Pricing Attributes
You can pass pricing attributes from Pressero to tFLOW. Unlike product attributes, pricing attributes are dynamic and the value of an attribute can change based on any selections that a user might make in the pricing engine. Note that pricing attributes are supported in pricing calculators and spreadsheet pricing engines only. You cannot use them with unit of measure or price break pricing engines.
Pricing Calculator
Let's walk through setting up a pricing calculator to pass values for pricing attributes to tFLOW to be used in our automation script.
Scenario
I would like to offer a banner on my website with various grommet options. I do not want to have to create a separate product in both Pressero and tFLOW to accommodate each grommet option.
Solution
We will use pricing attributes to pass finishing values to tFLOW. tFLOW will read the attributes and apply the correct grommet finishing option when creating the production file.
Instructions:
1) Create the pricing calculator in Pressero. I will need to set my grommet options as calculator parameters. Create a calculator parameter called "Grommets" Set the options to:
Standard (Every 2' Top & Bottom)
Every 2' (Full Perimeter)
Corners Only
No Grommets
When the Excel file has been generated, In Column M labeled "Pricing Attributes", I need to place the attributes associated with each grommet option. Remember that we will pull the attributes from this list: http://support.aleyant.com/kb/a1344/tflow-variables.aspx. You can use multiple attributes for each option. You would place a semicolon between each attribute, so your list would look something like this:
tffin_create_grommets_left=0;tffin_create_grommets_right=0;tffin_create_grommets_top=0;tffin_create_grommets_bottom=0
a. Let's look at our first option "Standard (Every 2' Top and Bottom)" and decide how to tell tFLOW which finishing options to use. With this option, we will want grommets every 2 feet or 24 inches only along the top and bottom of the banner. We will want to look at the Grommets section of the article. We will use the following attributes and values:
tffin_grommet_placement_method=Grommets by Spacing - We need to tell tFLOW if we want to place the grommets by count or by spacing. In this case, we want to space them 2 feet apart, so we chose "Grommets by Spacing" as the value. Note that this value is case sensitive.
tffin_create_grommets_left=0 - We need to tell tFLOW that we do not want grommets on the left side since we only want grommets on the top and bottom. We have set this option to zero meaning false.
tffin_create_grommets_right=0 - We need to do the same for the right side.
tffin_create_grommets_top=1 - We need to tell tFLOW that we do want grommets on the top. We have set this option to one meaning true.
tffin_create_grommets_bottom=1 - We need to do the same for the bottom.
tffin_grommets_vertical=0 - With this value we are setting the spacing for the grommets we set vertically. Since we are not setting grommets on the left and right, we have set this to zero.
tffin_grommets_horizontal=24 - With this value we are setting the spacing for the grommets horizontally. This value should be set in inches. We want our grommets to be spaced every 2 feet which is equal to 24 inches.
tffin_grommet_template=Grommet.pdf - This is the name of the grommet file we want to use. You can use any file name that exists in tFLOW in Automation Assets > Grommets.
b. Let's look at our second option "Every 2' (Full Perimeter)" and decide which finishing options to use. With this option, we will want grommets placed every 2 feet/24 inches along all four sides of the banner. We will use the following attributes and values:
tffin_grommet_placement_method=Grommets by Spacing - We need to tell tFLOW if we want to place the grommets by count or by spacing. In this case, we want to space them 2 feet apart, so we chose "Grommets by Spacing" as the value. Note that this value is case sensitive.
tffin_create_grommets_left=1 - We need to tell tFLOW that we do want grommets on the left side. We have set this option to one meaning true.
tffin_create_grommets_right=1 - We need to do the same for the right side.
tffin_create_grommets_top=1 - We need to do the same for the top.
tffin_create_grommets_bottom=1 - We need to do the same for the bottom.
tffin_grommets_allsides=24 - With this value we are setting the spacing for the grommets on all sides. This value should be set in inches. We want our grommets to be spaced every 2 feet which is equal to 24 inches.
tffin_grommet_template=Grommet.pdf - This is the name of the grommet file we want to use. You can use any file name that exists in tFLOW in Automation Assets > Grommets.
c. Let's look at our third option "Corners Only" and decide which finishing options to use. With this option, we will want grommets placed only at the four corners of our banner. We will use the following attributes and values:
tffin_grommet_placement_method=Grommets by count - We need to tell tFLOW if we want to place the grommets by count or by spacing. In this case, we want to use grommets by count because we are placing a total of 4 grommets on the banner. Note that this value is case sensitive.
tffin_grommets_horizontal=2 - We are telling tFLOW to place two grommets horizontally and two grommets vertically for a total of four grommets.
tffin_grommets_vertical=2
tffin_grommet_template=Grommet.pdf - This is the name of the grommet file we want to use. You can use any file name that exists in tFLOW in Automation Assets > Grommets.
d. Let's look at our fourth option "No Grommets" and decide which finishing options to use. With this option, we do not want to place any grommets at all. We will use the following attributes and values:
tffin_create_grommets_left=0 - We need to tell tFLOW that we do not want grommets on the left side. We have set this option to zero meaning false.
tffin_create_grommets_right=0 - We need to do the same for the right side.
tffin_create_grommets_top=0 - We need to do the same for the top.
tffin_create_grommets_bottom=0 - We need to do the same for the bottom.
2) Assign your pricing calculator to your product in Pressero.
4) In tFLOW, you will want to check the product you associated with your Pressero product to make sure that it is using a version of the finishing script that supports the passing of pricing attributes from Pressero. It will need to be version 8.5 or higher. In this example, I am using the Banner finishing v8.5.kfpx from our SmartPrep library. You can download that script here: http://support.aleyant.com/kb/c37/tflow.aspx
If this has been set up correctly, when an order is placed in Pressero for this product, the order will pass into tFLOW and tFLOW will create a production file with the correct banner finishing options based on the selection the user made in the pricing engine.