BARR Solutions from Atac

Newsletter for Asia-Pacific Region

Second Quarter, 2002

Atac Pty Ltd

Asia-Pacific Barr Distributor

• Barr/DOS to be Retired!

• BEPS Version 3.1.25 Released

• LCDS & Metacode via TCP/IP???

• Frequently Asked Questions

• Have Your Say

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This announcement should not come as a surprise to any of you - Barr are phasing out the DOS products!  After 20 years in the marketplace, and with over 40,000 installations world-wide, the time has come to move on.  Barr's NT product has been successfully introduced to the market, and major effort has been put into making a workable upgrade path as smooth as possible.

Although the DOS products will no longer be sold after December 31, 2002, they will continue to receive Barr's legendary support through until June 30, 2007.  In the current climate, where companies like Microsoft refuse to support their own products more than two versions old, over five years is indeed a lengthy period of grace.

Should you have any concerns regarding your existing Barr/DOS system, or wish to discuss upgrade options, call, fax or e-mail David Kirk today.

Barr Enterprise Print Server Version 3.1.25 Released

Barr are pleased to announce the release of BEPS version 3.1.25, available now for general distribution.  Building on the success of previous versions, this release has many new features to address the changing face of document handling in today's world.

New features offered include:-

• Xerox File Transfer Format support - see the next article for an in-depth explanation.

• USB Hardware key support, eliminating the requirement for "legacy" parallel ports.

• BARR/RJE now supports JES3 and VSE/POWER.

• Full Windows 2000 support.

• BARR/PRINT TCP/IP now supports direct socket connections  (IP Ports).

• Barr File port now supports Code Pages.

• Column filtering in the Spool Window, enabling you to "collapse" lengthy Spool/Retain listings down to just a few entries matching your search criteria.  This feature alone is worthwhile, if you have ever searched a Retain window with thousands of files . . . .

• Many cosmetic changes to make the configuration interface slicker and much easier to manage.

And of course, many fixes and corrections to the code and documentation are included - all detailed in RELEASE.HTM, found in the Barr HELP folder.

Registered users of the Barr NT product will receive download details and a password to unpack same by e-mail shortly.  Contact David Kirk if you have any questions.  Typically, an UNINSTALL, followed by a re-install of upgraded software is accomplished in less than 10 minutes, with ALL settings preserved throughout the process.

With the release of the 3.1.25 version of BEPS, Barr are now able to support the new Xerox EPS (DocuSP) controller using the Xerox File Transfer format.  The Barr IP Port (and Barr File Port) now support this format, enabling you to send your LCDS & Metacode data files via TCP/IP to the DocuSP server.  Obviously, high-speed (up to 100Mbps) Ethernet connections can get your files into the printer at well beyond rated speed, eliminating the need for slow and expensive Bus & Tag connections.  (Xerox' ONLINE interface has always been something of a bottleneck on the LPS controllers.)  Your Xerox printers will be almost certain to run flat-out all the time with this option!

Best of all, you can send ALL your data formats to ONE Xerox interface; Postscript, PDF, PCL, LCDS and Metacode are all accepted by Xerox' Sun front-end, which is now available as a replacement for your Xerox LPS controller.  No more swapping back and forth between LPS to NPS, with the accompanying delay while rebooting the alternate controller!

The Sun controller, running Xerox' DocuSP software platform, drives your printer engine (IOT).  As far as your online applications are concerned, the data stream is EXACTLY the same, so there will be no JSL changes or output "surprises" to deal with.  Finally, with jobs running at rated speed, you will have more capacity and better utilisation of your expensive resources.

Q.  I have over 15,000 files in my RETAIN dir, and this takes a long time to locate any files for restoring/viewing purposes.  How can I do this quicker?

A.  Under BEPS 3.1.25, there is a new feature called Custom Filter.  Simply right-click on any column for which you know a value, and choose Custom Filter.  Enter the value you know (FORMNAME, CLASS, etc), click the “>” button to move it into the right-hand pane and click OK.  The RETAIN list will immediately collapse to show only print files with the value entered. This can be repeated for several columns, to further narrow the search, if required.  To clear the filter(s), simply click the Clear Custom View button (right-most on button-bar).

Q.  What is the BEPS Operator Console, and what is it used for?

A.  The Operator Console is the BEPS equivalent of NT’s Event Log.  You can open the Operator Console at any time, and it begins accruing information from that point.  Minimise it, and perform some function with which you may be experiencing difficulty.  Restore the Operator Console, and see many messages relating to the timing and sequence of events.  The right-most column shows the clearest “English” explanation of the events.

The Console can be FILTERed, so as to only show events coming from a particular module of BEPS.  The PRIORITY option allows you to select higher or lower logging levels; BEWARE as you can bring your system to its knees, simply logging every action at the most detailed level.

The Operator Console can also be used to Open either the ERROR.BDB or LOGFILE.BDB files (File | Open).  These files contain historical information and are constantly updated as events occur.

The Operator Console is a great diagnostic tool which often solves little “what is going on?” questions, by providing immediate feedback/errors/responses.  When installing or modifying your system, make it a habit to open the Operator Console and leave it minimised, Restoring it every so often to track your progress, and verify functionality.

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Atac is the Barr distributor for Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia.  Based in Melbourne, Atac consults, installs and maintains Barr Print and Communications products for corporate clients.