Download  Print this page

Networking Dynamics Corporation CompuFax User Manual

Networking dynamics corporation compufax user manual
Hide thumbs

Advertisement

N E T WO R KI N G D Y N A M I C S C O R P O R A T I O N
CompuFax User Manual
Networking Dynamics Corporation
101 North Garden Avenue, Suite 220
Clearwater, Florida 33755
Phone 727.446.4511 • Fax 727.446.4252
www.networkingdynamics.com

Advertisement

Table of Contents
loading

  Related Manuals for Networking Dynamics Corporation CompuFax

No related manuals

  Summary of Contents for Networking Dynamics Corporation CompuFax

  • Page 1 N E T WO R KI N G D Y N A M I C S C O R P O R A T I O N CompuFax User Manual Networking Dynamics Corporation 101 North Garden Avenue, Suite 220 Clearwater, Florida 33755 Phone 727.446.4511 •...
  • Page 2: Copyright Notice

    The software described in this manual is furnished under license and may only be used or copied in accordance with the terms of such license. CompuFax is a registered trademark of Networking Dynamics Corporation. DCL, VAX, VMS, OpenVMS and Alpha-AXP are registered trademarks of Compaq Computer Corporation.
  • Page 3 NETWORKING DYNAMICS CORPORATION SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT 1. PREACCEPTAN CE N OTICE 1.1 READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT BEFORE OPENING THE MEDIA PACKAGE. YOU ACCEPT TH IS AGREEMEN T IF YOU OPEN THE MEDIA PACKAGE, PLACE ANY SOFTWARE FROM THE MEDIA PACKAGE INTO USE OR IF YOU KEEP THE SOFTWARE MEDIA PACKAGE FOR MORE THAN THIRTY (30) DAYS.
  • Page 4 COPIES OF THE LICENSED SOFTWARE OTHER THAN THOSE PROVIDED OR AUTHORIZED BY NDC WILL CONFORM TO THE SOFTWARE MANUAL. 5.3 It is expressly agreed that IN NO EVENT will NDC be liable for special, indirect, or consequential damages, or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, re-runtime, inaccurate input or work delays, or any direct property damage arising out of or in connection with this agreement or the use or performance of the licensed software, whether in an action in contract or tort including negligence.
  • Page 5 CompuFax contains a full fax server that runs on the primary computer node that has a fax modem device connected. CompuFax also contains a remote fax server that you can install on a remote node and send fax requests to the primary node.
  • Page 6 $ FAX DELETE/ENTRY=id-number Refer to Chapter 1, "CompuFax Installation", or use the CompuFax on-line Help for additional information. We suggest you review the product release notes, located in the CompuFax directory, for additional information. 9. Print and read the CF.RELEASE_NOTES located in the FAX$DIR directory.
  • Page 7 Installation and Configuration (As shipped, CompuFax is set up to transmit faxes TTA0: device. It can easily be configured to send to a null device for testing. This allows you to demo the software without using a real fax device.
  • Page 9 VMS Mail and/ or a broadcast message to the user on completion of document transmission. Status reporting optionally may be enabled or disabled. A library of callable routines has been provided, which allows users to customize CompuFax to use their own database, instead of the one that is provided with CompuFax.
  • Page 10 Intended Audience This manual is intended for users who want to become familiar with CompuFax, System Managers wishing to install and maintain CompuFax and Programmers wishing to interface other applications with CompuFax. How To Use This Manual This manual has been fully revised from earlier issues, with concentration on legibility, usefulness, accuracy, completeness and aesthetics.
  • Page 11: Table Of Contents

    RINTING EVICE 2.7 S VMS M ENDING AXES SING 2.7.1 Using CompuFax Qualifiers with VMS Mail ... 10 2.7.2 Embedding Numbers in VMS Mail ... 10 2.8 G ... 11 ETTING MORE ABOUT SENDING FILES ...3 3.1 S ... 3...
  • Page 12 3.16 L ...13 OGOS AND ETTERHEADS OTHER COMMANDS ... 14 4.1 U ...14 SING OMMAND ILES 4.2 T VERIFY C ... 15 OMMAND 4.3 T DELETE C ... 16 OMMAND 4.4 K EEPING RACK RECEIVE TO DISK...18 5.1 O ...18 VERVIEW 5.2 R ...18...
  • Page 13 9.1.2 Severity Levels ... 65 9.1.3 Message Routing...66 9.2 A LPHABETICAL ISTING OF PROGRAMMING INFORMATION... 78 CompuFax provides two facilities to customize its user interface:... 78 Database Interface... 78 Callable Command Interface..78 10.1 U RITTEN ATABASE 10.1.1 Working With CompuFax...78 10.1.2 Using The FDB Routines ...79...
  • Page 14 10.2.1.5 FAX_CMD_SET_USER...92 10.2.1.6 FAX_CMD_FORCE_EXIT... 92 10.2.1.7 Linking Modules ... 93 APPENDIX A... 95 A.1 R 3.1.00 C ...95 ELEASE HANGES A.2 R 3.0.01 C ...95 ELEASE HANGES A.3 K ... 96 NOWN ROBLEMS A.4 R 2.2.00 C ...97 ELEASE HANGES A.5 R 2.1.00 C ...97...
  • Page 15: Overview

