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: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
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Contents - - Page 3 of 6
Contents
1 Configuring the ApogeeX System
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2 JDF
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3 Hidden TP Parameters
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4 Operating Systems
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5 System recovery
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7 Troubleshooting
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9 Performance Guidelines
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1 ....General ......................................................................................................................................................................
2 ....Commercial Printer Performance Guidelines ..............................................................................................
3 ....Book Printer Performance Guidelines ............................................................................................................
4 ....System Tuning ........................................................................................................................................................
10 Inside :ApogeeX
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11 Technical Reference
.............................................................................. 277
12 History
..................................................................................................... 281
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Contents - - Page 5 of 6
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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.
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
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.
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NOTE: it is essential that the Mail Server settings are specified (see below)
1.1.2
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
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).
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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.
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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.
100 MB
Server = 2 GB memory
200 MB
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
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.
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1.2
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
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
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
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.
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1.2.4
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
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
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
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.
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1.2.9
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
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).
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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
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.
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1.5
Select your :ApogeeX system in the hardware pane and double-click on the Components resource in the
resource pane.
1.5.1
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
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.
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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).
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:
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Add the DNS suffix (eg. eps.agfa.be). The full name of your computer should change in
computername.dnssuffix.
1.6
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
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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 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
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(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 settings are only visible if you have the split for proof license.
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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.
This option is especially useful to avoid pages from being scaled down/shifted in case of an imposition
with large sheet or plate margins.
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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).
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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
Open the Disk Storage Resource of the ApogeeX Server (the Server is always displayed in bold).
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.
2.2
In the System Overview, open the disk storage resource of the Server.
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.
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2.3
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.
Select the drive to mirror the original data from (e.g. F:\), this is the original location of the current
datastore. Click ok
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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.
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
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.
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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:
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NOTE: It is recommended not to use the ApogeeX System for production during deletion of a Storageset.
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.
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
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.
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Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 29
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
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.
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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.
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.
3.4
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.
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3.4.1
Hotfolder
3.4.2
OpenConnect
3.4.3
Appletalk
3.5
Processing
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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.
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.
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Memory
Others
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3.6
Processing
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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.
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3.7
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3.8
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.
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.
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.
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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 - 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.
Resolution - <10>:
The Render Thumbnails resolution. There is no theoretical maximum, but it's advised not to go higher
than the lowest proofer resolution.
Enable - <Checked>
When the Press Task Processor asks to generate a CIP3 image then the Renderer will make this. Improve
performance when disabled.
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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.
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RAM memory Server
2 GB memory
1024 MB
3 GB memory
1024 MB
4 GB memory
2048 MB
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)
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
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Recommendation memory
1 GB memory
12 MB
1.5 GB memory
120 MB
2 GB or more memory
Recommendation memory
1 GB memory
120 MB
180 MB
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.
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3.9
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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.
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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.
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Processing-DSC Comments
Processing-DSC Comments: (CPSI Render, PDFRender) on page 39
Processing-Preseparated printing to Proofer: (CPSI Render only)
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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
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.
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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.
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3.10
Generation thumbnails
See Processing-Generation Thumbnails part: (CPSI Render, PDFRender) on page 38
NOTE: The Plug-in Handler part is greyed out and cant be changed.
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Memory settings
Optimization settings
3.11
Impose, StepAndRepeat
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.
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3.12
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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.
NOTE: If pdf format PDF/X is chosen in the Export parameterset settings Force CropBox to match
MediaBox must be checked.
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JPEG2000 (e.g. PDF 1.3), the corresponding supported compression is used (e.g. JPEG 2000 medium
quality becomes JPEG medium quality).
3.13
Sherpa
3.13.1
Configuration
Processing
Auto-cut - <selected>
After every row the Sherpa will automatically cut the paper. This setting overrules the auto-cut setting
of the Sherpa Engine.
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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).
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.
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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.
Memory
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
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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.
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.
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NOTE: For more info about remote proofing refer to Tutorial Level 2: ApogeeX 4.0 Proofing
3.13.2
3.13.3
3.14
The TIFF Imagesetter and the TIFF Platesetter have identical configuration settings.
Processing
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Memory
3.15
PS Imagesetter
Processing
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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).
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).
Memory
See Memory on page 59
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3.16
TIFF Proofer
Processing
Memory
Memory on page 59
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3.17
PS Proofer/PDF Proofer
The PS Proofer and the PDF Proofer have identical configuration settings.
