Typefi Server 8.2.0 release notes

Caleb Clauset
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Note: The most current version is Typefi 8.6.4 (v8.6.4.1), released on 09 December 2019.

05 September 2016

We're excited to share that Typefi 8.2.0 (v8.2.0.588) is now available. Typefi 8.2 adds support for media elements (video and audio) in rich, interactive formats like HTML, EPUB, and PDF, in addition to the obligatory bug fixes for reported issues. This is a major update, so it's possible some issues will surface. If you find something, please drop us a line.

System requirements

Workgroup Server

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012, or Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit);
    OS X El Capitan (v10.11), OS X Yosemite (v10.10), or OS X Mavericks (v10.9)
  • Oracle JDK 8 (for OS X and Linux only; bundled with our installer for Windows)
  • Apache Tomcat 8.0.28 (for Linux only; bundled with our installers for Windows and OS X)
  • an LDAP-compliant directory service
  • 8 GB of RAM (16 GB recommended) and an additional 2–8 GB per instance of Adobe InDesign Server
  • 2.4 GHz or faster multi-core (64-bit) processor
  • fast storage I/O

Designer for Adobe InDesign

  • Microsoft Windows 10, Windows 8.1, or Windows 7 with Service Pack 1;
    OS X El Capitan (v10.11), OS X Yosemite (v10.10), or OS X Mavericks (v10.9)
  • Adobe InDesign CC 2015, InDesign CC 2014, InDesign CC, or InDesign CS6
  • 2 GB of RAM (8 GB recommended)

Writer for Microsoft Word

  • Microsoft Windows 10, Windows 8.1, or Windows 7 with Service Pack 1
  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 or later
  • Microsoft Word 2013 (32-bit only) with security update KB3039794, Word 2010 (32-bit only) with security update KB2881029, or Word 2007 with security update KB2881067

Typefi Desktop

  • Microsoft Windows 10, Windows 8.1, or Windows 7 with Service Pack 1;
    OS X El Capitan (v10.11), OS X Yosemite (v10.10), or OS X Mavericks (v10.9)
  • Oracle JDK 8 (for OS X and Linux only; bundled with our installer for Windows)
  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5or later (for Windows only)
  • Adobe InDesign CC 2015, InDesign CC 2014, InDesign CC, or InDesign CS6
  • Microsoft Word 2013 (32-bit only) with security update KB3039794, Word 2010 (32-bit only) with security update KB2881029, or Word 2007 with security update KB2881067
  • 2 GB of RAM (8 GB recommended)

New features

Media elements

Typefi Writer 8.2 adds media (video and audio) elements for the purpose of playing videos or audio files in rich, interactive formats like EPUB, HTML, and PDF.

You can use the following video and audio formats:

  • MPEG video or audio (mp4, m4a, mp3)
  • WebM video or audio (webm)*
  • Ogg video or audio (ogg)*
  • Audio Video Interleave (avi)
  • WAVE PCM audio (wav)*
  • Flash video (flv, f4v, swf)†
  • QuickTime video (mov)‡

* not supported with Adobe InDesign-based workflows
† Flash requires an add-on; not supported with iOS-based devices
‡ QuickTime for Windows has been deprecated and two Zero Day Initiatives have been issued detailing critical, unpatched vulnerabilities (https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/TA16-105A)

One of the primary drivers in how we chose to implement adding video and audio to Content XML was compatibility with HTML5 and EPUB3. For example, video support varies between browsers, document formats, and reading devices. Therefore, Content XML 3.0 supports both primary and secondary media sources, allowing Typefi 8 workflows to dynamically select which video and audio formats are supported for a given output.

Like HTML5, Content XML 3.0 has separate audio and video elements to identify the media resource:

<video ref="video/clip01.mp4" 
 comment="Dancing baby"
 autoplay="true"
 loop="true"
 controls="true"
 id="1234" />
<audio ref="audio/clip01.mp3"
 comment="Never Gonna Give You Up"
 autoplay="true"
 loop="true"
 controls="true"
 id="1234" />
  • The required ref attribute specifies the primary video or audio file
  • Use the optional comment attribute to specify alternate text, if the media source cannot be displayed
  • To start a video or audio automatically, use the optional autoplay attribute
  • Use the optional loop attribute to start the media file over again, every time it is finished
  • The optional controls attribute adds controls, like play, pause, and volume
  • The optional id attribute is a unique ID

Poster images

A <poster> tag specifies an image to be shown while the media source is downloading, or until the play button is pressed.

<video ref="video/clip01.mp4">
 <poster type="image" ref="dancing-baby.png" />
</video>

A poster type can be set to:

  • none to omit the display of a poster image for the video or audio clip,
  • default to display a generic image that isn't based on the contents of the file, or
  • image to display a specific bitmap image at the path ref.

Alternate source files

An <altRef> tag is used to deliver the same media content in multiple formats, similar to the HTML5 <source> element. For example:

<video ref="video/clip01.mp4">
 <altRef ref="video/clip01.avi" target="pdf" />
 <altRef ref="video/clip01.ogg" target="epub" />
</video>

The optional target attribute can be used similar to the <source> type attribute for designating an intended use case for a particular media file.

