Category: ISERIES PDF
Case Study: Take 2
Posted on March 03, 2017at 10:03 am
Take Two is a leader in providing automated information management products and services for administration in school districts and colleges across Canada.
Their Comprehensive Information Management System (CIMS) manages everything needed in a school division from Employee, Finance, Student, Public and Warehouse Management which enables Take Two to offer a very powerful combination of Software, Consulting, Development, Hardware Services, and Support. The business is celebrating it’s 30th year of operation in 2017 and prides itself in listening and reacting to customer needs.
Take Two sees Ariadne Software as a key business partner as it’s customers have successfully relied on the CoolSpools software suite for many years to convert their reports and images to pdfs, and to allow email/file transfer distribution from iSeries software. They have 11 districts across Canada from Manitoba to British Columbia using CIMS and CoolSpools, meaning thousands of users and millions of emails rely on it and couldn’t live without it!
CoolSpools Spool Converter and Email modules are 100% imbedded into the Take Two CIMS applications which:
- Customers auto-email daily student attendance from 100’s of schools to 1000’s of parents.
- Many emails convert reports and images to Microsoft Excel and Adobe PDF.
- Take Two rely on CoolSpools for email/file transfer distribution.
- And they create picture rosters:
Ariadne’s CoolSpools applications have been super-beneficial to Take Two who realised that CoolSpools was an ideal tried and tested development tool to integrate into all of their 5 CIMS modules.
And another huge benefit is a web application that draws from an original iSeries application that already had 100’s of reports created. Instead of re-designing they use CoolSpools convert spool file to PDF product and file transfer the PDF to their website to deliver to the end users…. 1000’s of reports a day that are now also enhanced with pictures!
Take Two rely on CoolSpools for email/file transfer distribution. And they create picture rosters:
Ariadne’s CoolSpools applications have been super-beneficial to Take Two who realised that CoolSpools was an ideal tried and tested development tool to integrate into all of their 5 CIMS modules. And another huge benefit is a web application that draws from an original iSeries application that already had 100’s of reports created. Instead of re-designing they use CoolSpools convert spool file to PDF product and file transfer the PDF to their website to deliver to the end users…. 1000’s of reports a day that are now also enhanced with pictures!
Commenting on Ariadne, Take Two said: “The CoolSpools product and support team are excellent – emails are responded to quickly and appropriately, instructions are always clear. CoolSpools is a major utility that our customers are dead without! You meet our high standards of quality and support. We are happy to have you as a key partner!”
Posted on November 03, 2015at 11:45 am
Communication in the modern world – converting iSeries files to xml
Communication has always been key to development, strategy, progress and indeed survival, but in the modern world individuals and organisations alike often suffer from communication overload. That is why it is increasingly important that information is filtered and delivered to the recipient in a meaningful and relevant way. Converting important data from your iSeries system to be shared across intranets, the world wide web and elsewhere requires a flexible file format. CoolSpools (http://www.coolspools.com/) has been developed to facilitate the conversion of iSeries spool files and database files to XML and a variety of formats including Excel, CSV, HTML, TXT, RTF and fully searchable PDFs.
Why xml?
XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language. XML is a flexible, open and powerful way to help you exchange information among diverse platforms and applications, geographic boundaries and businesses. XML is widely touted as a key component in the solution to the problem of information exchange between applications and within BtoB environments. XML is simple, extensible and, best of all, nonproprietary.
In order for your applications to work with XML content, you need an XML parser. An XML parser is a set of APIs that assist in the creation, navigation (retrieval) or modification of XML document content. CoolSpools removes the need of a parser to create XML from your data from spool files and database files.
CoolSpools Spool Converter and Database
The CoolSpools Spool Converter and Database products have been installed across the globe, providing our customers with a simple and reliable system to convert data from their iSeries spool files and database files. CoolSpools runs only on IBM iSeries servers, without the need of a PC.
To see what they think of our CoolSpools software solutions take a look at our testimonial section on our website, where you will find a selection of genuine comments from a range of our customers /Testimonials.htm. You can download CoolSpools for a no-obligation 30-day free trial from /cooldown.php
For further information on how you could implement the CoolSpools software to convert your iSeries files to into xml format then email sales@ariadnesoftware.co.uk or phone and speak to one of our experts directly on + 44 (0)1625 547962.