Processing
Processing on page 53.
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).
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3.18
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).
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.
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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.
Memory
Communication.
3.19
Palladio
Processing.
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Memory
Communication.
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.
3.20
PrintDrive
CAUTION: configuration settings are not automatically mirrored between Task Processors of the same
type.
PrintDrive Connection.
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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.
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.
Memory
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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
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
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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
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3.22
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.
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
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JDF Device ID
Has to be the same value as JDF Device ID in SpiceLink TP
3.23
Press
Type
Plate/Press Media.
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.
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Inkdrive-File.
NOTE: When CIP4/PPF or CIP4/ PNG is used, the PPF/PNG file is deleted automatically when the ApogeeX
job is deleted.
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.
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Filename composition sheet offset (Saves all files in the same directory)
$ORDER_$JOB
$ORDER_$JOB_$SIGNATURE
$ORDER_$JOB_$SIGNATURE_$SIDE
$ORDER_$JOB_$SIGNATURE_$SIDE_$SEPARATION
Filename composition Web offset: (Saves all files in the same directory)
File per signature
$ORDER_$JOB_$SIGNATURE
$ORDER_$JOB_$SIGNATURE_$WEB
$ORDER_$JOB_$SIGNATURE_$WEB_$SIDE
$ORDER_$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
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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
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.
Compression - <None>:
Defines the compression technique that is used for the Preview image data.
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Inkdrive-Contents.
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.
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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
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).
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Configuring the :ApogeeX System - Configuration settings of the Task Processors. - Page 76
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JDF
ab
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.
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1.2
Planless Submission
1.2.1
If a JDF hotticket contains only a JDF import task processor in the plan.
There are 2 planless Submission modes for production plan creation: Use ticket template or Create
dynamic.
1.2.2
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.
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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
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 .
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.
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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
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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.
1.3
Product integration
1.3.1
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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 MIS and Intent Jobs: Can be used for most MIS JDFs, Export Task Processor 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.
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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
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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
1.3.3
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
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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.
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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.
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1.3.5
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.
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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:
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.
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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.
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NOTE: JMF files are never sent for proofs or inkdrive files made on the PrintDrive.
Cost accounting using PrintDrive can be used if:
Disable cost type prompts during remakes on PrintDrive in the PrintDrive properties> preferences tab
is unchecked.
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1.3.8
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.
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.
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1.4
Debug
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.
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Stripping Configuration
Select Settings tab, the following Stripping values are used if not set in the JDF:
Figure 2.1
Stripping sheet
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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.
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2.2
RelativeBox Positioning
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.
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.
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MarginLeft (M1)
MarginBottom (M2)
MarginRight
MarginTop
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2.3
Pages
2.3.1
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.
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2.3.2
Shingling
Agfa Tag
Allowed values
Explanation
agfa:shingling
true/false
agfa:innershingling
agfa:outershingling
0.0 1.0
agfa:foldfactor
0.0 ...10.0
If shingling Agfa tags are not described in JDF, the values from the JDF Stripping configuration will be used.
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.
NOTE: You can also overrule Shingling from JDF by checking the "Overrule JDF for Shingling" checkbox.
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2.4
Finishing
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.
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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).
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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"/>
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Parameter="impose_strippingBorder"
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"/>
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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
4.3
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4.4
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.
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
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
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
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4.7
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
4.8.1
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.
4.8.2
Context click the Tomcat WebServer icon, select Open Console Monitor
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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
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.
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If possible also test the connection with Internet explorer from the MIS Application PC.
4.9
4.9.1
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.
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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)
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.
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.
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4.10
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.
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4.10.1
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.
JMF Sender
Query
SubmitQueueEntry
Input_xxxx.jmf
When SubmitQueueEntry is sent to ApogeeX, but no job is created in ApogeeX, check the following:
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.
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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
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.
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4.10.3
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
SubmitQueueEntry response
Rsp_xxxx.jmf
4.10.4
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.
