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A-Shell Consolidated Reference

Updated May 2016; see History

Name

Values

Description

PDFXv3

SaveType

Specifies the action which should be performed when document is spooled. Default = 2 (Save)

Type

0 (pdfSaver)

Specifies that the pdfSaver application (the document creation application of PDFX) will display the Job Management window where the action which should be performed can be specified.

1 (AppendToLast)

Appends the newly printed document to the last job in the jobs list. pdfSaver may then be used to create a PDF file from this job.

2 (Save)

(Most used) Generates and saves the PDF file from the printed document using other properties defined into this section.

3 (JustEmail)

Creates the PDF file and emails it using properties defined in the EMail section, then deletes the PDF file.

ShowSaveDialog

Boolean

If this property is True, pdfSaver will display the Save As dialog where the path and file name of the PDF file must be specified. Canceling the Save As dialog will cancel the PDF file creation. Default = True

(same)

Path

String

Defines the path where newly created PDF file should be saved. If this property is an empty string, the user's My Documents folder will be used for document storing. In some cases this property is not used. See the description of the File and SaveFileName properties. Default = empty string

(new)

File

String

Defines file name of the newly created PDF file. This name can contain macros and a path. If this property contains a path, this path will used instead of path specified in Path property. See description of Path and SaveFileName properties. Default = %[DocName].

(new)

FullFileName

String

Combines the Path and File properties into a single property for simplicity and backward compatibility. See following topic.

(same)

UseLastPath

Boolean

When true, overrides the Path property and instead uses the same path as the previously saved PDF file. This mirrors the behavior of many standard Windows programs, particularly when using the ShowSaveDialog option. Default = False.

(new)

StripPath

Boolean

Defines how value of macro %[DocName] will be calculated. If this property is True and the document name passed from the printing application contains the path, this path will then be stripped during assigning %[DocName] property. Default = False

StripPathFromDocName

WhenExists

Specifies the action which will be performed during saving if the file with the name specified by the Path and File properties already exists. Note that these options are not available when PDF/A feature is used. Default = 0 (ShowWarning)

(same)

0 (ShowWarning)

pdfSaver will show a warning dialog where the user can choose what to do.

1 (Overwrite)

Allows pdfSaver to overwrite existing file without any warning dialogs.

2 (AutoNumber)

pdfSaver will change the name of the destination file by appending with a numeric value. The format of this number is specified by AutoNumber.Start and AutoNumber.NumDigits properties.

3 (Append)

Allow pdfSaver to merge existing and newly created PDF documents by placing the newly created PDF at the end (for valueAppend) or at the beginning (InsertBefore) of the existing file.

4 (InsertBefore)

AutoNumber.Start

0 - 999999

Define the start number when auto-numbering used. Default = 1

(same)

AutoNumber.NumDigits

1 - 6

Define the format of the number when auto-numbering used. The number of digits defines the minimum number of digits used for the number (if number is shorted it will be prepended by '0' characters). Default = 3

(same)

RunApp

Boolean

Specifies if the newly created PDF document should be opened after creation. Default = True

App.Run

RunCustom

Boolean

Defines which application should be used to open created PDF document. If the value of this property is True, application specified by AppName will be used; otherwise the default PDF application will be used. This property used only when RunApp is True. Default = False

App.Run; note 1

AppName

String

This property is used only when both RunApp and RunCustom properties have the value True. It names the application which should be used for opening the created PDF file. The value of this property must be the fully-qualified path name of the application. Default = empty string

App.Run; note 1

AppParams

String

This property specifies the parameters that will be passed to the AppName application when opening the PDF file. String %f represents the full path name of the created PDF file. Default = %f

App.Params

 

Note that between the ShowSaveDialog and AutoNumber options, and the fact that the PDF generation is asynchronous—i.e. the SPOOL request may return before the file is written, it is all but impossible for the application to determine the actual filespec of the PDF output in advance. However, you can use the WAIT switch (see History) with XCALL SPOOL to force it to wait until the file is written before returning, and then the MIAMEX, MX_LASTPRTFIL routine to retrieve the actual PDF filespec. This is supported only in PDFXv5 and later.

Examples

To generate the PDF file based on the print file name, saving it (and overwriting an existing copy) with no dialog, and not launching the viewer:

//PDFX,Save.ShowSaveDialog,False

//PDFX,Save.WhenExists,Overwrite

//PDFX,Save.RunApp,0

 

Compatibility

In PDFXv5 and later, the directives RunApp, RunCustom and, AppName take the place of the single directive from PDFXv3 "Save.App.Run,<app-path-spec>." Also some property names have been changed. PDFXv3 properties will be up-converted automatically to the PDFXv5 or PDFXv9 versions when applicable, but not vice versa.

History

2016 May, A-Shell 6.3.1509:  Enhance the WAIT operation of XCALL SPOOL to apply to PDFX, add MX_LASTPRTFIL.