    Full Device Server nodes. In addition, you may elect to have other systems on a network or cluster use CompuFax to transmit files. The other systems may be configured as Remote Fax Server systems. Although Remote Fax Server systems do not have actual fax modem devices connected, they are part of the CompuFax system.
  • Page 16: Hardware Installation

    This procedure is performed only for Full Device Server software. 1.2.1 Fax Modem Devic e A Class II fax modem device is required for use with the CompuFax product. The MultiTech MT2834ZDX fax modem (19,200 data/ 14,400 fax) has been tested for performance and reliability, and is the recommended modem device.
  • Page 17: Server Port Characteristics

    1.2.5 Mult iple Syst em s The CompuFax software is shipped as a saveset on tape. If you plan to load the software on multiple systems, you may find the installation will proceed faster if the saveset is copied from the distribution media to disk, moved to the designated systems and then installed from disk.
  • Page 18: Full Device Server Installation

    1.4 Customization Once the CompuFax software has been loaded, you must customize default values for each system that will be running CompuFax. This step is not performed if you are only evaluating the software, without a modem device. 1.4.1 Full Devic e Server Set up...
  • Page 19: Full Device Server Startup

    @FAX$DIR:FAX_SYLOGIN into your system-wide login file, which will cause the CompuFax software to be started each time the system is rebooted. Allow a few minutes for CompuFax to establish communications with the fax modem and bring the device on-line. Verify that the device is ready:...
  • Page 20: Remote Fax Server Setup

    $ DEFINE/ SYSTEM/ NOLOG FAX$SERVER_NODE NODE1, NODE2 1.5 Remote Fax Server Startup The startup command file will inform the CompuFax Remote Fax Server process which system has been designated as the Full Device Server system. Start the CompuFax remote server process:...
  • Page 21: Getting Started As A Compufax User

    0 FAX server queue entries If you do not get this type of display, contact your System Manager, as CompuFax may not have been installed yet, or is not running. Chapter 1 provides information on how to install and start up CompuFax.
  • Page 22: Sending A Fax

    2.4 Checking If Your Fax Was Sent How do you tell if a fax has been sent? When you tell CompuFax to send a fax, you should get a DCL or FAX> prompt back almost immediately, but all that means is that CompuFax has received the command and has placed the information into a queue, until the fax can be sent.
  • Page 23: An Even Simpler Way To Send

    2.5 Embedding Fax Numbers Into Documents There is another way of communicating a fax phone number to CompuFax. The fax number may be included (embedded) in the document itself, using a CompuFax file directive. Modify TESTFAX.1 by adding a line with the fax phone number at the top and save the file as TESTFAX.2:...
  • Page 24: Embedding Numbers In Vms Mail

    To: FAX%"1-818-248-525 / AFTER= TOMORROW" Subj: Test Fax Held Until N ext Day MAIL> The / AFTER= TOMORROW qualifier tells CompuFax to hold the fax and not send it until the following day. 2.7.2 Em bedding Num bers in VMS Mail It is not necessary to enter the fax phone number when faxing a file using VMS MAIL.
  • Page 25: Getting Help

    $ FAX HELP A Help screen displays, from which you can then select a topic to study. The CompuFax Help text works just like the VMS Help text. You can also access Help from within CompuFax by entering the HELP command...
  • Page 26 The next chapter gives further information on how faxes may be sent.
  • Page 27: More About Sending Files

    In the previous chapter, we covered some simple ways to send faxes. Since the SEND command is the most important command in CompuFax, we devote this chapter to more of its options. (This does not complete the list, however, since some options are related to System Management. For a complete list, see Chapter 7.) 3.1 Sending Multiple Files...
  • Page 28: Text Files

    T4 bitmapped image of how the final result is supposed to look on the page and then transmits it to the receiving fax station, where it is processed like a regular fax document. To make it easy for CompuFax to tell the difference between the three types of files, it assumes that all T4 file names have a .T4 file extension and...
  • Page 29: Using Different Fonts

    The word font is a printing term, which denotes letters of a certain style (called a typeface) and of a certain size. When CompuFax converts a text file into the T4 format, it uses a special file, called a font file, in its conversion.
  • Page 30: Sending Files With Overlays

    3.5 Sending Files With Overlays An overlay, in terms of CompuFax, is an image that is superimposed on another image. An example of this is a form overlay, such as an invoice, which is overlaid on (merged with) the text that is to be printed on the form.
  • Page 31: Sending Breakup Files

    # # POSITION _CURSOR IN CHES 0.5 3.1 Tells CompuFax to start the first line of text half an inch from the top of the page and 3.1 inches from the left of the page. # # CHARACTER_SIZE IN CHES 0.52 This does not actually give the size of the characters, but the amount of space between the lines of characters.
  • Page 32 # # BREAKUP This directive informs CompuFax that this is a breakup file. This directive must occur on the first line of the file, or at least before any text lines. (When checking for this directive, CompuFax stops reading the file when it finds a line that is not a directive.) If you issue a SEND command with multiple files, only one of these files...
  • Page 33: Using The Lookup Feature

