Convert Spool File to PDF

[jonesn]

Thanks Jamie for all of the help getting your wonderful convert 2 pdf or html tool working on our system. If anyone is looking for a great way to get your 400 reports in a universal digital format, go to this page CVT2PDF and download this tool it is a great add-on to any AS/400. My organization is using this tool to convert reports to .pdf format and insert this document into a Board Meeting report. Before we were able to use this tool, we waisted lots of money copying reports on paper and putting them in large (very large) binders for each board member. Now we are putting these reports in one large .pdf file and writing it to CD's so that the board members and can access all the information they need and then shread the disks when they are through. This tool will save time and money. Thank you Jamie!

[Gloria Zambrano]

Convert Spool File to PDF

I have started using CVT2PDF too and I am pleased with the results. I would like to change the program to hide the bookmarks when the .pdf file is initially open. Can anyone tell me how to achieve this? TIA.

[jimmyoctane]

I will look into it

If anyone finds the answer first please repost the code....

Thanks
Jimmy

[Gloria Zambrano]

Cannot send .pdf to hotmail

I just found out that our AS/400 (V4R4M0) is not sending e-mails to hotmail addresses if the attachment is a .pdf file created with CVT2PDF. It works with other types of attachments (e.g. .doc, .rtf) to all addresses including hotmail, and it also works with .pdf attachments to e-mail addresses other than hotmail, but if the e-mail address is a hotmail address and the attachment is a .pdf file it does not send the e-mail at all. Has anyone experienced this before? Does anyone have any ideas as to where I should start looking to fix this problem? TIA.

[arrow483]

can't send .pdf

I haven't had this exact problem, but I had a problem much like this when trying to send a proprietory file type. Seems hotmail saw it as an encryted file and rejected it as posible virus. You might want to try sending it as a .zip file and see if it gets though.

[jamief]

Morning Gloria

I would guess its a size thing.
The CVT2PDF program actuall creates one huge .TIFF document.
Which is actually like a big-o-image file. Check the size of the email attachment being sent out.


Try a smaller report maybe a one or two pager.
Then work up from there.

Good luck
Jamie

[Gloria Zambrano]

cannot send .pdf to hotmail solved

Thank you for your suggestions, arrow483 and jamief. It did not work with a .zip file or with a small .pdf file either. However, your suggestions helped me to figure out what the problem was. If the AS/400 sends an attachment to a hotmail address with command SNDDST parameter MSG = *NONE, the e-mail does not get to hotmail. It does not work either if the hotmail address is a Recipient Type = *CC or *BCC and there is no Recipient Type = *PRI. Now I am always sending e-mails to hotmail with Recipient Type = *PRI and MSG <> blanks and it's working. This problem did not have anything to do with the attachment being a .pdf file created with CVT2PDF; it was happening with all attachment types. Thanks again.

Give the DOC a subject line

The Subject Line of the e-mail is defined in the Document 
Description (DOCD) parameter. 
So Use the command CHGDOCD to make appropriate changes.
 
CHGDOCD DOC(PFDOC) FLR(DATAFLR) DOCD('This is ur new subject')

[angelo64]

Sending PDF file to PC

We are using CVT2PDF to create a PDF file in /QDLS/DokFlr. This part works great! I would like to get this file to the PC so it can be displayed by Acrobat. I can drag and drop it using OPS Navigator but I really need to automate this step. Does anyone know a way to get the file to the PC using a command in a VBScript? Thanks

[arrow483]

You can just put it on the windows network. Create a share using Ops Nav and start NetServer, and Windows can map a drive to it. I prefer to put these shares under /root (instead of /QDLS) and Windows can read it like any other Windows share.

Two things to note here: 1st: /root is case-sensitive 2nd: /root allows "long" names and extentions, whereas QDLS only allows DOS name types.

[jamief]

I agree with Arrow483 heres some detail

You could also create a website on the Iseries and from your companies Intranet connect to Iseries website.

