Administrator Guide 2017
Output to PDF file

Output to PDF file creates a PDF version of the completed template and makes it available on the server webpage.  Detailed parameters are explained below.

Main

 Main screen for this action

*Description

A descriptive text to identify this action
*Output directory Enter the folder name relative to the root output directory of your system as defined in the configuration file.  Typically this folder will be named according to the files to be stored here, for instance ‘XML files’, 'CSV files' or 'PDF files', and each form will be saved under a date and time stamp in this folder.  For more information see the document .

Report processing variables can be very useful here as magic5 outputs the PDF with a GUID filename which is meaningless to a human reader (like photo names on a camera). Therefore the name of the output directory is important, for example for a main folder and, maybe, for a subfolder.

Clever use of unique names in naming a directory can make documents even easier to find. For example, a field with a unique name of PASSFAIL could be used in a directory name as %@PASSFAIL% to sort forms into the correct folder.

Conditions

This action will only be triggered if the conditions below are met. Leave blank if it is always to be executed.

Condition (1)-(4) If you wish to only run an action in a particular situation then you can use these conditions to specify them. The action will only occur if both conditions are satisfied. Typical uses are to only run an action or display an item if a particular answer has been given to one of the answers on the template.
For more help on using Display Conditions view the how-to guide.
Disable action

Tick this box to unconditionally disable this action.  This is the same as inserting a display condition that will never be fulfilled (eg. resultValue;xxx;equals;999 where there is no unique name of xxx).
Custom condition using 'and/or'

The text box under “Conditions (advanced)” allows custom conditions. These are tested in addition to any simpler conditions above.

If simple and complex conditions are both added then it will “AND” them together but each can be used on their own.

 

  • Each individual condition is the same as before (see above and how-to guide), but must be enclosed in square brackets.
    [condition type;unique name;test type;value to test] for example [resultValue;Priority;equals;High]
  • or and and test two or more conditions. NB. These are case-sensitive, OR and AND will not work
    • parentheses (curved brackets) give precedence to conditions. For example, to make A and B or C less ambiguous, use either:
      • (A and B) or C
      • A and (B or C)
  •  nesting can be used:
    • Surround each condition with [ and ]
    • Use lower-case or and and
    • Explicitly set precedence using ( and )
    • for example
      • ([resultValue;Priority;equals;High] and [resultValue;City;equals;London]) or (([resultValue;City;equals;Manchester] or [resultValue;City;equals;Leeds]) and [resultValue;Priority;equals;Medium])

Post-action processing (advanced)

After an action has finished running a file can be executed on the server. This could be, for instance, a .exe or a .bat file. Typically this would be used to insert data into another system.

File name to run Enter the full path and filename here.  Ensure that it is correctly spelt and that the file extension (such as .exe or .bat) is also correct.
Command line to run If the file specified above requires additional information on its command line, please enter it here. Contact your magic5 expert for further help.
Folder to run from Enter the full path and folder name that the executable programme needs to be launched from.
URL Instead of running an executable file locally, an http request can be sent to the URL specified here. It can contain standard variables.
HTTP verb Choose the http verb to be sent with the request to the URL specified above.  If you do not know what this is, ask your magic5 expert.
HTTP request body This will be very different in different circumstances and probably needs to defined at the implementation stage. It can contain standard variables and may contain the data entered on the form.
See Also
E-mail PDF Report

Concepts

Concepts - PDFs

Templates

Template
Template action