AS/400 Report Delivery System Introduction This document is designed to help our customers and future customers learn more about RJS Software Systems and the RJS AS/400 Report Delivery System. The document contains an overview of the components that comprise the AS/400 Report Delivery System. Each overview will describe how the component works within the complete AS/400 Report Delivery System. Some components relate to other methods of document delivery such as emailing or sending PC files via FTP, scanning paper documents into Lotus Notes/Domino databases or LAN directories and integrating PC applications (such as MS Word) with AS/400 applications, etc. By reading each description you will discover how RJS Software Systems can help you implement an electronic report and document delivery system in your company. Each of our products is designed to work as a standalone process or as an integrated component to drive all your electronic report delivery and document distribution needs. We have products to: Split AS/400 reports Download AS/400 reports Convert AS/400 reports to ASCII Text, HTML, PDF (Adobe Acrobat), RTF (MS Word), Spreadsheet and other formats Convert AFP/IPDS reports to TIF and PDF formats Convert PCL reports to PDF format Generate electronic forms such as invoices, purchase orders, etc. from standard AS/400 reports Email AS/400 reports Fax AS/400 reports Archive AS/400 reports Send AS/400 reports to other COLD systems such as SER MacroSoft, FileNet Greenbar, OnBase, Laserfiche, etc Store AS/400 reports in Lotus Notes/Domino Databases Make AS/400 reports available for viewing via the Web Send Email Messages and File attachments directly from the AS/400 Send files from the AS/400 via FTP Integrate PC Application and Word Processor calls into any AS/400 application Convert AS/400 database files to CSV format for electronic distribution In 1998, our WinSpool/400 Email Report Server product received the prestigious Midrange Systems Buyers Choice Award, confirming that the high quality design of the AS/400 Report Delivery software components will help to deliver success in your organization.
The Company RJS. was founded in 1990. The company's original focus was AS/400 software consulting. In 1993 the company branched out into software product development with the release of the AS/400 Report Splitter for splitting and distributing reports on the AS/400. In 1994, RJS released the WinSpool/400 report download software to allow customers who used the Monarch report parsing software to easily download reports for use with Monarch. In 1996 with the popularity of the Internet growing, RJS added to the WinSpool/400 report distribution product line by introducing the WinSpool/400 Email Report Server for emailing AS/400 reports. That same year the WinSpool/400 Batch Report Server was introduced for companies looking to archive AS/400 reports to LAN or CD. 1997 was the year of Domino for the AS/400. When IBM purchased Lotus Corp, RJS knew that the intention was to release Domino for the AS/400. In early 1998 RJS introduced the WinSpool/400 Lotus Notes Report Server for Windows 95/NT and in mid-1999 released the native Domino Report Server/400 product. Both products allow for archival of AS/400 reports in Lotus Notes/Domino databases on the AS/400 and other Domino platforms. Also released in 1998 was the WinSpool/400 Web Report Server for making AS/400 reports available to Web users for viewing. Thanks to our customer feedback and requests, our report distribution and document delivery product lines will continue to grow rapidly throughout the new millennium. Future of the AS/400 Over the past few years RJS has recognized that many companies are looking for native AS/400 applications to continue justifying AS/400 usage in their organizations. We have been working to port our report distribution applications from the Windows 95/NT platform in order to help customers in this effort. Almost all of our AS/400 report delivery solutions are now available as Windows 95/NT and native AS/400 applications. By the end of 2000 all of our applications will be available as native AS/400 applications. We will continue to deliver native AS/400 solutions for emailing documents and AS/400 reports, scanning document images and storing them in the AS/400 IFS or Lotus Domino Databases, integrating AS/400 data with NT networks, serving AS/400 applications via the AS/400 web server, generating electronic forms from the AS/400 and using the AS/400 as a file server with or without Windows NT and more. What does this mean to an MIS director trying to justify the continued use of the AS/400? This means you have a partner and an ally when you're in the process of looking for ways to justify continued usage of the AS/400. If you have an application task you're looking to perform on the AS/400, and you can't find the right native AS/400 solution, you can contact RJS Software Systems and we'll work with you to find or create the right solution. Like you, we feel the AS/400 is still the most stable and robust computing platform available today. What other application platform can run OS/400, System/36 SSP, Windows NT, Lotus Domino and Unix applications in the same server? There is only one system that can do this. It's called the AS/400.
