The following is a list of frequently asked questions about WebReport/i. If you have a question that is not covered here, ask us via E-mail and we'll answer your question.
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Index:
When WebReport/i sends an email to a bad email address, where is the bounce report sent?
When using the EREPORT command, the email associated with the FROMID parameter setting will receive any bounced email reports. If you have this set up for Automatic Routing, then the email address associated with the "From Identifier" will be used. Make sure that you have a valid email associated with each email if you want to receive and react to bounced email notification.
During our weekly system backup, we see that one object in the WebReport/i library is not getting saved. Should we be concerned?
When the WebReport/i Automatic Router task is active in the EREPORT subsystem, a small data area in the WEBREPORT library named WEBRTR is locked. This is the object that is not getting saved.
To get a clean backup, end the router before starting the backup and then restart it as soon as the backup is completed.
If this is not possible, the data area is not critical to be on the backup if you want to leave things the way they are. When the router is started, if the data area is missing, a new one will be created.
We are running WebReport/i on a DR backup system, which file objects should we be mirroring on the DR system?
For maintaining a DR system's configuration information, you should consider mirroring the following files used by WebReport/i. All files are stored in the library named WEBREPORT:
CS_PDFFLD - PDF Form Field Definitions file
CS_PDFFRM - PDF Form Control file
CS_PDFTXT - PDF Form Text Control file
CURDIR - A list of the current system directory entry ID's
GOOACDS - Google Drive Accounts Control file
GOOFLDR - Google Drive Account Folders Control file
MAPCTL1 - Report Map Control file
MAPCTL2 - Report Map Detail Control file
QWEBSRC - Customer's HTML source file
SYSSMTP - A list of the current SMTP email addresses from the system directory
TITLTBL - Title Conversion Control file
WEBADDR - Address List file
WEBADGRPS - Group Address Control file
WEBINDEX - The list of files converted and stored locally (option #3 on the MASTER menu)
WEBINDUSR - Report Intranet user access control file
WEBRTRF - Automatic routing rules for both email and local storage (HTML)
WRAPSEC - application security rules file
WRXLSMDLS - Excel (XLS) model details file
WRXLSMODL - Excel (XLS) model control file
In addition to these files, the contents of the following data areas should also be mirrored to your DR system:
CONTROL - System control information CONTROL2 - Additional system control information WRCFG - System configuration information (optional)
If you have specific questions about any of these objects, please contact Kisco Information Systems directly.
Can I use WebReport/i to send a simple Email message without a report?
Yes!
Many customers have asked for this capability over the years and it has been a feature of WebReport/i for a long time now. You can use the EREPORT (or EREPORTA) command to send a simple email message without including a report attachment.
To do this, just issue the EREPORT command with the FILE parameter set to *NONE. As an example, if you want to send a message to someone at the end of a daily procedure to let them know that processing has completed successfully, just include the following command in your CL program:
EREPORT FILE(*NONT) TITLE('Daily Process Has Completed') FORMAT(*TXT)
TOINET('support@mydomain.com') MSGTEXT('The daily processing has now completed successfully')
This can also be used from the command line or by selecting menu options.
Note that the FORMAT parameter must be set to *TXT for this to work correctly.
We're upgrading to i/OS 7.1, are there any considerations?
We have heard from several customers who have run into intermittent email delivery issues after upgrading to IBM i/OS 7.1. These have been due to a new parameter in the SMTP Attributes that needs to be set correctly. The new setting is called "Forwarding mailhub server" (FWDHUBSVR). Using the CHGSMTPA command, roll to the last panel to find this new parameter. We suggest that you set this to the same value that you are already using for the Mail Router (MAILROUTER) setting. Once the change has been made, you should end and restart the SMTP server so that the new setting can take effect.
How can I send email to an address that contains an apostrophe character?
Several customer have run into problems with this. The solution is simple. When using this email address from the command line, just enter it as normal in the EREPORT command and it will work correctly. The only time this is an issue is when you set up an automatic routing instruction to send a spool file to an email address that contains an apostrophe. To set this up, just enter the email address with two apostrophes right next to each other. When you do this, then the automatic email process will work correctly.
Do I have to use MetroFax for WebReport/i's new fax output feature?
