Feature Overview¶

This page gives an overview of the most important features of Digital Process Factory. For architectural details, refer to Architecture Overview. For a comparison to the previous major version, refer to Differences between DPF 3 and DPF 4.

Architecture & Operation¶

Microservice Architecture

Digital Process Factory consists of several microservices, such as seal-dpf-jobclient-api or seal-dpf-process-manager, refer to Architecture Overview and Services.
Distributed Configuration via Consul

In on-premise installations, Consul discovers services via DNS and manages the distributed configuration in a cluster. In a cloud environment, the container orchestration system is used for this instead.
MongoDB as System Database

The SEAL-specific MongoDB database stores the data about processes, working units and jobs, refer to MongoDB Database.
Fail-Safe Messaging with NATS

SEAL NATS acts as a message broker to start working units, report job status, and broadcast administrative actions such as configuration updates and job cleanup, refer to Architecture Overview.
Automatic Service Restart

DPF 4 has no Watchdog. Services restart automatically instead, refer to Differences between DPF 3 and DPF 4.
Optional Elastic Stack Integration

Log, statistics, audit and accounting data can be administrated and visualized with Elastic Stack (Elasticsearch and Kibana), refer to Architecture Overview.

Processing & Working Units¶

Working Units as Building Blocks

A working unit is the smallest part of a working process and performs one single closed task, such as converting a file from format A into format B, stamping a file or entering data, refer to Working Unit.
Processes Composed of Working Units

A process specifies the order in which working units are called. Processes can be combined and split into subprocesses to keep complex projects manageable, refer to Process and Construct Processes in DPF Director.
Ready-Made Working Units

SEAL Systems offers a set of ready-made working units for frequently performed tasks, for example checkout for getting a file from SAP or stamppdf for stamping a PDF file, refer to Ready-Made Working Unit.
Node Working Units

Working units can also be provided as npm packages instead of external scripts. DPF discovers and uses a node working unit the same way as a classic working unit, refer to Node Working Unit.
Flexible Parameter System

Parameters can be set when assigning a job, or in the configuration of working units or processes, refer to Set Parameters.
RLI Filters

Classic working units such as Rli.copyFiles can process only the RLI lines that match defined criteria, for example a column value, a regular expression, or a file test, refer to Filter RLI Lines in Working Units.
Concurrent Working-Unit Threads

The number of threads controls how many jobs a working unit processes simultaneously, refer to Construct Working Units in DPF Director.

Administration & UIs¶

DPF CLI

Command-line client for administrating the services and configuration of Digital Process Factory, replacing the former DPF Admin Client, refer to DPF CLI.
Service Management via DPF CLI

DPF CLI starts, stops and reports the status of the whole system or of individual services, refer to Administrate the DPF Services.
Configuration Import and Export

DPF CLI manages the Consul configuration, including a full export and import as YAML, refer to Administrate the DPF Configuration.
SaaS Configuration Management

Workflow and working-unit configuration in a SaaS environment can be updated without service restarts, refer to Administrate the DPF SaaS Configuration.
Password Encryption Utilities

DPF CLI encrypts credentials used by certain working units, refer to Administrate Security.
DPF Tracker

Graphical user interface for tracking, repeating, canceling and deleting jobs, with configurable columns, sorting and filters, refer to DPF Tracker and Configure the Job List in DPF Tracker.
DPF Tracker User Rights

DPF Tracker can require a logon and connect to a directory service, such as LDAP or Active Directory, to restrict operations per user, refer to Secure DPF Tracker.
DPF Director

Graphical user interface for editing existing working units and processes and constructing new ones. DPF Director is not part of the standard installation and has to be licensed separately, refer to DPF Director.

Integration¶

DPF Batch Client

Command-line program for passing jobs interactively or from another system, for example an SAP system, to the DPF system, refer to DPF Batch Client and Send Jobs to the DPF System via DPF Batch Client.
SAP Integration via SAPconnect

As of DPF 4.3.0, dpf-sap-connect receives SAP fax orders via RFC, forwards them as raw jobs, and reports the transmission status back to SAP, refer to Connect to SAP via SAPconnect Interface (BC-CON).
SAP Integration via HDM Interface (OData)

seal-dpf-workingunit-hdm-checkout, seal-dpf-workingunit-hdm-checkin, and seal-dpf-workingunit-odata-notify exchange documents and status information with SAP via OData, through the SAP HDM interface, as an alternative to RFC-based connectivity, refer to Connect to SAP via the HDM Interface (OData).
S3 Output

The s3.copyFromRli working unit copies job output files to an S3-compatible object store, refer to Output Files to an S3 Bucket.
Callback URLs

The seal-dpf-urlcallback service reports job status to a caller-supplied URL, refer to URL Callback.
SEAL Operator Integration

As of DPF 4.3.0, seal-dpf-jobclient-api provides the panels route, so the DPF4Convert panel of SEAL Operator works with DPF, refer to Connect a DPF System on Windows or on Linux in the SEAL Operator documentation.

Monitoring & Security¶

Prometheus Metrics

Services expose custom metrics, such as working-unit calls and duration, at a /metrics endpoint that can be scraped by Prometheus and visualized with tools like Grafana, refer to Metrics.
OIDC Authentication for DPF Batch Client

As of DPF 4.3.0, DPF Batch Client supports authentication via OIDC. If an access token expires, DPF Batch Client requests a new one automatically and retries the call, refer to Configure DPF Batch Client.