AS/400 Report Delivery System Components The remainder of this document will provide an overview of each AS/400 Report Delivery and Document Distribution component. This is meant to serve as a high-level guide to allow you to understand how the AS/400 Report Delivery components fit together. As you start thinking about your company's needs, feel free to contact an RJS Software Systems representative to discuss your specific requirements. The only way to ensure you get the right products you need is to talk to us. We look forward to hearing from you. Our toll-free telephone number is (888) RJSSOFT. Our sales email address is sales@rjssoft.com and our web site address is http://www.rjssoft.com. Splitting Up AS/400 Reports The AS/400 Report Splitter is typically the starting point for the AS/400 Report Delivery System. The AS/400 Report Splitter is a native AS/400 application that allows reports from any AS/400 output queue to be split up and distributed to multiple AS/400 output queues for printing or processing via the other AS/400 Report Delivery components. The AS/400 Report Splitter can distribute an entire copy of a report, selected pages within a report or can scan for a specific criteria on each page such as sales rep, division, dept, etc. Whenever the criteria is encountered, the selected pages are extracted into a new spool file and placed in the selected output queue. The AS/400 Report Splitter also lets users create cover pages containing email addresses to distribute to. Also, selected report attributes can be changed such as spool file name, user data, form type, copies, etc. Note: If your company already splits up your AS/400 reports based on selected criteria, then you may not need the AS/400 Report Splitter component. Interactively Downloading Reports to PC The WinSpool/400 software is a product for manually downloading AS/400 reports to a PC. The software is an interactive Windows application that works with Windows 95/98/NT/2000 to allow reports to be downloaded and converted into the following formats: ASCII Text, RTF, PDF, HTML, PCL, Unconverted or Spreadsheet and database formats. Reports can also be sent directly to MS Word or MS Excel and processed with the MS Excel text-parsing wizard. The software has an MS Outlook Style interface and is MS Office 95, 97 and 2000 compatible. Converting reports to Spreadsheet & Databases The DataImport software allows your users to convert any downloaded text-based AS/400 report into a PC format. The software supports PC formats such as MS Excel, MS Access, Lotus 123, Dbase, Foxpro, CSV and many other PC formats. DataImport lets users create report masks to select detail information from a report while leaving out heading information and other unwanted data. DataImport can be used standalone and is also integrated seamlessly into the WinSpool/400 software for easy access to DataImport.
Automating Spreadsheet Conversions The DataImport Report Converter is an automated add-in for the WinSpool/400 Batch Report Server, Email Report Server, Web Report Server and Lotus Notes Report Server to allow reports to be automatically converted to spreadsheet or database formats after they are downloaded from the AS/400. Note: The DataImport and DataImport Report Converter can only be used with Windows based applications. There is currently not a native AS/400 version of the DataImport products. Emailing AS/400 Reports The WinSpool/400 Email Report Server and Email Report Server/400 products are automated methods for emailing reports from the AS/400. The WinSpool/400 Email Report Server is a Windows 95/98/NT/2000 version of the software that downloads and converts the reports using a PC and then automatically emails the reports using your chosen mail system. Email Report Server/400 is a native OS/400 product that will automatically convert the reports and email them directly from the AS/400 using the SMTP email protocol. The AS/400 SMTP Server does not need to be running in order to use the Email Report Server/400 software. Supported mail systems for both products include: MS Exchange, Lotus Notes/Domino, Novell GroupWise, AS/400 or any other SMTP based email server. Available conversion formats include: ASCII Text, RTF, HTML, PDF, Spreadsheet and Database, PCL, TIF. Note: Contact RJS Software systems to discuss the differences between the Windows 95/98/NT/2000 and native OS/400 versions. Automated Report Download and Archiving to CD The WinSpool/400 Batch Report Server product is an automated method for downloading reports from the AS/400 and storing them in LAN directories or the AS/400 IFS. The WinSpool/400 Batch Report Server is a Windows 95/98/NT/2000 application that downloads and converts selected reports using a PC and then transfers the reports to the identified LAN directory for storage. Reports can be viewed from the LAN using the View Archived Reports program utility. The View Archived Reports program allows multi-user access to report files stored on the LAN or CD Rom. Reports downloaded from the AS/400 can be burned to CD Rom using the WinSpool/400 Batch Report Server CD Staging utility and your favorite CD burning software. Report files are stored on CD Rom along with the original AS/400 output queue information such as spool file name, user data, date, job, form type, number of pages, etc. We've estimated that up to 10,000 100 page reports can be stored on a single CD if file compression is used.
