Halcyon Spooled File Manager GUI v8.0 User Guide
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Table of Contents Introducing Spooled File Manager GUI 4 Overview... 4 Spooled File Manager GUI System Requirements... 5 Hardware and Windows Operating System... 5 Installing Spooled File Manager GUI 6 Downloading the software... 6 Installing Spooled File Manager GUI on a PC... 6 Spooled File Manager GUI 11 Initialization... 11 Launching the Application... 12 Starting the Spooled File Monitor... 12 Stopping the Spooled File Monitor... 12 Information Panels... 13 Messages Panel... 13 Systems Panel... 13 System Status... 14 Program options... 15 General options... 15 Systems options... 16 Adding a New System... 16 Editing a System... 19 Deleting a System... 19 Holding and Releasing a System... 19 Filter options... 19 Address Book options... 20 Mail Server options... 21 Email options... 22 Filter Definition 23 Overview... 23 Adding a Filter...23 Filter Header... 23 Selection Criteria... 24 Adding Selection Criteria... 24 Actions... 25 Adding Actions... 25 Editing Actions... 25 Deleting Actions... 25 Action Messages...26 Action Definition... 26 Saving the Filter... 33
Introducing Spooled File Manager GUI Overview Introducing Spooled File Manager GUI Overview The Spooled File Manager PC program allows spooled files that have been exported from the IBM i to be saved as PDF files, text files or emailed to a pre-defined email address held either in the self-contained address book or a recognized mail program such as Microsoft Outlook. Bespoke email addresses can also be manually entered. The program can be left running unattended, as it automatically checks at predetermined intervals for any new spooled files awaiting conversion. - 4 -
Introducing Spooled File Manager GUI Spooled File Manager GUI System Requirements Spooled File Manager GUI System Requirements Hardware and Windows Operating System Minimum Hardware Requirements (Windows OS) Disk Explorer Install: minimum 100 MB disk space Device Manager Install: minimum 20 MB disk space Minimum hardware specifications are compatible with hardware requirements for the Windows operating system(s) installed on your machines. Operating System (Windows) Windows 2003 Windows 7 Windows Vista SP1 or above Windows 8 Windows 10 For 32-bit systems: Computer with Intel or compatible 1GHz or faster processor (2GHz or faster is recommended. For 64-bit systems: 1.4 GHz or higher processor - 5 -
Installing Spooled File Manager GUI Downloading the software Installing Spooled File Manager GUI Downloading the software These instructions ensure that you have the downloaded the latest version of GUI - Disk Explorer (Unicode Edition) from the website. https://community.helpsystems.com/products-and-downloads/downloads/ Note: You must have previously registered with the website and been accepted as a genuine user in order to download software. Installing Spooled File Manager GUI on a PC 1 Navigate to the file path/directory to where the file: HSMSetup.exe was saved. 2 Double click HSMSetup.exe to begin the installation process. The Preparing to Install dialog is displayed while the required files are extracted. Upon completion, the End User License Agreement is displayed. 3 Click I accept the terms of the end user license agreement and click Next. The InstallShield Welcome dialog is displayed. Note: You can also print a hard copy of the End User License Agreement by clicking Print on this dialog prior to clicking Next. - 6 -
Installing Spooled File Manager GUI Installing Spooled File Manager GUI on a PC 4 From the InstallShield Wizard Welcome dialog, click Next. 5 On the Customer information dialog, enter your Name and Company Details. Click Next. - 7 -
Installing Spooled File Manager GUI Installing Spooled File Manager GUI on a PC 6 On the Choose Destination Location dialog, either keep the default directory path of C:\Program Files\Halcyon\ Spooled File Manager or click Browse to navigate to a directory path of your own choosing. Click Next to continue. 7 Select the program folder, into which the program icons are added. A new folder; Halcyon Spooled File Manager is created by default if you do not select or type an alternative. Click Next to continue. - 8 -
Installing Spooled File Manager GUI Installing Spooled File Manager GUI on a PC 8 On the Desktop Shortcut dialog, decide whether or not you want to install a shortcut to Spooled File Manager GUI via a shortcut on your desktop (recommended). Click Next. 9 The Start Copying Files dialog allows you to review the choices that you have made for this installation of. Use Back to return through previous dialog pages to make amendments or click Next to proceed with these settings. The installation proceeds. - 9 -
Installing Spooled File Manager GUI Installing Spooled File Manager GUI on a PC 10Once the installation has completed, the InstallShield Wizard Complete dialog is displayed. Click Finish to complete the installation of Spooled File Manager GUI.. Click Finish to end the installation process. - 10 -