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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 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
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Debug folder
JMF filename
Device status
StatSig_xxxx.jmf idle
Jobphase
amount
JobStatus
Total amount
Running
16
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4.10.6
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 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
ApogeeX->MIS
Resource
ResSig_ExposedMedia_xxxx.jmf
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4.10.8
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
ApogeeX->Press controller
Registration
ResCmd_ExposedMedia_xxxx.jmf
4.10.9
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
ApogeeX->MIS
Resource
ResSig_Preview_xxxx.jmf
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Subscription Type
ApogeeX->Press controller
Registration
ResCmd_Preview_xxxx.jmf
JMF Sender
Query
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Debug folder
JMF filename
Device status
StatSig_xxxx.jmf Idle
Jobphase
amount
JobStatus
Total amount
Ready
16
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JMF Sender
Query
ReturnQueueEntry
RQE_xxxx.jmf
NOTE: For more info about JMF traffic for jobs refer to
...\Supportfiles\JDFSupport\JMF_Cookbook_AX4.0.pdf
4.11
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.
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).
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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
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
$SEPARATION
These results might differ from the names described in the JDF. It is better to use the names as described in
the JDF. Therefore you need to use JDF variables ($SIDE stays $SIDE).
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JDF Variable
$SIGNATURE
$JDF_SIGNATURE
$WEB
$JDF_SHEET
$SIDE
$SIDE
$SEPARATION
$JDF_SEPARATION/$JDF_PRODUCTID
4.13
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:
Retrieve the Internal Task Processor name with the Service tool: Refer to Monitoring Task Processors:
on page 195
4.14
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.)
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4.15
A KnowDevices query can be sent by MIS to ApogeeX to query the task processors of ApogeeX.
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
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4.16
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:
Result:
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Hidden TP 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
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.
The Ink table selection can only be accessed in Service mode for generic proofers.
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Hidden Task Processor parameters - Generic Proofer quality settings. - Page 125
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
Default4Descreener
Default8Bit
InkSplit only
Same as no screening???????????????
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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.
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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
ab
139
Operating Systems - Optimizing :ApogeeX Server Operating System Performance. - Page 128
These settings are the recommended Operating System settings for Server and Satellites.
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 OK.
Set the Virtual memory (paging file) to twice the size of your physical memory (same disk as OS).
Select OK.
MSQL writes a lot of info messages to the Windows Application Log. To prevent that the log becomes full, do the
following:
In the Computer Management window, Select System Tools > Event Viewer > Application
In this properties window, you can increase the maximum log size or you can configure to overwrite old
log files.
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Regional Settings.
The system on which you install :ApogeeX may only have 1 input language.
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.
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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.
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Networking.
6.1
The following message should appear when you have a DNS server.
6.2
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).
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6.3
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
Macintosh OS 9.
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.
NOTE: If some options of the TCP/IP window are not visible, go to Edit > User Mode and select Advanced.
Macintosh OS X.
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.
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Windows.
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
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 TCP/IP control panel and press the Select Hosts File button.
Confirm the message Are you sure you want replace the Hosts file with the contents of your file?.
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).
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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.
To allow editing the NetInfo database, select the padlock in the lower left corner of the window.
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.
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.
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.
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Enter the IP-Address and the :ApogeeX Server hostname (eg. 10.232.50.100 XServer).
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.
6.6
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.
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There are 3 possibilities to configure the network if you work with 2 network cards in the server:
6.6.1
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
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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
ApogeeX Satellite
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.
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ApogeeX Satellite
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
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:
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
To create a hardware loopback connector, you must connect the transmit pins to the receive pins of an RJ45 connector.
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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
You must use a fixed TCP/IP-address (no DHCP) when using this procedure.
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
When your computer has multiple network cards, only one of them will be used to register :ApogeeX on.
ApogeeX registers on the Local Area Connection (network card) which is at the top of the connections
list (eg GLOBAL LAN).
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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
The Physical Address (MAC or Hardware address) for each network card on your computer will be
shown.
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6.10
: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.
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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
Open the event viewer and search for the last Information message on source AppleTalk with Event
number 5.
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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
Disable the AppleTalk protocol on all network cards besides the card on which you want to have the AppleTalk protocol bound.
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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
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.
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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
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
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:
Select Connect.
With the macintosh client browse to the PJTF going through the mounted volume.
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7.4
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).
When scan is complete, the list of open ports is shown, most likely 3187 will be the only one.
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
NOTE: as alternative to this procedure you could just open the port range from 3187 to 3200 in the firewall.
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7.5
Open Accounts
Enable the checkbox next to the mount in the Startup items pane
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:
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).
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Go to Computer Management.
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.
