these might still be busy mirroring/removing data from
the removed storageset.

Start ApogeeX

2.6

Setup the Watermarks for Disks.

Configure when ApogeeX needs to send a notification when the disk becomes full and configure when
:ApogeeX should disable using a disk.

When a disk is full and a notification is sent then you need to free up that disk, if disk space is free again
check the disk monitor, ApogeeX will enable the disks again.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Disk Storage Resource. - Page 28

Open the Disk Storage resource of your hardware system.

Select the Disk Monitor tab.

Edit a volume and enter these values in MB.

NOTE: We recommend to change the default values to 2000 and 500 MB

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 29

Configuration settings of the Task Processors.

Task Processors Configuration Settings can only be accessed in Service mode (Except of Proofers, Presses.). To
access the Task Processor Configuration Settings; select the Task Processor in the System Overview and doubleclick the Configuration resource. Note: All (or most) settings are shortly described. The text between <> specifies
the default (recommended) value.

CAUTION: configuration settings are not automatically mirrored between Task Processors of the same
type.

3.1

Load Configuration settings of a TP of the same type

Open the Configuration settings of a Task Processor (e.g. render_3).

At the bottom of the configuration window click the Load button

Select the Task Processor to copy the configuration settings from. The list will only show Task Processors
of the same type (e.g. render_2).

Click ok

3.2

Tracing/Debug.

All Task Processors have a tracing and/or debug tab in the Configuration resource. The tracing and debug
settings are described in the Diagnostic Tools chapter.

3.3

Reboot options.

All Task Processors have a Reboot options tab in the Configuration resource.

Task processor crashed - <Checked>


ApogeeX sends a ping command to every TP on a regular basis; if the TP does not respond for X consecutive ping commands, we assume it crashed (ping settings come from the system overview /
components / <name of your server> / ping failures setting.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 30

Task processor doesnt respond for more than X minutes - <Checked 15 minutes>
ApogeeX checks if the task processor is still using CPU (eg. what you see in the windows task manager
in the CPU time column). If compared to X minutes ago, no additional CPU seconds were used, this
trigger forces a reboot of the TP.

Processing takes longer than X minutes - <Unchecked 60 minutes >


The CPU is still being used, but it takes much longer than expected. This can happen e.g. if there is an
eternal loop in the software or in the printed postscript. In this case the Task Processor will automatically restart.

Memory usage increased by more then x MB since boot - <checked 200 MB Check every 10 tasks >
* In case of the Render Task Processor: If Mem Usage RenderOnceTP.exe > (Initial memory at start-up
TP (e.g. 9 MB) + MAX CPSI memory (e.g. 300 MB) + memory used for raster DATA (e.g. 160 MB) + x
(e.g. 200 MB)) then the Render Task Processor will restart automatically.
* Other Task Processors: If Mem Usage TP.exe increased by more then 200 MB since boot, the TP will be
restarted.

Handles usage increased by more then x handles since boot - <checked 500 Check every 10 tasks >
If handles count > (initial handles at start-up (e.g. 623) + x handles) then the Task Processor will
restart automatically. If you notice the Task Processor restarts too much then you might increase this
value to maximum 1000. The handles in use by the Task Processor can be found in the Windows Task
Manager.

Aborting task takes longer then x minutes - <checked 2>


If a task from the task processor is aborted and it takes longer then x minutes, the Task Processor will be
rebooted.

3.4

Input Task Processor Configuration settings.

Most of the Configuration settings of the Input Task Processors will be skipped since they only have Tracing
and/or Debug settings.
NOTE: When changing any of the Input Task Processor configuration settings, you must restart the input TP
manually.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 31

3.4.1

Hotfolder

Honor PDF user access privileges - <selected>


The Task Processor will report an error if the security of the incoming PDF document is set to printing
not allowed, Changing the document allowed and Printing at high resolution allowed. When
deselecting this option, the Task Processor will always pass the PDF document to the next Task
Processor, no matter what the security is. This PDF security level can be viewed in Acrobat, select file
document properties - security.

Extract thumbnails from PDF - <selected>


If an incoming PDF has thumbnails embedded, these thumbnails will also be imported in ApogeeX. This
way, Processing time can be saved in the Normalizer because thumbnails dont need to be recreated.
Thumbnails can be embedded in the PDF by the Export task processor.

Concurrency>Number of Processing threads - <4>


This is the number of files that can be processed at the same time by hotfolder. This doesnt mean you
can only have this number of hotfolders. If more files are dropped into hotfolders at the same time, they
have to wait. (Dont set this number much higher, it will take resources from your system.)

3.4.2

OpenConnect

Generate thumbnails - <selected>


When enabled, OpenConnect will generate thumbnails for the incoming files.

Generate thumbnails - <12>


Resolution of the thumbnails

3.4.3

Appletalk

Sharing level - <System>


Not used in ApogeeX 4.0. Sharing level for loading fonts is defined in the Appletalk parameterset. Load
new fonts to the Server using AppleTalk with the Hot ticket from template Multi Byte Font Download
Hot Ticket.

3.5

Normalizer Configuration settings

Processing

Processing - Font embedding policies > Font has embed restrictions


Do not embed font = do nothing
Embed outlined font = Embed font outlines as PDF type3 font. In this case the font description is
adjusted, text remains text.
replace text by outlines = Replaces all text with font outlines. The text itself is outlined (adjusted).

Processing - Font embedding policies > Font has no embed restrictions


Do not embed font
Embed font
Embed outlined font = Embed font outlines as PDF type3 font. In this case the font description is
adjusted, text remains text.
replace text by outlines = Replaces all text with font outlines. The text itself is outlined (adjusted).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 32

Subsetted Fonts - Replace missing subsetted fonts with the installed font - <deselected>
Normally fonts which are subsetted, are also embedded. In some rare cases the font file is not embedded
and this option allows you to embed our installed font.

Processing - Enable Alternate images - <deselected>


ApogeeX will create for each (high resolution) image in a PDF document a low resolution (alternate)
image. The high resolution image will be used for printing, the low resolution images will be used for
viewing purposes. Viewing PDF pages in Acrobat when alternate images are enabled will be much
faster.

Processing - Alternate Image Resolution - <72>


The resolution of the alternate images. In case of 1 bit images the resolution of alternate images will be
2x bigger (e.g. 144 dpi).

Processing - Thumbnail Resolution - <12>:


The thumbnail resolution. Enable/Disable thumbnail generation must be done in the Normalizer
parameterset>PDFProcessing tab.

Processing - Other - Fix erroneous registration colorspace (/DeviceN [/All])


Some files originating from OneVision and PACKEDGE Esko-Graphics systems fail in the PDFRender.
The problem is related to [/DeviceN [/All]] registration colorspaces. These are invalid in the PDF. At
least they do not behave like [/Separation /All]. A workaround is to enable this check in the Normalizer.

PostScript Processing - Convert smooth lines to curves -<selected>


If checked the Normalizer investigates graphics for curves that are not described efficiently and that
thus result in unacceptable large file sizes. For these curves, Normalizer provides a conversion into
correct Bezier curves that look the same but take up much less file space.

PostScript Processing - Ignore the Cropbox DSC comment - <deselected>


By default we set the CropBox to the TrimBox, like Distiller does from version 6.0. Before the
CropBox was not an official DSC comment. Because of this changed behavior since 6.0, we keep the
option to ignore it.

PostScript Processing - Resize page and center artwork for EPS files - <selected>
If checked, Normalizer resizes the created page to the size of the EPS file using the %%BoundingBox
comment in the header of the file, and centers the EPS file on the page when the EPS file is normalized.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 33

Memory

Memory - Initial VM size (Mbytes) - <8>


Amount of memory allocated to the Task Processor.

Memory - Input bufferSize (Mbytes) - <1>:


Amount of memory Allocated to the Task Processor to buffer incoming files.

Others

Others - ProductName - <ApogeeX 4.0 Normalizer>:


Name of the PDF Producer. This name will be used in the Document properties > Summary of the
generated PDF files. Note that this name is also used by CID fontdownloaders, if you want to use the
same fonts both on the renderer and normalizer, then you have to be sure that both have the same
productname.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 34

3.6

PDFReady Configuration settings

Processing

Color Normalizer - Press colorspace > conversion/tagging spotcolors - <Convert>


Enables you to select if PDFReady needs to do Taging/conversion of spot colors for each press color
space.
- Tag spot colors with proper press color space value using... ADOBE CMM/AGFA CMM: This is
replacing the CMYK/Gray values of the spot colors by CMYK/gray values that were calculated by
:ApogeeX or that come from a color book. In this case the spot color conversion will be done by Render
TP.
- Convert spot colors to CMYK using...ADOBE CMM/AGFA CMM: In this case the spot color conversion
will be done by PDFReady TP. And you can specify, if you want this to be done by the Adobe CMM or the
Agfa CMM.

NOTE: By default, Conversion of spotcolors to CMYK/Gray/Alterno is done by the PDFReady TP (If


PDFReady is in the production plan.).

Color Normalizer - Compression - Disable lossy compression (JPEG) - <unchecked>


By default the compression settings are kept. So a converted JPEG image will again be JPEG (lossy)
compressed which can result in unacceptable output. Enabling this option, avoids this double image
data loss.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 35

Color Normalizer - Color Management Parameters - Advanced CMM - - <unchecked>


Using Advanced CMM triggers a more complex way of converting Spot colors Lab values from the
Books, RGB,... to the CMYK values of the Main flow. But it will take longer. Deselecting Smart CMM will
do the conversion like before when selecting TableBased (ApogeeX 2.1.1): only the table in the press
profile is used for the conversion. Non-sample points and out of gamut colors are calculated through
interpolation. Selecting Advanced CMM will make ApogeeX load the whole model of the Press profile
by recalculating every point. Non-sample points and out of gamut colors are better converted. This used
to be called ModelBased in ApogeeX 2.1.1. Using the model will eliminate interpolation errors which
might become rather large for colors that are outside or just inside the Press gamut boundaries.

Color Normalizer - Color Management Parameters - Accurate spot color mixing - <Max 3 colors>
'Spot color mixing' in PDFReady is only applied to a PDF object which consists of multiple spot colors,
for example a duotone image. To use the accurate spot color mixing method we advise to select Max. 3
colors in the Accurate spot color mixing. If more then 3 spot colors are mixed, rendering will be slow.
The Max. 2 colors-setting is faster but will not handle tritones correctly. Max. 4 colors is too slow
compared to the quality improvement.
Accurate spot color mixing - Off: The old, not-improved method is used to add up multi-tones: The
multitones are converted separately from Lab (Book) to CMYK through the Press Profile. The CMYK
values from spot color 1 are then added up to the CMYK values from spot color 2. This can lead to a total
ink load of 350 or more.
Accurate spot color mixing Max 3 colors: The multitones are looked up in the spectral color books, the
spectral reflection curves of all 3 colors are combined giving a new curve that is used to calculate the Lab
of the resulting color, the illuminant of the Press Profile is used for calculating the Lab of the resulting
color. This Lab is then converted to CMYK through the Press profile. This method uses less ink to print
the multitones. The maximum amount of ink is taken from the press profile.
If more colors are added than specified in the Accurate spot color mixing (e.g. tritone while Max. 2
colors is set); both methods will be used to calculate the mixed color. The number of the Accurate spot
color mixing is added spectrally, 2 in this example. The resulting colors will then be converted to CMYK
and the CMYK values of the resulting color and spot color 3 will be added to calculate the CMYK.

Color Normalizer - Color Management Parameters - Use Press paper white -<unchecked>
When Use Press Paper White is selected the paper white from the press profile is used in the color calculation spot to CMYK. When Use Press Paper White is not selected the measured paper white of the color
book is used in the calculation of conversion spot colors to CMYK.

NOTE: ''Use Press paper white is not paper simulation. The 0% of the spot colors will still come out of the
press profile when Absolute Colorimetric Rendering Intent is selected (Paper simulation). In case the
Relative Colorimetric Rendering Intent is used the 0% point will be white.

NOTE: A spectral press profile is needed to benefit from the ''Use Press paper white option.

Alternate images - Regenerate Alternate images - <only if not present>


These settings are added to be consistent with the Normalizer Alternate Images setting. After color
conversion or flattening, some images are altered and hereby the alternate images created by our
Normalizer are removed. And these settings allow you to remake the alternate images.

Presep Policy>Recombine pre-sep PDF files- <Leave trapping parameters>:


Configure the PDF trapping behavior for recombined pre-separated PDF files.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 36

Leave trapping parameters: Honor trapping parameter settings.


CAUTION: trapping pre-separated PDF files should be avoided.

Disable trapping and continue:


Trapping will be disabled for recombined pre-separated PDF fields.

Abort and notify when trapping is on:


ApogeeX will not perform any trapping on recombined pre-separated files, the processing will be
aborted.

Create traps as page content - <unchecked>


Creating traps as page content creates one extra Form in the PDF. This form is the top most object and
covers all underlying objects. Disabling traps as page content will save the traps as annotations.

Allow Creation of DeviceN Traps - <selected>:


DeviceN Traps will be used to print quickly on a CPSI 3015 RIP (:ApogeeX), but slowly on 3011 CPSI
(Apogee Series2/3). DeviceN trapped files are smaller then non DeviceN trapped files.

Dont add PSXobjects to TrapNet - <selected>:


When deselecting this option, Inline PostScript will be included in the PDF trapped result. Some
PitsStop profiles do not like Inline PostScript.

3.7

Preflight Configuration settings

Preflight Report Language - <English>


Change the language of the Preflight reports and the messages in a preflight notification (English,
French, German, Italian, Japanese or Spanish).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 37

3.8

PDFRenderer - Configuration settings

Processing-Color Management: (PDF Render only)

Fallback Rendering intent - <Relative colorimetric> Perceptual/Relative colorimetric/Saturation/


Absolute colorimetric: PDFRender uses a fallback Rendering Intent, when a PDF object is encountered
with no rendering intent specified.

Dot gain simulation for spot color conversion - <Checked>: When tints of spot colors are to be
converted to CMYK colors, the conventional approach is to calculate the CMYK value of the solid color
and then scale down those values linearly to the requested tint. The disadvantage of this approach is that
colors tend to loose their saturation and get grayish vignettes towards the low tint values. When
enabling dot gain simulation, the Lab color of the tint will be calculated using a mathematical model
that simulates the dot gain for that spot color and this Lab value will be converted to CMYK (press colorspace). This option is also applicable when CMYK exceptions are defined.

Processing-PDF printing part: (PDF Render)

Processing - PDF printing part - Pagesize when no border on outputsize - <MediaBox>:


Defines which PDF box the Renderer uses when rendering (eg. when the MediaBox option is selected,
all contents inside the MediaBox will be printed, when the TrimBox is selected, only the contents inside
the TrimBox will be printed by the Renderer).

Apply Transfer curves on marks - <checked> Apply transfer curves to ApogeeX borders. If this setting
is disabled, ApogeeX borders outside the Press sheet will not be calibrated. This setting doesnt apply to
Preps marks.

Support unknown encodings of colornames - <checked>: Use the binary data representation of colornames to print the colors to support situations where the encoding is unknown.

Processing-Generation multiple previews: (CPSI Render, PDFRender)

Minimum resolution - <30>: For softproofing (usage of display Task Processor), the render will
generate rendered results for multiple zoomlevels (Zooming in/out requires an image at a higher/lower
resolution). The render will not render results for resolutions lower then this minimum resolution.

Processing-Generation low resolution preview part: (CPSI Render, PDFRender)


the Low Resolution Preview (also called contone Preview) is the Preview image that is shown in the
Navigator Window of the Raster Preview Application. This file is also used in the main Raster Preview
Window (up to a certain zooming level depending on the resolution).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 38

Processing - Generation low resolution preview part - Enable - <Only for persistent resources>: The
Low Resolution Previews are only generated when the raster data is written to disk (intermediate result:
when there is an action after/on the render Task Processor, e.g.: hold, preview, keep result, collate,...).
Enable Always: Low Resolution Previews are always made.
Enable Never: Low Resolution Previews are never made.

Processing - Generation low resolution preview part - "Resolution - <50>:


The Low Resolution Preview. For best performance you should choose a resolution where the result of
the output device resolution/chosen Low Resolution Preview = integer value.
e.g. 2400/50 = 48 => good performance whereas 2400/72 = 33,3 => bad performance.
The maximum is 200 DPI.

Processing - Generation low resolution preview part - Use CIP3 Ink key image - <selected>:
The Low Resolution Preview will show the CIP3 Ink Key Image when an Ink Key file is generated and
this option is selected. Note: If Use CIP3 ink key image is selected, the resolution field for the Low
Resolution Preview will be ignored. The resolution will be controlled by the Configuration Settings of
the Ink Drive tab of the Press TP.

Processing-Generation Thumbnails part: (CPSI Render, PDFRender)


The thumbnails are the Render thumbnails that are visualized in the Results tab of a job.

Enable - <Always>: Thumbnails are always made.


Other options for Enable are Never and only when it does not exist yet

Resolution - <10>:
The Render Thumbnails resolution. There is no theoretical maximum, but it's advised not to go higher
than the lowest proofer resolution.

Processing-Generation CIP3 part: (CPSI Render, PDFRender)

Enable - <Checked>
When the Press Task Processor asks to generate a CIP3 image then the Renderer will make this. Improve
performance when disabled.

Processing-Speed optimization: (CPSI Render, PDFRender)

Update jobticket - <checked>


During job processing, the job ticket might need to be updated (automatic selection of the Render
parameters). This can be disabled for performance reasons however in this case we cant guarantee that
the job ticket parameters and job status is matching with the actual status.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 39

Pre-Impose marks - <checked>: If checked, the single marks of the border will be imposed into one PDF
of the correct outputsize because a runlist that contains too many elements processes slow in APPE. Try
to disable when there are problems with marks.

Processing-In-Render trapping part: (CPSI Render, PDFRender)

Recombined pre-sep PDF files - <Leave in-rip trapping parameters>


Configure the IRT behaviour for recombined pre-separated PDF files.
Leave IRT parameters: Perform IRT based on the provided IRT content parameters. Caution: IRT on
pre-separated PDF files is not advised.
Disable IRT and continue: IRT will be disabled for recombined pre-separated PDF fields.
Abort and notify when IRT is on: ApogeeX will not perform any IRT on recombined pre-separated files,
the processing will be aborted.

Check out license when Render starts - <Selected>


When this checkbox is not selected, de IRT license will not be checked out. This means IRT license will
not be active for this Render Task Processor. This can be used to control which task processor will get
the IRT License when having multiple renderers and only one IRT license.

Processing-DSC Comments: (CPSI Render, PDFRender)

Ignore Bounding Box - <deselected>:


Selecting this option will disregard the bounding box information that is specified in a document. Note
: if you deselect this option and the document (eg. eps file) doesn't have any other page size commands
in the PostScript, then ApogeeX will use the default page size of the output device.

Processing-Resource Factory processing parameters part: (CPSI Render, PDFRender)


The resource factory is responsible for generating second generation data from the image data that is generated by the CPSI/PDFRender. The CPSI/PDFRender raster data is generally 1-bit data, the data needed for
the RenderOnce flow and the data for the Preview or Thumbnails must be 8-bit. This means that the
resource factory has to de-screen the original data from CPSI. This option box represents the different descreening converting algorithms that are available.
All modules - <Automatic>.
Various Screening algorithms: Sample Quant, Sample Bilinear, Sample Bicubic, Sample Conv, Sample
Bilinear Quant, Average, Automatic
Memory Interpreter part: (PDFRender)

Max. PDF Render virtual memory (in MB) - <1024MB>


The maximum amount of memory which can be used by the PDFRender.
Recommended values for PDF Render running on Server platform:

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 40
RAM memory Server

Recommendation max PDF memory

2 GB memory

1024 MB

3 GB memory

1024 MB

4 GB memory

2048 MB

Recommended values for PDF Render running on Satellite platforms:


RAM memory Satellite

Recommendation max PDF memory

2 GB memory

1024 MB

3 GB memory

2048 MB

NOTE: The above recommendations are only valid when running a single PDF Render on server/satellite.
Memory Raster memory part: (CPSI Render, PDFRender)

Max. ByteWidth (Byte):


The maximum line width of CPSI/PDFRender. The larger the output size of your engine, the larger this
number needs to be.
Example:
Files longer than 10 meter give an interpreter error during rendering to a Proofer.
The Render Interpreter reported the following error:
%%[ Error: configuration error; Offending command: setpagedevice; Error PageSize --nostringval-]%%
%%[ Flushing: rest of job (to end-of-file) will be ignored ]%%

To fix this processing issue you have to change the Max. Bytewidth memory settings of Render Task
Processor, because they are optimized for not so big jobs.
Max. Bytewidth value > largest (width or height) job dimension in inches * output resolution

Default number of lines per band:


The amount of raster lines in a raster buffer.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 41

Number of Raster Buffers:


The number of buffers CPSI/PDFRender will allocate to maximize rendering performance. The
Renderer needs to send raster buffers to the engine for imaging in an asynchronous or non processblocking manner. If you can choose between having one large buffer, or having two or more buffers for
concurrent processing, it is always better to split the large buffer.

Max. raster memory percentage (%):


The percentage of total memory which can be used for raster data. This is used to protect the system
from a user which gives a too high number of raster data memory.

Memory used for raster data (Mbyte):


The amount of memory the memory manager will use for all raster memory for a single Renderer. For
an ImageSetter (or PlateSetter) flow, only CPSI/PDFRender will allocate memory. For a Proofer flow,
CPSI/PDFRender and the color manager will allocate buffers for raster data.
Recommended values for Render running on Server platform:
RAM memory Server

Recommendation memory

1 GB memory

12 MB

1.5 GB memory

120 MB

2 GB or more memory

180 MB (do not put this value higher)

Recommended values for Render running on Satellite platforms:

RAM memory Satellite

Recommendation memory

1 GB memory

120 MB

1.5 GB or more memory

180 MB

Reserve memory used for raster data (MByte):

The memory manager divides the raster memory over the different components in the render. We have
taken great care that the calculations are exact. Normally we never should exceed the specified raster
memory (we give an error whenever we do). The value of this parameter is the calculation error which is
acceptable. Normally you never should use it, but its possible that newer devices or devices with changed
configuration can break our memory calculation. In that case we can enter a number here, without giving
a new memorymanager dll.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 42

3.9

CPSI Renderer - Configuration settings

Processing - Interpreting part: (CPSI Render only)

Processing-Interpreter part-AllocateRasterBuffers - <selected>:


If this function is enabled, the Render Task Processor (Agfa Component) will allocate the raster
memory, if disabled, the CPSI (Adobe Core Component) allocates the raster memory.

Processing-Interpreter part-EnableFrameBandSwitch - <deselected>:


Can be switched on in case of rendering small files. This option allows the Renderer to rasterize the
PostScript objects on the fly into the frame buffer. This makes that no intermediate display or source list
has to be created. The disadvantage is that you need a large amount of memory.

Processing-Interpreter part-EnablePageOverlap - <deselected>:


When the rastering of the first file starts, the interpreter will already start generating the source/display
list of a second file. When enable Page Overlap is selected EnableFrameBandSwitch should be disabled.
Major performance gain on dual processors. The incoming data must be PostScript. When incoming
result is a PDF file, the file is split into several tasks, thus no page overlap can take place.

Processing-Interpreter part-UseBMO - <selected>:


With this option the interpreter will try to make band interleaved raster data (= the pages is divided into
bands containing all colors) as opposed to planar interleaved data (= first all cyan data of the page, then
all magenta data, etc). There is a performance gain when this function is enabled especially when
going to a proofer or using the renderonce module.

Processing-Interpreter part-CompressDisplayList - <deselected>:


Hard disk space is reduced to a minimum however more CPU power is needed to compress/decompress
the display list.

Processing-Interpreter part-EnableOCA - <deselected>:


CMYK conversions will be done in the CPSI (e.g. when you want to output a file with SWOP color space
embedded as a standard EURO color space). We prefer not using the internal CPSI color adjustment. All
color management on the raster data should be done in the back-end of the Render Task Processor (Agfa
component) and not in CPSI.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 43

Processing-Interpreter part-EnableSourcePrefetch - <selected>:


When EnableSourcePrefetch is selected, the image data is read in advance from the source list buffer.
When the image buffer is screened the next image buffer is read or located. When the file is rendered
the images are retrieved from the memory and screened. This results in a performance gain.

Processing-Interpreter part-Descreen 1Bit PDF - <selected>:


This option allows you to use an Agfa de-screen module when a 1 bit image needs to be rendered on a
8-bit Proofer device. The Adobe CPSI uses a different de-screen mechanism which results in lower
quality. Note: this option is only used when the incoming job is a PDF page.

Processing-Interpreter part-EnablePIR - <selected>:


This option will re-use screen tiles resulting in performance gain especially at high line frequencies.
When two adjacent tiles have the same bit value, the same tile can be used: no need to re-calculate the
tile again.

Processing-Interpreter part-PageRestart - <deselected>:


When the output engine goes in error state, the file is re-rendered, starting from the display list. When
this option is disabled then the re-rendering starts from the PS/PDF.

Processing-Interpreter part-The PageDeviceFeatures section


defines which settings are used from the front-end application. :ApogeeX does not overwrite these
settings when specifying other values e.g. number of copies set in application to 2 and copies in
:Apogeex output device settings also set to 2 will generate 4 output results.
UsePSHWResolution - <deselected>: Honor application defined resolution setting.
UsePSNumCopies - <selected>: Honor application defined number of copies.
UsePSPageSize - <selected>: Honor application defined document page size.
UsePSMirrorPrint - <deselected>: Honor application defined right/wrong reading.
UsePSOrientation - <deselected>: Honor application defined orientation.
UsePSNegativePrint - <deselected>: Honor application defined positive/negative print.
UsePSOutputPage - <selected> Honor the outputPage Postscript command.

UseAgfaPostScript Environment (PSE) - <selected> In case of Render crashes, we could switch off
this option to check if the crash is generated by a CPSI problem or not.

Apply Transfer curves in border - <checked> Apply transfer curves to ApogeeX borders. If this setting
is disabled, no ApogeeX borders will be calibrated, it doesnt matter if these borders are inside or outside
the press sheet. This setting doesnt apply to Preps marks.

Default Flatness - <1> Defines the default flatness (=accuracy) to be used when rendering curves. It is
expressed in pixels @2400 dpi.

Max Flatness - <5> Defines the maximum flatness (=accuracy) to be used when rendering curves. It is
expressed in pixels @2400 dpi. When a PS/PDF file sets a flatness of a larger value, it is clipped to this
maximum. Lower values increase the complexity of the job. For complex jobs, you may have to increase
this maximum.

Productname - <AGFA ApogeeX> Is used as the license key for Kanji-fonts, downloaded to the Render.
The productname can be changed for compatibility with previously installed fonts or with fonts.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 44

Processing-PDF printing part (CPSI Render)


These options are only used when the Renderer receives PDF input.

Processing - PDF printing part - Pagesize when no border on outputsize - <MediaBox>:


Defines which PDF box the Renderer uses when rendering (eg. when the MediaBox option is selected,
all contents inside the MediaBox will be printed, when the TrimBox is selected, only the contents inside
the TrimBox will be printed by the Renderer).

Processing - PDF printing part - PDF Colormanagement - <Agfa>:


Only applies to incoming PDF documents.
Microsoft: ICC profiles will be converted to CSAs using the Microsoft library.
Agfa: ICC profiles will be converted to CSAs using the Agfa library.
None: ICC profiles will be thrown away from the incoming PDF.

Processing - PDF printing part - PDF 1.4 - <Check and abort>:


Check and abort: the Renderer report an error if the incoming PDF (1.4) contains transparencies.
Dont check: a PDF (1.4) file with transparencies will be rendered without any error however the renderresult will be incorrect.

Processing - PDF printing part - Min. form occurrence - <10>


When your imposed flat contains 10 (or more) identical objects the Renderer will use PostScript form
caching to Render the job.

Processing-Generation low resolution preview part


See Processing-Generation low resolution preview part: (CPSI Render, PDFRender) on page 37
Processing-Generation Thumbnails part
See Processing-Generation Thumbnails part: (CPSI Render, PDFRender) on page 38
Processing-Generation CIP3 part
See Processing-Generation CIP3 part: (CPSI Render, PDFRender) on page 38
Processing-Speed optimization
See Processing-Speed optimization: (CPSI Render, PDFRender) on page 38
Processing-In-Render trapping part

Processing-In-Render trapping part: (CPSI Render, PDFRender) on page 39

Check to disable trapping for black and white jobs - <Unchecked>: Complete document is parsed to
find out if the job is pure black and white so trapping can be disabled as an optimization. This setting is
not available for PDFRender.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 45

Processing-DSC Comments
Processing-DSC Comments: (CPSI Render, PDFRender) on page 39
Processing-Preseparated printing to Proofer: (CPSI Render only)

Recombine using PSE


We re-combine a pre-separated job to a composite job when we go to a proofing device when a border
is selected. If you always want that the render recombines then you can enable this option.

Processing-Resource Factory processing parameters part


Processing-Resource Factory processing parameters part: (CPSI Render, PDFRender) on page 39
Processing-Imposition part (CPSI Render only)
When there is an Impose Task Processor in front of the Render Task Processor, the Impose Task Processor
will make an assembled resource. An assembled resource is a collection of; PDF files to be imposed,
marks, background information and positioning information. The Render Task Processor will take this
assembled resource and make the PostScript file which will represent the imposed flat.
NOTE: The Plug-in Handler part is greyed out and cant be changed.

Configuration - <User defined>:


This option automatically chooses the fastest imposition manner (flat or stroke imposition).
Flat imposition: A flat is sent to the Output Device Task Processor as 1 complete flat.
Stroke imposition Mode: The Renderer will divide impositions into strokes. The Render will interprete
these strokes which requires less memory then a complete flat. The rendered flat is also sent to the
Output Device Task Processor in strokes. This results in a performance boost. The output Task Processor
will assemble the strokes again into 1 flat.
No Imposition: This option needs to be enabled when DQS is used (not supported for Phase 1).

Memory Input buffers part (CPSI Render only)

Input buffer size (in Mbyte) - <4>:


The input buffer size the Task Processor uses to read in the incoming data.

Input buffer - <3>:


The number of buffers.

Memory Interpreter part (CPSI Render)


All memory values which are indicated in Megabytes (MByte) are hard coded. These settings must be
adapted manually (see each individual option for more info).
NOTE: Make sure the checkbox Use custom memory configuration is always deselected.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 46

Max CPSI memory (MByte):


The maximum amount of memory which can be used by the CPSI.
Recommended values for CPSI Render running on Server platform:
RAM memory Server

Recommendation max CPSI memory

1 GB memory

150 MB

1.5 GB memory

300 MB

2 GB memory

450 MB

3 GB memory

600 MB

4 GB memory

750 MB

Recommended values for CPSI Render running on Satellite platforms:


RAM memory Satellite

Recommendation max CPSI memory

1 GB memory

300 MB

1.5 GB memory

450 MB

2 GB memory

600 MB

3 GB memory

750 MB

4 GB memory

900 MB

NOTE: The above recommendations are only valid when running a single Renderer on a server/satellite.

Memory Increment (MByte):


The amount of memory that the CPSI will request each time it needs more memory.
Enter the incremental memory with this formula: Memory Increment=(Max CPSI memory - Initial
memory)/10

Image/Graphic ratio (%):


The ratio in which the source list and display list memory is divided. The number gives the percentage
of source list memory; the remaining is for display list.

Initial memory (MByte):


The initial size of the CPSI memory. CPSI works the most efficiently when the initial allocation is sufficient for the entire job and CPSI doesnt need requests for additional memory. The initial memory must
be smaller then the Maximum memory. Do not put the initial memory higher then 450 MB.

Memory Raster memory part:


See The above recommendations are only valid when running a single PDF Render on server/satellite. on
page 40

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 47

Memory Fonts part: (CPSI Render only)

Use Japanese Fonts:


The Max. Japanese Font Cache value will be used as Font cache when Use Japanese Fonts is selected.
When Use Japanese Fonts is deselected then we use the Max. Roman Font cache value as Font
Cache.

Max. Japanese Font Cache (MByte):


The cache memory used for Japanese fonts.

Max. Roman Font Cache (MByte):


The cache memory used for fonts.

Max Font Item (MByte):


The maximum size for a single character in the font cache; all characters below this size are cached. Set
MaxFontItem in such a way that font-character-size combinations that occur often, such as 6- to 24point body text, are always cached, while larger characters, used once or twice in a job, such as in
headlines, are not allowed to fill up the cache. Systems using 2-byte fonts should be set up to cache most
characters, including headline characters, as the outline-to-bitmap conversion is more time consuming
for these complex fonts.

Memory Screens part: (CPSI Render only)

Max. screen item (MByte):


The maximum size for a halftone screen, it must be set large enough to hold an entire screen. In the case
of threshold arrays, the value for MaxScreenItem is slightly larger than the amount of memory needed
to store the threshold array (This value should be at least as big as the size of the largest ABS screen you
want to use).

Max. screenstorage (MByte):


The overall limit on storage for active screens. For 8-bit halftones, the value should be the amount of
memory required to build a threshold array plus the memory required to store one gray tile, so it is nine
eighths the size of the threshold array. For 16-bit halftones, screen storage is required for the 16-bit
threshold array, its 8-bit equivalent, and one gray tile. In the case of a type 5 halftone, storage is needed
for all of the included screens, except for any duplicates. The screen cache stores threshold arrays for
halftone screens, so the screen does not have to be regenerated each time it is used. Depending on the
available memory the Renderer will take a multiple of this number.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 48

Max. graytile cache (MByte):


The available cache to keep the screen tiles of gray values in memory. For halftones that use very large
threshold arrays (Accurate Screens or custom threshold arrays), tints that span all gray levels might
consume all available RAM for the gray tile cache. The GrayTileCache is not managed as part of the
shared CPSI memory. It will not borrow memory from other caches and buffers.

Optimum grayTile part (%):


Defines the ratio by which the MaxGraytileCache is enlarged, depending on the screen caches. The
bigger the screen cache is, the bigger the gray tile cache is.

Memory Forms part: (CPSI Render only)

Max. form cache (MByte) and Max. form item in cache (MByte):
These are the memory constraints which CPSI can use when it does form caching. If the memory is not
sufficient data will be written on disk.

Memory Lock application memory part: (CPSI Render only)


Will prevent the Operating System from swapping the memory amounts that you specified above to disk.
Deselect this for 1 GB system. Select this option for all other systems especially select this option for the
Renderer on Satellites.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 49

3.10

Digital Film Proof, Tiff Render

Generation Multiple previews


See Processing-Generation multiple previews: (CPSI Render, PDFRender) on page 37

Generation low resolution preview


See Processing-Generation low resolution preview part: (CPSI Render, PDFRender) on page 37

Generation thumbnails
See Processing-Generation Thumbnails part: (CPSI Render, PDFRender) on page 38

Resource factory processing parameters


See Processing-Resource Factory processing parameters part: (CPSI Render, PDFRender) on page 39
Plug-in handler

NOTE: The Plug-in Handler part is greyed out and cant be changed.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 50

Memory settings

Max memory for raster data - <20>


This is the internal memory that will be used for screening, colormanagement, Dot4Dot in the DFP film
proof. If Tiff render acts too slow/crashes, increase memory to 100 MB.

Reserve memory for raster data - <0>


This is the amount of extra memory that could be used if for some reason the Maximum memory for
raster data is not enough

Optimization settings

Minimal rendering resolution when anti-aliasing is active - <300>


The resolution threshold for Improved Readability. When the requested resolution is below the
threshold, the render renders at the minimum integer multiple of the output resolution that is higher
than the Anti-aliasing limit. When its higher, the render renders at the requested resolution. Higher
values for the minimal decrease rendering performance.

Minimal rendering resolution when optimization for speed is active - <300>


The resolution threshold for Improved Render Speed. The render will always render at the minimum
integer ratio of the requested output resolution that is higher than the Speed target.

3.11

Impose, StepAndRepeat

Dieline: Dielines on top - <Deselected>


In packaging workflows, it often occurs that the dieline is included in the artwork. So you have one
document that contains both the real artwork (used for printing) and the dieline (used for cutting). This
can cause problems when the imposition schema positions the artworks partially on top of each other.
You can then have a dieline that is partially obscured by the bleed from another artwork.
The drawing below illustrates the problem. (The red boxes show the dieline.) In the drawing on the left,
you see that part of the dieline is obscured by a different artwork. In the drawing on the right you see
the desired solution.

The artwork should be imposed normally, but the dielines must be on top of all the artwork. To do this
you have to enable this option.

Show Ruleup in preview -<Checked>


If checked, the rule-ups are shown when previewing the imposed PDF from imposition task processor in
ApogeeX. The ruleups are only used for viewing, they will not appear in the actual output. The Show
Ruleup in preview checkbox only works when the main flow does not contain a proofer as output
device. In case of a proofer, the rule-ups are placed in the imposed PDF depending on the rule-up setting
in the proofer image operation.

Use low resolution images in PDF preview - <Unchecked>


If checked: If the pages in the runlist contain alternate pages, these alternate pages will be used when
previewing the imposed PDF from imposition Task Processor. The alternate images will however not be
used for the actual output.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 51

3.12

Export Configuration Settings

Certify: Preflight report language - <English>


Change the language of the Preflight reports and the messages in a preflight notification generated by
the export Task Processor (English, French, German, Italian, Japanese or Spanish).

Duplicate mapped color details in CSS objects:


Duplicate for PDF outputs - <Selected>
Duplicate for PS outputs - <Selected>
CSS and CA are different objects in which mapped color details can be described. New applications will
search the mapped color details in the CSS object. If both checkboxes are checked, the mapped color
details are written to the CSS object and duplicated to the CA object. If both checkboxes are unchecked,
the mapped color details are only written to the CSS object. In this case the PDF will be smaller. For 2.5
it is advised to enable duplicate for PDF and PS export. The current IRT plug-in searches for the mapped
color details in the CA object.

PostScript Language level for windows spooler - <2>


When you set the ExportTP output channel to "Windows Spooler" this configuration control defines the
level of the ASCII PostScript output.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 52

Fail job if level 3 operators required - <checked>


if PostScript Language level is set to 2, but there are features in the resultant PDF that can not be mapped
into a PostScript level 2 equivalent then the job can be failed at the ExportTP. Obviously if you select PS
level 3 then it is possible to make the mapping from PDF to PS without any problem.

Enable color Normalizer - <Selected>


The color Normalizer is a component inside the export task processor which makes sure that the delivered output is conform the following settings:
* Honor the settings from the separation operation,
* Use the PScolormanagement settings from the render in the exported PDF (e.g. tag content profiles),
* Apply Inkset,
* Apply Press profile.
In order to use the color Normalizer there must be a render, output device and press after the Export task
processor. When there is a PDF ready in the flow the color Normalizer is always used. When no PDF
ready, you can disable/enable the color normalizer with the checkbox in the Export TP.

Thumbnail Generation: Time-out per page - <300>


The amount of time the Export Task Processor tries to create thumbnails. If the Thumbnails are not
generated within this timeout value, the thumbnail will not be generated.

Post-Process files with script: Script has access to console or tracing window - <Selected>
If enabled, a tracing window will be started each time a preprocessing script is called. In the tracing
window, script tracing (e.g. wscript.echo in vbscript) will be visualized.

Wait for the script to complete before sending the next result - <Selected>
If selected: the export Task Processor will not finish the task in the activity monitor as long as the post
processing script is not finished. If deselected: script starts processing after export Task Processor has
finished activity, in this case, multiple post processing scripts can be running at the same time.

Color Information discovery: Color class - <ColorsInfo>


ApogeeX has a common JTColorLookup dll which is used by various components of the ApogeeX
system-wide to detect color information. The Export Task Processor has a private color class called
ColorsInfo. This class is optimized for the Export Task Processor (including improved performance).
However the ColorsInfo class knows nothing about trapping. For job ticket with PDFtrapping, the JTColorLookup must be used. Recommendation for ApogeeX 3.5.0 is to keep the ColorsInfo class always
selected. If the job uses trapping then this setting is ignored and JTColorLookup will always be used
instead.

PDF/X verification: Force CropBox to match MediaBox - <Deselected>


If this checkbox is selected, the cropbox of the exported PDFs will be resized to match the mediabox.
This action is only performed when you export in a PDF/X format. If the cropbox does not fit the
mediabox, some Pitstop PDF/X profiles can generate a preflight error.

NOTE: If pdf format PDF/X is chosen in the Export parameterset settings Force CropBox to match
MediaBox must be checked.

Create low resolution images - <None>


Compress the Low Resolution images created by the Export Task Processor (Low resolution images can
be made: Export Parameter set > Export tab > Images pane > create low resolution images). Compression types are None, LZW, JPEG Maximum Quality, JPEG Medium Quality, JPEG Minimum Quality,
Flate. It is also possible to choose JPEG2000 compression, if a PDF is exported that doesnt support

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 53

JPEG2000 (e.g. PDF 1.3), the corresponding supported compression is used (e.g. JPEG 2000 medium
quality becomes JPEG medium quality).

JDF Content: Include parameter sets


The parametersets of the task processors following the Export TP will be included inside the JDF file
exported by export TP.

Use filecopy - <Deselected>


The export Task Processor first writes the file to local (\agfa\apogeex\Server\TP_Export\bin\tempExportFile) disk before copying the file to the export location.

