Automation overview

Introduction

Some of the main characteristics that have sustained the success of 3B2 have been flexibility, configurability and programmability. These attributes enable 3B2 to automate complex publishing tasks. Advent takes pride in providing the tools to make it easy for users to enhance productivity and control through the implementation of automated publishing solutions.

It is with this aim that 3B2 provides a dynamic WYSIWYG scripting environment and a wide range of tools for the automated creation of many document components, for example, multiple indices, tables and the ability to define custom requirements.

Template development, consultation and training are all services offered by Advent to either develop entire solutions or aid customers in developing their own.

For more information see Solutions and Professional Services

What is Automation?

Automation in a publishing environment can be quickly summed up with the following statement:

"The composition of an input data stream to an output format based upon a set of predefined rules; without the intervention of an operator or typesetter."

Automation essentially reduces repetitive tasks. It is possible to achieve automation with 3B2 because it is macro driven (a macro is a short instruction that performs a function or series of functions). Macros can be incorporated into scripts (series of macros). For more information see the Scripts topic. Through scripts, 3B2 can perform tasks automatically. This greatly increases the speed of production and also reduces production costs per page.

For example, in one automated publishing implementation the pagination process involves extracting information from a large database, incorporating mark-up tags, extracting images as appropriate from a separate database, creating complex multiple indices and sending the final pages to a series of output devices.

3B2 scripts provide extreme flexibility and power. Automating simple repetitive processes within 3B2 requires a basic knowledge of the product and a simple level of scripting skill from the template developer. Complex automated, high-volume production to multiple output formats requires a good knowledge of the product, typesetting and 3B2 and/or Perl scripting skill, depending on the requirements of the task.

What is Batch/Black box?

There are many terms used to describe automated publishing including under the hood, lightsout, undercover and background. Black box and batch are the most common. They all simply mean the environment of the publishing process i.e. it does not have an interface. 3B2 is triggered by an action and completes its tasks with no manual intervention or display.

Why Automation?

There are many direct and indirect advantages of implementing an automated solution.

A few of the benefits of automation are described below:

3B2 & Automation

Scripting & Perl

3B2's unique approach and scripting language allows files to drive themselves. They can auto-execute and interact with the user when required or can be driven externally through link files or the built-in ODBC compliant database interface. For more information see Database Connectivity

Support for Perl facilitates the fast creation of tailored 3B2 solutions. Anyone with knowledge of Perl will appreciate the power this releases within any application, with freely available modules and documentation on the web. Together with 3B2's own context sensitive rendering system 'showstrings' and the integration of Perl and the x tools, 3B2 now offers an even broader range of automation possibilities.

For more information see the Perl, Scripts, Showstrings, XSLT and XPath topics.

The Overall Benefits

It is worth investing the time in developing automated publishing solutions, as automated publishing offers benefits for all types of operation, regardless of the size. This is because automation speeds up production, reduces the overall time scale of publishing procedures, increases profitability and provides real advantages.

Automation without compromising quality or design is also an ideal way to reduce the cost of the publishing process. Automated publishing systems produce accurate and consistent work and are also easy to integrate with existing systems and to modify in the future.

Key markets using the 'Batch/Black Box' approach

Further Information and References

Technical documentation on automating 3B2 is available to users at documentation.3b2.com


See also

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