Tag Archives: as400 Data Extract

Producing Business Documents: What to Avoid & Spool Converter Help

Posted on July 19, 2013at 12:47 pm

Whether presenting to the board, communicating across the company or trying to impress potential new clients or partners, it’s important to present documents with clear, accurate information. 

A great way to ensure the accuracy of your documents is to produce them from spool files using a spool file converter, and if you work with an IBM as400 (System I, iSeries) server, perhaps the most powerful spool file converter on the market is CoolSpools (http://www.coolspools.com/).

Here are four potential pitfalls when producing documents for business – and how CoolSpools software can help you avoid them.

1. Inaccurate or out-of-date data

In fast-moving business environments, information is constantly changing. Offer inaccurate of outdated information and not only could it be personally embarrassing to you – it could also come with a huge cost to your business

Because CoolSpools uses data taken directly from your System i spool file, its veracity is guaranteed. Your iSeries PDF, Excel file or XML extract will have the same info as your iSeries spool file, preventing potential human errors.

2. Irrelevant information is included

Overloading your recipients with information must be avoided. If the reader can’t find the information that’s relevant to them, they may just stop looking for it. Remember, not everyone needs everything!

With CoolSpools software, it’s easy to covert spool to PDF or Excel and then split the output into multiple documents, based on criteria you specify. CoolSpools can even email the split System i Excel files and PDFs to multiple email addresses – so everyone gets the info they need, and nothing more.

3. Multiple documents where one will do

A similar issue is caused by sending too many documents to you recipients. How will they know which to read first – and will they bother with the subsequent ones?

A great – and unique – feature of CoolSpools is that you can convert your as400 spool to Excel or PDF then append the converted document to existing Excel spreadsheets or PDFs – even if they weren’t created by CoolSpools.

4. Your documents look off-putting – or off-brand

Boring looking documents are likely to go unread. And if your marketing department are sticklers for brand identity, you’ll have to ensure all corporate logos are present and correct.

This is easy with CoolSpools software. It can insert JPEGs or GIFs into your System i PDF documents for you – so your documents won’t just be accurate and relevant, they’ll also look great and on-brand too.

About CoolSpools software

Developed by IT experts Ariadne Software, CoolSpools provides a simple, reliable spool file converter for IBM as400, iSeries and System i. Whether you need to convert spool to AS/400 PDF, Excel or XML, you’ll find it simple and reliable.

Find out more about CoolSpools software at http://www.coolspools.com/.

How Spool File Converters Can Help Your Business

Posted on June 01, 2013at 12:02 pm

Is your business using AS/400 (System i) to its full potential?

Could you be making better use of your data extracts? Maybe you’re wasting time performing tasks that could be automated – and as we all know, wasted time is wasted money.

Spool file conversion software can make life much easier for you. And the most powerful AS/400 spool file converter on the market is CoolSpools, produced by well-established global System i experts Ariadne Software (www.ariadnesoftware.co.uk).

Here’s a quick look at what CoolSpools could do for you…

What is a spool file converter?

Simple! A spool file converter is a piece of software that takes your spooled System i files and coverts them from a hard-to-understand data extract into an easy-to-read document, in the format of your choice e.g. spool file to PDF.

What formats can CoolSpools export to?

With CoolSpools software, you can perform System i file conversion to a number of popular formats. Want to convert spool to Excel? Consider it done. Convert spool to PDF? Not a problem. Export your AS/400 data extract to XML? Piece of cake! CoolSpools’ reliable software makes it all so simple.

How much control do I have over the converted files?

Plenty. If you need conditional formatting and color-coding in your System i Excel files, that can be automated. Need images, text formatting and other style features in your iSeries PDFs? CoolSpools can do it. Want to split your System i PDF into multiple documents? Tell CoolSpools where to split, and it’ll split it for you. CoolSpools can also merge the System i PDF and Excel files it creates with your existing documents – even if they weren’t created in CoolSpools.

Sounds impressive. But how does a spool file converter help my business?

By creating documents direct from your AS/400 data extract, the accuracy and integrity of your data is assured. By automating the document production process, you’re saving time – and therefore you’re saving money. And the incredible levels of flexibility and customization offered by CoolSpools means that you can get the information you need, in the format you need, whenever you need it.

Output the latest sales figures to an AS/400 Excel spreadsheet. Produce an attractive AS/400 PDF to present to clients, complete with company branding. Import iSeries XML into web applications rather than manually entering data. You can do all this – and much more – with the easy-to-use CoolSpools software.