Intermediate results - <Faster, use memory, except for imposition results>


The Export Task Processor tries to get the balance right between holding intermediate results in
memory (for speed) and writing to disk. You might want everything to be held in memory but then
someone, somewhere, will have a 'monster' job that causes memory usage to go 'mad'. In that case you
could force all intermediate results to go via disk (it would be very slow though!), but at least it would
process eventually. Unfortunately implementation was not completed so only the bottom two modes
("Faster" & "Fastest") are supported (if you select "always use temporary disk files" you will get a
message).

3.13

Sherpa

3.13.1

Configuration

Processing

Feed between rows and pages - <2 mm>:


The distance between output pages. This setting will make sure that ganged pages are separated from
each other.

Auto-cut - <selected>
After every row the Sherpa will automatically cut the paper. This setting overrules the auto-cut setting
of the Sherpa Engine.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 54

WARNING:

Sherpa24: The Sherpa24 always cuts a band of 10cm useless media between two jobs when
the Roll Auto Cut option on the engine itself is enabled. The user needs to set his Sherpa24
to Roll Cutter Off to avoid this 10cm useless band. The auto cut setting of the Sherpa24 Task
Processor configuration settings will cut once between each job if enabled.

Optimize the page orientation for single page jobs when ganging is enabled - <deselected>:
A document containing only 1 page will be forced to print landscape if Optimize orientation and
ganging are enabled (and the job fits on the media this way).

Buffer each page before imaging - <selected>:


If "Buffer each page before imaging is on, then the renderer (or any or TP before the output (Sherpa))
is forced to write its raster data results to disk. So there is no "volatile connection" between Render and
Sherpa, even if there are no action points between render and Sherpa. So both Task Processors can work
independently, render renders first and is free to accept other tasks. Sherpa starts printing afterwards
but the render is already free. In case of "Buffer each page before imaging off and no other action
points, render and Sherpa act together ("volatile connection"), so render Task Processor creates raster
data and sends straight to the Sherpa. So, as if the Sherpa is a slow printing device the render is busy the
whole time while the Sherpa is printing, and will only create a next chunk of raster data when the
Sherpa printed the previous chunk.

Print unknown spot colors as LAB - <deselected>:


Control to define if ApogeeX should use a default proofing color value when a spot color LAB/CMYK
definition is unknown. If this checkbox is not enabled, a job will generate a color undefined error when
a spot color LAB/CMYK definition is unknown.

Process priority - <Normal>:


A task processor runs in a fixed processor priority, you can see this in the windows task manager. Some
output device requires a constant stream of raster data, for those devices you might want to set the
priority higher.

Use viewing conditions from press profile, if possible - <Checked>:


Color management ensures that cmyk values from the press color space are converted to cmyk values of
the proofer color space. To do this, those press cmyk values are first converted to the device independent
"Profile Connection Space", usually abbreviated to PCS, by use of the press profile. Those PCS values
(might be Lab values) are then converted to Proofer CMYK values using the proofer profile:
Press CMYK -> PCS PCS -> Proofer CMYK
When creating the profile, the profile creator has to choose a standard observer and illuminant for the
calculation of the Lab values out of the spectral measurements coming from the measuring device. In
order to obtain good results, the selected illuminant and standard observer for both press and proofer
profile need to be the same. Combining profiles with different illuminants will lead to less accurate
proofs. However, when the proofer profile is an profile, and the proofer profile contains spectral data,
and advanced cmm is enabled, ApogeeX can recalculate the proofer profile so it has the same illuminant
and standard observer as the press profile. The same holds for color books that have spectral color
definitions. By default, Agfa advises to enable this option. Only for backward compatibility it might be
switched off.

Enable Ink Forecast - <Unchecked>: an option used by industrial ink jet. Depending on which screen is
used, ApogeeX knows what dropsizes are used and is able to forecast the ink consumption on the digital
press. Resources for the digital press needs to be defined correctly in order to get accurate ink forecast.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 55

Ganging

No more pages have been added since the last x minutes - <unchecked-5 minutes>
Flush ganged rows automatically when during the last x minutes nothing is printed to the Sherpa.

The row media usagepercentage is more than - <unchecked - 80%>


Flush a row if it is for xx % full

Memory

Memory used for raster data - <40 MB>


This is the total amount of memory used for all buffers to read the data from disk. This data is previously
generated by the render in a non volatile connection. With the default setup of 40MB and 2 buffers, it
means two buffers of 20 MB each will be allocated. Typically, one buffer is filled from data from disk,
while the other is send to the engine to be printed.

Number of buffers - <2>


Number of buffers used to transport the raster data.

Margins
The print margins for each Sherpa can be changed to increase the maximum print size (e.g. a Sherpa43
has a standard left and right margin of 10 mm, this can be changed to 5 mm and thereby increase the
maximum print size with 10 mm). Note: the margins are different per Sherpa.

Communication

Local proofer using TCP/IP:


Connection to the Sherpa is done directly over TCP/IP. Enter the IP-address of the Sherpa in the Host
Address field. Advantage is that when :ApogeeX reports that Sherpa TP has finished, the Sherpa has
also actually finished. Note: the Sherpa has an internal buffer which makes that printing is not
completely finished yet (the GrandSherpa buffer is larger than the normal Sherpa buffer).

Local proofer using windows Spooler:


Enter the windows Printer share name (\\printservername\printspoolername). Advantages are that
other applications as :ApogeeX can print to the Sherpa without problems, spooling is done which results
in faster processing. Disadvantage is that you cant see in :ApogeeX Client when the Sherpa is printing.

Port Number - <9100>

Write timeout (sec) - <240>:


The amount of time the Sherpa Task Processor tries to send the data to the Sherpa. If the Sherpa doesnt
get the data within this timeout value, a network time out error will be displayed in the Message Board.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 56

NOTE: The SherpaMatic and GrandSherpaMatic have slightly different Communication settings compared
to the other proofers. The SherpaMatic and GrandSherpaMatic are currently the only Proofer devices of
which we receive status information therefore the communications settings are a bit more advanced.

Host address
The IP-address of the (Grand)SherpaMatic.

Connection Setting - <Job Based>


Control to capture the (Grand)SherpaMatic connection.
Job Based: Breaks the connection between available SherpaMatic Task Processors and the SherpaMatic after each job (front/back pair). This allows several SherpaMatic Task Processors on the network to
print to the SherpaMatic. Only the connected SherpaMatic Task Processor will receive status information from the SherpaMatic, all other SherpaMatic Task Processors will report that the SherpaMatic is in
use.
Continuous: Does not break the connection between the SherpaMatic Task Processor and the
SherpaMatic. Only the connected SherpaMatic Task Processor can print to the SherpaMatic.
Note: On a single LAN, only one of these methods should be used. If one Task Processor is configured
for Job Based, while another Task Processor is configured for Continuous, the Task Processor using the
Job Based configuration will be unable to print.

DBS settings:
The DBS is the system that controls the double-sided printing and reports status information through a
TCP/IP connection. These settings should never be changed.

Remote Proofer using Files/FTP


If one of these options is selected, the icon of the proofer in the system overview and in the production
plan of a ticket will get a purple arrow. This indicate the proofer is a remote proofer. When a remote
proofer is available, the Remote proofer also becomes available in the System overview and in the
production plan of a ticket.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 57

NOTE: For more info about remote proofing refer to Tutorial Level 2: ApogeeX 4.0 Proofing

3.13.2

Import/export ink table

System Overview>Sherpa TP>Ink table resource>Import mime/export as mime

3.13.3

import/export device link profiles

System Overview>Sherpa TP>Device Link profiles resource>Import mime/export as mime/icc/icm

3.14

TIFF Imagesetter and TIFF Platesetter

The TIFF Imagesetter and the TIFF Platesetter have identical configuration settings.
Processing

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 58

Resolutions - <1200, 2400>


Only the specified resolutions will be available in the resolution field of the Tiff Imagesetter/Platesetter
output parameters.

TIFF Generation > Strip size - <As received (best performance)>


As received (best performance):
Entire image as single strip:
Other:
When writing the TIFF file, the user has the option to select the TIFF strip size (the band size in which
the Task Processor writes the data). The correct selection of the strip size depends on the application
that needs to read the files produced by ApogeeX eg. CREO PlateSetter select Other 1 lines.

TIFF Generation > Line-Length alignment - <Byte (8-bits)>


The line length describes the width of the data band. The setting will specify how many extra bits will
be added to the actual pixel data, so that one line of data fits in the wanted multiple of a byte.

Enable disk space checking - <deselected>:


The TIFF Imagesetter/Platesetter will verify if there is sufficient disk space available at the TIFF output
location.

Assumed compression factor (%) - <100>:


A TIFF file can be compressed however the compression factor is hard to define. It depends on the
selected compression scheme and file contents. As a safety margin you can set compression factor to
100%, this will not take compression factor in account.

Required free disk space (MB) - <0>:


The specified amount of disk space must be available before a TIFF file will be written to the TIFF output
location.

Feed between rows and pages - <2 mm>:


The distance between output pages. This setting will make sure that ganged pages are separated from
each other. When customer does not use ganging, we recommend to set this value to 0 mm.

Number of trays - <1>


This is the number of trays that the media resource of the TIFF Imagesetter/Platesetter will show. The
maximum amount of trays is 10.

Buffer each page before imaging - <selected>:


Before start of imaging first write raster data to disk. Refer to Buffer each page before imaging <selected>: on page 54.

Process priority - <Normal>:


A task processor runs in a fixed processor priority, you can see this is the windows task manager. Some
output device requires a constant stream of raster data, for those devices you might want to set the
priority higher.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 59

Memory

Input - Memory used for raster data - <40 MB>


This is the total amount of memory used for all buffers to read the data from disk. This data is previously
generated by the render in a non volatile connection. With the default setup of 40MB and 2 buffers, it
means two buffers of 20 MB each will be allocated. Typically, one buffer is filled from data from disk,
while the other is send to the engine to be printed.

Input - Number of buffers - <2>


Number of buffers used to transport the raster data.

Output - Memory used for raster data - <4 MB>


Specifies the amount of data that we need to collect before:
1.writing the file on disk or
2.delivering the data over the network.
In other word this parameter specifies the size of the buffer that we need to fill before flushing. This
parameter was especially introduced to optimize the data transfer over the network (without this
buffer, every time we compress a chunk of TIFF data we immediately send the packet resulting in high
network traffic and slow throughput). The value of 4 MB was chosen empirically.

3.15

PS Imagesetter

Processing

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 60

Channel - <File>
File: PS files will be output to disk. The file path must be specified in the PS Imagesetter output
parameters.
Spooler: PS will be sent to a windows print spooler. You must specify the name and location of the print
spooler (e.g. \\Printservername\printspooler).

Device Resolutions - <1200, 2400>


Only the specified resolutions will be available in the resolution field of the PS Imagesetter parameters.

Device supports variable pagesizes - <selected>


Selected: the dimensions of the PS file will be defined by the jobs document size, ApogeeX borders and
the selected output size.
Deselected: the dimensions of the PS file will be equal to the selected media for that job.

Margins - <0,0,0,0>
Every output device might have margins which are unprintable. These margins must be defined so the
Renderer can take them into account (offset the image and add white space).

Process priority - <Normal>:


A Task Processor runs in a fixed processor priority (Windows Task Manager > Set task priority), you can
see this is the windows task manager. Some output device requires a constant stream of data, for those
devices you might want to set the priority higher.

Feed between rows and pages - <2 mm>:


The distance between output pages. This setting will make sure that ganged pages are separated from
each other. When customer does not use ganging, we recommend to set this value to 0 mm.

Number of trays - <1>


This is the number of trays that the media resource of the PS Imagesetter will show. The maximum
amount of trays is 10.

Buffer each page before imaging - <selected>:


Before start of imaging first write raster data to disk. Refer to Buffer each page before imaging <selected>: on page 54.

Memory
See Memory on page 59

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 61

3.16

TIFF Proofer

Processing

TIFF Generation > Strip size - <As received (best performance)>


When writing the TIFF file, the user has the option to select the TIFF strip size (the band size in which
the Task Processor writes the data). The correct selection of the strip size depends on the application
that needs to read the files produced by ApogeeX.

TIFF Generation > Line-Length alignment - <Byte (8-bits)>


The line length describes the width of the data band. The setting will specify how many extra bits will
be added to the actual pixel data, so that one line of data fits in the wanted multiple of a byte.

Enable disk space checking - <deselected>:


By enabling this option the TIFF Proofer will verify if there is sufficient disk space available at the TIFF
output location.

Assumed compression factor (%) - <100>:


A TIFF file can be compressed however the compression factor is hard to define. It depends on the
selected compression scheme and file contents. As a safety margin you can set compression factor to
100%, this will not take compression factor in account.

Required free disk space (MB) - <0>:


The specified amount of disk space must be available before a TIFF file will be written to the TIFF output
location.

Other settings: See Sherpa on page 53

Memory
Memory on page 59

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 62

3.17

PS Proofer/PDF Proofer

The PS Proofer and the PDF Proofer have identical configuration settings.
Processing
Processing on page 53.

Embed ICC profile (only for PDF Proofer)


Always enable this setting if the version of ApogeeX is 3.5 without SP1. The Proofer Profile will be
embedded into the exported PDF. If color management is not enabled in the PDF proofer, the press
profile will be embedded. If this setting is unchecked in ApogeeX 3.5 without SP1, the exported PDF
cannot be opened in Acrobat. If you try to open the PDF, you get the error: There was a problem reading
the document (14).
If ApogeeX 3.5 with SP1 or ApogeeX 4.0 is loaded, you can uncheck this setting to not embed any profile.

Memory
Memory on page 59.
Margins

Margins - <0,0,0,0>
Every output device might have margins which are unprintable. These margins must be defined so the
Renderer can take them into account (offset the image and add white space).

Communication

File: PS files will be output to disk. The file path must be specified in the PS/PDF Proofer output
parameters.

Spooler: PS will be sent to a windows print spooler. You must specify the name and location of the print
spooler (eg. \\Printservername\printspooler).

Tcpip: PS files will be sent to the IP-address.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 63

3.18

Accuset, Phoenix, Avantra, Galileo.

The settings shown in the configuration settings for all Accuset, Avantra, Phoenix and Galileo devices are
identical. Note: not all of these settings are applicable for all devices.
Processing.

Media Optimization Queue job (All High resolution output devices) - <selected; 10%>:
This setting is used by jobs where the media is selected by media type in the device output parameters.
:ApogeeX will schedule output the job to the inactive cassette if the media consumption on the inactive
cassette is 10% less than the media consumption which that job would need on the active cassette
(works with or without ganging).

Automatic cassette switching


Job deferral mode (PrintDrive). This option is not implemented in ApogeeX 2.5.0.

Supply alarm (All High resolution output devices) - <Continue imaging until cassette is empty>:
This setting specifies what the engine will do when the amount of media in the supply cassette is lower
then the media low value (output device configuration).
Continue imaging until the cassette is empty: Imaging will stop when the cassette is empty. Manual
intervention is needed at that point. :ApogeeX will not automatically check if other cassettes are
available.
Stop imaging immediately: ApogeeX will try to continue the job on another available cassette (a cassette
which matches the media selection in the output parameter set). If no other available cassette is found,
imaging will stop.

Force media cut (Imagesetters with OLP only)


Between planes when not ganging - <deselected>: The device cuts after every separation when
ganging is disabled.
Between rows when ganging - <Deselected>: The device cuts after each row of pages when ganging
is enabled.
When device is idle for more then: ... seconds - <Selected, 120>: The device cuts when there is no
imaging activity anymore for more then the specified time. This option applies to both ganging and nonganging mode.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 64

Max page height (Accuset only) - <2032 mm>


Specifies the maximum height which can be imaged on the Accuset.

Minimum Interpage Gap (Avantra and Phoenix) - <25,4 mm>:


The minimum amount of space that needs to be present between two exposures (fastscan direction).

Feed between rows and pages (Imagesetters) - <2 mm>:


The distance between output pages. This setting will make sure that ganged pages are separated from
each other. When customer does not use ganging, this option is not applied.

Phoenix Operation Mode (Phoenix only) - <Use Parameter Sets>:


Media Profile mode is not supported in ApogeeX 2.5.0. Always keep the setting Use Parameter Sets.

Buffer each page before imaging (All High resolution output devices) - <selected>:
Before start of imaging first write raster data to disk. Refer to Buffer each page before imaging <selected>: on page 54.

Process priority - <High>:


A Task Processor runs in a fixed processor priority (Windows Task Manager > Set priority), you can see
this is the windows task manager. Some output device requires a constant stream of raster data, for
those devices you might want to set the priority higher.

Memory

Memory used for raster data - <40 MB>


This is the total amount of memory used for all buffers to read the data from disk. This data is previously
generated by the render in a non volatile connection. With the default setup of 40MB and 2 buffers, it
means two buffers of 20 MB each will be allocated. Typically, one buffer is filled from data from disk,
while the other is send to the engine to be printed.

Number of buffers - <2>


Number of buffers used to transport the raster data.

Communication.

Job timeout - <120>:


The Job timeout is the time we wait after a Job has been completed for the engine status to become idle.
If the timeout expires and the engine isnt idle then we reset the engine. This can be set to any value in
the range 60-600 seconds.

Query output device - <Immediately>:


Changes of the settings that a user makes in the console of the output device will be seen early, never or
at the start of every job.

3.19

Palladio

Processing.

Buffer each plane before imaging <selected>:


Before start of imaging first write raster data to disk. Refer to Buffer each page before imaging <selected>: on page 54.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 65

Process Priority <High>:


A Task Processor runs in a fixed processor priority (Windows Task Manager > Set priority). Some
output devices requires a constant stream of raster data, for those devices you might want to set the
priority higher.

Memory

Memory used for raster data - <40 MB>


This is the total amount of memory used for all buffers to read the data from disk. This data is previously
generated by the render in a non volatile connection. With the default setup of 40MB and 2 buffers, it
means two buffers of 20 MB each will be allocated. Typically, one buffer is filled from data from disk,
while the other is send to the engine to be printed.

Number of buffers - <2>


Number of buffers used to transport the raster data.

Communication.

SCSI Host Adapter:


This number identifies the SCSI card that is used to communicate with the engine (will be detected
automatically). The number will not reflect the detected adapter value, it will stay 0.

SCSI ID:
Each adapter can connect more than one device. Each device is identified by the SCSI ID. This ID is set
on the Palladio. When Palladio TP is started this number is automatically detected. The number will not
reflect the detected ID value, it will stay 0.

SCSI Buffer Size - <64>:


Buffer size of the data which is sent to the Palladio.

3.20

PrintDrive

CAUTION: configuration settings are not automatically mirrored between Task Processors of the same
type.
PrintDrive Connection.

Apogee PrintDrive Host:


The hostname or IP-Address of the machine on which the PrintDrive software is running.

PrintDrive Input Device Name:


In most cases this setting should be left blank. At first startup of the PrintDrive Task Processor, PrintDrive automatically creates an Agfa RIP connection Device. The name of that PrintDrive input device
will be Apogeex@PrintDriveTaskProcessorComputername.
You can create a custom PrintDrive Input Device which name should be entered in the PrintDrive Task
Processor configuration to limit the list of available media for the PrintDrive Task Processor.
Create a new input device on the PrintDrive system.
Select device "Input" Type: Agfa RIP Connection.
Enter a name for this device e.g. ApogeeX_Input.
Select the Trays for this device.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 66

In the location tab choose "Network", enter the hostname of the computer where the PrintDrive Task
Processor is installed (server or satellite) and select ok.
Open the configuration resource of the PrintDrive Task Processor.
Enter the PrintDrive input Device name for this PrintDrive Task Processor.

Allow Server Synchronization - <checked>


If checked a few synchronizations with printdrive are enabled: Rejecting flats in ApogeeX is visualized
in PrintDrive, reject separations in ApogeeX is visualized in PrintDrive, stop plating in ApogeeX is visualized in PrintDrive, delete pages/flats in ApogeeX deletes the pages/flats in PrintDrive, job is complete
signal is sent to PrintDrive if all flats are sent to PrintDrive. Allow Server Synchronization must be
configured the same (on or off) on all PrintDrive taskprocessors on the ApogeeX System. If multiple
PrintDrive Task Processors are installed on the same hardware system, allow Server Synchronization
must be enabled.

NOTE: If you want to use PrintDrive Synchronization, make sure you enable the Allow Server
Synchronization checkbox for all PrintDrive Task Processors, also the ones which are not started.

NOTE: For Synchronization with PrintDrive in ApogeeX 4.0 you must install PrintDrive update F SP3.d on
the PrintDrive Server.

Feed between rows and pages - <0 mm>:


The distance between output pages. This setting will make sure that ganged pages are separated from
each other.

Process Priority <Normal>:


A Task Processor runs in a fixed processor priority (Windows Task Manager > Set priority). Some
output devices requires a constant stream of raster data, for those devices you might want to set the
priority higher.

Memory

Memory used for raster data - <40 MB>


This is the total amount of memory used for all buffers to read the data from disk. This data is previously
generated by the render in a non volatile connection. With the default setup of 40MB and 2 buffers, it
means two buffers of 20 MB each will be allocated. Typically, one buffer is filled from data from disk,
while the other is send to the engine to be printed.

Number of buffers - <2>


Number of buffers used to transport the raster data.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 67

3.21

SpiceLink TP

NOTE: SpiceLink TP and Spice TP have a 1 on 1 relation ship. If you have 2 Dotrix presses, you need 2 Spice
TPs and also 2 SpiceLink TPs.
SpiceLink TP does the work: writes the files and makes the connection with the Dotrix.
Communication

Digital Press Server URL


Check Pressproxy to know the value you have to fill in. Port 80 is default. If you use port 80 you do not
have to mention it. If you use another port you have to mention it here.

JMF Receiving Port


This number has to be unique over all output and print TPs. After installation this number is unique, you
do not have to change it. There is 1 exception: if you install more than 1 instance of the same TP, this
number will not be unique anymore and has to be changed manually after installation.

Acknowledge time-out
Pressproxy checks the job written by ApogeeX and converts it to machine format. When Pressproxy is
finished it sends back an acknowledge to the SpiceLink TP. If SpiceLink gives the message Problem with
response JMF received, it does not mean there is something wrong. It just means that Pressproxy did

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 68

not respond within the specified timeframe. Most likely this value has to be increased for jobs with
variable data or jobs with a lot of pages.

JDF Device ID
Check Pressproxy to know the value you have to fill in.

Processing

Plug-in module to load


This is grayed out, you can not change this.

TDF format version


Whenever you use a PressProxy to connect to the Dotrix, you have to select DFE4.1. By default, a
PressProxy is part of the workflow.
If you do not use variable data, it is possible to work without a PressProxy configured:
Select the DFE version on the Dotrix
Fill in the name or ipaddress of the Dotrix in Digital Press Server URL in SpiceLink TP, in stead of a
link to the PressProxy.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 69

3.22

Spice TP configuration Settings

Spice TP does not really do something, it only gives info to other TPs
Processing

Number of trays
The number of trays that the media resource of the Spice TP will show. The maximum amount of trays
is 10.

Buffer each page before imaging


Before start of imaging first write raster data to disk. Refer to Sherpa on page 53.

Print unknown spot colors as Lab


A control to define if ApogeeX should use a default printing color value when a spot color LAB/CMYK
definition is unknown. If this checkbox is not enabled, a job will generate a color undefined error when
a spot color LAB/CMYK definition is unknown.

Process Priority
A taskprocessor runs in a fixed processor priority, you can see this in the windows task manager. Here
you can set the priority higer.

Communication

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 70

Digital Press Server URL


Has to be the same value as Digital Press Server URL in SpiceLink TP

JMF receiving port


This number has to be unique over all output and print TPs. After installation this number is unique, you
do not have to change it. There is 1 exception: if you install more than 1 instance of the same TP, this
number will not be unique anymore and has to be changed manually after installation.

JDF Device ID
Has to be the same value as JDF Device ID in SpiceLink TP

3.23

Press

Type

Type - <Sheet Offset>:


Sheet Offset needs a distance plate to sheet edge value (see later) while Web Offset does not. The
Inkdrive values (see later) will also be different when using Web Offset.

Distance plate to sheet edge (Plate Bend):


This is the part of the plate that will be bend to be held by the plate grippers. This value needs to be filled
in correctly in order to perform Punch Calibration; it can be different for every Press Task Processor.

Plate/Press Media.

Default plate size


Used in situations where the ApogeeX plate size does not satisfy the CIP3 consumer application requirements. Enter the width and height.

Clamp margins
Used in situations where specific offsets are required by the CIP3 consumer application. Enter leading
edge lockdown value, and trailing edge lockdown value.

Press Media
Used in situations where specific sheet size values are required by the CIP3 consumer application. Enter
the width and height.

Position
Paper positioning information is included in the CIP3 file.

Clip Press and Imposition Border Marks - <3mm>


Needed to clip Press and imposition borders at a certain distance from the press sheet edges.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 71

Inkdrive-File.

InkDrive Format - <CIP3/PPF>


CIP3/PPF: The CIP3/PPF format is used if Press configuration>JDF/JMF integration>Press supports
JMF is unchecked.
CIP4/PPF: If Press supports JMF(JDF/JMF integration>Press supports JMF is enabled) then CIP4/
PPF can be selected. In the datastore, the CIP3 (PPF) file is saved. A JMF is sent to the Press controller
to pick up the CIP3 file. See also JMF traffic for jobs on page 110. The JMF Connect license is required
for this option.
CIP4/PNG: If Press supports JMF(JDF/JMF integration>Press supports JMF is enabled) then CIP4/
PNG can be selected. In the datastore, the PNG file is saved. A JMF is sent to the Press controller to pick
up the PNG file. The JMF Connect license is required for this option.

NOTE: When CIP4/PPF or CIP4/ PNG is used, the PPF/PNG file is deleted automatically when the ApogeeX
job is deleted.

Use v3.0 standard - <Unchecked>


If unchecked the v2.1 CIP3 file version is used. This setting depends on which version of CIP3 file the
press controller supports.

Export Directory:
Define a local or UNC path name to a directory that is accessible by the server. This directory serves as
the top-level directory for the files, or file hierarchy to be written. The base directory may contain
variables as well. If a UNC address is used make sure that the directory is nullsession shared.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 72

File name template - <Single file per Separation>:


This option defines how many Ink Key files will be generated per job.
Sheet Offset press:
Single File for All Sheets

All Separations in one PPF file.

Single File per Side

Each PPF file contains all separations of one press sheet


(front and back)

Single File per Sheet

Each PPF file contains all separations of one single side of


a press sheet.

Single File per Separation

Each PPF file contains one single separation.

Web Offset press:


Single File per Signature

Each PPF file contains all separations of all webs of one


single signature.

Single File per Web

Each PPF file contains all separations of one single web of


a signature (front and back).

Single File per Web Side

Each PPFfile contains all separations of a single side from


one single web of a signature.

Single File per Separation

Each PPF file contains one separation.

Save files in directory hierarchy:


Creates a nested directory structure that mimics the result structure (see below). The name of the file is
taken from the last component in the result structure.

Save files in same directory (default):


Saves all files in the same directory. The name of each file is built up from the result structure (see
below).

File name field:


File Name template that will be used to create the Ink Key files. This is automatically specified when
selecting the filename template and choose for Hierarchy/same directory. This field becomes also
editable when you select custom as file name template.

Filename composition sheet offset (Saves all files in the same directory)

File for all sheets

$ORDER_$JOB

File per sheet

$ORDER_$JOB_$SIGNATURE

File per side

$ORDER_$JOB_$SIGNATURE_$SIDE

File per separation

$ORDER_$JOB_$SIGNATURE_$SIDE_$SEPARATION

Filename composition Web offset: (Saves all files in the same directory)
File per signature

$ORDER_$JOB_$SIGNATURE

File per web

$ORDER_$JOB_$SIGNATURE_$WEB

File per web side

$ORDER_$JOB_$SIGNATURE_$WEB_$SIDE

File per separation

$ORDER_$JOB_$SIGNATURE_$WEB_$SIDE_$SEPARATION

The only valid Press Task Processor configuration settings for flows without imposition are:
* Sheet Offset; Single File per Side
* Sheet Offset; Single File per Sheet
* Web Offset; Single File per Web Side
* Web Offset; Single File per Web
* Web Offset; Single File per Signature

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 73

However, there is a possibility that the user will select an InkDrive collation that expects imposition but
then will send a job without imposition. This would be the case if pre-imposed flats were brought into
ApogeeX as pages. In such a case the Press Task Processor will successfully generate the CIP3 files but
the resulting file names or paths will contain strings such as $SIGNATURE, $WEB and/or $SIDE. These
strings could not be replaced in the file name or path since the Impose Task Processor was not part of
the job plan.
For the above InkDrive collations that expect the Impose Task Processor, if no Impose Task Processor is
included in the job plan, the resulting CIP3 files will each contain one page, except in the case of Web
Offset; Single File per Signature, where one CIP3 file will be created which contains all pages.
For example, a pre-imposed job containing four flats would produce four files if Sheet Offset; Single File
per Side were selected:
* 123_PreImposed_$SIGNATURE_$SIDE.ppf
* 123_PreImposed_$SIGNATURE_$SIDE_1.ppf
* 123_PreImposed_$SIGNATURE_$SIDE_2.ppf
* 123_PreImposed_$SIGNATURE_$SIDE_3.ppf

File extension - <PPF>:


The filename extension to be used.

Truncate file names exceeding 31 characters


Truncate filenames if they are longer then 31 characters.

Existing files-<Leave existing file, add sequence number to new file name>
Truncate filenames if they are longer then 31 characters.
Leave existing file, add sequence number to new file name: Add _sequence number to the filename
if the Inkdrive file already exists in the current directory
Replace existing file: if the Inkdrive file already exists in the current directory, overwrite it.

Post-process files with script: Specify the full path to the script you wish to execute. At runtime, the
script is started with two or more arguments. Arguments passed to the script:
- Argument[0]: file path to input inkdrive file. This argument is passed to the script by ApogeeX:
ScriptArgument(0).
- Argument[1]: file path to output inkdrive file (changed by script); overwrite if this file already exists:
ScriptArgument(1).
- Argument[2...]: These arguments can be provided in the optional arguments field in the Script options
field. Separate multiple arguments with spaces. If you need to specify an argument with a space in it,
you must enclose that argument in single or double quotes. You can use ApogeeX variables as
arguments; ApogeeX substitutes each variable before passing it to the script.

Inkdrive-Image.

Resolution - <50>:
Defines the resolution of the Preview image enclosed in the Ink Key file.

Encoding - <No Encoding>:


Defines the encoding technique that is used for the Preview image data.

Compression - <None>:
Defines the compression technique that is used for the Preview image data.

Rotation and Reading - <0,Right>


Describes the orientation and reading of the Preview Image in the Ink Key file.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 74

Inkdrive-Contents.

Include Plate size - <Deselected>


If selected include the CIP3AdmPlateExtent key in the CIP3 file.

Default plate size: This can only be selected if the Plate/Press Media tab's Default plate size entry is nonzero for both width and height. If selected then the plate size defined in the Plate/Press Media tab's
Default plate size entry will be included as the CIP3AdmPlateExtent value.

From Job Ticket if available: If the output device is a CTP device and From Job Ticket if available is
selected then include the media size specified in the job ticket as the CIP3AdmPlateExtent value.
If the output device is a CTF device or the media is roll media then the plate size defined in the Plate/
Press Media tab's Default plate size entry will be included as the CIP3AdmPlateExtent value so long as
the width and height are both nonzero.
If the width and height of the CIP3AdmPlateExtent value are both zero then no CIP3AdmPlateExtent
key will be included in the CIP3 file.

Transverse: Can only be selected when "From Job ticket if available" is selected. If the output device is a
CTP device and Transverse is selected then the width and height values of the media size specified in
the job ticket are reversed. This reversed value will be used for the CIP3AdmPlateExtent value.
If the output device is a CTF device or the media is roll media then the plate size defined in the Plate/
Press Media tab's Default plate size entry will be included as the CIP3AdmPlateExtent value so long as
the width and height are both nonzero. If the width and height of the CIP3AdmPlateExtent value are
both zero then no CIP3AdmPlateExtent key will be included in the CIP3 file.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 75

Default press media size: Can only be selected if the Plate/Press Media tab's Default press media size
entry is non-zero for both width and height. If selected then the press media size defined in the Plate/
Press Media tab's Default press media size entry will be included as the CIP3AdmPaperExtent value.

Press media position: This can only be selected if "Default press media size" is selected. If selected then
the position value determined by the Plate/Press Media tab's Press Media Position entry will be included
as the CIP3AdmPaperTrf value.

CIP3/4 entries written in the CIP3 header can be overwritten with another value
Override CIP3AdmJobName
Override CIP3AdmJobCode
Override CIP3AdmSheetName by e.g. $JDF_SHEET
Override CIP3AdmSeparationNames e by e.g. $JDF_SEPARATION

Set CIP3 sheet sides


According to imposition used: the entry CIP3BeginFront is written in the CIP3 files for the front sides,
the entry CIP3BeginBack is written in the CIP3 files for the back sides of the template.
To all Fronts: CIP3BeginFront is written in each CIP3 file.
To all Backs: CIP3BeginBack is written in each CIP3 file.

JDF/JMF.

Device ID: In a JDF the Device ID is described for selection of the correct press.

Notify press at
Select this checkbox and enter the URL of the press controller. JMFs with ResourceCommands on
previews/plates are forwarded to the press controller. This way the press controller gets the URL to the
inkdrive files. JDF/JMF tab for generic press is in parameterset. Applies to new jobs only.
Notify press with JMF can also be enabled by JMF query (inside the JMF node in the job JDF).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 76

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF

X 1 ....JDFServer Configuration ........................................................................................................................................ 78


Z 1.1........ Job Administration .................................................................................................................... 78
Z 1.2........ Planless Submission ................................................................................................................. 79
Z 1.3........ Product integration ................................................................................................................... 82
Z 1.4........ Debug ............................................................................................................................................. 93
X 2 ....Stripping Configuration ......................................................................................................................................... 94
Z 2.1........ Sheet Margins ............................................................................................................................. 95
Z 2.2........ RelativeBox Positioning .......................................................................................................... 96
Z 2.3........ Pages .............................................................................................................................................. 98
Z 2.4........ Finishing ...................................................................................................................................... 100
X 3 ....Stripping marks ...................................................................................................................................................... 101
Z 3.1........ Imposition Borders .................................................................................................................. 101
Z 3.2........ Device Borders .......................................................................................................................... 103
Z 3.3........ Press Borders ............................................................................................................................. 103
X 4 ....JDF/JMF problem solving ................................................................................................................................... 104
Z 4.1........ Test if JDF Server is running properly .............................................................................. 104
Z 4.2........ Restart JDFServer ..................................................................................................................... 104
Z 4.3........ Restart Tomcat Webserver ................................................................................................... 104
Z 4.4........ JDF/JMF error handling in ApogeeX ................................................................................ 105
Z 4.5........ Test if customer JDF is conform to Spec ......................................................................... 105
Z 4.6........ Extract JDFs from Mime files ............................................................................................. 105
Z 4.7........ PDFs cannot be retreived by JDFServer ......................................................................... 106
Z 4.8........ Http communication with JMF Webserver ..................................................................... 106
Z 4.9........ Test sending a JDF/JMF to JMFWebserver .................................................................... 108
Z 4.10..... JMF traffic for jobs ................................................................................................................... 110
Z 4.11..... ResourceGet JMFs dont contain correct URL .............................................................. 118
Z 4.12..... JDF variables used for CIP3 files ........................................................................................ 119
Z 4.13..... Select the correct Device ID in a JDF. ............................................................................. 120
Z 4.14..... Clear all subscriptions ............................................................................................................ 120
Z 4.15..... No dynamic update of KnowDevices response ............................................................ 121
Z 4.16..... Remap Generic MIS spot color names ............................................................................ 122
X

ab

JDF - JDFServer Configuration - Page 78

JDFServer Configuration

Select your :ApogeeX system in the hardware pane and double-click on the JDFServer resource in the resource
pane.
NOTE: If you dont see the JDFServer resource, it might be because the JDFServer is not installed on the ApogeeX
Server (to check if JDFServer component is installed: look if the component exists in the ApogeeX Console.) or you
dont have any JDF license.

1.1

Job Administration

NOTE: Setup JobName or OrderNumber in ApogeeX 4.0 needs to be done in the Product Integration tab.

Extract into jobs remarks: Job.Comments - <Checked>: The job comments entry inside the JDF will
automatically be placed in the ApogeeX Job Administration tab > remarks field.

Extract into jobs remarks: JobPart.Comments - <Checked>: The job part comments entry inside the
JDF will automatically be placed in the remarks field of the job in ApogeeX.

Extract into jobs remarks: Instructions - <Checked>: The Instructions entry inside the JDF will
automatically be placed in the remarks field of the job in ApogeeX.
JDF Job.Comments example:
<Comment Name="A comment visible in the Remarks field in Apogee."></Comment>

Extract into jobs remarks: Others - <Checked> The AgentName and Delano Project ID entries inside
the JDF will automatically be placed in the remarks field of the job in ApogeeX.

Insert section titles - <Checked>: Show the titles Job.comments, Jobpart.comments and Instructions
in the Remarks field in ApogeeX when this info is extracted from the JDF.

Milestones: Notification xx hours before time scheduled by MIS

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDFServer Configuration - Page 79

1.2

Planless Submission

1.2.1

What is planless submission

We talk about planless submission in 2 cases:

If a JDF hotticket contains only a JDF import task processor in the plan.

If the JDF/JMF is sent via the Tomcat WebServer.

There are 2 planless Submission modes for production plan creation: Use ticket template or Create
dynamic.

1.2.2

Production plan creation > Use ticket template:

Select a predefined hotticket from the hotticket ticket templates. The production plan of that hotticket will
be used for creation of jobs.

From Category: Select the Hot ticket template category that contains all the hotticket templates to be
used for Planless submission.

Default template: template to be used if JDF JobPart contains a prepress node but no gray boxes

Main flow only: Template to be used if JDF JobPart only contains gray boxes for the main flow
(PrePressPreparation, ImpositionPreparation, Imposition RIPing ImageSetting,...).

With page proofing: Template to be used if JDF JobPart contains gray box for main flow and
PageProofing.

With imposition proofing: Template to be used if JDF JobPart contains gray box for main flow and
Imposition Proofing.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDFServer Configuration - Page 80

With page and imposition proofing: Template to be used if JDF JobPart contains gray box for main flow,
ImpositionProofing and Page Proofing.

Intent jobs: Template to be used if JDF JobPart contains only intent resources and no prepress node (e.g.
Acrobat JDF).

1.2.3

Production plan creation > Build Dynamically:

ApogeeX will check the incoming JDF for processes/grayboxes. With this information the production plan
for the jobs is dynamically created.

Default publication type - <Commercial>: Sets the type of job to Commercial or Packaging.

Default Output Device: If High resolution output is requested (FinalImaging graybox) in the JDF and
no specific device is chosen in the JDF, this High resolution output device will be used.

Default Imposition Proofer: If imposition proofing is requested in the JDF and no specific device is
chosen in the JDF, this proofer will be used.

Proofer Data By: Use a separate render or a DFP to process imposition proofs.

Default page proofer: If page proofing is requested in the JDF and no specific device is chosen in the JDF,
this proofer will be used.

Default Press: This press will be used with dynamic production plan creation if no specific device is
chosen in the JDF .

Rendering: use PDFRender/Render

Put Job on Hold: You can have ApogeeX put the job on hold the moment it is created. This allows you to
inspect and if needed edit the job before it executes.

Document processing > Normalize: When selected this forces to place a Normalizer in the plan IF the
incoming JDF contains a PrePressPreparation graybox. Select also the parameterset to be used.

Document processing > Preflight: When selected this forces to place a Preflight TP in the plan IF the
incoming JDF contains a PrePressPreparation graybox. Select also the parameterset to be used.

Document processing > PDFReady: Leave this setting unchecked if PDFRender is used. Also uncheck
this setting in the default JDFImport parameterset. When selected this forces to place a PDFReady in the
plan IF the incoming JDF contains a PrePressPreparation graybox. Select also the parameterset to be
used.

NOTE: There is no selection possible for the JDFImport Parameterset. The settings will be taken from the
JDFImport Default Parameterset.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDFServer Configuration - Page 81

Action points:
You need to specify where to place actions. In most JDFs, action points are not defined. For each job that is
build dynamically these action points will be placed automatically.

ApogeeX 3.5 SP1/4.0 also offers JDF control of Action points. This means inside the JDF private Agfa tags
can be described. JDF jobs from hot ticket templates are not adapted.
You must first declare the private tag in the JDF top node

The private tag looks like this:

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDFServer Configuration - Page 82

Type: archiveresult/hardcopyproof/keepresult/prooffilter_none/softproof/webapproval (Discard on


proofingflow) /prooffilter_all (Discard on proofingflow)

Location: flatten/hotfolder/image/output/impose/normalize/preflight/render/runlist/versioning/
screen2 (=Digital film proof)/stepandrepeat/rasterimpose.
webapproval, softproof, hardcopyproof, prooffilter_none and prooffilter_all will be added before the
specified location. archiveresult and keepresult will be added on the specified location.