Spooled File Manager GUI Initialization Initialization Spooled File Manager GUI Before the program can be used, at least one system must be defined for automatic checking to work. Note: Please refer to Adding a New System for more information. The PC Spooled File Manager must be connected with a program on the IBM i. This must be started before using the PC software. Both the Network Receive and Network Send monitors must be active in order to automatically check for exported spooled files. Additionally, the Spooled File monitor (GUI) must be active in order to automatically check for exported spooled files. - 11 -
Spooled File Manager GUI Launching the Application Launching the Application There are two methods of starting Spooled File Manager GUI. 1 From Windows Start select Programs Halcyon Spooled File Manager Spooled File Manager. or 2 If you selected to install a desktop icon for Spooled File Manager as part of the installation, you can double-click this icon to start the Spooled File Manager program. Note: No license is required for. Starting the Spooled File Monitor To start the spool monitor, either click the play button on the toolbar or select Tools Start Monitor from the menu. Once started, each IBM i system defined within the Spooled File Manager GUI is automatically checked for new spooled files at the specified interval. An information field on the status bar in the bottom left corner of the Spooled File Manager dialog states if the Spool Monitor is Active or Inactive. Stopping the Spooled File Monitor To stop the monitor, either click the stop button on the toolbar, or select Tools Stop Monitor from the menu. You are then prompted to confirm this action. Once confirmed, the status changes to Inactive. - 12 -
Spooled File Manager GUI Information Panels Information Panels The main screen is split into two panels; one showing program error and informational messages and the other showing the status of the various defined systems. Messages Panel The Messages panel shows all error and informational messages generated by the program. The program can be set to only log and display error messages, to reduce the amount on information shown. Note: Please refer to General options for more information on logging and displaying messages. Systems Panel The systems panel shows those systems currently defined, together with their status: To modify the list of available systems, either select Tools Options from the main menu and use the panel on the Systems tab, or select the System Setup icon from the Windows Control Panel. - 13 -
Spooled File Manager GUI Information Panels System Status When the monitor is active, the systems panel displays the status of each of the systems, which may be one of the following: Status Description Spooled File Manager GUI does not use this system as it is held Spooled File Manager GUI communicated correctly Spooled File Manager GUI was unable to communicate Spooled File Manager GUI is checking for new spooled files Spooled File Manager GUI has found a spooled file which it is reading Spooled File Manager GUI is executing any spooled file actions Note: If the monitor is stopped, each system continues to display its last known status until the monitor is re-started. - 14 -
Spooled File Manager GUI Program options Program options To modify the Spooled File Manager GUI Options, either click on the Options icon on the toolbar or select Tools Options. A series of tabs at the top of the window allow access to the further options. General options The following parameters are available when using the General tab of Spooled File Manager GUI options. Startup options Start Monitoring Systems on Program Startup If this option is selected, the program automatically starts the spool monitor making the program check for new spooled files. If the option is not selected, the spool monitor must be started manually by clicking the green play icon on the toolbar or selecting Tools Start Monitor from the main menu. Hide Window on Startup If this option is selected the main program window is not displayed when the program is started. To restore the window, either double-click the Spooled File Manager icon in the Windows System Tray, or right-click it and select Show from the pop-up menu. Message Log options Maximum Log Size Specify the Maximum Log Size for the Log File (measured in KB). The recommended value is 10240KB. Log All Messages Enables the Log Diagnostic and Log Comms Messages fields. If this option is not selected, only error messages are logged. - 15 -
