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Render

Code Activity Grooper.Activities

Renders the attachment stored on a Batch Folder to PDF using the native application for the file type.

Remarks

The Render activity enables Grooper to display and process electronic documents of nearly any type by converting them to PDF format. This is accomplished by automating the native application associated with the file type to print the document to the Grooper Render Printer, which captures the print stream and generates a PDF file.

How Rendering Works

When a Batch Folder has an electronic document attachment, the Render activity attempts to convert it to PDF by:

  • Launching the native application for the file type.
  • Executing the application's shell 'Print' verb to send the document to the Grooper Render Printer.
  • Capturing the resulting print stream and saving it as a PDF in the batch folder.

This process allows Grooper to support a wide range of file formats, provided the following requirements are met:

  • The Grooper Render Printer must be installed and set as the default printer for the user account running the activity.
  • The native application for the file type must be installed on the machine.
  • The application must support a shell print verb (i.e., a 'Print' option is available when right-clicking the file in Windows Explorer).

Usage and Configuration

Use the Render activity to ensure that electronic documents can be viewed, classified, and extracted within Grooper, regardless of their original format. This is especially important for workflows that require access to document content or structure, such as Classify and Extract activities.

Only one instance of this activity may run on a given machine at a time, due to printer and application automation constraints. If a Batch Folder does not have a native file version, the activity will do nothing.

> For more information on installing and configuring the Grooper Render Printer, see the > Grooper x Change article.

Single-Threaded Processing Queue Setup

  • The Render activity is single threaded per machine, meaning only one instance can run at a time on each machine.
  • This is because many native file viewers and editors do not support multiple instances or simultaneous print jobs.
  • To use Render in a Batch Process, follow the steps below to configure concurrency correctly:
    • Create a Processing Queue name 'Rendering'.
    • Install a single-threaded instance of Activity Processing on each machine which will perform rendering.
    • Configure Activity Processing to use the 'Rendering' queue and set its concurrency mode to 'Per Machine'.
    • Add a Batch Process Step that runs the Render activity, and configure the step to run on the 'Rendering' queue..

Alternatives to the Render Activity

Due to the complex setup required for the Render activity, consider using the following alternatives if applicable:

  • The HTML Document attachment type provides the HTML Document - Convert to PDF command, which uses the WebKit rendering engine to convert HTML content to PDF. This supports a wide range of HTML and CSS, and allows configuration of page size, orientation, margins, and image quality. The resulting PDF can be saved as a new rendition, replace the original attachment, or be added as a supplemental file.
  • The Word Document attachment type provides the Word Document - Convert to PDF command, which uses Microsoft Office Interop to open and convert Word documents (.doc, .docx, .rtf, etc.) to PDF. The resulting PDF is attached to the Batch Folder as the PDF version, enabling standardized export and downstream processing.
  • The Excel Document attachment type provides the Excel Document - Convert to CSV command, which uses Microsoft Office Interop to convert Excel files (.xls, .xlsx, etc.) to CSV format. This allows structured data extraction from spreadsheets.

Additional Notes

  • The Render activity may only run on machines where the Grooper Render Printer is installed and configured as the default printer.
  • If a document is already available as a PDF and the 'Render PDFs' property is disabled, the native PDF will be left unchanged.
  • The activity supports advanced options for handling multipart files (such as emails or ZIP archives), error disposition, and dialog box automation.
  • Rendering may be skipped for specific file extensions or handled differently using extension mappings.
  • If the print job exceeds the configured page count limit, the job will be canceled and the document flagged as a render error.

The Render activity is a critical step for enabling downstream document processing in Grooper, ensuring that all content is accessible in a consistent, viewable, and extractable PDF format.

Properties

NameTypeDescription
General
Multipart Rendering Options
E-Mail Rendering
HTML Body Rendering
Text Rendering
Dialog Box Handling
Timeout Settings
Render Printer Info
Processing Options

See Also

Embedded LexiconLogical SizeLogical BorderData TypeField ClassValue Reader

Used By

Batch Process StepProcessing JobBatch Object - Run ActivityExecute Activity

Notification