Flow: All/MainOutput/ImpositionProof/PageProof/Proof. Exceptions: Prooffilter is only applied to the


proofing flows, other actions are only added to the main flow if flow is not specified in the agfa:actions
private tag.

1.3

Product integration

1.3.1

JDF Variable mapping

A JDF variable map is a collection of ApogeeX variables ($JDF_JOBNAME, $JDF_ORDERNUMBER) that


are assigned to attributes inside a JDF. The assignement to attributes inside a JDF is made using XPaths.
XPath is a language for locating attributes in XML documents.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDFServer Configuration - Page 83

To create/Edit/view the available variable maps, Click the Edit maps button (System Overview > ApogeeX
System > JDF Server > Configuration >Product Integration tab). This opens the JDF Variable maps
overview window.
There are 4 default installed variable maps:

Generic LayCrImp Jobs: Can be used for simple administrative JDFs.

Generic MIS and Intent Jobs: Can be used for most MIS JDFs, Export Task Processor JDFs.

PrePressNode.DescriptiveName: Older MIS JDFs.

ProductNode.DescriptiveName: Can be used for most MIS JDFs, Export Task Processor JDFs.

JDF Server looks first inside an incoming JDF for the attribute JDF AgentName. JDF Server will search in
the JDF Variable maps list for a variable map that matches this JDF AgentName.

There is also a fallback variable map (=Base Variable map) that is used for jdf jobs if no JDF Variable map
is found that matches the JDF AgentName. A Base Variable map is selected in the product integration tab
of the JDF Server configuration.

NOTE: Variable maps can only be selected as Base Variable map if they have no JDF Agent Name assigned.
Edit a map or create a new map in the JDF Variable maps list.
Enter the name for the variable map. Enter a JDF AgentName. When a JDF contains this JDF AgentName,
this variable map will be used.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDFServer Configuration - Page 84

NOTE: A variable map with no JDF AgentName can only be used if this map is set as Base Variable Map and
if no other matching variable map is found (with matching JDF AgentName).
In a variable map you can assign 5 variables to JDF elements: JDF_JOBNAME, JDF_JOBDESCRIPTION,
JDF_ORDERDESCRIPTION, JDF_ORDERNUMBER, JDF_OPERATOR.
JDF_OPERATOR and JDF_ORDERDESCRIPTION cannot be used in ApogeeX 4.0.
Edit or add variables to the variable map.

Xpath: @DescriptiveName stands for the element DescriptiveName in the current node. Other
examples are @JobPartID, @JobID,...
Or enter a complete path to the element: /JDF/CustomerInfo@CustomerID

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDFServer Configuration - Page 85

special characters can be used in an XPath:


/ = root node
// = any node
* = wild card
@ = attribute
[] = restriction e.g. [@Category=FinalImaging]
() = more details search e.g. [contains(@Category=FinalImaging)]

Relative to: The JDF node from which the XPath starts. Can be:
Root: The XPath is absolute, i.e. starting from the very top level node in the JDF.
Product node: The XPath starts from within the Product node.
Worker node: The XPath starts from within a Worker node. Actually, there is no such thing as a worker
node in JDF. ApogeeX uses it as a moniker for the actual low-level node where the processing occurs
(platesetting, imaging, digital delivery, . . . ).
Prepress node: The XPath starts from within a Worker node and searches upwards for the first node
with Type = ProcessGroup and Category = PrePress. The ApogeeX variable remains empty if ApogeeX
finds no such node.

To variable: The name of the ApogeeX variable that will receive the contents of the JDF variable. Must
be unique in a single Variable Map.

1.3.2

Approval WebServer

Used for Delano WebApproval

1.3.3

Run script on input

Select Run script on output to enable the preprocessor. Specify the full path to the script you wish to
execute. At runtime, the script is started with two or more arguments. Arguments passed to the script:

Argument[0]: file path to input JDF. This argument is passed to the script by ApogeeX:
ScriptArgument(0).

Argument[1]: file path to output JDF (changed by script); overwrite if this file already exists:
ScriptArgument(1).

Argument[2...]: These arguments can be provided in the optional arguments field in the JDF server
configuration > MIS integration tab. Separate multiple arguments with spaces. If you need to specify an
argument with a space in it, you must enclose that argument in single or double quotes. You can use
ApogeeX variables as arguments; The JDF Input task processor/JDFServer substitutes each variable

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDFServer Configuration - Page 86

before passing it to the script. To avoid problems with spaces, the JDF Input task processor encloses each
substituted string in double quotes.
NOTE: $DOCUMENT can be used in the JDFImport TP as optional argument, but is irrelevant as
argument[0] is already the filename. $DOCUMENT is useless as optional argument in the global
configuration MIS-integration script, because you get a temporary filename.
The JDF Import task processor waits for the script to complete before it proceeds processing the file. The
return status of the script directs the action of the JDF Input task processor:

0: All is well. The processed file is available at the expected location. vbscript example: wscript.quit (0)

1: No changes. The script didnt modify the input file, and therefore the JDF Input task processor can
proceed with the original file. vbscript example: wscript.quit (1)

2: Something is wrong. The script has not written an output file, and the JDF Input task processor should
pick up the original input file and create a job with an error status. vbscript example: wscript.quit (2)

NOTE: It is recommended that scripts are XML aware to avoid damaging foreign characters and structures.
The following example script searches for the Family name of the contact person and changes the value to
Fam_Name.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDFServer Configuration - Page 87

NOTE: Sample script (\JDF_JMF Tools\universalScript.vbs) can be found in the ApogeeX script collection
for ApogeeX 4.0, which is published on the Services library.
Script has access to console or tracing window: if enabled, tracing from the pre-processing script (e.g.
wscript.echo in vbscript) will be visualized in the JDF Server tracing window.

1.3.4

Content files

The Remove content files on external file servers option controls whether ApogeeX removes externally
referenced content files. This option only applies to files located on a disk that is not being watched by a Hot
Folder or to files located in a Public Page Store. It does not apply to files located on a web server or to files
in a Hot Folder; files in a Hot Folder are always removed when they are moved into a job. Files referenced
by other methods are never removed.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDFServer Configuration - Page 88

1.3.5

Extract thumbnails from PDF

Select this to extract the thumbnails from the PDF file. ApogeeX will then use these extracted thumbnails
for viewing. Switch it off if you want no thumbnails, or if you want to have the Normalizer create them.

1.3.6

ApogeeX WebServer

Enter the TCPIP port used by the Apache Tomcat WebServer (See also Check the port on which JMF
webserver is listening on page 106).

1.3.7

Output Accounting

Many sites track of the number of plates/Proofs that are being made, both for keeping the stock inventory
up to date and to perform post-calculations. When requested, ApogeeX reports the making (or remaking)
plates/Proofs to an MIS and/or to the Press Controller. ApogeeX sends a JMF to MIS and to the Press
Controller each time a proof/plate/Inkdrive file is output.

Although this fulfils the requirement for keeping the inventory up to date, it is not enough for post-calculations. One has to know who needs to pay for the making of a plate; pre-press, plate-making, the press-room
or the print-buyer.
ApogeeX presents a choise to the client operator to decide who needs to pay when the following conditions
are met:
1. The job originates from a JDF job, either received by a JDF Import hot ticket or directly from JMF, JDF
job contains JMF resource query nodes.
2. You have selected the Report when output is made option. ApogeeX does not track plate remakes in
any other condition.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDFServer Configuration - Page 89

When above conditions are true, the client user gets in a few conditions the pop-up to choose if a plate/
proof re-make needs to be paid by whom.
The user gets a pup-up when:

Re-image a result from the results tab

Re-render and re-image a result from the results tab

edit a job that causes results to be re-imaged.

reprocess job that causes a job to be re-imaged

When output accounting is enabled, in all resource JMFs going to MIS and press controller an MIS node
is included.

The Cost accounting Reasons can be configured in the JDF Server Configuration: in the MIS Integration tab,
select the Edit Cost Types button. You can add/remove/edit reasons. To make it easy for the customer keep
a limited list.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDFServer Configuration - Page 90

Reason text: a textual short description of the reason for the remake. This is what the operator will see.
Cannot be empty, and must be unique.

Cost type: whether the remake has to be charged to the customer or not. Corresponds with the CostType
parameter of the MISDetails in JDF.

Work Type: Original=first output of a plate (included in the order). Alteration=remake because
content has changed. Rework=remake of the original plate (no changes in content, processing) (e.g.
scratched plate)

NOTE: If no pop-up is given by ApogeeX (e.g. if an automatic re-image of plates is done because of an update
by JDF) the reason will be Chargeable original

NOTE: If a signature is output the first time to platesetter, no popup is shown to decide who needs to pay the
costs. the worktype in this case automatically set to Chargeable Original.

When the output device is PrintDrive, the pop-up is not given in ApogeeX. The popup is given when actual
output is done on the PrintDrive. When actual output is done on the Apogee S3 PrintDrive system, PrintDrive gives the command to ApogeeX JDF Server to send a resource signal JMF to MIS and Press.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDFServer Configuration - Page 91

NOTE: Cost and work types in PrintDrive cannot be configured.

NOTE: JMF files are never sent for proofs or inkdrive files made on the PrintDrive.
Cost accounting using PrintDrive can be used if:

Cost accounting checkbox in ApogeeX JDF Server configuration is enabled

update F SP1.e or later is loaded on the PrintDrive.

Disable cost type prompts during remakes on PrintDrive in the PrintDrive properties> preferences tab
is unchecked.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDFServer Configuration - Page 92

1.3.8

Job finishing events

The Job Finishing Events section deals with events that get exchanged between ApogeeX and the MIS when
a job nears its end of life. It defines the triggers that cause ApogeeX to archive and delete a job. It defines
when ApogeeX must report that a job is finished.

Report ReturnQueueEntry when: Determines when ApogeeX sends the ReturnQueueryEntry (RQE)
event, signalling the MIS that it has completed the job.

Archive/Delete when: Select when to start the archival/Deletion process.


Honor jobs Finish options: ApogeeX archives or deletes the job according to the respective options set
in the jobs Option tab.
When MIS sends ...Completed: ApogeeX archives or deletes the job upon receiving a specified Milestone
event: PrePressCompleted, PressCompleted, PostPressCompleted, ShippingCompleted or
JobCompletedSuccessfully.

NOTE: If archive and delete are set the same, ApogeeX will first archive and then delete the job. If Honor
jobs Finish options is set and mark for archive/Delete is not enabled in the options tab, the job will not be
archived/deleted. If the Signal from MIS didnt arive yet to archive the job and the signal to delete the job
arives in ApogeeX, the job will be deleted without being archived.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDFServer Configuration - Page 93

1.4

Debug

JMF Support: Uncheck if JMF is not used to avoid overhead

Save Debug files: enter a location for debug files. These files are JDF and JMFs that are imported/
exported/intermediate results from the ApogeeX System. Only enable this setting at a customer if you
want to troubleshoot, this will generate lots of files that are not cleaned up automatically.

Only save incoming JDF files: limit the amount of files that are written in the debug folder.

NOTE: You can also limit the amount of files in the debug folder by scheduling the script:
Clean_debugfolder.vbs from the ApogeeX Script Collection for 4.0.

Hostname for URLs: Default: leave empty. AX will use server name if multiple NIC and IP if single NIC.
Enter server IP address IF Other side cannot resolve dns name of server / running in a DMZ that adapts
IP address.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - Stripping Configuration - Page 94

Stripping Configuration

Go to the system overview


Select the ApogeeX system, this is the ")X" logo, top left of the system overview
Open the JDF Stripping configuration resource from the resource pane (bottom of system overview), this configuration resource is only visible if the Auto-strip license is loaded.

Select Settings tab, the following Stripping values are used if not set in the JDF:

Figure 2.1

Stripping sheet

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - Stripping Configuration - Page 95

2.1

Sheet Margins

See A1-A4 on Stripping sheet on page 94. The sheet margins from the Stripping configuration are used if
these Sheet margins are not defined in the JDF (Private tags).

Fixed sheet margins: The margin values from the JDF Stripping configuration will be used.

Sheet margins From file: Sheet margins are taken from PressCatalog file.

Agfa Private tags can be used in the JDF to describe the Sheet margins:

agfa:LeftSheetMargin (A1)

agfa:BottomSheetMargin (A2)

agfa:RightSheetMargin (A3)

agfa:TopSheetMargin (A4)

NOTE: Sheet margins are always applied, it doesnt matter if the JDF contains Relative Box positioning or
not.

Always put lowest page on front: If checked: forces the first page of the job to be placed on the front side
of a sheet. If unchecked: The lowest page goes to the side as specified by the FoldCatlog.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - Stripping Configuration - Page 96

2.2

RelativeBox Positioning

Gaps: See B1-B6 on Stripping sheet on page 94.

Only when the JDF Contains no relativeBox positioning: The Gaps settings from JDF Stripping are used
if relative box positioning is not specified in the JDF.

- left edge gap = auto


- horizontal between gap = auto
- right edge gap = auto
=> all gaps are identical

- left edge gap = auto


- horizontal between gap = 0
- right edge gap = auto

Always: The Gaps settings are used if Position relative box is not specified in JDF. If Position relative box
is specified in the JDF, the Position relative box settings from JDF will be used to roughly place the
relative boxes on the sheet. Exact position will be determined by the Horizontal and Vertical Gaps
settings in the Stripping Configuration resource.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - Stripping Configuration - Page 97

Relativebox positioning settings from JDF:


A relative box describes in detail the placement of a Foldcatalog on the sheet. The relativebox positioning
contains the following settings:

RelativeBox (R1 and R2)

MarginLeft (M1)

MarginBottom (M2)

MarginRight

MarginTop

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - Stripping Configuration - Page 98

2.3

Pages

2.3.1

Bleed and Trim

Is normaly described in JDF:


<StripCellParams BleedSpine="C1" BleedFoot=C2" BleedFace=C3" BleedHead=C4" Spine="C5"
TrimFoot="C6" TrimFace=C7" TrimHead="C8" />

If not described in JDF, the values from the JDF Stripping configuration will be used. See C1-C8 on Stripping sheet on page 94. You can also overrule bleed and trim from JDF by checking the "Bleed" or the "Trim"
checkbox.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - Stripping Configuration - Page 99

2.3.2

Shingling

Shingling: These settings are only available in ApogeeX 3.5 SP1/4.0.


These settings can be decribed inside the JDF:
<Assembly ID="ASM_0000" Class="Parameter" Status="Available" Order="Gathering" BindingSide="Left"
agfa:shingling="true"
agfa:innershingling="1.0"
agfa:outershingling="0.0"
agfa:foldfactor="1.2" />

Agfa Tag

Allowed values

Explanation

agfa:shingling

true/false

If set to true: Enables shingling for this


assembly

agfa:innershingling

0.0 1.0. The sum of innershingling +


outershingling should be 1.0.

a factor that specifies how much of the


calculated shingling should be applied to
the inner pages.

agfa:outershingling

0.0 1.0

a factor that specifies how much of the


calculated shingling should be applied to
the outer pages

agfa:foldfactor

0.0 ...10.0

a factor that specifies how much extra


creep is introduced during folding (additional to paper thickness. The shingling is
multiplied with the foldfactor, if foldfactor = 1 then normal shingling is applied.

If shingling Agfa tags are not described in JDF, the values from the JDF Stripping configuration will be used.

Shingle pages checkbox: Enables shingling

Shingle pages (S1): Inner = agfa:innershingling 1.0; Outer = agfa:outershingling 1.0; Inner and Outer
= agfa:innershingling 0.5 and agfa:outershingling 0.5

Dont shingle if number of pages is less then (S2): Disable shingling for jobs with little amount of pages.

Paper Thickness (S3): If paper Thickness is specified in the JDF, this value will be taken from the JDF. If
not found in the JDF the value will be taken from the stripping configuration. The higher the value the
more shingling is applied.

Paper Stiffness Factor (S4)=agfa:foldfactor

NOTE: You can also overrule Shingling from JDF by checking the "Overrule JDF for Shingling" checkbox.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - Stripping Configuration - Page 100

2.4

Finishing

Extra: Is normaly described in JDF:


<StripCellParams FrontOverfold="D1" BackOverfold="D1" MillingDepth="D2" />

If not described in JDF, the values from the JDF Stripping configuration will be used. See D1-D2 on Stripping sheet on page 94.You can also overrule Overfold and Millingdepth from JDF by checking the "Extra"
checkbox.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - Stripping marks - Page 101

Stripping marks

Stripping does not specify the marks to be placed (cropmarks, foldmarks, colorbar,...). The placement of the
marks needs to be done by ApogeeX. In ApogeeX 3.5/4.0 there are 3 types of borders that can be placed: Imposition, Device and Press borders. You must use a regular Press in the plan, not a Generic Press when working with
stripping jobs.

3.1

Imposition Borders

ApogeeX allows to create specific Imposition borders when using the Stripping feature (crop marks, fold
marks and collation marks for example). Open the Imposition borders resource to view the default installed
Stripping Imposition Border. The Stripping Imposition Border includes the placement of crop and fold
marks. crop and foldmarks are positioned in relation to the pages.

Marks in an imposition border can be placed relative to pages (crop and fold marks, text/file marks) or
relative to the Press sheet (text and file marks).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - Stripping marks - Page 102

The selection of the imposition border can be done in the Imposition Parameter Set. In the Impose parameterset select Imposition selection from input. The Imposition Borders parameter is only shown when the
AutoStrip (Stripping) license is available.
NOTE: Imposition borders can only be used for stripping jobs.

Imposition Border marks outside the press sheet are clipped if Clip Press and Imposition border marks is
enabled in the Press configuration - Plate/Press Media. If this setting is not enabled, marks that are placed
(partially) outside the press sheet will print on the blanket. Marks that need to be placed outside the Press
sheet should be used in the Device Border.

The border can also be selected by adding a private tag inside the JDF. The agfa ParamControl element
should be in the PlateMaking gray box node:
<agfa:ParamControl
ID=xx
OperationID="impose"
Value="short crop and fold marks"/>

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Parameter="impose_strippingBorder"

JDF - Stripping marks - Page 103

3.2

Device Borders

ApogeeX allows to create specific Device borders (Digiwedge mark, Registration marks and side guides for
example). Open the Device borders resource to view the Stripping Device Border. The selection of the
Device border can be done in the Device Parameter Set. The Device Border is not linked to any ApogeeX
license (Device Borders are already available in previous ApogeeX versions). Device Border marks are
never clipped when they are placed outside the Press sheet.

3.3

Press Borders

ApogeeX allows to create specific Press borders (a color bar for example). Open the Press borders resource
to view the Stripping Press Border. The selection of the Press border can be done in the Press Parameter Set.
The Press Border is not linked to any ApogeeX license.

NOTE: The Press Border functionality is not available for Generic Presses.
The color bar on the plate must fit within the width of the press sheet which requires a Press border for each
plate size. An alternative solution is to create a color bar that fits on the largest plate size and clip the color
bar to the used Press Sheet size. Enable Clip Press and Imposition border marks In the Press configuration
resource - Plate/Press media tab.
The border can also be selected by adding a private tag inside the JDF. The agfa ParamControl element
should be in the PlateMaking gray box node:
<agfa:ParamControl ID=xy OperationID="print" Parameter="BorderDisplayName" Value="R700
Perfecting Border"/>

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 104

JDF/JMF problem solving


4.1

Test if JDF Server is running properly

Verify if the JDFServer is installed and running: Servicetool>Core Server>Monitor > Components>JDFServer should be online and ready.

On the ApogeeX Server verify if JDFServer and/or JDFServer options are licensed.
Licenses:
1. JDF_Import: Needed to import customer and job information. (part of JDF Basic or JDF Connect
license on the ELMS)
2. JDF_Layout: Needed to process JDF layouts.(part of JDF Connect license on the ELMS)
3. JDF_JMF: needed to work with JMF. (part of JMF Connect license on the ELMS)
4. JDF_Param_Conversion: process dynamical jobs, overwriting parameters, use JDFServer configuration>milestones, Use scripting in JDFServer/JDF Import TP. (part of JDF Connect license on the ELMS)
5. STRIPPING: Part of the Autostrip licence on the ELMS. Needed to perform stripping.

To test the JDF Server if it is working: browse to \\ApogeeXServer\ApogeeXSupportFiles\JDFSupport\Samples\Admin_MIS\. Submit the hotticket Sample_Admin_MIS.aht and drop
Sample_Admin_MIS.jdf into the JDF import channel. If this works, also try a customers JDF. See if a
job is created in ApogeeX. If this doesnt work, enable JDFServer tracing, send job again and look in the
tracing. JDF Tracing is shown on the ApogeeX server in the tracing window of the FW_JDFServer.

4.2

Restart JDFServer

Open Service Tool


f) Launcher
a) List/Select Launchers>DefaultLauncher
b) List/Select Components>JDFServer
e) restart
If JDFServer cannot startup, verify the FW_JDFServer tracing window on the ApogeeX Server.
NOTE: If you work with WebApproval and the JDFServer is restarted, you must restart the ApogeeX client.

4.3

Restart Tomcat Webserver

Context click the Tomcat WebServer icon, select Shutdown: Tomcat5

START>Programs>Apache Tomcat 5.0>Start Tomcat

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 105

4.4

JDF/JMF error handling in ApogeeX

JDF input via JDFImport

If job creation completely fails the hotticket gives a warning icon with e.g. message: job creation fails.
No job will be created.

If job creation succeeds and there is another error: job is created with warning/error message.

JDF input via HTTP

If job creation completely fails nothing is shown in ApogeeX. A JMF is sent back to MIS with the error
message: e.g.: job creation fails. Reason...

If job creation succeeds and there is another error: job is created with error message.

NOTE: If the error/warning is not clear enough, verify the FW_JDFServer tracing.

4.5

Test if customer JDF is conform to Spec

Browse in Internet Explorer to www.cip4.org

Select Technical Resources > Check JDF Server

Select the JDF you want to check, press Run CheckJDF

NOTE: Small changes to the incoming JDF in ApogeeX can be done with a pre-processing script. For more
info refer to Product integration on page 82.

4.6

Extract JDFs from Mime files

MimeExtractor (\ApogeeXSupportFiles\SampleFiles\JDFSupport\JDF Tools\) is a tool that extracts JDF,


JMF and PDF files from a mime archive.
NOTE: To run MimeExtractor.exe you need to have Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 runtime. You
can download the Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package (x86) from
www.microsoft.com. (10 minutes install time)

Open mime extractor.exe and drop the mime file on that window.

An analysis/verification is logged.

A separate folder is created next to the mime file with the extracted PDF, JMF, JDF

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 106

4.7

PDFs cannot be retreived by JDFServer

Windows 2003 allows the Server name to have a "hyphen" in the name. This causes a problem for JDF input.
when a JDF is looking for some PDFs, it cannot not find them because of the Hyphen. Error Cannot find "/
//Tech-Xserver/JDFimportroot/job1" As soon as you change the Server name to not have a hyphen in it,
the JDFs/PDFs processed correctly

4.8

Http communication with JMF Webserver

4.8.1

How http communication between MIS and ApogeeX works

In order to sent JMF/JDF Data through http to ApogeeX, a webserver needs to be installed on the
ApogeeX Server. The JMF WebServer is an Apache Tomcat WebServer, the JMF WebServer automaticaly starts after startup of the computer.

MIS Agent sends a query to the JMF WebServer ( to http://ApogeeXServerhostname:port/AXJMF/)

JMFWebServer forwards the query to ApogeeX.

ApogeeX sends back a signal to MIS.

NOTE: Installation WebServer: refer to the ApogeeX Installation Guide.

4.8.2

Check the port on which JMF webserver is listening

Context click the Tomcat WebServer icon, select Open Console Monitor

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 107

Browse to the top of the Console monitor. The second line shows the port. If this line is not visible, you
can restart the Tomcat WebServer (see Restart Tomcat Webserver on page 104) and check again.

4.8.3

Test http communication between MIS and ApogeeX

Whenever a problem appears sending JMFs to ApogeeX, do the following tests:

See if Tomcat WebServer is started: On the ApogeeX Server start Internet Explorer. Enter the address:
http://ApogeeXServerhostname:port/AXJMF/
Or if port used by Tomcat is 80:
http://ApogeeXServerhostname/AXJMF/
Press enter, you should get a window:

NOTE: If you dont get the response from AXJMF as shown in the screenshot, you could have made a typo
(wrong port number/wrong tcpip address/wrong hostname/port is in use by other application on the PC
(e.g. IIS)/Tomcat is not started/you forgot the ending slash in the URL/AXJMF should be in Uppercase...

If Apache Tomcat is not started, on the ApogeeX Server, select START>Programs>Apache Tomact
5.0>Start Tomcat. You should see an Apache Tomcat icon next to the SQLServer icon (right side of the
windows taskbar).

Double click the Apache Tomcat icon if you want to see Tomcat Server Console. The Console window
also shows which port Tomcat is using.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 108

Tomcat also writes a log file: \Program Files\Apache Software foundation\TomCat\Logs\stdout.log

If possible also test the connection with Internet explorer from the MIS Application PC.

4.9

Test sending a JDF/JMF to JMFWebserver

The \\ApogeeXServer\SupportFiles\JDFSupport\JMF\JMF Tools folder contains 3 applications to send


JDF/JMF to the JMF webserver: vbHTTPPoster, JMF Send_Receive and XMLSender.

4.9.1

Send a JDF and JMF with vbHTTPPoster

Browse to \\ApogeeXServer\ApogeeXSupportFiles\JDFSupport\JMF\JMF Tools\vbHTTPPoster\

Copy this folder locally if not working on the ApogeeX Server.

Edit DefineServer.txt and replace http://localhost/AXJMF/ with http://IPaddress:port/AXJMF/.

Double click the file: vbHTTPPost_TestJob.bat. This bat file sends the jdf TestJob.jdf to the ApogeeX
Server.
If another JDF needs to be send: Copy the JDF in the vbHTTPPoster folder, edit
vbHTTPPost_TestJob.bat with a text editor, replace testjob.jdf by the name of the new JDF.
To send another JDF/JMF/mime, you can also use vbHTTPPoster.vbs: simply drop the JDF/JMF/
mime on the vbHTTPPoster.vbs file.

A new job should be available on the ApogeeX Server. If no job appears, look at the Tomcat Console. If
the Tomcat console shows that the job is forwarded to ApogeeX, look at the ApogeeX FW_JDFServer
tracing.

If you get a message : Error while connecting, there is something wrong with the connection: wrong
port/wrong tcpip address/wrong hostname/port is blocked on ApogeeX/port is blocked by firewall/
port is blocked on the pc where you run the tool/Tomcat is not started/JDFServer not started/...

To send a JMF to ApogeeX, double click the file: vbHTTPPost_TestMessage.bat. This BAT file sends
the JMF TestMessage.jmf to the ApogeeX Server. You will get a response from the ApogeeX Server with
a list of the known devices. If the response does not contain any Device info, it gives only about 2 lines
text: Check if you have the JDF_JMF license. If you have the license, also check if System
Overview>JDFServer Configuration>Debug>JMF Support is enabled.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 109

4.9.2

JMF Send_Receive.exe

Testtool that can be used to send JDF/JMFs to ApogeeX (not for mime files). A synchronic response from
the ApogeeX Server is also shown with this Application.
NOTE: To run JMF Send_Receive.exe you need to have Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 runtime. You
can download the Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package (x86) from
www.microsoft.com. (10 minutes install time)

Start the application


\\ApogeeXServer\ApogeeXSupportFiles\JDFSupport\JMF\JMF Tools\JMF Send_Receive

In the send to field enter http://ApogeeXServerhostname/AXJMF/ if port 80 is used by Tomcat. If


another port is used, enter http://ApogeeXServerhostname:port/AXJMF/

In the JMF field browse to


ApogeeXSupportFiles\JDFSupport\JMF\JMF Tools\HTTPPoster30\TestJob.jdf

Press send to send the JDF to ApogeeX.

On the ApogeeX Server open the Tomcat Console (double click the Tomcat icon.) A message should be
shown: Accepted request. Forwarding to ApogeeX.

If the job doesnt appear in ApogeeX, look at the Tomcat Console. If the Tomcat console shows that the
job is forwarded to ApogeeX, look at the ApogeeX FW_JDFServer tracing.

To send a JMF to ApogeeX, select the file: ...\JDFSupport\JMF\JMF Tools\HTTPPoster30\JMF


TestMessage.jmf. You will get a brief response from the ApogeeX Server with a list of the known
devices. If the response does not contain any Device info, you only get a few lines text: Check if you have
the JDF_JMF license. If you have the license, also check if System Overview>JDFServer Configuration>Debug>JMF Support is enabled.

4.9.3

XMLSender

XMLSender.htm is an equivalent of the JMFSendReceive tool and allows to select a job and submit it to a
specified URL. XMLSender.vbs is a vbscript that allows to send a few predefined commands or you can drop
a job on it. Need to edit the file first to adjust the URL! Make sure to copy this tool first locally before using it.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 110

4.10

JMF traffic for jobs

The drawing above shows the JMFs that are sent to/from ApogeeX/to press when a job is processed.
NOTE: Enable the debug folder for the JDFServer (Debug on page 93) to see the JMFs that are sent to/
from MIS and Press controller.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 111

4.10.1

SubmitqueueEntry, ResourceQuery (1)

MIS saves the job JDF on a local disk. The MIS system sends a JMF with a SubmitQueueEntry Command to
ApogeeX (and also to the the press controller). The SubmitQueueEntry Command contains the URL to the
JDF for the job.

Example of a SubmitQueueEntry JMF:

JMF Sender

Query

Debug folder JMF filename

MIS -> ApogeeX

SubmitQueueEntry

Input_xxxx.jmf

When SubmitQueueEntry is sent to ApogeeX, but no job is created in ApogeeX, check the following:

Look in Tomcat Console if Tomcat Forwarded a request to ApogeeX.

If Tomcat Forwarded a request to ApogeeX, look into the FW_JDFServer tracing window on the
ApogeeX Server. Look for errors.

You can also enable Debug>Save debug files in the JDFServer Resource in the System Overview, resend JMF from MIS. Look into the debug folder for Input_xxxxx.jmf, this is the SubmitQueueEntry. Look
into the debug folder for JDFIn_xxxxx.jmf, this is the actual JDF.

4.10.2

Job Subscriptions

MIS can make a Resource/status/Events/Registration subscription to get a JMF every time a change
happens to a job. The Subscription contains the URL of the MIS (so ApogeeX knows where to return the
answer to.). The Subscription can be found in the actual job JDF (JMF subnode).

Resource Subscription: When The incoming Job JDF contains a Subscription by type Resource,
ApogeeX will return a JMF to MIS each time a plate or proof or Inkdrive file is ready.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 112

Status Subscription: When The incoming Job JDF contains a Subscription by type Status, ApogeeX will
return a JMF to MIS each time the status of the job changes.

Events Subscription: When The incoming Job JDF contains a Subscription by type Events, ApogeeX
will return a JMF to MIS each time a the job in ApogeeX gives a warning/notification/error/...

Registration Subscription: When The incoming Job JDF contains a Subscription by type Registration,
ApogeeX will send a JMF to Press Controller each time a plate or proof or Inkdrive file is ready. If there
is no Registration subscription in the job JDF, you can enable Registration subscription in the Press Task
Processor configuration: JDF/JMF. on page 75

JMF Sender

Query Type

Debug folder JMF filename

JMF node is inside job JDF

Resource
Status
Events
Registration

JDFIn_xxxx.jmf

In the example below, the subscription is for Resource, Status, Events, Registration. Example of a query
subscription can also be found in:
...\ApogeeXSupportfiles\JDFSupport\JMF\MISPRE Samples JMF Dumps\
MISPRE_ImpoProof_PlateMaking\MISPRE_ImpoProof_PlateMaking.jdf.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 113

4.10.3

ApogeeX replies to MIS (2)

Each time a job is successfully sent from Mis to ApogeeX, ApogeeX replies to MIS with a Response. In the
reply a list is written with all available JDF/JMF jobs on the ApogeeX with their internal jobID.

JMF Sender

Query

Debug folder JMF filename

ApogeeX -> MIS

SubmitQueueEntry response

Rsp_xxxx.jmf

4.10.4

Imposition selection (2bis)

ApogeeX can only send a JMF about proofs/plates/inkdrive files to MIS or Press controller if:

Resource or Status Querys are made for this job (SubmitqueueEntry, ResourceQuery (1) on
page 111)

Preview parameters are available if JMFs for inkdrive files are required. The Preview node contains info
about the signatures, sides and separations the Press controller and MIS expect an inkdrive file for. See
screenshot of the job JDF below.

Exposed media info is available for proof. The Exposed media node for proofing contains info about the
signatures and sides the MIS expects to be printed. If this info is available, ApogeeX is able to send back
a JMF to MIS about the created proofs. See screenshot of the job JDF below.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 114

Exposed media info is available for Plates. The Exposed media node for Plates contains info about the
signatures, sides and separations the MIS and Press controller expect to be printed. If this info is available, ApogeeX is able to send back a JMF to MIS/Press controller about the created plates. See
screenshot of the job JDF below.

NOTE: If the imposition template is not selected/defined in the JDF, you are forced to select an imposition
template in ApogeeX (from JDF/PJTF/Preps Template). Make sure the amount of signatures, sides and
separations is the same as described in the JDF>Exposed media node. If the JDF describes e.g. only SIG1
Front, make sure you select in ApogeeX only a Sig1Front.

4.10.5

Status Signal to MIS before start imaging (3)

Status JMFs are sent if the job JDF contains a status subscription. When a signature is ready to output
(finish rendering) a status signal is send by ApogeeX to MIS.

JMF Sender

Subscription
Type

ApogeeX->MIS Status

Company Confidential

Debug folder
JMF filename

Device status

StatSig_xxxx.jmf idle

Jobphase
amount

JobStatus

Total amount

Running

16

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 115

4.10.6

Status signal when imaging separation finishes (4)

Status JMFs are send if the job JDF contains a status subscription. A status JMF is sent to MIS that the job
is finished for the Imagesetter.

JMF Sender

Subscription
Type

ApogeeX->MIS Status

4.10.7

Debug folder
JMF filename

Device status

StatSig_xxxx.jmf Running

Jobphase
amount

JobStatus

Total amount

In Progress

16

Resource signal exposed media (5)

Resource signal JMFs are sent if the job JDF contains a Resource subscription. ApogeeX sends a signal to
MIS to indicate which separation is imaged.
JMF Sender

Subscription Type

Debug folder JMF filename

ApogeeX->MIS

Resource

ResSig_ExposedMedia_xxxx.jmf

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 116

4.10.8

Resource Command Exposed media (6)

Resource Command JMFs are sent if the job JDF contains a Registration subscription or if the press URL
is filled in in the Press Task Processor settings (see also Press on page 70). This JMF notifies the press
controller which separation is ready in ApogeeX.
JMF Sender

Subscription Type

Debug folder JMF filename

ApogeeX->Press controller

Registration

ResCmd_ExposedMedia_xxxx.jmf

4.10.9

Resource signal preview (7)

Resource Signal JMFs are sent if the job JDF contains a Resource subscription. ApogeeX sends a JMF to
notify the MIS system that the inkdrive file for a separation is available.
JMF Sender

Subscription Type

Debug folder JMF filename

ApogeeX->MIS

Resource

ResSig_Preview_xxxx.jmf

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 117

4.10.10 Resource Command preview (8)


Resource Command JMFs are send if the job JDF contains a Registration subscriptionor if the press URL
is filled in in the Press Task Processor settings (see also Press on page 70). JMF sent by ApogeeX to Press
controller. This JMF contains the URL to the actual Inkdrive file.
JMF Sender

Subscription Type

Debug folder JMF filename

ApogeeX->Press controller

Registration

ResCmd_Preview_xxxx.jmf

4.10.11 Status signal all separations are imaged (9)


When separations of the job are imaged a status signal is send to MIS.

JMF Sender

Query

ApogeeX->MIS Status Signal

Company Confidential

Debug folder
JMF filename

Device status

StatSig_xxxx.jmf Idle

Jobphase
amount

JobStatus

Total amount

Ready

16

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 118

4.10.12 Job completed signal to MIS (10)


When job is finished and all JMF messages are sent, a job complete signal is send to MIS.

JMF Sender

Query

Debug folder JMF filename

MIS -> ApogeeX

ReturnQueueEntry

RQE_xxxx.jmf

NOTE: For more info about JMF traffic for jobs refer to
...\Supportfiles\JDFSupport\JMF_Cookbook_AX4.0.pdf

4.11

ResourceGet JMFs dont contain correct URL

A resourceget command can be used in a JMF that is send by ApogeeX to the press controller or to the MIS
system to indicate where the press controller can pickup the CIP4/PPF or CIP4/PNG files.

If the CIP4/PPF or CIP4/PNG files arent retrieved by the Press controller:

Make sure JDFServer and Tomcat WebServer are running.

Make sure the correct port number is entered for the JMF Webserver (see ApogeeX WebServer on
page 88 and Check the port on which JMF webserver is listening on page 106).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 119

Enter the following URL in Internet explorer:


http://AXServer:port/ResourceGet/?type=delanoimg&rt=pdf&ct=pdf&rl=DefaultStorageServer/
ProcessResourceDisk/eps_files/X_PunchVerificationMark.pdf

If X_PunchVerificationMark.pdf is opened then URLs in Resourceget JMF should be ok.

If not ok, refer to Test sending a JDF/JMF to JMFWebserver on page 108

If not ok, go to the System overview, open the JDFServer configuration, select the MIS integration tab,
make sure the correct webserver port is filled in.
Retry the URL in Internet explorer:
http://AXServer:port/ResourceGet/?type=delanoimg&rt=pdf&ct=pdf&rl=DefaultStorageServer/
ProcessResourceDisk/eps_files/X_PunchVerificationMark.pdf

I still not ok, remove the folder ...\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 5.0\webapps\ResourceGet\,
restart Tomcat Server.

You can do the same test with the JMF that is sent by the ApogeeX Server to the press controller. Open
the JMF from the JDFServer debug folder (ResSig_Preview_xxxxxxxxxxx.jmf) with a IE. Copy the part
http://gs2756.be.local:80/ResourceGet/?type=ppf&path=DefaultStorageServer%2FJ20070827160518001%2Fgr_Press_1_1%2FwunKey1.1%25S0F0F:C%2FInkDrive%2D9
50879278 in the Internet Explorer address field, enter. Internet should ask you to choose an application
to open the file, choose a text editor. The CIP3 file should be opened.

4.12

JDF variables used for CIP3 files

For Inkdrive files you can use a filename template with normal ApogeeX variables. e.g.
$ORDER_$JOB_$SIGNATURE_$SIDE_$SEPARATION. You can use the same variables to override
CIP3AdmJobCode, CIP3AdmJobName,, CIP3AdmSheetName, CIP3AdmSeparationNames.
If you use the normal variables you will get the following results.
Normal ApogeeX variable

Result

$SIGNATURE

1,2,3,...

$WEB

1,2,3,...

$SIDE

Front/Back

$SEPARATION

Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black

These results might differ from the names described in the JDF. It is better to use the names as described in
the JDF. Therefore you need to use JDF variables ($SIDE stays $SIDE).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 120


Normal ApogeeX variable

JDF Variable

$SIGNATURE

$JDF_SIGNATURE

$WEB

$JDF_SHEET

$SIDE

$SIDE

$SEPARATION

$JDF_SEPARATION/$JDF_PRODUCTID

Filename template $ORDER_$JOB_$JDF_SIGNATURE_$JDF_SHEET_$SIDE_$JDF_SEPARATION in


screenshot below becomes:
Studentname-Submit..._Submit JDF via JMF_SIG1059600001_SHT1059600001_Front_Black.ppf

4.13

Select the correct Device ID in a JDF.

A JDF can contain a Device ID to select an ApogeeX Output Device. The device ID JDF needs to contain is
the Internal name of the Task Processor in ApogeeX. To retreive the Device ID:

Send a JMF with a KnownDevices Query

Retrieve the Internal Task Processor name with the Service tool: Refer to Monitoring Task Processors:
on page 195

4.14

Clear all subscriptions

You can clear the subscriptions (Subscriptions: see Job Subscriptions on page 111) of all existing jobs on
your system. This means no JMFs will be sent anymore for these jobs (except JMFs to the press controller
if this is configured in the press.)

Start the :ApogeeX Console and select on the Monitor button.

Type l for JDF Server.

Type d to clear all subscriptions.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 121

4.15

No dynamic update of KnowDevices response

A KnowDevices query can be sent by MIS to ApogeeX to query the task processors of ApogeeX.

ApogeeX sends back to MIS a response.

When changing the DeviceID of a Press in ApogeeX, the KnownDevices response will still response the
old DeviceID to the MIS. JDFServer must be restarted before the new name will be responded to MIS.
See Test if JDF Server is running properly on page 104 to restart the JDFServer

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

JDF - JDF/JMF problem solving - Page 122

4.16

Remap Generic MIS spot color names

MIS has to specify often generic spot colors such as Spot1, Spot02 instead of the real color names
(Pantone 371 C, ) since the real name is only known when the PDF arrives. All JMF messages however
still need to use the original, generic names. This requires a special mapping in ApogeeX:
Original situation:

To get correct JMF messages:

PANTONE 357 C: change to Keep

Spot1: Map to PANTONE 357 C

Result:

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Hidden TP Parameters

This chapter will discuss all hidden Task Processor parameters.


