═══ 1. General Information ═══ The purpose of FLEXTEXT Print Utility is to print reports on a workstation running OS/2 2.x. Input must be ASCII (text-based) files, OS/2 clipboard data, or a file downloaded from an IBM host computer via Communications Manager. This program creates compact reports by printing multiple pages on each sheet of paper in portrait or landscape mode. Any available font, type, and point size may be selected depending on the input file's requirements. FlexText can even calculate optimum point size based on the data's record length and selected font. Many IBM mainframe generated reports contain ASA control characters ("FBA" files). These reports can be printed directly or exported to a "print file" for import into a word processing document. TAB characters are expanded depending on information supplied in the preferences section. Both sides of the paper can be used even if you are using a none duplex printer. Simulated duplex processing provides a "two pass" capability that prints the front, then the back sides of a report. Booklet style page format organizes the pages in book sequence and is available in the 2-up, landscape mode. ═══ 2. About FLEXTEXT Print Utility ═══ FLEXTEXT(TM) Copyright 1992, Extension Software. This is version 2.2 of the FLEXTEXT Print Utility. The program was designed and coded by Extension Software of Mesa, Arizona in April 1993. For more information, Robert Stuart can be contacted at (602) 820-0321 or at Compuserv id# 74230,1620. ═══ 3. License Information ═══ This software and the disks on which it is contained are licensed for use on one computer only. This is copyrighted software. You are prohibited from copying this program except for backup purposes. This program may NOT be uploaded to any BBS. EXTENSION SOFTWARE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO THIS SOFTWARE, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND ALL SUCH WARRANTIES ARE EXPRESSLY AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMED. NEITHER EXTENSION SOFTWARE NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF THIS SOFTWARE SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE SUCH SOFTWARE EVEN IF EXTENSION SOFTWARE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR CLAIMS. IN NO EVENT SHALL EXTENSION SOFTWARE'S LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES EVER EXCEED THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENSE TO USE THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF CLAIM. THE PERSON USING THE SOFTWARE BEARS ALL RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE. Some states do not allow the exclusion of the limit of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the above limitation may not apply to you. This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Arizona and shall inure to the benefit of Extension Software and any successors, administrators, heirs and assigns. Any action or proceeding brought by either party against the other arising out of or related to this agreement shall be brought only in a state or federal court of competent jurisdiction located in Maricopa County, Arizona. The parties hereby consent to in personam jurisdiction of said courts. ═══ 4. License Information ═══ This software and the disks on which it is contained are licensed for evaluation purposes only. This is copyrighted software. You may use the software for a 60 day evaluation period and distribute exact copies of the software to anyone free of charge. You are prohibited from charging for any such copies unless you receive written permission from Extension Software. EXTENSION SOFTWARE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO THIS SOFTWARE, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND ALL SUCH WARRANTIES ARE EXPRESSLY AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMED. NEITHER EXTENSION SOFTWARE NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF THIS SOFTWARE SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE SUCH SOFTWARE EVEN IF EXTENSION SOFTWARE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR CLAIMS. IN NO EVENT SHALL EXTENSION SOFTWARE'S LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES EVER EXCEED THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENSE TO USE THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF CLAIM. THE PERSON USING THE SOFTWARE BEARS ALL RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE. Some states do not allow the exclusion of the limit of liability for consequenctial or incidental damages, so the above limitation may not apply to you. This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Arizona and shall inure to the benefit of Extension Software and any successors, administrators, heirs and assigns. Any action or proceeding brought by either party against the other arising out of or related to this agreement shall be brought only in a state or federal court of competent