Do you need to convert complex iSeries data into manageable PDF files?
Posted on November 24, 2014at 3:26 pm
Are you regularly faced with a mass of raw data, which needs interpretation, sorting and then filtering to the appropriate audiences?
Do you wish that you could easily pull together reports using different selections of the company data so you could send out regional or departmental specific information?
CoolSpools (http://www.coolspools.com/) is an exciting and ingenious piece of software, developed by Ariadne, which does just these tasks and more besides. The days of wading through reams of paper to understand figures and data are officially over. Now your analysts can spend their time analysing the information instead of sorting it, just like you employed them to do!
Reports for external Stakeholders
When producing reports for external stakeholders such as suppliers, investors, shareholders or customers, it is important to uphold the company image and philosophy. CoolSpools allows you to create reports in a PDF format from your iSeries data source, selecting only the relevant spool files that you need to show to each specific target audience. The CoolSpools software also allows you to add graphics, logos and images to your PDF report for that final professional touch.
File security
Often reports based on operational data can be sensitive and therefore need security protection. The CoolSpools PDF file conversion software enables the user to fully secure the information held within by adding password protection, encrypting and digital signatures. Access can therefore be restricted to only authorised personnel. The digital signature option allows files to be authenticated showing the receiver that the report is genuine and has not been tampered with since it was created. For further piece of mind the CoolSpools software has received ISO accreditation – ISO 19005 PDF/A document archiving standard.
Interactive Reports
In addition to creating a secure and targeted PDF file from the iSeries data, CoolSpools also allows you to make your PDF report interactive, with fully searchable pages. This ensures that the report is even more user/reader friendly and allows the recipient to quickly home in on the information which is most important to them.
Would you like to introduce CoolSpools PDF conversion for your iSeries data?
For further information and to watch a video which explains more about the CoolSpools software, visit our website http://www.coolspools.com/ or contact us for a chat about how CoolSpools can facilitate your information dissemination on + 44 (0)1625 547962 or email sales@ariadnesoftware.co.uk.
AS/400 Data Management with CoolSpools Software
Posted on August 29, 2014at 1:26 pm
Your business relies on the accurate communication of data and information. If you’re using an IBM System i (AS/400 or iSeries) environment, your spool files can provide all the accurate data you need – but manipulating the data into the right format can be a painstaking, time-consuming task.
But help is at hand. Developed by the experts at Ariadne Software, CoolSpools is a powerful, simple and reliable System i file conversion tool. CoolSpools software can convert AS/400 spool files to Excel, PDF and XML.
Here are just a few of the many AS/400 CoolSpools document creation features:
- Inserting images into System i PDFs is easy with CoolSpools. Simply tell CoolSpools where to insert the JPEG or GIF format images as it converts your spool to PDF.
- When converting spool to Excel or PDF, tell CoolSpools the points at which the files need to be split – such as region name or invoice number. CoolSpools will split System i Excel output into separate files for you, saved in separate folders. Or it’ll split your converted System i PDFs into several documents, and can even email them to multiple email addresses.
- CoolSpools’ powerful spool file converter can automatically generate XML from your spool files for your web applications to access. This saves time on reprogramming the data, and as it’s coming from your spool files, the accuracy and integrity of your data is assured.
If you would like to read more about our CoolSpools solutions then visit our website http://www.coolspools.com/ or read some example reviews below to find out what our customers think.
“We use CoolSpools and are really pleased. It performs above and beyond. It has saved us 20% of our total paper bill”
Kenneth Mohn, Programmer, Large US Dairy
“Your support is the best. If you ever need a reference on your product (Coolspools) or your support, I would be happy to give it. If all support was as fast and good as yours, life would be so much easier.”
Jim Horn, CATCO, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
How to Convert Spool to Excel with CoolSpools
Posted on April 30, 2014at 12:53 pm
A great way of creating Excel documents with data from an IBM AS/400, iSeries or System i environment is by using a spool file converter. But if this is something you’ve never done before, where do you start when converting spool files to Excel?
The answer: CoolSpools, from IBM experts Ariadne Software. Their range of AS/400 solutions includes a powerful spool file converter that can output to a wide range of popular file formats, including Excel.