    The CompuFax lookup feature does exactly that. Below is a listing of the sample file FAX_DB.DAT, which is shipped with CompuFax 6 : This is a sample FAX_DB data file. Any lines that do not begin with "# " in column 1 are ignored (so this text is ignored).
  • Page 34: Sending Faxes Using Vms Mail

    If you know that there is only one name starting with the letter F, you could even enter: $ FAX SEN D TESTFAX.1 / LOOKUP= F* This would be enough for CompuFax to figure out that you want to send the fax to Fred Smith. 3.10 Broadcasting Faxes...
  • Page 35: Merging From The Command Line

    Here is a sample fax file (MERGE.TXT) we could send: # # MERGE_EN ABLE %%Internal_Address%% %%Salutation%%: Just wanted to say 'Hello.' Let me know how things are going with you. Best, Bill. Let us say, we send this with the following command: $ FAX SEN D MERGE.TXT / LOOKUP= CITY= "Los Angeles"...
  • Page 36: Deferred Sending

    3.13 Deferred Sending You can tell CompuFax to wait until late at night to send a fax, when the phone rates may be lower, or there is less chance of getting a busy signal. We briefly touched on the / AFTER qualifier in the previous chapter, but here it is discussed in more detail.
  • Page 37: Setting Priorities

    Your System Manager may have defined a logo file that you can use for that purpose 8 . The System Manager can configure CompuFax to add the logo to every fax, by default. If the logo is added by default, you can omit it with the / NOLOGO qualifier.
  • Page 38: Other Commands

    Other Commands 4.1 Using Command Files You can use command files with CompuFax. This can be very useful for routine work or large tasks. Command files can reduce the possibility of errors. For example, let us say we create a command file, REPORT_SEND.COM, which is to send the same weekly...
  • Page 39: The Verify Command

    Next week, you can just create a new version of the REPORT.TXT file and then use the same command file again to send the next weekly report. Instead of a DCL command file, you can create a CompuFax command file, say REPORT_SEND.FAX_CMD, which you can execute from the FAX> prompt: SHOW QUEUE SEN D REPORT.TXT / N UMBER= 1-213-428-5253...
  • Page 40: The Delete Command

    The DELETE command lets you delete queue entries that are waiting to be sent, or even while in the process of being transmitted. For example: $ FAX SHOW QUEUE CompuFax queue report as of 30-MAY-1995 13:34:41.69 0 FAX server queue entries CompuFax queue report as of 30-MAY-1995 13:34:44.00 Conversion queue:...
  • Page 41: Keeping Track Of What You Did

    This records the commands you type into file TEST.LOG within your current directory. If after this you issue a new LOG_OUTPUT command, the first file will be closed and a new one opened. This concludes the Tutorial portion of this manual. For a complete listing of CompuFax commands, see Chapter 7.
  • Page 42: Receive To Disk

    An HP LaserJet or equivalent printer is required to print T4 files. 5.2 Receiving Faxes The Class 2 modem, used with CompuFax to send faxes, can also be used to receive faxes. This requires that the Receive license option be activated and the DEVICE options in the FAX.OPTIONS file must include / RECEIVE.
  • Page 43: Printing Faxes

    CompuFax may be set up to print received faxes automatically and then delete them. This is the recommended procedure for sites where this will not cause security or distribution difficulties, as this gives reasonable assurances that available disk space will not be exceeded.
  • Page 44 to set / NOBEST_WAY, in which case the compression method specified by the / MODEL qualifier will always be used. The / [NO]BURST qualifier specifies whether a burst page is printed before the first page of the file. Defaults to / NOBURST. See VMS System Manager documentation on managing queues for more information on burst pages.
  • Page 45: Fax Printer Setup

    The / [NO]RECEIVE qualifier defines whether or not faxes are printed automatically upon receipt. The received fax is in T4 format and CompuFax creates a PCL format print file for the printer currently supported. After printing, the PCL file is automatically deleted. To prevent deletion of the T4 file after conversion to PCL, specify the / NODELETE option.
  • Page 46: Verifying Printer Options

    5.4 View ing Faxes Instead of printing every received fax, the CompuFax VIEW command may be used to view a received fax or other T4 file. However, since T4 files are graphics files, they cannot be displayed on terminals that are only capable of displaying text.
  • Page 47: The View Command

    5.4.1 The VIEW c om m and The CompuFax VIEW command options are explained in detail in Chapter 6. However, here are some examples: $ FAX VIEW FAX$REC_DIR:RADA80AD_1_8182485253.T4 / DOWN SCALE= 3 / MODE= 257 The above example displays a received T4 file, scaled down by a factor of 3 (it displays every third dot in the fax file, both vertically and horizontally.) Since there are 1728 dots across the width of a received fax page and...
  • Page 48: Converting Fax Files