X 1 ....Renderer Render Operation section. ..........................................................................................................
X 2 ....Generic Proofer image quality settings. ........................................................................................................
X 3 ....Generic Proofer quality settings. .....................................................................................................................
Z 3.1........ ImageConverter Parameters ................................................................................................
Z 3.2........ Printing parameters ................................................................................................................
Z 3.3........ Descreener parameters ..........................................................................................................

124
124
125
125
126
126

Some Parameter Settings can only be accessed in Service mode. Changing these settings should only be done
when strictly necessary. Some of these settings arent completely implemented yet or arent supported/tested.

ab

Hidden Task Processor parameters - Renderer Render Operation section. - Page 124

Renderer Render Operation section.

There are some Overprint settings which are only visualized in Service Mode: Standard Overprint and Enable
DeviceGray Overprint.

Standard Overprint.
Enables only the standard Adobe overprint behaviour, without any additional Agfa fixes to get overprint
from several applications 'as the customer expects it'. Currently this setting should only be enabled for
printing the Altona test suite and Ghent Working Group output test suite.

Enable DeviceGray Overprint (also visible in administration access level).


Certain PDF files that use DeviceGray in overprint are shown in Acrobat 6.0 as knockout. After rendering
with ApogeeX 1.0.0 overprint was enabled.
To comply with the Adobe interpretation of overprint in PDF 1.3, ApogeeX 2.0 (and later) changed the
default overprint behaviour of DeviceGray to match Acrobat.
This may result in differences between ApogeeX 1.0 and 2.0 (and later) where certain overprints may
seem lost. However these overprints were not shown in Acrobat either. It is our feeling that it is more
important to match the Overprint preview of Acrobat than the overprint behaviour of ApogeeX 1.0 and
older generation workflows.
For those customers that require the old behaviour (= different from the new Acrobat behaviour), they
can Enable DeviceGray Overprint.

Generic Proofer image quality settings.

The Ink table selection can only be accessed in Service mode for generic proofers.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Hidden Task Processor parameters - Generic Proofer quality settings. - Page 125

Generic Proofer quality settings.

All proofers have specific Quality Maps. Quality maps for generic proofers can be edited by Service logon access.
For other proofer Task Processors, this resource is hidden, you can only use the default quality maps..
NOTE: The initial installed quality maps can not be edited. To edit an initial quality map, duplicate the map and
edit the duplicate.
1 Go to the System Overview (Windows ApogeeX Client).
2 Select a Generic Proofer task processor.
3 Open the quality settings resource.
4 You can create a new quality map by selecting the + icon.

3.1

ImageConverter Parameters

Screener
These are all error diffused screening algorithms.
Reducednoice1bit

This is an enhanced version of the 1 bit screening.

Default4Descreener

This is the screening method used in PrintDrive.

Default8Bit

This is the screening method used in ProoferRIP Apogee


Series2/3.

InkSplit only

Same as no screening???????????????

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Hidden Task Processor parameters - Generic Proofer quality settings. - Page 126

3.2

Printing parameters

Resolution:
To define the engine resolution in both fast and slow scan direction.

BitsPerPixel:
1: normal dot method (one bit as one dot).
2: variable dot sizes.
One Bit per Pixel can only send a drop or no drop. Two Bits per Pixel can result in different sizes of drops,
3 sizes to be precise. Small sizes will be used in High lights, larger drops will be used in dark areas.

ColorModel:
gray: to be used with Black and White printing only.
CMYK: to be used for CMYK printing.

3.3

Descreener parameters

FixedResampleCellSize
This is a very fast implementation for converting 1 bit data to 8 bit. It is the first version of the descreener
developed by the PrintDrive team (was used until Apogee Printdrive Series2). A fixed number of lines is
skipped each time to resample the image. The skipped values are not used.

AdaptiveResampleCellSize
This is the resample method used in Apogee PrintDrive Series3. It results in better quality than Fixed
ResampleCellSize. An average of a certain amount of lines is calculated to calculate the proofer values.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems

The OS Related Settings Tutorial module from the Advanced :ApogeeX Tutorial provides information on how to
perform standard tasks like mounting drives, creating printers This chapter provides some procedures to
configure (or verify configuration) the Operating System prior to installing :ApogeeX (or to change settings after
installing :ApogeeX).
X
X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X
X

1 ....Optimizing :ApogeeX Server Operating System Performance. ............................................................ 128


2 ....Windows Application Log clean-up. ............................................................................................................... 128
3 ....Regional Settings. ................................................................................................................................................. 129
4 ....Windows Scheduler .............................................................................................................................................. 129
5 ....Extracting files on Windows Systems ............................................................................................................ 130
6 ....Networking. .............................................................................................................................................................. 131
Z 6.1........ Verify if there is a DNS server on the network. ............................................................ 131
Z 6.2........ Verify DNS suffix. ..................................................................................................................... 131
Z 6.3........ Verify hostname of the computer. ..................................................................................... 132
Z 6.4........ Network configuration on Clients and Satellites. ....................................................... 132
Z 6.5........ Using Hosts files. ...................................................................................................................... 133
Z 6.6........ Working with 2 network cards in the server ................................................................. 135
Z 6.7........ Disable the network usage. ................................................................................................. 138
Z 6.8........ Verifying the Local Area Connection (network card) on which :ApogeeX is registered.
Z 6.9........ How to find the hardware address (MAC address) of a network card. .................. 140
Z 6.10..... Changing the MAC address on which :ApogeeX is registered. .............................. 141
Z 6.11..... AppleTalk. ................................................................................................................................... 142
7 ....Macintosh Operating System specifics. ........................................................................................................ 145
Z 7.1........ Disable sleep mode. ............................................................................................................... 145
Z 7.2........ SMB (Server Message Blocks protocol) Sharing. ......................................................... 145
Z 7.3........ Windows shares on Mac OSX ............................................................................................. 145
Z 7.4........ Change the Macintosh OS X Firewall settings. ............................................................ 146
Z 7.5........ Automatically mount volumes at start-up OS X .......................................................... 147
8 ....Windows XP firewall issues. .............................................................................................................................. 147
9 ....Windows 2003 folder sharing (for Macintosh and Windows systems). ............................................. 147
10 .How to Measure Network Speed ..................................................................................................................... 148
11 .Choose the language for the OSX client: ..................................................................................................... 149
Z 11.1..... OSX client uses Language settings OSX ........................................................................ 149
Z 11.2..... Use different Language from OSX system ..................................................................... 149
12 .Logon with VNC to OSX 10.4 from a PC ....................................................................................................... 149
13 .Create Print Spoolers ........................................................................................................................................... 151
Z 13.1..... Named Pipe ............................................................................................................................... 151
Z 13.2..... Appletalk ..................................................................................................................................... 152
Z 13.3..... LPR ................................................................................................................................................ 154
Z 13.4..... TCPIP ............................................................................................................................................ 156
Z 13.5..... Creating Printers using the Adobe Driver ....................................................................... 156

ab

139

Operating Systems - Optimizing :ApogeeX Server Operating System Performance. - Page 128

Optimizing :ApogeeX Server Operating System


Performance.

These settings are the recommended Operating System settings for Server and Satellites.

Context-click on My Network places and select properties.

Context-click on the Local Area Connection on which :ApogeeX is registered and select again properties.

Select File and Printer sharing for Microsoft Networks and select properties again.

Select Maximize data throughput for network applications.

Select OK.

Context-click on My Computer and select properties.

Select the Advanced tab and select on Performance Options button.

Select Adjust for best performance of Programs.

Memory Usage: This setting has no influence to the performance of :ApogeeX

Set the Virtual memory (paging file) to twice the size of your physical memory (same disk as OS).

Select OK.

Windows Application Log clean-up.

MSQL writes a lot of info messages to the Windows Application Log. To prevent that the log becomes full, do the
following:

Context-click My Computer > Manage.

In the Computer Management window, Select System Tools > Event Viewer > Application

Context-click Application > Properties

In this properties window, you can increase the maximum log size or you can configure to overwrite old
log files.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Regional Settings. - Page 129

Regional Settings.

The system on which you install :ApogeeX may only have 1 input language.

Open the Control Panel > Regional Options.

Select the Input Locales tab.

There should only be 1 input language specified and recommended is to use same language as the OS.

NOTE: The regional settings of all ApogeeX components (server, satellite, failover) must be configured the
same. eg. date and time in border can differ (10/5/2005, 05/10/2005, 10-5-2005, ....) depending on which
hardware platform the render Task Processor is running.

NOTE: If you use the $PRINTDATE as variable in the filepath/filename template of export/Generic output
Task Processor it is recommended to use the - as date separator.

Windows Scheduler

The Windows scheduler application can be used to schedule applications (scripts, batch files, ) to start at
specific time intervals.
The Windows scheduler application can be found in Accessories > System Tools > Scheduled Tasks.
To schedule an application several times a day, you need to select the Show multiple schedules check box
in the Schedule tab. After selecting this check box, you can click the New button several times to have the
application start as many times as you want.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Extracting files on Windows Systems - Page 130

Extracting files on Windows Systems

Several Operating Systems provide Extraction modules for ZIP archives. We do not recommend to use these: they
often provide problems. We strongly recommend to use WinZip (version 8.1 or higher).
Some known problems with the Extract software which accompanies Windows 2003:

The Win 2003 extraction software often requests a extraction password while the zip file isnt
compressed with a password.

Win 2003 extract software sometimes also generates empty folders.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Networking. - Page 131

Networking.

The network configuration is very important for all :ApogeeX systems.


The :ApogeeX System always needs an operational network (also during installation and uninstall).
Installation of :ApogeeX will fail when you havent configured your network settings or when you are not
connected on a network. :ApogeeX will also stop running when the system is disconnected from the network.
:ApogeeX will not recover automatically from this situation. You need to restart :ApogeeX when the system is
connected to the network again.
This chapter provides various small procedures which are all related to network configuration.

6.1

Verify if there is a DNS server on the network.

Open a command line on the :ApogeeX server.

Type nslookup and press enter.

The following message should appear when you have a DNS server.

6.2

Verify DNS suffix.

The full computer name (hostname + DNS suffix) needs to be used on Macintosh Hosts file entries. The
DNS suffix of the :ApogeeX Server (if there is a DNS suffix) also needs to be entered in the search domains
of the Macintosh TCP/IP settings (if the DNS suffix of the :ApogeeX server is not part of the domain range
between starting domain name and ending domain name).

Open a command line on the :ApogeeX server.

Type ipconfig and press enter.

The following message should appear:

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Networking. - Page 132

Connection-specific DNS Suffix: eps.agfa.be

6.3

Verify hostname of the computer.

On Mac OS 9:
Open the Control Panel > File Sharing > Computer name

On Mac OS X:
Open the System Preferences > Sharing > Computer name

On Windows:
Context-click on My Computer > Properties
Select Network Identification > Properties > Computer name
An alternative possibility is to use the hostname command in the command line window.

NOTE: The hostname that needs to be used in Mac OS X Hosts file is case sensitive.

6.4

Network configuration on Clients and Satellites.

Macintosh OS 9.

Open the TCP/IP Control Panel.

Fill in the IP-Address of the DNS server in the Name server address field. When the client receives his
TCP/IP configuration from a DHCP server then the DNS server IP-Address should be provided by the
DHCP server.

Fill in the DNS Suffix in the Search domains field.

Close and save the TCP/IP control panel.

NOTE: If some options of the TCP/IP window are not visible, go to Edit > User Mode and select Advanced.
Macintosh OS X.

Open System Preferences > Network > TCP/IP.

Fill in the IP-Address of the DNS server in the DNS Servers field. When the client receives his TCP/IP
configuration from a DHCP server then the DNS server IP-Address should be provided by the DHCP
server.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Networking. - Page 133

Fill in the DNS Suffix in the Search Domains field.

Apply and save your settings.

Windows.

Go to the TCP/IP properties of your Local Area Connection.

Fill in the IP-Address of the DNS server in the Preferred DNS server field. When the client receives his
TCP/IP configuration from a DHCP server then the DNS server IP-Address should be provided by the
DHCP server.

Verify if the DNS IP-Address is listed in the Advanced > DNS tab (in case the DHCP provides the DNS
address then the DNS tab will be empty). You should specify an additional DNS suffix in the Append
these DNS suffixes in case your DNS suffix is different as the DNS suffix of the system with whom you
want to make a connection.

Verify if the Advanced > WINS tab is empty (unless you are using a WINS server).

6.5

Using Hosts files.

In the following section we describe how to create Hosts files on different operating systems.
Macintosh OS 9.
NOTE: Macintosh OS 9 is not supported to run the ApogeeX 3.0 client

Open the system folder > preferences.

Edit the Hosts file and save the changes.

Open the TCP/IP control panel and press the Select Hosts File button.

Select the Hosts file you have just changed.

Confirm the message Are you sure you want replace the Hosts file with the contents of your file?.

Save and close the TCP/IP control panel.

You do not need to restart.

NOTE: If some options of the TCP/IP window are not visible, go to Edit > User Mode and select Advanced.
Hosts file example:
XServer CNAME XServer.agfa.be
XServer.agfa.be A 10.232.50.100
The command CNAME associates the local alias XServer with the full computer name (hostname.domain
name) XServer.agfa.be and resolves it to the address 10.232.50.100 (2nd line).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Networking. - Page 134

You must use a full computer name (hostname.domain name). You can use any domain name when you
are not using a DNS-suffix (domain name) on the XServer: XServer CNAME XServer.agfa.com or
XServer CNAME XServer.customer.be. You must use the same DNS-suffix (domain name) in line 1 and
line 2 of the Hosts file. When you are using a DNS-suffix on the XServer, then the syntax for the full qualified
domain name must match with the DNS-suffix that is really used on the XServer, otherwise the connection
will fail.
Macintosh OS X.

Open /Applications/Utilities/NetInfo Manager.

To allow editing the NetInfo database, select the padlock in the lower left corner of the window.

Enter your Admin password and select OK.

In the second column of the browser view, select the node named "machines." You will see entries for DHCP-, broadcasthost, and localhost in the third column.

The quickest way to create a new entry is to duplicate an existing one. So select the "localhost" item in
the third column.

Choose Duplicate from the Edit menu. A confirmation alert appears.

Select Duplicate. A new entry called "localhost copy" appears, and its properties are shown below the
browser view.

Double-click the value of the ip_address property and enter the IP-address of the other computer
(10.232.50.100).

Double-click the value of the name property and enter the hostname you want for the other computer
(XServer).

Select the serves property and choose Delete from the Edit menu.

Choose Save from the File menu. A confirmation alert appears.

Select Update this copy.

Repeat steps 5 through 11 for each additional host entry you wish to add.

Choose Quit from the NetInfo Manager menu. You do not need to restart the computer.

Hosts file example:


ip_address 10.232.50.100
name XServer
You do not always need to work with a full qualified domain name as with Macintosh OS 9. However you
must specify the full computer name (Hostname.DNS-suffix) when the computer (XServer) is using a DNSsuffix.
Windows Operating System.

Open the Hosts file \\WINNT\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Networking. - Page 135

Enter the IP-Address and the :ApogeeX Server hostname (eg. 10.232.50.100 XServer).

Save your settings.

Open the Advanced TCP/IP Settings of the Local Area Connection you are using.

Select the WINS tab and verify if Enable LMHOSTS lookup is selected.

Save your changes, you do not need to restart.

Hosts file example (Windows :ApogeeX client):


10.232.50.100 XServer
Hosts file example (:ApogeeX server):
10.232.50.200 Client01
10.232.50.205 Client02
10.232.50.210 Client03
NOTE: For Windows systems you do not need to use the full computer name however you can.

6.6

Working with 2 network cards in the server

If the ApogeeX Server is connected with 1 network card to the network, all heavy data traffic will go over
the main network.

If you have an ApogeeX Satellite (or an Apogee Serie3 PrintDrive) which needs to be connected to the
ApogeeX Server and heavy network traffic should not go over the Main Network, a second network card
can be installed in the ApogeeX Server and also in the ApogeeX Satellite. The second network card can be
connected with the ApogeeX Satellite using a crossover cable/switch/hub/.... If ApogeeX Server and/or
ApogeeX Satellite also need to send their data to an Apogee Series3 PrintDrive, the PrintDrive also needs to
be connected to the second network.

CAUTION: Do not change the order of the network cards of the ApogeeX Server, this will cause ApogeeX
not to startup anymore.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Networking. - Page 136

There are 3 possibilities to configure the network if you work with 2 network cards in the server:

If there is already a DNS server in the network

There is no DNS available: install a DNS server on the ApogeeX Server

Working with Hosts files


CAUTION: All ApogeeX systems must be registered in the DNS Server when a DNS Server is specified in
the network configuration of the ApogeeX Systems.

6.6.1

If there is already a DNS server in the network:

ApogeeX Server and Apogee Series3 PrintDrive are pointed to the DNS server of the company. NOTE: Using
full qualified domain names (hostname and domain extension, eg. computer.agfa.be) is necessary on all
computers. Configuration of the second network needs to be done using Hostfiles. The ApogeeX Satellite is
connected with the second network (Hub network). Note: an ApogeeX Satellite also needs to be connected
to the main network if the ApogeeX Satellite includes a Render Task Processor. The connection on the main
network is necessary to Raster Preview documents which are Rendered on that Satellite. Apogee Series3
PrintDrive also has 2 network cards. 1 for the global network, 1 for the hub.
ApogeeX Server

ApogeeX Satellite

Apogee S3 PrintDrive

NIC1-Main

IP: 10.232.50.100
DNS: 10.232.48.50

IP: 10.232.50.101
DNS: 10.232.48.50

IP: 10.232.50.102
DNS: 10.232.48.50

NIC2-Hub

IP: 10.231.50.60
DNS: NONE

IP: 10.231.50.61
DNS: NONE
Default Gateway: 10.231.50.60

IP: 10.231.50.62
DNS: NONE

Hosts file

10.231.50.62 PrintDrive
10.231.50.62 PrintDrive.agfa.be
10.231.50.61 Satellite
10.231.50.61 Satellite.agfa be

10.231.50.62 PrintDrive
10.231.50.62 PrintDrive.agfa.be
10.231.50.60 Server
10.231.50.60 Server.agfa be

10.231.50.61 Satellite
10.231.50.61 Satellite.agfa be
10.231.50.60 Server
10.231.50.60 Server.agfa.be

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Networking. - Page 137

CAUTION: The ApogeeX Satellite installation will fail (Error Message: LocalStorageServer could not be
started) when you do not specify the IP-address of the ApogeeX Server as Default Gateway in the
ApogeeX Satellite Hub network card configuration. After Satellite installation you must remove the
ApogeeX Server as Default Gateway in order to have a correct operating network.
NOTE: The Hosts file contains for each computer two references: one without the domain extension and one
with the domain extension to make sure that all data for those computers is done over the hub network.

6.6.2

There is no DNS available: install a DNS server on the ApogeeX Server:

Install a DNS server on the ApogeeX Server.


If the company doesnt have a domain server yet you can create a new domain server on the ApogeeX server.
Nevertheless it is also possible to work with a DNS Server in a workgroup environment, in this case you
need to use full qualified domain names + configure the reverse lookup of the DNS Server.
You do not need to configure any Hosts files.
NOTE: The installation of a DNS Server is not documented in this Service Manual.
ApogeeX Server

ApogeeX Satellite

Apogee Series3 PrintDrive

NIC1-Main

IP: 10.232.50.100
DNS: 10.231.50.60

IP: 10.232.50.101
DNS: 10.231.50.60

IP: 10.232.50.102
DNS: 10.232.50.60

NIC2-Hub

IP: 10.231.50.60
DNS: 10.231.50.60

IP: 10.231.50.61
DNS: 10.231.50.60
Default Gateway:
10.231.50.60

IP: 10.231.50.62
DNS: 10.231.50.60

Hosts file

NONE

NONE

NONE

CAUTION: The ApogeeX Satellite installation will fail (Error Message: LocalStorageServer could not be
started) when you do not specify the IP-address of the ApogeeX Server as Default Gateway in the
ApogeeX Satellite Hub network card configuration. After Satellite installation you must remove the
ApogeeX Server as Default Gateway in order to have a correct operating network.
NOTE: The TCP/IP properties of the ApogeeX Server, ApogeeX Satellite and Apogee Series3 PrintDrive:
preferred DNS Server must be must be the Hub DNS (10.231.50.60) for both network cards.

6.6.3

Working with Hosts files: When no DNS server is installed in the network.

The ApogeeX Server has no domain controller and no DNS controller installed.
ApogeeX Server, ApogeeX Satellite and Apogee Series3 PrintDrive are configured in a workgroup
environment.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Networking. - Page 138


ApogeeX Server

ApogeeX Satellite

Apogee Series3 PrintDrive

NIC1-Main

IP: 10.232.50.100
DNS: NONE

IP: 10.232.50.101
DNS: NONE

IP: 10.232.50.102
DNS: NONE

NIC2-Hub

IP: 10.231.50.60
DNS: NONE

IP: 10.231.50.61
IP: 10.231.50.62
DNS: NONE
DNS: NONE
Default Gateway: 10.231.50.60

Hosts file

10.231.50.62 PrintDrive
10.231.50.62 PrintDrive.agfa.be
10.231.50.61 Satellite
10.231.50.61 Satellite.agfa be
10.232.50.xx Clientxx

10.231.50.62 PrintDrive
10.231.50.62 PrintDrive.agfa.be
10.231.50.60 Server
10.231.50.60 Server.agfa be
10.232.50.xx Clientxx

10.231.50.61 Satellite
10.231.50.61 Satellite.agfa be
10.231.50.60 Server
10.231.50.60 Server.agfa.be

CAUTION: The ApogeeX Satellite installation will fail (Error Message: LocalStorageServer could not be
started) when you do not specify the IP-address of the ApogeeX Server as Default Gateway in the
ApogeeX Satellite Hub network card configuration. After Satellite installation you must remove the
ApogeeX Server as Default Gateway in order to have a correct operating network.
For each ApogeeX Client you need to provide an entry in the Hosts file of the ApogeeX Server. Each
ApogeeX Client also needs an entry to the ApogeeX Server in the local Hosts file.
NOTE: The Hosts file contains for each computer two references: one without the domain extension and one
with the domain extension to make sure that all data for those computers is done over the hub network.

6.7

Disable the network usage.

To eliminate networking issues you might want to start your :ApogeeX system without using the real
network. A second reason why you want to disable the network usage can be when the real network is
unavailable and you already want to install, configure or license the :ApogeeX system.
There are three possibilities to disable the network usage:

You can use a hardware loopback adapter.

You can use the DisableDHCPMediaSense registry key.

Use a private network hub or switch.

NOTE: do not use the Microsoft software loopback adapter; when using the Microsoft software loopback
adapter you are using a different MAC address as the MAC address of the real network card. When
installation and licensing of the :ApogeeX system is done using the Microsoft software loopback adapter,
the :ApogeeX system will not start any longer when using the real network card.

6.7.1

Hardware loopback adapter.

To create a hardware loopback connector, you must connect the transmit pins to the receive pins of an RJ45 connector.

Connect pin 1 (transmit +) to pin 3 (receive +)

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Networking. - Page 139

Connect pin 2 (transmit -) to pin 6 (receive -)

Plug the hardware loopback RJ-45 connector into the network card on which :ApogeeX is registered.
Restart the computer and start :ApogeeX.

6.7.2

Using the DisableDHCPMediaSense registry key.

You must use a fixed TCP/IP-address (no DHCP) when using this procedure.

Stop the :ApogeeX system.

Open the registry editor application (regedit).

Browse to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters

Add this key: DisableDHCPMediaSense (REG_DWORD) with value 1.

Restart the computer.

Start :ApogeeX.

NOTE: There must be a network card in your system but the network card does not need to be connected to
the network.

6.8

Verifying the Local Area Connection (network card) on which :ApogeeX


is registered.

When your computer has multiple network cards, only one of them will be used to register :ApogeeX on.

Context-click on My Network places and select properties.

Go to the Advanced Menu and select Advanced Settings.

ApogeeX registers on the Local Area Connection (network card) which is at the top of the connections
list (eg GLOBAL LAN).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Networking. - Page 140

You can use the arrow buttons to change the order of the Local Area Connection.
The ApogeeX System can not be started when you replace the network cards on which ApogeeX is registered or when you change the order of the network cards.

In order to fix this situation you will need to perform the Changing the MAC address on which :ApogeeX
is registered procedure and re-license because the computer hardware has changed (see procedure in
ApogeeX Licensing guide).
NOTE: The MAC address of the network card (HardwareKey Value) on which :ApogeeX is registered can
also be verified in the fingerprint file (HardwareKey Value = "00-02-A5-DA-2A-79").

6.9

How to find the hardware address (MAC address) of a network card.

Open a command line.

Type ipconfig /all and press enter.

The Physical Address (MAC or Hardware address) for each network card on your computer will be
shown.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Networking. - Page 141

6.10

Changing the MAC address on which :ApogeeX is registered.

:ApogeeX is secured with a combination of a dongle and License file. The License file contains information
on the hardware box where it is installed. If there are changes on the hardware box (eg. new network card),
a re-licensing procedure needs to be performed.
Before you start this procedure, make sure that you have a fingerprint/license file.
1. Replace the network card or change the Local Area Connection order (to use a different network card
that is already installed).
2. Make sure that the new Local Area Connection has a correct TCP/IP configuration.
3. Start the :ApogeeX Console.
4. Start the :ApogeeX system, an error message will appear Unable to connect to SQL Server. Is the
SQLServerName correct?. You might also get the message version conflict. It might also be that no
message is given at all.
5. Select OK to the message.
6. Start the Monitor (Service Tool) from the :ApogeeX Console.
7. Type h to open the Database commands list.
8. Type d to update sa account password (this option is not always visible, it is only visible when you really
need to perform this procedure).
9. Specify the path and the name of the Fingerprint/license file and press Enter. This will reset the SQL
Database password. Note: the fingerprint file may not contain spaces. Also the path to the fingerprint file
may not contain spaces. When a space is used in the filename or file path then a message illegal exception/AGS::Exception caught message will appear.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Networking. - Page 142

If the license or fingerprint is not correct (license or fingerprint not made with the last registered
network card), the Service tool gives the following error:

10.If update is successful, you get the following message: Password changed successfully..
Type q to exit the Monitor tool window.
11. Stop the :ApogeeX Server manually (the :ApogeeX console cant be used).
12. Start the :ApogeeX Server via the console.
13. Start up the :ApogeeX Client.
14. Generate a new Fingerprint file.
15. Upload this Fingerprint file to the ELMS.
16. Download the new License file.
17. Load the new License file.

6.11

AppleTalk.

The AppleTalk protocol is by default always bound to the first network card that was detected by the
computer during installation of the Services for Macintosh services. To change the AppleTalk protocol
bindings you need to perform this procedure.
When the AppleTalk protocol needs to be bound to two network cards, contact the local IT department.

6.11.1

Verifying on which network card the AppleTalk protocol is bound.

Open the event viewer and search for the last Information message on source AppleTalk with Event
number 5.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Networking. - Page 143

Double-click on this event and an Event Properties window will open. This window indicates that the
AppleTalk protocol is registered (bound) on Adapter Compaq NC3134 Fast Ethernet NIC #2. The
Network and Dial-up Connections window indicates which Network Card a Local Area Connection uses.

6.11.2

Changing the binding of the AppleTalk protocol.

Disable the AppleTalk protocol on all network cards besides the card on which you want to have the AppleTalk protocol bound.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Networking. - Page 144

Reboot the computer. You can check the Event viewer to verify the changes.
NOTE: When you enable the AppleTalk protocol on all network cards again, the AppleTalk binding is not
changed.

6.11.3

AppleTalk protocol is not bound to any adapter

As mentioned above the AppleTalk protocol is by default always bound to the first network card. After a
Ghost or because of some reasons it can be that the AppleTalk is not bound to any adapter. The AppleTalk
input TP will not start. An error message appears in the message board of ApogeeX AppleTalk is not
installed or not active. Also there will be a message in the event viewer.

To solve this, you have to open the network card properties. Click on the AppleTalk Protocol Properties.
Check there the Accept inbound connections on this adapter. The list This system will appear in zone:
will probably be empty. After doing so, you have to restart the computer.

After restart, checking the AppleTalk Properties, you will see that the zone window is active. The message
in the event viewer has also changed.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Macintosh Operating System specifics. - Page 145

Macintosh Operating System specifics.


7.1

Disable sleep mode.

We recommend disabling the sleep mode on all Macintosh systems especially on OS X systems. When the
Macintosh enters sleep mode, some network connections are removed.
To disable sleep mode with Macintosh OS 9:
Open Control panel > energy saver > sleep setup to never.
To disable sleep mode with Macintosh OS X:
Open System preferences > energy saver > set the computer sleep slide bar to never.

7.2

SMB (Server Message Blocks protocol) Sharing.

The SMB protocol is using TCP/IP. AppleTalk is not needed which makes sharing files and folders between
Macintosh systems and Windows Systems much easier.
System Preferences > Sharing > Services > Enable Windows File Sharing.
Filenames in an SMB shared folder can be longer than 31 characters.
NOTE: Only shared folder names shorter than 12 characters are shown in the SMB shares list. To access
shared folders with more than 12 characters via SMB you must type the complete share path (eg. smb://
computername.agfa.be/longsharename). This is no longer true under OS X 10.4 (Tiger), mounts with
more then 12 characters are shown.

7.3

Windows shares on Mac OSX

If you enable Windows sharing on Mac OSX the shared folder by SMB is \\MACsystemname\administrator.... When you place e.g. a PJTF file on this location and browse with a local Macintosh client to this
PJTF you will have following location \\MACsystemname\DISKname\Users\administrator... which is
unknown by the ApogeeX server. Solution:

Window > Connect to Server.

Enter the Server Address (with sharename) e.g. smb://MACsystemname/administrator.

Select Connect.

With the macintosh client browse to the PJTF going through the mounted volume.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Macintosh Operating System specifics. - Page 146

7.4

Change the Macintosh OS X Firewall settings.

Open System Preferences > Sharing > Firewall tab.


We recommend not to use the Firewall because this can cause incorrect ApogeeX Client behaviour (see
troubleshooting section).
Workaround procedure to have a correct ApogeeX Client behaviour with an active Firewall:

Open the Mac OS X network utility (Applications Utilities) and select the Port Scan tab.

Enter your Macintosh IP-address and select to test only ports between 3187 and 3200 (ApogeeX Client
will use a port in this range).

Select scan (this may take several minutes).

When scan is complete, the list of open ports is shown, most likely 3187 will be the only one.

Write down this number and quit the network utility.

Open the firewall settings and select New.

Select Other as port name, specify as port number the port number found by the port scan and write
as description ApogeeX 4.0.0

Select OK and verify that the ApogeeX 4.0.0 port is selected.

Quit the System preferences.

NOTE: as alternative to this procedure you could just open the port range from 3187 to 3200 in the firewall.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Windows XP firewall issues. - Page 147

7.5

Automatically mount volumes at start-up OS X

Mount the volume

Open the OS X System preferences

Open Accounts

Select the account you are logged on with

Select Startup items

Drag and drop the mount to the Startup items pane

Enable the checkbox next to the mount in the Startup items pane

Close the Accounts window

Windows XP firewall issues.

This topic handles problems running ApogeeX client on Windows XP system that has a firewall running.
If the Windows XP firewall is enabled and no exception is made for ApogeeX Client the following will happen:

the Task Processors will not show up in the System overview,

job details stay in loading status,

New from templates is greyed out.

To solve this, check the Windows XP firewall settings (Control panel):

Open the Windows Firewall control panel.

Check if the Firewall is enabled, check if exceptions are allowed.

If Firewall is enabled, select the exceptions tab; check if there is an exception for ApogeeX client. This
exception can be created manually (Add Program) or automatically at start-up ApogeeX client (If
Display a notification when Windows Firewall blocks a program is enabled).

Windows 2003 folder sharing (for Macintosh and


Windows systems).
If you context-click a folder and share it, the default permissions will be set (read only), make sure you
always check the permissions.
In order to share folders for Macintosh systems:

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - How to Measure Network Speed - Page 148

Go to Computer Management.

Select Shared Folders.

Context-click and choose Configure File server for Macintosh.

Select the configuration tab.

Change Enable authentication to Apple Clear text.

10 How to Measure Network Speed


On http://dast.nlanr.net/Projects/Iperf/ you can download iperf.exe. Iperf is a tool to measure maximum
TCP bandwidth. One computer will act as server, while the other system will act as client.
Follow the next steps to measure the network traffic. It is advisable to use the ApogeeX server also as server
for this test.

Copy this file iperf.exe to the following location C:\ on all computers you want to measure the network
speed from.

Start the command line on the :ApogeeX Server. Drag the iperf.exe file into the command field and add
s and hit enter.

Start the command line for example on the :ApogeeX Satellite. Drag the iperf.exe file into the command
field, add c, add the IP-address of the iperf server and hit enter.

What is a good value for maximum bandwidth?


Depends on the use of the network by ApogeeX. When the network runs on 100Mb/sec, and you measure
only 50Mb/sec maximum bandwidth it is obvious that all data transfaring goes 2x as slow then when you
have 100 Mb/sec maximum bandwidth.
You can improve the network speed by having a second network for the communication between Server/
Satellite and RAID system. For more info to configuring this: refer to Working with 2 network cards in the
server on page 135.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Choose the language for the OSX client: - Page 149

11 Choose the language for the OSX client:


11.1

OSX client uses Language settings OSX

Go to System Preferences

Select International

Drag the language to the top of the list

Close the international settings window

Restart ApogeeX client, the ApogeeX client will use the OSX language

11.2

Use different Language from OSX system

Close ApogeeX client

Context click the ApogeeX client icon > get info

Select only the language you like to see in the OSX client

Close the info window, Start the OSX client

12 Logon with VNC to OSX 10.4 from a PC

On OSX 10.4.x open the System Preferences

Open sharing

Turn on Apple remote desktop

select access privileges

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Logon with VNC to OSX 10.4 from a PC - Page 150

You dont have to turn on any user

Turn on VNC viewers may control screen with Password, enter a password

Close the system preferences

On PC download the latest version of VNC viewer

Log on with the PC VNC viewer to the MAC using the IP address.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Create Print Spoolers - Page 151

13 Create Print Spoolers


13.1

Named Pipe

Named Pipe is the standard input channel for Windows-based workstations. Through the Windows server,
Named Pipe allows you to send jobs to the Windows spooler from either a Windows or a Macintosh frontend system. The spooler temporarily saves the data in order to release your front-end workstation for other
activities.

13.1.1

Install a Named Pipe spooler on Windows

Create in ApogeeX a new job/hot ticket that contains a Named Pipe input channel. Choose a Pipe name
in the Named Pipe settings. This is the name you will need to select when creating the printer port.

On the PC you will create the spooler, choose Start > Settings > Printers.

In the Printers window, choose File > Server Properties. The Print Server Properties are displayed.

Choose the Ports tab and click Add Port.

Choose Local Port and click New Port

Enter the Named Pipe name, preceded by: \\computername\Pipe\

NOTE: Write first letter of Pipe with a Capital P. The Pipe name itself is also case sensitive.

If you are creating the Named Pipe on the system where ApogeeX is installed, you can replace computername by a period ("."). For example: \\.\Pipe\pipename

Click OK. Windows checks the pipe. If everything is correct, the pipe is added to the list: If you see the
following message, you may not have entered the pipename correctly:

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Create Print Spoolers - Page 152

In this case, check the name of the pipe. If the name is correct, check in the Activity Window to see if the
pipe is there. If not, then the pipe was not created successfully on the ApogeeX System.

If you see the following message, you have no access to the remote computer. In this case, you must log
in as a user with the correct privileges.

Your port in now available in the ports list. The port is ready, and can be used for a new printer. A new
printer can be created with the Adobe Printer Driver. See Creating Printers using the Adobe Driver on
page 156.

13.2

Appletalk

Before you create an AppleTalk printer on your local system, you must first install Print Services for Macintosh on the ApogeeX System. You can check in Computer Management>Services if Print Services for
Macintosh exists and if it is started.

13.2.1

Install PrintServices for Macintosh:

Shut down the ApogeeX System.

Select Start > Settings > Control Panel.

Select Add/Remove Programs.

Select Add/Remove Window Components.

In the Windows Components list, select Other Network File and Print Services, and click Details.

Select Print Services for Macintosh, and click OK.

Restart the computer.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Create Print Spoolers - Page 153

13.2.2

Install Appletalk Print Spooler on Windows

Create in ApogeeX a new job/hot ticket that contains an Appletalk input channel. Choose an Appletalk
Devicename in the appletalk settings.

On the PC you want to create the spooler to print to the Hotticket/job, Choose Start > Settings >
Printers.

In the Printers window, choose File > Server Properties. The Print Server Properties are displayed.

Choose the Ports tab, and click Add Port.

Choose AppleTalk Printing Devices and click New Port.

Choose the printer from the correct zone and click OK. This is the printer that you created on the
ApogeeX System.

You are asked if you want to capture the AppleTalk device. Click No.

Your port in now available in the ports list. The port is ready, and can be used for a new printer. A new
printer can be created with the Adobe Printer Driver. See Creating Printers using the Adobe Driver on
page 156.

13.2.3

Install Appletalk Print Spooler on OSX

Before you create an AppleTalk printer on your local system, you must first create a Job/Hotticket with
an AppleTalk input channel on the ApogeeX System. This is because you will need the name of the
printer that is created on the ApogeeX System.

Open the Printer Setup Utility (Applications>Utilities>Printer Setup Utility). The Printer List window
is displayed.

Select the Default Browser Icon (Top left of the Printer Browser window)

Select your Appletalk channel. Select Print Using Agfa>Agfa ApogeeX. If Printer model is not available
in the list, Select Print Using Other.. Browse to the ApogeeX PPD. The ApogeeX PPD can be found in the
supportfiles\PPD folder on the ApogeeX server.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Create Print Spoolers - Page 154

Click Add.

The printer is added to the Printer List, and is ready for use.

13.3

LPR

An LPR channel is a uni-directional direct input channel for UNIX workstations/servers, Windows 2000/
2003 workstations/servers, and Macintosh workstations (using LaserWriter 8.6 or later).
To create the LPR printer, you first need to install Print Services for UNIX on the ApogeeX System and on
the PC that will print to ApogeeX.

13.3.1

To install Print Services for UNIX

Shut down the ApogeeX System.

Select Start > Settings > Control Panel.

Select Add/Remove Programs.

Select Add/Remove Window Components.

In the Windows Components list, select Other Network File and Print Services, and click Details.

Select Print Services for Unix, and click OK.

Click Next.

Restart the computer. Next, you must disable the TCP/IP Print Server, since it is now using the LPR port
exclusively.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Create Print Spoolers - Page 155

Context-click My Computer and select Manage.

Select Services and Applications.

In the righthand panel, double-click Services.

Context-click TCP/IP Print Server, and choose Properties.

Click Stop to stop the service.

Set the Startup type to Manual, and click OK.

13.3.2

Install LPR PrintSpooler on Windows

Create in ApogeeX a new job/hot ticket that contains an LPR input channel. Enter a queue name in the
LPR settings. This is the name you will need to select when creating a printer port.

NOTE: Do not use spaces in the Queue Name.

On the PC you want to create the spooler to print to the Hotticket/job, Choose Start > Settings >
Printers.

In the Printers window, choose File > Server Properties. The Print Server Properties are displayed.
Choose the Ports tab, and click Add Port.

Choose LPR Port and click New Port.

Enter the IP address of your server and the name of the printer that you created on the ApogeeX System

Click OK. Your port is now available in the ports list. The port is ready, and can be used for a new printer.
A new printer can be created with the Adobe Printer Driver. See Creating Printers using the Adobe
Driver on page 156

13.3.3

Install LPR PrintSpooler on OSX

An LPR channel is a uni-directional direct input channel for UNIX workstations/servers, Windows 2000/
2003 workstations/servers, and Macintosh workstations (using LaserWriter 8.6 or later).

Before you create an LPR printer on your local system, you must first create a job/hotticket with an LPR
input channel on the ApogeeX System. This is because you will need the name of the queue that is
created on the ApogeeX System (refer to the ApogeeX Online Help). You should also note the IP address
of the ApogeeX System and the name of the queue you want to print to.

NOTE: LPR is faster than AppleTalk, and is therefore a better choice for Macintosh users.

Open the Printer Setup Utility (Applications>Utilities>Printer Setup Utility). The Printer List window
is displayed.

Click Add.

Choose IPP Protocol.

Enter the IP address of the ApogeeX System.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Create Print Spoolers - Page 156

Enter the Queue Name of your printer.

Select Print Using Agfa>Agfa ApogeeX. If Printer model is not available in the list, Select Print Using
Other.. Browse to the ApogeeX PPD. The ApogeeX PPD can be found in the supportfiles\PPD folder on
the ApogeeX server.

13.4

TCPIP

A TCP/IP channel is a direct input channel for UNIX workstations and/or servers. This channel uses a
special stream protocol based on TCP/IP.

13.4.1

Install a TCPIP spooler on Windows

Create in ApogeeX a new job/hot ticket that contains an TCPIP input channel. Enter a port number in
the TCPIP settings. This is the name you will need to select when creating a printer port.

Choose Start > Settings > Printers.

In the Printers window, choose File > Server Properties. The Print Server Properties are displayed.

Choose the Ports tab and click Add Port.

Choose Standard TCP/IP Port and click New Port.

