(v13) Timelines

This page applies to Harlequin v13.1r0 and later; and to Harlequin Core but not Harlequin MultiRIP.

A timeline is a way of representing any entity within software that has a finite life; that is, a start, an existence, and an end to which you need to refer in some kind of unique way.

The timeline system exists in the RIP skin, independent of the core. Even though the RIP uses it, it is a general-purpose API that you can use.

The following items can be represented as timelines within the Host Renderer: core job stream, core job running, core interpreting page, core rendering page, core Harlequin VariData scan, trapping preparation, core trapping generation, and PGB progress. Other items within the system can be represented by a timeline.

The Timeline library must be started before the RIP is started, and terminated after the RIP is shut down. This is normally achieved by using the SwLeSDKStart() and SwLeSDKEnd() functions. These functions also encapsulate initialization and shutdown of the other required support libraries that the RIP requires. For more information see the API Reference Manual.