This is really just scratching the surface of how CoolSpools’ powerful information management software will boost your productivity. Find out more at www.ariadnesoftware.co.uk.

Is This The Most Powerful Spool File Converter Yet? Convert Your AS/400 Spooled Files With CoolSpools

Posted on April 24, 2013at 9:45 am

If you work within an AS/400 environment, wouldn’t it be great if you could take your spooled files and use them to communicate information across multiple channels? Wouldn’t you like to convert spool to PDF, or convert spool to Excel, and have the output files perfectly formatted and ready to go?

IBM experts’ Ariadne’s CoolSpools software (www.ariadnesoftware.co.uk) can provide your users with the right information, at the right time, in the right format. This powerful spool file converter can convert spool to Excel, iSeries PDF, iSeries XML and many other popular file formats. It provides a simple, reliable way to take an AS/400 data extract and turn it into end-user friendly documents whenever and however you need it.

But CoolSpools is no mere spool file converter. It offers powerful functionality that puts it way ahead of other AS/400 spool conversion tools. Here’s how it can help you transform the way you share information…

Split your spooled files into several documents

If you’re converting spool to Excel, for example for financial reports, you might want to split your System i Excel output files by date, region or product. Or perhaps you’d like to output AS/400 to PDF, but split into several System iPDF files. CoolSpools can split your AS/400 data extract into multiple documents – and each can be emailed to different recipients.

Merge and combine files

Maybe you need to merge several of your AS/400 PDF files into one document. You might want to append your converted AS/400 PDF to an existing PDF – one that wasn’t necessarily produced using CoolSpools. Or perhaps you’d like to add your newly-created AS/400 Excel file as a new worksheet in an existing Excel file. CoolSpools makes all of this simple – and as far as we’re aware, no other System i file conversion software offers you this functionality.

Format files however you like

After converting spool to Excel, you might need to format the document with color, borders, fonts or conditional formatting. CoolSpools can handle all of this, without having to reopen your Excel document to manually amend it. And after you convert spool to PDF, do you need to incorporate images such as corporate logos, watermarks or contact forms? CoolSpools has it covered.

Populate your website with AS/400 XML output

CoolSpools can do more than convert AS/400 spools for end user documentation. Its powerful iSeries XML conversion can output data that can be used to populate your website. No need to reprogram – just import the AS/400 XML direct.

So, do you need to convert spool to Excel? Convert spool to PDF? Or output XML? CoolSpools can do all of this and more – as well as formatting the output in a way that suits you.

And remember, CoolSpools software is created by Ariadne Software, well-established global experts in providing System i solutions – so you can trust it to be reliable as well as powerful.

Find out more at http://www.ariadnesoftware.co.uk.

What is a Spooled File?

Posted on April 09, 2013at 10:39 am

Spool is an acronym for simultaneous peripheral operations on-line.

Spooling is a function of your computer system that saves data for later processing or printing. The system saves this data in a spooled file.

CoolSpools (www.ariadnesoftware.co.uk) is the complete information management solution for IBM System i. With CoolSpools you can manage spooled files. Our software converts the spooled file to Excel, PDF and XML. This ultimately saves your time and money by moving your business away from paper-based documents and by distributing information via electronic formats.
CoolSpools is easy to use but immensely powerful. It helps you give your users and customers the right information, at the right time, and, just as importantly, in the right format. Our solutions address issues such as:
• sending documents to customers by email without having to change print programs
• publishing company reports on a corporate server so they can be archived and accessed easily from a PC
• producing Excel files from the System i without having to rely on users or operators to run file transfers
E-reading and the environment

Technologically, the world is moving to a place where documents are created on computers, distributed via computers and digested on computers. This trend can be seen in the lean towards tablets and e-books over paperbacks, and is quickly becoming the way we read and share our data. While there are still many of us who would rather read a printed document than looking at the same document on a computer monitor, the main benefits of CoolSpools are the money saved, the easy access you have to your spooled files and the positive impact on the environment by refraining from printing unnecessarily.

There is a direct correlation between the amount of trees that have to be cut down and the amount of money it costs you, and the initial cost for CoolSpools, is usually far surpassed by the savings in reduced paper for most businesses. Kenneth Mohn of Large US Dairy informed us that the use of CoolSpools had resulted in the company spending 20% less on paper.

Here at CoolSpools, we care about the environment, saving money and increasing efficiency. If you want to understand how our solutions can help your business, please contact us at www.ariadnesoftware.co.uk/contact, email sales@ariadnesoftware.co.uk or call us on +44 (0)1625 547 962.