The TCP/IP Printer Port Wizard is started. Click Next to start the Wizard. Enter the IP address of the
ApogeeX System. Leave the Port Name: This will be filled in automatically.

Click Next. Choose Custom and click Settings. The IP address is already filled in.

Enter the Port Number that is used in the ApogeeX System and click OK. Click Next.

Click Finish. The Port is added to the list.

Click Close. The port is ready, and can be used for a new printer. A new printer can be created with the
Adobe Printer Driver. See Creating Printers using the Adobe Driver on page 156.

13.5

Creating Printers using the Adobe Driver

If you do not have the Adobe printer driver installer, you can download it from the Adobe Site. Here, we are
using version 1.0.6 of the installer which installs Pscript 5 for Windows 2000/2003 or XP.

Double click the Installer executable to start the program.

Click Next.

Choose the directly connected (Local Printer) option, and click Next.

Choose the port that you created earlier (which is configured for the ApogeeX System), and click Next.

Select your printers PPD file. If the ApogeeX PPD file is not in the list (as in the example above), click
the Browse button.

Browse to the file in ...\\ApogeeXSupportFiles\PPD, then click OK.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Create Print Spoolers - Page 157

Select Agfa ApogeeX and click OK. Agfa ApogeeX is added to the list.

Click Next.

If you want to share the printer, choose the Shared option, and enter a Share name. Sharing is necessary
if you create this printer on the ApogeeX System, and want to print to it from other workstations. Click
Next.

Enter the Printer Name. TIP: To avoid any confusion, it is best to use the same name as used on the
ApogeeX System. In this example, we created a printer for an ApogeeX TCP/IP input channel using port
4002.

Do not print a test page. It is better to do this later when the printer has been created. This gives you
more opportunity to change the settings and correct any printing problem. Click Next to view a
summary of what you will be installing.

Click Install. After installation, the following dialog box is displayed. Select Yes, and click Next.

Make any changes you require in the printer properties, and click OK.

Click Finish to complete the installation. NOTE: The readme file contains information about features
and limitations of the printer driver. Your printer is now ready for use.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Operating Systems - Create Print Spoolers - Page 158

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System recovery

X 1 ....:ApogeeX backup possibilities. .........................................................................................................................


Z 1.1........ Verify if SQL Server is installed and running .................................................................
Z 1.2........ Manual backup of the :ApogeeX DataBases with D_Backup.exe. ........................
Z 1.3........ Auto backup of the :ApogeeX DataBases with the replication Service. .............
Z 1.4........ Replication Service System logging .................................................................................
Z 1.5........ Manual backup of the :ApogeeX DataBase with the replication service ...........
Z 1.6........ Restoring your :ApogeeX Databases. ...............................................................................
X 2 ....Disk Mirroring. ........................................................................................................................................................
Z 2.1........ Mirroring the Server StorageSets to a UNC shared volume. ...................................
Z 2.2........ Mirroring StorageSets of a Satellite. ................................................................................
Z 2.3........ Stop mirroring StorageSets (remove volumes from a StorageSet). ......................
Z 2.4........ Mirroring stops because no access to mirror folder. ..................................................
X 3 ....Failover Server ........................................................................................................................................................
Z 3.1........ Supported Failover Configurations. ...................................................................................
Z 3.2........ Failover Server Setup. ............................................................................................................
Z 3.3........ Starting the Failover Server. ................................................................................................
Z 3.4........ Promote the Failover to a main server ............................................................................
Z 3.5........ The ApogeeX Server is repaired. ........................................................................................
Z 3.6........ The ApogeeX Server needs to be replaced ....................................................................
Z 3.7........ Licensing Failover configurations. .....................................................................................
Z 3.8........ External Raid 5 configurations ............................................................................................
X 4 ....Archiving jobs ..........................................................................................................................................................
Z 4.1........ Archive path ...............................................................................................................................
Z 4.2........ Mark for archive: the plan contains no Archive actions. ..........................................
Z 4.3........ Mark for archive: the plan contains Archive actions. .................................................
Z 4.4........ The plan contains no Archive actions, nor does it has kept results .....................
Z 4.5........ Mark for deletion versus mark for archive .....................................................................
Z 4.6........ Task Processors in the Archives not installed on the ApogeeX Server. ..............
Z 4.7........ Archives contain the preps template and marks. ........................................................
X

ab

160
161
162
162
167
167
167
169
169
170
170
171
172
172
174
177
180
180
182
183
184
185
185
185
186
187
187
187
187

System Recovery - :ApogeeX backup possibilities. - Page 160

:ApogeeX backup possibilities.


In ApogeeX there are 2 things you need to backup: DataBases and DataStore resources:
Backup the ApogeeX databases:
The information that is displayed in the :ApogeeX Clients is a visualization of the databases content. The
databases have references to the actual job data (DataStore resources).
The :ApogeeX backup tools will only backup the databases. It is advised to always have a very recent backup
of the databases.
Restore of the Databases is needed when:

OS disk broken/crashed -> Start Failover/re-installation ApogeeX.

ApogeeX Application disk broken/crashed -> Start Failover/re-installation ApogeeX.

DataBases got corrupt -> Start Failover/re-installation ApogeeX.

Complete computer doesnt start-up anymore -> Start Failover/re-installation ApogeeX.

Manual backup of the Databases can be done with the tool D_Backup.exe (User interface tool for manual
backup): The tool can be found in \Agfa\ApogeeX\Server\Framework\bin. (Backup.exe).
Automatic backup of the ApogeeX Databases can be done with the Replication Service (Configurable in
ApogeeX Client). Restore needs to be done with the tool D_Backup.exe.

You can not use spaces in the backup destination folder or path name.

The backup destination folder can be a remote folder but you must use a UNC path and the shared folder
name must be listed in the nullsessionshares reg. Key (reg. key only for manual backup).

The backup destination folder for the manual backup tool must be empty.

Backup the DataBases doesnt backup the DataStore resources on disk.

The automatic DataBase backup (replication Service) is not a continuous backup but works in intervals.
When restoring the databases, jobs and files created after the last Database backup will not be recovered, although these resources (= zombie files) might be available in the DataStores on disk.

The :ApogeeX restore operation may not be performed in upgrade scenarios!

The :ApogeeX restore operation may not be performed when there are different :ApogeeX patches
installed as at the time when the :ApogeeX backup was created.

The :ApogeeX restore operation will only be successful if the Operating System configuration and
:ApogeeX System configuration is identical as at the time when the :ApogeeX backup was created.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - :ApogeeX backup possibilities. - Page 161

Backup the ApogeeX DataStore resources:


Backup the Resources can be done by mirroring the disks (using the disk storage resource). Whenever a
disk with a DataStore folder goes down, :ApogeeX will disable the broken disk and will try to find a mirror
on another disk to continue processing.

1.1

Verify if SQL Server is installed and running

1.1.1

SQL Server

Double click SQL Server icon in windows taskbar. Or browse to START>Programs>Startup>Service


Manager.

If SQL Server icon show green triangle, SQL Server is started.

1.1.2

SQL Express/Server 2005

START>Programs>Microsoft SQL Server 2005>Configuration Tools>SQL Server Configuration


Manager.

Select SQL Server 2005 Services

Verify if SQL Server is running

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - :ApogeeX backup possibilities. - Page 162

1.2

Manual backup of the :ApogeeX DataBases with D_Backup.exe.

This is not recommended, we advice to use the Replication Service to make DataBase backups.

MSDE (SQL) needs to be running, :ApogeeX may be running but it doesnt have to. However we recommend that there is no processing going on when performing this manual backup procedure.

Create a manual-backups folder.

Start the backup-restore application (\Agfa\ApogeeX\Server\Framework\bin\D_Backup.exe).

Select the backup button.

Select your SQL Server (the SQL server name = computer name of the system on which the SQL application is running). Normally the :ApogeeX Systemname is detected automatically.

Enter the backup destination folder or browse to it (use the manual-backups folder).

Select the backup button.

Because the Hardware systems with distributed processes dont have databases, the database backup
only needs to be done on the server. All DataBases are located at the Server. Select ok to continue

Wait until the backup has finished. The backup restore shrink window shows up again, close this
window.

1.3

Auto backup of the :ApogeeX DataBases with the replication Service.

SQL Server writes 2 types of files to \Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL\Data.


The *.mdf files are the Primary data files. The files contain the system tables for the databases, pointers to
any other files used by the database, and can also contain data. For each *.mdf file there is an ldf file. The
*.ldf files are the Transaction log files.
In Transaction log files (LDF files), the Transactions are logged that have been performed against the
database (MDF file) since the previous transaction log backup. The transaction log is used when SQL Server
is restarted, when transactions are rolled back, and to restore the database. If Schedule Incremental backup

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - :ApogeeX backup possibilities. - Page 163

is not enabled, no log backup is made. In this case LDF files stay small, they only contain data for e.g. to
recover after a crash. For more info about transaction log backup refer to: Full recovery mode on page 165

The automatic backup of the DataBases can be configured with the ApogeeX Client. You can configure
ApogeeX to automatically schedule full and Transaction Log (incremental) backups.
Procedure:
1. Select your :ApogeeX system in the top pane of the System Overview (the hardware pane) and doubleclick on the Configuration resource in the bottom pane (the resource pane).
2. Select the DataBase Maintenance tab.
3. Enter a path in the backup to field to replicate to. Click ok to save changes.
4. Re-open System Configuration > DataBase Maintenance
5. Select the checkbox next to schedule full backup.
6. Select the full backup interval: every day/week
7. Enter the hour when the full backup should be done. It is recommended that the full database backup is
done when no other processing is done at ApogeeX (during the night). When a full backup is initiated, 3
tasks are performed:

Consistency check: Consistency check is done just before full backup (Replication Service). A Consistency check verifies the internal structures of the various databases. ApogeeX 3.5 will post an error
message if it finds problems with the database. When there is an error it will try to repair it.

Shrink: Reduces the physical file size. In ApogeeX 3.0 and 3.5, a Shrink operation is executed automatically just before the full backup is done by the replication Service. It doesnt matter if log backups are
made or not. The LDF or MDF files will be shrinked if more then 50% of the LDF/MDF physical file size
is free. See also: ApogeeX Tools > Shrinking.

Full backup: creates a full backup


8. If needed, select Include ProcessResourceDisk in full backup. If checked, the System datastore>processresourceDisk folder will be copied and zipped as PRDisk.zip in the replication location.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - :ApogeeX backup possibilities. - Page 164

The processresourceDisk folder contains all the system and TP resources required to start the ApogeeX
Server.
9. If needed, select schedule Incremental backup (see Full recovery mode on page 165). Enter the log
backup Interval. The Log backup is written into the same folder as your full backup. During restore,
ApogeeX will restore the full backup together with all log backup files. CAUTION: backing up uses some
processor time and disk space, the larger your intervals the larger the performance penalty and disk
space requirements. We recommend using: 30 minutes for small production systems and 15 minutes for
high production systems. If no log backup is required (max data loss of 24 hours), disable Schedule
Incremental backup (faster).
10. Decide what to do with previous backup sets: delete or keep a limited amount of backups. Recommended is to keep the last 2 backup sets.
11. Select a scratch directory to be used as temporary folder (must be local). In this directory the Database
backup will be written first and then copied to the replication location.
12. Select OK. The settings are saved and the Configuration resource is closed.

When making a new full backup, ApogeeX creates in the replication location a new sub folder. This folder
is called AxBackup<DATE>_<TIME>. In the Sub folder first a Full backup will be generated. All incremental backups are written in the same folder. Every new full backup will be created in a new sub folder in
the replication location. A full backup has finished if a backup icon is generated in the replication sub folder.

CAUTION: Backup of the DataBases cannot be done on the Satellites; no SQL servers are running on those
machines. All DataBases are running on the Server. Backup of resources (=contents of the DataStore
folders on disk) is not possible with the replication service. Backup of the resources can be done by
mirroring the disks.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - :ApogeeX backup possibilities. - Page 165

1.3.1

Simple recovery mode

If Schedule Incremental backup is not enabled (ApogeeX System Configuration > DataBaseMainenance),
no log backup is made. In this case we talk about a simple recovery mode. ApogeeX creates a full backup
every 24 hours.

This mode is faster then the full recovery mode because no log backups are made.

LDF files in the SQL server data folder do not grow fast.

The LDF or MDF files will be shrinked if more then 50% of the LDF/MDF physical file size is free.

NOTE: It is recommended to create backups. Use the replication Service (Simple or Full recovery mode) to
create them.

1.3.2

Full recovery mode

If Schedule Incremental backups is enabled, log backups are made. In this case we talk about a full recovery
mode. ApogeeX creates a full backup and log backups. The log files will become bigger; the ldf files contain
data necessary to create the log backups.

The Full recovery mode is less fast then the full recovery mode, nevertheless, this is the safest recovery
mode (you lose maximum e.g. 30 minutes of data).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - :ApogeeX backup possibilities. - Page 166

Old log records (non active log records) in the LDF files no longer necessary for recovering or restoring
a database must be deleted to make space for new log records. This is done automatically at the completion of the incremental backup (= transaction log backup).

The active portion of the transaction log can never be deleted. The active portion of the log is the part of
the log needed to recover the database at any time. It must always be present in the database in case the
server fails because it will be required to recover the database when the server is restarted.

De physical size of LDF files is reduced when shrinking these files (before full backup).

When free space in mdf files becomes available, this space will be used for new data (size of the mdf is
kept under control.)

The size in use in an LDF file can be checked with the monitor tool. (See chapter ApogeeX tools>Monitor
tool>Verify size of LDF files)

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - :ApogeeX backup possibilities. - Page 167

1.4

Replication Service System logging

Consistency check, shrinking, backup and re-indexing events can be logged into the ApogeeX System log.
Therefore, enable Informative messages in System overview>System Resources>Logging>System
Log>Informative messages. Open the system logging: go to the System overview, context click the
ApogeeX System icon, select Log for ApogeeX System.

1.5

Manual backup of the :ApogeeX DataBase with the replication service

Select your :ApogeeX system in the top pane of the System Overview (the hardware pane) and double-click
on the Configuration resource in the bottom pane (the resource pane).
Procedure:

Select the DataBase Maintenance tab.

Make sure a valid Database backup location is entered in the Backup to field. Schedule full backup
does not need to be enabled.

Click the Backup now button. ApogeeX will create a new Full backup set.

check on disk if the backup is made

Close the Configuration resource window.

1.6

Restoring your :ApogeeX Databases.

Restore always needs to be performed with the backup/restore User interface tool.
Before restoring any :ApogeeX data:

Verify that :ApogeeX is not started by starting the :ApogeeX console. The console should display a
message :ApogeeXSystem not active.

Verify that the SQL server is started.

Verify which is the most recent DataBase backup containing a full backup: All sub folders in the replication location directory contain backup files. The sub folders are named AxBackup$DATE_$TIME.
Open the most recent folder. Verify if that folder contains a full backup. A full backup contains at least
6 files, they are named as FW_****Server_ApogeeX system name.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - :ApogeeX backup possibilities. - Page 168

CAUTION: If this folder for some reason only contains log backups (recognize by the name
FW_****Server_ApogeeX systemname_LOG.x, they are also much smaller) this backup folder cant be
used.

If the backup sub folder does not contain a full backup, look into an older folder.

CAUTION: If you need to do a re-install of ApogeeX be absolutely sure you install the same components
and task processors on the System before you restore the backup.
Restore procedure:
1. Start the backup-restore application (\Agfa\ApogeeX\Server\Framework\bin\D_Backup.exe).
2. Select the restore button.
3. Select your SQL server.
4. Browse to the most recent backup folder with a full backup.
5. Select the Restore button.
6. The restore application will automatically restore the full and incremental backups from the backup
folder.
7. Do not close the :ApogeeX backup and restore application. It is possible that you get a restore warning.
This warning acknowledges you that Task Processors or components are not installed on the Server (but
they are referenced to in the imported DataBase.). It is possible that the warning only warns about the
TPs on the Satellites, in this case ignore this warning. click ok to continue.
8. The backup restore shrink window shows up again, close this window. Reboot the computer.
9. Start-up :ApogeeX.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Disk Mirroring. - Page 169

Disk Mirroring.
Disk mirroring is used to backup all DataStore resources (scratch, PDF, raster and system data). Mirroring
means: writing DataStore resources to 2 or more locations simultaneously. If a DataStore disk fails, the
mirrored data will be used to continue production.
In the System Overview of :ApogeeX each Hardware System (Hardware pane) has got a DiskStorage
Resource. If you open this resource you see it is divided into 2 parts: StorageSets and Disk Monitor. In the
StorageSet tab all available StorageSets are shown.
You can add a disk or a UNC shared volume to a StorageSet. When :ApogeeX writes data to that StorageSet,
this data will be copied to all disks/UNC shared volumes from that StorageSet. Whenever a disk/UNC
shared volume from that StorageSet fails, ApogeeX will disable that disk/UNC shared volume. The disk/
UNC shared volume will get a red indication. ApogeeX will however continue working using the other
volumes from that StorageSet. After replacing the broken disk/UNC shared volume, you must enable the
disk/UNC shared volume again.

2.1

Mirroring the Server StorageSets to a UNC shared volume.

Go to the System Overview.

Select the ApogeeX Server.

Open the Disk Storage Resource.

CAUTION: Do not select the + button in the StorageSets overview. This button is for adding a NEW
StorageSet (expanding disk capacity of a DataStore).

Double-click the Raster StorageSet (StorageSet of Raster DataStore).

Select the + button to add a UNC shared volume.

NOTE: if you mirror different datastores to the same disk (e.g. to the G drive on the Failover Server) then
you should use the same shared folder for these datastores (e.g. Raster and system are mirrored to
\\Failover\SharediskG).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Disk Mirroring. - Page 170

NOTE: Remote locations (locations not on the same hardware system as the storage server) must always be
entered with their UNC address, not with a mapped drive letter.

Enter the path to the UNC shared folder (eg.\\computername\MirrorServerE).

Select the location from the dropdownlist where you want to mirror the data from and select OK.
CAUTION: Make sure that you have sufficient access permissions on the UNC shared volume (full control).
Do not change the StorageSet file type (Files to Store).

We recommend that the disk capacity of all disks/UNC shared volumes in a StorageSet is identical.
The new UNC shared volume is added to the StorageSet which illustrates that mirroring is enabled for the
Raster StorageSet.

Select the Disk Monitor Tab.

You should see that the StorageSets are mirroring to the new volumes. When mirroring is finished the
Volumes should show the OK status. If this is not the case: select the volume and select the enable
button, if the status still does not change to OK, verify the permissions of the shared folder.

ApogeeX will automatically generate a folder ApogeeDataStore in the new volumes.

2.2

Mirroring StorageSets of a Satellite.

You can also mirror the StorageSets of a Satellite. Note: Satellites will only have a StorageSet when you
have installed a LocalStorageServer. The procedure to mirror StorageSets of Satellites is identical to the
mirroring of StorageSets of a Server.
NOTE: Remote locations (locations not on the same hardware system as the storage server) must always be
entered with their UNC address, not with a mapped drive letter.

2.3

Stop mirroring StorageSets (remove volumes from a StorageSet).

Go to the System overview.

Select the computer on which you want to remove a mirroring volume.

Open the Disk Storage resource and select the StorageSets tab.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Disk Mirroring. - Page 171

Double-click the StorageSet from which you want to remove a mirroring volume.

Select the Volume that needs to be removed and select delete.

Make sure you do not remove all disks/volumes from a StorageSet. A StorageSet must contain minimum 1
disk/volume, otherwise all data from that StorageSet is lost.
NOTE: the mirrored data is not automatically removed after removing the volume from the StorageSet. You
must browse with Windows explorer to the deleted StorageSet volumes and delete the data manually (if it
is no longer needed).

2.4

Mirroring stops because no access to mirror folder.

A StorageSet location is automatically disabled by ApogeeX if that location is unavailable on the network
(network failure/Computer shutdown/). When the location is disabled, a message is given in the
message board.
To see if the location is disabled, go to the Disk Storage resource which includes that location.
Switch to the disk monitor tab. The Disabled disk will appear in red.

\\\mirrorf

If the location becomes available on the network, press enable in the Disk storage resource>Disk monitor
tab. The DataStore will be brought in sync if there is a mirror available.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Failover Server - Page 172

Failover Server
A Failover Server is a backup for an ApogeeX Server. When the ApogeeX Server is no longer operational,
the Failover Server can take over. The ApogeeX Server must have a network connection to the Failover
Server.
There is no Failover system for the Satellite systems. When the Satellite is no longer operational, all components of the Satellite stay registered on the Satellite (e.g. Render_2, Avantra,...). When installing a new
Satellite, the new components will get different names (e.g. Render_3, Avantra_2,...). Jobs and Hot Tickets
that use components from the broken Satellite need to be remade with the new Task Processors (eg. jobs
with Avantra). Resources saved by the LocalStorageServer of the broken Satellite cannot be used anymore
(eg. Raster Results of Render_2).
If a satellite is no longer operational, and it cannot be uninstalled properly, you should un-register the Satellite components first before installing the new satellite (refer to Uninstall Service: on page 196).

3.1

Supported Failover Configurations.

3.1.1

Dedicated Failover Server.

Failover Server software is installed on a dedicated computer (computer contains only the Operating
System and Failover software).
ApogeeX workflow without Satellite
The Failover Server must have identical output device interface boards (APIS/SCSI) as the ApogeeX Server.
The output device cables need to be switched before starting the Failover server.

ApogeeX Satellite workflow (with or without connected high resolution output device)
We strongly recommend to use a dedicated Failover Server when your ApogeeX workflow includes an
ApogeeX Satellite with output devices. The Failover Server must have identical output device interface
boards (APIS/SCSI) as the ApogeeX Server. The output device cables need to be switched. Connected high
resolution output devices are; all AccuSets, all Phoenix, all Avantras, all Galileos, Paladio, X45. Proofers
and PrintDrive do not belong to the connected high resolution devices group.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Failover Server - Page 173

NOTE: The Failover Server can only replace the ApogeeX Server. The Failover Server can not replace the
Satellite.

3.1.2

ApogeeX Satellite Failover Server.

An ApogeeX Satellite can also be configured as a Failover Server.


ApogeeX Satellite/Failover without connected high resolution output device
The Failover Server must have identical output device interface boards (APIS/SCSI) as the ApogeeX Server.
The Satellite components on the Failover Server must be started after starting the Failover Server. The
Satellite components will be registered to the Failover Server. The output device cables will also need to be
switched.
Connected high resolution output devices are; all AccuSets, all Phoenix, all Avantras, all Galileos, Paladio,
X45,... Proofers and PrintDrive do not belong to the connected high resolution devices group.

ApogeeX Server and Satellite/Failover both connected with high res. output devices
We recommend not to use this configuration. We recommend to use a dedicated Failover Server for this
configuration (see above).
When the ApogeeX Server is no longer operational a decision has to be made which high resolution output
device will be connected to the Failover Server (we only support one connection). The result is that the jobs
which are created for the non connected output device can not be used.
ApogeeX Server without connected high resolution output devices and
ApogeeX Satellite/Failover with connected high resolution output devices
The Satellite components on the Failover Server must be started after starting the Failover Server. The
Satellite components will be registered to the Failover Server.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Failover Server - Page 174

Connected high resolution output devices are; all AccuSets, all Phoenix, all Avantras, all Galileos, Palladio,
X45,... Proofers and PrintDrive do not belong to the connected high resolution devices group.

3.2

Failover Server Setup.

The Failover Server must have an identical Operating System and disk configuration as the ApogeeX
Server.

CAUTION: You must Setup the Failover Server exactly according to the procedure described below. The
Failover Setup order is also important.
3.2.1

Installation Failover Server.

Before starting with the Failover Server installation you must verify the exact location of the Program and
Data folders of Microsoft MSDE/SQL which is used on the ApogeeX Server. The Failover Server MUST
HAVE the same disk configuration (same drive letters) as the ApogeeX Server. The Failover installer doesnt
ask to change installation directory and Root locations, it takes the same drives as the ApogeeX main server.
NOTE: When some drives (installation drive, archiveroot drive,...) are missing on the Failover PC, the
Failover installer will go in error.

Install the ApogeeX Prerequisites on the Failover PC and reboot the computer.

Copy the file \Agfa\ApogeeX\Server\Servername_Date_Time.xml with the latest date and time from
the ApogeeX Server to the Failover Server. This file includes information regarding the installed Task
Processors on the Server.

Start Setup.exe from the installer DVD, click Installation

Click System

click Install or click modify ApogeeX (In case there is a Satellite on the Failover PC) .

Click next in the welcome screen.

Click next to accept the License agreement (this screen is not shown when there is already a Satellite
installed on the failover PC).

Select Modify (In case there is already a satellite installed on the failover PC.) If there is no Satellite on
the Failover PC, select Satellite and/or Failover. Click next.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Failover Server - Page 175

Select one of the following options: Add a failover of a main Server to this Satellite, or Failover. Click
next.

Select the configuration file (Servername_Date_Time.xml) and click next.

Check the overview and click next.

Click Install to begin the installation

Install the same patches as on the Server.

If there is also a Satellite installed on the Failover PC, be sure to have an identical InstanceName on the
Main Server and the Failover (See Satellite cannot be started when connected to Failover Server. on
page 221).

NOTE: For uninstallation Failover: refer to installation guide

3.2.2

Update the failover server

When you install new options on the ApogeeX Server after installing the Failover Server then you must
update the Failover Server also.

Copy the file \Agfa\ApogeeX\Server\Servername_Date_Time.xml with the latest date and time from
the main ApogeeX Server to the Failover Server. This file includes information regarding the original
and the new installed Task Processors/components on the Server.

Start Setup.exe from the installer DVD, click Installation

Click System

click modify ApogeeX

Click next in the welcome screen.

Select modify, click next

Select Update the Failover configuration, click next

Select the latest configuration file (Servername_Date_Time.xml) and click next.

Check the overview and click next.

Click Install to begin the installation

Install the same patches as on the Server.

3.2.3

Mirroring the StorageSets of the ApogeeX Server.

All DataStore Resources which are located on the ApogeeX Server need to be mirrored to the Failover
Server. When the ApogeeX Server is no longer operational, the Failover Server must have access to all
DataStore resources. These steps are not needed if all DataStores are on an external RAID.

Make a mirror for each StorageSet on the ApogeeX Server. Refer to Mirroring the Server StorageSets
to a UNC shared volume. on page 169.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Failover Server - Page 176

NOTE: if you mirror different datastores to the same disk (e.g. to the F drive on the Failover Server) then you
should use the same shared folder for these datastores (e.g. Raster and system are mirrored to
\\Failover\Mirror_F).

The scratch (Temp) directory does not need to be mirrored.

3.2.4

Configuration of Database replication.

The Databases on the ApogeeX Server need to be replicated to the Failover Server.
Refer to Auto backup of the :ApogeeX DataBases with the replication Service. on page 162. Preferably
name the replication location folder replication and put it on the root of a drive of the Failover Hardware
system (eg. e:\replication).

3.2.5

Creating *.reg files if a Satellite is installed on the Failover Server.

NOTE: Only create these files for ApogeeX 3.5 or older. Registry files do not need to be made for ApogeeX
4.0.

3.2.6

Use local path for Preps Templates and Marks

You should use a local path for Preps templates and marks (not UNC). Reason: when starting up Failover,
Preps templates and marks will be found locally on the Failover Server.
System Overview > System components > ImpositionService
eg. use F:\Preps\Templates

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Failover Server - Page 177

CAUTION: you have to use a PC client that is not installed on the main Server. Reason: if you type a local
path on the Server, this path is automatically converted to a UNC path.
Make sure the templates and marks are also shared (e.g. share the preps folder.)

NOTE: the Templates and Marks folders can be automatically copied to the Failover Server (multiple times
a day) by scheduling the Backup Preps folder batch file. More info on the Windows Task Scheduler can be
found: Windows Scheduler on page 129. More info on the Backup Preps folder batch file can be found in
the ApogeeX Scripts Collection (published on Services library).

3.2.7

Other prerequisites

Create the same Windows Spoolers on the Failover Server as on the ApogeeX Server

3.3

Starting the Failover Server.

In case the :ApogeeX Server is no longer operational and the problem can't be resolved immediately, the
ApogeeX Failover Server can be started (this should be possible without intervention of a Service engineer).

Make sure the :ApogeeX Server is powered off.

When your Failover Server is also an ApogeeX Satellite, Make sure that the Satellite components are not
running (Quit all tasks in the Windows Task bar on the Failover Server).

Verify if SQL Server is running. If it is not running, restart the Failover system/start the SQL Server
manually. See also SQL Express/Server 2005 on page 161.

Start the backup/restore tool on the Failover Server. The backup/restore tool (D_Backup.exe) can be
found in: \Agfa\ApogeeX\Server\Framework\Bin

Select Restore.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Failover Server - Page 178

Select the SQL Server which is running on the Failover Server. When the SQL Server is not in the list,
select the button with the three dots and enter the name of the SQL Server. The name of the SQL Server
is the hostname of the hardware system which it is running on.

Select Browse and browse to a "AxBackupdate_time" folder with the most recent date and time. All
"AxBackupdate_time" folders can be found on your Failover Server (probably in the folder "replication"
on one of your disks.). Choose the folder with the latest modification date and time.

Select OK. When the backup folder does not contain a valid backup an Error message is shown: select a
different (older) "AXBackupdate_time" folder and try again.

When the backup folder contains a good backup, select restore.

Wait until the restore process is completed (you should see the Backup/Restore/Shrink buttons) and
then close the Backup/Restore tool.

It is possible that during the restore of the database a warning is given: The TP with ID xxx is referenced
in the database though it is not installed on this computer. This means that a TP/component is installed
on the original ApogeeX Server, but it is not installed on the Failover Server. This popup is just a
warning, restore will be executed properly. When you get this warning you can do 3 things:
Verify if the warning is about task processors that are installed on the ApogeeX Satellite. In this case
there is no issue. If warning is about TPs that are not on the Satellites:
- Update the Failover Server with the Failover.ini file from the ApogeeX Server or
- Promote the Failover (seePromote the Failover to a main server on page 180), install the components/Task Processors that are missing after startup of the Failover.

You must power down the Failover Server.

If the :ApogeeX Server is connected to an ImageSetter\PlateSetter switch the output cables.

Start the Failover Server.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Failover Server - Page 179

Startup the ApogeeX Failover system: Start menu > Programs > Agfa > Console. Press start.

Please be patient while the Failover Server starts up and recovers the resources and jobs. This may take
a few minutes.

When the Failover System is completely started, start-up all the Satellites (also the satellite installed on
the same hardware system as the Failover server.).

Start an ApogeeX Client and verify if all Task Processors are running.

Go to the System Overview, Select the Hardware system of the Failover Server. If you have a Satellite
installed on the same hardware as the Failover Server you get to see 2 Disk Storage resources.

Open the Disk Storage Resource of the Failover Server (resource name = Disk Storage). Select the Disk
Monitor Tab. The drives on which the Mirrored locations for PDF, raster and system are located are
indicated with a checkmark. DataStore locations that are not accessible by the Failover server have
disappeared. The temp data was not mirrored to the Failover hardware system, ApogeeX Failover
Server will use the Windows Temp folder. You dont have to change anything in the Disk monitor, close
the disk monitor.

There is no scratch disk available, ApogeeX will use the windows temp directory.

Message in the message board: No valid network card and no valid dongle found. These messages
inform you that you get a grace period (maximum 14 days) for which you can keep working with the
:ApogeeX system without re-licensing or attaching the ApogeeX dongle. Acknowledge this message.

Message in the message board: The PrintDrive Task Processor gives a User Interaction when starting up
on the Failover Server. PrintDrive device PrintDrive@duvel exists, but the location is not configured for
this AX Server.... With printDrive Pilot, go to the device list of PrintDrive. To solve the issue, delete the
device PrintDrive@ApogeeXServerName (This device is still there from the Main ApogeeX Server.).
Restart the PrintDrive Task Processor in ApogeeX.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Failover Server - Page 180

Your Failover Server is now ready to take over production.

3.4

Promote the Failover to a main server

If your main server does not get replaced or repaired you should promote your Failover to a main server.
What does Promote the Failover do:

Change the registry to have the ability to add/remove components without a configuration file

Change the add/remove programs entry

Procedure:

Uninstall the Satellite on the same Hardware system as the Failover (if there is one)

reboot the Failover PC

Start the ApogeeX installer and modify the installation

Select Promote the Failover to a Main Server

Reboot the PC

Uninstall SUM on Server and Satellites

Install SUM on Server and Satellites

Install Hotfixes

3.5

The ApogeeX Server is repaired.

This is the procedure to be used when the broken ApogeeX Server is repaired.

Backup the MSDE/SQL DataBase of the Failover Server: make a Backup now with the replication
Service

Verify if the backup is created, stop the ApogeeX System.

Copy the database backup to the Main Server.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Failover Server - Page 181

Restore this backup on the main Server (\Agfa\ApogeeX\Server\Framework\Bin\D_Backup.exe).


Note: when you restore make sure to select the ApogeeX Server SQL Server.

Wait until the restore process is completed (you should see the Backup/Restore/Shrink buttons) and
then close the Backup/Restore tool. Ignore warnings about Task Processors from the satellite.

Power down the ApogeeX Server.

If necessary switch output device cables.

Start the PC

Start ApogeeX.

Start the ApogeeX client

The PrintDrive Task Processor will show a User Interaction message when starting up: PrintDrive
device PrintDrive@duvel exists, but the location is not configured for this AX Server..... Delete the
device PrintDrive@ApogeeXServerName on the PrintDrive System (this device is still there from the
Main ApogeeX Server.). Restart the PrintDrive Task Processor in ApogeeX.

Start the satellites.

You will need to re-license your ApogeeX Server when you have licensed your Failover server.

NOTE: Bring the local DataStores on the Server back in Sync: perform the following procedure for each
Storage set, except of the Temp Storage set. If you dont do this resources created by the Failover server are
not mirrored to the locdal disk of the ApogeeX Server.

Open the Disk Storage resource of the main Hardware system

Double click the storage set temp. Add a local disk (preferably the same drive letter as the original
temp datastore on the server.)

Double click the storage set PDF, Raster, Sys. Add a local disk (do not remove the remote location
from the failover).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Failover Server - Page 182

Copy the Preps templates from the Failover Server back to the Main Server in the same folder structure.

3.6

The ApogeeX Server needs to be replaced

This is the procedure to be used when the broken ApogeeX Server can not be fixed and needs to be replaced
by a new Server.
Before starting with the ApogeeX Server installation you must verify the exact location of the Program and
Data folders of Microsoft MSDE/SQL which is used on the Failover Server. The ApogeeX Server must use
an identical location.

The new ApogeeX Server should be correctly connected to the network with an identical disk configuration as the Failover Server. Note: Preferably keep the same computer name for the ApogeeX Server.

Backup the MSDE/SQL DataBase of the Failover Server with the replication Service backup now
option.

Stop the ApogeeX Failover System to make sure that no jobs/data can be created.

Browse to \Agfa\ApogeeX\Server\ folder on the Failover PC and copy the Servername_Date_Time.xml


file to the new ApogeeX Server.

Copy also the database backup to the new ApogeeX Server.

Install the ApogeeX prerequisites on the new ApogeeX Server and reboot the computer. CAUTION:
install the MSDE/SQL Server in the same location as the Failover.

Install now a main ApogeeX SERVER using the Servername_Date_Time.xml file of the Failover..

When the installer has finished, reboot the new ApogeeX Server.

Start the backup restore tool on the new ApogeeX Server (\Agfa\ApogeeX\Server\Framework\Bin\D_Backup.exe). Restore the backup you created on the Failover Server. Note: when you
restore make sure to select the new ApogeeX Server SQL Server.

Uninstall SUM on Failover and all Satellites

Install SUM on Server, Failover and Satellites

Power down the new ApogeeX Server.

If necessary switch output device cables.

Start the new Server.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Failover Server - Page 183

Start ApogeeX with the console.

Open System Overview > Main hardware system > Disk Storage resource, select the Disk monitor tab.

If there are disks which are disabled, do the following:

Select the disks on which System, PDF and Raster StorageSets are located

Select enable, the status of those disks will show preparing to mirror or Mirroring x% wait until
the statuses are set to ok. This might take a while.

If the temp DataStore location (in this example d:\) is correct, select the disk and enable it.

If you want the temp directory to be saved on another disk:


Select the Storage sets tab and double click the temp Storage set
Select the + button to add a new location
Enter the new location (e.g. E:\), select OK to confirm the changes
Double click the storage set again and delete the old (disabled) location
Click ok to confirm the changes
Restart the ApogeeX System.

Start all Satellites.

The PrintDrive Task Processor will give a User Interaction message when starting up:
PrintDrive device PrintDrive@duvel exists, but the location is not configured for this AX Server....
Delete the device PrintDrive@ApogeeXServerName on the PrintDrive System (This device is still there
from the Main ApogeeX Server.)
Restart the PrintDrive Task Processor in ApogeeX

You will need to license the new ApogeeX Server (see licensing failover configurations).

Copy the Preps templates from the Failover Server back to the Main Server in the same folder structure.
Create the share so Templates and marks are available on the Network also.

Install hotfixes using SUM

3.7

Licensing Failover configurations.

3.7.1

License Failover Server.

The Failover Server does not need to be licensed. The Failover Server also does not need an ApogeeX
dongle. However if the ApogeeX Server problem can not be solved within 14 days, then the Failover Server
does need a license and an ApogeeX dongle.
To license your Failover Server:

Connect the ApogeeX dongle on the Failover Server.

Create a new fingerprint file.

Upload this fingerprint file to ELMS as if it was a license request file. A new license file will be generated.

Load the new license file.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Failover Server - Page 184

3.7.2

Re-License ApogeeX Server.

When the problem with the ApogeeX Server is fixed, then you need to re-license your ApogeeX Server. This
needs to be done when the ApogeeX Server is replaced with a new Server but also when you have fixed the
original ApogeeX Server. The grace period will be reset to 14 days.
To re-license your ApogeeX Server:

Connect the ApogeeX dongle on the ApogeeX Server again.

Create a new fingerprint file.

Upload this fingerprint file to ELMS as if it was a license request file. A new license file will be generated.

Load the new license file.

3.8

External Raid 5 configurations

DATASTORES located on an external RAID, are working fine. In case of an external RAID this RAID volume
needs to be mapped on the Main Server and Failover Server with the same Drive letter. There is no need to
replicate the DataStores. There is also no need to have local storage servers on the satellites.
The databases are a different story: when SQL creates a database, it links the database to the SQL-instance
that created the database; you cannot just copy the files and then expect it to load on a different SQL
instance on a different machine => you can store the databases on the RAID, but it's still essential to REPLICATE the database towards the failover system.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Archiving jobs - Page 185

Archiving jobs
4.1

Archive path

The archive path can be entered in the Job Housekeeping. Make sure the path contains the variables
$ORDER and $JOB so archives can easily be retreived by the customer.

4.2

Mark for archive: the plan contains no Archive actions.

ApogeeX archives the first available kept result. ApogeeX starts looking for a kept result starting from the
input channels. It doesn't matter whether results are kept because of an explicit Keep Result action or by an
implicit one (such as the one set by the Run List task processor).
This implies that CIP3 files, which are implicitly kept results from the Press TP, are not archived! This means
that after restoring the archive, you have to reprocess the job in order to get the CIP3 files. This will also
remake the plates! Of course, this is only a problem if you only need the CIP3 files from the archive.
If the job uses pages from a Public Page Store, ApogeeX copies them into the job as implicitly kept results of
the Run List task processor when it archives the job.
Example:
Finished job
Keep result on Hotfolder and render.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Archiving jobs - Page 186

If files are input via Public pagestore, the archive contains in this case the resources for:

Runlist

If files are input via the hotfolder, the archive contains in this case the resources for:

Hotfolder

NOTE: If a job is archived with results that are not finished, those unfinished results will start reprocessing
after import of the archive. Reason: only first available results are archived (e.g. runlist). If a flat is in hold
after the render, the render results will not be archived.

4.3

Mark for archive: the plan contains Archive actions.

ApogeeX archives the results from the task processors that have an Archive action. It does not archive other
results. Again, to have ApogeeX archive the CIP3 files, you will have to put an Archive action on the Press
task processor. This is not very intuitive. If the job uses pages from a Public Page Store, ApogeeX will only
archive them if you place an Archive action on the Run List. If you do not place an archive action on the Run
List, ApogeeX will not archive them. In such a case, the restored job still refers to the Public Page Store to
find the page; the job will fail if they are no longer present.
Example:
Finished job
Keep result on Hotfolder
Archive action on render.
Mark for archive: marked results.

The archive contains in this case the resources for:

Render

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Archiving jobs - Page 187

4.4

The plan contains no Archive actions, nor does it has kept results

ApogeeX archives no results. Note that this is only possible in a Hot Ticket without a Run List task processor
(a job always has implicitly kept results because of the Run List task processor).
Note that this is the only situation in which CIP3 files will be archived, since they are the first kept results.

4.5

Mark for deletion versus mark for archive

The job housekeeping schedule archives jobs that are marked for archive. However, the exact time of this
depends on the state of Mark for deletion:
Mark for deletion OFF: ApogeeX creates the archive in the first system housekeeping run after the job
finishes.
Mark for deletion ON: ApogeeX creates the archive in the same system housekeeping run that deletes the
job.

