This function allows you to mark orders and jobs as 'archived' and also to move the related files to a different location to free up online storage space.
All the files related to each job in tFLOW are stored in a special folder called "Repository".
The tFLOW repository is a folder located on the server where all the files related to the orders/jobs/revisions are stored.
This folder contains a hierarchical structure of subfolders.
Each subfolder corresponds to a single job revision.
This means that when a job has two or more revisions, then two or more subfolders will be created.
The revision subfolders are named with a progressive number, which is an index generated in the database sequentially.
A job may have two revisions, but the numbering of the related revision subfolders may not be progressive, because it depends on when that revision was created.
Each revision subfolder contains several files, also arranged in subfolders; these subfolders include the following:
- Previews
Contains the JPG preview(s); one for each PDF page
- Proof
Contains the proof PDF
- Proof/previews
Contains the preview in JPG of the proof
- Lowres
Contains the Low-Res PDF
- Preflight
Contains the preflighted (production) PDF and the reports in XML and PDF formats
- Crop-and-export
Contains the exported JPG of the artwork (cropped). This may not exist on all instances, because it depends on a special plugin which creates cropped JPGs. (If that plugin is not installed, then this folder is not present.)
The original artwork is contained in the root.
The presence of the above data depends on the job state and other conditions.
For example, the proof folder is not created until the actual proof is auto-generated or uploaded by the user.
Inside each revision subfolder, the most consuming space elements are the PDFs and the original artwork files (PDF, TIFF, JPG, etc..).
The support files created by tFLOW during processing, for the previews and XML report, are relatively small.
The archival function's purpose is to provide a mechanism that allows the marking a job as “Archived” and then, optionally, to move away the larger files to another location.
This way, an archived job will preserve the previews of both Production and Proof, all the history and the comments for all the revisions, but will no longer contain the Proof PDF, the Original File(s), and the Production File(s). These elements will be still accessible when selected just accessing the remote archiving location (AWS-S3).
The UI interface will change to reflect the Archive function accordingly. It will disable some functionality related to missing elements (like sending a proof PDF by email), but will preserve all the history of that job (annotations, history, etc.).
How it Works
In tFLOW it is possible to archive jobs and orders. You can archive a whole order, including all the jobs inside that order or a single job.
To archive an order, you simply select the Order using the checkbox in the first column on the Orders view page, and then click the 3-dot actions menu in the top right. Then select "Archive Orders" in the drop down.
In the same way you can archive a single job.
The time to complete the archival procedure can be affected by the number of elements to archive and the archival destination defined in the settings.
When the procedure is complete the Order is listed and marked as "archived".
An archived job can be opened and the previews will remain available within the job info.
In the Artwork Info of archived job you will read the Archive folder ID which corresponds to the folder name (or ID) of the archived folder.
Archived orders and jobs can be un-archived. The procedure is similar to archiving, you simply need to select which objects you want to un-archive and then click on the un-archive button.
Where is Archived Material Stored?
tFLOW allows you to archive to a local storage or to Amazon S3 storage.
Selecting the "local" storage all the archived files are not moved but just marked as Archived.
They remain on the active storage.