But why convert spool files to Excel?
There are lots of great reasons to convert spool files to Excel. Perhaps the most important is this: because the information is coming directly from your AS/400 you can rest assured that it’s accurate and up to date. There’s no chance of human error and the
Is it difficult to convert spool to Excel?
Not with CoolSpools spool file converter. Extracting the data from your spool file and converting it into Excel is a simple procedure – and you have a great deal of control over it. It’s so easy to learn, and should you have any issues, you can find a wealth of helpful information at http://www.CoolSpools.com/support.
Is converting spool files to Excel a time-consuming task?
Again, not with CoolSpools! You can convert spool files to Excel quickly and automatically, giving you the information you need, in the format you require, whenever you need it. What could be simpler?
After I convert spool files to Excel, will formatting the exported files be a laborious task?
By now, you can probably guess that the answer is “not with CoolSpools”! The powerful CoolSpools spool file converter doesn’t just convert spool to Excel – it can also carry out a whole host of management and formatting procedures.
Such as?
You can split one file into many. Append your new Excel sheet to an existing workbook. Format the output, including conditional formatting such as colour coding. And ensure the right people get the right info by controlling email distribution of your Excel spreadsheets. All this can be managed using CoolSpools software.
What other file formats can I convert to?
CoolSpools doesn’t just convert spool files to Excel. You can also convert spool files to PDF, XML, TIFF, text files, CSV, HTML and RTF. It could well be the most powerful and flexible AS/400 spool file converter on the market today.
Find out more about how to convert spool to Excel with CoolSpools software at http://www.coolspools.com/.
The Power of iSeries PDFs (And The Easy Way to Create Them)
Posted on March 05, 2014at 12:18 pm
One of the most commonly-used document formats in business is the PDF. It’s flexible, easy to distribute and easy to create.
And if you work in an IBM iSeries, System i or AS/400 environment, creating PDFs has got even easier! All thanks to CoolSpools spool file converter.
Developed by well-established global iSeries experts Ariadne Software, CoolSpools takes data straight from your spool files and converts to a wide range of file formats – including iSeries PDF.
Here’s what makes PDF such a useful file format – and how CoolSpools provides a simple, reliable way of creating them from your iSeries spool files…
PDFs can be styled and formatted easily
You have total control over the appearance of a PDF. Fonts, colors, styles, images – all can be tailored to suit your specific needs.
And CoolSpools makes it all so easy. When converting your spool files to iSeries PDFs, you can specify fonts, text colors, and insert images in JPEG or GIF format. Simple!
PDFs can be password protected
Your PDFs could contain delicate, confidential, sensitive information that you wouldn’t want to be seen by the wrong eyes. If so, password protection is essential.
And if you use CoolSpools spool file converter to produce your iSeries PDFs, they can be encrypted and password protected for your peace of mind.
PDFs can be locked and watermarked
To ensure the security and integrity of the information conveyed in your documents, you can make them read-only, and add a digital signature to ensure their authenticity.
And yep – you guessed it – CoolSpools software makes this simple! Your converted iSeries PDF can be locked to prevent recipients from editing, and a digital signature can be used to ensure your recipient knows it hasn’t been tampered with.
PDFs can be bookmarked or split into multiple files
If the information from your iSeries spool files results in PDFs that are many, many pages long, there are two simple ways to make your PDFs easier to navigate: bookmarking and indexing, or splitting the main document into several smaller ones.
CoolSpools software gives you both of these options for your iSeries PDFs. It can generate bookmarks and indexes, making large documents easy to digest. Or if you just want to give each recipient the section of your iSeries PDF that’s relevant to them, you can split your document into multiple iSeries PDFs based on criteria you specify.
Distributing PDFs is easy
PDFs are easy to distribute via email. But making sure the right recipients get the right PDFs is something that takes time if done manually.
CoolSpools software can even automate this process! Your iSeries PDFs can be emailed to multiple recipients, ensuring everyone gets the information they need, right at their fingertips.
Find out more about CoolSpools spool file converter, and its powerful iSeries PDF creation and management functionality, at http://www.coolspools.com/.