4.6

Task Processors in the Archives not installed on the ApogeeX Server.

The message "Unknown TP Group id Group id gr_Press_3 for operation print" is given

The archive will be imported. -> job becomes available in job list

An error is given next to the job: "The job requires one or more task processors that are not installed.
gr_Press_3"

In the plan, the press is missing, you need to edit the job and place a press that is available on the Server.

4.7

Archives contain the preps template and marks.

If you archive a job, the used Preps template and marks are saved in the archive. This is always done if there
is an impose Task Processor in the plan. If you import the archive, the templates and marks are not imported
automatically. To import the templates and marks:

Browse to the archive

Open the folder gr_impose

Copy the contents of the Templates folder to the ApogeeX templates folder

Copy the contents of the Marks folder to the ApogeeX Marks folder

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

System Recovery - Archiving jobs - Page 188

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing

X 1 ....Tracing information. ..............................................................................................................................................


Z 1.1........ Tracing Task Processors. ........................................................................................................
Z 1.2........ Tracing Components. ..............................................................................................................
Z 1.3........ Tracing JDFServer ....................................................................................................................
Z 1.4........ Generate JDF Server debug files ........................................................................................
Z 1.5........ Tracing ApogeeX OS X client. .............................................................................................
Z 1.6........ Tracing ApogeeX Windows client. ....................................................................................
X 2 ....Monitor tool. ............................................................................................................................................................
Z 2.1........ Load Balancing identical proofers .....................................................................................
Z 2.2........ Monitor Components .............................................................................................................
Z 2.3........ Verify who is logged in on to the :ApogeeX system: .................................................
Z 2.4........ Monitoring Task Processors: ................................................................................................
Z 2.5........ Verifying some Job Settings: ...............................................................................................
Z 2.6........ List checked out Licenses: ...................................................................................................
Z 2.7........ Start/stop/restart components: .........................................................................................
Z 2.8........ Uninstall Service: .....................................................................................................................
Z 2.9........ Uninstall Task Processor: ......................................................................................................
Z 2.10..... Generate blank fingerprint file: ..........................................................................................
Z 2.11..... Verify % fragmentation: .........................................................................................................
Z 2.12..... Verify size of LDF files: ..........................................................................................................
Z 2.13..... Clear all outstanding subscriptions ..................................................................................
X 3 ....Providing Job information for support. ..........................................................................................................
Z 3.1........ Save a Job dump ......................................................................................................................
Z 3.2........ Import a job dump/archive. .................................................................................................
Z 3.3........ Save the job log .......................................................................................................................
X 4 ....Logging information for the Macintosh Client on Macintosh OS X. ..................................................
Z 4.1........ How to enable crash reporting on Macintosh OS X 10.2.x systems ....................
Z 4.2........ To open the Crash log: ...........................................................................................................
X 5 ....Show string IDs in client next to translations ........................................................................................
X 6 ....ApogeeX System Rename ..................................................................................................................................
X 7 ....Shrink the SQL database. ....................................................................................................................................
Z 7.1........ What is shrinking? ...................................................................................................................
Z 7.2........ When to shrink the DataBases manually. ......................................................................
Z 7.3........ How to perform shrinking manually .................................................................................
X 8 ....cleanup dangling job resources .......................................................................................................................
X 9 ....Cleanup unused resources .................................................................................................................................
X 10 .ApogeeX scripts .....................................................................................................................................................
X 11 .Logging Toolkit (MIS connection) ...................................................................................................................
Z 11.1..... Reporter .......................................................................................................................................
Z 11.2..... Advanced ....................................................................................................................................
X 12 .DataStore Recovery tool. ....................................................................................................................................
X 13 .Archive Recovery tool ..........................................................................................................................................
X 14 .Custom proofingmark: Jobparams ...................................................................................................................
Z 14.1..... Change the size (boundingbox) of the mark .................................................................
Z 14.2..... Exclude parameters in the mark ........................................................................................
Z 14.3..... Change the font used in the mark ....................................................................................
Z 14.4..... Create a custom proofmark with customer logo .........................................................
X 15 .ApoDiag tool ............................................................................................................................................................

190
190
191
192
192
193
193
193
194
194
195
195
195
196
196
196
196
197
197
198
198
198
198
199
200
201
201
201
202
203
203
203
204
204
205
206
206
207
207
207
209
210
210
210
211
211
212
212

The tools described in this section can be used to get more information when and why a problem occurs. This kind
of information is highly useful for development in case a problem must be simulated or fixed.

Service Tools and tracing - Tracing information. - Page 190

Tracing information.

Tracing can be enabled to see the processing commands that the :ApogeeX system is executing. Enabling tracing
will decrease your performance.

1.1

Tracing Task Processors.

For each Task Processor we can enable tracing.

Go to the System Overview.

Select the Task Processor for which you want to enable tracing.

Double-click the Configuration resource of the Task Processor.

Select the tracing tab.

Select Trace to Stdout and you need to select all modules in the Enable Tracing For Modules.

Select OK to save the changes.

The Task Processor should automatically restart and a tracing command line window (
TP_TPNAME.exe) is started.

Context-click in tracing command line window menu bar and select properties > Layout.

Set the Screen buffer size width to 120 and height to 9999.

Select OK and select Save properties for future windows with same title.

To copy the contents of the tracing command line window to a text file:

Context-click in the tracing command line window menu bar and select Edit > Select all.

Press enter (to copy the selected contents).

Create a trace<TPNAME>.txt file on the desktop and open it with a text editor like NotePad.

Paste the copied contents in the text file and save the changes.

You can also immediately create a tracing text file:

Open the Task Processors > Configuration > Tracing tab.

Type C:\trace<TPNAME>.txt in the Trace output File field.

Deselect Trace to Stdout.

More info on tracing settings: Enable Tracing For Modules

TPSDK: displays all tracing about the framework.

TP: displays all tracing from the Task Processor (e.g. PostScript errors).

More info on tracing settings: Trace options

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Tracing information. - Page 191

Call trace: Must always be deselected!

Call trace will trace every function which makes that :ApogeeX will run very slow.

1.2

Tracing Components.

For each Component (Server component and services components) we can enable tracing. Some components already have tracing enabled by default however not all possible Trace options are selected.

Go to the System Overview.

Select the :ApogeeX System and double-click the Components resource.

Select the name (drop-down list) of the component of which you want to see some tracing.

Select the Tracing tab and select the Tracing to Stdout (if it isnt already selected).

Select the save button.

You must Stop and restart :ApogeeX before the tracing settings are activated.

NOTE: We recommend performing these actions on the Windows Client.

NOTE: The DefaultJobStore Server and DefaultTask Server have multiple Tracing tabs.
The following components write their tracing to the tracing command line window of the DefaultLauncher
(S_launcher.exe).

License service

CustomerDBService

ImpositionService

DefaultJobStoreServer

DefaultLoggingServer

DefaultNotificationServer

ProcessResourceStore

DefaultStorageServer

DefaultTaskServer

DefaultTranslationServer

The following components write their tracing to the tracing command line window of the
Systemname_COMPUTERNAME_4 (S_launcher.exe).

CMSService

PPDGeneratorService

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Tracing information. - Page 192

ResourceInformationService

TestPagesService

The following components write their tracing to the tracing command line window of the
Systemname_COMPUTERNAME_3 (S_launcher.exe).

All Task Processors

The following components write their tracing to the tracing command line window of the
Systemname_COMPUTERNAME_2 (S_launcher.exe).

PreviewLocatorService

PreviewService

PreviewServer

There are 4 launchers. The DefaultLauncher (most important one) will start up all other launchers. This is
the Framework service and server launcher. This launcher will show the most activity in its tracing
window.
The Launcher that looks like [Systemname_ COMPUTERNAME_2] is the Preview launcher.
The Launcher that looks like [Systemname_ COMPUTERNAME_3] is the Task Processor launcher.
The Launcher that looks like [Systemname_COMPUTERNAME_4] is the Optional service Launcher.

1.3

Tracing JDFServer

The JDFServer writes its tracing to its own tracing command line window.

In the Sytem Overview select the ApogeeX System.

Open the JDF Server resource, select the Tracing tab.

Select which parts to trace, select tracing options.

Click ok to save changes.

1.4

Generate JDF Server debug files

If enabled a copy is written of each JDF/JMF that is input/output in the debug folder. Also writes temporary
JDF/JMF results in the debug folder.

In the Sytem Overview select the ApogeeX System.

Open the JDF Server resource, select the debug tab.

Check Save debug files. Select Only save incoming JDF files if only the incoming JDFs are needed.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Monitor tool. - Page 193

click ok to save changes

1.5

Tracing ApogeeX OS X client.

Open the OS X ApogeeX client and go to the menu: ApogeeX > Preferences.

Press shift + ctrl + option + command buttons on your keyboard.

Keep these 4 buttons pressed in and press Esc or the cancel button. The preferences dialog will close.

Open preferences again and you will see a tracing tab.

Enable tracing, enable all checkboxes under data tracing and tracing level and click OK.

Under OS X browse to the folder: > Applications > Utilities

Start console

Stop and start the OS X ApogeeX client.

You will see some tracing in the console for the ApogeeX Client.

NOTE: Be sure to disable tracing again after use.

1.6

Tracing ApogeeX Windows client.

Make sure the ApogeeX client is not started

Open the file: C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Agfa\ApogeeX\Agfa ApogeeX


1_38.prf with a text editor

Change the text: ShowTracing= "false" into: ShowTracing= "true"

Start the ApogeeX client and select Edit > Preferences > the Tracing tab

Check "Enable Tracing" and check all Data tracing and all tracing level, click OK

Restart the client

Log files will be shown as additional DOS tracing window

Monitor tool.
The monitor tool can be used to verify if the :ApogeeX Client is visualizing the correct information.
Sometimes the problem isnt really a processing problem but only a visualization (User Interface) problem.
Start the :ApogeeX Console and select on the Monitor button.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Monitor tool. - Page 194

2.1

Load Balancing identical proofers

An extra proofer device (group) can be created which can be used when creating job and hot tickets. This
device is only visible in the devices pane in the Job Ticket Editor. The device can not be seen in the System
Overview.
The first proofer device which was selected in the group (see step 6 of creating a group device) is the proofer
which resources will be used during processing. A Load balanced task will be created in all the Activity
Monitors of all Sherpa's of the Group. When any Sherpa starts to print the Load balanced task, all other Load
balanced tasks will be deleted.

Type a Core Server.

Type b Grouping and Task Processors.

Type e Load Balancing.

Type b Create group.

Specify the Task Processors* numbers which should be included in the group, press <ENTER> after
each number, press <q> at the end of the list.

Provide a name for the group device.

Restart ApogeeX.

* list only shows internal name of Task Processor. To see both internal and display names of Task Processor
start the Service tool and select (a) Core Server, (c) Monitor and finally (c) Task Processors.
You can now create a production plan using the first proofer, the second proofer or the proofer group.
Limitations:

Only Proofer devices may be grouped

Contract proofing is not supported: you can not use resources which are dedicated for a specific proofer
(ink table).

It is not possible to indicate in a border on which proofer device the load balanced job is printed.

The proofers must be 100% identical: same parameter sets on all proofers and same resources loaded.
Do not mix pigment and dye devices or devices with different media sizes. The error messages for Load
Balanced jobs are not as limited (example: the message "media not loaded" is not given for any proofer
except for the first proofer in the group).

The Activity Monitor of the Proofer group will always show the Activity of the first Proofer which was
added to the group.

2.2

Monitor Components

From the main menu in the Monitor Tool.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Monitor tool. - Page 195

Type a to open the Core Server commands list (you will need to logon to the server).

Type c to open the monitor commands list.

Type a to view the Components status.

2.3

Verify who is logged in on to the :ApogeeX system:

From the main menu in the Monitor Tool.

Type a to open the core Server commands list (you will need to logon to the server).

Type c to open the monitor commands list.

Type b to view the list of users that are logged in to the :ApogeeX system.

2.4

Monitoring Task Processors:

From the main menu in the Monitor Tool.

Type a to open the core Server commands list (you will need to logon to the server).

Type c to open the monitor commands list.

Type c to view the Task Processors status.

The first column shows the display name, this is the name you see in the System Overview of the ApogeeX
client. The second column shows the internal name.

2.5

Verifying some Job Settings:

From the main menu in the Monitor Tool.

Type c to open the JobStore server.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Monitor tool. - Page 196

Type a to list all jobs.

The job list shows the number of the jobs that are available on the system, the order number, job name and
name of the job folder in the ApogeeDataStores.

2.6

List checked out Licenses:

These are the licenses which are in use by the system (checked out).
From the main menu in the Monitor Tool.

Type j to open the Licensing commands.

Type b to list all checked out licenses.

2.7

Start/stop/restart components:

This option allows you to stop/start/restart components.

Type f to open the :ApogeeX Launcher commands list (you will need to logon to the server).

Type a to select the launcher where the component belongs to.

Type b to select the component.

Type c/d/ e

2.8

Uninstall Service:

This option allows you to uninstall/un-register a Service.

Type a to open the core Server commands list (you will need to logon to the server).

Type j to uninstall a Service.

Enter the name of the Service and press enter.

2.9

Uninstall Task Processor:

This option allows you to uninstall/un-register a Task Processor.

Type a to open the core Server commands list (you will need to logon to the server).

Type k to uninstall a Task Processor.

Enter the name of the Task Processor and press enter.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Monitor tool. - Page 197

2.10

Generate blank fingerprint file:

This option allows you to generate a Virgin Fingerprintfile.

Type j to open Licensing.

Type e to generate a blank fingerprint file.

Enter the path and name to save the file.

2.11

Verify % fragmentation:

This option allows you to check the fragmentation of each MDF file separately.

Type h to open DataBase.

Type e to open Show DataBase info

Enter the number of the DataBase you want to verify

The info shows the size of the database and also the size used. The automatic index of ApogeeX looks at
all Table IS2Properties indexes (except of the tIS2Properties Index and the index without Index name).
ApogeeX looks at the logical fragmentation (This value represents the % fragmentation) of each of these
indexes and picks the biggest logical fragmentation. If this value is bigger then the quick/full index level,
re-indexing will be done.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Providing Job information for support. - Page 198

NOTE: To setup quick/full re-index level, refer to Database Maintenance on page 10

2.12

Verify size of LDF files:

Verify the size used in the LDF files.

Type h to open DataBase.

Type h to open show transaction log database sizes

2.13

Clear all outstanding subscriptions

Some MIS systems never cleanup subscriptions. This option is needed mainly during integration testing to
go back to a clean system.

Type l for JDF Server

Type d to clear all subscriptions

Providing Job information for support.


3.1

Save a Job dump

To be able to reproduce your problem we need all possible info on the job you created. We have provided a
tool for this operation: dump job menu option.
A job dump contains the same resources as a job archive, a job dump additionally also saves all used
resources. These resources are saved in
\\ApogeeXServer\ArchiveRoot\order\jobname\System\Operation\

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Providing Job information for support. - Page 199

Before you can dump a job, your :ApogeeX preferences must be set to Administrator level or higher.

Select a job in the job list, context-click and select Export\Job dump.

The job status icon will change into an archival icon during the dump process. When the dump operation is complete, the archival icon is removed.

A Folder with the order number of the selected job (sub folder with job name) will be created on the
Archive root location (the Archive root location is specified in the :ApogeeX System Housekeeping
settings).

The complete order number folder should be provided to any support person in order to reproduce your
problem (the folder can be zipped).

NOTE: The dump job file can be very large. It is not always easy to transfer large files from a customer site
to Agfa. Sometimes the customers job ticket is sufficient to be able to reproduce the problem. A job ticket
is very small and can be easily e-mailed. To save the job as a ticket:

Select the job in the job list.

Context-click and select Save as.

NOTE: When you save a job which is created by a Hot Ticket as a ticket, the file extension will be .aht
(Apogee Hot Ticket).

NOTE: For a Public Pagestore no job archive or dump can be made. You need to select the Public Pagestore
and press Save as. The documents in the PPS can be exported in the ApogeeX client.

3.2

Import a job dump/archive.

Go to the jobs window.

Select File > import job archive.

You can import archives/job dumps which are located at remote locations however ApogeeX needs sufficient permissions (we recommend to use the nullsessionshares work around) to access the files. When you
do not have sufficient permissions, this error message will occur: the .file doesnt exist or jobstore is
unable to open it.
ApogeeX doesnt download the resources automatically, you should download them manually.
The job (plan tab) shows which resources are used. If you edit the job all missing resources will show up in
red. When reprocessing the job without changing downloading/selecting other resources, ApogeeX will
give an error with the message which resources are missing. All resources can be found in the dump job
folder (except of imposition resources).
CAUTION: When the selected press profile is not downloaded, the Renderer will report an error.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Providing Job information for support. - Page 200

3.3

Save the job log

It is not always possible to create a job dump. (e.g. in case the job is too big, you dont have much time). We
have provided a tool to export the job log only. Provide this log together with the job ticket and files that
cause the error.

context click the job

select Export>Export job log

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Logging information for the Macintosh Client on Macintosh OS X. - Page 201

4 Logging information for the Macintosh Client on


Macintosh OS X.
There is a utility in the Macintosh OS X to generate a crash log in case an application crashes. This report
would help the R&D people determine what the issue is. Always provide the Macintosh OS X crash log when
reporting :ApogeeX Client crashes on Macintosh OS X systems.

4.1

How to enable crash reporting on Macintosh OS X 10.2.x systems

Open the Utilities folder inside the Application folder.

Launch the Console application.

Select the Preferences menu item in the Console menu.

Select the Crashes tab.

Make sure the "Automatically display crash logs" option is selected.

Quit the Console application.

Mac OS X 10.3.x always generates the crash log file. (there is no crashes tab in the console preferences)

4.2

To open the Crash log:

Open the Utilities folder inside the Application folder.

Launch the Console application.

Select the Open Log menu command in the File menu.

Select the CrashReporter folder (OS X disk\users\logon-user\library\logs\crashreporter).

Select the latest crash log file.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Show string IDs in client next to translations - Page 202

Show string IDs in client next to translations


When a translation in the client is not correct, and you report this, provide the following information:
Which string, which language, where to find the string (if possible screenshot), helpful is to provide us the
id of the string. You can visualize the string ID in the client.

Go to the ApogeeX Client preferences, select the tracing tab.

NOTE: If the tracing tab is not visible, follow the procedure to show the client tracing (See P193 Tracing
ApogeeX OS X client.) restart the client, go back to the preferences, select the tracing tab.

At the right bottom of the Tracing tab, from the Translations Diagnostic section select Show string
IDs.

Restart the client

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - ApogeeX System Rename - Page 203

ApogeeX System Rename

ApogeeX 2.5 or higher allows you to rename your ApogeeX Server name.

In the System Overview select the Name of the Server (so it becomes editable).

Enter the new Name

Restart the Server

Shrink the SQL database.


7.1

What is shrinking?

As databases age, records will be added and deleted, and this will leave empty pages within the database.
This space can be reclaimed by 'shrinking' the database. There are two permutations here, removing unused
space at the end of a database, and removing unused pages within a database.
A log shrink operation removes inactive log records and reduces the file size. The shrink operation will also
reduce the size of the MDF files.
Transaction Log backups made after shrinking the database cannot be restored anymore. Therefore the
shrink operation is automatically done just before the full backup (replication Service).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Shrink the SQL database. - Page 204

7.2

When to shrink the DataBases manually.

In ApogeeX 2.5 and 3.0, 4.0, a Shrink operation is executed automatically just before the full backup is done
by the replication Service (See System recovery chapter> automatic backup with replication Service). It
doesnt matter if log backups are made or not. The LDF or MDF files will only be shrinked if more then 50%
of the LDF/MDF physical file size is free.

7.2.1

Perform shrinking manually on a regular base:

Only if you dont perform DataBase backups (full or simple backup) using the replication Service. It is
recommended to perform backups using the replication Service.

7.2.2

Perform shrinking once

If you dont perform full DataBase backups using the replication Service, and you delete a lot of jobs on the
ApogeeX System.
NOTE: MSDE has a limit for each DataBase (mdf file) of 1.8 GB. When an mdf file becomes bigger then 1.8
GB, ApogeeX will stop working. ApogeeX 3.0 does not check the physical size of the mdf file but the size in
use. In case the size in use of a database is > 1.8 GB you need to delete some jobs on the Server (or install
SQL Server.). Note that Shrinking only reduces the Physical size of a disk, not the size in use.

7.3

How to perform shrinking manually

You can perform the shrink database manually by using the :ApogeeX backup tool
(\Agfa\ApogeeX\Server\FrameWork\bin\D_Backup.exe) or with the Shrink_database.bat file. We recommend to use the replication Service to make full backups, in that case, shrinking is done automatically.
NOTE: Do not Shrink the Database when the :ApogeeX Server is running.
Shrinking with batch file:

Create a batch file (see screenshot below) that will start up the shrink tool to shrink the database.
Replace SQLSERVERNAME by the name of the SQLServer (should be the hostname). Replace APOGEEXINTERNALNAME by the name of the ApogeeX core component (you can verify this name in the
ApogeeX console)

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - cleanup dangling job resources - Page 205

Put this file on the desktop.

To shrink the DataBase, stop the ApogeeX System and run the Shrink_database.bat file.

cleanup dangling job resources

This procedure replaces and supersedes the previous entry "cleanup datastores" (jobstore menu). The "cleanup
datastores" MUST NOT be used anymore. In ApogeeX3.0, 4.0, we have removed the 'cleanup datastore' entry in
the service tool.
Cleanup dangling job resources: we check all the resources that are referenced in the storageserver
database; then we check if these resources are still referenced in the jobstore database; if a resource is not
referenced, it is removed from the storageserver database and then removed from disk. The 'cleanup
datastores' procedure checked items on disk and if the disk path was not referenced in the jobstore
database, the disk item was cleaned; this approach had 2 drawbacks: the references in the storageserver
database are not cleared, delete pagestore -> documents in jobs used from that pagestore are removed.
We recommend to perform it after the ApogeeX System operations (after re-indexing is completed which is
at least 60 minutes later then the database re-index start). In order to schedule the Cleanup Dangling Jobresources (with Windows Task Scheduler) you will need a script which is provided in the ApogeeX Scripts
Collection

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Cleanup unused resources - Page 206

To perform Cleanup dangling job resources manually: open the Service Tool

e. Resources

d. Cleanup dangling Jobresources

y. Also check Hot tickets

NOTE: Perform Cleanup Dangling job resources once/week.

Cleanup unused resources

This option does not replace the Cleanup dangling job resources, you must still perform Cleanup dangling job
resources. Cleanup unused resources checks all files on the disks (PDF,System, Raster) and compares if there is a
reference to this data in the StorageServer database. If this reference is not found, that data on disk is removed.
NOTE: Cleanup unused resources should only be done once when you had problems with disk mirrors out
of sync. (See How to make mirror back in sync on page 224)

NOTE: You must install ApX4.0.0_HF_ALL_38670_ServiceTool_CleanupUnusedFiles or better to perform


Cleanup unused files.
Check resources

Check if also available

Cleanup unused
resources

Storageserver database Jobstore Database

Cleanup dangling
resources

Disk

Make sure your disks are enabled

open the Service Tool

e. Resources

g. Cleanup unused resources

Delete resources
IF NOT ->

Storageserver Database IF NOT ->

Disk
StorageServer Database
Disk

10 ApogeeX scripts
We have created a number of ApogeeX scripts which provide some essential Service features. The ApogeeX
Scripts Collection is published on Graphics Direct Services library.
These scripts are not official Agfa products. Therefore you should not log any issue on these scripts via
Powerhelp. Each script folder contains a rtf (rich text format) file. This file can be opened with WordPad or
Word. The file provides more information on how and when to use the script.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Logging Toolkit (MIS connection) - Page 207

For problems/remarks concerning these scripts mail to: apogee_x_beta@agfa.com.

11 Logging Toolkit (MIS connection)


The Logging Toolkit folder can be found on the :ApogeeX server in the folder
..\Supportfiles\Logging Toolkit.
Read first Logging Readme.doc: This document provides general info about accessing the :ApogeeX
Logging Database.
The ApogeeX Logging toolkit folder in :ApogeeX 3.0.0 contains 2 sub directories: Advanced, Reporter.

11.1

Reporter

The reporter folder of the Logging Toolkit provides a powerful and easy to use reporting solution. The
reporter solution is a 2 step process:
1.export the log events from the server to an external MSDE database (synclog)
2.create reports and maintain the exported database (reportlog)
How to use the Reporter tool: Read first \logging toolkit\reporter\doc\ Readme.doc.

11.2

Advanced

11.2.1

Microsoft Access sample

The Microsoft Access Sample is a Microsoft Access 2002 (Office XP Professional) project which demonstrates an MIS connection to the :ApogeeX logging Database.
Contents of this folder are:

Logging Tool.adp: MS Access 2002 Project which provides sample code and reports.

Logging Tool.doc: Read this document first if you want to start working with the ApogeeX Logging
Tool.adp.

Remarks on how to edit the Access project:

The default stored procedures are set to read only.

New stored procedures can be created.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Logging Toolkit (MIS connection) - Page 208

11.2.2

Documentation

Contains documentation about the Logging Database structure and installed stored procedures.
Only needed in order to develop custom queries or stored procedures.

11.2.3

ExportLog

The Exportlog application can be used to extract information from the log database. Because only new log
events are retrieved each time the exportlog script is executed, the load on the server is low.
How to use the ExportLog tool: Read first \logging toolkit\advanced\exportlog\doc\ ExportLog.doc.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - DataStore Recovery tool. - Page 209

12 DataStore Recovery tool.


There is a special option (system overview / job housekeeping / configuration: store job description on
disk). If you enable this option, a content.xml file is saved for each job/PPS job. This xml file contains the
name of each PDF/PostScript in that job with a link to it in the DataStore. Note: as writing this extra information takes time and disk space, this option is disabled by default. The DataStore Recovery tool is used to
export each PDF/PostScript in all jobs into a order-jobname folder structure.

You can run the tool


\SupportFiles\Utilities\DataStoreRecoveryTool
to move the PDF-files from the ApogeeX Datastore into an order-jobname directory hierarchy.

Create a new folder e.g. d:\test on the ApogeeX server to write the PDFs to. Make sure there is enough
disk space.

On the ApogeeX Server, start a cmd line

Browse to D:\agfa\apogeex\Server\supportfiles\utilities\DataStoreRecoveryTool

Enter: recoverDataStore.exe p <apogeedatastorefolder which contains the PDF folder> <apogeedatastorefolder which contains the system folder> d:\test

The dos window should show:


Start processing

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Archive Recovery tool - Page 210

Processing job

Only the latest revisions of the documents are exported

PDFs processed by ApogeeX while the option store job description on disk was not enabled are not in
any content.xml file and cannot be exported with the DataStoreRecoveryTool.

If there is no keep result on any TP in the plan, the xml file will not get updated/will not be created.

Runlist results taken out of a public Pagestore will not be referred to in the content.xml file of the job.

For a Public Pagestore, 1 xml file will be created. Per PDF available in the Public Pagestore, an entry will
be written in the content.xml file.

13 Archive Recovery tool


The Archive Recovery tool is a tool to recover the PDFs and PS files from an ApogeeX archive without
importing the archive in ApogeeX. Run the tool locally on the ApogeeX Server.

Browse to \\ApogeeXServer\SupportFiles\Utilities\ArchiveRecoveryTool

Run Archive.exe

Browse to the *.arch file of the archive you want to recover the documents from

Enter location where PDF/PS files need to be restored.

Select restore. The PDF/PS files are restored.

14 Custom proofingmark: Jobparams


On the installation DVD of :ApogeeX, a mark can be found to show the used job parameters in an :ApogeeX
border. This mark can be found on Resources\Marks\jobparams.eps. The marks can display the following
parameters: DeviceName, HostName, OrderNumber, JobID, Jobname, Date, Time, PerformCMS, RenderIntent, QualityMode, ProoferProfile, PressProfile, Resolution, MediaSelection.

14.1

Change the size (boundingbox) of the mark

Edit jobparams.eps with wordpad

Change %%BoundingBox: 0 0 270 38 Into %%BoundingBox: 0 0 NewWidth NewHeight

Change /BoundingBox: [0 0 270 38] def Into /BoundingBox: [0 0 NewWidth NewHeight] def

NOTE: Width and height are in points

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - Custom proofingmark: Jobparams - Page 211

14.2

Exclude parameters in the mark

Edit jobparams.eps with wordpad

Go to /InfoTextArray

Put a % sign in front of the parameters which dont need to appear in the stript (see screenshot below)

Save jobparams.eps

14.3

Change the font used in the mark

Make sure the font to be used in the border is loaded on the :ApogeeX System.

Edit jobparams.eps with wordpad

Go to /TPFont

Change /TPFont /Helvetica into /TPFont /FontName (see screenshot below)

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - ApoDiag tool - Page 212

NOTE: Changing /TPDefaultFontSize has no influence on the result. The fontsize depends on the size of the
mediabox.

14.4

Create a custom proofmark with customer logo

Create the proofmark layout (with customer logo) in QuarkXPress.

Insert the Jobparams eps file (see bounding box dimensions for dimension info).

Save the pages as EPS and deselect Preview.

This eps file can be used a downloaded in the marks resource of ApogeeX and used on borders.

15 ApoDiag tool
The ApogeeX Diagnostic Tool (apodiag) is a tool which collects detailed information from an ApogeeX installation
(information about the hardware, operating system, ApogeeX configuration, database configuration, system load,
). This information can be saved in various output formats (text, tsv, xls, xml). The tool can be used interactively
or scheduled for execution for proactive analysis of the system. Several checks are built in to detect configuration
problems (disk full, database backup, printdrive configuration, ) and potential performance issues (disk
fragmentation). Service engineers can analyze the output of apodiag to check if there are problems. A detailed
report can be extracted and delivered to the development team for in depth analysis of problems. It is also possible
to fix the problem when the ApogeeX database log has grown too much. Apodiag is installed by the ApogeeX
installer and can be found in the \Agfa\ApogeeX\Server\Development\bin folder.
Generate the default text report

Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.

Type apodiag

The command window will show the progress of the information that is being collected.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - ApoDiag tool - Page 213

A formatted text report will be generated in the same directory: apodiag_log_<system name>_<timestamp>.txt. This log report will list up all basic information about the ApogeeX installation. At the end
of the report you can find the number of checks that have been executed and a detailed report of all
checks that failed together with the explanation on how to resolve the issues (Error diagnostics).

Show program's version number

Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.

Type apodiag --version

Show programs help

Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.

Type apodiag -h

Filter on categories

Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.

Type apodiag -c <category>

Apodiag will only collect information for the specified categories.

The available categories are:

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - ApoDiag tool - Page 214


Category

Information type

SystemInfo

Collects only System Information

SystemPerf

Collects only System Performance data

ApoDB

Collects only ApogeeX database information

EventLog

Collects only System EventLog information, this option


requires the detailed mode(-d).

ApoInfo

Collects only ApogeeX Information

NOTE: The command to collect the information for e.g. SystemInfo and ApoDB is: apodiag -c SystemInfo c ApoDB
Only perform the checks

Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.

Type apodiag --checkonly

Collect detailed info

Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.

Type apodiag -d

NOTE: The detailed mode is more time consuming then the default mode. In detailed mode all ApogeeX
event log messages are retrieved and a more detailed Disk Fragmentation report will be generated.
Save as a different output format

Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.

Type apodiag -f <format>

You can specify a different output then the default txt format. Note that the default txt format is the best
readable format for interactive analysis. The other formats are a dump of all possible info.

The supported formats are:

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - ApoDiag tool - Page 215


<format>
txt

Formatted text file

tsv

Tab separated value

xls

Excel XML format. This requires Microsoft Office Excel 2003


or later.

xml

xml

Specify an output directory

Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.

Type apodiag -o <dir>

Specify a custom output filename

Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.

Type apodiag --filename=filename

Collect info for remote machines


Besides the information for the main system, apodiag will also collect information for satellites and printdrive systems.

Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.

Type apodiag -r

NOTE: The Windows Account running apodiag should have administrator privileges on the remote system
in order to retrieve remote information.
Collect server info from a remote system

Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.

Type apodiag -s <server hostname>

NOTE: This is not advised, since not all information can be collected remotely.

NOTE: The Windows Account running apodiag should have administrator privileges on the remote system
in order to retrieve remote information.
Specify a custom template
This is only supported for the txt output format. The template determines the formatting of the report. By
default the template.txt file is used. This file resides in the same directory as apodiag.exe.

Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.

Type apodiag -t <template filename>

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Service Tools and tracing - ApoDiag tool - Page 216

Get debug info


In verbose mode some extra debug info will be displayed in the command window.

Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.

Type apodiag -v

Shrink database log


Hidden command argument to shrink the ApogeeX database log. If D_Backup>Shrink doesnt shrink the
log files, you might try to shrink with this option in the ApoDiag tool.

Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.

Type apodiag shrinklog

Restart ApogeeX

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting

X 1 ....:ApogeeX Installer fails. ......................................................................................................................................


X 2 ....Installation ApogeeX Satellite fails. ...............................................................................................................
X 3 ....Uninstall :ApogeeX fails ......................................................................................................................................
Z 3.1........ Remove XLogonService ........................................................................................................
Z 3.2........ Cleanup folders .........................................................................................................................
Z 3.3........ Cleanup registry .......................................................................................................................
Z 3.4........ Cleanup DataBases .................................................................................................................
X 4 ....The :ApogeeX system does not start correctly. ..........................................................................................
X 5 ....Satellite cannot be started when connected to Failover Server. .........................................................
X 6 ....Unable to lower the size of SQL DataBase ..................................................................................................
X 7 ....Logging on to the :ApogeeX system fails. ....................................................................................................
X 8 ....:ApogeeX Client shows empty Jobs and Hot Tickets windows and empty System Overview. .
X 9 ....Disk Storage out of sync .....................................................................................................................................
Z 9.1........ How to make mirror back in sync ......................................................................................
X 10 .Disabled disk locations ........................................................................................................................................
Z 10.1..... Verify if a disk is disabled .....................................................................................................
Z 10.2..... Enabling Disk Storage locations ........................................................................................
X 11 .MAC Client issues ..................................................................................................................................................
Z 11.1..... Mac Client doesnt show Jobs on OS X 10.3.x .............................................................
Z 11.2..... Network Verification ...............................................................................................................
X 12 .Solving DNS issues ...............................................................................................................................................
X 13 .Problems when viewing PDF pages from my Macintosh :ApogeeX client. .....................................
X 14 .Autostart the ApogeeX Server after logon in Windows. .........................................................................
X 15 .Disable ApogeeX Client animation (jumping icon) in Mac OS X. .......................................................
X 16 .Imposition template is not visible ..................................................................................................................
Z 16.1..... Preps locks the Templates ...................................................................................................
Z 16.2..... Security rights of the Preps template. .............................................................................
Z 16.3..... Sharing Preps Templates and Marks ................................................................................
Z 16.4..... Physical Template name is different as internal Template name. ........................
Z 16.5..... Date and time Preps system is different from ApogeeX Server .............................
X 17 .Automated mapping of imposition template spot colors. .....................................................................
X 18 .How to verify the ApogeeX mailserver settings .........................................................................................
Z 18.1..... To detect the mailserver (only possible if there is a DNS server) .........................
Z 18.2..... To verify if ApogeeX can communicate with the mail server: ................................
Z 18.3..... To verify if mail authentication is required: ...................................................................
Z 18.4..... To verify if mails need no encryption (secure mail): ..................................................
Z 18.5..... Verify if mail authentication works with provided user and password ................
X 19 .How to remove messages from the message board. ................................................................................
X 20 .Linearization Curves are not shared between PrintDrive Task Processors ......................................
X 21 .PrintDrive DQS and ApogeeX Inkdrive files ................................................................................................
X 22 .Media loading issue PrintDrive Task Processor ..........................................................................................
X 23 .Change the PrintDrive RIP connection name .............................................................................................
X 24 .Double separations in PrintDrive .....................................................................................................................
Z 24.1..... Solution .......................................................................................................................................
Z 24.2..... How to report issues ...............................................................................................................
Z 24.3..... Explanation Environment variable ....................................................................................
X 25 .Multiflow CMYK and gray with PDFReady ...................................................................................................
X 26 .Trapping artifact .....................................................................................................................................................
X 27 .Job Archiving fails .................................................................................................................................................
Z 27.1..... Plug-in failed to archive ........................................................................................................
X 28 .Interpreting windows event log .......................................................................................................................
X

218
218
218
219
219
219
219
220
221
221
222
223
224
224
225
225
225
227
227
228
231
232
232
232
233
233
233
233
235
236
236
237
237
237
238
238
239
241
242
242
242
243
244
244
244
244
245
246
247
247
248

Troubleshooting - :ApogeeX Installer fails. - Page 218

:ApogeeX Installer fails.


The :ApogeeX Installer will not correctly install when there is no network available.

Check if your network cable is attached.

Check if you can ping to a remote machine.

If you have no network available at the time of install use a hardware loopback adapter to configure your
TCP/IP settings and to simulate a network. When you have multiple network cards on your system,
make sure to attach the loopback adapter on the network card which will be used by the :ApogeeX
system.

Installation ApogeeX Satellite fails.


During installation of your ApogeeX Satellite you receive the following warning: "Error ado_HasDatabasecall: [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server] Login failed for user sa." This is caused because
there is no DNS server and the hosts file was not correctly filled in. Or hosts file did not contain the ApogeeX
Server Ip address and hostname.

Stop the installer

Edit the Windows Hosts file

Restart Computer

Start the installer

Uninstall :ApogeeX fails


When uninstall Server/satellite fails from add remove programs and not all files/registry files are cleaned,
perform the following:

Restart the HardWare System.

Browse to \Installers\RND_Uninstall\ on the installation DVD

Copy UninstallProcedure.zip localy and unzip this file. This zip file contains UninstallNTService.zip and
MSICleanup.zip

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Uninstall :ApogeeX fails - Page 219

3.1

Remove XLogonService

Open START>Settings>Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Services.Check if the 'XLogonService' is


still in the list. If it is still in the list perform this procedure:

Unzip UninstallNTService.zip

execute the 'uninstallNTService.bat' file. The 'XLogonService' should have disappeared from the service
control panel.

3.2

Cleanup folders

Unshare all your folders created by the server setup via the Computer Management Control Panel(right
click 'My computer' - 'manage'). Go to shared 'Shared Folders':'Shares' and stop sharing for all ApogeeX
related folders.

Remove/rename all ApogeeX folders from your disks(Rrogramsfolder, all ApogeeDataStores, XShare
folder).

NOTE: If Failover needs be uninstalled manually and Satellite is on the same system, only remove the shares
and folders used by the failover. You can verify which shares are used for the Failover by looking in the
latest Server_Date_Time.xml file (Agfa\ApogeeX\Server\Server_Date_Time.xml on the Main Server.).
Also don't remove the \Agfa\apogeeX\Satellite folder.

3.3

Cleanup registry

Cleanup registry: remove the key 'HKLM\Software\Agfa\ApogeeX'.

NOTE: If Failover needs be uninstalled manually and Satellite is on the same system, only remove the key
'HKLM\Software\Agfa\ApogeeX\Setup\main'

Context click MSICleanup.zip>Winzip>Extract to here

run the installer msicuu2.exe

start the program('Windows Install Clean Up' entry) from your startmenu - select the ApogeeX productname entry from the list and click 'remove'.

3.4

Cleanup DataBases

If the Data folder of SQLServer still contains ApogeeX DataBases you should uninstall SQLServer.

Restart the PC

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - The :ApogeeX system does not start correctly. - Page 220

The :ApogeeX system does not start correctly.


Starting the :ApogeeX system never finishes.
The :ApogeeX console shows no status icons in front of the listed components. The Task Processors are not
started.

Verify if the network is OK (ping to some remote components). When the network configuration is not
correct, ApogeeX will start up very slowly (it will take 30 minutes before everything will be started). If
you experience this issue, verify all network settings, make sure to power down the system.

SYSTEM-disk is corrupt
If During startup ApogeeX an error popup appears: Your ApogeeX SYSTEM-disk is corrupt. Please restore
it do the following:

Logon to the Server with the ApogeeX client

Go to the disk resource

See if disks are disabled in the disk monitor

Enable first the local disks, then enable the mirror disks.

Wait untill mirror locations are mirrored

Restart ApogeeX.

Version conflict
ApogeeX gives invalid version warning when starting up.

Check if dongle is recognized

Unable to connect to Connect to SQL Server


This popup window appears if Network card order of the ApogeeX Server has changed.

Verifying the Local Area Connection (network card) on which :ApogeeX is registered. on page 139

Changing the MAC address on which :ApogeeX is registered. on page 141

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Satellite cannot be started when connected to Failover Server. - Page 221

5 Satellite cannot be started when connected to


Failover Server.
When Failover Server is started you can also startup the Satellite on the same hardware system. In some cases this
satellite will not startup. Reason that the Satellite doesnt start is that the InstanceName
(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Agfa\ApogeeX) from the main Server and Satellite are set differently.

Difference of InstanceName is caused by the way SQL Server is installed:

Upgrade MSDE to SQL EXPRESS: No InstanceName

Upgrade SQL SERVER to SQL Server 2005: No InstanceName

Upgrade SQL EXPRESS to SQL Server 2005: InstanceName = SQLEXPRESS

Install clean SQL Express: InstanceName = SQLEXPRESS

NOTE: If SQL EXPRESS is installed, InstanceName should be SQLEXPRESS on Server and Failover. If SQL
Server 2005 is installed, InstanceName should be on Server and Failover.

