Archiving print files
This process takes the files lying in the print folder and archives them. It is the plain sibling of archiving outgoing documents: there the documents are produced first, here only what is already present is cleared away.
Typical use: a third-party system or a SAP layout writes its output into a folder, and this process moves it into the archive at regular intervals.
When it runs
A timer of type X (also written ARCHIVE), set up under timers.
It needs the same precondition as every ECM process: the user running it holds the ECM-Connect permission. Without it the timer is booked as executed while doing nothing – see the note in the sibling process.
What happens
- Connection and database are checked. Without the archive connection, or with a deviating link table, nothing is archived; all files stay put.
- The configured print folders are read, filtered by the permitted file extensions.
- Files that are too young are skipped. What counts is the configured file age in minutes: a file whose creation or last access time is more recent is not touched – it might still be written. The log then says the file is younger than the configured number of minutes.
- Locked files are skipped and tried again on the next run.
- The file name is split – SAP object, document number, document category, optionally the draft flag, separated by underscores. Fewer than four parts means the file is not processed.
- For the category "print" the duplicate check applies, for "scan" it does not.
- The file is archived, indexed and linked to the SAP document.
- Depending on the setting the file is deleted afterwards or stays in the folder.
The difference to "archiving outgoing documents"
Both end in the same archiving, but they get there differently:
Outgoing documents (type C) | Print files (type X) | |
|---|---|---|
| Produce documents first | yes, step 1 of the process | no |
| File age | fixed at 1 minute | configurable |
| Delete the file after archiving | always | configurable |
So whoever wants to steer how long files stay or whether they are kept needs the timer of type X.
Duplicate check
The same rule as in the sibling process applies, and it is described there in full: the timer parameter NODUPLICATES on this timer is the more specific statement and wins; the setting ECMALLOWPRINTDUPLICATES applies everywhere else. The parameter can only forbid duplicates, never allow them.
A parameter only acts on its own timer
NODUPLICATES on the type X timer has no effect on the type C timer and the other way round. If both run at your site, the parameter has to be on both when you want to rule out duplicates everywhere – or you set the setting to "no", and then it holds without exception.
What steers it
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Timer, schedule and parameter | timers |
| Print folders, extensions, file age, deletion, duplicates | settings reference |
| The categories "print" and "scan" | document categories |
| Target archive and indexing | repository · document types |
| Watching a run | ECM monitor |
What can go wrong
Nothing is archived although files are in the folder
Check in this order:
- Are the files too young? With a high file age it can take a while before a file is due. The log names the number of minutes.
- Does the file extension fit? Only configured extensions are read.
- Does the file name fit? It needs at least four parts separated by underscores.
- Is the folder in the settings? A folder that is not configured there is not read.
The log reads nothing was archived
The same causes as in the sibling process – missing archive connection, no folder, no file extension. The table of reasons applies unchanged.
The files are archived but stay in the folder
That is not a fault but the deletion setting. With it set to "no" the file remains in the folder after archiving. Mind the duplicate check then: without it, every further run archives the same file again.
Message "table @… does not match the expected structure"
The link table is missing fields; the run stops before the first upload. The database structure is updated through the installation, after which the timer carries on by itself.