Add a File Size Selector

Overview

The File Size Selector sets a limit on which files the Director selects for an input queue's File Selector step of files that are larger or smaller than a particular size.

You might consider adding a File Size Selector if you have one of the following issues:

• The eFORMz Director attempts to read a file before the operating system has finished writing the file. This issue was resolved in eFORMz Version 11, but earlier versions might see it on rare occasions. Files that the operating system has not finished writing always show a size of 0, so set the file selector to select files that are larger than 0 bytes.  
• The program writing files for eFORMz to pick up has had unusually large files that create performance issues. For example, a ZPL file that contains a single shipping label might be 3 KB. An order with three boxes requires three shipping labels, and the ZPL file with those three labels might be 9 KB. However, if eFORMz picks up a ZPL file that is 40 MB, it can result in unanticipated results and potentially cause production to stop. An anomaly such as this must be dealt with separately, perhaps route the very large ZPL file to a breaker project to create many smaller ZPL files. You can instruct eFORMz to only pick up ZPL files that are under 200 KB, as shown below. Depending on your system configuration and your shipping practices, this number might require evaluation to determine whether is it appropriate for your solution.

Requirements

1. You must have eFORMz Version 11 or later.
2. The Director Toolkit configuration (.cfg) file.
    

Procedure

The following procedure instructs the Director to pick up ZPL files under 200 KB in the current input queue. Other queues are not affected, which allows you to have a second queue that picks up ZPL files 200 KB or larger.

1. Open the Director Toolkit > Configure tab.
2. If the .cfg file you want to update is not loaded, click File > Open Configuration, and then open the file. This should be the file that is running on the Director tab, usually named LocalPM.cfg.
3. Find the file selector you want to update. The file selector has a binoculars icon. Right click > Change.
4. Click the drop down menu for Additional File Selector > File Size Selector, and then click File Selector Properties.
5. We only want the file selected if it is under 200 KB. In the first field, select smaller than.
6. In the input field, enter 200000.
   
    
7. Click OK > OK to return to the Director Toolkit.
8. Click File > Save Configuration to write the changes to your .cfg file.
9. Close all eFORMz windows, and then restart the eFORMz service to pick up the change. 
    

Assistance

If any further assistance is needed, please contact our Support team.

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