The WinSpool/400 Batch Report Server can also be used in conjunction with COLD/Imaging Systems such as Macrosoft, Filenet Greenbar, OnBase, Laserfiche, etc. When used with a COLD system, the WinSpool/400 Batch Report Server becomes the automated AS/400 report download mechanism for acquiring reports into the COLD system. Available conversion formats include: ASCII Text, RTF, HTML, PDF, Spreadsheet and Database, PCL, TIF. Moving AS/400 Reports into Domino Databases The WinSpool/400 Lotus Notes Report Server and Domino Report Server/400 products are automated methods for storing AS/400 reports in a Lotus Notes/Domino database. This product is a Domino based COLD system that allows you to automatically move reports from AS/400 output queues into Domino databases for online viewing. Reports can be viewed via the Lotus Notes Client software or a Web Browser. When used with our PaperChase for Notes imaging software, you will have an entire Domino based COLD/Imaging system for storing AS/400 reports, PC documents and image documents. The WinSpool/400 Lotus Notes Report Server is a Windows 95/98/NT/2000 version of the software that downloads and converts the reports using a PC and then automatically sends the resulting reports into the selected Domino databases. Domino Report Server/400 is a native OS/400 product that will automatically convert the reports and move them into the selected Domino databases. Available conversion formats include: ASCII Text, RTF, HTML, PDF, Spreadsheet and Database, PCL, TIF. Note: Contact RJS Software systems to discuss the differences between the Windows 95/98/NT/2000 and native OS/400 versions. View Reports via the Web The WinSpool/400 Web Report Server product is a Windows 95/98/NT/2000 web server based application that allows reports downloaded via the WinSpool/400 Batch Report Server to be viewed in a secure fashion using your Intranet or the Internet. The Web Report Server has its own login screen and displays only the reports to which the selected user has access. Reports can be secured by output queue, spool file name, user data, form type, job name, or user ID. The Web Report Server works with the following web servers: Microsoft IIS, Lotus Domino, Apache, Microsoft Personal Web Server or any other Windows 32-bit web server that supports CGI. Faxing AS/400 Reports
The WinSpool/400 Fax Report Server product is an automated method for faxing reports from the AS/400. The WinSpool/400 Fax Report Server is a Windows 95/98/NT/2000 application that downloads and faxes reports from any AS/400 output queue. Creating Electronic Forms from any AS/400 Report The WinSpool/400 Electronic Forms product is a Windows 95/98/NT/2000 based automated method for merging text based spool files with form overlays to create invoices, purchase orders, checks, etc. Reports can be printed to any standard laser printer or they can be emailed or archived for viewing in PDF format when used in conjunction with one of our automated report distribution products. The software can be used as an add-in to the WinSpool/400 Batch Report Server, WinSpool/400 Email Report Server, WinSpool/400 Lotus Notes Report Server and WinSpool/40 Web Report Server processes. AFP/IPDS Jump Start Service If you would like to start using the IBM AFP/IPDS forms overlay process to create electronic forms, let RJS Software Systems be your guide by creating your first electronic form overlay and providing you with the necessary information to generate electronic forms on your own. We will show you how to create AFP form overlays and print your electronic forms using a standard HP Laser printer. You don t have to buy special hardware and software to create AFP electronic forms. Viewing Text Reports Graphically The WinView/400 software is a graphical Windows 95/98/NT/2000 application used to view and print text reports downloaded from the AS/400. WinView/400 allows users to search a report for multiple criteria, lock headings at the top of the screen, view a report in split screen mode, view a report with a Greenbar overlay, and display a crosshair ruler when analyzing a report or export a report to CSV format. In many situations, WinView/400 can be much more useful for viewing reports than simply converting reports to HTML, RTF or PDF formats. Make sure to take a look at the WinView/400 report viewer when you re evaluating which method to use for viewing reports. Convert AS/400 Reports to HTML Format The WinSpool/400 HTML Report Converter and HTML Report Converter/400 products are report conversion API's for converting a text-based report to an HTML web page format for viewing. The WinSpool/400 HTML Report Converter is a Windows 95/98/NT/2000 version of the software that converts a report directly into HTML format. This version is generally used as an add-in to the WinSpool/400, WinSpool/400 Batch Report Server, WinSpool/400 Email Report Server, WinSpool/400 Lotus Notes Report Server and WinSpool/40 Web Report Server processes. The HTML Report Converter/400 API is an AS/400 command line API for converting any text report into an HTML file and storing it in the AS/400 Integrated File System (IFS).