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Operating Systems - Choose the language for the OSX client: - Page 149
Go to System Preferences
Select International
Restart ApogeeX client, the ApogeeX client will use the OSX language
11.2
Select only the language you like to see in the OSX client
Open sharing
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Operating Systems - Logon with VNC to OSX 10.4 from a PC - Page 150
Turn on VNC viewers may control screen with Password, enter a password
Log on with the PC VNC viewer to the MAC using the IP address.
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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
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.
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:
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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
In the Windows Components list, select Other Network File and Print Services, and click Details.
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13.2.2
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 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
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.
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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
In the Windows Components list, select Other Network File and Print Services, and click Details.
Click Next.
Restart the computer. Next, you must disable the TCP/IP Print Server, since it is now using the LPR port
exclusively.
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13.3.2
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.
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.
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
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.
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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
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.
In the Printers window, choose File > Server Properties. The Print Server Properties are displayed.
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 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
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.
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.
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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.
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System recovery
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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.
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 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.
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1.1
1.1.1
SQL Server
1.1.2
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1.2
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.
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).
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
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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.
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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.
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1.3.1
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
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).
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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)
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1.4
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
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:
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.
1.6
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 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.
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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.
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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
CAUTION: Do not select the + button in the StorageSets overview. This button is for adding a NEW
StorageSet (expanding disk capacity of a DataStore).
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).
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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.
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.
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.
2.2
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
Open the Disk Storage resource and select the StorageSets tab.
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Double-click the StorageSet from which you want to remove a mirroring volume.
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
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.
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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
3.1.1
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.
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NOTE: The Failover Server can only replace the ApogeeX Server. The Failover Server can not replace the
Satellite.
3.1.2
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.
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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
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
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.
Click System
click Install or click modify ApogeeX (In case there is a Satellite on the Failover PC) .
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.
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Select one of the following options: Add a failover of a main Server to this Satellite, or Failover. Click
next.
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).
3.2.2
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.
Click System
3.2.3
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.
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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).
3.2.4
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
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
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
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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
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).
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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3.4
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
Procedure:
Uninstall the Satellite on the same Hardware system as the Failover (if there is one)
Reboot the PC
Install Hotfixes
3.5
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
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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.
Start the PC
Start ApogeeX.
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.
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.
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).
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Copy the Preps templates from the Failover Server back to the Main Server in the same folder structure.
3.6
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.
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.
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Open System Overview > Main hardware system > Disk Storage resource, select the Disk monitor tab.
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.
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.
3.7
3.7.1
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:
Upload this fingerprint file to ELMS as if it was a license request file. A new license file will be generated.
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3.7.2
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:
Upload this fingerprint file to ELMS as if it was a license request file. A new license file will be generated.
3.8
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.
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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
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.
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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
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.
Render
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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
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
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
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:
Copy the contents of the Templates folder to the ApogeeX templates folder
Copy the contents of the Marks folder to the ApogeeX Marks folder
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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.
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
Select the Task Processor for which you want to enable tracing.
Select Trace to Stdout and you need to select all modules in the Enable Tracing For Modules.
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.
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.
TP: displays all tracing from the Task Processor (e.g. PostScript errors).
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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.
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).
You must Stop and restart :ApogeeX before the tracing settings are activated.
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
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ResourceInformationService
TestPagesService
The following components write their tracing to the tracing command line window of the
Systemname_COMPUTERNAME_3 (S_launcher.exe).
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.
1.4
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.
Check Save debug files. Select Only save incoming JDF files if only the incoming JDFs are needed.
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1.5
Open the OS X ApogeeX client and go to the menu: ApogeeX > Preferences.
Keep these 4 buttons pressed in and press Esc or the cancel button. The preferences dialog will close.
Enable tracing, enable all checkboxes under data tracing and tracing level and click OK.
Start console
You will see some tracing in the console for the ApogeeX Client.
1.6
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
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.
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2.1
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.
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.
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:
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
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Type a to open the Core Server commands list (you will need to logon to the server).
2.3
Type a to open the core Server commands list (you will need to logon to the server).
Type b to view the list of users that are logged in to the :ApogeeX system.
2.4
Type a to open the core Server commands list (you will need to logon to the server).
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
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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
These are the licenses which are in use by the system (checked out).
From the main menu in the Monitor Tool.
2.7
Start/stop/restart components:
Type f to open the :ApogeeX Launcher commands list (you will need to logon to the server).
Type c/d/ e
2.8
Uninstall Service:
Type a to open the core Server commands list (you will need to logon to the server).
