How to print attachments automatically for shipments

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

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

why not try a custom event, based on pdf printed

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

Please refer and perhaps upvote the following idea: 

Hello,

It is possible to do small customization which will allow you to print any PDF from DOCMAN on any logical printer.

Idea is to create new operational report which is blank page but have parameters which are keys to document revision (doc_class, doc_no, doc_sheet, doc_rev). Then on print_job_api before set remote waiting just swap PDF file in Pdf_Archive_Tab to your PDF from document revision.

We are using this approach for years now and it is working without any issue.

Rafał Włodarczyk

While a smart solution in the past that approach is not possible anymore in IFS Cloud as this would require a modification in Print_Job_API - which is a direct violation of the restrictions stated in the documentation:

https://docs.ifs.com/techdocs/24r2/060_development/050_development_tools/002_developer_studio/030_reference/910_restrict_laa/#mark_a_component_final

Additionally, this approach will only work with database repositories but FSS storage is becoming more and more common.

​@Jonas Feigl 

Both of your answers are not entirely true, this solution is still working at least as of 24R2. I know it is working becouse we are using it.

It is true that there is restriction on changes to FNDBAS but it can be removed if you change deploy.ini (which can be changed).

Attachments can be fetched from external repositories (also checked for file storage on remote deployment)→ 

Any modification changes in the FNDBAS component are directly violating the stated policy. Only because you can bypass the limitations doesn’t make it an acceptable approach.

Sure, if you dont want then dont use our approach.

But we will.