Configure Printers In Transvirtual

Configure Printers In Transvirtual

OVERVIEW

Transvirtual supports two types of printing utilities depending on where the print command originates.

1. Cloud Print Utility
Transvirtual is a cloud-based service and desktop security permissions prevent its servers from printing directly to your local printers. The Cloud Print Utility runs silently in the background on your computer and periodically checks for pending print jobs, retrieving and sending them to your selected local printer.
Allows Transvirtual's cloud servers to send print commands directly to printers on your local network. These printers are managed in Configuration > Lists and Zones > Printers. 

Note: Please ensure you have permission to access the printer settings.

Use this for:

  • Automated runsheets, manifests, and reports
  • Scheduled or triggered server-side printing

2. Browser Print Utility
Allows your web browser to print documents automatically without user interaction.

Use this for:

  • Automated consignment labels and consignment notes
  • High-volume consignment creation workflows


STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Browser Print Utility Installation

Step 1: Download the Browser Print Utility
  1. Click your login name in the top right corner
  2. Select Profile
  3. Navigate to Printer Settings
  4. Select and download the utility for your operating system
Step 2: Install and Run the Utility
  1. Run the downloaded file
  2. Complete the installation process
  3. Refresh your browser page
Step 3: Assign Printers
  1. Return to Profile → Printer Settings
  2. Select a printer for consignment notes
  3. Select a printer for labels
  4. Save your settings
The printer options may take 10-20 seconds to appear after installation. If prompted to reinstall, refresh your browser and wait for the utility to reload.

NOTE: If using this feature ensure Adobe Acrobat is installed on your computer and set as the default PDF application. The Browser Print Utility is designed to use Adobe Acrobat as the default app to open PDFs. Other applications may work but we don't provide support to setup and troubleshoot for them. Installing Adobe Acrobat and setting it as the default is recommended. Setting Adobe Acrobat as the default PDF app is usually straightforward. You will often be prompted to do so on installation. If not, this can be done from within Adobe Acrobat itself.

Step 4: Enable Automatic Printing
  1. Navigate to the consignment creation page
  2. Use the sliders in the bottom right panel to enable:
    • Consignment note printing
    • Label printing
  3. Create and save a consignment
The selected documents will print automatically without further interaction.

Cloud Print Utility Installation

Step 1 - Download and Install the Transvirtual Printer Utility

  1. Clicking this link Download and it will download the application. When the download has completed, run the installer and follow the prompts.

  2. At the end of the installation, your default printer will be added to the Transvirtual Printer Utility.

  3. If you go to Start -> All Programs -> Transvirtual Print Client -> Configuration and Status, you will be presented with the following screen:



Step 2 - Share your printer with Transvirtual

  1. Wait a minute after the installation for a page to print out that will give you a Transvirtual print code.

  2. In Transvirtual - go to Settings -> Lists and Zones -> Printer List

  3. Click on the Authorise Printer button.

  4. Enter the code of the printed "TransVirtual Printer Authorisation" sheet and click Submit

  5. Your printer will now be available throughout TransVirtual, and you can configure reports and other features to automatically print to your printer - so long as the computer you installed the software on and the printer are both on.

Adding Additional Printers

1. In your start menu, scroll to the "T" section where you can find "Transvirtual Print Client" and enter the configuration and status.



2. Select to add a printer, and follow the prompts to select the correct printer.



3. For this to update, you will need to select the "restart" button that is next to the status.

NOTE: You must restart the utility after adding or removing printers. Use the restart button above the printer list on the Configuration and Status screen.

4. As stated in the pop-up, a code will print out, and you will need to enter that code in your Transvirtual account.
This can be located by going to Configuration > Lists and Zones > Printers.

5. In this page, you will need to authorise the required printer. To do this, select the authorise button and then enter the code that was printed out previously.

Adding Additional Printers Manually
To use more than one printer from the same computer, you will need to make a change to a print server file. 

1. After you have installed the utility, you will need to find the TransVirtualStorage.tdb file in the Print Server folder.