    $ FAX SET PRIN TER / RECEIVE / N ODELETE / N OTIFY 2. Using a regular fax machine, transmit the document you want to receive by dialing the CompuFax modem number selected for receiving faxes. Preferably, send it at high resolution.
  • Page 49: Examples

    FAX or T4 PRIN TER or TEXT POSTSCRIPT and PS are synonyms. FAX and T4 are also synonyms, as are PRINTER and TEXT. Printer format is the normal default for ASCII files. PCL (Printer Control Language) is valid only for the output file, while PostScript format is only valid for the input file.
  • Page 50 For example: $ FAX CON VERT IN .X / PRIN T %DCPS-I-JOBSTART, Job IN (queue SYS$FAX, entry 3) started on SYS$FAX $ COPY IN .PCL OUT.PCL Job IN (queue SYS$FAX, entry 3) completed This is the preferred method, since the / FORMAT= PCL option produces a generic PCL file, without any data compression and an unscaled image.
  • Page 51: The Personal Computer Interface

    The PCs that are to make use of the CompuFax PC Interface must be given read/ write access to the PCIF directory (logical name FAX$PC_DIR) on the VMS machine running the CompuFax Full Device Server.
  • Page 52: Postscript Driver Initialization

    Interface will result in fax data files being written to the root directory of drive C:, and remaining there until you delete them.) 4. Verify that the PC Interface program executes by double clicking on the CompuFax icon. This should bring up the CompuFax--- Destination window. Click on the Cancel button to exit, then proceed to the PostScript Driver Initialization procedure below.
  • Page 53: Adding A Printer Driver

    PostScript driver, so it will operate correctly with the CompuFax PC Interface. Both Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 come with PostScript printer drivers, although the driver may need to be loaded from a Windows system diskette or CD-ROM. The procedure given here is for Windows 95. For Windows 3.1, see the section below, entitled Windows 3.1 PostScript Driver Initialization.
  • Page 54: Adding A Port Name

    6.4 Using the PC Interface The CompuFax PC Interface software allows users to send faxes from PCs that are networked to a CompuFax Full Device Server, which takes care of the fax transmissions. Thus, those PCs do not require fax modems.
  • Page 55: Features

    To send a fax, you need to tell the computer two things: what to send and where to send it. The purpose of the CompuFax PC Interface is to obtain that information from the user and to route it to the server, which then takes care of transmitting the fax to its final destination.
  • Page 56: Help Screens

    6.4.5 Help Sc reens As shown on the Destination screen, you can bring up a Help screen from any of the PC Interface main screens, simply by pressing the F1 key. From each Help screen, you can move to another screen by clicking on a Hypertext Link (usually shown in green underscored text).
  • Page 57: Editing An Entry

    6.4.6.6 Edit ing an Ent ry You can edit an entry by selecting it and then clicking on the < Back button. This takes you back to the Destination screen, where you can make your changes. From there, click on the Next> button to use the edited entry without saving it, or click on the Add to List button to also save it.
  • Page 58: When To Send

    To keep you informed, a notification window will show for each recipient, after file conversion is complete. Click on the OK button to acknowledge it < Back Allows you to go back to the previous screen Cancel Takes you right out of the CompuFax PC Interface program. 6.5 Set up The CompuFax PC Interface initialization file, COMPUFAX.INI, contains important information that affects...
  • Page 59: Server] Path

    Layout2= A Fax For You-Italic Layout3= Urgent-Helvetica Layout4= Confidential-Courier [Files] 01= c:\ compufax\ schedule.wps 02= c:\ compufax\ supplier.doc 6.5.1[Server] Pat h The path to the server's PCIF directory User The VMS login name for the PC's user ID The initials of the user, or other unique 3-character code.
  • Page 60: Files]

    If you frequently send a fax to the same person, you may want that person's name and fax number to show automatically in the Destination screen whenever you run the CompuFax PC Interface. To do this, first make sure the file CFLOOKUP.DAT exists. If the Lookup screen shows more than one entry, it exists. If it does not exist, clicking on the Add to List button from the Destination screen will create it.
  • Page 61: Frequently Used Files

    Below is a listing of the CFCOVER1.CFG file, with explanations following. The other three configuration files are similar, though different. # # CFCOVER1.CFG -- Sample Coversheet Configuration file for CompuFax # # PC Interface. # # IN CLUDE_FILE CFCOVER.IN C % Contains PostScript information.
  • Page 62: Sample File Explained

    The # # NOREPLACE turns off the substitution at that line. The # # NOTE command tells the CompuFax PC Interface program to include the Note (from the Coversheet Information screen) at this point. The WriteVariableInfo and showpage commands take care of creating a properly formatted coversheet file in PostScript format, which can be processed by the server.
  • Page 63 Next follows the Named Constants section, which is of greater interest. Note that the page dimensions are given as 11 inches high by 8.5 inches wide. If you use a different paper format, such as A4, you may wish to change these to your format, but corresponding changes will also need to be made in the server setup.
  • Page 64: Summary Of Commands And Directives