Unable to lower the size of SQL DataBase


After deleting jobs the size of the FW_DefaultStorageServer LDF does not get smaller in size.
Procedure
Open ApogeeX Client
Go to System Overview - Configuration - Database Maintainance - Backup

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Logging on to the :ApogeeX system fails. - Page 222


Procedure
Disable: "Schedule Incremental backup"
Click "Backup Now..."

After the Backup has finished enable again the: "Schedule Incremental backup" setting.

NOTE: Make sure the Backup Scratch disk has enough free space. When creating a full or Incremental
backup, the backup is first written into this folder before copied to the proper location. If there is not enough
space, backups cant be made and LDF files keep growing.

NOTE: Please refer to See :ApogeeX backup possibilities. on page 160. for more information on the SQL
Server databases.

Logging on to the :ApogeeX system fails.

First verify if all ApogeeX Components are started. Try to logon with the Windows client that is installed
on the ApogeeX Server.

The ApogeeX System does not show up in my :ApogeeX logon list


When the :ApogeeX system is located behind a network-router then the :ApogeeX system will not show
up automatically. You will need to use the add button to specify the :ApogeeX systems IP-Address.
The same problem occurs when the :ApogeeX Client machine has more than one Local Area Connection
enabled. Also in this case you will need to specify the IP-Address.

When I select the :ApogeeX Log On button nothing happens.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - :ApogeeX Client shows empty Jobs and Hot Tickets windows and empty System Overview. - Page 223

Probably your :ApogeeX System has more than one Local Area Connection enabled (with a different
TCP/IP configuration).
You will need to specify on the :ApogeeX Client with which IP-Address you want to make a connection.
This can be done by using a local Hosts file or by using a correct DNS server configuration.

The ApogeeX System is grayed out in the log on window of the client
The Version of the Client doesnt correspond with the version of the Server.

8 :ApogeeX Client shows empty Jobs and Hot


Tickets windows and empty System Overview.
Verify your TCP/IP settings:

On the :ApogeeX server, open a command line window and verify if you can ping to the :ApogeeX
client by using the clients IP-Address. You should get a reply.

On the :ApogeeX client, verify if you can ping to the :ApogeeX server by using the servers IP-Address.
You should get a reply.

On an ApogeeX Mac OS X Client verify if Firewall is not active, you can also use the workaround
(Change the Macintosh OS X Firewall settings. on page 146)

On Windows XP verify the firewall settings (Windows XP firewall issues. on page 147).

Verify your hostname to IP-Address translation (DNS server or local Hosts file):

On the :ApogeeX server, open a command line window and verify if you can ping to the :ApogeeX
client by using the clients hostname. You should get a reply.

On the :ApogeeX client, verify if you can ping to the :ApogeeX server by using the servers hostname.
You should get a reply.

When any of the above tests fail and you are using local Hosts files: open the Hosts file on the ApogeeX
Server and verify if all Hosts file entries are correct (Using Hosts files. on page 133).

When any of the above tests fail and you are using local Hosts files: open the Hosts file on the ApogeeX
Windows client PC and verify if all Hosts file entries are correct (Using Hosts files. on page 133).

When any of the above tests fail and you are using local Hosts files: open the Hosts file on the ApogeeX
OSX client and verify if all Hosts file entries are correct (Using Hosts files. on page 133). Delete all
hosts entries (except of LocalHost and BroadcastHost), quit NetInfo Manager and try to logon again
with the Macintosh client. If still doesnt work enter the correct host entries.

When any of the above tests fail and you are using a DNS Server , go to solving DNS issues. (Solving
DNS issues on page 231)

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Disk Storage out of sync - Page 224

Disk Storage out of sync


The Size and amount of folders of a datastore and its mirror should be the same. If this is not the case, the
disk storage is out of sync.

Situation ApogeeX 3.5 and older: The ApogeeX data mirroring is stopped when you shutdown an
ApogeeX System. After startup, mirroring is not re-done. This can cause mirror locations to be out of
sync (not all data mirrored). ApogeeX 3.5.0 - SP1 and ApogeeX 4.0 will continue to mirror data when
ApogeeX is stopped (one of the S_Launcher performs this). The user should wait until the last
S_Launcher is stopped. ApogeeX 4.0: When a user kills the laucher while mirroring in, ApogeeX will remirror after startup.

When a disk gets disabled, this disk gets out of sync.

9.1

How to make mirror back in sync

Enable the disabled disk (Disk Storage>disk monitor tab)

If the disks are enabled and the disks are out of sync:
Stop ApogeeX.
Start a command prompt on your ApogeeX Server (Start-run-cmd).
Type xcopy \\computer\location\ApogeedataStore\System e:\ApogeeDataStore\System /e /d /y
Type xcopy \\computer\location\ApogeeDataStore\Raster f:\ApogeeDataStore\Raster /e /d /y
Type xcopy \\computer\location\ApogeeDataStore\Other e:\ApogeeDataStore\Other /e /d /y
Type xcopy e:\ApogeeDataStore\System \\computer\location\ApogeedataStore\System /e /d /y
Type xcopy f:\ApogeeDataStore\Raster \\computer\location\ApogeeDataStore\Raster /e /d /y
Type xcopy e:\ApogeeDataStore\Other \\computer\location\ApogeeDataStore\Other /e /d /y
Start ApogeeX and run cleanup dangling jobresources.
The xcopy command will merge two locations together to get a complete DataStore (actually we
probably merge too much therefore the cleanup unused resources (see Cleanup unused resources on
page 206) tool needs to be performed at the end). The xcopy is performed in both directions to get both
DataStores (on Server and Mirror) synchronized.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Disabled disk locations - Page 225

10 Disabled disk locations

Some virus-scanner configurations can lock the access to disk locations and cause write delays. They
also sometimes cause delays when retrieving disk size info (not only by ApogeeX but also when
retrieving disk info in the OS). This can cause ApogeeX to disable Disk Storage locations. We recommend excluding all ApogeeX directories and all PDF, PS, TIFF files (extensions) in the virus scanner
configuration.

Some hard disk defragmentation software can lock the access to disk locations and cause write delays.
They also sometimes cause delays when retrieving disk size info (not only by ApogeeX but also when
retrieving disk info in the OS). This can cause ApogeeX to disable Disk Storage locations. We recommend performing disk defragmentation when ApogeeX is not started. When you still experience
unwanted disabled Disk Storage locations, please have a look in the Default_Storage_Server tracing to
find the reason of the disabling.

A mirrored disk will be disabled when it can not be found, therefore make sure that the computer on
which mirrored disks are located is always running before starting ApogeeX. ApogeeX will not automatically enable the disk when the mirror computer comes online.

10.1

Verify if a disk is disabled

In the message board a message is given when a disk is disabled.

in the Disk Monitor a disk shows failed when it is disabled.

As long as 1 disk is enabled for system data, the ApogeeX system can be used. If all system storage
locations are disabled, a windows dialog is shown to warn that a System Disk Storage location is
disabled. Creating new jobs via the ApogeeX Client will be grayed out.

As long as 1 disk is enabled for raster and PDF, processing jobs will continue. If all raster/PDF storage
locations are disabled, Processing jobs will not be possible.

If temp Disk Storage location is disabled, a message in the message board will indicate that the Temp
Disk Storage location is disabled. However processing jobs is still possible, the Windows %temp%
location will be used as fall-back. Enabling a disabled Temp Disk Storage location can not cause any
problem because there is no mirroring involved for temp storage sets.

10.2

Enabling Disk Storage locations

If a disabled disk has no mirror and you enable this disk, no mirroring will be done. If there is a mirror, NO
data in a disabled Disk Storage location will be deleted when you enable the Disk. All data from the "mirror"
Disk Storage location will be copied to the Disk Storage location which you have just enabled. A disabled
Disk Storage location will stay disabled after a reboot of ApogeeX.

A disabled Disk Storage location must be enabled (always manual action) in the ApogeeX System
Overview - Disk Storage - Disk Monitor.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Disabled disk locations - Page 226

NOTE: When 2 locations of the same storageset are disabled and you enable the oldest Disk Storage location
first, an ApogeeX warning message will be shown which will offer the possibility to change your choice. In
most situations we recommend to always enable the Most Recent (most up to date) Disk Storage location.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - MAC Client issues - Page 227

11 MAC Client issues


A lot of issues have been reported using the ApogeeX Client on Macintosh OS X. Especially after an OS X update
these issues appear. Most of these issues are caused by changed network settings in OS X. Most of the issues are
solved by correcting the network settings.
Issues can be:

Not able to log-on to the Server

You can log-on but no jobs/Task Processors are shown

Client crash after submit login password

...

11.1

Mac Client doesnt show Jobs on OS X 10.3.x

After applying the Mac OS X update 10.3.8 you may experience a network problem with the ApogeeX client.
When connecting with the Mac ApogeeX Client (running on Mac OS X 10.3.8) to the ApogeeX Server, the
client window could appear empty.
This problem only happens when the Mac client is configured to work with a static IP-address and uses the
NetInfo Manager to identify the server. Before the Mac OS X 10.3.8 update it was only needed to add the
ApogeeX server as an entry in the NetInfo Manager.
After applying the Mac update it is also required to add the client as an entry in the NetInfo Manager.
So both the hostname of the client and the IP-address of the client are needed inside the NetInfo Manager
now. This is only needed if you dont have a DNS server.
1 Open /Applications/Utilities/NetInfo Manager.
2 To allow editing the NetInfo database, click the padlock in the lower left corner of the window.
3 Enter your Admin password and click OK.
4 In the second column of the browser view, select the node named "machines." You will see entries for DHCP-, broadcasthost, and localhost in the third column.
5 The quickest way to create a new entry is to duplicate an existing one. So select the "localhost" item in the
third column.
6 Choose Duplicate from the Edit menu. A confirmation alert appears.
7 Click Duplicate. A new entry called "localhost copy" appears, and its properties are shown below the
browser view.
8 Double-click the value of the IP-Address property and enter the IP-address of your Macintosh computer (for
example: 10.232.50.100).
9 Double-click the value of the name property and enter the hostname of the Macintosh computer (for
example: MyMacintosh).
10 Click the serves property and choose Delete from the Edit menu.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - MAC Client issues - Page 228

11 Choose Save from the File menu. A confirmation alert appears.


12 Click Update this copy.
13 Repeat steps 5 through 13 for each additional host entry you wish to add.
14 Choose Quit from the NetInfo Manager menu.
15 Restart your computer.
NOTE: You do not always need to work with a full qualified domain name as with Macintosh OS 9. However
you must specify the full computer name (Hostname.DNS-suffix) when the computer (XServer) is using a
DNS-suffix.

11.2

Network Verification

If DNS Server is used: verify if the Mac is correctly configured using a DNS server. See Network configuration on Clients and Satellites. on page 132.

If no DNS Server is used, Configure Hosts files on MAC and ApogeeX Server, See Using Hosts files. on
page 133.

Test if you can Ping in 2 directions


Procedure
On the Mac, browse to System disk\Applications\Utilities\Terminal
Open Terminal application
Ping to the ApogeeX Server in the network on name and ip-address (i.e.: ping 10.232.50.249, ping Westmalle), press CTRLC to stop the procedure. The amount of pockets transmitted should be the same as the amount received. This procedure
should work on both the IP-address and the Servername.
On the ApogeeX Server test if you can ping by IP and hostname to the Macintosh client.

Test if you can NSLOOKUP in 2 directions. NSLOOKUP only works if you use FQDN (Full qualified
domain names)
Procedure
On the Mac, browse to System disk\Applications\Utilities\Terminal
Open Terminal application
Nslookup to the ApogeeX Server by name and IP-Address (i.e.: nslookup Westmalle, nslookup 10.232.50.249)

When you do the nslookup on the IP address you should receive the fully qualified domain name. When you do the
nslookup on the Name you should receive the IP address.
Also NSLOOKUP from ApogeeX Server to Mac Client.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - MAC Client issues - Page 229

Perform a port scan


Procedure
On the Mac, browse to System disk\Applications\Utilities\Network Utility\Port Scan
Check for ports between 3182 and 3200 (these ports should be open in order to use the ApogeeX Client). The scan should
give these results (you could have extra ports open):
3187 odi-port
3188 brcm-comm-port
3189 pcle-infex
3190 csvr-proxy
3192 firemon rcc
3193 cordataport
3194 magbind
3195 ncu-1
If you use a firewall make sure that the above ports are open. See Change the Macintosh OS X Firewall settings. on
page 146.

Disable the second network card in the Mac client if it is not used
Procedure
Go to System Preferences
Choose network
Edit Locations and duplicate the default one, name it ApogeeX
Click Done
Choose the ApogeeX location
Under Show choose Network Port Configurations
Deselect all port configurations which are not needed (Build-in Ethernet 2, internal modem,...)

Nothing happens when trying to log-on to Server. This could mean that the Mac Keychain is corrupt.
Delete the Keychain entries that point to the server in question. (or remove the keychain: go to Application\Utilities\Keychain Access). There are 2 ways to delete keychains. You can either delete certain
items from a keychain or delete the whole keychain containing all its items. An item can be an account
password to a server, an internet password to a site, a mail password and etc.

NOTE: Attention: Deleting the keychain or items in the keychain will loose any password information stored
in them!
Procedure to delete a certain item in a keychain
Go to system disk\Applications\Utilities\Keychain Access.
Under items select the items that refer to your ApogeeX server.
Choose Edit-Delete

If this doesnt help you will have to delete the whole keychain.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - MAC Client issues - Page 230


Procedure to delete the whole keychain
Go to system disk\Applications\Utilities\Keychain Access.
Select the Show keychains (in the left bottom)

Select the keychain of the user you want to delete.

Choose File Delete Keychain users Keychain

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Solving DNS issues - Page 231

12 Solving DNS issues


Verify if the connection to the DNS server is correct on all systems.

Open a command line window.

Type nslookup and press enter. You should get the DNS server name and the IP-Address.

Verify if the listed IP-Address is identical to the IP-Address that is configured in the TCP/IP
configuration.

Verify also if the DNS suffix of the DNS server is identical to the primary DNS suffix of the machines on
which you are doing troubleshooting (Windows Systems only). If the DNS suffix of the DNS server is not
identical to the primary DNS suffix than verify if the DNS suffix of the DNS server is listed in the DNS
suffix list (Windows systems: TCP/IP > Advanced > DNS tab). Macintosh systems should have the DNS
suffix of the DNS server listed in the (additional) Search Domains list.

Close the command line window.

Verify if :ApogeeX server, :ApogeeX Clients are registered on the DNS server.

Open a command line window.

Type nslookup computername.

When you get a message cant find computername then that computername is not known by the DNS
server.

To register a system on the DNS server:

Open a command line window.

Type ipconfig /registerdns (this might take 15 minutes).

The event viewer will show possible DNS server registration problems (it is possible that the DNS server
does not accept the registration, in this case you must contact the local ITS people).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Problems when viewing PDF pages from my Macintosh :ApogeeX client. - Page 232

13 Problems when viewing PDF pages from my


Macintosh :ApogeeX client.

Verify that Adobe Acrobat/Acrobat Reader/Preview on OS X is installed on the system where you have
installed your ApogeeX Client Application.

Verify that the :ApogeeX Viewer Preferences are set correctly (define where the viewer is installed).

Verify that Acrobat is started before double-clicking on a PDF thumbnail in :ApogeeX: when the Acrobat
version that you are running on your Macintosh OS X system isnt a native OS X application (needs to
start in classic mode) then you always will need to manually start Acrobat.

ApogeeX 3.0 Macintosh client should auto-mount the other ApogeeDatastore. If auto-mount doesnt
happen, manualy mount the ApogeeDatastore that contains the Other folder. Restart the client.

NOTE: It is recommended to mount via SMB.

14 Autostart the ApogeeX Server after logon in


Windows.

Put a shortcut of the launcher.bat file in the directory: \documents and settings\administrator\start
menu\programs\startup

If ApogeeX can not start-up properly (some components do not start-up) it might be necessary to use the
sleep.exe application. Sleep.exe causes the batch file to wait for a specified amount of time. Copy the
sleep.exe file to the \winnt folder of the :ApogeeX Server

Edit the launcher.bat file, add a new line at the top of the batch file

Add this line: sleep 10

The launcher.bat file will wait 10 seconds before it launches ApogeeX (this value can be less or more).

15 Disable ApogeeX Client animation (jumping


icon) in Mac OS X.

Go to the ApogeeX Client Preferences.

Select the General tab.

Disable Animate application icons on new messages.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Imposition template is not visible - Page 233

16 Imposition template is not visible


16.1

Preps locks the Templates

You must close the Preps template after editing. The Preps template will not be shown as long as the Preps
template is open, regardless of the number of times you click the refresh button.
We recommend NOT to install ScenicSoft Preps on the ApogeeX Server in order to prevent template user
rights issues.

16.2

Security rights of the Preps template.

Context click on the template and select properties > security tab.

The local Administrator has to have full Control permission rights (the ApogeeX Server must also be
running under the local Administrator account).

16.3

Sharing Preps Templates and Marks

Create a folder on a hard drive of the ApogeeX Server and call it Preps.

NOTE: Location of the Preps templates and marks on a remote location is not recommended.

Create subfolders Templates and Marks.

Share the Preps folder for Windows and Macintosh via Add new share Wizard (Computer Management
> Shared Folders > Shares. Click next.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Imposition template is not visible - Page 234

Select Use custom share permissions and select Customize.

Enable full control for everyone. NOTE: Mac OS X users which connect via SMB will also use the
Windows share permissions.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Imposition template is not visible - Page 235

Context click the Macintosh Share and select Properties. Deselect This volume is read-only in order to
allow changes by AppleTalk users (AFP).

16.4

Physical Template name is different as internal Template name.

ApogeeX doesn't show the physical filename of the Preps Template however it shows the %SSiLayout Name
(string inside the template). By default the physical file name of the Template equals the %SSiLayout
Name.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Automated mapping of imposition template spot colors. - Page 236

When you change the physical file name of a template, ApogeeX will still display the "old" name and therefore an operator might not find his template.
A script is provided in the ApogeeX Scripts Collection to fix this issue (Graphics Direct Services library).

16.5

Date and time Preps system is different from ApogeeX Server

Make sure Date and time of the computer that runs Preps is equal to the date and time of the ApogeeX
Server PC (less then 1 minute difference).
If Date and time differ more then 1 minute, updating of templates might not happen.

17 Automated mapping of imposition template spot


colors.

Create a job in ApogeeX (Runlist Render TP output Press).

Under separation operation choose to keep spot colours. Do not select the template yet.

Under the pages-tab add some pages with spot colours from the Public Pagestore

Under imposition choose your template.

Go back to the separation operation.

You will see that the first spot colour from the imposition template is automatically mapped to the new
spot colour in the keep column. (This is wanted behaviour: the spot colour of the job will now be used
to print the mark)

NOTE: This procedure also works for DQS jobs.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - How to verify the ApogeeX mailserver settings - Page 237

18 How to verify the ApogeeX mailserver settings


18.1

To detect the mailserver (only possible if there is a DNS server)

On the ApogeeX Server start a command line window.

Type nslookup <ENTER>.

Type ls t MX customerdomain. This will list all known mail exchange (MX) servers in the specified
domain. In the example below sunserver2new is the mailserver.

Type exit to leave nslookup.

18.2

To verify if ApogeeX can communicate with the mail server:

On the ApogeeX Server, start a command line window.

Type "telnet mailservername 25" (mailservername is name or IP-address of the companies mailserver).

You should get a message like" connecting to mailserver.... 220 mailserver version ESMTP mailserver ready
date".
You might also see something like this: 220 sunserver2new.eps.agfa.be ESMTP Sendmail 8.11.6+Sun/
8.11.6; Fri, 20 May 2005 15:34:55 +0200 (MEST)
To exit this session with the mail server, press CTRL + ].
To exit a telnet session type q, press enter.
If Telnet doesnt work:

Check if the Mailserver is running and you used the correct address and port.

Check if port 25 is not blocked on the ApogeeX Server (Virus scanner/Firewall/TCPIP filtering)

Check if you can ping to the mail server

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - How to verify the ApogeeX mailserver settings - Page 238

18.3

To verify if mail authentication is required:

Perform first the procedure verify if ApogeeX can communicate with the mail server and then continue
with these actions.

Type "help" to get a list of available commands (note: it is possible that you dont see what you type, this
is normal behaviour.

If the list of available commands does not contain an AUTH command then user authentication is not
required.

It is possible that authentication is not need prior to sending mails however it is possible that mails can only
be send by users which are known by the mail server. When you enter only a e-mail domain name in the
System Overview > ApogeeX Components > WebApproval> Printer > e-mail domain name then mails are
sent by no-reply@e-mail domain name.
NOTE: When you receive mails from ApogeeX and not from WebApproval it could be that the mailserver
authentication configuration is incorrect. The Requires authentication -option in the mail tab (of ApogeeX
System configuration) is only used by WebApproval. That could be the reason why ApogeeX can send mails
and WebApproval can not.

18.4

To verify if mails need no encryption (secure mail):

Perform first the procedures verify if ApogeeX can communicate with the mail server and verify if mail
authentication is required then continue with these actions.

Type "helo mailservername" and the mailserver will reply with a welcome message.

Type mail from: apogeex@customerdomain <ENTER> .

After enter, the text you entered will be visualized and server should say Sender OK.

Type rcpt to: customername@customerdomain <ENTER>.

The Server should reply with Recipient OK. Note: customername@customerdomain must be an existing
mail address at the customer site.

Type data <ENTER>.

Server will now report that you can start typing text, to end your mail you must type "." on a single line.

Type "this is a test" <ENTER> "." <ENTER>.

Server should now report message is queued/message is sent/mail accepted for delivery.
When the mail is received then you can conclude that the mail server does not need secure mail because a
telnet session does not support secure mailing mechanism.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - How to verify the ApogeeX mailserver settings - Page 239

18.5

Verify if mail authentication works with provided user and password

Open Command Line Window.

Type: Telnet mailservername 25. (25 represents the port through which the mail communication
happens)

Type: EHLO to verify which authentication method is supported. (or: EHLO domainname)

Type: AUTH LOGIN and press <ENTER>.

The mailserver will respond with: 334 VXNlcm5hbWU6.

Using a base-64 encoder (which you can find here: http://www.dillfrog.com/tool/base-64_encode/)


you can translate VXNlcm5hbWU6 to Username.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - How to verify the ApogeeX mailserver settings - Page 240

Encode your username with the base-64 encoder.

Example: test@test.com will translate to dGVzdEB0ZXN0LmNvbQ==

Type your encoded username in the telnet session and press <ENTER>.

The mailserver should respond with: 334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6 .

Using a base-64 encoder you can translate UGFzc3dvcmQ6 to Password.

Type your encode password in the telnetsession and press <ENTER>.

The mailserver should respond with: 235 2.7.0 Authentication Successful.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - How to remove messages from the message board. - Page 241

19 How to remove messages from the message


board.
It can happen that after some time the ApogeeX message board gets polluted with messages which cannot
be deleted anymore. Typically messages from the Mail Configuration, Database size warnings,
NOTE: This procedure might cause notification icons to stay on jobs forever if job notifications were in the
list. Contact Mortsel first before removing these messages.
It is impossible to remove these 100s or even 1000s messages from the Message Board. Below is a procedure which details how to remove all messages from the Message Board! Read and execute the procedure
very carefully.
Follow the next steps to remove all messages from the Message Board!

Stop ApogeeX

Start the ServiceTool.

The ServiceTool is started, make sure ApogeeX is stopped!

Hit h [Database]

Hit b [Remove framework database] and enter Y. A list is shown of all ApogeeX databases.

Be very careful, there is no way back when you make a mistake! Enter the number of the
FW_DefaultNotificationsServer_[ApogeeXName]

Important Note: In this example a particular number is shown, it does not main you will have to enter
the same number! Do not make a mistake! After entering the number the ApogeeX Database is removed!

Enter q to return to main menu.

Enter q to return to main menu.

Enter q to quit.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Linearization Curves are not shared between PrintDrive Task Processors - Page 242

20 Linearization Curves are not shared between


PrintDrive Task Processors
The Linearization Curve Resource is not shared between the PrintDrive Task Processors. If the ApogeeX
Server has more then 1 PrintDrive Task Processor; jobs (To the PrintDrive Task Processor with a Linearization curve selected) will go in error with the error message:
The Linearization curve resource as specified in the output-parameters of the Output Task Processor
cannot be found. Processing was aborted.

Create a Linearization curve for PrintDrive Task Processor 1 on the ApogeeX System.

Open the Linearization Resource of PrintDrive Task Processor 2 on the ApogeeX System. You will see
that the Linearization curve is not visible. This means the Linearization curve is only loaded for PrintDrive 1.

Create a new job with a PrintDrive Task Processor, select the new Linearization curve, place pages in the
runlist, commit job.

When a task of this job is performed by a render and PrintDrive Task Processor that doesnt have the new
Linearization curve loaded, the render will go in error with the message: The Linearization curve
resource as specified in the output-parameters of the Output Task Processor cannot be found.
Processing was aborted.

To prevent this error ALWAYS copy (drag and drop) Linearization curves to the Linearization Resources
of all PrintDrive Task Processors.

21 PrintDrive DQS and ApogeeX Inkdrive files


It is not possible to create correct Inkdrive files in ApogeeX when using a PrintDrive DQS flow. When using
DQS in ApogeeX you should use the Inkdrive option from Apogee PrintDrive to create your Inkdrive files.
When creating a DQS flow in ApogeeX you should not use the option Create Inkdrive Files in the Press TP.
It will create Inkdrive files for the templates and the pages separately. This makes the Inkdrive files
unusable.

22 Media loading issue PrintDrive Task Processor


If you load all PrintDrive plates by accident in wrong polarity, e.g. pos while it should be neg., you cannot
edit the polarity of these plates anymore in the Media resource.
When you try to change polarity, you get the message: The polarity or substrate of the medium does not
match the corresponding property of other media of the specified type.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Change the PrintDrive RIP connection name - Page 243

Work around:

Put the PrintDrive Task Processor offline,

Unload the media you want to change,

Delete the media from the available media pane,

Put the PrintDrive Task Processor online, restart,

Do this for each PrintDrive Task Processor.

23 Change the PrintDrive RIP connection name

Stop the PrintDrive Task Processor

On PrintDrive, go to the PrintDrive device list, select and rename RIP Connection to whatever you like
(e.g. testname)

Go to the ApogeeX PrintDrive TP Configuration, enter testname as the PrintDrive Input Device

Start the PrintDrive Task Processor.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Double separations in PrintDrive - Page 244

24 Double separations in PrintDrive


Sometimes Separations can appear double in the PrintDrive job.

24.1

Solution

Install PrintDrive S3 Upd F SP3 (on PrintDrive Server and Pilot).

Enable PrintDrive Synchronization on each PrintDrive Task Processor.

Remove the Environment Variable "PRINTDRIVE_FORCE_NORMAL_FLATS" on the hardware systems


where PrintDrive Task Processor's are installed.
Step

Follow this procedure to check/delete the "PRINTDRIVE_FORCE_NORMAL_FLATS" environment variable.

On the Hardware system where PrintDrive Task Processors are installed, context click my computer and select
properties

Click the advanced tab

Click the Environment variables button

Delete environment variable "PRINTDRIVE_FORCE_NORMAL_FLATS"

Restart the computer

NOTE: double separations might still appear in PrintDrive job when you edit the job in ApogeeX while
render and PrintDrive Task Processors are busy for that job.

24.2

How to report issues

If double separations are still generated on PrintDrive, provide the ApogeeX job dump together with the
PrintDrive job log.
Step

Follow this procedure to Save the PrintDrive Job log.

Context click the job in PrintDrive, select properties

Select the "log" tab

Move detail slider to maximum detail

Save Log

24.3

Explanation Environment variable

The environment variable "PRINTDRIVE_FORCE_NORMAL_FLATS" must not be present when the PrintDrive Task Processor has "Allow Server Synchronization" ON. If the environment variable is present,
ApogeeX Pages (produced by ApogeeX ticket without imposition) will be converted to Flats on PrintDrive.
Upon reprocessing, the ApogeeX PrintDrive synchronization module will not be able to find and remove the
old PAGE separations, because there aren't any PAGE separations. They're FLAT separations. This will
result in duplicate separations.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Multiflow CMYK and gray with PDFReady - Page 245

APOGEEX 3.0: Pages sent by ApogeeX 3.0 with "PrintDrive Mode=Normal" to PrintDrive don't create
proper output work items (i.e., have correct media/cip3 data selected) in the PrintDrive job. Therefore,
you should convert pages to flats in order to achieve this.
For Hot folder based hot tickets without Imposition Task Processor in ApogeeX 3.0 select "Input represents flats" setting in the hot folder parameters. The Environment variable
"PRINTDRIVE_FORCE_NORMAL_FLATS" in this case is not needed.
Only for non hot folder based tickets without Imposition Task Processor in ApogeeX 3.0, add environment variable "PRINTDRIVE_FORCE_NORMAL_FLATS" but in this case you must disable PrintDrive
synchronization.

APOGEEX 3.5: Pages sent by ApogeeX 3.5 with "PrintDrive Mode=Normal" will create proper output
work items (i.e., have correct media/cip3 data selected) in PrintDrive. Therefore, there should no
longer be a reason to convert Pages to Flats in order to achieve this.

25 Multiflow CMYK and gray with PDFReady


A multi-flow plan with a Gray and a CMYK flow will output all pages from both flows as Black in case there is only
one PDFReady TP in the plan and in case the Gray ink set was selected in the main flow while the CMYK ink set
was selected in the second flow.
The PDFReady TP resolves separation changes such as color mapping and colorspace changes directly in the
resulting PDF file. Since a PDFReady TP can only honor one flow within the same Job Ticket, the file that arrives
at the split off branch will have been modified according to the settings of the main flow.
In this particular case the main flow has a Gray ink set while the second flow has a CMYK ink set. This means that
PDFReady honors the main flow and converts the content of the file to Gray. This resulting PDF file is used in both
flows. The second flow converts the Gray back to CMYK and this obviously results in only one Black separation
instead of the original CMYK.
Select the CMYK ink set in the main flow and the Gray ink set in the second flow. This way PDFReady will not
change the original CMYK color space and the conversion from CMYK to Gray in the second flow will be resolved
by the Render TP.
NOTE: A similar problem also occurs in dual flows with one PDFReady TP in which both flows have the same ink
set but a different process color mapping behavior. In case you would f.i. in the main flow want to map a process
color to a spot or to another process color but leave it as it is in the other flow, the other flow will not be able to
retrieve the previous process color value from the original file and will output the same result as the main flow. In
this particular case you should add an extra PDFReady TP in front of the second flow.
Spot color mapping can be applied differently in the multiple flows. But in case the color definition lookup rule in
the Render separation settings was set to "Use application values", then the second flow will use the CMYK values
from the file that resulted from the PDFReady TP and these values might differ from the values in the original
input file.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Trapping artifact - Page 246

26 Trapping artifact
The trapping library which is used in the Render TP and PDFReady TP cannot always handle 3 color traps correctly
in case the Relative Color Step Limit is larger than 98%. The traps are not always truncated at the correct position
which may lead to disturbing artifacts.

Example 1
The trap end of a spread coming from a 100% Cyan object is not mitered away at the bisection angle
between two other objects that contain the same 100% Yellow separation: object1=100% Yellow and
object2=100% Yellow + 100% Magenta:

Example 2
Three different separations: a 100% Black object in overprint over a 10% yellow object and a 100%
orange object. The yellow object spreads into the black object, but the trap is not mitered leaving a
yellow gap in the orange object:

Example 3
Two separations and white: a 100% Black object in overprint over another separation.
The choke of the separation under the black separation trap is not truncated and continues in the white
area:

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Job Archiving fails - Page 247

Workaround
Reduce the Relative Color Step limit to a value that is equal to or lower than 98%.

A trap will be applied when the relative percentage of difference between two adjoining colors exceeds
the Relative color step limit. The default Relative Color Step Limit is 200%. A lower value implies that
more traps will be created.

27 Job Archiving fails


27.1

Plug-in failed to archive

Creating an Archive of a job which is using special characters in the imposition template name will fail. On
Macintosh computers it is possible to use very special characters in file names which are not available on
PC. It is possible to use these characters in imposition template names.
However when creating an archive of a job containing such an imposition template on ApogeeX 3.0 or 3.5
an error will occur:

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Interpreting windows event log - Page 248

Solution:
Remove the special character from the template name. There is no solution for working with these characters in ApogeeX 3.0 or 3.5. This will be fixed in ApogeeX 4.0.
NOTE: Note: There is a script available to easily replace special characters in all you templates on the service
library (SW ApogeeX Script Collection).

28 Interpreting windows event log


Right mouse click my computer, Manage > System Tools > Event Viewer > Application. ApogeeX logs
unexpected events in here. Look at items in error where the Source is ApogeeX. Choose view=>filter
Fill in the event ID 256. You will now only see the ApogeeX errors.
Events can be logged (source column) by a TP, by ApogeeX or by Itemstore2. In many cases, you get a long
description. Somewhere in the text you will find: The following information is part of the event: This is
the start of the interesting part. An exported application log might be helpful when escalating a Powerhelp
case.
Rebooting TP
Rebooting TP: this is an expected event (it goes together with the auto reboot options of a TP). Note
however that if you get many of these events, it can point to e.g. not enough memory.
Exception_Access_Violation
This is in 99% of the cases a bug. We expect it goes together with a notification for a specific job (in the
ApogeeX client). Deliver the job dump and the event log in your powerhelp case. Look at the date and time
of the event, try to retrieve the job with the error using the joblist filter(Date Submitted is between), look
in the job log for errors. Note that the timing in event log and job log might be slightly different.
Unknown Exception Caught:

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Interpreting windows event log - Page 249

exactly as it says: something unexpected happens. This is in most cases an error condition that is not
properly handled. Not necessary a big issue. See also EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION
Eventpackager:run() method crashed.
This event is fatal and always requires a full restart of the ApogeeX system (reboot of all PCs)
Error making SQL snapshot.
In this case, a file c:\SnapShot.sql is created. Always check if the database is still up and running (verify by
connecting with a GUI and see if you can still see jobs). If this event occurs frequently, send the
SnapShot.sql file together with the powerhelp case. Its also possible that something in the database got
corrupted. This event is fatal and always requires a full restart of the ApogeeX system (reboot of all PCs)
Other events

Server Detection problem: adjusted connection data (warning - ApogeeX - Event 0)


To verify if ApogeeX lost Network connection.

17162: SQL Server is starting (information - MSSQLSERVER - Event 17055)


To verify when SQL Server is restarted

17126 : SQL Server is ready for client connections (information - MSSQLSERVER - Event 17055)
SQL Server successful startup.

17147 : SQL Server terminating because of system shutdown.(information - Event 17055 )


SQL Server termination because of system shutdown

Error: 5180, Severity: 22, State: 1 Could not open FCB for invalid file ID 23226 in database
'FW_DefaultStorageServer_XSERVER'. (Error - MSSQLSERVER Event 17052)
This error stated that the file was dropped or the database was corrupted. Can be solved by the
automatic SHRINK or CHECKDB.

18278 : Database log truncated: Database: FW_LocalStorageServer_XSAT2_XSERVER. (Error MSSQLSERVER - Event 17055)
Shrink operation

17052 : This SQL Server has been optimized for 8 concurrent queries. This limit has been exceeded by
1 queries and performance may be adversely affected. (Information - MSSQLSERVER - Event 17055)
In case this warning occurs every hour a few times, MSDE becomes slow and it is advised to install SQL
Server.

8957 : DBCC CHECKDB (FW_LocalStorageServer_XSAT1_XSERVER) executed by sa found 0 errors


and repaired 0 errors. (information - MSSQLSERVER - Event 17055)
Check DB

18264 : Database backed up: Database:FW_LocalStorageServer_XSERVER (MSSQLSERVER - Event


17055 )

DataBase backupIntelsyst event errors/warnings


Typically you would configure the application log to be circular (i.e. keep only the last so many days). In a
default setup, IntellSyst logs a log of informational messages, causing the application log to be full very
quickly. You can work around this by the following procedure:

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Troubleshooting - Interpreting windows event log - Page 250

1. Open qsaConfig.xml file (folder: c:\program files\intellsyst\4.0\qsa\etc )


2. Change third line: <LogLevel>WARN</LogLevel> into: <LogLevel>FORCE</LogLevel>
3. Restart the Agfa UWA service
TIP
More info on Event type numbers on www.eventid.net

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

8
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X
X

Info about :ApogeeX


production plans

1 ....Render Task Processor. ........................................................................................................................................


2 ....Second Renderer (dedicated Proofing Renderer). ......................................................................................
3 ....PDFReady Task Processor. ..................................................................................................................................
4 ....Normalizer Task Processor. ................................................................................................................................
5 ....Preflight Task Processor. .....................................................................................................................................
6 ....Impose and Runlist Task Processor. ...............................................................................................................
7 ....Export Task Processor. ..........................................................................................................................................
Z 7.1........ Basic Export flows: ..................................................................................................................
Z 7.2........ Advanced Export flows: ..........................................................................................................
Z 7.3........ Import PostScript Header: ....................................................................................................
Z 7.4........ PostScript Header: Select a tray. ........................................................................................
Z 7.5........ recto verso printing using a spooler .................................................................................
8 ....Proofing. ....................................................................................................................................................................
9 ....Clipping on (Sherpa) proofers: ...........................................................................................................................
Z 9.1........ Defining the output media ...................................................................................................
Z 9.2........ Defining offsets for the clip area .......................................................................................
10 .Generic Proofers: ....................................................................................................................................................
Z 10.1..... Center a document on the exported result ....................................................................
11 .Press Task Processor. ............................................................................................................................................
12 .Actions .......................................................................................................................................................................
13 .TIPS. ............................................................................................................................................................................
Z 13.1..... ApogeeX Client. .......................................................................................................................
Z 13.2..... Customer Resources. ..............................................................................................................
Z 13.3..... Autostart ApogeeX. .................................................................................................................

ab

252
252
253
253
254
254
255
255
255
255
256
256
256
257
257
258
259
259
260
260
261
261
261
261

Info about :ApogeeX production plans - Render Task Processor. - Page 252

Render Task Processor.


In front of a Render Task Processor you can place:

Any input Task Processor (providing PDF/EPS/PostScript input to the Renderer).

Any processing Task Processor (providing PDF input to the Renderer).

The Export Task Processor (exported results are not provided to the Renderer).

NOTE: Between the Renderer and a High resolution Output Device, a collect for output action is
automatically placed. (except for the PrintDrive TP)
A job can be previewed if the raster data has been written to disk.
Any Hold action (an action that interrupts the flow) between the Render TP and the High Resolution
Output Device will force that the raster data is written to disk. Also the Buffer each page before imaging
will force that the raster data is written to disk.

Second Renderer (dedicated Proofing Renderer).


A dedicated proofing Renderer can generate imposition quality proofs, content quality proofs or color
quality proofs.
It is advised to use the parameter set <Press> for the In-Render Trapping operation, Separation operation,
Render operation and the Press Task Processor in the Proofing Flow in order to optimize proofing output
to match with the press output.

NOTE: The same Render Task Processor is used to render for 1-bit (high resolution) and 8-bit (proof
resolution).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Info about :ApogeeX production plans - PDFReady Task Processor. - Page 253

PDFReady Task Processor.


A PDFReady Task Processor needs to be used if the incoming documents are PDF files with transparencies.
PDFReady can also PDF trap and color normalize. PostScript files will not be processed by PDFReady but
they will be forwarded to the next TP. A PDFReady Task Processor can be placed after a hot folder input
channel or after the Normalizer or Preflighter, or after the Runlist.
NOTE: When the production plan contains a Runlist Task Processor then PDFReady should be done after the
Runlist Task Processor. The PDFReady may not be placed after the Imposition Task Processor, you must
PDFTrap the pages rather then the imposed flat.

NOTE: If a soft proof action is placed after the PDFReady, the job will go in hold status at that point and
the traps can be viewed in Acrobat by double-clicking the PDF thumbnails in the Results Tab.
The settings used for flattening are hidden. These settings cannot be changed. Settings used for flattening
are:
flatteningLevel: 5 (vectors)
useAcrobatTransparentSmoothShadesModel: false
meshDPI: min(max(device resolution/4.0,72.0), 600.0)
rasterizationDPI: min(max(res/2.0,144.0), 1200.0)
intersectionDPI: min(APTStd::aptmax(res, 144.0),1200.0)
maxFltnrImgSize:5*1000*1000
tilingMode:0 tiling disabled
numTileRows:Not used since tiling is disabled.
numTileCols:Not used since tiling is disabled.
adaptiveThreshold:1000
preserveOverprint:true

Normalizer Task Processor.


A Normalizer Task Processor can only be placed after an Input Channel.
Remarks:

Using a Normalizer Task Processor in your production plan is recommended when you use an Imposition Task Processor (Note: when the incoming documents are PDF then the Normalizer doesnt need to
be used however you will loose the thumbnail functionality).