Your page would run by date and then you can create the links to your PDF documents on the fly using iseries tables and API to generate webpages on the fly. There are a couple of examples on the site that can help you with this

Please keep us in the loop as to your progress

Thanks
Jamie

[B] Using the IFS for File Sharing [/B]

  Without a doubt, one of the most important uses 
  for the IFS is to provide file sharing for your 
  network users. Creating file shares is the first 
  step in setting up the IFS as a file server. To 
  create a share using iSeries Navigator, expand 
  the items under the iSeries system node where you 
  want to create the share, and then select the 
  directory that you want to share. The IFS directory 
  must exist before you can create a share using 
  that directory. Next, select the File, Sharing, 
  and New Share menu options to display the dialog 
  in Figure 2.

 
[IMG]http://code400.com/downloads/ifs/figure2.gif[/IMG] 


  Fill in the share name and an optional description. 
  The share name can be a maximum of 12 characters, 
  and it doesn't need to match the name of the underlying 
  directory. Next, select the type of Access allowed: 
  Read Only or Read/Write. This will set the security 
  for other users of the share. More information about  
  IFS security is presented later in this article. Next, 
  you can specify a maximum number of simultaneous users. 
  The default value is No maximum. The Path name field is 
  automatically filled in with the name of the directory 
  selected in the iSeries Navigator window. Clicking the 
  Text Conversion tab displays the dialog in Figure 3. 



[IMG]http://code400.com/downloads/ifs/figure3.gif[/IMG] 


  The Text Conversion dialog lets you specify the default 
  code page to use when you create documents in the IFS share. 
  The text conversion option is triggered by the extension of 
  the document that's created in the IFS share. You need to 
  manually enter the document extension in the File extension 
  field for automatic EBCDIC/ASCII text conversion. In Figure 3, 
  you can see that I've specified that automatic text conversion 
  will be applied to files using the extension of .doc, .txt, 
  .xls, .xml, and .htm. You can choose to enable either Simple 
  conversion or Simple and complex conversion. The Simple  
  conversion option converts any text from the iSeries native 
  EBCDIC code pages to ASCII. The Simple and complex conversion 
  option is used when you need to accommodate character sets with 
  different widths, such as moving the single-byte character 
  code page to a double-byte character code page. 

  After you've created the share, you can access it from a 
  Windows client by either mapping a  drive letter to the share 
  or using the share's Universal Naming Convention (UNC) name. 
  The UNC format uses the //<iSeries name>/<Share name> notation. 
  Mapping a drive on the IFS file system lets you access the contents 
  of the share exactly the way that you can map drives to a 
  normal Windows file share. 

  To map a drive using iSeries Navigator, select the iSeries node that 
  you want to work with, then expand File Systems, and click File Shares. 
  In the right pane of iSeries Navigator, right-click the Share you want 
  to map to a drive, and select the Map Network Drive option from the pop-up 
  menu to display the dialog in Figure 4. 


[IMG]http://code400.com/downloads/ifs/figure4.gif[/IMG] 


  From the drop-down box, select the drive letter you want to map. 
  Unless you want to connect as a different user, you can leave the 
  Connect as and Password prompts blank. If you want the drive to 
  automatically be remapped every time you log on, select the 
  Reconnect at logon box. After you click OK, the mapped drive 
  will appear in Windows My Network Places, and you can access 
  it using the drive letter you assigned, thus enabling file 
  sharing for network-attached clients. After you set up file 
  sharing to the IFS, the next step is to share iSeries data 
  with network-attached PCs via the IFS.

[angelo64]

Getting closer

I created a shared folder and mapped the drive. I also set up text conversion for file type .PDF.
Now I am creating the PDF file in the shared folder on the AS/400 but when Acrobat tries to open it it gives an error saying the file could not be opened either because it is an unsupported file type or the file has been corrupted. I tried with and without the test conversion but neither worked.

[angelo64]

oops

My bad. I didn't specify format PDF on the cvt2cmd.

[jamief]

i have done that 10000 times

You should just change the command to default in PDF all the time.


angelo64 by the way where are you from in illinois.(if you dont mind)



Take care
jamie

[angelo64]

Southern Illinois

I live in Carterville and work in Carbondale. About an hour from the southern tip of Illinois.

[jamief]

Nice to have a fellow Illinois-ian on board

Take care ....If you want to change your avatar (the angel) feel free..


Take care
Stay warm

Jamie