    Summary of Commands and Directives This chapter is an alphabetical listing of CompuFax commands and directives, as given in the CompuFax Help facility. 7.1 Commands CON VERT Format: CONVERT infile [/ FORMAT] [outfile] [/ qualifiers...] Description: Converts from one file format to another or changes the layout of a file. Valid input file formats are text, PostScript, and T4;...
  • Page 65 Description: Specifies the amount of white space between the left edge of the document and the bitmapped image in the outfile. This is measured in dots, or as specified by the / UNIT qualifier. If a negative left margin is specified, this means the image will be shifted left instead of right and serves to crop the image. Decimal fractions are allowed.
  • Page 66 Displays the CompuFax help file. The logical name FAX$HELP must be defined as the library containing this help file. JNL2ASCII is a program included with CompuFax which reformats the journal file into as ASCII format which may be easier to process from most application programs. The journal file is a machine-readable file which is kept of all FAX completions.
  • Page 67 The first command parameter is the name of the input file. This must be a journal file which was created by CompuFax. While it can be changed by the system manager the default journal file name is FAX$DIR:FAX_JOU.DAT. The logical name FAX$JOURNAL gives the name actually in use by CompuFax.
  • Page 68 Format: / DELETE / NODELETE Description: Specifies whether the T4 file is to be deleted after printing. This qualifier overrides the default setting for the deletion of received files (see SET PRINTER and SHOW PRINTER commands.) If this qualifier is omitted, the default setting is used. Description: It is recommended you always use PRINT / NODELETE, unless you specifically wish to delete the file.
  • Page 69 / NOLOGO qualifier will prevent the logo from being sent with the outgoing fax. The default is / LOGO which causes the logo file to be included in the outgoing fax, provided CompuFax has been set up to do so.
  • Page 70 Description: This qualifier forces or suppresses the sending of MAIL messages on fax completion. If / MAIL is specified, MAIL notification will always be given the user on FAX completion. If / NOMAIL is specified, MAIL notification will never be given the user on fax completion. If a username is specified in / MAIL = username then mail notification will be given on completion but it will be sent to the specified username rather than to the username of the process which originated the FAX.
  • Page 71 Format: / PORTRAIT (D) Description: Specifies that the current document is to be sent without any rotation sideways. / LANDSCAPE and / PORTRAIT apply only to printer format (ASCII) files. This qualifier is ignored for other file types. This qualifier is positional: if it occurs before the name of the first file to be sent, it applies to all the files to be sent with this SEND command;...
  • Page 72 / N ORECEIVE / RESOLUTION / SPEED / SPEED2 In order to use the following qualifiers the device must be taken off line (STOP/ DEVICE) first: / CLASS / CSI / DEVICE_TYPE / IN ITIALIZATION _STRIN G / RECEIVE / N ORECEIVE / SPEED / SPEED2 SET JOURN AL Description:...
  • Page 73 Control Language) type printers, such as the HP LaserJet 4 series, are supported. The initial setup is done at CompuFax startup time and may be modified in the options file, with the PRINTER command. The SHOW PRINTER command may be used to verify the current printer setting. The SET PRINTER command requires OPER privilege.
  • Page 74 1 = Run Length Encoding 0 = N o Compression If the / BEST_WAY qualifier is also enabled, the actual method used may vary between zero and the number selected above. / N OTE Format: / NOTE= "string" Description: Specifies a message string of up to 131 characters, which will print at the top of the flag page, provided the / FLAG qualifier has been enabled.
  • Page 75 / SIZE Format: / SIZE= LETTER (D) / SIZE= LEGAL / SIZE= A4 / SIZE= EXECUTIVE Description: This qualifier determines the maximum dimensions of a printed image. A quarter inch border is required by the printer, which leaves a printable area of 8" x 10.5" for letter size paper, 8" x 13.5" for legal size, about 197 mm x 284 mm for A4 size and 6.75"...
  • Page 76 Format: / CONVERSION (D) / NOCONVERSION Description: This qualifier controls the display of the queue of entries which are waiting for the conversion of one or more of the files involved in the FAX. When a FAX containing one or more PostScript files is sent the files must first be converted to PostScript format.
  • Page 77 Format: / USERNAME= (username [,...]) Description: This qualifier causes the report to be filtered by username. Only those entries which were originated by one of the specified usernames will be displayed. The specified usernames may contain the wildcard characters "*" and "%". Up to 4 usernames may be specified in the list. SHOW PRIN TER Description: Shows the current printer settings, which may be altered using the SET PRINTER...
  • Page 78 Description: This qualifier is used to delete one or more entries from the queue. The entry number is the number from a SHOW ENTRY report. Up to 32 entry numbers may be specified. OPER or WORLD privileges are required to dequeue entries for other than the current username. Note: STOP/ ENTRY and DELETE/ ENTRY are synonyms and are identical in function.
  • Page 79: Directives