2.9
Type a to open the core Server commands list (you will need to logon to the server).
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2.10
2.11
Verify % fragmentation:
This option allows you to check the fragmentation of each MDF file separately.
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.
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Service Tools and tracing - Providing Job information for support. - Page 198
2.12
2.13
Some MIS systems never cleanup subscriptions. This option is needed mainly during integration testing to
go back to a clean system.
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\
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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:
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
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.
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Service Tools and tracing - Providing Job information for support. - Page 200
3.3
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.
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Service Tools and tracing - Logging information for the Macintosh Client on Macintosh OS X. - Page 201
4.1
Mac OS X 10.3.x always generates the crash log file. (there is no crashes tab in the console preferences)
4.2
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Service Tools and tracing - Show string IDs in client next to translations - Page 202
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.
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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).
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).
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Service Tools and tracing - Shrink the SQL database. - Page 204
7.2
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
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
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
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)
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Service Tools and tracing - cleanup dangling job resources - Page 205
To shrink the DataBase, stop the ApogeeX System and run the Shrink_database.bat file.
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
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To perform Cleanup dangling job resources manually: open the Service Tool
e. 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)
Cleanup unused
resources
Cleanup dangling
resources
Disk
e. Resources
Delete resources
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.
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Service Tools and tracing - Logging Toolkit (MIS connection) - Page 207
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
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.
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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.
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Create a new folder e.g. d:\test on the ApogeeX server to write the PDFs to. Make sure there is enough
disk space.
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
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Processing job
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.
Browse to \\ApogeeXServer\SupportFiles\Utilities\ArchiveRecoveryTool
Run Archive.exe
Browse to the *.arch file of the archive you want to recover the documents from
14.1
Change /BoundingBox: [0 0 270 38] def Into /BoundingBox: [0 0 NewWidth NewHeight] def
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14.2
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
Make sure the font to be used in the border is loaded on the :ApogeeX System.
Go to /TPFont
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NOTE: Changing /TPDefaultFontSize has no influence on the result. The fontsize depends on the size of the
mediabox.
14.4
Insert the Jobparams eps file (see bounding box dimensions for dimension info).
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.
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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).
Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.
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.
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Information type
SystemInfo
SystemPerf
ApoDB
EventLog
ApoInfo
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.
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.
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.
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tsv
xls
xml
xml
Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.
Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.
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.
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.
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Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.
Type apodiag -v
Open a command prompt and change the current directory to the apodiag directory.
Restart ApogeeX
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Troubleshooting
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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.
Restart Computer
Copy UninstallProcedure.zip localy and unzip this file. This zip file contains UninstallNTService.zip and
MSICleanup.zip
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3.1
Remove XLogonService
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
NOTE: If Failover needs be uninstalled manually and Satellite is on the same system, only remove the key
'HKLM\Software\Agfa\ApogeeX\Setup\main'
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
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Troubleshooting - The :ApogeeX system does not start correctly. - Page 220
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:
Enable first the local disks, then enable the mirror disks.
Restart ApogeeX.
Version conflict
ApogeeX gives invalid version warning when starting up.
Verifying the Local Area Connection (network card) on which :ApogeeX is registered. on page 139
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Troubleshooting - Satellite cannot be started when connected to Failover Server. - Page 221
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.
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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.
First verify if all ApogeeX Components are started. Try to logon with the Windows client that is installed
on the ApogeeX Server.
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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.
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)
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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.
9.1
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.
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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
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
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.
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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.
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...
11.1
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.
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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 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.
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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.
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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.
Verify if :ApogeeX server, :ApogeeX Clients are registered on the DNS server.
When you get a message cant find computername then that computername is not known by the DNS
server.
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).
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Troubleshooting - Problems when viewing PDF pages from my Macintosh :ApogeeX client. - Page 232
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.
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
The launcher.bat file will wait 10 seconds before it launches ApogeeX (this value can be less or more).
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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
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
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.
Share the Preps folder for Windows and Macintosh via Add new share Wizard (Computer Management
> Shared Folders > Shares. Click next.
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Enable full control for everyone. NOTE: Mac OS X users which connect via SMB will also use the
Windows share permissions.
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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
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.
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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
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.
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
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)
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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.
18.2
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)
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18.3
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
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.
After enter, the text you entered will be visualized and server should say Sender OK.
