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How to print attachments automatically for shipments


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Is there a way with either a workflow or report rule, that lets you print an attachment once an operational form is printed? 

I have attachments for shipments that I would like to have printed when I print the shipment delivery note. I have added the capability for attachments to be added to shipments.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bryan

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Best answer by bdoucette 25 April 2023, 16:03

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13 replies

Userlevel 7
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Hi @bdoucette,

 

You can’t print the attached documents in a easy way still in IFS as I know. But as a workaround, it’s possible to include all connected attachments in a email when a report is printed. Most of the modern printers have the an email and you can print by sending an email to the printer.

Check this blog post on how to include attachments in the email

https://dsj23.me/2023/04/10/how-to-include-additional-attachments-in-e-mail-reports-in-ifs-cloud/

 

Hope it helps!

Damith

Userlevel 5
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Hi @dsj 

Thank you for the quick reply.

 

That’s a shame, as using the emailing method is not feasible for our system. 

I have created a workflow that attempts to print off all attachments for a shipment based off of what document class value it has, but I think I am missing something with the listing. I have this workflow:
 

 

I believe the api call for getting this list is working properly, but I am not handling the output. 

Would you have any insight on this?

Thanks,
Bryan

Badge +1

why not try a custom event, based on pdf printed

Userlevel 5
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Hi @Rmorton,

Yes that would be a great trigger for when the attachment should print, but my main issue is retrieving that list, and calling for the printing of those documents.

Going through the Document Object Connection page and looking for orders with the specific order number seems like the best way to approach this, but sorting through that list and actually calling the print method has not been handled in any of the technical documentation.
Thanks,
Bryan

Userlevel 7
Badge +20

Hi @bdoucette 

I think Print Document task would be challenging. Print in Document revision is handled via Aurena agent and I’m not sure if we can call Aurena agent from BPA.

 

Otherwise ‘normal’ IFS printing works for IFS reports and documents can’t print via that.

 

Regards,

Damith

Userlevel 5
Badge +15

Hi @dsj 
 

I believe it will be challenging as well, and if I end up getting it to work, then I’ll let you know.

Right now I have a workflow that pulls all of the documents that are attached to a shipment or it’s customer order with the document class 140 or 150.

That workflow actually works, so I’m attempting to call the function ‘GetMacroInfo’ with the parameter variable ‘Process’ set to ‘PRINT’ which I’m hoping, would call the aurena agent, as that is how the aurena agent first gets called when printing a normal attachment. It most likely won’t work but I’m willing to try.

Thanks again,
Bryan

Userlevel 5
Badge +15

Hi @dsj 

I attempted to call that ‘GetMacroInfo’ function and unfortunately, you were right. It did not call the aurena agent. Sadly it isn’t possible to print those attachments off automatically. The best thing I can do is replace the print call with an user alert to let the user know that there are documents that need to be printed off. 

Thanks again for all of the insight, I appreciate it.

Thanks,
Bryan

Userlevel 7
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Hi Brian,

 

Too bad it didn’t work out :| Could be really fun if aurena agent can be called from a workflow.

If this is really necessary and you got time, worth checking how the PDF Inserts works in IFS. That functionality is there to print static PDFs along with a report but it could be possible to manipulate the logic and print the attachments, a long shot though.

 

Cheers!

Damith

Userlevel 5
Badge +15

Hi @dsj 

 

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction. I’m a little confused why attachments have to be handled by the Aurena agent and not the print manager/print agent, but that’s a question for another time. 

I am interested in continuing and trying to see if I can get that to work, I don’t know a ton about PDF inserts but from what I did read, aren’t those only available to static files? If the name changes/is different than the declared name in that report rule, then I’m not sure if it would be able to be attached. Either way, I will look into it.

Thanks again! I appreciate the dialog and advise
Bryan

Userlevel 5
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After looking more into it, I’d have to manually add PDF’s to that list, and then pull them over via that report rule, which doesn’t look like it can be automated. 

Thanks again for the info though!

Userlevel 6
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we are struglling with the same issue. Would be very convenient indeed that attachment can get printed together with a report from the same source.

 

Example: shop order report - shop order attachments

Userlevel 5
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Hi @First Employee 

I agree, it seems silly for attachments/documents to be handled by the Aurena agent add-on when operational reports are already handled by the print manager/ print agent. 

I ended up making a user task to alert the user when attachments with the DocClass of 140/150 were on the shipment, and that they need to be printed off. This works for us since the printing of Shipment Delivery Note is a manual process and having these documents for a shipment is not that common for us, but if it were any other scenario, this would impede our productivity. IFS should look into other avenues for how to handle the printing of attachments so we can automate the process. 

Thanks,
Bryan

Userlevel 5
Badge +17

Please refer and perhaps upvote the following idea: 

 

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