Tag Archives: Spool File to PDF

CoolSpools Case Study – DiVal Safety Equipment

Posted on June 13, 2016at 8:45 am

Spool to PDF conversions help DiVal Safety Equipment, a large, US based distributor of safety and industrial products. They own and operate several offices and warehouses throughout the Eastern, Central & Southern United States.

How does DiVal use CoolSpools?

DiVal have hundreds of automated spool to PDF conversions for such things as emailing invoices, statements, purchase orders, acknowledgements, etc. and they are also starting to use CoolSpools to archive day-end reports which have historically been bound and stored.

CoolSpools is used by DiVal to convert (to PDF) and email artwork held on the IFS for their silk screening, needlework and tool repair processes and their team have written a CL with a prompt for a query name/library and email address, so that any member of staff who uses Query/400 can send & receive worksheets via email.

To achieve a workflow solution DiVal use RPG XML to create HTML which is put into the SNDCMN or CVT command so their customer gets an email with a “response” link, an attachment of the PDF document to be approved, buttons to Approve, Approve with Change or Decline, and a text box for comments.   They are also able to embed a logo header and footer into the email using HTML pointing to a web server.

Paul McMahon of Dival Safety Equipment says “Having previously used IBM’s SNDDST with stand-alone PDF and Excel converters CoolSpools is day and night as to flexibility and ease of use, plus it’s more reliable. If you ask me to describe the CoolSpools product and support team it’s easy because I’ve said it to lots of people. They are absolutely hands down the best I’ve worked with. From guiding me through maps and template creation, to figuring out (and fixing) why certain Query/400 results error out, to help with attaching and embedding files and gifs for enhancing the display of emails. Every time I think I’m pushing the envelope, the CoolSpools folks have a suggestion or solution!”

Download Case Study

Do you wish you could convert your spooled files to PDF files?

Posted on February 16, 2015at 2:01 pm

Well, the good news is that you can! CoolSpools was developed primarily to convert all system i series and AS400 series spooled files into a variety of more manageable and usable file formats, including PDF.

Wave goodbye to the mountain of paper…

There are still many organisations worldwide where vast amounts of reports are produced and printed out on printers and then manually analysed and distributed to the appropriate staff. However, with the CoolSpools Spool Converter solution, you can automatically generate reports to PDF files and distribute them electronically or publish them in the cloud.

Bespoke PDF files that save time and money

You might currently extract separate sections of the data created on your system to send to different departments or individuals. This can be handled within CoolSpools as we have devised a system which allows you to select which lines or pages to include or exclude and which people you wish to receive each section of information. The CoolSpools Spool Converter will do it all for you on a weekly or monthly or annual basis depending on your business requirements. All you have to do it set it up and instruct it what to send and to whom and it will run all by itself (making you look even more efficient!).

Spool Conversion, Security and more besides…

However, the CoolSpools Spool Converter does more than just spool conversion. It provides easy to use flexible functionality to enhance the converted output. Apart from producing bespoke reports, the Spool Converter also enables the originator to password protect and encrypt the outputted PDF files, as well as adding restrictions to the PDF and including digital signatures to authenticate the report and show it has not been tampered with.

Nothing to lose and everything to gain…

So, in summary, the CoolSpools Spool Converter will definitely save your business time and costs whilst reducing its impact on the environment by saving paper. It will facilitate efficiency and transparency across your organisation and help your business to meet targets and analyse your operation in a more efficient manner. So what have you got to lose? Give us a call today and find out how CoolSpools can facilitate your information dissemination on + 44 (0)1625 547962 or email sales@ariadne.co.uk.

5 benefits of converting a spooled file to PDF

Posted on May 23, 2014at 12:17 pm

Spool files can be converted into a variety of different formats meaning you can choose the right format for your purpose. Files can be converted to Excel, XML and most importantly PDF’S. There are a number of reasons why converting a spool file to PDF will benefit you and your company – here are a few:

It’s safe and secure

When a PDF file is converted you have the ability to password protect and encrypt it so that any information you wish to stay secure can only be opened by an authorised person. You can also create a digital signature in order for you to guarantee the file has not been tampered with in any way. The final security feature is that you can put restrictions on what can be changed so that no important information gets rewritten or erased.

Freedom in what you can convert

Some may think that when converting a spool file to PDF that you don’t have a choice in what pages are converted, that would be wrong. The Spool converter allows you to select lines or pages by ‘dropping’ certain parts of the document. It also allows you to send different parts of the document to different people so that everybody does not see all information that they have no need to to see.

Not just your ordinary text document

Instead of being an ordinary document with no visual content the spool converter allows you to carry over graphics and images so you have the opportunity to include company logo’s or watermarks in to maintain symmetry throughout your work, therefore additional software is no longer needed to make your document more visually appealing.

Can keep all your work together

Keeping your work together is important for the organisation of your company and that’s why Coolspools has got it covered for you. In order to make it easier for you to keep everything safe and collective you can create a report or document pack which contains a set of related documents from different spool files.

Easy to navigate

Your work needs to be easy to navigate around as many people may not want to search a whole document to find a snippet of information. Coolspools Spool converter has the ability to create a set of bookmarks from the content of your document to use for an index or set of outlines to make it easier and more efficient for people to view larger documents.

If you want to learn more about converting a Spool file to PDF, and how our software can help you, then look at the Coolspools website at http://www.coolspools.com/spool-converter/.

Convert spool file to PDF

Posted on October 15, 2013at 12:32 pm

Selecting the best tool.

Spool File to PDF

Adobe’s PDF is now the de facto standard for exchanging documents electronically. The advantage of PDF is that it is a universal file format that can preserve fonts, formatting, colors and graphics. Adobe PDF files are compact and can be shared, viewed, navigated, and printed. Start your journey here to learn how to convert a spool file to pdf.

System i businesses looking to make the leap to paperless trading are faced with quite a number of products that are capable of taking a System i spool file and converting it to PDF format. However, not all of these products offer the same range of features. When selecting a tool of this kind, it is important to ask the following questions:

What kinds of spooled files can be handled?

Some tools can only handle simple *SCS spooled files. If you use more complex spooled files, make sure the tool you choose can process:

• AFP (Advanced Function Printing)
• IPDS (Intelligent Printer Data Stream)
• Line data

What spooled file content can be processed?

Some tools can only process the textual content of your spooled fie. If you want the PDF file to reproduce the appearance of your spooled file accurately, make sure the tool you select can handle:

• Multiple, mixed fonts
• Images and graphics
• Overlays and page segments
• Barcodes

What added value can the tool provide?

While converting your spooled file, some tools allow you to add value to your reports by allowing you to add such things as:

• Data compression
• Indexes and bookmarks
• Color
• Titles and control information
• Logos, watermarks, and pre-printed forms

How easy is it to integrate with my existing systems?

Think about how you will implement the tool within your current environment. Will you need to re-code your applications or change your reports to achieve what you require? Look for features such as:

• A command line interface
• The ability to split reports so that, for example, a single billing spooled file can be divided automatically into separate invoice files for different customers
• Exit program points to allow you to perform special processing on the files as they are created, e.g. pass them to an e-mail application

Please visit our website at www.CoolSpools.com to download a 30-day free trial of our tools for converting System i spool files to Adobe PDF, RTF, Excel, CSV, TIFF, HTML and other PC file formats. Start spool file to pdf conversions now!