    It can normally be found here:

Local Disk (C:)/Program Data/TransVirtualPrintServer/TransVirtualStorage.tdb



2. Open this file using the Notepad application (right-click and open with Notepad). The file will look like this
    {'Printers':[{'PrinterName':'Canon MX920 series Printer WS','TransVirtualGuid':'abf1ecb1-dehd-4d25-a1d7-12dd94c6b5b2','PrinterEnabled':true},],'TransVirtualNumber':''}


3. In order to add another printer, you will need to edit the text to add another name. Replicate everything within the braces (highlighted below).

{'Printers':[


{'PrinterName':'Canon MX920 series Printer WS','TransVirtualGuid':'abf1ecb1-dehd-4d25-a1d7-12dd94c6b5b2','PrinterEnabled':true}


],'TransVirtualNumber':''}


4. It should look like this

{'Printers':[


{'PrinterName':'Canon MX920 series Printer WS','TransVirtualGuid':'abf1ecb1-dehd-4d25-a1d7-12dd94c6b5b2','PrinterEnabled':true},


{'PrinterName':'Your new printer name','TransVirtualGuid':'','PrinterEnabled':true}


],'TransVirtualNumber':''}


5. Close the 'PrintServer' utility using the Task Manager and then re-launch via the print server folder. The print dialogue box will appear, and you can select the new printer you want to add. Wait for the printout and complete Step 2 above to finalise authorisation.


Info
If, for any reason, your printer app needs restarting more than once throughout the day, there may be the ability to use Task Scheduler or a similar program to have the printer app automatically restart when required.
Typically, the printer app will go to sleep when the computer/location it has been installed on is shutdown/closed.
Task Scheduler within Windows offers the ability to create routine tasks for your computer, one of which could be to have the Transvirtual printer app restart.
Please note - whilst this is possible to implement, setup and configuration is done at your own discretion. Transvirtual is not able to assist with setting up your Task Scheduler/similar program to perform this action, as it would fall outside of Transvirtual's scope, but please note that something to this effect is likely possible and may assist.

NotesThe new printer name has been added, exactly as it is represented on your PC, and the long alphanumeric string has been removed
The syntax of this file is critical; ensure that there is a comma after the "}" bracket of the previous printer, and there will not be a comma at the end of the last printer.

COMMON ISSUES & TROUBLESHOOTING

CLOUD PRINT UTILITY

There may be times when the above doesn't quite work as expected.
Below are some of the more commonly seen 'problems' with possible suggestions on how to resolve.

Issue: The printer authorisation code is not printing

Resolution: If you have downloaded the printer app and the authorisation code for a printer you are attempting to set up has not printed out, you can find it under C Drive > Program Data > TransvirtualPrintServer > Temp from within your file explorer.
This is a hidden folder, though, so you'll need to type into the search bar at the top to locate the correct folder.
To begin the search for this folder, you will need to type in 'C:\ProgramData', which will allow you to move through the appropriate file path.
Here will be the relevant print job containing the authorisation code.

Failing this, you should be able to simply rename the printer itself from within the printer settings on your computer and then add it again (to the app) as if a new printer.
This effectively 'resets' the process.

Issue: The Printer App needs to be restarted
Resolution: To restart the application, navigate to Start -> All Programs -> Transvirtual Print Client -> Configuration and Status or search for Configuration and Status in your apps.

Right-click on the app and Run as Administrator. You will be prompted by Windows to allow the app Administrator Privileges.



Ensure the app is running and select restart, if the status is Not Running then select Start



Within a few minutes, your printer should begin working again.


Automated POD upload using printer app

Using the TransVirtual Printer app, it is possible to setup a process in which the app monitors a specific folder on a computer and automatically uploads any images in this folder to a designated POD import, which then assigns the image as a POD to a connote.
See below for the how to.

How To

The first thing you will need to do is ensure that the TransVirtual printer app has been installed on the computer you want to set this process up for. See instructions above.

