Re: AW: Pulling spool files off AS/400

I was wondering if anyone one on the list has written a VB application
that can achieve this.Im interested in the source code so i can see
how its done and possibly use some of the code in a future NT
Serviceapplication

Thanks in advance
Dave (Server Dave)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brad Jensen" <brad@elstore.com>
To: <midrange-l@midrange.com>
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2002 7:23 PM
Subject: Re: AW: Pulling spool files off AS/400 - VB?


>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "PaulMmn" <PaulMmn@ix.netcom.com>
> To: <midrange-l@midrange.com>
> Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2002 8:26 PM
> Subject: Re: AW: Pulling spool files off AS/400 - VB?
>
>
> > Adam,
> >
> > Oliver's reply made me realize that 'all' you want is a spool
> queue downloader.
>
> That's pretty easy to do - you just set the writer on the outq to
> lpr to a pc, run lpd on the pc.
>
> I can think offhand if it will use something in particular for the
> filename. We wrote out own lpd where you can pass the file name
> (and select the subdirectory to write to) with various methods.
> there are extra parameter fields, or you can use the printq name
> and parse it on the lpd side.
>
> > One product that includes this function is MetaFile.  Part of
> the
> > package is a downloader that downloads an output queue to a
> directory
> > on a PC.  The download can be set to run automatically every xx
> > seconds.  The downloaded spool file can be deleted or moved to
> > another output queue.
>
> Our LaserVault system does something similar, but we give the user
> explicit selection capabilities thru command line or cl on the
> host, it seems silly to download something and erase it.
>
> > We have the program running on an NT server.  The only drawback
> with
> > the version we have (2-3 years old) is that it does not run as a
> > service; you need to keep a session signed on and the program
> running.
>
> They might have a newer version that does run as a service, most
> of us COLD vendors did that a couple of years ago. If not, tell me
> so I can use it against them in competitive situations. That will
> ge them to upgrade the product with the feature you want.
>
> > MetaFile is a program which archives spool files, indexes the
> > contents, and allows users to find documents based on that
> index.
> > The archive is created and stored on a PC.  Because the
> retrieval is
> > an index lookup, not a search, it is quick.  New documents are
> added
> > to the index after they are downloaded.  Time to add a document
> to
> > the index depends on the size of the document, number of words
> to
> > index, and the existing size of the index.
> >
> > Every word, character sequence, and number are indexed.  You can
> > search for a dollar amount listed at the bottom of an invoice, a
> > customer number, a city name, a customer name.  Anything.  You
> can
> > also omit 'junk' words (like a, an, the, of, from, etc., etc.)
>
>
> And there is an example. We have always done our indexing on
> selected columns (including keys that are made up of several
> different fields). Our indexing is faster than anyones (in
> generation, they are all about the same in retrieval speed), but
> Metafile honks on the fact we don't do full text indexing (many of
> our customers use very large spool files, and full text indexing
> isn't that important when you are looking up invoice numbers,
> customer names, etc.) So now we are adding full text indexing.
>
> > You can add an overlay and view the archived spool files as if
> they
> > were printed on your custom forms.
> >
> > I don't know if they offer the download portion separately.
>
> They probably don't. We don't, but if there is a market for this
> let me know, it would be easy to abstract it out.
>
> We have another feature that no other COLD vendor has, to my
> knowledge - SCSI download. We can imitate a tape drive and get
> stuff off the AS/400 faster than any LAN - and without loading up
> the LAN. I've often thought it would be great for large data
> replication work.
>
> > One thing that impressed us when we invited the MetaFile folks
> to
> > give us a demonstration:  IT WORKED!  We provided a PC with
> Client
> > Access installed (I don't recall if it was an NT machine or not;
> the
> > production version is running on NT).  The rep installed the
> software
> > on the PC (no software required on the AS/400).  After tweaking
> the
> > settings for the output queue to monitor (and, IIRC, tweaking
> some
> > authority), IT WORKED!  Took less than 30 minutes from a
> standing
> > start.  IT WORKED!  As advertised.  No messing with fancy
> settings.
> > No "Oh, you need to do such and such."  IT WORKED!!  That sold
> us,
> > even though there were other products we had yet to evaluate.
> >
> > --Paul E Musselman
> > PaulMmn@ix.netcom.nospam.com
>
> Metafile is a good product, one of the best on the AS/400. I
> didn't realize they weren't putting software on the AS/400. The
> advanatage of having software on the AS/400 is the ability to
> control the reports you download, the ability to append and name
> them, the ability to control the PC side from the AS/400 side and
> report back errors to the operator, and the ability to print back
> to the AS/400.
>
> We've got a programmable LPD (Line Printer Daemon) which we do not
> yet sell as a product. But for example, we are working on a
> combination of our LPD and our Nextract data extract (if you have
> used Monarch to convert reports to spreadsheets or databases, it's
> similar to that but lots better). The idea is you take a report
> and download it, convert it to a spreadsheet or database, and
> email it, all in one function from the AS/400 side.
>
> I've also thought of print to LPD, and include instructions to run
> x program on the file, or just email it.
>
> Brad Jensen
> www.elstore.com
> LaserVault - you might like it even better than Metafile, or maybe
> not
>
>
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