Browse for local files

When running a workflow with an ${ask} variable, you can now browse for a local file in addition to selecting an existing Typefi 8 file.

Click the Browse button to open a local File/Open dialog. The selected file will be uploaded directly to the job folder and the ${ask} variable is replaced by a resolved path to the newly uploaded file.

You can also browse for a local file from the "Choose File" dialog when editing a workflow. In this case, the selected file will be uploaded to the current folder shown in the "Choose File" dialog.

New workflow variables

Typefi 8.2 expands our support for variables to support more dynamic workflows. Use the ${input:first} variable to capture the file name (without extension) of the first workflow action input for re-use in subsequent actions. For example, use it with an ${ask} input to pass through the original file name to the final output.

screenshot of the Export to IDML action demonstratring use of an ${ask} input and ${input:first}.idml as the output

In addition, project fields are also now automatically accessible as workflow variables. Click Add Variable (▾) to display the variables menu, and then select the project field you want to use from the list below the system variables. If your workflow has an Edit Metadata action, or references an existing CXML file in an action input, project field variables will show their resolved value as the variable description, otherwise only the project field name will be shown.

screenshot of the Create InDesign Document action showing project fields ${field:DocumentAuthor} and ${field:DocumentTitle}

Other changes

Typefi Designer

  • FileManager preferences are now available from Preferences > Typefi
  • FileManager can now remember your Typefi Account information to sign in more quickly in the future
  • FileManager now adds a standard comment when checking in an InDesign file
  • Fixed "file is damaged" error when attempting to upload an InDesign file with a ridiculously long file name
  • Fixed an InDesign crash when attempting to upload an InDesign file with a fairly long file name

Typefi Writer

  • Writer now automatically updates attached workflows on File > Open or when displaying the Document Explorer
  • Improved experience when using Document Explorer to jump to a selection in the document
  • Writer now supports adding a comment when checking in a Word document
  • Fixed issue where documents may not fully close after checking in, which could cause erroneous warnings when exiting Microsoft Word, or "Permission denied" or "Write to file" failures when working with the same file later
  • Resolved issue with workflows that contain multiple instances of the same action (for example, four cascading Apply XSL Stylesheet actions)
  • Improved support for workflows that use ${ask} variables (for example, selecting a cover image for an EPUB workflow)
  • Only new or changed image links are uploaded to the Typefi server when the Import DOCX action is configured with Link Options > Use customer folder
  • Editing a Typefi Section or Element no longer removes unknown fields (and values)
  • Miscellaneous user interface tweaks (including a more visible Print Manager icon for Windows 10)

Typefi Server

  • Resolved issue with workflows that contain multiple instances of the same action (for example, two Create InDesign Document actions)
  • Now show a Save button, in addition to auto-saving, when editing workflows
  • Renaming a file or folder no longer allows illegal characters (* < > : " / | \ ? ; ! ^)
  • Improved Jobs > Search when the entered search terms produce no result
  • Jobs > Search is now case-insensitive for the user and tag search modifiers
  • Improvements to scrolling through the results of a Jobs > Search
  • Improved confirmation dialog wording for Delete
  • Significant improvements to drag and drop upload
  • A warning is now displayed when attempting to navigate away from a page while an upload is in progress
  • System and File tools are now temporarily disabled while an upload is in progress
  • Downloading a single file no longer ZIP compresses it
  • Downloading multiple files now names the archive after the container folder
  • Added floating Go to Bottom/Top buttons for the Admin > Log
  • Multiple improvements to file versioning
  • Improved handling of temporary files
  • Improved default comments for file actions (upload, check in, revert, delete)
  • Improved license validation check for systems with multiple network addresses
  • Added support for multiple simultaneous licenses (for example, with different expiry dates)
  • Added currentVersion property to files API
  • Enhanced get API to support by id.
  • Updated files API to create new folders on-the-fly (for example, if uploading to a non-existent folder)
  • Enhanced jobs API to now return an errorMessage property for actions that return ActionResult with message
  • Updated whitelist of 'safe' files
  • Removed legacy Alfresco CMS support code
  • Miscellaneous user interface tweaks
  • Security enhancements

Adobe Creative Cloud compatibility

Typefi 8 supports:

  • InDesign CC 2015 and InDesign CC 2015 Server (v11.0 or later; released June 2015)
  • InDesign CC 2014 and InDesign CC 2014 Server (v10.2 or later; released February 2015)
  • InDesign CC and InDesign CC Server (v9.2 or later; released January 2014)
  • InDesign CS6 and InDesign CS6 Server (v8.0.2 or later; released September 2013)

Please note that Adobe updates and adds new features to the Creative Cloud on an ongoing basis. Creative Cloud updates are optional and must first be certified for compatibility by Typefi before installing.

With the 2015 release of Creative Cloud, Adobe automatically removes existing software when updating to the latest version. To preserve previously installed versions of InDesign, toggle Advanced Options and un-tick Remove Old Versions when installing the 2015 release. To re-install a previous version of InDesign, launch the Creative Cloud desktop application, select the Apps tab and scroll down to Find Additional Apps. Change the filter to View Previous Versions, click Install and select a previous version.

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