Once the app is setup and installed, the next thing you need to do is modify the config file for the app.
To do this you need to find the below file on your computer:


This is the file you will need to edit in order to make this process work correctly.
Most of the time this file will be under a folder called TransVirtualPrintServer, which is located in a folder called ProgramData, which is under the C drive.
To find, you can simply search C:\ProgramData in this PC and the results should then display similarly to below:


The search in the search bar at the top:


The results should then display and you should see a folder called TransVirtualPrintServer


Open this up and here is where you will find the file we are after


Right-click to view the above options.
What we need to do is open and edit the file. Click the “Open with” option and select another suitable program to edit the file - this will most likely be Notepad:


Select Notepad and then click OK to open the file.
What you will now see, will be something like the below:


You will notice in this file there is a section that says FTP Watchers.
We are going to insert the below code into this section, like so:


This part of the file allows you to specify an FTP username and password that relates to an import rule in your account. It also allows you to designate a folder on your computer as the nominated local path. What this means is that this piece of code will monitor your designated Local Path and it will upload (automatically) any image files that land in this folder, to the FTP username and password specified - these relate to an import rule in your account.
To be able to do this correctly, we need ensure there is a POD import rule first setup in your account.
Go to EDI > Data Import > POD > click add new import:


Give the rule an appropriate name and ensure you select “TransVirtual Hosted FTP Server” as the import Framework.
The rule will then create in Orange.

Setup the rule as such:


Set as Image Only.
Click Settings option next to Import Framework and then generate FTP details and save/update:


This then generates your FTP import details necessary for this process:


Make sure you enable the rule and click update once setup complete:



Back to the app file you have open. We now need to add the username and password into this file and also nominate what folder our images for this process will be located in.
Using the example details above, your file should look similar to the below:


So, the username and password we are entering will be the username and password from the POD import rule you just setup.
The local path is simply where on the computer the images for this process will be located.
This MUST be kept the same in that any images you wish to upload as PODs must be stored in your nominated folder.
To find the local path, simply right-click the address bar at the top of your documents page and copy the address:


Then simply paste into the file as per the above.

Important things to note:


So local Path must have double backslashes between directories and you do not need to specify TransVirtual number or FTP URL:



Once you have configured your file in a manner similar to the above, you then need to save the file which will update it:


You will then need to test to ensure the setup is working.

The next very important step is to restart your printer app.
To do this simply find the printer app, run as administrator and then click the restart button:


Click Restart:



Once you have restarted the app move an image to the folder you have nominated:


Important things to note for any images you wish to Upload:

The file should be greyscale, 100-200 dpi and only one file per scanned page; so the images must be separate, they cannot be grouped in the one file.

As long as they pretty clear images and look similar to the below, there shouldn’t be any issues

After placing the image file into your nominated folder, you will notice that an archive file creates automatically and that your image file has moved into it. This is a good sign:



Open and follow the sub-folders and you will find the new location of your image/images:


All that is left to do is wait.
The app is working on moving the image into TransVirtual via the POD import rule you setup.

If you go to the Import History page (EDI > Other EDI Tools > Import History) you can actually search for the POD rule you have created:


The success count indicates that the import was successful.
Looking at the connote itself you can now see a POD attached or multiple PODs if more than one uploaded against this connote:


You can see here that the connote now has a Delivered status as a POD has been uploaded via this process.

Important things to consider

This process relies on the printer app running constantly.
It is highly advised that any computer with the printer app installed is not turned off as this will cause the printer app to go to sleep.
If the computer is shut down or powered off, the app will need to be restarted in the above manner.

This process should also work with colour images, but it is advisable that black and white (greyscale) images are used as they are typically smaller files.

This process does not run through how your images will land in your Local Path folder as there are many possibilities to this and each setup will vary.
As long as you have a process setup to ensure images land in the nominated folder, this process will work correctly for you.
A common option for this part of the process may be to scan your PODs with a multifunction printer and have then send/save to your computer.
You may simply get PODs from agents in an email.
Move these images to your nominated folder to utilise the process.