DriveWorks : outils d'automatisation et de traitement des fichiers PDF

Made-to-order manufacturers often face the challenge of managing repetitive tasks that can slow down order fulfillment and increase costs. Creating and managing PDF documentation such as quotes, invoices, and bills of materials (BOMs) is a prime example. DriveWorks, a leading solution in the realm of design automation and configuration, offers powerful PDF automation and manipulation tools to address these challenges.

With the tools released in the recent version of DriveWorks, there are more capable ways of working with PDF files. PDF files are one of the most common file types used in sharing documents because of their format-preserving and data-protecting features. Creating quotes, BOMs, picking lists, images, and drawings packages are some common applications of using PDF tools in DriveWorks. This article will describe several techniques for handling PDFs to streamline your document automation and reduce repetitive tasks in your custom product fulfillment process.

Creating a PDF from an Excel or Word Document

Microsoft Office applications are well-established tools widely used in organizations for documenting ideas, transactions, and more. Allowing maximum compatibility and flexibility to users, these file types are fully integrated into DriveWorks. This integration allows you to capture and manipulate Word and Excel documents to populate information for each custom product order.

For instance, a sales quote created in Word is captured by DriveWorks as the master file which serves as a template for each custom order. Based on the parameters of the specified custom order, DriveWorks generates a copy of the master file and then drives the desired values in the copied Word file. Once the customizations are made, saving the document as a PDF is a straightforward process. Creating various output documents such as these is covered in our DriveWorks training course.

In DriveWorks Administrator under Documents-Files, there is a checkbox to create a PDF File. With this option checked, a PDF file will be automatically saved from the Word file for each new custom product specification.

Merging PDF Documents

Using the option shown in the previous section, multiple PDF documents can be generated to meet your custom order needs. Sharing one document as opposed to multiple documents makes sense in many cases. A task called PDF: Merge merges multiple PDF documents into a single PDF file.

After placing the PDF: Merge task into the Specification Macro window in DriveWorks Administrator, there are 3 properties available.

1. File List is a pipe bar delimited list of PDF files to merge. The PDF documents are merged in the given list order.
2. PDF File is the filename and path of where to save the generated PDF file.
3. Overwrite can be either TRUE or FALSE. If TRUE, an existing PDF file will be overwritten. If FALSE, the existing PDF file will be left alone.

Capturing and Driving Existing PDF Document Values

Beyond converting files into PDFs, DriveWorks also supports capturing and modifying values directly within existing PDFs. Instead of relying on a Word or Excel file as the master template, you can use a PDF directly. This approach allows us to quickly generate dynamic PDFs without relying on Word or Excel documents.

For scenarios where you need to drive values into purchased component specification documents or make changes to PDFs but lack software for direct modifications, DriveWorks offers an alternative. The Specification Flow Task called PDF: Replace Keyword will find and replace instances of a keyword, in selected PDF document pages. Like the PDF: Merge in the previous section, we can insert PDF: Replace Keyword in DriveWorks Administrator. In the example below, two PDF: Replace Keyword tasks are being executed in series to replace the date and the project name in a PDF file.

PDF: Replace Keyword

PDF from Markdown

While it’s possible to create documents in familiar applications like Word and Excel or from existing PDFs, DriveWorks offers more versatility to users looking for more advanced options. The function PDF from Markdown in DriveWorks allows you to create PDF documents directly from Markdown files, bypassing the need to convert Word documents to PDFs. Essentially, this functionality allows us to create a PDF out of thin air. Key benefits of using PDF from Markdown:

• Creating PDFs directly from Markdown files eliminates the intermediate step of converting Word documents to PDFs.
• Markdown is a lightweight markup language that is easier to write and manage compared to Word documents.
• Markdown provides a consistent way to format documents, which helps maintain uniformity across all generated PDFs.
• By generating PDFs directly from Markdown, you avoid the need for additional conversion tools or software (like Word or PDF converters).
• Direct PDF generation from Markdown can lead to better performance and reduced resource usage compared to handling more complex document formats.

In summary, DriveWorks offers powerful capabilities for automating documentation by seamlessly integrating with both Microsoft Office and PDF files. Whether you’re leveraging Word and Excel for custom orders or directly modifying PDFs, DriveWorks enhances flexibility and efficiency in document management.

In this article, we’ve only scratched the surface of automating documentation with PDFs in DriveWorks. For a comprehensive overview of DriveWorks PDF integration functionality, please visit the DriveWorks Pro Help page.