Since Cobwebb Document Management is a native IBM i product the selection and processing of IBM i spooled files could not be easier.  You may either use the Spooled File Monitor to automatically select spooled files as they are produced, or you can use the CRTPPD command within your own CL program.  The CPPD Spooled file monitor and the CRTPPD  IBM i command use the same principle for selecting spooled files.

Using the Spooled File Monitor

The Spooled File Monitor (SPLMON) is a feature of Cobwebb Document Management that monitors one or more IBM i Output Queues for selected spooled files to be processed. The Spooled File Monitor is automatically started in the CPPD subsystem if the Spooled file monitor entry in Work with PPD Parameters is set to 'Y'. As a spooled file is added (or released) on any monitored output queue it is checked to see whether it is to be processed.

The Spooled file can either be specified by name, or one or more spooled files can be selected using the selection criteria (*SELECT).  Any combination of the following parameters can be used to identify the spooled files to be selected from the specified output queue: - Spooled file name, User, User data, and Form Type.  All the spooled files matching the selection criteria are selected.

The Spooled File Monitor enables any *SCS spooled file to be automatically selected from any output queue and processed by CPPD.  A spooled file being ‘Released’ in an output queue activates this process. CPPD detects this and compares the spooled file details with the list in Work with spool file monitor.  If the spooled file is selected the specified PPD file is used to create the redesigned output.

Using the CRTPPD command

The CRTPPD command can be included in a CL program or run in a job scheduler.  If you have a program which produces a print file which is to be redesigned using CPPD the CRTPPD command should be inserted immediately after the print program, to pick up the last spooled file name and use * in the Job name.   Please refer to the CRTPPD command  topic for a full explanation of all the entries.

Notes to remember

If you wish to specify *USR in the Output queue entry on your Print Output Device then you will need to set up your users using Work with PPD Users.  This allows you to configure different Output Queues for each user where the user is determined by the owner of the original spooled  file.

For the Spooled File Monitor process to work, the subsystem CPPD must be running with the Spooled file monitor program SPLMON 'Active'.  The spooled file(s) to be selected must be 'online'.  If an output queue is to be monitored which was not already being monitored when the subsystem CPPD was started, stop and start the subsystem CPPD so that the new output queue will be monitored.

When starting the SPLMON program CPPD automatically assigns the data queue SPLMON in library CPPD for each Print Output queue for which there is an 'Online' entry in ‘Work with spooled file monitor'.  

DO NOT specify an Output Queue for use with SPLMON which already has a data queue assigned, this is because the data queue records are deleted as soon as they are read, and are therefore not available to two systems.  Instead set-up a new output queue and divert the appropriate spooled files to it

There is a separate Spooled file Fax monitor program (SFFMON) which can be used with Cobwebb Fax to send faxes if CPPD is not installed i.e for old CFAX400 users.