Convert AS/400 Reports to RTF Format (MS Word) The WinSpool/400 RTF Report Converter and RTF Report Converter/400 products are report conversion API's for converting a text-based report to RTF format for viewing via MS Word or any RTF compatible word processor. The WinSpool/400 RTF Report Converter is a Windows 95/98/NT/2000 version of the software that converts a report directly into RTF format. This version is generally used as an add-in to the WinSpool/400, WinSpool/400 Batch Report Server, WinSpool/400 Email Report Server, WinSpool/400 Lotus Notes Report Server and WinSpool/40 Web Report Server processes. The RTF Report Converter/400 API is an AS/400 command line API for converting any text report into an RTF file and storing it in the AS/400 Integrated File System (IFS). Convert AS/400 Reports to PDF Format (Adobe Acrobat) The WinSpool/400 PDF Report Converter and PDF Report Converter/400 products are report conversion API's for converting a text-based report to PDF format for viewing via Adobe Acrobat The WinSpool/400 PDF Report Converter is a Windows 95/98/NT/2000 version of the software that converts a report directly into PDF format. This version is generally used as an add-in to the WinSpool/400, WinSpool/400 Batch Report Server, WinSpool/400 Email Report Server, WinSpool/400 Lotus Notes Report Server and WinSpool/40 Web Report Server processes. The PDF Report Converter/400 API is an AS/400 command line API for converting any text report into an PDF file and storing it in the AS/400 Integrated File System (IFS). Convert AFP/IPDS Reports to TIFF or PDF Formats The Document Server and Host Print Transform Report Converter/400 products are report conversion API's for converting AFP/IPDS reports to TIFF or PDF format for viewing via Adobe Acrobat or the MS Windows Imaging software. These converters provide a nice way for electronic forms and statements to be converted for emailing or electronic archival. The Document Server is a high quality, high-performance Windows NT/2000 product that can convert text or AFP/IPDS reports to PDF or TIFF image formats. This version is generally used as an add-in to the WinSpool/400, WinSpool/400 Batch Report Server, WinSpool/400 Email Report Server, WinSpool/400 Lotus Notes Report Server and WinSpool/40 Web Report Server processes. The Host Print Transform Report Converter/400 API is an AS/400 command line API for converting any AFP/IPDS report into a PCL or TIFF file storing it in the AS/400 Integrated File System (IFS). Convert PCL Electronic Forms to PDF Formats
The WinSpool/400 PCL to PDF Report Converter product is a report conversion API for converting PCL based AS/400 reports into PDF format for emailing or archiving. This converter is a great way to convert electronic forms created with form packages such as EZ Print/400, JetForm, Optio, Formation NG, Elixir, etc. into PDF format for electronic distribution. The converter runs on Windows 95/98/NT/2000. This version is used as an add-in to the WinSpool/400, WinSpool/400 Batch Report Server, WinSpool/400 Email Report Server, WinSpool/400 Lotus Notes Report Server and WinSpool/40 Web Report Server processes. Convert AS/400 Reports to ASCII Text Format The ASCII/ANSI Report Converter/400 product is a report conversion API for converting a textbased report to an ASCII text file that can be viewed on a PC, web page or sent to a microfiche provider. The ASCII/ANSI Report Converter/400 API is an AS/400 command line API for converting any text report into an ASCII text file and storing it in the AS/400 Integrated File System (IFS). Store AS/400 Reports in Unconverted Format The RAW Report Converter/400 product is a report conversion API for converting any AS/400 spool file into an IFS file and storing in its native data format. The raw spool file data can be stored on the AS/400 for any application that may need access to unconverted spool file data. The raw data formats can be EBCDIC SCS or AFP/IPDS data, ASCII PCL or Postscript or any type of data