newsletter PGCG EOM 10.0 style numbers, one more time EOM News and Views Interim Corrections have hit the street Issue 31, Summer 2013

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1 newsletter PGCG Pretty Good Consulting Group G o t a p r o b l e m? W e c r e a t e s o l u t i o n s. EOM News and Views EOM 10.0 style numbers, one more time Here are the correct style numbers: EOM Secure US (free) DSS32-SED EOM Secure non-us (free) DSS32-SEI Enterprise Edition DSS2100-UPG Department Edition DSS3100-DPT DSS3100-UPG Professional Edition DSS4100-PRO DSS4100-UPG DDA Designer only DSS5100-DDA DSS5100-DDU DDA Designer extra licensees DSS5100-D2 DSS5100-D2U DDA Designer/Web Assistant DSS5100-ADM DSS5100-UPG Interim Corrections have hit the street The new ICs: EOM (32-bit & 64-bit), EOM (32-bit & 64-bit), EOM, and EOM Web Assistant (32-bit & 64-bit). A variety of problems have been resolved, most are not critical. Here are the headlines: EOM Styles... 1 EOM ICs... 1 PDF notes... 2 DDA feature... 3 BIS notes... 4 Backup file viewer... 5 Quick Hits... 6 Contact information... 6 Which IC(s) Description Transfer Attribute "DESTINATION" property does not work for TP0 protocol A backup file disappears after print previewing it via Backup File Available Fields list box is overwritten by the contents that is moved from Cannot select a Network folder with Browse in Web Assistant Admin , Unable to see EOM server and client release levels with , Unable to generate SNMP traps with EOM 9.1 and above , Misalignment of Barcodes, when used with logical pages , 9.1.3, $DEPHDR$ UserTag values disappear with no print data The credentials supplied to the package were not recognized Import of DDA Configuration from.cfg files might cause exception error. Order reversed when repositioning group of selected DDA commands. Enhance DDA SwapPrintAttribute debug entry. Illegal characters in the directory path or file name cause Enterprise Fix for SMTP option changes do not save on a Windows 2008 server Configuration Explorer Error: Unable to add items to the import/export... DDA can't modify User Keyword content after service restart EOM SERVICE TERMINATION RELATED TO PRINTER/SPOOLER COMPONENT Import from.cfg files causes exception error. DDA Set Variable does not allow binary characters now File Mask ordering has found an Internal problem.

2 Quick notes on EOM & PDF creation As you know by now, the EOM 10.0 release allows for a (free) PDF file creation solution called PDF Writer. It is ordered and installed separately, but tightly integrated with the EOM service. Recent customer interactions are worth noting: 1) A bank in New York reports: We finally got the PDF writer for EOM 10 and what a difference over Win2PDF. We create a 4,000 page document that had to be split up under Win2PDF. Now it create one document and it is about 1/8 the size. This is a great improvement. 2) Two sites using the Adobe Distiller were tripped up recently, the symptom being an alert proclaiming the Print Job had failed. The issue for both customers was that the Print Attribute used was configured without setting the "Adobe PDF settings" property (see Web/File Output section of the Print Attribute). Select "Standard" and your troubles will be over (except for the other dangers when using Adobe Distiller). 3) If you are using the Amyuni PDF Converter, you may want to check "Font Embedding" and "Partial Font embedding" in "PDF Options" tab of the "Devices and Printers" "Printing Preferences". This allows all fonts used in the PDF to travel along with the PDF file. Sometimes a recipient will not have a certain font installed and an unsuitable replacement is made. The same functionality can be had with the New 10.0 PDF Writer software by simply setting the "Physical Printer" property of "Font Embedding" to "Yes". 4) An insurance company in Minnesota reports: I just wanted to pass along a small issue that I came across with the Amyuni PDF Converter after switching from Adobe. The Amyuni software required me to put the.pdf extension in the Output File Naming Rule to continue functioning the way Adobe did. 5) The same insurance company in Minnesota reports: One problem the we ran across: our Cool-Ice application that was waiting for the PDF file to appear would display a blank PDF file time to time because the ICE application would grab the PDF file before EOM had finished creating it. Adobe would put the.ps extension on it until it was done, then changed it to.pdf. As a band aid, we just put an half of a second wait in the ICE application. This issue could also be avoided by using the Print Attribute property "Temporary output file Directory Alias". This directory will be used to compose the PDF file, when fully composed it will be moved to the output directory defined in property "Output file Directory Alias". 6) A bedding company has intermittent hangs when producing PDF files using the Adobe Distiller. People, there is no hope here, please migrate to the (free) PDF Writer software. Did we mention that it is free with the EOM 10.0 version? 7) Finally, as noted in previous Newsletters, you can have multiple EOM Physical Printers reference the "Enterprise Output Manager PDF Writer" and use those Physical Printers simultaneously. This is a huge throughput improvement over other 3 rd party PDF products used with EOM. [ 2 ] Page [ 2 ]

