Spool-a-Matic

Spool-a-Matic is an i5/OS based software utility that converts System i spooled files into industry standard file formats and places the resulting PC file into any directory in the i5/OS's Integrated File System. Spooled files can be split into multiple PC files based on data found on the page. This is ideal for separating pages by branch, by customer, or by other criteria. Depending on the Integrated File System name specified, you can place the generated file in any file system known to i5/OS including writing directly to Windows systems on the network, another System i, Novell NetWare or NFS servers. With Spool-a-Matic you can make i5/OS spooled output available to your users in the form best suited to them.

The product can convert spooled files to a wide variety of formats, the most popular of which is Adobe's Portable Document Format ( PDF). The PDF conversion is fully enabled for all levels of document complexity found in i5/OS printed output. Print data, page segments, overlays, color, graphics, images, fonts and barcodes are accurately processed to give you PDF files that display and print like the original spooled file. The resulting PDF file is text based (not a bit image), and can be searched and indexed using Adobe's products. The PDF files can be encrypted, password protected, and compressed during the conversion to provide security and reduce storage requirements. As additional options the PDF files can be digitally signed NEW or ISO 19005-1:2005 PDF/A compliant. NEW Extensive bookmarking capabilities, based on DDS's indexing keywords or data on the page, allow you to generate PC files that are easy to navigate. Additional parameters allow you to specify the PDF document title, document subject, document open options, and font imbedding, giving fine grain control over the presentation of your data to the end user. The conversion to PDF is DBCS and unicode enabled for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

• Spool-a-Matic's main conversion function is package as a single Control Language command SPLCONVERT. The command takes a spooled file and output PC file name as parameters and generates the PC file as requested. SPLCONVERT can be run from a command line or coded directly in your CL programs to provide converted output for your existing jobs.
• Extensive ability to convert spooled files to PC files including the ability to split a spooled file into multiple output files based on data on the page. Extensive CCSID support.
• Spool-a-Matic includes a command and associated print driver programs that allow you to create logical printer devices. Logical printers perform spooled file conversion automatically for all spooled files placed on their output queue. Logical printers can be shared to your network and provide direct conversion "printing" from any PC application for any PC on your network. Combine this with Spool-a-Matic's PDF support and you can "print" (generate) PDF files without Acrobat.
• The product includes work-a-likes for the i5/OS Work with Spooled File (WRKSPLF) and Work with Output Queue (WRKOUTQ) commands. The work-a-likes allow you to display a list of spooled files and process them by entering an option number.
• Our Display Page Data (DSPPAGDTA) command is included in the product. The command allows you to display selected data from within a spooled file. The command supports output to a display, to print, and most interestingly to an output file. For example, by displaying the page positions of the customer number in spooled files containing invoices, you can create an index from customer number to the related spooled files that contain their invoices.
• Our Retrieve Page Data (RTVPAGDTA) command is included in the product. The command allows you to retrieve data from a specific location within a spooled file. The requested data is returned in a Control Language (CL) program variable.
• Spool-a-Matic integrates with Report Manager to make its spooled file conversions available to Report Manager's automated spooled file processing.

Spool-a-Matic supports all of the i5/OS spooled file print data streams and can produce PC files in a variety of industry standard formats. Not all of the possible conversions are applicable to all spooled file print data streams. The following table shows the supported conversions:

Gumbo's products include a range of standard features that make them easy to use, easy to manage, and easy to live with:

• Extensive manual, both online as menu option 1 and in PDF (See downloads page).
• Context sensitive help for every command and parameter.
• Menu that provides organized access to the product's features.
• Products are packaged as licensed programs and participates in the full range of support provided by i5/OS. Licensed program installation, PTF management, etc. are handled with the same commands used to manage IBM^® software.
• Unlike IBM^® Licensed Programs, our products are packaged to allow multiple releases to be installed at the same time which facilitates new release testing.
• Product PTFs are available on the web.
• Our products include a hot site friendly automatic authorization function that allows you to immediately move operations to any back up or fail over machine without contacting us for a license key or authorization code.
• We include a Check Product Authorization (CHKPRDAUT) command that allows you to exercise the product's authorization algorithm and insure there are no authorization "surprises".
• An installation verification option is available on the menu. You can easily verify that the product is correctly installed.
• All (applicable) objects in our products are digitally signed allowing you to verify their integrity. Modifications that could jeopardize the security of your system are easily detected with i5/OS's Check Object Integrity (CHKOBJITG) command.
• Our products are upward compatible with future releases of i5/OS. You can install a new releases of i5/OS without installing a new release from us.
• Our products are compatible with all i5/OS security levels. We use only published interfaces.

For additional information see: Answers to the most frequently asked general product questions.

The current release of Spool-a-Matic operates on any model System i with i5/OS Version 5 Release 3 or higher. See the download page for availability for earlier releases of i5/OS.

A fully functional 30-day trial of the product is available for immediate download. Or you can fill out a Demo Request to receive it in the mail. In either case, there is no obligation. To receive an invoice, fill out an Invoice Request.

Gumbo Software, Inc. offers two choices for licensing our software products for your System i, system wide licensing and partition licensing. These are mutually exclusive. A system wide license applies to a specific System i serial number and processor group and is good for any and all partitions in the system. A partition license applies to a specific System i serial number, partition number, and maximum processing capacity, and is not valid for a system that has not been partitioned. For the overwhelming majority of our customers, a system wide license (> 98%) is the best choice. A partition license (< 2%) is the best choice in very limited circumstances involving small partitions on large machines.

The system wide license prices for all of our products, with the exception of Report Designer, are tiered based on your System i's processor group. You can determine your machine's processor group by running the i5/OS Work with License Information (WRKLICINF) command.

The partition only license prices for all of our products, with the exception of Report Designer, are based on the maximum processing capacity configured for the partition (rounded up to the nearest tenth). You can determine your partition's maximum processing capacity by running the i5/OS Start System Service Tools (STRSST) command and taking option 5 "Work with system partitions" then option 1 "Display partition information" then option 2 "Display partition processing configuration".

Additional processor group information can be found on our Processor Group page. The one time charge includes the first  year of maintenance services. You are purchasing a permanent license to use the software subject to the terms of a license agreement and upgrade policy.