Re: Image tools for VMS - follow up - advanced server?

From: Jeff Morgan (vmswiz_at_geonospamcities.com)
Date: 09/11/03 

Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 11:47:13 -0400

Jack:

   It is very easy to set up a file share on Pathworks Advanced server that
can be served to the web via the OSU web server. In a theoretical customer
service invoice retrieval application, here are the basic steps:

   - map a drive letter to a Pathworks file share, for example Z: could be
mapped to a file share called "\\pwserver\documents" If possible, use an
ODS-5 formatted disk for the share. That way your filenames can be as large
as necessary to hold all the retrieval data. It is a poor man's way to
create an indexed database using the VMS file system, but it works. Users
don't need access to this file share, only the scanning station. Users will
retrieve them through the web server.

   - scan your documents by any PC scanning method you choose

   - save them as jpeg files directly to the VMS file share from your
scanning station. TIF and BMP are enormous. Be sure to use a format that
compresses the image data and is handled directly by any web browser. You
can use IMAGEMAGIK to create thumbnail pictures if desired.

   - name the files by specific identifying data fields that you might want
to use for retrieval, for instance...

          z:\invoices\customernum_invoicedate_invoicenum_sequence.jpg

    This way you can use DCL lexical functions such as...

           filename = f$search("webdrive:[invoices]*_*_9991234_*.jpg")

      ...to locate a specific invoice (991234) for retrieval by a web
script.

    Organize the files by sub-directory if there will be huge numbers of
files. One application I wrote holds over 500,000 invoices for instant
retrieval. I broke them up by year, month and day so the directories would
be smaller and faster. Plus it makes archiving easier since you can peel off
a whole year at a time to tape. We eliminated microfiche with this
application.

   - "map" the file share to OSU for retrieval, for example:

         pass /inv/* /webdrive/invoices/*

     this tells OSU to change an html request such as:

       http://vms.server.com/inv/11111_20030101_9991234_001.jpg

    to

       webdrive:[invoices]11111_20030101_9991234_001.jpg

    and display it in the web browser. You can password protect this web
share using normal VMS sysuaf usernames and passwords or a hardcoded
username and password.

   - write a DCL web script that lists all the documents in the file share
or allows you to retrieve based on the fields in the filename. For example,
you could retreive documents by customer number, by invoice number, by date
or by sequence number. Or a combination of any and all fields. If you need a
sample OSU web script and form, let me know.

   - A cheap trick is to have your cobol programs display the appropriate
filename on the screen, then the user can cut and paste the file name from
the terminal emulator into a web form to locate and display the file

   - Web-enable your cobol programs so that it is totally point and click
and they can skip this last step.

   - Add the file share to your daily backup routines in case the scanning
station gets a virus!

  You can also have your retrieval web script run a cobol program and
display information from your RMS databases alongside the scanned document.
For OSU, you simply use the cobol display statement and write html code
directly to the web browser. Maybe you have a dozen related documents for
each invoice. You could easily provide hyperlinks to the additional
documents or run cobol programs to display query information or update
databases. You could have a web-based customer query form that displays a
customer screen with hyperlinks for every field on the screen, ie, customer
number, invoice number, a link to mapquest to show how to get there, links
to UPS to track their shipments, etc, etc.

  OSU, html and web forms can be an easy and inexpensive method to upgrade
your "heritage" applications.

  Plus it is fun stuff!

  I've written many VMS web-based applications such as this in BASIC, COBOL,
Datatrieve and DCL. A few of my useful tools and scripts are available at:
http://www.geocities.com/vmswiz/vms.html

 Hope this info helps.

                                                 Jeff 

--
Jeff Morgan
OpenVMS consultant
CBL Enterprises
Hilton Head Island, SC
vmswiz@geoNOSPAMcities.com
remove NOSPAM to email me
"Jack Fortune" <jcfortune3@fedex.com> wrote in message
news:t45ulv0p1pqgleu3cthvqgl0vk7vd539ts@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 09 Sep 2003 09:37:52 -0400, Jack Fortune
> <jcfortune3@fedex.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >Greetings all!
> >
> >I am researching the range of available VMS tools that can be used to
> >scan, store, and display images of paper documents.
> >
> >Are there scanners that can be used directly with VMS?
> >
> >What are the best methods to display images stored on a VMS host?
> >
> >Are there software products designed to build this kind of
> >application?
> >
> >Any information would be appreciated.
> >
> >
> >Jack Fortune
> >Fedex Trade Networks
> >Atlanta, Georgia

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