3 DDA Feature (you may not know about) Two recent customer requirements were solved in a similar fashion. We will focus on the first requirement: the customer needed to add header labels on their label print jobs. The idea is that a flat-file of data comes in, is composed into mailing labels, but must preceded by header labels the operations people can use to keep track of different label jobs. Sounds pretty easy except that: 1) They might change their minds later on how many header labels to print (by changing the DDA in this case). 2) We need to create the header labels out of thin air, but can use data in the first flat-file record. The first thing that has to happen is to recognize that the header labels have not been printed yet. The "If" command using "Is undefined" works well for this: Next, we need to set up data to be printed on the header labels and then somehow print those header labels. Since we needed to print 4 labels on each row of the paper, we created a DDA Item called "PrintHeaderRow" that uses yet another DDA Item called "PrintHeaderInformation"to print the label. Now it is a matter of calling the PrintHeaderRow a sufficient number of times to output the desired number of header labels. Yes, this could be more efficient if the PrintHeaderRow TextLine1, TextLine2, and TextLine3 commands were outside the DDA Item - well, as long as the values were static, other wise this is a skeleton on how to change the header labels dynamically. 8 x 4 = 32 labels [ 3 ] Page [ 3 ]

4 BIS notes (related to EOM, of course) Just a couple of notes to refresh for you Business Information Server (BIS/MAPPER) users. While at the BIS Symposium this spring I found out that Rich Goldberg (Unisys) has done multiple presentations on how BIS integrates with EOM. This is the very high-level review on how BIS can support the embedded EOM sequences, stolen directly from Rich (with permission). You know that EOM allows for embedded sequences, BIS has syntax to embed those sequences (BIS47R1 on OS2200): The PRINTFORM has been enhanced: The PRT command can automatically include a preamble report (i.e. with EOM syntax): [ 4 ] Page [ 4 ]

5 Backup file viewer The gurus at FiServ in Brookfield, WI were early adopters of EOM, know the product well, are technically astute, and very rarely need help from PGCG. Yes, we do not like them very much J. Even so, earlier this year we got involved in a discussion on how their internal people can view the contents of the EOM backup files without having to install the EOM client. Installing the EOM client on each user's desktop was just not an option for reasons we will not get into here. They have been using the Backup file feature for a very long time, across multiple versions of EOM. The EOM Backup file (.bkp) consists of the original print stream received by EOM and the corresponding information that came along with the file like sending host name, host user code, date/time it transferred and so on. Right away there were a few high-level questions to consider: 1) Since the Backup file references a Print Attribute that can/should be used to compose the print stream for viewing, how do we compose the data? Answer: The vast majority of Backup files are "text" reports that are to be presented in portrait or landscape orientation. So, display the text in the correct orientation with a few font options. 2) What versions of EOM have been used to create the current collection of Backup files? Answer: Assume DEPCON 5R1 through EOM 8.1 3) How will your end users recognize which file to view? Answer: Display a specific set of fields held in the Backup file in a format that mimics the Backup File Management widow. So the solution was to write a Backup file viewer program that could display the contents of the Backup file directly. This removes the need for the EOM Client to display the Backup file, as well as the requirement of the Client to communicate with the EOM service (the EOM service actually composes the Backup file for preview, as well as displays the field values for the Backup File Management Window). The hardest part of the program was to figure out the file format of the Backup file, especially since the formats are not published anywhere. [ 5 ] Page [ 5 ]

6 Training is available If your team is looking for a brush up on features or want to know about the entire EOM product we can help. Best of all is that we can use your real-life production requirements during the custom training. The training can be accomplished remotely or on-site. We have to admit that the on-site training usually is more beneficial in the long run because we tend to hear about (& see first hand) more problems that EOM can solve. Who are we? Highly skilled, creative, solution provider focused on the Unisys Enterprise Output Manager product (formerly known as DEPCON) with a sense of urgency sums up who we are and what we do. We provide general Enterprise Output Manager consulting, migrations, upgrades, configuration, training, and custom programming. On-site services, remote services, and general consulting are available now. Why use PGCG? Deep knowledge of the EOM product integrated into a variety of customer environments set us apart. Our customer s production environment depends on solid, working solutions that we provide. Quick Hits The EOM client has a nifty feature where you can export the client screen settings, then import the settings back in to get back to a known layout. An astute EOM guru (Ryan) pointed out that you could even have a unique EOM Client layout for each of your EOM installations saved in a central location if different layouts are required. While we are on the topic of the EOM Client settings, did you know that if you set Management Window filters, Export that layout, then import the layout, the filters are active (kept in the exported layout file)? and the printer is unlocked, and the papertype matches, then please check the "Job Enabled" property on the job before calling J You can also display the "Job Enabled" values in the management window too (Customize view / Fields). Write a brief description and send it to SteveD@PrettyGoodConsultingGroup.com for future newsletter discussion. Pretty Good Consulting Group, LLC 4235 Ivy Court Lake Elmo, MN [ 6 ] Page [ 6 ]