Simplest, Quickest, Easiest Way to Convert Spool Files to iSeries XML
Posted on March 05, 2014at 12:13 pm
XML is undoubtedly one of the most flexible ways of storing data, allowing it to be used and accessed by a wide variety of programs. And now there’s an easier way to produce XML if you work in an IBM iSeries, AS/400 or System i environment…
So, what’s this easy way to produce XML?
CoolSpools spool file converter and CoolSpools Database.
Why should I trust CoolSpools software to create XML on my iSeries?
CoolSpools was developed by Ariadne Software, IBM experts with years of experience of producing high-quality solutions for iSeries, AS/400 and System i. What they don’t know about these platforms isn’t worth knowing – and they’ve used this expertise to produce a powerful spool file and database converter.
So what, exactly, does the CoolSpools do?
Briefly: it takes data from your iSeries spool files & DB2 Database and converts it to XML, Excel and several other useful file formats. It can even convert spool to PDF.
What are the advantages of using CoolSpools to create XML?
There are so many! First of all, you know the data in your iSeries will be accurate, as it’s coming direct from your spool files and database, without any human interference. What’s more, it’s so quick – you’ll have usable XML files in no time, ready to supply your websites and applications with accurate data. And CoolSpools is so easy to learn to use – you’ll soon wonder how you managed without it!
Does CoolSpools only convert basic iSeries spool files?
Not at all. Of course, CoolSpools works well with basic *SCS files. But it can also convert *SCS, *AFPDS, *IPDS, *LINE, *AFPDSLINE and *USERASCII spool files.
Do I need any extra hardware to run CoolSpools software?
Not at all. You don’t need a separate PC to run CoolSpools software – it runs directly on your iSeries, System i or AS/400 server.
How do I find out more about CoolSpools software?
Head to http://www.coolspools.com/. You’ll find full details on the whole CoolSpools range of software, including CoolSpools Spool Converter, Database, Email and Spool Admin. Used together, the CoolSpools range is the complete information management system for iSeries, AS/400 and System i.
So stop wasting time, and start taking control of your data with CoolSpools. Learn more about the simplest, quickest, easiest way to convert spool or database data to XML at http://www.coolspools.com/.
Posted on January 27, 2014at 10:31 am
System i File Conversion: Making it Easy With CoolSpools Software
IBM’s System i, AS/400 and iSeries servers are powerful, flexible and reliable. This you already know. But did you know you can make your System i environment work even harder for you? This can be done with the help of System i file conversion.
System i experts Ariadne Software have developed the CoolSpools range of products, designed to make it easier, quicker and more convenient to manage, access, convert and distribute information using System i. In addition to their spool file management and email applications, CoolSpools also offers two comprehensive System i file conversion packages: CoolSpools Spool File Converter and CoolSpools Database.
So what’s CoolSpools Spool File Converter?
The clue’s in the name! In a nutshell, CoolSpools Spool File Converter makes System i PDF file conversion so much faster. It takes your System i spool files and converts them to a wide range of useful file formats.
You could convert spool to PDF. Convert spool to Excel. Convert spool to XML. Text files, CSV, RTF, TIFF… a whole host of popular file formats can be converted.
But CoolSpools Spool File Converter does so much more than mere System i file conversion.
You can also split files. Merge files. Format files. Insert images into your PDFs. Even email the converted files to multiple recipients. And CoolSpools software makes it all so easy to do!
What about CoolSpools Database?
CoolSpools Database performs a different type of System i file conversion. Instead of converting your spool files, CoolSpools database converts System i database files to a variety of file formats, such as Excel, XML and plain text.
Why should I want to carry out System i file conversion?
Lots of reasons and lots of savings!
Taking data from your System i spool files or database files guarantees its accuracy and integrity.
It allows you to output System i files in a format that suits you, whether it’s PDFs for business reports, Excel to communicate sales figures, or XML to program System i applications.
This saves a huge amount of time and all of the printing & postage costs. Typically customers can save between £25,000 and £40,000 per year!
CoolSpools software is all about taking control of your System i data and presenting it how you need it, when you need it – all with minimal fuss.
Where can I find more about CoolSpools software and System i file conversion?
Easy! To learn more about CoolSpools’ powerful System i file conversion capabilities, plus their full suite of easy-to-use software for IBM AS/400, iSeries and System i, visit http://www.coolspools.com/spool-converter/.
