Sorting files for distributed systems for Documaker

Question

Hello,
I've been asked to research tools that will assist with fast sorting of files for the distributed systems for Documaker. Unfortunately, I have not had any exposure to Documaker so I'm starting from scratch. Anyone have any experience with this?
Thanks in advance,
Ron

Answer 1

Easy enough!
BCH files can be sorted by any number of means depending on what you would like to do and when you want to do it, and the complexity of your sorting requirements. Documaker includes some rudimentary sorting capabilities, but since there are so many other options available this is not something we have focused on as a desired feature. You can browse the system doc for more details on that. Otherwise... if you're running in multistep mode then you have access to the BCH file, in which case you can sort it using whatever is appropriate to your OS: MVS folks have syncsort, Linux folks have just about anything from perl to sort, Windows folks have a sort command as well. It so happens that those items I've mentioned are all solutions I've used for customers. If you're running single-step, then you won't likely have the BCH file available to use, and will have to write a custom rule in your CUSLIB for Documaker to sort. In this case, you would have to have access to a sorting application that provides an API. I've used Opt-Tech Sort for customers in the past, and it's definitely both affordable and powerful (and multiplatform).
NA and POL files generally do not require sorting and I would highly recommend that you steer clear of messing with those files unless you have a darn good reason to do so. Primarily you don't need to sort them because the print output is controlled by the BCH file so if you reorder the BCH, the print reflects that order. The NA file contains the variable data, and the POL file contains the forms and sections and recipients for the transactions.
Printstream sorting is an entirely different animal. I haven't been too involved with printstream sorting because it is both 3rd party and happens outside the Documaker realm, but I can tell you that most customers use facilities provided by their print controller (depending on the type of printer) or they use tools like StreamWeaver (in fact that's probably the best one IMO).
Hope this helps!
Andy
Edited by: Andy Little on May 20, 2010 12:09 PM