Two pre press' golden ideas', so practical!

The Banjie module in the company's ERP system can automatically monitor the transmission of newspaper layouts, automatically parse newspaper names, publication dates, layout numbers, layout colors, and other information based on the transmission file names, complete automatic decompression and backup of layout files, and record information such as the transmission time. The premise for the stable operation of this system module is that newspaper layout files must be named in a unified format, and the vast majority of newspaper layout files are standardized and unified. The Jieban module can timely and accurately complete parsing and decompression. For example, China Securities Journal has over 100 pages and is divided into multiple layers for layout. Based on the naming rules of each layer's file name, we have pre-set parsing and decompression program scripts for it. After the transfer is completed, it can be fully decompressed in about ten minutes, greatly improving work efficiency and effectively preventing work errors.
As an ordinary worker in the plate making workshop, I have been operating highly automated equipment according to the software system's set process for a long time. Under the seemingly unchanging working mode, there is limited room for innovation.
However, during the disclosure period of corporate annual reports, the China Securities Journal had as many as five to six hundred pages, making it very difficult to decompress the version Jie module. Not only was the work progress slow, but there were also frequent problems such as file parsing errors and inability to decompress some files. This is mainly due to the large amount of information transmitted centrally, making it difficult for hardware devices and network systems to match the processing speed. In addition, there may be a few layout file names that violate established rules among hundreds of layouts. In the face of this situation, operators must carefully verify, and sometimes to avoid errors, they need to manually copy and decompress again, which is extremely inefficient.
Therefore, we are considering developing an automatic decompression software to achieve automatic decompression of layout files in the China Securities Journal. Once you have an idea, take immediate action. Firstly, by searching for information online, determine the software framework and programming approach. After comparative analysis, we ultimately decided to use the free and open-source project SharpCompress to achieve the functionality we wanted. It can perfectly support decompressing compressed files in various formats such as rar, 7-zip, zip, tar, tzip, and bzip2, making it very suitable for the layout files of various newspapers printed by the company in different compression formats. Using open source projects to develop systems is like purchasing components to assemble cars. While mastering key core technologies, one can also source common components externally. This model can greatly improve work efficiency and is a commonly used programming approach.

After determining the programming design concept, use Microsoft Visual Studio programming tool to carry out coding work. Although programming is not difficult, there are many details to pay attention to. The characteristic of China Securities Journal is that it has multiple pages and stacks; File names are sometimes irregular and irregular; A large number of pages arrive simultaneously, requiring a significant amount of information to be processed. How to correctly and efficiently process massive amounts of information is the key and difficult point of software programming. Sometimes, the application error of a function or instruction may not cause work errors, but it can reduce efficiency by hundreds or even thousands of times.
By planning production details in advance, formulating optimal design methods, repeatedly testing programming software, and gradually improving it, the decompression of layout files in China Securities Journal has fully utilized self-developed decompression tools, which are fast, accurate, and run very stably.
Self designed software
Implement automatic download of version transfer emails

The company's CTP receives customer files through four transfer methods: satellite transfer, FTP transfer, email transfer, and QQ online transfer. Among them, email version transfer is an important channel for version transfer, and many of the company's printed newspapers use this method to transmit files.
For a long time, when we download email version files, we need to log in to QQ first, and then enter the email to download the files. We need to manually check our email regularly, which is not only time-consuming and laborious, but sometimes it can also cause mistakes. To solve this problem, we have independently designed a software called ReceptMail to achieve fully automatic email download. If the automatic decompression software previously designed for China Securities Journal was a supplement to the functions of the Jieban module, then the email automatic download software is an innovative breakthrough from 0 to 1.
The software interface design is simple (as shown in Figure 1), only the email save path needs to be set, and the software will encapsulate and process all complex details.

Figure 1 Interface of Email Automatic Download Software
Generally, POP3 protocol is used to receive emails, but QQ email has its particularity: small files can be transferred through attachments, while large files must be stored in QQ transit station, and the file storage address will be sent with the email. To download large attachments, the HTTP protocol is required. We have used the HTTP protocol to download a certain generation of printed newspapers using simple "crawler" technology. But when using "crawler" technology to crawl data, it was found that data can be obtained normally by logging in through the browser, while downloading incorrect data without the browser is always the case. It is speculated that Tencent has adopted some "anti crawling" technology. So we enabled Selenium WebDriver, an open-source project supported by major browser manufacturers worldwide for website automation testing. It crawls data by calling real browsers, so it will not be disabled. Afterwards, choose the high-performance Google Chrome browser and combine the POP3 protocol with Selenium WebDriver technology. The design of the Receiver Mail software was completed based on this.
The file storage directory structure design of this software is reasonable. If there is an email on that day, the system will automatically create a folder named after the current date in the save path, and then create corresponding subfolders under the sender's name in that date folder, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Design of the directory structure for saving files
In this way, some of the printing clients sent the transfer files in the afternoon, which we had already downloaded in advance when we went to work at night. We pressed the "fast forward button" to greatly improve our work efficiency.
The characteristic of new quality productivity is innovation. In the process of promoting the high-end, intelligent, and green development of the printing industry, as an enterprise, strengthening original and disruptive technological innovation, and fighting the battle against key core technologies are important ways to cultivate and develop new quality productivity; As an ordinary employee, discovering problems and shortcomings in long-term repetitive practical work, and solving production bottlenecks and pain points through diligent learning, good thinking, and hard research through independent innovation, is also an important path to cultivate and develop new quality productivity. In the era of rapid development of new technologies such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence, printing practitioners must continue to learn, master new technologies, and improve skills in order to become a new type of worker that matches the new quality productivity.