Configure personalized output filenames in OL Connect Desktop

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to use data values in the output file name for personalized print jobs created in OL Connect Desktop. In this example you’ll be generating individual PDF output files for a letter template, where each document is named using the correspondence reference number from the data.

Steps

To configure the location for the output files:

  1. Open the template in OL Connect Desktop.
  2. Load the accompanying data file for the job by chosing:
    File > Add Data > From File Data Source…
  3. Choose: File > Print, the Print dialog appears.
  4. Click the Advanced button at the bottom of the Print dialog, the Print Wizard interface appears.

To setup the file mask pattern:

  1. Click the Options icon (pencil) next to the Job Output Mask field. This opens the Job Output Mask dialog.
  2. Set the File Separation option to Document, this ensures that an individual output file is created for each document (e.g. record in the data).
  3. Next, select the Metadata option.
  4. Click the Add meta data icon next to the Document tags table and select Add field meta data from the menu. The Field Selection dialog will appear.
  5. Choose the data field whose value you want to use in the file name (for this example, select the reference_number field) and click OK.
  6. Change the Job Output Mask field to the example shown below to use the metadata value as part of the file name, ensuring the output file type extension is appended at the end.
  7. Click OK
${template.base}_${document.metadata.reference_number}.${template.ext}

This format tells OL Connect to name each output file using the base name of the template (the file extension is omitted) with the value from the reference_number data field, followed by the appropriate file extension for the template type (e.g., .pdf for PDF documents).

This results in a file name like this: admission letter_2024002.pdf

Note how these steps enabled the Separation and Include meta data options in the Production Options section of the Print Wizard.

By following these steps, you will configure OL Connect Desktop to generate PDF output for each document, with each document written to an individual PDF file named after the letter’s reference number. This approach enables personalized and organized output management for batch print jobs.