Create custom fields in PLA that can be populated with strings and used to trigger special operations in Prinergy RBA. For example, you can create RBA custom fields for Press, InkSet, Screening, and
Frequency, and populate these with values that RBA can use to automatically make plates with those specifications. The custom fields in PLA are not the same as Prinergy custom fields, but RBA can be
configured in Prinergy to convert the PLA custom fields into Prinergy custom fields.
To open the Custom Fields and Event Manager dialog box, in PLA Manager, perform one of the following actions:
- On a Macintosh computer, choose Layout Automation Manager > Customize.
- On a Windows OS-based computer, select System > Customize.
This opens the Custom Fields and Events Manager dialog box.
Custom Fields tab
The Custom Fields tab provides a toolkit for controlling layout specifications or for streaming layouts through different workflows based on custom field entries. For example, you can enable automatic job creation in different Prinergy job groups by making a custom field for Job Groups in the layout ticket, and creating an underlying table of values in the RBA rule set to automatically stream jobs to the different
Job Groups.
You can also create a custom field for flexo distortion values. Entering this value in the Layout Ticket embeds the correct distortion value in the layout, and Prinergy Workflow can automatically use this value to scale the layout at the time of final output. To enable Custom Fields as flow control items, you need to set up a Select One Item in a RBA rule set to extract the value at the time that PLA software creates the layout.
- Click + (add) to create and name the field.
This field name is recognized in the RBA rule set, and the corresponding value is used in the rule set to stream the layout through the desired workflow. - (Optional) Select the Visible check box to show these fields when viewing or opening the PLA Status tab.
- Select the value type from the drop-down list.
The types are identical in nature to those found in Prinergy Workflow custom fields: Text, Integer, Decimal, Yes/No, or Date. - To add multiple values for the field name, type a value in the box and click Return (Mac) or Enter (Windows). Add the remaining values in the same way.
They will appear in the list of layout tickets for this custom field. If a value is no longer required, open the list by clicking the down arrow next to it, and click - (minus) to remove it from the list. - (Optional) Click - (minus) to delete fields.
Custom Events tab
Create a custom event in PLA to directly trigger an RBA action in Prinergy Workflow. After the custom event string is created in PLA, you must configure a corresponding event-action pair in the Prinergy
RBA rule set. To trigger the Prinergy Workflow action, select a PLA layout and right-click it. Access PLA custom events from the context menu.
For example, you could select a layout from the Status tab and request that Prinergy Workflow immediately make plates at a specific line screen or angle for the selected layout.
- Click + (add) to create a custom event.
- Type a name and description for the custom event.
This custom event appears as an item in a list when you right-click a layout in the PLA Client.
Note: When properly configured in RBA, selecting this item triggers a custom event that is recognized in RBA. You can create corresponding rule sets to launch specific workflow actions when it detects this custom event. - (Optional) Click - (minus) to delete a custom event.