The Server should reply with Recipient OK. Note: customername@customerdomain must be an existing
mail address at the customer site.
Server will now report that you can start typing text, to end your mail you must type "." on a single line.
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.
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18.5
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)
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Type your encoded username in the telnet session and press <ENTER>.
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Troubleshooting - How to remove messages from the message board. - Page 241
Stop ApogeeX
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 quit.
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Troubleshooting - Linearization Curves are not shared between PrintDrive Task Processors - Page 242
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.
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Work around:
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
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24.1
Solution
On the Hardware system where PrintDrive Task Processors are installed, context click my computer and select
properties
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
If double separations are still generated on PrintDrive, provide the ApogeeX job dump together with the
PrintDrive job log.
Step
Save Log
24.3
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.
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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.
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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:
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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.
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:
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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).
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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
17126 : SQL Server is ready for client connections (information - MSSQLSERVER - Event 17055)
SQL Server successful startup.
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.
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8
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Info about :ApogeeX production plans - Render Task Processor. - Page 252
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.
NOTE: The same Render Task Processor is used to render for 1-bit (high resolution) and 8-bit (proof
resolution).
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Info about :ApogeeX production plans - PDFReady Task Processor. - Page 253
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
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:
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Info about :ApogeeX production plans - Preflight Task Processor. - Page 254
PostScript
Honor Application
Custom settings
PostScript
Custom settings
Honor Application
PostScript
Custom settings
Custom settings
N/A
Honor Application
From Application
N/A
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.
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Info about :ApogeeX production plans - Export Task Processor. - Page 255
7.1
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 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
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7.4
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
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.
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).
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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.
9.1
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.
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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
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:
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10 Generic Proofers:
10.1
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.
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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.
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.
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13 TIPS.
13.1
ApogeeX Client.
13.2
Customer Resources.
13.3
Autostart ApogeeX.
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.
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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
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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.
Select the Detection-tab, enable Specified file types, click the Specified-button.
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.
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1.2
Database backup
Refer to Auto backup of the :ApogeeX DataBases with the replication Service. on page 162
1.3
SQL Server
1.4
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
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.
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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).
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).
NOTE: The defrag command is not available on Windows 2000 Server. We recommend downloading a disk
defragmentation tool from the internet.
1.7
Hyperthreading
Windows 2000
Windows 2003 or XP
Disable Hyperthreading
Enable Hyperthreading
1.8
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.
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NOTE: We strongly recommend to install StorageServers on Satellites when you have more than three
Satellites.
Disk
nr satellites
Network Traffic
Redundancy
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
>3
Very High
Yes
Recommended
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
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)
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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 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
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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
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
1.16
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 the same Hardware system is not recommended.
1.18
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,...).
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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
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.
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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.
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10
Inside :ApogeeX
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
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 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).
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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:
The folders gr_taskprocessor_1_1 contains subfolders wunID* contain the actual data. The name convention of these files is not recognizable.
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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:
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11
Technical Reference
ab
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.
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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.
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Technical Reference - Working with Hosts Files (no DNS server). - Page 280
TCP/IP-address
hostname
10.232.50.100
ApogeeXServer
10.232.50.200
ApogeeXClient01
10.232.50.205
ApogeeXClient02
(ApogeeX Client on OS X)
10.232.50.210
ApogeeXClient03
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12
History
ab
ApogeeX 3.0 Version. Changes compared to original ApogeeX 3.0 Service Manual from 27th March 2006
Chapter 7: Troubleshooting>Problems when viewing PDF Pages from my Mac ApogeeX client.
ApogeeX 3.5 Version. Changes compared to ApogeeX 3.0 Service Manual from 7th April 2006
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>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.
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Moved info from Diagnostic Tools chapter and ApogeeX Tools Chapter into a new chapter: Service Tools
and tracing
Chapter 6: Troubleshooting Unable to lower the size of SQL DataBase on page 221.
Chapter 6: Troubleshooting Change the PrintDrive RIP connection name on page 243.
Chapter 6: Troubleshooting Multiflow CMYK and gray with PDFReady on page 245.
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ApogeeX 4.0 Version. Major changes compared to ApogeeX 3.5 Service Manual from 2nd October 2006
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
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Settings>Imposition
Configuration
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
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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 5: System Recovery>Failover Server>Promote the Failover to a main server on page 180
Chapter 5: System Recovery>Failover Server>The ApogeeX Server needs to be replaced on page 182
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