SLIK includes support for running and printing JD Edwards OneWorld reports (i.e., UBE). The user can specify the JDE server name to run the report on along with the reports name and version. SLIK polls the servers print queue (F986110) table to monitor the progress of the report. This includes JDE logic servers running on AS/400 , Windows NT and UNIX. If the report completes with an 'E' (error) status then the standard processing option is to log the error and to stop further processing of jobs in the batch.  This can be overridden using the Jobs Processing options.

By default SLIK waits for the completion of each report job but if required it can be configured to launch the report without waiting.

Using the built-in scheduling features of SLIK it becomes a simple process to configure one or more batches to perform overnight report processing. As each job in a batch is inter-dependent it ensures that, for example, financial postings to the general ledger do not occur until all the subsequent reports complete successfully.

Processing of reports overnight has two advantages. 

• Most servers are heavily loaded during the day so processing of typically long running reports is best performed overnight. SLIK can make this an unattended operation.

• It allows users to quickly view the OneWorld reports on call as opposed to waiting sometimes up to an hour, for them to be available.

SLIK also includes a feature called "Print Direct". By using a specific naming convention for the UBE version that matches a user defined pattern SLIK will automatically print the report to a nominated printer on completion. The Print Direct feature works for all reports even those not directly launched by SLIK (i.e., OneWorld users).

There are two modules in SLIK concerned with JDE integration. Each is independent of the other and can be purchased separately.

1. Submit OneWorld Report

This feature of SLIK will launch a UBE to either a local or remote OneWorld application server including AS/400 and UNIX platforms. You can schedule multiple reports by specifying each UBE name and version as a single batch.

As each job runs in a separate thread there can be many reports being submitted to many different servers concurrently. As noted above, SLIK monitors the OneWorld "Work with Server Jobs" report queue and if a report times-out (user defined parameter) or completes with an error ('E') status then the batch administrator is alerted via email.

SLIK also supports OneWorld sub-system type reports. In addition to launching the report, if required, it inserts a record into the OneWorld sub-system table with a user defined (ie, custom) report interconnect structure that may be required for a specific UBE. This is performed at run-time by dynamically binding to a user-defined function in a custom DLL that passes a parameter to provide the current context. This user function should return a pointer to the appropriate report interconnect structure for the current report. We provide a template for this user defined function which you can configure yourself using a C++ compiler. Alternatively we can provide a service to write a custom report interconnect DLL.

Note: the Print Direct feature below will work for all reports (including user submitted reports) and not just those submitted by SLIK.

2. Print Direct

Print Direct is a module to automatically print the PDF output to a nominated printer. SLIK polls the F986110 table (OW report queue) and as each report completes it matches the UBE version name against a user specified pattern or wildcard to qualify which reports are to be printed. The printer name is determined by looking into the PDF file for a special key word (ie, $$PrinterName=ONEWORLD_PRINTER_NAME). If the keyword is not found SLIK uses the default printer specified for the server. SLIK maintains a lookup table to map the OneWorld printer name to the appropriate network printer name. To actually perform the printing SLIK uses the built-in automation of Acrobat Exchange to print the PDF file. Alternatively you can override the Acrobat automation by specifying an external command that will be called instead. This command is given 4 parameters:

• Local PDF file location (SLIK retrieves this from the server)
  
  
• Printer Name
  
  
• No of copies
  
  
• Originating Server Name

This option can be useful if custom printing or redirection of the PDF file is needed.

3. OneWorld logon

This is a small standalone utility program that is bundled with SLIK that is useful to logon to OneWorld from the command line or batch file unattended (i.e. non-interactive). It performs a full client logon rather that just a programmatic logon. This means that you can schedule this to run from the NT task scheduler and have a fully interactive OneWorld client operational.

The program is called OWLogon and has the following syntax:

OWLogon.exe [/Close] [<ONEWORD_ENVIRONMENT> <USER_NAME> <PASSWORD>] [<OEXPLORE_PATH>]]

The /Close argument will close any existing session. You can use the close with the other arguments to re-logon a current session.

If the user name and password is not specified then the last login name is used. You can optionally provide an explicit path to the OneWorld explorer. Note that one caveat is that the password is shown in plain text and consequently is a potential security issue.

The program currently supports both B732 and B733 (Xe) versions of OneWorld.

It works by traversing over each field in the OneWorld login form, matching the edit controls and sending the appropriate text as a windows message. It finally programmatically "clicks" on the OK button.