Spooled File Manager GUI Program options Log Diagnostic Messages Select this option to enable the logging of all diagnostic messages generated by Spooled File Manager GUI. Log Comms Messages Select this option to enable the logging of all communications messages generated by the interaction between the Spooled File Manager GUI and the IBM i devices. Systems options Systems options are used to add, edit, delete or hold systems on your enterprise. Defined systems are displayed in the main window of this screen. The System Panel shows any systems currently defined on this computer. This panel is shared across all of Halcyon s PC products, so the systems only need to be defined once. From this dialog it is possible for systems to be added, edited, deleted and held. Select a system so that it is highlighted and choose the required option. Restore Use Restore to restore previous options from a backup file. Note: Backup of HSM.opt file As you add filters and change options within the Spooled File Manager GUI, the changes are written to the file; C:\Program Files\Halcyon\Spooled File Manager\HSM.opt. This file should be periodically backed up or copied to a remote location so that it can be restored in the event of a problem with the original program. Failure to do so means that you will have to input all settings and filters again from scratch. Adding a New System To add a new system, click Add System from the Systems panel of the Program Options. The following dialog, consisting of two tabs is displayed: - 16 -
Spooled File Manager GUI Program options General Tab The following parameters are available on the General tab when adding a new system. System Name Enter the name of the system. This must be the actual system name as it is defined in your environment. System Type From the drop-down choice menu, select the system type as OS/400. Host/Address Enter the host name or IP address of the system. Port Number Enter the port number of the system. This defaults to 9000, and must match the setting used by the relevant product(s) installed on the system. Therefore if the IBM i device to which you are communicating is set to send and receive on port 15000, this field should also be set to 15000. Note: See; Work with Remote Locations - Remote Port for more information on using port settings within Operations Center Suite. Interface If you have multiple IP addresses on your PC, select the IP address that you wish to use for the connection interface. Otherwise, leave the setting as Default. - 17 -
Spooled File Manager GUI Program options Legacy IBM i Support Enable this setting if you intend to use Spooled File Manager GUI with Halcyon Legacy products. If you are planning to use Spooled File Manager GUI solely with Level 4 - Operations Center Suite, you must remove the check mark from this setting. Retry Count Enter the maximum number of retries that are made following an unsuccessful connection attempt between devices. Retry Interval Enter the number of seconds between each retry attempt. Details Tab The parameters on this tab are all optional. Description Enter text to describe the system. This is usually displayed with the system name for identification purposes. System Location Enter the system location. This is used by some products to identify the physical location of the system. Serial Number Enter the Serial Number of the device. - 18 -
Spooled File Manager GUI Program options System Color Select a color that is used to define the system on the Spooled File Manager GUI main display. Select Custom... from the top of this list to define your own color. Verify System Click Verify System to ensure that you have input the correct details and that the connection between devices can be made successfully. Once the verification process has completed successfully, click OK to add the system. Editing a System To edit a system, either highlight it in the list and click Edit System or double-click its entry in the system list. This option displays the same dialog as adding a new system, except the system name cannot be modified. Deleting a System To delete a system, first select it from the list then click Delete System. A confirmation message is displayed before the system is deleted. Holding and Releasing a System To hold a system, select it from the list and click the Hold System button. Repeating this procedure releases it again. When a system is held, it is not monitored for any new spooled files. If a system is held, this status is indicated in the Held column of the system panel in the options dialog box, and also in the Systems Panel in the main program window. Note: Refer to Systems Panel for further information. Filter options Filters are used to check systems for spooled files and take actions dependent on whether the spooled file meets pre-determined criteria. Note: See Filter Definition for more information on how to add a filter to the Spooled File Managed GUI. - 19 -
Spooled File Manager GUI Program options The Filters panel shows a drop-down list of all available systems, together with a list of filters for those systems. Each system can be monitored at a different interval. To view the filters for a particular system, simply select it from the drop-down list and the filters are shown in the main window. The Monitor Interval is used to specify the time delay (in seconds) between each run of the filter. Adding a Filter To add a new filter for a system, click the Add Filter button. A dialog box is displayed showing the various options available for the filter. Editing a Filter To edit a filter, either highlight it in the list and click Edit Filter or simply double-click it s entry in the list. This option displays the same dialog as adding a new filter. Deleting a Filter To delete a filter, select it from the list then click Delete Filter. A confirmation message is displayed before the filter is deleted. If accepted, the filter, its selection criteria and all associated actions are deleted. Holding and Releasing a Filter To hold a filter, select it from the list and click Hold Filter (repeating this procedure releases it again). When a filter is held, it is not checked against any new spooled files found by the spool monitor. Note: Any held filters remain held even if the program is re-started. They must be released using the method above if required. Note: See Filter Definition for more information on how to add a filter to the Spooled File Managed GUI. Address Book options Address Book options allow you to specify details of any email addresses, taken from either Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes, to which emails can be sent when am a filter action of send email is specified. Do Not Use Address Book If this option is selected, email recipients must be manually entered. - 20 -
Spooled File Manager GUI Program options Use Microsoft Outlook Address Book Selecting this option causes the program to use the Microsoft Outlook address book. Individuals and distribution lists can be selected as email recipients. Use the choice arrow to select the profile to be used with this option. To check server settings are correct, click Verify Server. Use Lotus Notes Address Book Selecting this option causes the program to use the Lotus Notes Address book. Individuals and distribution lists can be selected as email recipients. The Password, Server Name and Database Name must be provided in order to access the Lotus Notes Address Book Database. This option is unavailable if an instance of Lotus Notes is not detected. To check Lotus Notes server settings click Refresh. The system attempts a connection to the specified server, and either reports a success or failure using the appropriate error message. Mail Server options The Mail Server options allow you to specify the settings for any mail server through which any email communications are sent. Host/Address Enter the name or IP address of the computer on which the required address book resides. Click Verify Server to check the settings. Port Number Enter the TCP/IP port number that the Mail Server has been configured to use. This currently defaults to 25. Note: When selecting a port number for use here, ensure that it does not conflict with another application that may be using the same port number. Host Timeout Enter the time (in seconds) after which the connection with the host device is deemed to have failed if no response is received. - 21 -
Spooled File Manager GUI Program options Server Requires Authentication Enable the User and Password fields if your mail server requires authentication prior to sending and receiving emails. User Name The User Name required for authentication. Password The associated current password for the entered User Name. Email options The email options are used to define the default name and address from which spooled files are sent from this installation. Name Enter a user name that is used as the default sender name on all email messages sent from the server. Email Address Enter an email address that is used as the default email address on all email messages sent from the server. Log Status Message For Each Email Recipient Enable this field to log a status message for each email recipient. Log Mail Server Debug Messages Enable this field to log any mail server debug messages that may be generated. Click OK to update the Options information as specified. - 22 -
Filter Definition Overview Overview Filter Definition The filter definition dialogs are used when creating and editing filters for use with Spooled File Manager GUI. The filter definition option is available from Options - Filter options. Adding a Filter The filter definition is split into three sections; the filter header, the selection criteria and the actions. Each section is divided over three separate panels on the filter definition window. Note: At least one selection criteria and one action must be added for each filter. Additional criteria or actions can be added later when editing a filter definition. Filter Header The following parameters are available on the Filter Header tab when defining a new filter. Sequence Number The spool monitor compares new spooled files against the filters using this sequence number. Enter any number greater than zero. Description Enter a description for this filter, which is then used for identification purposes. Time Range From/To Enter a time range in 24 hour mode in which this filter is active. The range can span midnight, for example 22:00 through 05:00. Monitor On Days A check mark in these fields indicates those days of the week when this filter is active. Any spooled files found on any days not selected are ignored. - 23 -
Filter Definition Adding a Filter Once the filter header has been created, the selection criteria can be defined. Click the Criteria tab to continue. Selection Criteria The selection criteria panel shows any defined entries, together with buttons for adding, editing, and deleting criteria: Note: Any number of criteria can be defined for each filter; the first one to match the spooled file triggers the associated actions. Adding Selection Criteria To add new selection criteria, click Add Criteria. The following dialog is displayed: - 24 -
Filter Definition Adding a Filter Note: For each of the following entries, enter text for an exact match; text with an asterisk at the beginning or end for a wildcard match, or *ALL. Queue Name Enter a Queue Name for which the criteria applies. Spool Name Enter a name to select against the spooled file s number. User Name Enter a name which is compared with the user profile associated with the spooled file. User Data Enter text to be compared against the spooled file s user data. Form Type Enter a form type to be compared against the spooled file s form type. Job Name Enter text to be compared with the job that generated the spooled file. User Text Enter text to be compared with the user text specified when the spooled file was exported. Editing Selection Criteria To edit selection criteria, either highlight it in the list and click Edit Criteria or simply double-click it s entry in the list. This option displays the same dialog box as that for adding new criteria. Deleting Selection Criteria To delete selection criteria, select it from the list then click the Delete Criteria button. A confirmation message is displayed prior to the criteria being deleted. If accepted, this deletes the criteria from the list. Actions The actions panel shows any defined entries, and includes buttons for adding, editing, and deleting actions: Note: Any number of actions can be defined for each filter; they are processed in turn if the filter selection criteria match the spooled file. Adding Actions To add new actions, click the Add Action button. The action definition dialog box is displayed, where the various options for creating an action can be entered. Note: Refer to Action Definition for further information. Editing Actions To edit an action, either highlight it in the list and click Edit Action or double-click the entry in the list. This option displays the same dialog used when adding a new action. Deleting Actions To delete an action, select it from the list then click Delete Action. A confirmation message is displayed before the criteria are deleted. If accepted, criteria are deleted from the list. - 25 -
Filter Definition Adding a Filter Action Messages When an action is being processed, various messages are generated. These messages (along with the other program messages) can optionally be logged to a file. In the case of error messages, the text logged displays the error message encountered by the program (depending on the action type). This should provide enough detail to allow successful diagnosis of the problem. Action Definition The action dialog box is split into several panels which vary depending on which action type is selected. Action tab Upon adding an action, the action tab is always visible first, ready to enable the action type to be selected. Action Type Select an action type from the drop-down list. The displayed tabs are updated accordingly. The action type can be changed later by selecting the Action tab and the relevant action type. The possible action types are: Create Adobe Acrobat File (.PDF) Create Text File (.TXT) Send Email Create Image File (.BMP) Set As Default If you have a preference for how the majority of spooled files are output, you can set one of the four actions as the default action that is always defined as the initial action each time this tab is open. Select the required action type and click Set As Default. - 26 -
Filter Definition Adding a Filter The remaining fields on this tab are only enabled if Send Email is elected as the Action Type. Include Spool File Allows you to specify how the spooled file is sent with the email: In Body of Email As an Attachment (opens subsequent options) In PDF Format In Plain Text Format In Bitmap Format Recipients tab If the action type is Send Email, the Recipients panel is displayed. The Recipients panel is split into two halves: the left side allows the entry of an email address or selection of an address from the selected address book; the right side shows email addresses already entered/ selected. A group of buttons in the panel center allow you to add or remove recipients from the selected list: Email Address Use this box to manually add individual email addresses to the recipients list. Email address entries are displayed in the list with a world icon to indicate they are remote users. Remote users from an address book are indicated in the same way. Address Book If an address book was selected for use from the main program options, the contents are displayed here. If the Spooled File Manager GUI is unable to connect to the address book an error message is displayed. Entries shown in boldface and with a people icon are distribution lists: When the action is processed, the program sends an email to each member of the list. The program iterates through the list, including any other distribution lists at lower levels. If no address book was selected, the list box is disabled. If no entries were found, a message to this effect is displayed. If the address book could not be loaded, an Error Loading message is shown. - 27 -