jurisdiction located in Maricopa County, Arizona. The parties hereby consent to in personam jurisdiction of said courts. ═══ 5. Open Menu ═══ The OPEN menu contains options to retrieve data from a file or the clipboard. The following options appear under the OPEN menu: FILE Retrieves data from a file. CLIPBOARD Retrieves data currently held in the clipboard. DOWNLOAD Retrieves data from an IBM host via Communications Manager session. ═══ 6. File ═══ You can open a file that exists on any drive or in any directory by using the FILE option. To open a file, do the following: o Select the Open menu and choose the File selection. A dialog box appears, showing you a list of files in the current directory. ═══ 7. Open Clipboard ═══ The CLIPBOARD option imports data into the browse window which can be subsequently printed. A snapshot of clipboard text. is taken when CLIPBOARD is selected. If changes are made to the data in the clipboard once the browse window is displayed, the modifications will not take affect in FlexText until the CLIPBOARD option is re-selected. FlexText only supports text-based data. Other data types found in the clipboard will be ignored. ═══ 8. Download ═══ Files can be downloaded from an IBM host running TSO, VM, or CICS monitors. Downloading into FlexText is a two step process that first initiates the download, then opens (get waiting) the downloaded file for printing. FlexText can only download files using Communications Manager and an active TSO, VM, or CICS session. ═══ 9. Initiate Download ═══ INITIATE is the first step in the download process. It issues the "receive" Communication Manager command on behalf of FlexText. Once the transfer is complete, GET WAITING will open the downloaded file for subsequent printing or browsing. ═══ 10. Get Waiting download data ═══ Once the download has taken place (following "initiate"), GET WAITING opens the data and makes it available to FlexText. The data can subsequently be browsed and/or printed. ═══ 11. Export ═══ EXPORT will save a file following TAB expansion and ASA control character translation. The resulting file is suitable for import into word processors or text editors capable of handling ASCII delimited files. ═══ Help for Open ═══ ═══ Help for Open ═══ 1. Select the down arrow to the right of the Drive list to display all the drives on your system. 2. Select a drive from the Drive list. 3. Select a directory from the Directory list. 4. Select a file name from the File list or type in a file name and select the Open pushbutton to display the file you want to edit. For specific help, select a topic below. ═══ List of Fields ═══ File name Type of file Drive File Directory Open pushbutton ═══ Help for File name ═══ ═══ Help for File name ═══ Type the name of the file you want to open in the File name field and select the Open pushbutton. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ List of Fields ═══ File name Type of file Drive File Directory Open pushbutton General help ═══ Help for Type of file ═══ ═══ Help for Type of file ═══ Select the down arrow to the right of the Type of file field to display the available file types. The sample has set this field for all file types. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for Drive ═══ ═══ Help for Drive ═══ The Drive list displays the drives on your system. Select the drive that contains the files you want to edit. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for File ═══ ═══ Help for File ═══ The File list displays all the files in the directory you selected from the Directory list. Select the file you want to open. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for Directory ═══ ═══ Help for Directory ═══ The Directory list displays the directories on the selected drive. Select a directory to display the list of files from that directory in the File list box. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for Open ═══ ═══ Help for Open ═══ Select the Open pushbutton to display the file you want to edit. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for Export as ═══ ═══ Help for Export as ═══ 1. Select the down arrow to the right of the Drive list to display all the drives on your system. 2. Select a drive from the Drive list. 3. Select a directory from the Directory list. 4. Type the name of the file you want to save in the File name field and select the Save pushbutton. For specific help, select a topic below. ═══ List of Fields ═══ File name Type of file Drive File Directory Save pushbutton ═══ Help for File name ═══ ═══ Help for File name ═══ Type the name of the file you want to save in the File name field and select the Save pushbutton. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ List of Fields ═══ File name Type of file Drive File Directory Save pushbutton General help ═══ Help for Type of file ═══ ═══ Help for Type of file ═══ Select the down arrow to the right of the Type of file field to display the available file types. The sample has set this field for all file types. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for Drive ═══ ═══ Help for Drive ═══ The Drive list displays the drives on your system. Select the drive that contains the files you want to save. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for File ═══ ═══ Help for File ═══ The File list displays all the files in the directory you selected from the Directory list. Select the file you want to rename and save. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for Directory ═══ ═══ Help for Directory ═══ The Directory list displays the directories on the selected drive. Select a directory to display the list of files from that directory in the File list box. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for Save ═══ ═══ Help for Save ═══ Select the Save pushbutton to save the file to the drive and directory you selected and with the file name you specified. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ 12. Help Menu ═══ The following help options give you several ways of accessing program instructions and procedures. ═══ 13. Index ═══ This help option displays the index which allows you to specify a particular item of interest. ═══ 14. General help ═══ This option provides an overview of the program's processes and functionality. ═══ 15. Using Help ═══ Help can be retrieved for any menu, window, procedure, or field by clicking on a help button or pressing the F1 key. ═══ 16. Product information ═══ This help option lists product information. ═══ 17. Print ═══ The PRINT menu option presents a sequence of windows accepting various print options and configurations. Note that the PRINT menu option is initially disabled and becomes enabled only after an input file or clipboard is successfully opened (and optionally displayed). ═══ 18. Browse Menu Option ═══ The BROWSE menu option displays a window containing selected file/clipboard information. The data can be viewed or exported from this window. ═══ 19. Font Menu Option ═══ The FONT menu option provides the ability to change fonts used in the file viewer. The font selected affects only the displayed window and not the hardcopy output. ═══ 20. Search Menu Option ═══ Text strings can be located in the displayed data by selecting the SEARCH menu option, then providing the text string to be found. ═══ 21. Mark Menu Option ═══ Portions of a file or clipboard can be printed by marking text to be used. The MARK menu option displays a window that controls the marking process. ═══ 22. Options ═══ The OPTIONS menu displays the following sub-menu items: PRINT QUEUE Provides a list of available print queues and accepts margin changes. CUSTOMIZE Contains PREFERENCES, COLORS, and INI LOCATION sub-menu items. ═══ 23. Print Queue Option ═══ The PRINT QUEUE option provides the ability to select a print queue from a list. A push-button on the print queue dialog allows margin adjustments. ═══ 24. Customize Option ═══ FlexText has several settings that can be used to customize the programs behavior. The following windows provide optional settings: PREFERENCES Changes functional settings COLORS Sets background and text color schemes on FlexText's main window. INI LOCATION Determines the location where FlexText's initialization file resides. ═══ 25. Preferences Option ═══ The PREFERENCES option allows the user to configure processing defaults. The changes are maintained in an initialization file(FlxTxt2.ini) that is loaded at program start-up. ═══ 26. Colors Option ═══ COLORS provides a variety of color schemes for FlexText's main window. ═══ 27. INI Location Option ═══ INI Location specifies where FlexText's initialization file is to reside. This file contains custom and machine specific data used by FlexText at startup time. ═══ 28. Font Dialog ═══ The FONT dialog allows you to select font types, point size, and styles. All available scalable fonts (ATM) are listed. Be careful in selecting a large point size since it can result in truncated data. Initially, the program will default to "Courier" which provides mono-spaced characters. Selection of other variable-spaced fonts may affect column alignment. Note that many options are provided that may not be appropriate for this type of report application (i.e., strike out, outline, etc.). These options have been provided only to achieve OS/2 application standardization. ═══ 29. View Font ═══ Font and point size can be chosen that apply only to the view window. The list of available fonts are affected by the Bitmap/Scalable selection made earlier. Note that changes to the print font are made from a separate PRINT dialog. ═══ 30. Print Data ═══ The PRINT DATA dialog controls page formats, and fonts. Pressing JOB PROPERTIES displays another window that, among other options, specifies page orientation. By switching from "portrait" to "landscape", different page formats are displayed on the original "PRINT DATA" window allowing multiple pages to be printed side by side, or top and bottom. Text files with record lengths of 80 characters or less generally print best side by side, while reports of up to 133 characters are better printed top and bottom. The first time the PRINT DATA is displayed, a reminder window is automatically created that describes other page formats available as explained in the previous paragraph. If you no longer wish the reminder window to be displayed, it can be disabled in the PREFERENCES dialog found under the OPTIONS menu selection. Point size automatically changes when different page formats are selected. The point size you select in the SELECT FONT window is associated with the current page format and will be saved. This process minimizes the need to display the font selection screen repetitively. Whenever you enter the SELECT FONT window, the program highlights a default point size appropriate for the current page format. BORDERS can be selected that will box each page and provide page numbers/file information (if selected). Additionally, a single line can separate multiple pages. Note that page numbers/file information is only printed if a "box" border is selected. SIMULATED DUPLEX provides the ability to print on both sides of the paper with a non-duplex printer. The program will print the front side of the document, then pause, allowing you to reinsert the stack in the printer to complete the back sides. BOOKLET STYLE arranges the pages in book-style order. Note that the booklet option is only available in 2-up landscape page format. Pressing SELECT FONT displays another dialog that provides font and point size selection. CALCULATE POINT SIZE causes FlexText to calculate an optimum point size given the record lengths found in the selected file. Using this feature will eliminate the problem of text truncation once the print task begins. Note that the largest point size that is returned from the program is 14. When the checkbox DISPLAY PAGE RANGE WINDOW is selected, a dialog will appear after pressing PRINT that provides the ability to print a range of pages. Note that this option is NOT available when printing multiple files. ═══ 31. Print Range ═══ The PRINT RANGE provides selection of pages to print. Note that the starting page must be less than or equal to the last page. Pressing the RESET pushbutton will set the starting page at 1 and the last page at the end of the report. ═══ 32. Margins ═══ The MARGINS window permits adjustment of page borders. Adjustments are made in 1/10 inch increments moving toward the center of the page. Margin settings are stored between sessions and are associated with the highlighted print queue from the previous dialog. ═══ 33. Continue Duplex ═══ The CONTINUE DUPLEX PRINTING dialog is presented when FlexText has completed writing the front sides of the simulated duplex document to the spooler. After allowing the printer to complete the first-pass printing, push the Continue button to trigger backside printing. Reverse backside printing eliminates the need to reshuffle pages on printers that need the paper stack face down in the paper tray. Some experimentation may be necessary to determine how the pages should face to utilize the simulated duplex function. ═══ 34. Print Queue ═══ Select a print queue from the displayed list, then press OK. The selected printer Queue will remain in effect until explicitly changed. The first time the program is executed, the system default queue will be used. Pressing the MARGINS push-button displays a window that accepts margin adjustments. ═══ 35. Initiate Download ═══ Host files can be downloaded from an IBM host running TSO, VM, or CICS monitors. Downloading into FlexText is a two step process that first initiates the download, then opens (get waiting) the downloaded file for printing. FlexText can only download files using Communications Manager and an active TSO, VM, or CICS session. Select the radio button that corresponds to the monitor that you will be downloading from. Enter the host file name to be downloaded. The session ID is only needed when more than one Communication Manager session is running. Transmission parameters can be changed or added by pushing the ADDITIONAL PARAMETERS push-button. For more information on setting up the host monitor, select an item below: o TSO o VM o CICS ═══ 36. TSO information ═══ In order for transmission to begin, either a "READY" prompt must be displayed or ISPF panel 6 must be ready to accept a TSO command. FlexText's INITIATE task can then be chosen and a separate "Download" session (minimized) will begin. When the minimized "Download" task disappears, GET WAITING can be selected to open the downloaded data. If problems arise, go to the TSO session for error messages. When entering the host file name in the INITIATE entry box, be sure to include quotes as you would working directly in TSO. SDSF output can be downloaded