Take Control of AS/400 XML: CoolSpools Spool File Converter & Database
Posted on January 27, 2014at 10:22 am
Do you work with XML in an AS/400, iSeries or System i environment? If so, wouldn’t you like a better, easier, simpler way of creating XML? If so, you’ll love CoolSpools software.
Created by AS/400 experts Ariadne Software, CoolSpools products are designed to make AS/400 data distribution a smoother and more efficient experience. Two CoolSpools products have been designed to make creating XML easy: CoolSpools File Converter and CoolSpools Database. Here’s how they could help you…
What does CoolSpools Converter do?
It takes your AS/400 spool files and converts them to a wide range of file formats – including XML.
What is CoolSpools Database ?
CoolSpools Database is a powerful database management system, rather than taking data from your AS/400 spool files, the data is taken from your database files.
What file formats be converted to XML?
CoolSpools can convert all database file types the following AS/400 spool file formats: *SCS, *AFPDS, *IPDS, *LINE, *AFPDSLINE and *USERASCII. Many similar products can only handle simple *SCS spool files as they lack the power and flexibility of CoolSpools.
Other than XML, what other file formats can CoolSpools convert to?
CoolSpools can convert database and spool files to PDF, Excel, CSV, plain text, HTML, RTF and TIFF. It can also output as compressed spool files or create a new spool file by duplicating, splitting or creating a subset.
Does CoolSpools offer any other AS/400 applications?
Yes! CoolSpools Admin makes it easy to manage your AS/400 spool files, while CoolSpools Email makes it easy to email direct from your AS/400, System i or iSeries environment. When combined, all four packages in the CoolSpools software suite make a truly unbeatable AS/400 document and data management system.
Take the pain out of producing XML – convert your spool files and database files using the power of CoolSpools software. To find out more, and to order CoolSpools software, visit http://www.coolspools.com/spool-converter/.
The Many Benefits of PDFs (And The Easy Way To Create Them)
Posted on December 20, 2013at 3:29 pm
Whatever line of business you work in, you’ll probably deal with PDF files on a regular basis. It’s a flexible document format used for a wide range of purposes. And if you work in an IBM iSeries, System i or AS/400 environment, now there’s an easy way to create them…
Enter CoolSpools software. Developed by iSeries experts Ariadne Software, CoolSpools is a powerful, fully-featured spool file converter, offering an easy, customizable way to convert spool to PDF and a whole host of other useful file formats.
Back up a minute. What’s a PDF?
I’m sure you already know the answer to this one! Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format developed by Adobe. It was created over 20 years ago, and is one of the most commonly-used file formats today. Think of PDFs as the middle ground between an image file and a word-processed document. They can be read on screen, printed, or used by printers to produce publications.
How can CoolSpools help me create PDFs on my iSeries?
As a spool file converter, CoolSpools takes data from your iSeries spool files and converts it into the PDF format, making it readable by any operating system. This negates the need to enter the data manually – it’s all converted for you.
What if I need images in my PDF? Can CoolSpools handle that?
Absolutely. CoolSpools can insert JPEGs or GIFs into your iSeries PDFs, whether they’re company logos, watermarks, photographs or illustrations. Whatever images you need in your iSeries PDFs, CoolSpools can make it happen.
But I don’t just want a dump of my spool files in my PDFs! How do I control what goes in?
CoolSpools makes this easy, too. You can split your converted spool file into multiple PDF documents. Just tell CoolSpools the criteria of where you want to split (such as customer name or number, for example), and it’ll do it for you.
What if I want to add new pages to an existing PDF?
CoolSpools has it covered – even if the original PDF was not created using CoolSpools software.
The PDFs I produce contain sensitive information. Can CoolSpools handle this?
Of course. CoolSpools can password-protect and encrypt your PDF. You can restrict how your PDF is edited to ensure it’s not tampered with. And you can add a digital signature to prove that your PDF has not been amended since you created it.
Is creating PDFs all CoolSpools software does?
Not at all. CoolSpools also converts spools to XML, Excel, CSV, HTML, TIFF and RTF. It can also help manage emailing your files to multiple recipients.
Where can I learn more about creating iSeries PDFs with CoolSpools software?
Simple – head over to http://www.coolspools.com/ right away!