XML Status Retrieval in Wasatch SoftRIP

When Wasatch ImageNET is running, access through a browser with JavaScript (or an HTTP GET request) will recover information about the status of the queues for any print unit.

These examples are not to suggest that a browser should be used as an interface. They are instead intended to document how software using Internet protocol and executing 'HTTP GET' commands can obtain data, from this 'RESTful' HTTP interface.

Several of the examples shown below use the command "curl". This common command for accessing URL's is available in Mac OS, Linux, and Windows.

System Identification

This command will quickly confirm Wasatch SoftRIP is running, and retrieve its serial number, print unit setup, and with 'qpa', whether Queue Processing is active.

curl http://localhost/xmlSystem.dyn

Query Queue Status

Query the status of RIP and Print Queues with this command:

curl http://localhost/xmlQueueStatus.dyn?PRINTUNIT=1

Here is a 30-second video demonstration of accessing the XML information via browser, and via the curl command.

Status Retrieval (via HTTP with browser and curl)

To integrate business processes, access this information with a scripting language that can parse XML.

The value of PRINTUNIT can be any number from 1 thorugh 4. XML will be returned, looking like this:

Most attributes of the ITEM tags are simply the columns displayed in the Queues tab of the main Wasatch SoftRIP interface. Refer to that documentation for more details.

An additional attribute is the source file, which can be very useful in workflows that encode information in file names. The 'LOG' tag records the time of physical ouptut, and number of copies output, and the 'time' attribute is Unix Epoch. PRINTQUEUE LOG "time" records the time of completion of transmission of data by the Wasatch print spooler. Depending on downstream buffering, that may be sooner than the time the printer stops moving. It may not be useful for devices with 'RIP-to-file' interfaces.

All time stamps returned from query of queue status:

  • RIPQUEUE ITEM "submission" records the time that the job arrived in the RIP Queue
  • RIPQUEUE ITEM "ripstart" records the time that the rasterization process began
  • RIPQUEUE ITEM "ripfinish" records the time that the rasterizatin process finished
  • PRINTQUEUE LOG "start" records the time that output began
  • PRINTQUEUE LOG "time" records the time that output completed, as discussed above

Get Thumbnail Images

Jobs in the RIP Queue and indexed items in the Print Queue, normally include '.png' thumbnail images. These can be accessed via HTTP to create such things as "touch screen" user interfaces. The URL's to access these images are easily constructed with 'ripqueue.X' and 'prtqueue.X', where 'X' is the Print Unit.

For example, on localhost, if the job 'clrspace' exists in RIP Queue 1, the URL of its thumbnail image is:

http://localhost/ripqueue.1/clrspace.png

If the index '3876000' exists in the Print Queue, the URL of the thumbnail is:

http://localhost/prtqueue.1/w3876000.png

Query the Available Media in Roll-Fed Devices

It can be valuable to know whether a device is loaded with enough media to print the next job. When the Wasatch Roll Feed Counter is activated, it can be accessed with a command like this:

curl http://localhost/xmlRollFeedStatus.dyn?PRINTUNIT=1

XML will be returned, looking like this:

Query Available Imaging Configurations

You can list available imaging configurations with this command:

curl http://localhost/xmlImgConfStatus.dyn?PRINTUNIT=1

The result will look something like this:

Query Input Files

Use "sourceAnalysis.dyn" to query the size, color channels, and page counts of files to be used as input. Files can either be in the local file system, or avilable via URL, as shown in this example:

curl localhost/sourceAnalysis.dyn?https://wasatchdemo.s3.amazonaws.com/flower.jpg

The result will look something like this: