AS400 Spool Files – distribution problems and solutions

Anyone who used an iSeries or AS/400 knows that spooling is a system function that saves data in a spooled file for later processing or printing. Spooled files can help you manage your documents such as invoices, purchases orders, bills of lading, etc. targeted for externally attached devices, such as a printer.

A spooled file holds output data until it can be printed. The spooled file collects data from a device until a program or device is able to process the data. A program uses a spooled file as if it were reading from or writing to an actual device. But everyone agrees that getting the spool file reports into user friends formats such as  PDF, Excel etc. can be painful without the correct tools.  Complex and very large spool files can be especially challenging.

iDocs and iMail provide modules for bursting, conversion and distribution of reports and documents without custom programming and without user intervention. You can burst reports based on spooled file data for individual delivery with unique naming for archiving and easy retrieval. I.e. Burst 1,000 page report into 1,000 single-page reports, some emailed, faxed printed or archived for browser based retrieval.  

Need more?  inFORM Decisions, SmartRouterTM is considered as the ultimate iSeries tool to facilitate complex filtering and distribution requirements for reports, forms and business documents based on user-defined criteria. The solution can easily and intelligently sort, burst, re-bundle and deliver spool content to any defined target: email address, fax address, Printer Output Queue, the IFS, or any mapped or cloud drive in a PDF format. 

Discover what SmartRouterTM  can do for you.

#1: What should I do if required information is missing from the spool file?

 Now with SmartRouter you can easily add text to the iSeries spool file, which can be used as a trigger for sorting, bursting, distribution or mapped and printed. This text can be fixed or derived from a external data base file.  

#2: What if trigger data is only found a specific page of the spool file?

You can identify a specific page containing the data you need, no matter how many pages that document has. SmartRouter can include any combination of DB2 data, external spool file attributes, internal spool file content and targets for accurate implementation of unique or complex output requirements.  

#3: What if I need to split out or regroup pages of my business document?

With traditional methods, you have to copy, paste or print and send unnecessarily business documents. But now you can reduce both time and operational costs thanks to SmartRouter which can split out, process, regroup and distribute individual pages of a spool file to deliver business forms, reports and other documents.

#4: Can I merge spool files to a single PDF?

Converting to PDF could be easier than ever before with the help of iDocs and SmartRouter.  In addition to intelligent spool file bursting and sorting, the resulting individually sorted pages may be routed into inFORM’s iDocs Suite products to be merged with business form graphics, converted to PDFs.Your PDF document can be constructed from a large number of spooled files. 

Comment or contact to let us know what spool file distribution problems you have to cope with and we will help you out!

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