Enfocus releases Switch 2020 Spring

Enfocus, a leader in PDF quality control, advanced PDF editing and workflow automation for the printing and graphic arts industry, has announced 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,” the company said. “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.”

Product Manager Toon Van Rossum, added: “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 opportunities for the fruition of ideas. Switch is being positioned as the epicentre for the automation revolution. Creators are free to rebel against the ‘out-of-the-box’ solutions and truly build ‘outside-of-the-box’ automation.” Here are some highlights of the new release:
Scripting with Node.js. JavaScript has always been an essential part of Switch. It’s 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 syntax is also constantly evolving. With the Switch 2020 Spring release, modern scripting features and a modern JavaScript syntax are 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, said the company. Previously, if you wanted to dive into scripting for Switch, your resources were limited to Switch-specific training materials. 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 experiences are now applicable in Switch.
NPM, The Node Package Manager. Consider this 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 users access to annotations. Add remarks, questions and extra information to your more complicated flows quickly and easily. Creators can produce better flow documentation. They can also record and communicate flow processes more accurately.