    Description: Directs display output to a file instead of to the screen. The created file can later be displayed on a suitable terminal, using the DCL TYPE command. / PAGE Format: / PAGE= nnn Description: Specifies the height (length) of the displayed image, which is measured in dots, or as specified by the / UNIT qualifier.
  • Page 80 Description: Specifies that the current file is to be a Breakup file, which means that selected portions of the file are to be treated as though they were separate files, which may have different fax phone numbers. This directive must occur in the file, prior to any non-directive text lines. See also # # NEWFAX and # # ENDFAX directives.
  • Page 81: Mail-Merge Directives

    Includes a comment in the file. Note that # # REMARK is functionally equivalent to # # !. 7.2.2 Mail-Merge Direc t ives CompuFax has a facility to do automatic replacement of portions of text in a document with text taken from the database. This replacement operation is known as mail-merge or text substitution. Control strings which the user has embedded in a document are replaced at the time the document is sent.
  • Page 82 ending delimiter. Trailing spaces and multiple imbedded spaces are removed from field names. If the end of a line is encountered before the field name ending delimiter, the name is ended at the end of the line. Special directives are included to allow control of mail-merge functions. These directives allow the field name delimiters to be changed and allow text substitution to be disabled or enabled.
  • Page 83: Compufax Files And Logical Names

    This is the main CompuFax directory, which is created when you install CompuFax. PS.DIR This is a directory, used by the PostScript portion of the CompuFax converter. This directory is referred to by CompuFax with the FAX$PS_DIR logical name. It contains four files: FONTMAP., GS_FONTS.PS, GS_INIT.PS and GS_STATD.PS.
  • Page 84 Whenever the number of fax devices (modems) is changed this file needs to be deleted after CompuFax is shut down. A new queue will then be created automatically when CompuFax is started up again. (See also SQTEST.EXE.) FAX_CMD.C...
  • Page 85 This command file checks periodically to make sure the CompuFax Server process is running and that all devices are on line. It sends VMS MAIL messages about any CompuFax process that is not running and attempts to restart it. See the contents of this file on how to use it.
  • Page 86 This file is used by the PostScript converter. It resides in the FAX$PS_DIR directory. GIRL.PS A sample graphics file in PostScript format. May be used to test the CompuFax PostScript converter. GIRL.T4 A sample graphics file in T4 (fax) format. May be used to send test faxes.
  • Page 87: Compufax Logical Names

    FAX$HEADER_FON T The CompuFax header font file. This is the font file used for the line at the very top of the fax documents you send and which contains identifying information on who sent it, date of transmission, etc. Defaults to FAX$DIR:STDFONT.FNT.
  • Page 88 CompuFax Full Device Server start-up information. Defaults FAX$DIR:FAX.OPTIONS. FAX$PS_DIR The subdirectory where certain files used by the PostScript converter are stored. Defaults to FAX$DIR:[PS]. FAX$QUEUE The static queue file. Defaults to FAX$DIR:FAX.QUEUE. FAX$REC_DIR The receive directory where received files are stored. Defaults to FAX$DIR:[REC].
  • Page 89: Compufax Messages

    Warning A minor failure has occurred in attempting to perform an action. This was not serious, but the user should be informed of the problem. Error A more severe message, such as CompuFax tried three times to send a fax, but failed each...
  • Page 90: Message Routing

    9.1.3 Message Rout ing Since your fax documents are queued and not always sent right away, the majority of CompuFax messages are not sent back to your terminal, because you may not be logged in to the system at the time the error occurs.
  • Page 91 Any internal context in the database application should be closed. CMDREADERR Message: %FAX-F-CMDREADERR, Command mailbox read Description: This message indicates the CompuFax server has had an unexpected interface error. User action: Any information available about the circumstances should be reported to NDC product support. DBEN TID...
  • Page 92 Message: %FAX-I-DEVMOD, Device xxxx modified by user yyyy Description: Device has been modified by user User action: None. DEVON LIN E Message: %FAX-F-DEVONLINE, Device must be offline (STOP/ DEVICE) for requested action Description: Device must be offline to allow requested action. User action: Issue a STOP/ DEVICE command.
  • Page 93 Message: %FAX-I-ENTRYID, Queue entry ID nn Description: This message is appended to other messages to specify the queue entry ID the message applies to. User action: As specified for the remainder of the message. FAULTN AME Message: %FAX-I-FAULTNAME, Fault identifier xxxx Description: Gives fault identifier.
  • Page 94 %FAX-E-ILLSERREQ, Illegal server request nn ignored Description: Indicates the server received an invalid request. User action: Check that all elements of the CompuFax system are the same release version. Otherwise, contact NDC product support. ILLSQUEUE Message: %SQ-F-ILLSQUEUE, Static queue index out of range 0 to nn: nn Description: This indicates an internal error in the server.
  • Page 95 IVDEVIN D Message: %FAX-W-IVDEVIND, Invalid device index nn ignored Description: An out of range device index was specified. User action: Device indices are in the range 1 to the number of fax devices supported. Use a number in this range. IN VEN TRY Message: %FAX-W-INVENTRY, Invalid entry ID nn ignored...
  • Page 96 A CompuFax program has attempted to allocate memory and has failed. User action: Check that the process quotas in the CompuFax startup files have not been altered. The / PAGE_FILE= value may need to be increased. Check the value of the SYSGEN parameter VIRTUALPAGECNT.
  • Page 97 had been previously saved. User action: See the documentation on the FDB routines for a description of streams and contexts. N ODEVICE Message: %FAX-F-NODEVICE, No fax device in options file Description: The server options file did not contain a valid device specification. User action: Check the server options file.
  • Page 98 Indicates normal successful completion. User action: None. N OSERV Message: %FAX-F-NOSERV, Cannot establish server link. Ensure CompuFax system up on this node. Description: The command processor was unable to establish a link with the server. User action: Check the server is running.
  • Page 99 Message: %FDB-F-NOSTREAM, Specified database stream not open Description: An attempt was made to reference a database stream that is not currently open. User action: The database application should close out any internal context associated with the stream. N OTIN QUEUE Message: %FAX-W-NOTINQUEUE, Entry nn not in queue Description:...
  • Page 100 Edit the options file (FAX$OPTIONS) to increase the queue size. Shut down the CompuFax system, delete the file FAX$QUEUE and restart the system. All existing queue entries are lost when the queue file is deleted. Therefore, it is recommended to wait until existing queue entries have been transmitted.
  • Page 101 Description: Indicates the CompuFax server has successfully initialized and is running. User action: None. SHUTDOWN Message: %FAX-I-SHUTDOWN, CompuFax system shut down by user xxxx Description: CompuFax shut down by user. User action: None. STATS Message: %FAX-I-STATS, Database responses: nn, Number sent: nn, Number failed: nn Description: Database responses as shown.
  • Page 102: Programming Information

