Harlequin Direct Release Notes

Created Date: 07 Oct, 2020 11:13
Last Modifed Date: 05 Aug, 2021 14:38

Changes V1.8.0

Calls to hd_submitJob, hd_submitJobWithConfig and hd_cancelJob now return immediately and jobs are submitted/cancelled on a background thread.
Support added for NozzleOut compensation with justifications and offsets as defined in the HD configuration file.
Harlequin Direct will now consume the RIP Farm Config file if present in the working directory.
Fixed a defect with the throughput regulator.

The hd_submitJob and hd_submitJobWithConfig APIs have been updated. You will require an up-to-date HarlequinDirect_API to continue using Harlequin Direct.
The JobSucceeded, JobFailed and JobCancelled API events have been replaced by JobCompleted.

Improved performance when multiple copies are submitted.
Executables and DLLs now have version numbers.
The hd_getLicenseVariant API function has been added for querying whether your license is Standard, High Data Rate or Ultra High Data Rate.

It is now possible to reconnect to Harlequin Direct without shutting it down.
The API function hd_connectToInstance has been added and should be used instead of hd_createInstance, which will be deprecated in the future.

The Harlequin Direct API now returns error codes rather than just success or failure. Please see DirectReturnCodes.h for details.

Harlequin Direct now has its own licensing. You must specify your license string in the HDLicence setting in the config file.
ScreenPro Direct settings must now be included in the Harlequin Direct config file rather than referenced in a separate config.
When submitting a job with the API, you must now specify a number of copies required (for example, specify 1 to match previous behavior). Each copy will get its own Job ID.
How Harlequin Direct is invoked in File-Based Mode has changed. Additional arguments are required at the command line. For more details, please see the Harlequin Direct User Guide.

Harlequin Direct can be launched with only a Command Port (using the -port argument). To start a print run, a config file must be submitted over the API (see below).
When Harlequin Direct is idle, you can now use the hd_submitConfig API function to select the config file to be loaded for the next print run.
The following query functions have been added to the API:
- hd_getPipelineStatus – for retrieving the current state of the pipeline in the same format as it is output with PipelineLogging enabled in the config file.
- hd_getCpuUsage – for retrieving the current system CPU usage as a percentage.
- Hd_getPrintRunStatus – for retrieving a structure containing Jobs Submitted, Jobs Completed, Current Job ID, Current Page, Current Logical Page, and Average Output Throughput.
PrintFlat calibrations are now supported.
The maximum supported resolution has been increased to 1600x1600 DPI.
Fixed a defect where transparency in a PDF was causing incorrect output.
Fixed a defect where a PDF could not RIP above certain DPI.

The Harlequin Direct API now supports multiple instances that could be running on multiple machines. See documentation in header file.
You can now send ScreenPro Direct XML (Job description) to Harlequin Direct. This will be useful if you want to RIP a job offline, then submit it for screening/printing at a later date.
Fixed defect where the user could not restart a print run without restarting the application.
You can now specify a PlaneNumberStart in PS configuration. This will allow Harlequin Direct to run any plane numbers from different machines. For example, you could render Yellow and Black and output to plane 3 and 4 by setting /CompositeColorNames [ /Yellow /Black ] and /PlaneNumberStart 3.
You can now specify a copy count when using submit job in the Harlequin Direct API. See documentation in the header file.

Linux support – Ubuntu 18.04 and CentOS 7.4 officially supported.
Ability to abort a print run.
You can now send Tiff files through Harlequin Direct, setting the RipCount to zero enables this feature.
New API calls.
- You can now turn head power on or off (print electronics must support it).
  - You can send a force product detect signal (print electronics must support it).
  - You can subscribe to an event that notifies when hardware buffers are empty (print electronics must support it).
  - You can subscribe to an event that notifies when the ScreenPro Direct PDHint requirement has been met (print electronics must support it).
  - You can get the real-time throughput figure from ScreenPro Direct in MB/s.
  - You can query the ScreenPro Direct version number.
Windows builds now use Visual Studio 2019 toolchain; Linux builds use GCC-8 toolchain.

This is the first release of Harlequin Direct that is capable of being integrated into a client application/workflow.

The version of HHR now uses LE licensing. This means a Harlequin LDK license is not required.
The primary method of driving Harlequin Direct is now a C API. See the user guide for more information.
Driving Meteor hardware (via ScreenPro Direct) is now supported.
Improved error handling.

The application is officially supported on the following platforms:

It requires installation of the 64-bit Visual Studio 2015-19 runtime and the 64-bit Visual Studio 2013 runtime.

Harlequin Direct is distributed as a zip archive.

The application requires a separate license or distribution agreement for Harlequin Direct. Contact your technical representative for more details.

For more details, please see the Harlequin Direct User Guide.

Uses Harlequin Host Renderer V12.1r2.

Uses ScreenPro Direct V3.8.0.