Question


Ciberspring Technologies
IN
Last activity: 31 May 2016 9:35 EDT
Alternative for PDM in Pega 7
We migrated an application from PRPC V5.5 to V7 earlier this year.
The Application uses PDM for automatically printing certain correspondences on resolution of the case.
We are currently looking at an alternative to PDM.
Would like to know what is the alternative for PDM in PRPC V7 to provide the same functionality.


Ciberspring Technologies
IN
- We use V 7.1.5
Pega Distribution Manager (PDM) is no longer available and is not part of our Pega 7 offering.
Customers have achieved similar capabilities (batch printing) with Pega 7 with Java PDF merge libraries such as Apache PDFBox and the Big Faceless Java PDF library or third party software from companies like Aspose.com
**Please note: External links to other sites should not be construed as an endorsement of any product or company by Pegasystems Inc.
Hi David,
How do we reconcile the advice to use another tool when using activity with 'ConvertAttachmentToPDF' when the HELP files still mention PegaDistribution Manager component as required?
'How to' article on the PDN: 'Understanding work item attachments'
https://pdn.pega.com/node/55841
Conversion of DOC to PDF format
PRPC provides two approaches to convert Word DOC files to Portable Document (PDF) formats. For each approach, the original DOC file and the converted PDF file become two file attachments, typically of separate categories:
To convert in the background:
- Install PegaDISTRIBUTION Manager 3.3.5 on an appropriate Windows server.
- Add the Utility activity Work-.ConvertAttachmentToPDF to the flow, supplying as parameters both the name of the existing DOC attachment category and the target attachment category for the PDF file.
- In later flow processing, ensure that outgoing correspondence that needs to include the PDF file is not sent until PegaDISTRIBUTION Manager returns the PDF attachment. Conversion can take several minutes.
Help File:
The PegaDISTRIBUTION Manager™ (PDM) is an optional server software component supporting Correspondence Output Server. PRPC uses PDM version 3.3.5.
Word DOC files sent to PegaDISTRIBUTION Manager can be:
- Printed on a Windows printer
- Transmitted by fax to a fax receiver
- Converted to Portable Document Format and sent back to the PRPC server to become a work item attachment
-> Is it just the version of Windows and MS Word on the Server which renders this tool unusable?
-> It the customer is using a supported system, how do we provide this component if it is not part of the Software Distribution/license system?
This documentation should only apply to older product releases - am following up on getting this updated correctly.
Hi Vivek Sasidharan
Sorry for the delay in response. What version of PRPC are you using?