that can be stored in a spool file. This API is a great way to copy an AFP document to an AS/400 file and then scan for selected criteria. Send/Receive AS/400 Files via FTP The FTP/400 product allows any AS/400 database file or IFS file to be sent or received via the FTP file transfer protocol. FTP file transfer can be a good way to interact with suppliers to exchange information. It can also be a good way to update information on a web site, Windows NT Server, Unix/Linux server, etc. Interact with PC Commands from the AS/400 The FTP/400 Remote Command Server product allows any AS/400 application to call PC programs, launch web sites, open PC documents, run MS Word mail merges, copy information to the windows clipboard, etc. This product is a great way to build integration between AS/400 and PC applications. Convert AS/400 Data Files to CSV Format The DataExport/400 API allows any AS/400 database file to be converted to a Comma Separated Variable (CSV) file and stored in the AS/400 Integrated File System (IFS). The CSV files can be opened by MS Word, Excel, Access or any other application that can read CSV files.
Send Email Messages from the AS/400 The SMTP/400 email API allows the AS/400 to send text based email messages or file attachments via email without configuring the AS/400 mail server. The software uses the SMTP email protocol and can send directly to any SMTP email server such as MS Exchange, Lotus Notes/Domino, Novell GroupWise, AS/400 SMTP server, etc. This can be a great tool for automating customer service interaction from an AS/400 application. Examples of using this API include sending periodic marketing messages, sending order confirmations, sending electronic invoices, etc. Send PC Files via Email The Email File Server is a Windows 95/98/NT/2000 application that can deliver PC files from any PC or LAN directory via email. This product is a great way to automate the distribution of spreadsheet files, daily updates, etc. from a PC environment. Send PC Files via FTP The FTP File Server is a Windows 95/98/NT/2000 application that can deliver PC files from any PC or LAN directory to a remote FTP server via FTP file transfer. This product is a great way to automate the distribution of spreadsheet files, daily updates, etc. from a PC environment. Electronic Document Management The PaperChase Electronic Document Management software is a Windows 95/98/NT/2000 document management application for storing scanned documents and other PC file types such as spreadsheets, word processing documents or any other PC document type. What a nice way to reduce paper usage and consolidate documents for online access. The software can be integrated with any AS/400 application in minutes by utilizing the FTP/400 Remote Command Server product. PaperChase for Notes The PaperChase for Notes software is a Windows 95/98/NT/2000 application that can image-enable any Notes/Domino database in 15 minutes or less. The software allows any paper document to be scanned and easily attached to a Notes/Domino database. It supports index field entry and multiple user defined database fields. PC documents can also be added to a Notes database using this software. It supports all Domino platforms including Domino for the AS/400. Transfer Data via ODBC The Fetch and Fill ODBC Data Transfer software is a Windows 95/98/NT/2000 file transfer application that can be used to upload and download data from the AS/400 to MS Excel, Access, SQL Server, Foxpro, Oracle or any other ODBC enabled database. What a great way to exchange data between the AS/400 and PC applications.
Conclusion You should now have an overall understanding of how RJS Software Systems can help you implement an electronic report and document delivery system in your organization. Please contact one of our technical representatives to discuss your specific needs. We can be contacted at (888) RJSSOFT or sales@rjssoft.com. Make sure to stop by our web site to keep up on our continuing software development efforts.