expanding FlexText's capabilities to print reports. The following directions enable a convenient SDSF procedure: o Pre-allocate a file (ISPF 3.2) to hold data copied from SDSF for download to FlexText. File attributes should be LRECL=133 and RECFM=FBA. A convenient file name is "SYSOUT.DATA" since that is the file FlexText defaults to when initiating a download under TSO. o Display output held in the output queue by entering SDSF, entering an "H" on the command line, then selecting output from a completed job. o Type "KEYS" on the command line to bring up a list of PF-key settings. o Chose an unused PF-key and type in the following data: "PRINT ODSN SYSOUT.DATA * OLD; PRINT; PRINT CLOSE; SPLIT; =6" (replace SYSOUT.DATA with the pre-allocated file if necessary). o Hit "enter", then "end" - the setup is complete! From now on you can download held output by going to SDSF, displaying the job output to be downloaded, and hitting the PF-key you assigned. Minimize the TSO session and initiate a download from FlexText. Be sure to browse the job output - not the job or file list in SDSF, otherwise no data will be copied to SYSOUT.DATA resulting in an empty download. ═══ 37. VM information ═══ In order for transmission to begin, either a "READY" prompt must be displayed or you must be in any of PROFS Main Menus where a VM command can be entered. If your terminal session is in "HOLDING", "MORE...", or "NOT ACCEPTED" status, please use the "CLEAR" key to clear the display before attempting to download. FlexText's INITIATE task can then be chosen and a separate "Download" session (minimized) will begin. When the minimized "Download" task disappears, GET WAITING can be selected to open the downloaded data. If problems arise, go to the VM session for error messages. When entering the host file name in the INITIATE entry box, be sure to include the filename, filetype, and optional filemode (defaults to the "A" disk) as you would working directly in VM. ═══ 38. CICS information ═══ In order to use FlexText's download feature with CICS, the necessary file transfer software must be loaded and available on the mainframe. See the "Extended Services - Communications Commands" for more information on using RECEIVE.EXE. ═══ 39. Additional Transmission Parameters ═══ Transmission parameters can be added or changed by modifying the contents of the entry field. Refer to the Communication Manager commands section in the Extended Services on-line reference manual for parameters used in the Receive command. ═══ 40. Browse ═══ The BROWSE selection window contains file information and buttons to view or export data. Note that the scroll bars in the file information box can be manipulated to display a variety of information about the file and data selected to print. In addition to scroll bar manipulation, the center line can be dragged left or right to display full file name or additional file information. The VIEW button opens a view of the selected file and provides text search and marking capabilities. If the file is very large, only the first 32,000 lines will be displayed. The EXPORT button generates an ASCII file after expanding Tabs and if necessary, removing ASA control characters from the data. A top of page ASA control character ("1") may be translated to a ASCII hex"0C" depending on preference settings. Other ASA control characters (i.e., "0", "-") result in the insertion of blank line(s). Note that ASA control character "+" is simply removed with no change to the incoming data. Once generated, the resulting ASCII report file can be imported into most word processors. ═══ 41. Search for Text ═══ When a view of a file\clipboard data is open, a text string can by found by typing it into the entry field and pressing the SEARCH button. Four radio buttons determine where the search begins and which string occurrence to locate. Note that the NEXT option finds the first occurrence on or after the displayed window. PREVIOUS begins the search prior to the first line of the current window. ═══ 42. Mark text to print ═══ A portion of a file can be selected for printing by using the MARK option from the file view menu. Since large blocks of text may at times be selected, a nonstandard way of marking text has been implemented. The "Mark text to print" dialog contains two radio buttons labeled FIRST and LAST. When FIRST is selected, a mouse-click on the view window will mark the first line that is to be printed. Note that text that will not be printed is grayed. When the LAST radio button is selected, a mouse-click will mark the last record to be printed. One can prevent an entire file from being printed by pressing the "DESELECT ALL" button. Note that if all text in all files is deselected, the PRINT menu option is disabled. "SELECT ALL" will re-select the entire file for printing. Once the text is marked, press Ok to dismiss the dialog and continue viewing the file. ═══ 43. File View Font Type ═══ Two types of fonts are available for use in the view window. Bitmap fonts are fast and allow quick scanning of large volumes of data but are limited in available point sizes. Scalable fonts are slower than bitmaps but provide a wide variety of sizes. In addition, small scalable fonts are less readable. ═══ 44. Colors ═══ FlexText's main window background and text color scheme can be changed by selecting any of the radio buttons. The name corresponds to the background color of the scheme. "White" is the best selection for monochrome monitors typically found in notebook computers. ═══ 45. INI Location ═══ INI Location specifies where FlexText's initialization file is to reside. This file contains custom and machine specific data used by FlexText at startup time. Typically, FlxTxt21.ini will be placed in the current directory specified under FlexText's object settings. If the file cannot be created, the INI Location panel is automatically displayed at program startup. The location can be changed at any time by selecting INI LOCATION from the OPTIONS/CUSTOMIZE menu selections and entering the new location in the entry field. ═══ 46. Download Defaults ═══ The DOWNLOAD DEFAULTS panel found under the OPTIONS/PREFERENCES menu selections contains host file name default settings. If the "specify default" radio button is chosen, a file name can be entered in the entry box that FlexText will use to initialize the download process. The second radio button, "redisplay last used" tells the pogram to remember the file name from the previous FlexText session. Note that these default settings only affect the first time the "initiate download" panel is displayed following program startup. The program always remembers the host file name within a session. ═══ 47. Preferences ═══ The PREFERENCES option allows the user to configure processing defaults. The changes are maintained in an initialization file (FlxTxt21.ini) that is loaded at program start-up. Configurable options are as follows: o "Animate program startup" controls the FlexText title animation when starting FlexText. The animation takes a couple of seconds and may be bypassed if desired. o "Minimize file viewer automatically" will cause the window that displays the report to be immediately minimized when a file is opened. o "Display landscape reminder info box" causes an additional window to be displayed when "Print" is selected from the menu. The box reminds the user of additional page formats available if the user enters "Job Properties" and selects landscape orientation. The information box is displayed only once during program execution. o "Use x'0c' for page break in saved print files" will insert the common page break character whenever a new page is anticipated. Note that this type of page break only occurs in files with ASA control characters (FBA files). o "Trigger print confirmation on ?? pages" controls the display of a window that appears after "print" is selected. If the number of pages to be printed is greater than or equal to the specified "trigger" value, a message box is displayed asking if the print job should continue. o "Expand TAB characters to ?? spaces" will convert any x'09' characters to the specified number of spaces. Use the arrows on the right side of the numeric field to scroll through the valid values. o The three radio buttons provide a way to suppress the file type window from displaying every time a file or clipboard is opened. If your data typically contains ASA control characters, select "always apply ASA CC translation". If you never use ASA CC's, select "never apply ASA CC translation". These options will prevent the file type window from being displayed. o Timestamps appearing at the bottom of reports using box page format can reflect either the time of printing, or the last time the file was updated. The "document label" radio buttons provide the choice. o The "Default transmission host file name" entry field allows you to change the start-up host file name for the "initiate download" dialog box. Although the factory default of SYSOUT.DATA may not be appropriate for all installation naming conventions or standards. Once your selections are made, press the SAVE button to apply the preferences to this and subsequent sessions. If the file viewer is currently open (or minimized), the view is automatically recreated using the new options. The DEFAULT button will return the settings to the factory settings. CANCEL will drop all changes since the last time the preferences were saved. ═══ 48. ASA Control Characters ═══ ASA control characters are commonly found on mainframe reports. Report records are typically (but not necessarily) 133 bytes in length with the carriage control characters in position 1 of each line. The following is a list of control characters with their corresponding effects: "1" - top of page (page break) "0" - double space "-" - triple space "+" - overtype " " - single space