    This allows the user to easily interface to their existing database without the necessity of maintaining a separate database for CompuFax. It is also possible to allow each user to have his own database. It is not necessary that the database application respond to requests in the order that they are received. It is up to the implementor whether to respond to requests one at a time or to implement processing that may complete a later request before an earlier one.
  • Page 103: Using The Fdb Routines

    The format and use of the lookup key is left entirely up to the database application. It is passed from the source (command processor or document file) directly to the database. A concept used in the CompuFax system for database lookup is a database lookup request stream.
  • Page 104: Compufax Database Function Library

    8. Wait for another request using FDB_GET. 9. When no more matches exist for a particular key, either use FDB_NOMATCH or FDB_CLOSE to return this status to the requestor. 10.1.3 Com puFax Dat abase Func t ion Library 10.1.3.1 FDB_CLOSE This function closes a database stream.
  • Page 105 [, username] [, priority] [, status] [, astrtn] [, astprm] Arguments name: stream_id type: longword signed access: write only mechanism: by reference On completion, this contains the database stream identifier for the received request. name: lookup_key type: charactercoded text string access: write only mechanism: by descriptor: fixed length string descriptor.
  • Page 106: Fdb_Get_Context

    This is the address of an optional AST procedure to execute when a request is received. If this parameter is not passed or is passed as zero, FDB_GET operates synchronously. Therefore it does not return until a request is received. If an AST routine is passed, FDB_GET returns as soon as the operation is begun and the AST is delivered when a request is received.
  • Page 107: Fdb_Init

    This parameter gives the address of the context data area in the user program that is to receive the saved user context. The contents of this area are completely user defined. name: max_size type: word unsigned access: read only mechanism: by reference This gives the maximum size of the user context.
  • Page 108: Fdb_Nomatch

    The effect of setting this parameter FALSE will be that any active lookups will be started from the beginning each time the database is restarted. If it is set TRUE, the context of streams will be saved but the user code must be capable of resuming interrupted streams.
  • Page 109: Fdb_Scan

    This parameter gives the address of the context data area in the user program. The contents of this area are completely user defined. name: size type: word unsigned access: read only mechanism: by reference The size in bytes of the user context. This specifies the amount of data to save from the user's programs. Return Value: FDB$_N ORMAL N ormal successful completion FDB$_N OSTREAM If the specified stream is not open...
  • Page 110: Fdb_Send_Data

    10.1.3.9 FDB_SEND_DATA This routine is used to send to the requestor a message that has been built with the fdb_set_* functions. If the status returned is a success, then at least the phone number must have been set. The message is deallocated after being sent.
  • Page 111: Fdb_Set_Match

    mechanism: by descriptorfixed length string descriptor This is the field name. This name is compared with the field name the sender has embedded in the document and if there is a match the field value is inserted in the document. name: fieldvalue type: charactercoded text string access: read only...
  • Page 112: Fdb_Set_Status

    This is the message object that was previously allocated with fdb_start_msg. name: phone number type: charactercoded text string access: read only mechanism: by descriptorfixed length string descriptor The value of the phone number for this database record. 10.1.3.13 FDB_SET_STATUS Used to set the value of the lookup status in a message that was previously allocated with fdb_start_msg. Use of this function is optional.
  • Page 113: Testdb.exe

