Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Switch 2020 spring release

This one is for the Creators

Gent, Belgium [23 June 2020], Enfocus, the leader in PDF quality control, advanced PDF editing, and workflow automation for the graphic arts industry announces the release of Switch 2020 spring. Enfocus is committing this release to those who create the workflows that help print service providers build winning print services. Administrators are given more powerful tools and the freedom to design automation that allows businesses to work their own way. Enfocus believes that solutions should not make production rules, users should.

“This release is for the creators, the makers, and the builders. Two of the biggest feature additions will make Switch flow creation more powerful than ever. Putting more resources into the hands of Switch automation creators leads to more integration flexibility, more custom development possibilities, and more opportunity for the fruition of ideas. Switch is being positioned as the epicenter for the automation revolution. Creators are free to rebel against the “out of the box” solutions and truly build outside of the box automation.”

Toon Van Rossum, Product Manager

 

Scripting with Node.js

JavaScript has always been an essential part of Switch. It is used to build custom elements and integrations, to calculate values for element properties, and to make routing decisions on connections. All available Switch Elements, including apps and configurators, are created using the Switch JavaScript coding environment.

Like all technologies, JavaScript constantly evolves. New features are constantly added but also syntax is constantly evolving. With the Switch 2020 Spring release, modern scripting features and a modern JavaScript syntax is now supported when writing Switch scripts! It makes sense to use Node.JS as the JavaScript environment as it brings a lot of additional value to Scriptwriters.

Previously, if you wanted to dive into scripting for Switch, your resources were limited to Switch specific training material. As Node.js is one of the most popular JavaScript environments available, it comes with a lot of educational resources. No longer do you need to learn JavaScript for Switch. All Node.js experience is applicable in Switch now.

NPM, The Node Package Manager

Consider it an app store for scriptwriters. When writing Switch scripts, you now have access to all available node.js packages available on NPM. NPM contains over 800,000 code packages and almost all of them are compatible with Switch Scripts, starting with the Switch 2020 Spring release.

Tools for developers

Developers can use their preferred IDE. Instead of using the Switch Scripter environment to create your Switch Scripts, you can now use your preferred editor, debugger, and other development tools.

Flow viewer

One of the most requested features, the Flow Viewer, is not only a viewer, but also gives you access to annotations. Add remarks, questions, extra information, to your more complicated flows quickly and easily. Creators can produce better flow documentation. They can record and communicate flow processes more accurately.

The automation freedom movement begins with Enfocus Switch 2020 Spring.