Networking Dynamics Corporation CompuFax User Manual Download

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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

Summary of Contents for CompuFax

Page 1: ...N G D YN AM I CS CO R P O R AT 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 networking...

Page 2: ...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 Corpo...

Page 3: ...g from NDC 4 2 You may not copy the licensed software or its documentation except for backup purposes or to load the licensed software into the computer as part of installation or execution of the pro...

Page 4: ...7 SUPPORT AN D UPDATE POLICY 7 1The purchase price includes ninety 90 days of software support available by letter FAX or telephone during business hours Monday through Friday 8 30am to 4 30pm Easter...

Page 5: ...AX 2 Answer these VMSINSTAL questions as shown below Is this node a FAX Full Device Server node Y N Y Yes Remote Server on same disk Y N N No Do you want to purge files replaced by this installation Y...

Page 6: ...x 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...

Page 7: ...f using MultiSessions with original hotkeys NCP EXIT These commands maynot applyto your server If theydo not set up the port the same way you would set up a printer port B SETTING UP DIRECT CONNECT LI...

Page 8: ......

Page 9: ...ich are then transmitted as individual documents Documents are queued and may be scheduled for later transmission Documents may be assigned different priorities and will be transmitted in priority ord...

Page 10: ...ty usefulness accuracy completeness and aesthetics Chapter One contains installation instructions Chapters Two through Four are a tutorial on how to use CompuFax Chapter Five covers Receive to Disk an...

Page 11: ...X 8 2 4 CHECKING IF YOUR FAX WAS SENT 8 2 4 1 An Even Simpler Way to Send 9 2 5 EMBEDDING FAX NUMBERS INTO DOCUMENTS 9 2 6 PRINTING TO THE FAX DEVICE 9 2 7 SENDING FAXES USING VMS MAIL 10 2 7 1 Using...

Page 12: ...ding a Port Name 30 6 3 3 Windows 3 1 PostScript Driver Initialization 30 6 3 4 Disclaimer 30 6 4 USING THE PC INTERFACE 30 6 4 1 Requirements 30 6 4 2 Features 31 6 4 3 Sending a Fax 31 6 4 4 The Des...

Page 13: ...ROGRAMMING INFORMATION 78 CompuFax provides two facilities to customize its user interface 78 Database Interface 78 Callable Command Interface 78 10 1 USER WRITTEN DATABASE APPLICATIONS 78 10 1 1 Work...

Page 14: ...MD_FORCE_EXIT 92 10 2 1 7 Linking Modules 93 APPENDIX A 95 A 1 RELEASE 3 1 00 CHANGES 95 A 2 RELEASE 3 0 01 CHANGES 95 A 3 KNOWN PROBLEMS 96 A 4 RELEASE 2 2 00 CHANGES 97 A 5 RELEASE 2 1 00 CHANGES 97...

Page 15: ...In addition it is necessary to distinguish VAX from Alpha AXP systems when loading CompuFax software as their executable files are unique although functionally the same Typically systems capable of h...

Page 16: ...the same whether the modem device is connected to a DEC server or to a direct connect port TX TT etc Use the examples shown here as the proper setting of the port characteristics SHOW TERMINAL Termin...

Page 17: ...k moved to the designated systems and then installed from disk For multiple systems follow the steps listed here Create a temporary target directory in which to load the files CompuFax Installation 1...

Page 18: ...ES 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 th...

Page 19: ...N 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...

Page 20: ...rtup 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 FAX DIR FAX_REMSTART Inv...

Page 21: ...W QUEUE command Here is an example FAX SHOW QUEUE CompuFax queue report as of 27 JUN 1994 12 51 58 11 0 FAX server queue entries If you do not get this type of display contact your System Manager as C...

Page 22: ...n into a queue until the fax can be sent The document may not be sent right away depending on several factors For example another user may be busy sending or the recipient s phone line may be busy The...

Page 23: ...hone 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 t...

Page 24: ...st Fax Held Until Next Day MAIL The AFTER TOMORROW qualifier tells CompuFax to hold the fax and not send it until the following day 2 7 2 Embedding Numbers in VMS Mail It is not necessary to enter the...

Page 25: ...asically teach yourself CompuFax by studying the Help text From the DCL command line you can enter FAX HELP A Help screen displays from which you can then select a topic to study The CompuFax Help tex...

Page 26: ...2 The next chapter gives further information on how faxes may be sent...

Page 27: ...c 4 doc 5 NUMBER 1 555 123 4567 These files are joined together concatenated to make up a single document For example if each of the above five files contains ten lines of text the final document will...