Using overprint in both the Normalize Task Processor and the Render Task Processor:

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Info about :ApogeeX production plans - Preflight Task Processor. - Page 254

Incoming document format


in the Normalizer

Normalizer Overprint Setting Renderer Overprint Setting

Used overprint settings


(RESULT)

PostScript

Honor Application

Custom settings

Render Custom settings

PostScript

Custom settings

Honor Application

Normalizer Custom settings

PostScript

Custom settings

Custom settings

First the Normalizer settings


are applied than the render
settings

PDF

N/A

Honor Application

From Application

PDF

N/A

Custom settings

Render Custom settings

Always set the Normalizer and Renderer overprint settings to the same values.
the thumbnail generation option of the normalizer parameter set overules the configuration setting of the
normalizer: e.g.: Configuration thumbnail generation off, in a job normalizer parameter setting create
thumbnail on: result a thumbnail is generated.

Preflight Task Processor.


Preflight can be performed after Normalizing, Runlist TP, PDFReady TP, conditional or immediately after
the hot folder input channel (if the incoming document is PDF).

Impose and Runlist Task Processor.


The Runlist Task Processor can be placed after the Normalizer, Preflighter, or Hotfolder Task Processor
(when the incoming documents are PDF). The Imposition Task Processor can be placed after the PDFReady
Task Processor, Runlist Task Processor.
NOTE: If the production plan contains an Imposition Task Processor then it must also contain a Runlist Task
Processor. Using a Normalizer Task Processor in your production plan is recommended when you use an
Imposition Task Processor (Note: when the incoming documents are PDF then the Normalizer doesnt need
to be used however you will loose the thumbnail functionality).
Do not put any hold action immediately before a Runlist, The Runlist is an implicit hold point so placing
a hold action would not offer you any extra functionality.
The PJTF/JDF files must be placed in a shared folder. If the PJTF/JDF files are stored on another computer
than the :ApogeeX Server, the shared folder must be listed in the NullsessionShare registry key.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Info about :ApogeeX production plans - Export Task Processor. - Page 255

Export Task Processor.


The Export Task Processor can be placed after any Input or Processing Task Processor except the Renderer.

7.1

Basic Export flows:

Basic Export flows are flows where the last Task Processor is the Exporter. In these kind of basic Export
flows there is no Press and therefore the Normalizer setting Convert all Pantone names to may not be set
to Follow paper type. The default color behavior for these basic Export flows is to honor the application
settings. You can not perform any PDFReady tasks on these kind of flows.

7.2

Advanced Export flows:

Advanced Export flows are flows where a Renderer, Output Task Processor and Press Task processor are
placed after the Exporter. These kind of advanced Export flows allow you to change the color behavior,
outputsize, scaling, punch calibration.

The Export Task Processor will use some settings of the Renderer, Output device and Press to create the
Export result but will finish after exporting the results. Rendering and other processing will not be done for
this flow. When you configure the Export TP to export JDF, an Impose TP can be placed between export and
render. In this case layout information is included in the JDF.
Remarks:

You can export an imposed job when placing the Exporter after the Impose Task Processor.

The export results can be written to a remote location. The remote folder must have its share-name
listed in the NullsessionShares registry key.

LPR output to PDFRIP does not work, use other output channels to send to the PDFRIP.

7.3

Import PostScript Header:

Go to the System Overview.

Select the Export Task Processor or the PS Proofer

Open the PostScript Header resource

Import the PostScript Header.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Info about :ApogeeX production plans - Proofing. - Page 256

7.4

PostScript Header: Select a tray.

Go to the settings of the Export Task Processor parameter set.

Select Insert PostScript Header

Choose the PostScript Header for the correct tray.

NOTE: Postscript Headers can also be used for the PS Proofer. (Same procedure)
The contents of the PostScript header file is prepended to the resultant PS. So if your destination rip
requires that the first line of the PostScript is %!PS-Adobe-3.0 then you must ensure that this is also the first
line of the PS header. Similarly if the rip removes any header before processing and then requires the
remaining file to begin with %!PS-Adobe-3.0 you need to ensure that the last line of the PS header is also
%!PS-Adobe-3.0

7.5

recto verso printing using a spooler

Place a collect action in front of the export task Processor and select collect by job/signature. Without
the collect action export Task Processor creates a single file per page/side, in that case the printer cant
print recto/verso. Note that the collect action is not needed when export is done to file. In this case
collecting is done based on the filename template.

Use a PS_Header DuplexFlipLongEdge/DuplexFlipShortEdge

Proofing.
It is best to start your Page Proofing flow after the Runlist Task Processor for several performance reasons:

Page proof only the pages you use in your job (Runlist).

The incoming document is always split into pages at the Runlist.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Info about :ApogeeX production plans - Clipping on (Sherpa) proofers: - Page 257

Remarks:

There is a proofing filter available which allows proofing a specified page or flat range: discard filter.

When using a spooler mechanism (Windows Printer) to print to the Sherpa, make sure to deselect the
Windows Printer setting Keep printed results.

It is best to put a collect for output before the Sherpa in all Hot\Job Tickets because if you dont, a next
job will be waiting to render as long as the previous job is not done printing yet. This is only valid when
your Sherpa is connected through TCP\IP. There is no problem if it is connected via a Windows spooler.

Clipping on (Sherpa) proofers:


When outputting on a Sherpa it can sometimes be useful to print a certain portion of a document. With the
release of ApogeeX 2.5 a new functionality has been implemented: clipping. With previous version of
ApogeeX, the input size (document size) was always used to define the output size, now with ApogeeX 2.5
and 3.0 alternative output size can be used to print (proof) a document.

9.1

Defining the output media

In the image part of the Sherpa TP you are now able to select alternative output media which can either be
added through the resource category Output sizes in the system overview (for a specific output device),
or from the media selection (image operation>output size>Manual from media) of the Sherpa/Generic
proofer Task Processor.
Select Image operation > Clip > Clip image to clip the sheet to the output size.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Info about :ApogeeX production plans - Clipping on (Sherpa) proofers: - Page 258

When opting for manual from media it is the media as defined in the output operation of the Sherpa
Parameter set that defines how to clip. The option Manual from media is not possible with media Type
(or Tray), this combination will cause the following error:

9.2

Defining offsets for the clip area

As all Sherpas are printing the top of the document first aligned on the right side (preview wise), you have
to look to the preview upside down in order to interpret the offsets defined in the output operations of the
image:

By default the lower left corner will be used to define the 0;0 offset reference for the clip area:

When defining the offset values you have to think negative, so to shift the clip area to the upper right
corner, you have to define negative offsets:

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Info about :ApogeeX production plans - Generic Proofers: - Page 259

The result will be:

10 Generic Proofers:
10.1

Center a document on the exported result

There are 4 check boxes in the image operation to offset the document inside the exported result:

Horizontal/vertical Offset: offset or center the document horizontally/vertically inside the output size
Grayed out if output size is set to from input. This option does not offset the output size compared to
the media size

Center output size horizontal/vertical on device: Center the output size horizontally/vertically inside
the media size.

If device supports variable page sizes AND Output Size is set to From media Size, these settings will have
no effect to the exported result
If device supports variable page sizes AND Output Size is set to From Input, these settings should be
Unchecked.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Info about :ApogeeX production plans - Press Task Processor. - Page 260

If from input is selected and the device does not supports variable Page Sizes, the document will be
centered inside the media size if these options are enabled.

11 Press Task Processor.


A Press must be placed after every Imagesetter, Platesetter or Proofer.

12 Actions
Any Hold action that you place after a Task Processor will force that Task Processor to write its results to
the hard disks and thereby causing a performance decrease.
Any Hold action that is placed after your runlist TP will cause the thumbnail pages to turn blue (Hold
state) after you have placed them in the runlist.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Info about :ApogeeX production plans - TIPS. - Page 261

13 TIPS.
13.1

ApogeeX Client.

We recommend to have as little :ApogeeX Client Windows opened as possible:


The :ApogeeX Client shows live updates. This means that every event that occurs on the :ApogeeX server
triggers the :ApogeeX Client to update. The more :ApogeeX Client Windows you have opened, the more
Windows need to be refreshed. This makes that the general Client behavior will be slower when you have
many :ApogeeX Client Window instances opened. Even better would be if you would filter your job list. The
less jobs that are visualized, the less events that the Server needs to send to the Clients.

13.2

Customer Resources.

There is a tool to export all customer resources/parametersets/hottickets/ticket templates/configuration


settings of the ApogeeX System:
\SupportFiles\Utilities\Configuration Manager

13.3

Autostart ApogeeX.

To have ApogeeX automatically started after starting your Windows system:


Copy
the
launcher.bat
(find
the
launcher.bat
on
the
\agfa\ApogeeX\Server\launcher.bat) into the Startup folder of your Server.

ApogeeX

Server:

NOTE: in some environments the networking services are not immediately started. This might cause
ApogeeX not to start correctly. The launcher.bat file can be edited with a sleep command to delay the
ApogeeX startup with some seconds. The sleep.exe command needs to be installed on the ApogeeX
system. The command can be found in the Windows resource kit.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Info about :ApogeeX production plans - TIPS. - Page 262

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Performance Guidelines

X 1 ....General ......................................................................................................................................................................
Z 1.1........ Virus Scanner ............................................................................................................................
Z 1.2........ Database backup ......................................................................................................................
Z 1.3........ SQL Server ..................................................................................................................................
Z 1.4........ Optimizing Scheduling of ApogeeX System Operations ..........................................
Z 1.5........ Cleanup dangling jobresources ..........................................................................................
Z 1.6........ Disk Defragmentation ............................................................................................................
Z 1.7........ Hyperthreading .........................................................................................................................
Z 1.8........ When to install a StorageServer ........................................................................................
Z 1.9........ Preflight warnings produce notifications ........................................................................
Z 1.10..... Hotfolder .....................................................................................................................................
Z 1.11..... Configuration settings ...........................................................................................................
Z 1.12..... Archiving .....................................................................................................................................
Z 1.13..... Public pagestores ....................................................................................................................
Z 1.14..... Limit amount of Preps templates ......................................................................................
Z 1.15..... Check network speed .............................................................................................................
Z 1.16..... RAM memory for Digital Step and repeat TP ................................................................
Z 1.17..... Multiple Render Task Processors on same hardware .................................................
Z 1.18..... Task Processors on Server ....................................................................................................
X 2 ....Commercial Printer Performance Guidelines ..............................................................................................
X 3 ....Book Printer Performance Guidelines ............................................................................................................
Z 3.1........ ApogeeX Book printer performance improvements ...................................................
Z 3.2........ System and DataBase ............................................................................................................
Z 3.3........ Configuration settings ...........................................................................................................
Z 3.4........ Plan Settings .............................................................................................................................
Z 3.5........ Workflow remarks ....................................................................................................................
X 4 ....System Tuning ........................................................................................................................................................
X

264
264
265
265
265
265
265
266
266
267
267
267
268
269
269
269
269
269
269
270
270
270
270
270
271
271
271

Performance Guidelines - General - Page 264

General
1.1

Virus Scanner

Using a Virus Scanner on the ApogeeX Server can slow down the performance. Below you can find the
McAfee Virus Scanner configuration which reduces the performance penalty and is still safe.

Start the McAfee Virus Scanner Console: Start>Programs>Network Associates>Virus Scan Console.

Context-click on On-Access Scan and choose properties.

Select Default Processes.

Select the Detection-tab, enable Specified file types, click the Specified-button.

Click Set to Default Confirm by clicking OK.

Search in the list for PDF, PD?, PS, TIFF, JDF, JMF, MJD (if Export TP exports MJD) and remove them
from the list. If they are removed click OK.

From the Virus Scan On-Access properties window click the Exclusions-button.

Click Add and browse to one of the ApogeeX DataStore. Select Also exclude subfolders. Click OK.
Repeat this step for each ApogeeX DataStore.

Click Add, browse to the MSSQL Data folder. Select Also exclude subfolders. Click OK.

Click OK.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Performance Guidelines - General - Page 265

1.2

Database backup

Refer to Auto backup of the :ApogeeX DataBases with the replication Service. on page 162

1.3

SQL Server

When to install SQLServer: refer to the release notes

1.4

Optimizing Scheduling of ApogeeX System Operations

We distinguish three major ApogeeX System operations that can be configured via the ApogeeX Client:
Database backup, Job Housekeeping (deleting, cleaning up and archiving jobs) and Database re-indexing.
The order when these operations are scheduled might affect performance therefore we recommend using
the configuration settings as specified below.

Database backup (FULL) should be scheduled before Job Housekeeping and Database Re-indexing.

Job Housekeeping should be scheduled at least 30 minutes (we recommend 45 minutes) later than Full
Database backup.

Database re-indexing should be scheduled at least 60 minutes (we recommend 90 minutes) later than
job Housekeeping.

Database re-indexing can easily last for 60 minutes. Disk Defragmentation (see below) should be scheduled when the re-indexing is completed.

1.5

Cleanup dangling jobresources

The Cleanup Dangling Jobresources command should be scheduled once a week. We recommend to
perform it after the ApogeeX System operations (after re-indexing is completed which is at least 60 minutes
later then the database re-index start). In order to schedule the Cleanup Dangling Jobresources (with
Windows Task Scheduler) you will need a script which is provided in the ApogeeX Scripts Collection. Also
refer to cleanup dangling job resources on page 140.

1.6

Disk Defragmentation

Disk fragmentation of the MSDE/SQL server Data makes the ApogeeX System slower. It is recommended
to defragment the MSDE/SQL Server Data disk once a week. For large customers, it is even better (but not
required) to install a commercial defragment tool (Diskkeeper 10). This will speed up the database.
Additionally we recommend defragmenting the ApogeeX DataStore disks. Defragmentation is a processor
intensive operation therefore we recommend performing it after production hours.

Create a batch file Defrag.bat with Notepad. (Save it in D:\Agfa\ApogeeX\Server\SupportFiles\batch


files)

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Performance Guidelines - General - Page 266

On the first line type the following: defrag.exe d: -v Where d is the drive letter of the disk where
MSDE/SQL Server Data folder is located. Add similar lines for each ApogeeX DataStore disk:
defrag.exe e: -v Where e is the disk of one (or more) ApogeeX DataStore(s).

Start the Windows Scheduler: Start>Programs>Accessories>SystemTools>Scheduled Tasks.

Double click Add a Scheduled Task. Follow the wizard.

Browse to Defrag.bat on D:\Agfa\ApogeeX\Server\SupportFiles\batch files.

Choose: Weekly.

Set the Start Time and the day you want to run the schedule. Make sure that you perform the defragmentation after the ApogeeX System Operations and Cleanup Dangling Jobresources (see above).

Specify the Administrator username and password.

NOTE: The defrag command is not available on Windows 2000 Server. We recommend downloading a disk
defragmentation tool from the internet.

1.7

Hyperthreading

Hyperthreading can be enabled/disabled in the computer BIOS system. To verify if Hyperthreading is


enabled, open the Task Manager and compare the number of shown processors with the installed processors in your system. When Hyperthreading is active, the number of processors in the Task Manager will
multiply by two. Hyperthreading should be enabled on Windows 2003 systems (this gives an improvement
of the performance.). Hyperthreading should be disabled on Windows 2000 systems.

Windows 2000

Windows 2003 or XP

Disable Hyperthreading

Enable Hyperthreading

1.8

When to install a StorageServer

The StorageServer is used when data is written to disk. A Storage Server can be installed for a Satellite
during installation of a High Resolution output device. If no Storage Server is installed for a Satellite, the
StorageServer of the Server will handle the raster data of the Satellite.
NOTE: If raster data is never written to disk (e.g. no keep result/action before PrintDrive TP) StorageServer
is not used.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Performance Guidelines - General - Page 267

NOTE: We strongly recommend to install StorageServers on Satellites when you have more than three
Satellites.
Disk

nr satellites

Network Traffic

Redundancy

Local StorageServer for


Satellites

No Raid

0-1

Low

No

Recommended

2-3

High

No

Strongly recommended

>3

Very High

No

Mandatory

0-1

Low

Yes

Not Necessary

2-3

High

Yes

*Not Necessary (*performant RAID)/Recommended

>3

Very High

Yes

Recommended

Raid With Fault Tolerance

Raid optimized for


speed

0-1

Low

No

Not Necessary

2-3

High

No

Not Necessary

>3

Very High

No

Recommended

NOTE: RAID controllers with write back cache give a performance boost of writing to disk of 15 to 20 %
compared to RAID controllers without write back cache.

1.9

Preflight warnings produce notifications

A lot of notifications (warnings, errors,...) make the loading of the pages tab from a job/public pagestore
take longer. If the setting Preflight warnings produce notifications is unchecked, preflight warnings will
not be shown anymore in the pages tab. This way you limit the amount of notifications for a job (especially
for public pagestores that contain a preflight taskprocessor).

1.10

Hotfolder

Make sure the Hotfolderroot share does only contain hotfolders and no other subfolders or non ApogeeX
data.

1.11

Configuration settings

Logging: Enable Informative messages in the Events to log section of the system log (contains info
about the database maintenance)

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Performance Guidelines - General - Page 268

Only check media usage, User interaction and error and warning events in the job log settings (do not
check the task life cycle events).

Do not archive the job log (Job Housekeeping)

Do not install the JDF server if not JDF functionality is required. If JDF is needed, but no JMF is needed,
Disable JMF Support in the JDF server configuration. Refer to Debug on page 93 to disable JMF
support.

1.12

Archiving

archive jobs without thumbnails.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Performance Guidelines - General - Page 269

Refer to Archive Thumbnails - <Unchecked> on page 13 for more info.

Schedule archiving with Job Housekeeping.

1.13

Public pagestores

If a Public Pagestore contains a lot of pages, it takes more SQL memory and time to show the pages tab
of that Public Pagestore job.

If a Public Pagestore contains warnings/errors, it takes more SQL memory and time to show the pages
tab of that Public Pagestore job.

NOTE: A public pagestore can give a warning when it exceeds xxx pages. Refer to Max number of docs in
Public Page Store - <5000> on page 12

1.14

Limit amount of Preps templates

Try not to have too much Templates in the Preps templates folder that is polled by ApogeeX. e.g. maximum
2000. When more templates are polled by ApogeeX, refresh of templates in the parameterset of the impose
TP takes longer.

1.15

Check network speed

Refer to How to Measure Network Speed on page 148

1.16

RAM memory for Digital Step and repeat TP

If digital Step and repeat is installed on the ApogeeX Server, make sure the Server has minimum 4 GB RAM.
If the digital Step and repeat is installed on a Satellite make sure the Satellite has minimum 2 GB RAM

1.17

Multiple Render Task Processors on same hardware

Multiple Render Task Processors on the same Hardware system is not recommended.

1.18

Task Processors on Server

When an ApogeeX system becomes big (lots of task processors) and the ApogeeX has 2 or more satellites,
the performance of the ApogeeX Server becomes better if you limit the amount of Task Processors on the
Server hardware to a minimum. Try to load the TPs that require lots of memory/CPU on the Satellites
(Normalizer, PDFReady, Render,...).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Performance Guidelines - Commercial Printer Performance Guidelines - Page 270

Commercial Printer Performance Guidelines

Memory for MSDE/SQLServer: Refer to Database Maintenance on page 10

Book Printer Performance Guidelines


3.1

ApogeeX Book printer performance improvements

Following important improvements will significantly improve the book printer performance and stability:

Every process on Windows 2000/2003 has a virtual memory limit of 2 GB. In order not to hit this limit,
the job store process is able to swap jobs out of memory.

The job store process will skip finished jobs with disabled input at start up time. As a result the server
starts up much faster. It is strongly recommended to disable the input automatically when a job is
finished (Options tab).

Information in the job store and storage server databases is stored in a more compact form. As a result
the job store database from ApogeeX 3.0 is between 20% and 50% smaller than ApogeeX 2.5. For
Storage Server this percentage is even higher.

To avoid internal fragmentation, a clustered index is used for all tables in the databases. As a result the
system should not become slower after a few weeks of production due to extra disk IO. The full reindex
every night will remove the internal fragmentation automatically.

The user interface retrieves information in an optimized way from the server to display the job results.
As a result 2 3 times less CPU time is used by the user interface to display the job results.

Several CPU bottlenecks in the server and user interface are tuned for better performance. As a result
the user interface response time is better.

3.2

System and DataBase

Install 4 GB memory in the main server

Assign 1000 MB memory to the database

Use a fast RAID disk for the data stores. Refer to When to install a StorageServer on page 266.

Install the database files on a separate disk (local disk) and not on the RAID disk

3.3

Configuration settings

Render Task Processors: Disable the generation of thumbnails for all render task processors in the
render configuration.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Performance Guidelines - System Tuning - Page 271

3.4

Disable the Normalizer thumbnail generation for text content. Thumbnail generation slows down the
Normalization process and will also impact the UI response retrieving the job results for books
(especially for CMYK jobs). You can disable Normalizer thumbnails on a job by job basis: enable thumbnails in the Normalizer configuration, disable thumbnails in the Normalizer parameter set.

If the input documents are always composite PDF docs, the Normalizer is not needed in the plan (Hot
Folder Run List - ...).

3.5

Plan Settings

Workflow remarks

The UI interaction for DQS jobs is 2-3 times slower compared to flat mode. The rendered pages generate
much more job results which results in more overhead for the database, job store memory and system
messaging. For CMYK jobs this overhead is bigger compared to Black and White jobs.

Single page documents generate more information in the system compared to larger documents (e.g.
one document per chapter).

Some book printers check the alignment of all pages on the imposed flat. This can be done by exporting
the imposed PDF document (use $JOB in the export name convention to export the full job as a single
document). If the customer prefers to verify over print behavior as well, the export flow can be replaced
with a render task processor and a PDF Proofer task processor (resolution 300).

If a Soft Proof action is placed after the Impose TP, extra processing is required to generate the PDF flat.
Multiple Impose TPs can be installed to distribute the load.

Do not place a Collect By Output action between Render And PrintDrive. If this action is used in the
pages flow of a DQS job and the grouping is set to pages, a huge amount of tasks is created in the system
which generate a lot of overhead.

If different shingling values per job are required, multiple impose task processors can be used in the
plan. A discard action after impose should be used to specify the range of flats for the appropriate
shingling values.This approach also works for DQS jobs.

Do not delete book jobs interactively, but remove them based on the schedule for job house keeping

System Tuning
Some performance counters can be enabled to tune the DataBase. To enable these counters, go to START
> Programs> Administrative Tools > Performance. In the left column select the System monitor.Click the
+ button to add a new counter.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Performance Guidelines - System Tuning - Page 272

How to detect if a disk is a bottleneck


IF (Physical or Logical) Disk Queue -> average disk queue length > 2
Try to distribute load over multiple disks.

How to detect if CPU is a bottleneck.


IF System -> Processor Queue Length > 2 (per CPU)
Try to move some processing components to a satellite

How to detect if RAM is a bottleneck:


IF Memory: Page Reads/Sec > 5
Install more physical memory.

How to detect if SQL Server memory is a bottleneck


IF SQL Server: Buffer Manager < 95%
If this value is too small, then more memory on the server may help. The low value may be an indication
that the memory is too small compared to the amount of data that needs to be cached by the server. For
ApogeeX this value should be constantly close to 100%. Reindex the Databases will improve this counter
value.
Assign more memory (increment 100 MB). Refer to Database Maintenance on page 10.
IF SQL Server: Buffer Manager Page Life Expancy < 300
Number of seconds a page will stay in the buffer pool without references. Increase the memory for the
database server to improve the performance.

Other SQL Server Performance counters


SQL Server: Databases Transactions / sec
The Transactions / Second counter is the number of Active transactions that are being completed in a
second. Again, this counter is a good indication of the database server activity. If this value > 100 for
ApogeeX, the database server is very busy.
SQL Server: General Statistics User Connections > 10
MSDE has a performance hit when more than 8 concurrent connections are active. This is also logged in
the SQL Server Error Log and Windows Event Log. A full SQL Server license should be used if this
happens frequently (satellites).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

10

Inside :ApogeeX

X 1 ....:ApogeeX Server components ...........................................................................................................................


X 2 ....ApogeeX Service components ..........................................................................................................................
X 3 ....:ApogeeX DataStores ...........................................................................................................................................
Z 3.1........ OTHER-folder: ............................................................................................................................
Z 3.2........ RASTER-folder: ..........................................................................................................................
Z 3.3........ SYSTEM-folder: ..........................................................................................................................
Z 3.4........ SCRATCH-folder: .......................................................................................................................
X

274
274
275
275
276
276
276

An :ApogeeX system has several components: server components and service components. It also uses several
databases and datastores. This chapter provides some more information on these topics.

ab

Inside :ApogeeX - :ApogeeX Server components - Page 274

:ApogeeX Server components


An :ApogeeX server component has an underlying database.

The ApogeeServer is the main :ApogeeX server component. This component performs the session
management (from Clients) and the software component (Task Processor related information)
management.

The JobStoreServer component manages all the jobs in the system and creates tasks (a task is the
smallest unit that can be scheduled; e.g. normalize document doc1.ps).

The NotificationServer component manages all the notification messages (message board). Keeps track
of who has sent the notification, who is allowed to read it, who should receive the answer, .

The StorageServer component manages where all data is stored (e.g. PDF data in the PDFStore, Fonts
in SystemStore, ).

The TaskServer component schedules tasks to the correct Task Processor (e.g. if you have 2 Normalizers). The TaskServer also manages the priorities of tasks, .

The TranslationServer component stores all the translation strings in its database. All messages in the
system will be stored as keys. When a message is displayed, this server will provide the humanreadable version of the message in the language that is requested by the displayer of the information.

The PreviewServer component is a layer on top of the PreviewService component. It is created to


perform an easy switch between the new PreviewService (ApogeeX) and the old equivalent in the
PDFRIP (it should not have been called server with respect to the definition we gave earlier in this
document).

ApogeeX Service components


An :ApogeeX service component has no underlying database.

The LicenseService can be queried by a software component to retrieve a license (e.g. a Normalizer
license), checks the dongle, triggers a software component when a time-expiring license ends.

The DependencyService keeps track of inter-Task Processor-parameter dependencies; e.g. the Render
TP is dependent on the resolution setting in the Output TP. If you edit your job, and you change the
resolution, the JobStoreServer uses this service to find out where the reprocessing has to start (note: the
real information is stored in the JobStore database).

The ImpositionService converts the template selection to a PJTF layout object (i.e. the object that
describes the imposition). The ImpositionService triggers the Preps Server to perform the real
conversion.

The PDFInformationService component is used by the ApogeeX clients (GUI) to retrieve detailed information about a PDF in the system. This component will read information directly from the PDF (e.g. to
build the Get Info window).

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Inside :ApogeeX - :ApogeeX DataStores - Page 275

The PRService component is a layer that manages the resource data in the system (fonts, screens, ).
When queried, this software returns only the resources that you asked for. It also maintains the information about resource maps.

The PreviewLocatorService component determines on which hardware platform the raster data is
stored, and returns the address of the corresponding PreviewService component to the ApogeeX client
(GUI). All further communication for this image is done directly with this PreviewService.

The PreviewService component handles all interaction with the real data files (e.g. only transmits the
part of the files that is visible in the UI).

:ApogeeX DataStores
Whenever a Task Processor has a keep result action in a job, files are saved to the ApogeeX DataStore when
that Task Processor processes the job. The DataStore is located on one of the hard disks on the :ApogeeX
Server. This data will only be removed from the DataStore when the job is deleted. Data is also written to
the Datastore if a job goes in hold, that data will be removed when the job is released from the hold point.
Some Task Processors might also write temporary Data to the DataStore, this data is removed as soon the
Task Processor finishes processing the current task.
The DataStore contains 4 folders: OTHER, SYSTEM, RASTER and SCRATCH folder.
NOTE: Do not edit/delete files from the Datastores, this will damage the :ApogeeX jobstore.

3.1

OTHER-folder:

In this folder data originating from the Input Channel, Normalizer, Preflighter, Flattener, PDFtrapper,
Runlist, ImposeTP, Exporter is stored (usually this can be PostScript, PDF, preflight reports,...).
All data which is stored in the OTHER folder is grouped into 1 folder per job.
Every folder uses a name convention:
Job folder eg. J2003 - 05 - 13 - 08 - 39 - 372 (Year - Month - Day - Hour Minute).
This is the moment that the job was started (this can also be viewed in the job log in the UI, with the Service
tool you can also get a list of all jobs with their linked datastore folder).
Contents of this jobfolder:

gr_taskprocessor_1_1 (for every task processor that writes to disk)

JobPool (other data)

The folders gr_taskprocessor_1_1 contains subfolders wunID* contain the actual data. The name convention of these files is not recognizable.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Inside :ApogeeX - :ApogeeX DataStores - Page 276

The OTHER folder also contains an ImpositionResources folder.

3.2

RASTER-folder:

All raster data is saved in this directory. This raster data originates from the render (if there is a keep result
action on the render). If raster data is saved for a job, a folder is created for this job. This folder has the same
structure as the OTHER subfolders (year, month, day, hour, minute). For every separation which is
written to the Datastore, a folder is created in the job folder. The name of this folder is wunID*. The wunID*
folder contains the raster data of the separation.

3.3

SYSTEM-folder:

A folder jobpool is saved in this directory for every job. This folder contains remaining resources which are
not saved in the other or the raster folders. Most important are the thumbnails of the render and the
Normalizer. Also the process resource disk folder is saved in the System folder. The Process resource disk
folder contains all the resources of the Task Processors (e.g. fonts).

3.4

SCRATCH-folder:

This folder is used as scratch directory for the Task Processors.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

11

Technical Reference

X 1 ....DNS (Domain Name System). ........................................................................................................................... 278


X 2 ....Working with Hosts Files (no DNS server). ................................................................................................... 280
X

ab

Technical Reference - DNS (Domain Name System). - Page 278

DNS (Domain Name System).


A DNS is a distributed internet directory service. Its function is to translate a domain/hostname into an IPaddress. DNS is used for everything thats related to communication with a web address (e-mail, internetbrowsing, FTP, etc.).
A telephone book translates names into telephone numbers. Names in a telephone book are not unique, but
the numbers are. DNS is like a telephone book. It translates domain/hostnames into an IP-address. With
this IP-address you connect through the network and search for a computer. When the DNS system fails or
if it is not correctly configured, all activities on the network would come to a standstill, because the IPAddress is not known.

There is some technical terminology that might need to be explained in order to fully understand some of
the described Operating System procedures.
The Windows Operating system uses the terminology DNS suffix. The Macintosh Operating system uses the
terminology domain name.
Primary DNS suffix (Windows): This is the DNS suffix that is configured in the properties of the network
identification (more button). This is the first DNS suffix that is used when hostname resolving needs to
occur.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Technical Reference - DNS (Domain Name System). - Page 279

DNS-suffix (Windows): When you want to use different DNS suffixes in order to perform any hostname/IPAddress resolving, you can use the Append these DNS suffixes list.

(Additional) search domains (Macintosh OS 9 and X): These domain names will be used when hostname/
IP-Address resolving needs to be performed. On Macintosh OS 9 systems you can also work with starting
and ending domain names however this is not necessary.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Technical Reference - Working with Hosts Files (no DNS server). - Page 280

Working with Hosts Files (no DNS server).


If there is no DNS server in the network, then you can use Hosts files on all computers (which need
hostname/IP-Address translation) in the network. Working with Hosts files can be compared with using a
local address book.
On each computer you have to create a Hosts file. This file needs to contain all hostnames and their TCP/
IP-addresses to which you want to make a connection. The syntax of Hosts files is depending on the
operating system you are using. If you use a wrong Hosts file or you assign a hostname to a wrong IPAddress, then you await problems. It is like you assign a name to a wrong telephone number.

TCP/IP-address

hostname

10.232.50.100

ApogeeXServer

(ApogeeX Server on Win2000)

10.232.50.200

ApogeeXClient01

(ApogeeX Client on OS 9.2.2)

10.232.50.205

ApogeeXClient02

(ApogeeX Client on OS X)

10.232.50.210

ApogeeXClient03

(ApogeeX Client on Win2000)

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

12

History

X 1 ....7 April 2006 (AX3.0) ............................................................................................................................................. 282


X 2 ....2 October 2006 (AX3.5) ....................................................................................................................................... 282
X 3 ....September 2007 (AX4.0) ..................................................................................................................................... 284
X

ab

History - 7 April 2006 (AX3.0) - Page 282

7 April 2006 (AX3.0)

ApogeeX 3.0 Version. Changes compared to original ApogeeX 3.0 Service Manual from 27th March 2006

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>System Settings>Components>Defaulttaskserver explanation is improved.

Chapter 4: System Recovery>Failover Server>Restoring the ApogeeX Server>The ApogeeX Server is


repaired > added note

Chapter 7: Troubleshooting>JDF/JMF Problem Solving>PDFs cannot be retreived by JDFServer

Chapter 7: Troubleshooting>Problems when viewing PDF Pages from my Mac ApogeeX client.

2 October 2006 (AX3.5)

ApogeeX 3.5 Version. Changes compared to ApogeeX 3.0 Service Manual from 7th April 2006

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>System Settings>Job Housekeeping>


Use new JobID for Import - <Unchecked> on page 13.

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>JDF Server Configuration>Planless submission>Production plan creation>
Production plan creation > Use ticket template: on page 79.

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>JDF Server Configuration>Planless submission>Production plan creation>Build Dynamically>
Action points: on page 81.

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>JDF Server Configuration>Product Integration>JDF


Variable mapping on page 82.

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>JDF Server Configuration>Product Integration>


Output Accounting on page 88.

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>


Stripping Configuration on page 94.

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>Configuration settings of Task Processors>RenderConfiguration Settings>Memory-Interpreter Part>Memory used for raster data>2GB or more
memory: 180 MB (do not put this value higher)
PDFRenderer - Configuration settings on page 37.

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>Configuration settings of Task Processors>RenderConfiguration Settings>Processing>Apply transfer curve in border.
PDFRenderer - Configuration settings on page 37.

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>Configuration settings of Task Processors>ExportConfiguration Settings>JDF content: Include parameter sets.
Export Configuration Settings on page 51.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

History - 2 October 2006 (AX3.5) - Page 283

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>Configuration settings of Task Processors>Spice


SpiceLink TP on page 67
Spice TP configuration Settings on page 69

Chapter 3: Operating Settings>Regional settings>Added note


Regional Settings. on page 129.

Moved info from Diagnostic Tools chapter and ApogeeX Tools Chapter into a new chapter: Service Tools
and tracing

Chapter 5: Service Tools and tracing>Monitor Tool>


Load Balancing identical proofers on page 194.

Chapter 5: Service Tools and tracing>Monitor Tool>


Clear all outstanding subscriptions on page 198.

Chapter 6: Troubleshooting Installation ApogeeX Satellite fails. on page 218.

Chapter 6: Troubleshooting Unable to lower the size of SQL DataBase on page 221.

Chapter 6: Troubleshooting - Disk Storage out of sync on page 224.

Chapter 6: Troubleshooting - Disabled disk locations on page 225.

Chapter 6: Troubleshooting MAC Client issues on page 227.

Chapter 6: Troubleshooting Change the PrintDrive RIP connection name on page 243.

Chapter 6: Troubleshooting Double separations in PrintDrive on page 244

Chapter 6: Troubleshooting Multiflow CMYK and gray with PDFReady on page 245.

Chapter 6: Troubleshooting Trapping artifact on page 246.

Chapter 6: Troubleshooting Job Archiving fails on page 247.

Chapter 7: Info about :ApogeeX production plans>Export Task Processor>


recto verso printing using a spooler on page 256.

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

History - September 2007 (AX4.0) - Page 284

September 2007 (AX4.0)

ApogeeX 4.0 Version. Major changes compared to ApogeeX 3.5 Service Manual from 2nd October 2006

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System on page 7


JDFServer configuration resource is moved to a separate chapter: JDF>JDFServer Configuration on
page 78

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System on page 7


Stripping configuration resource is moved to a separate chapter: JDF>Stripping Configuration on
page 94

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System on page 7


Administrator Access mode password

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>System Settings>Job Housekeeping Configuration>


Start ApogeeX DQS backgrounds when all pages are done - <Unchecked> on page 13
Delete on PrintDrive Required - <Unchecked> on page 14

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>System Settings>Components>Imposition Service: on


page 17
Removed Imposition Service from components resource

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>System Settings>Imposition Configuration Resource


on page 18
New Imposition configuration resource

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX


Resource>Split for proof on page 20
New configuration settings

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>Disk Storage Resource. on page 22


New NOTE: Remote locations (locations not on the same hardware system as the storage server) must
always be entered with their UNC address, not with a mapped drive letter.

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>Disk Storage Resource>Add a StorageSet to increase


Storage Capacity. on page 25
Removed Caution: A storageset can not be deleted.

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>Disk Storage Resource>Delete Storageset on page 26

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>Configuration settings of the Task Processors>Input Task
Processor Configuration settings>Hotfolder on page 31
Extract thumbnails from PDF

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>Configuration settings of the Task Processors>Normalizer Configuration settings on page 31
Processing - Other - Fix erroneous registration colorspace

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>Configuration settings of the Task Processors>PDFRenderer - Configuration settings on page 37

Company Confidential

System>System

www.agfa.com

Settings>Imposition

Configuration

History - September 2007 (AX4.0) - Page 285

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>Configuration settings of the Task Processors>CPSI


Renderer - Configuration settings on page 42
Partly rewritten the Processing part.

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>Configuration settings of the Task Processors>Digital


Film Proof, Tiff Render on page 49
Generation multiple previews

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>Configuration settings of the Task Processors>Impose,


StepAndRepeat on page 50
Show ruleup in preview, Use low resolution images in PDF preview

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>Configuration settings of the Task Processors>Export


Configuration Settings on page 51
Wait for the script to complete before sending the next result, Use filecopy

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>Configuration settings of the Task Processors>Sherpa


on page 53
Use viewing conditions from press profile if possible,Enable Ink Forecast, Remote Proofer using Files/
FTP

Chapter 1: Configuring the ApogeeX System>Configuration settings of the Task Processors>Press>Inkdrive-File. on page 71
InkDrive Format,Use v3.0 standard,
Post-Process files with script

Chapter 2: JDF>JDFServer Configuration>Job Administration on page 78


Extract into jobs remarks: Others

Chapter 2: JDF>JDFServer Configuration>Planless Submission>Production plan creation > Build


Dynamically: on page 80
- Default Imposition Proofer
- Proofer Data By: Use a separate render or a DFP to process imposition proofs.
- Default page proofer
- Rendering: use PDFRender/Render
- Action points: this part has been re-written

Chapter 2: JDF>JDFServer Configuration>Product integration>Extract thumbnails from PDF on


page 88

Chapter 2: JDF>JDFServer Configuration>Product integration>Job finishing events on page 92

Chapter 2: JDF>JDFServer Configuration>Debug on page 93


Only save incoming JDF files

Chapter 2: JDF>Stripping Configuration on page 94


Updated for ApogeeX 4.0

Chapter 2: JDF>Stripping marks on page 101

Chapter 2: JDF>JDF/JMF problem solving>Restart JDFServer on page 104

Chapter 2: JDF>JDF/JMF problem solving>Restart Tomcat Webserver on page 104

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

History - September 2007 (AX4.0) - Page 286

Chapter 2: JDF>JDF/JMF problem solving>http communication with JMF Webserver>Check the


port on which JMF webserver is listening on page 106

Chapter 2: JDF>JDF/JMF problem solving>Clear all subscriptions on page 120

Chapter 2: JDF>JDF/JMF problem solving>No dynamic update of KnowDevices response on


page 121

Chapter 3: Hidden Task Processor parameters>Generic Proofer quality settings. on page 125
The quality settings resource can now only be opened for generic proofers.

Chapter 4: Operating Systems>Regional Settings. on page 129


Added note: The regional settings of all ApogeeX components (server, satellite, failover) must be configured the same.

Chapter 4: Operating Systems>Create PrintSpoolers


Create Print Spoolers on page 151

Chapter 5: System Recovery>ApogeeX backup possibilities>Verify if SQL Server is installed and


running>SQL Express/Server 2005 on page 161

Chapter 5: System Recovery>Disk Mirroring>


Mirroring the Server StorageSets to a UNC shared volume. on page 169
Added Note: Remote locations (locations not on the same hardware system as the storage server) must
always be entered with their UNC address, not with a mapped drive letter.

Chapter 5: System Recovery>Failover Server>Failover Server Setup. on page 174

Chapter 5: System Recovery>Failover Server>Starting the Failover Server. on page 177

Chapter 5: System Recovery>Failover Server>Promote the Failover to a main server on page 180

Chapter 5: System Recovery>Failover Server>The ApogeeX Server is repaired. on page 180

Chapter 5: System Recovery>Failover Server>The ApogeeX Server needs to be replaced on page 182

Chapter 6: Service Tools and tracing>Cleanup unused resources on page 206

Chapter 6: Service Tools and tracing>ApoDiag tool on page 212

Chapter 7: Troubleshooting on page 217


Moved JDF/JMF problem solving to JDF/JMF problem solving on page 104

Chapter 7:Troubleshooting>Uninstall :ApogeeX fails on page 218

Chapter 7:Troubleshooting>Satellite cannot be started when connected to Failover Server. on


page 221

Chapter 7:Troubleshooting>Disk Storage out of sync on page 224

Chapter 7:Troubleshooting>Disabled disk locations on page 225

Chapter 9: Performance Guidelines>General>Preflight warnings produce notifications on page 267

Company Confidential

www.agfa.com

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen