Report Processing Language (RPL) Option
Use the RPL Option of JES2Mail and JES2FTP to Extract or Modify Data and Even Insert Data from Mainframe Databases before Sending
Existing reports may contain more data than is relevant to a specific user. The high-level easy to use Report Processing Language (RPL) option is provided for splitting or breaking down reports into segments, then sending only the information a recipient is authorized and/or needs to receive.
The RPL provides the ability to extract/modify data and even insert data from mainframe databases before sending. In addition, data within documents can be used for routing purposes.
Report Splitting with RPL
A “Split Script” file controls the Report Splitting process by determining what data in the report is to be used as a ‘break’ point. The Script language has functions to find fixed or floating values in a report, and to determine if there is a ‘break’ in the report to allow segmenting.
Addressing of ‘Report Segments’ or SubReports can come from data in the report page itself, or data in the report page can be used to ‘Look Up’ an address in an external table. For example, a salesman ID could be used as a key in a list of salesmen and their e-mail addresses. If desired, after extracting the address information from the report page, the page can be updated, or the line deleted from the report page.
Another use of report splitting can be to replace each page of the report with an HTML formatted page. For example, a report could really be a set of ‘Purchase Orders’ or ‘Shipping Confirmations’.
The RPL script could extract addressing and other data from the report page, then delete the report page, and replace it with an HTML page, and have data from the original report page inserted into the HTML page before sending.
SubReport e-mails can also contain attachments.
Splitting Report Bundles
With the advent of report distribution systems, reports may actually be bundles of sub-reports that have been collated based on the target user. For example, an organization might bundle all the month end reports to be repackaged by the recipient.
JES2MAIL has three choices for processing such report bundles:
- Deliver the entire bundle as a single report, in a single e-mail message.
- Break out the sub-reports and send each sub-report as an individual attachment in its own message.
- With bundle mode, the sub-reports are split into separate attachments, but are delivered in a single e-mail. The recipient gets one e-mail with a separate attachment for each sub-report.
Features & Benefits of the RPL Option
- Split into sub-reports and route to different destinations
- Use document contents for addressing
- Look-up email addresses and FTP destinations in external tables
- Global variables for passing values process-to-process
- Edit contents of documents before packaging and delivery
- Extract data contents for comma delimited data file
- Create multi-level Indexes (Table of Contents) for PDF files
- Control the application of multiple overlays for a given document. Ie. Every page can have a different overlay (form)
- Define ‘cover page’ for email message body
- PDF Documents: 128-bit PDF Encryption
- PDF Documents: Restrict ability to change or extract information to protect against tampering
- eMail Merge operations
- Comma-delimited extract creation
- Handling of multiple PDF Overlays per page/document
Evaluate the RPL Option with JES2Mail and JES2FTP in Your Shop – See for yourself how JES2Mail and JES2FTP will increase productivity and reduce output handling costs in your z/OS environment.