Page 28: ...tmapped files are much bigger than text files and therefore take longer to transmit various compression methods have been devised to reduce the file size The compression method used by fax modems is c...

Page 29: ...you get about ten characters per inch so a landscaped page allows for about 105 characters per line as opposed to about 80 with portrait orientation If you need more than 105 characters per line you...

Page 30: ...d other similar information There are no fixed rules about what goes into a coversheet but the above are pretty common Coversheets are often overlaid with some kind of image such as a box around the t...

Page 31: ...not actually give the size of the characters but the amount of space between the lines of characters In this case the lines of text are set a little over half an inch apart The horizontal spacing of...

Page 32: ...ommand with multiple files only one of these files can be a breakup file NEWFAX Each section of the breakup file that is to be sent starts with this directive When CompuFax encounters this directive i...

Page 33: ...ctly 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 i...

Page 34: ...AX SEND 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 What if you want to send the same fax to everybody in you...

Page 35: ...ed to say Hello Let me know how things are going with you Best Bill Please note the MERGE_ENABLE directive in the MERGE TXT file This is to ensure that the merge feature is enabled 3 12 Merging From T...

Page 36: ...have another fax to be sent on April 12th 1996 at 30 seconds past 2 15 am 3 14 Deleting Entries After Sending For the times when you do not want to save the files you have faxed you have the option o...

Page 37: ...time you must either have a colon between the date and time or if you use a space instead you must use quotes For example AFTER 12 FEB 1996 12 15 or AFTER 12 FEB 1996 12 15 Device TTA1 Class 2 index...

Page 38: ...he same weekly report to three different locations FAX SHOW QUEUE FAX SEND REPORT TXT NUMBER 1 213 428 5253 FAX SEND REPORT TXT NUMBER 1 512 953 2605 FAX SEND REPORT TXT NUMBER 1 805 206 9210 FAX SHOW...

Page 39: ...ORT TXT NUMBER 1 512 953 2605 SEND REPORT TXT NUMBER 1 805 206 9210 SHOW QUEUE See the following section for a usage example 4 2 The VERIFY Command The VERIFY command makes it possible to display the...

Page 40: ...fax document to multiple destinations by using a database lookup with wildcard the ALL option will delete the original queue entry plus any of the queue entries resulting from the lookup provided you...

Page 41: ...G_OUTPUT TEST LOG 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 opene...

Page 42: ...option be activated and the DEVICE options in the FAX OPTIONS file must include RECEIVE If you have CompuFax already running you can check if you are licensed for Receive by issuing a FAX SHOW LICENS...

Page 43: ...xplanation for that qualifier below Printer options may be set in the FAX OPTIONS file using the PRINTER command These options are activated at CompuFax startup Printer options may also be specified f...

Page 44: ...pe orientation When this qualifier is specified this forces the printer to rotate the image through 90 degrees This operation takes place internally in the printer and therefore does not require any a...

Page 45: ...D setting for an individual fax by using the SEND command with the new NO PRINT qualifier The NO SHEET_FEED qualifier determines whether or not each sheet of paper is to be fed manually Manual paper f...

Page 46: ...page No Print trailer page No Notify when printed Yes Flag page note CompuFax Version 3 2 FAX 5 3 3 The PRINT Command Instead of printing automatically fax files may be printed later using the CompuFa...

Page 47: ...should be processed printed deleted routed etc The MODE 69 does a number of things 69 64 4 1 In addition to the graphics display 1 of the header line this command also displays the date and time the f...

Page 48: ...S TOP 0 25 PAGE 2 4 PRINT 6 Repeat this procedure adjusting the values as needed until the printed image is as desired and use the latest copy of the output file produced 5 5 1 The CONVERT Command The...

Page 49: ...between the top edge of the document and the bitmapped image This is measured in dots or as specified by the UNIT qualifier If a negative top margin is specified the image will be shifted up instead o...

Page 50: ...od since the FORMAT PCL option produces a generic PCL file without any data compression and an unscaled image Copying the PCL file is necessary since IN PCL is automatically deleted when printing is c...

Page 51: ...2 Installation After the CompuFax Release 4 server software has been installed on VAX or Alpha the FAX PC_DIR directory should contain the following 23 files CFCOVER IN_ CFCOVER1 CF_ CFCOVER2 CF_ CFC...

Page 52: ...responses to the installation procedure Path C COMPUFAX Name of PC directory into which to install the CompuFax PC Interface files Server Path E FAX PCIF Path to Server s PCIF directory Name Michael A...

Page 53: ...own list entitled Postscript output format select Archive format Under PostScript header select Assume header is downloaded and retained Put a check mark in the box entitled Print PostScript error inf...

Page 54: ...iver such as HP LaserJet IIIP PostScript then click on the Install button If the driver was installed earlier a new entry will appear in the Installed Printers box if not you will need to install it f...

Page 55: ...he number from your own personalized phone list Next you will be asked to choose a coversheet or to do without one If you select a coversheet you are given the option to add a note together with a sub...

Page 56: ...en and then click on the Add to List button which will save the new entry to the bottom of the list You will not see the list however as you will go straight to the Coversheet Selection screen You can...

Page 57: ...ultiple recipients for the same fax If you want to change the contents of the Fax To list you can do so by clicking on the Back button and then making the desired adjustments After making the desired...

Page 58: ...a word processed file the PC Interface program invokes the word processor itself to convert the file into PostScript format so you should not try to send a file for a word processor that is not insta...

Page 59: ...ID The initials of the user or other unique 3 character code 6 5 2 Defaults From The user s name as it will appear on coversheets Re The default subject header for coversheets Coversheet The default c...

Page 60: ...AT 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 Now edit the CFLOOKUP DAT file ent...

Page 61: ...mally the System Administrator Before you set out modifying these files you should send yourself some faxes using the original configuration files to get a feel for the page layouts used You should al...

Page 62: ...Info command completes the fixed information section it takes care of placing the preceding information on the page and in the right places The first thing of interest in the Variable Information sect...

Page 63: ...icates the name of the font This may be changed to a different font to change the appearance of the coversheet but make sure the font name is spelled exactly right and that it is a font that will be r...

Page 64: ...otherwise specified If the FORMAT qualifier is not used after the input file name and does not have a T4 or PS file type it is assumed to be text If the output file is specified without FORMAT and doe...

Page 65: ...t and the bitmapped image in the outfile This is measured in dots or as specified by the UNIT qualifier If a negative top margin is specified this means the image will be shifted up instead of down an...

Page 66: ...Remote Fax Server node A Remote Fax Server node is a node which does not have FAX hardware attached but which instead communicates with a node which does have FAX hardware called a Full Device Server...

Page 67: ...ecified as a normal DCL style absolute or relative time The keywords TODAY and YESTERDAY are recognized SINCE and AFTER are synonyms STATUS Format STATUS SUCCESS STATUS FAILURE Description This qualif...

Page 68: ...vice within that class which currently has the fewest entries in its queue The default class if none is specified is 0 COMMENT Format COMMENT text comment Description This qualifier gives a textual co...

Page 69: ...me of the first file to be sent it applies to all the files to be sent with this SEND command otherwise it applies only to the file name that immediately precedes this qualifier LANDSCAPE and PORTRAIT...

Page 70: ...is disabled it is only necessary to convert the files once regardless of how many copies are sent Optional information nam_1 val_1 etc may be appended to the MERGE qualifier where variable names and t...

Page 71: ...ng RESOLUTION Format RESOLUTION FINE RESOLUTION STANDARD Description This command sets the resolution at which the fax is to be sent This overrides the default setting for the device as defined by the...

Page 72: ...the server is restarted ENABLE Description Re enables the journal file after it has been disabled either through the server options file or SET JOURNAL DISABLE NEW Description This qualifier is used t...

Page 73: ...d Values may range from 1 through 99 Default is 1 DELETE Format DELETE D NODELETE Description This qualifier specifies whether a received T4 file is deleted automatically as soon as it has been printe...

Page 74: ...r option it is recommended also to disable the receipt of faxes altogether since received data can soon fill up a disk See the DEVICE command help on how to do this SCALE Format SCALE D NOSCALE Descri...

Page 75: ...scription This command displays the status of one or all fax devices If no value is specified the status of all fax devices is shown Otherwise the specified devices are shown FULL Description Enables...

Page 76: ...hows only the device queue entries DEVICE Format DEVICE n D NODEVICE Description This is used to limit the report to specific fax devices The fax index is that shown on a SHOW DEVICE report If this qu...

Page 77: ...Description This command shuts down the FAX server OPER privilege is required The server shuts down immediately without waiting for in progress documents It is recommended that STOP DEV be used first...

Page 78: ...unless it is scaled down Valid scale factors are 1 through 9 where 1 means no reduction in size and 9 is maximum reduction Note that the quality of the image is reduced when scaled down If this qualif...

Page 79: ...the unit of measure for left margin top margin and page height Fax resolution is 204 dots per inch horizontally and 196 dpi vertically There are 25 4 millimeters per inch and 72 points per inch If the...

