Creating a Control File

To create a control file, follow this general process.

  1. Using either Visual Engineer or a text editor, create a new file. (For instructions on creating a new control file in Visual Engineer, see the Visual Engineer online help.)
  2. Define each input print stream.
    • Use a separate Input tag group for each input print stream.
    • Use Field tag groups to identify variable data to extract from documents.
    • Use the Input group <DOCUMENT> tag to specify how Enrichment identifies the top or bottom of a document.
    • If necessary, use the Input group <PAGE> tag to indicate how Enrichment finds new pages.
    • If you plan to CASS™ cleanse, presort, or locate the ZIP Code™ within an address, use the Address tag group or the <ADDRESSBLOCK> tag to identify the variables that make up the address components.
    • Code additional performance or layout attributes as necessary to fully define the input print stream.
  3. Use the Insertpage and Insertrec tag groups to identify files (if any) that contain control records or electronic inserts to add.
  4. Use Add tag groups to identify objects (barcodes, forms, images, or text) to add to every output. If the added objects vary based on the output, place the Add tag groups within the appropriate Output group, as discussed in step 8.
  5. Use the Sortmatch tag group to identify sort and match criteria for sorting and consolidating documents.
  6. Use the Rule tag group to identify the rule file for performing conditional processing, if any. For more information on rule files, see Creating a Rule File.
  7. Use the CASS tag group in conjunction with the Input group <CLEANSE> tag to specify postal address cleansing requirements.
  8. Use Output tag groups to identify the output files to create:
    • Specify multiple file names if you do not want the individual files to exceed a certain size (in bytes, lines, pages, documents, or trays) or use the <DYNAFILE> tag to automatically name files that are dynamically allocated.
    • If you want to conduct a presort, use the Presort tag group to indicate the method.
    • Use the Sidefile tag group to indicate the names and contents of any extract files and Reprint Indexes to create.
    • Use the Output group <FILEMAX> tag to indicate how to automatically break output into convenient groups of documents.
    • Use the AFPindex tag group to indicate Tag Logical Elements (TLEs) before each document for indexing full AFPDS data.