Filter Definition Adding a Filter Recipients The Recipients box displays any entries that have been selected from the address book or manually entered. To add a recipient: Enter an email address in the box or select an entry in the address book and click >. This moves the entry into the recipients list. To add multiple recipients: Hold down the Control key and select the required entries, then click >. To add all address book entries: Click Add All >>. The entries are moved into the recipients list. To remove a recipient: Select the recipient entry in the recipient list and click <. This moves the recipient back into the address book. To remove multiple recipients: Hold down the Control key and select the required entries, then click <. To remove all recipients: Click Remove All <<. All recipients are moved back to the address book. The address book is loaded when it is first called. Therefore, if any changes are made to it, the spool monitor must be restarted before any changes are recognized. Destination tab If the Action Type is Create Text File or Create PDF file, the destination tab is displayed. Output Path Enter a path name to be used as the destination for the file. (Alternatively use the Browse button to select an existing folder on the computer hard drive instead of entering one manually.) - 28 -
Filter Definition Adding a Filter Overwrite Existing File Note: If this option is selected, files with the same name are overwritten. If not, the first copy is prefixed with Copy Of and subsequent copies are prefixed with Copy 1 Of, Copy 2 Of and so on. Subject tab If the action type is Send Email, the subject tab is displayed. Text Enter text to be used as the subject of the email. Various substitution variables are available to insert dynamic text into the string at runtime. Simply insert an ampersand (&) followed by the letter of the variable required. At runtime, the value is inserted into the string. Note: As text is entered into this box, an example is displayed at the bottom of the window using demonstration data, to illustrate how the text appears. Email tab When the action type is Send Email, the email tab is displayed. Text Use the listed Substitution Variables to create the body text of the email. Substitution Variables A list of commands that can be used in the text field above. - 29 -
Filter Definition Adding a Filter Filename tab If the action type is Create Text File or Create PDF File, then this tab is used to construct the filename used to store the exported file. Use the substitution variables to create the name of the generated spooled file. The file extension is either.txt or.pdf depending on the output type selected. Bands tab If the action type is Send Email or Create PDF File the Bands tab is displayed. Add Colored Bands To Each Page When this option is selected, the lines of the report are displayed using colored bands, alternating between white and a user-defined color. - 30 -
Filter Definition Adding a Filter Color Select the required color using the drop-down list. To choose a color not on the list, select Custom to display the standard Windows color selector. An example of an emailed spooled file with bands is shown below: Border tab If the action type is Send Email or Create Text File, the bands panel is displayed. - 31 -
Filter Definition Adding a Filter Add Border To Each Page If this option is selected, a border is placed around each page to enable each page to be easily identified. Color Select the required color using the drop-down list. To choose a color not on the list, select Custom to display the standard Windows color selector. An example of an emailed spooled file with a border is shown below: Page tab When the action type is Create PDF File, the page panel is displayed. Margins Enter the required margin or use the increment buttons to select the required number. PDF tab When the action type is Create PDF File the PDF panel is displayed. Embed Font in Document Click to enable the embedding of the font in the document. This means that anyone who opens the document can view it in the original font, without having the font installed on their own PC. Author Enter the name of the author of the PDF File. This can be an individual or Company name. Creator Enter the name of the creator of the PDF document. This can be an individual, device or software program name. - 32 -
Filter Definition Adding a Filter Title Enter the title of the PDF document. Saving the Filter Once you have added the filter definition, set criteria and applied actions as required, click OK to save and create the filter. Any spooled files that match the filter definition will complete the assigned actions, unless the rule is held, deleted or the spooled file monitor is stopped. CHAPTER 0 CHAPTER 0-33 -
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