Page 80: ...conversion of a text file The font file must be contained in the logical directory FAX FONT_DIR which is normally the same directory as FAX DIR and must have a FNT file extension The FONT directive ex...

Page 81: ...everse if Vert specifies a position above the current position on the page it is ignored REMARK Format REMARK text Description Includes a comment in the file Note that REMARK is functionally equivalen...

Page 82: ...ppears until a MERGE_ENABLE directive The initial state of this option for each document transmitted is set by the system manager when the FAX system is installed MERGE_ENABLE Description This directi...

Page 83: ...contain various temporary files for later conversion and or transmission 8 2 Files Below is an alphabetical list of files that are either shipped with CompuFax or are created when CompuFax is started...

Page 84: ...mpuFax is started It records information about devices faxes sent etc A new copy of this file is created each time CompuFax is started up The message_level option in the FAX OPTIONS file may be change...

Page 85: ...NABLE option in the FAX OPTIONS file or with the CompuFax SET JOURNAL ENABLE command See also ASCJNL COM and FAX_JOURNAL DAT FAX_JOURNAL DAT A journal file in ASCII format which is created when you ru...

Page 86: ...ectory JNL2ASCII EXE This program can be used to convert the information in the journal file FAX JOURNAL into ASCII format See also ASCJNL COM LOGO T4 A sample logo file that may be included at the to...

Page 87: ...X Defined in FAX_SYSTARTUP COM and determines the maximum size in blocks of a single converted file See the comments in that file for a description of that parameter Defaults to 2000 FAX CVT_LOG The l...

Page 88: ...n 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 stor...

Page 89: ...NLINE in the above example The message itself 9 1 1 Facility Codes The facility code describes the type of message FAX General CompuFax messages FDB Database related messages that indicate some proble...

Page 90: ...e NOTIFY qualifier with the SEND command This will inform you by VMS Mail message whether your fax was sent successfully or if it failed it will notify you after the last attempt The minimum severity...

Page 91: ...ormation available about the circumstances should be reported to NDC product support DBENTID Message FAX I DBENTID Parent database queue entry ID nn Description Gives queue entry number for database i...

Page 92: ...e nn Internal code zzzz Device taken offline Description Gives device failure status code Device taken offline User action Find out why device went down DEVSTOP Message FAX I DEVSTOP Device nn stopped...

Page 93: ...fax Description Indicates a document that did not involve a data base lookup could not be sent User action The correctness of the phone number and the state of the remote fax machine should be checked...

Page 94: ...support should be contacted with any information available about the failure INCOMPAT Message FAX E INCOMPAT Incompatible remote FAX Description Remote fax device not Group 3 compatible User action N...

Page 95: ...for User action Contact NDC to increase the number of licensed devices LOGOFAIL Message FAX F LOGOFAIL Error accessing logo file xxxx Description Attempt to open log file failed Log file does not exi...

Page 96: ...icient If a userwritten database is in use also check that memory that is allocated is being de allocated NEWSTREAM Message FDB S NEWSTREAM New database stream Description Used to indicate that a new...

Page 97: ...the CLASS qualifier exists User action Check the classes of the fax devices using the FAX SHOW DEVICE command NOFILE Message FAX W NOFILE Request from user xxxx contains no file Ignored Description Th...

Page 98: ...e FDB W NOREQUEST No lookup request outstanding for stream Description The database application has issued a database response for a stream that does not have a database lookup request outstanding Use...

Page 99: ...sed as shown User action None PRIADJUST Message FAX W PRIADJUST Default priority in options reduced to maximum priority Description The default queue priority in the options file was set greater than...

Page 100: ...eue entry is being requeued for retry The remainder of the message gives the reason User action As documented for the remainder of the message SENDDONE Message FAX I SENDDONE Completed sending fax to...

Page 101: ...ILES Message FAX F TOOMANYFILES Too many filenames Description Indicates that a SEND command specified more than the allowable number of files The maximum number of files allowed on a SEND command is...

Page 102: ...siderations 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...

Page 103: ...ookup Note This could also be the print symbiont VMS Mail interface or a user application using the FAX_CMD routines 2 When the request comes to the top of the queue and the FAX is to be sent the serv...

Page 104: ...MSG This function de allocates a message that was allocated with FDB_START_MSG without sending the message It would be used if an operation is aborted after a message is allocated This function is use...

Page 105: ...type charactercoded text string access write only mechanism by descriptor fixed length string descriptor On completion this will contain the username of the user who queued the document If this param...

