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Describe the purpose of the Rules-Based Automation software.
Prinergy Rules-Based Automation is a toolkit that allows the creation of workflows that can repeatedly perform day-to-day prepress-related tasks.
What is an event?
An event is an incident or an outcome that can happen in a Prinergy workflow. An example could be an input file added to a job.
What is an action?
Actions are the work that rule sets do, such as moving files, generating output, and sending e-mail. An action is any work that can be performed in the Prinergy system, and is triggered by an event. An action performs a single operation, given the appropriate directions or action parameter values.
What is a rule set?
A rule is one action connected to one event. A rule chain is more than one rule in a workflow. A rule set is one or more rules or rule chains saved as one instance.
Things to think about—based on the type of prepress operations you perform on a regular basis, how could RBA rules create a more streamlined and automated process to meet your prepress needs? What would your rules look like?
The sample rule sets include some of the more common prepress tasks that could benefit from automation.

Which three options can be used to arrange events and actions on the Rule Builder canvas?
The View Menu options include Full, Snap to Grid, and Off.
How can PDF pages be attached to an e-mail generated by RBA?
PDF pages can be attached by providing an event reference in the Attachment parameter of the Email action. The event reference would (most likely) come from the resulting event of a previous action that was capable of producing a PDF file.
When would hot swap be used? Why would it be used?
Hot swapping a rule set would be done to ensure that the trigger event was never missed in the process of changing or editing a rule set.
How can references to external values such as e-mail addresses be encapsulated? Why is it a good idea to do this?
A global or rule set variable can be used to encapsulate external values. A global variable should be used if the value is going to be referenced across multiple rule sets. A rule set variable should be used if it is only going to be referenced from that rule set. It is a good idea as it simplifies maintenance—when the value changes only the variable needs to be updated. All references to the variable will use the new value the next time the actions are executed.

When would you want to use a manual trigger?
A manual trigger could be used during the creation and testing phase of a rule set because the intended trigger event may be difficult to simulate. You may also want the manual trigger to be the only trigger event so that the rule set would only run as a result of human intervention.
How do you add a job note as part of an RBA rule?
There is an action to do this.
How do you export a rule?
This is an option from Rule Set Manager, either from the File menu or as an option that is available when you right-click a particular rule set.
How do you import a rule?
This is an option on the Tools menu in Rule Set Manager.

How do you set up a hot folder drop as part of an RBA rule?
The trigger event for such a rule set would be the Hot Folder Drop event.
What do you need to create in Job Manager as part of an RBA hot folder submission process?
Select Manage Hot Folders from the Job menu. Locate the enabled rule set under Add and Process Files > Automation Enabled Rules.
How can you embed a PDF preflight report as part of an RBA rule?
The resulting event (Created) from the Create Preflight PDF Action action carries the Preflight Report reference. This can be used to populate an action parameter.

What is a system rule set?
A system rule set can "hear" events from all contexts and jobs on a Prinergy server. A job rule set can "hear" events from within the context or job in which it is enabled.
How can you move a job using an RBA rule?
Use the Change Group (of Job) action.
How can you embed dynamic information into an e-mail sent by RBA?
You can mix static text and event property references into a parameter at rule set runtime to capture dynamic data and properties specific to the current running rule set.

How do you import an imposition plan using an RBA rule?
Use the Import Imposition action.
How do you have Prinergy use an existing page set versus creating a new one during the import imposition process?
This is controlled by the Process Template setting. RBA can choose a process template to be used for the import.
What is a branch flow action used for?
A branch in a rule set can determine, at runtime, the direction or path a rule set should follow, based on one or more configured criteria.

If you have a set of files, some of which need a particular action and some of which do not, would you use a branch or a filter?
Filter.
If you manually change the text in a rule set action or event, how can you identify the original text?
Position your mouse over the changed text; the original text will appear as a tooltip.
Which kind of timer flow action would you use if you want an action to occur on a specific date and time?
Timer (Absolute).
Why is it a good idea to use a delay parameter for Split and Repeat flow actions?
This helps you avoid situations in which a large groups of actions are triggered to occur too close together in time, which can result in a heavy load on the system—for example, if an action takes an hour to complete, and it is triggered once a second for a large group of items.
If you used a Split flow action with a delay parameter of 30 minutes, and did not also add a Next action, what would happen if the action took only 20 minutes?
The system would wait for another 10 minutes before processing the next item.
Things to think about—What kinds of flow actions might you need in your prepress environment?