Miscellaneous functionalities

TBT400's miscellaneous functionalities :
Scheduler

TBT400 has an integrated scheduler allowing :

  • the transmission of files
  • the emptying out of mail-boxes
  • the eventual submission of jobs.

This scheduler has the basic understanding of repetition, frequency, time span, working days, and the processing of Bank Holidays, it is in fact far more efficient (within its own scope of usage) than the OS/400 'job scheduler'. It can, for example, in a single instruction process the following case:- empty my ATLAS mailbox every hour between the hours of seven o’clock and six o’clock in the evening every working day. It does not pretend to substitute itself as a operational robot, but to compensate for its absence.

It is available for all protocols supported by TBT400

Archiving

TBT400 archives all files received, as well as, as an option, all files transmitted.

Events (transmissions or receptions) are also archived. In supervision mode, it is possible to display the list, and to directly access the file objects by function key.

Automatic purge

TBT400 has an automatic purge allowing

  • to clear the history files
  • to remove the archived files
  • to clean up the various OS/400 components (messages queues, output queues).

This purge, entirely parameterized, is effected as a background task with a low priority so as not to penalise the system. There is therefore no need to stop the subsystem, therefore increasing the system availability.

Dynamic menu management

Menus are managed dynamically according to the user and the different options used by your company, and therefore some choices may be blank.

The menus, consistent with the different Networks/Protocols functionalities used by your company and available on your platform TBT400, provides the management of your communications and your correspondents via the directory or without the support of the directory.

These menus provide pre-formatted screens to the characteristics of the network of your choice so as to provide a easy means of transferring your files or messages.

Online help

Of course, whatever the functionality you use, a contextual and conceptual on-line help is provided in order to respond to your different questions.

These are available via the menus, or via commands. Hyper-text type relationships are also defined, providing easy search and learning facilities.

Integrated editor

TBT400 has an integrated editor, similar to PDM, providing for message input and modification.

Automated installation

TBT400 has a procedure which ensures that the installation is effected in a minimum amount of time (less than an hour).

User functions

TBT400 has a subset of functions directly accessible by the’ end user’:

  • a ‘local’ directory
  • input and transmission of messages
  • local supervision
Flags

In the various protocols used, certain elements necessary for the processing of a file are absent (for example record length for an ATLAS transfer, text mode for an Odette transfer, etc...). As a standard, TBT400 searches for these various elements within its parameters. A capability exists however, in all protocols, to define a flag contained in a field of the envelope and defining these unknown elements.

This allows, providing the sender collaborates, to introduce the notion of record length when the network does not have this notion (in the case of ATLAS for example), the notion of text mode (in the case of Odette), the notion of the write mode for the file received (research CR/LF), or the notion of file type (source file, physical file....).

TBT400 can equally generate this flag automatically (which pre-supposes the existence of a TBT400 on the other site).

Examples of the application

  • to receive files of any record length, length not stated by the protocol, without having to classify all cases in advance .
  • to receive 'Save files' via a 'continuous flow' network (ATLAS for example).