    This program is provided in executable form and is an interactive program which would be run from a terminal. This program should not be run while the CompuFax server is up. It simulates some of the activities of the server and can confuse normal operations.
  • Page 114: The Compufax Callable Interface

    This is the main entry point for the CompuFax system command processing routine in the CompuFax shareable image. It provides a callable interface to the CompuFax system which may be used by user applications. All capabilities of the command processor are available through this interface.
  • Page 115: Fax_Cmd_Set_Input

    Use of this procedure is optional, a default procedure is provided which will prompt SYS$INPUT for input. Note that the CompuFax @filename command is processed by this input routine, so if you substitute an input routine it must be capable of processing .@. if you want this feature. Note that in order for the @filename FAX command to work properly, the default input procedure should be used.
  • Page 116: Fax_Cmd_Set_User

    Calling Sequence: FAX_CMD_SET_OUTPUT [output_proc] Arguments name: output_proc type: entry mask access: call mechanism: by reference This routine will be established as the output procedure for FAX_CMD_OUTPUT. All output will be displayed via this procedure. The calling sequence of this procedure should be the same as LIB$PUT_OUTPUT.
  • Page 117: Linking Modules

    The user application would link with a linker options file specifying the command processor as a shareable image. The following is an example: $ LIN K MYPROG, SYS$IN PUT/ OPT sys$library:fax_cmd_share/ share The following source code modules have been provided with CompuFax as examples on how to use the CompuFax database interface: DB_CON D_KEY.C DB_GET_DIR.C DB_MAIN .C...
  • Page 119: Release 3.1.00 Changes

    A.2 Release 3.0.01 Changes 1. Cluster/ Network Support. CompuFax now supports the use of one or more nodes as FAX servers with users on other nodes able to send FAXes without the need to have FAX hardware attached to their node.
  • Page 120: Known Problems

    3. File Breakup. Many users have software that generates large text files, such as financial reports, which then need to be broken into smaller units and faxed to different destinations. CompuFax now has a File Breakup feature that makes this simple to do through embedded file directives.
  • Page 121: Release 2.2.00 Changes

    The MultiTech MT224BAIF (International), the MT224BAF (domestic), MT1932ZDX (cheapest domestic) have been tested in house and are known to work with CompuFax. Users have reported all the MultiTech Fax modems have worked with CompuFax. A few other Class 2 modems have been reported to work.
  • Page 122 2. The install procedure now asks for the disk to install CompuFax on. This should be a disk that is mounted and available during system startup. 3. A journal file of all faxes sent may now be generated by CompuFax. This file is a machine-readable file which may be used to generate cost and other types of reports.
  • Page 123: Release 1.2.04 Changes

    2. The time of original issue and the time of the last send attempt have been added to the SHOW QUEUE/ FULL display. 3. Log file entries are now made when the CompuFax system or an individual device is shut down. Log entries are also made when a FAX device is started.
  • Page 124 1 0 0...
  • Page 125: Glossary

    A program that accepts commands one at a time and processes them. In the case of CompuFax, this refers to a program which allows documents to be sent and allows the system status to be queried and controlled. This is the program that is invoked by the FAX command.
  • Page 126 The first page of a fax, which commonly contains a company logo and miscellaneous information, such as the name of the addressee and the sender, company name, a page count, etc. With CompuFax, you can send a fax with or without coversheet or, if the message is brief, you can send only a coversheet, with your message printed on it.
  • Page 127 FAX% and the destination phone number that follows it.) FAX> The prompt that is displayed when you type FAX and press return. This prompt tells you that the CompuFax command processor is running. This is also known as the CompuFax command line.
  • Page 128 HELP The command to type when you need online assistance. image A picture. In CompuFax, especially a picture as it appears on a fax or on the screen of a computer terminal. See also bitmap. include-file A text file that contains programming information and that is to be included in one or more programs.
  • Page 129 (""). overlay In image that is placed over another image, such that the two images merge into one. The CompuFax overlay feature permits faxing of invoices and other documents on the proper forms. An acronym for Printer Control Language, a printing language similar to PostScript, used on Hewlett Packard LaserJet printers.
  • Page 130 The central point of the CompuFax system. It is normally started when the computer system is started and must be running for CompuFax to be used. severity level Part of a CompuFax or system message, which indicates the severity of an error, such as I for Informational, or F for Fatal. soft font file A type of file used by CompuFax and certain types of printers, such as Hewlett Packard LaserJet, which provides the font which is to be used in converting text into a bitmapped image.
  • Page 131 A state, shown as a result of a SHOW QUEUE command, which indicates that a fax is in the process of being transmitted. A double pound sign is used before a file directive to let CompuFax know that the word following it has special meaning.
  • Page 132 1 0 8...
  • Page 133 Please feel free to report any other difficulties encountered with this product to: Product Support Manager Networking Dynamics Corporation 101 North Garden Avenue, Suite 220 Clearwater, Florida 33755 Phone: Fax: E-mail: www.networkingdynamics.com (727) 446-4511 (800) 275-6321 (727) 446-4252 support@networkingdynamics.com 1 0 9...