Gateways
A common requirement when creating printouts is to pass them on to other systems, such as fax and e-mail systems or archiving systems. This task is performed in convert4print by the so-called gateways.
A gateway is an ordinary printer seen from the printing host computer, so that the transfer of print jobs to gateways requires nothing more than simple printing. The gateway processes the print job in exactly the same way as a normal converter, with the difference that the generated print data is not sent to the printer, but written to a file.
With each file created in this way, the gateway then calls an external program or script that performs the actual task of the gateway. In this way a simple interface to other systems already existing at the user - fax, email, archive, DMS - is available..
The tasks of a gateway in convert4print can be very diverse:
- Sending print jobs by fax.
- Sending print jobs as a PDF file attached to an e-mail with a personalised cover letter. If required, the PDF files can be created as ZUGFeRD documents, or they are provided with a qualified electronic signature.
- Legally secure storage of print jobs in archive systems with keywording. The index data is created automatically.
- Even very large print jobs can be made available as PDF files on an FTP server for collection by subcontractors or forwarding agents.
- Collection of different document types, such as delivery notes, invoices and shipping documents for bundled printing when all parts are received - if necessary, even from completely different print jobs created at different times.
- Combine print jobs with externally generated documents such as PDF or CAD files from a supplier or subcontractor using customer or invoice numbers.
- Publish documents to a HTTP server. The documents (PDF, XML, HTML) are stored structured, for example according to customer, date, document type or similar.
The data required for the respective tasks, such as customer or invoice numbers, indices, fax numbers or e-mail addresses, can be taken from the user data or, if they do not exist, can be determined independently via SQL queries from databases or external files.
Gateways thus represent a highly interesting extension of the convert4print range of services, which can bring enormous cost advantages through the use of new media or the automation of previously manual processes by linking to other systems.