Page 106: ...erform any cleanup necessary then call FDB_CLOSE to allow FDB to deallocate internal context If FDB _CLOSE is returned the only output parameters that are valid are the stream ID and the status For su...

Page 107: ...s routine initializes the database support code It should be called exactly once during startup Calling Sequence FDB_INIT context_size save_context Arguments name context_size type word unsigned acces...

Page 108: ...t is received for a stream the user has closed by calling FDB_CLOSE Calling Sequence FDB_NOMATCH stream_id Arguments type longword signed access read only mechanism by reference This is the target dat...

Page 109: ...pe longword unsigned access read write mechanism by reference This is the context of the scan On the first call it is zero to begin a new sequence Successive calls should use the context from the prev...

Page 110: ...completion FDB _IVMSG If the message does not contain a phone number FDB _NOREQUEST If there is no lookup request outstanding for the stream FDB _NOSTREAM If the stream is not open 10 1 3 10 FDB_SET_F...

Page 111: ...ed by the user in mailmerge type operations The implementor of a database is free to return any match key value that is in keeping with these uses Calling Sequence FDB_SET_MATCH message matchkey value...

Page 112: ...a success status will be sent to the requestor Note Returning a failure status does not automatically close the stream If the user does not call FDB_CLOSE for this stream a future call to FDB_GET will...

Page 113: ...LOOKUP The first menu option is used to send a lookup request to the database application The user enters a stream ID This is number from 1 20 If it identifies a stream that is not currently open then...

Page 114: ...processing is complete The command is processed just as if it had been entered from the keyboard If this parameter is not passed or is passed as zero the user is prompted for input and control is not...

Page 115: ...er for the filename FAX command to work properly the default input procedure should be used Calling Sequence FAX_CMD_SET_INPUT input_proc parm_input_proc Arguments name input_proc type entry mask acce...

Page 116: ...l not suffice Calling Sequence FAX_CMD_SET_USER user_name Arguments name user_name type charactercoded text string access read only mechanism by descriptor fixed length string descriptor This is the u...

Page 117: ...and processor as a shareable image The following is an example LINK MYPROG SYS INPUT OPT sys library fax_cmd_share share The following source code modules have been provided with CompuFax as examples...

Page 118: ...94...

Page 119: ...er nodes able to send FAXes without the need to have FAX hardware attached to their node Any number of nodes may be set up as FAX server nodes with automatic fall over to a new FAX server node in the...

Page 120: ...horz See FAX HELP FILE_DIRECTIVE CHARACTER_SIZE 6 A new program that expands the journal file to an ASCII file that can be easily used by an application program was added See FAX HELP JNL2ASCII A sam...

Page 121: ...sideways This is useful when sending documents that are more than 8 5 inches wide See FAX HELP SEND LANDSCAPE for details New Command Qualifiers LANDSCAPE FORMAT SEND LANDSCAPE SEE FAX HELP SEND LANDS...

Page 122: ...e server options DEVICE command to allow the data format of the logo file to be specified The distribution file CF_REC H describes the format of T4 files 8 The MAIL interface no longer uses the Subjec...

Page 123: ...database lookup sequence from being stalled by a single failed send The server option LOOKUP_MAXIMUM has been added to give the maximum number of queue entries that will exist at any one time for a d...

Page 124: ...100...

Page 125: ...valued condition bitmap The representation of an image in black and white or colored dots bitmapped file A type of file which represent images in terms of black and white dots See also bit breakup A...

Page 126: ...sheet or if the message is brief you can send only a coversheet with your message printed on it coversheet configuration file A file used by CompuFax to facilitate the sending of a coversheet It typic...

Page 127: ...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 FAX_DB The sample database applicat...

Page 128: ...wise that is the width of the image is normally greater than its height This in contrast with portrait orientation where the height of the image is greater than its width lookup The CompuFax feature o...

Page 129: ...ast with landscape orientation where the width of the image is greater than its height PostScript A page description language developed by Adobe Systems Inc for use with computerized printers CompuFax...

Page 130: ...nformational 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...

Page 131: ...by Digital Equipment Corporation on which CompuFax is designed to run VMS Acronym for Virtual Memory System an operating system created by Digital Equipment Corporation for VAX and Alpha AXP computer...

Page 132: ...108...

Page 133: ...untered with this product to Product Support Manager Networking Dynamics Corporation 101 North Garden Avenue Suite 220 Clearwater Florida 33755 Phone 727 446 4511 800 275 6321 Fax 727 446 4252 E mail...

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