Configure the Custom Rendering Module Options

The Custom rendering module does not provide any of the following that are the responsibility of the rendering application and of the organization that implements it:

• All processes started by the resource (script) file are properly closed when they are no longer needed. The process (script) that the module starts will be terminated by the module if it exceeds the time-out specified in Configuring the Publishing Options.

• Dialog boxes shown by the rendering application are suppressed or handled appropriately

• Resources created by or consumed by the rendering application do not interfere with publishing job processing

• The rendering application is properly installed, configured, and licensed to run under the Enterprise Server service account

• Error handling, roll-back, or fail-over processes

The rendering module automatically generates a configuration file from the source document information and the configuration parameters. The rendering application can use this configuration file to perform the rendering.

The desired path of the configuration file can be specified on the rendering application command line with the -profile key, for example, <Application>.exe -profile CustomRender.ini. If no path is specified, the default location of the configuration file is <ServiceAccountTempFolder>/BCTemp/<JobName>. The file is generated in standard .ini format with sections that group related settings together, for example, [Page]. The format makes it easier for you to understand the configuration and for applications to interpret the parameters.

Each setting occupies one line, for example, PageSize=A3.

Following is an example of an automatically generated configuration file:

[Common]
Source=F:\DataStor\Cache\ANDREWD\M-And-w8-64,D-Ht1\Publish\Test_2017.dwg
Destination=C:\tmp\BCTemp\CustomRender\Test_2017.pdf
Log=C:\tmp\BCTemp\CustomRender\Test_2017.log
[Source]
Category=Meridian
Name=Ht1@AND-W8-64
ID={417B4146-EF2B-11E0-0000-9D6D3C3A882E}
[Page]
Layout=0
PageSize=A3
PageOrientation=0
ZoomToExtents=1
[Pen]
Color=2
UseLineWeights=0
[Custom]
Units=mm
Stamp=1

• The file paths, names, and extensions are calculated by the rendering module and are not configurable.

• The rendering application is responsible for writing its command line output to the specified log file.

If the rendering application does not support a parameter file in this format, create logic in an executable script file (.bat,.cmd,.ps1) that parses the parameter file and calculates and runs a command line that is compatible with the application. Upload the script file as a custom resource file on the server as described in Manage Custom Resources. Thoroughly test your script file apart from the publishing job first to be sure it works as expected.

To configure the Custom rendering module options:

1. In Meridian Enterprise Server Administration Console > Data Exchange, click Rendering Profiles.

   The All Rendering Profiles page appears and lists the existing profiles grouped by the name of the computer (cluster node) to which they are assigned.

2. Double-click the rendering profile that you want to configure.

3. On the General page, click options or type values using the descriptions in the following table.

   Custom rendering module general options

   Option	Description
   Name	The name of the rendering profile as seen in the Administration Console.
   Computer	The name of the Meridian Enterprise Server cluster node on which to run this job.
   Input extensions	The file extensions that will be rendered by this module. To modify this list: Click Configure. The Input Extensions dialog box appears and lists the file extensions that are registered in Windows on the computer specified for Computer. Any custom file extensions specified for the Custom input extensions option are listed in the Custom files group. Select the file extensions that you want to be rendered. Click OK. The quantity is refreshed to reflect your selections.
   Custom input extensions	If you want the module to render files with extensions that are not shown in the Input Extensions list by default, type them (without the period) here separated by semi-colons (;). For example, txt2;xyz. The extensions will be added to the Input Extensions list in the Custom files group where you can select them. If you try to enter file extensions that already exist in the Input Extensions list, they will be automatically removed.

4. On the Output page, click options or type values using the descriptions in the following table.

5. Click Save.

Custom rendering module output options

Group	Option	Description
General	Resource file to run	Select an existing resource filename to run on the command line. The list contains files that have been uploaded as described in Manage Custom Resources.
General	Include input and output filename parameters	If enabled, passes the input, output, and log file names on the command line to the script. The log file output is also saved in the publishing log. If disabled, the file names are not passed to the script and output is not saved in the publishing log.
General	Command line preview	Read-only preview of the command line that would be run with the selected options.
Options	Output file format	The file extension (without the period) of the output from the rendering application. Files with this extension in the output folder will be detected for publishing.
Options	Update title blocks before rendering	If enabled and the native application of the source document is installed on the rendering node, the title blocks in the document will be updated from the document properties before the document is rendered. If disabled or the application is not installed on the rendering node, the update is skipped.
Options	Use job advanced rendering settings	Select this option if the values for the options in the Page Setup group and the Pen Setup group are stored as property values of the source documents. If so, then the document properties must be selected as described in Configure Rendering Options.
Page Setup	Default page size	Select an option from the list to specify the default rendition page size if Use job advanced rendering settings is not enabled or if a valid size is not found in the document property.
Page Setup	Default orientation	Select an option from the list to specify the default rendition page orientation if Use job advanced rendering settings is not enabled or if a valid size is not found in the document property. The values that are saved in the configuration file are: 0: Portrait 1: Landscape
Page Setup	Layouts to export	Select an option from the list to specify the default layout to render if Use job advanced rendering settings is not enabled or if a valid layout is not found in the document property. The values that are saved in the configuration file are: 0: Active layout 1: Model space only 2: All paper space layouts 3: All layouts 4: Layout name specified in Custom layout
Page Setup	Custom layout	If Custom is selected for the Layouts to export option, the name of the custom layout to render. This option is only available if Layouts to export is set to Custom.
Page Setup	Zoom to extents	If enabled, renders the drawing extents if it is larger than what is shown in the layout that is specified for the Layouts to export option.
Pen Setup	Default color	Select an option from the list to specify the default color depth of the rendition if Use job advanced rendering settings is not enabled or if a valid size is not found in the document property. The values that are saved in the configuration file are: 0: Monochrome 1: Gray scale 2: Color
Pen Setup	Use line weights	If enabled, renders line weights in the output according to the setting of Default pen table.
Pen Setup	Default pen table	Select an option from the list to specify the default pen table to use if Use job advanced rendering settings is not enabled or if a valid pen table is not found in the document property. If the name of the pen table does not appear in the list, the computer might need to be scanned to discover the pen table as described in Configure Rendering Options.
Custom Parameters	Custom parameters	Type parameter name and value pairs that are required by the rendering application. Type one pair per line in the format <Parameter>=<Value>. Each line will be added to the profile file unaltered for the script to parse accordingly. For example, username=john