When getting WebReport/i ready to support fax output through an Internet fax service, we researched several companys and settled on MetroFax because of service and price. We thoroughly tested this service and made sure that WebReport/i could send a properly formatted fax of a standard 132x66 computer report through this service.
This does not mean that other Internet fax services will not work. We have just heard from another WebReport/i customer that they have been successful with sending faxes using the RapidFax service. Others may also work well and we encourage you to test each alternative. This can be very helpful if you are using WebReport/i outside of the USA or Canada.
WebReport/i automatic routing is not working following a power failure, what can we do?
The automatic routing function in WebReport/i depends on a data queue object named WEBRTR in library WEBREPORT. Sometimes, a data queue can be damaged during an unscheduled system failure, such as a power failure.
Do determine if your data queue is damaged, try shutting down the WEBRTR job in the EREPORT subsystem using the normal method of option #16 from the MASTER menu in library WEBREPORT. If it fails to shut down right away, then the data queue is damaged.
To fix the data queue, you will have to manually end (cancel) the EREPORT subsystem. Wait until it is stopped, then manually delete the data queue in library WEBREPORT named WEBRTR using the following command:
DLTDTAQ DTAQ(WEBREPORT/WEBRTR)
Then, as soon as possible, run the following command to re-create it:
CRTDTAQ DTAQ(WEBREPORT/WEBRTR) MAXLEN(128)
Once this is done, then you can resume normal operations and restart the automatic router job by running option #15 from the MASTER menu.
Does the special user profile WEBBREPTUSR require *SECOFR and *SECADM authority?
When you install WebReport/i, the install instructions require that you first create a special user profile on your system called WEBREPTUSR. The instructions call for all special authorities to be assigned to this profile. Some customers have questioned why the profile must have security officer features activated. The reason for this is that the application uses some commands internally that require this authority. If you need more specific information about this, please ask us. To improve security, this profile can be set up with a password of *NONE and it can be maintained in *DISABLED status.
Is WebReport/i ready for IBM i OS 6.1?
All levels of WebReport/i Release 9 have been confirmed as ready to upgrade to the new IBM i OS Release 6.1 (V6R1). If you run the OS Analyze Object Conversion (ANZOBJCVN) command for the WEBREPORT library, you may see one *PGM object named GN#HLP that will report as being not ready. This object is from a third party supplier and is not required for normal operation of the software. We are working on getting this single object updated, but you do not need this object for normal operations.
Contact us by email at the link near the top of this page if you have further questions about i OS 6.1 compatibility.
How can I install WebReport/i on a disaster recovery system for backup testing?
To install WebReport/i on your backup system for a disaster recovery situation, either a test or an actual recovery process, do the following:
We are upgrading our version of OS/400 (i5/OS), are there any special considerations for WebReport/i?
As of this writing, we have never experienced any issues with WebReport/i when moving from one version of the installed operating system to another. We do recommend, however, that you make a complete listing of all of your TCP/IP settings just in case any of them get changed during the OS upgrade process.
Release 6 supports color AFP overlays, how can I create a color overlay for use with WebReport/i?
If you have never created an AFP overlay before, please read the following topic before you tackle this one. We recommend that you have AFP overlay creation and use under your belt before attempting to work with color overlays.
Note: The following procedure only appears to work when you use a PC that is running Windows XP. Tests on Win98 and Win2k show that the color tabs in the driver do not come active. You must use a PC running WinXP.
To create a color overlay, use these instructions:
bin
put testovl.prn overlays.testovl- Create the overlay, e.g. CRTOVL TESTOVL FILE(OVERLAYS) MBR(TESTOVL)
If you need help with this, or if you would like to contract with Kisco Information Systems to create your overlays for you, please contact us.
I would like to start using overlays with our spool files but we have no experience with this. How do I create an AFP overlay?
Creating an AFP overlay is not all that difficult. It is done on a PC that is attached to your system. You have to download an AFP print driver from IBM, then install and configure it. (On more recent releases of OS/400, this print driver is included on the Client Access/400 install CD.) Once this is done, you then design your overlay on the PC using a graphics program or any standard wordprocessing software (we normally do our overlays in Word or WordPerfect as we find it easier than dealing with the graphics software). Then, once the overlay is ready, you just print it using the new print driver. This creates a file on the PC that you need to transfer to your iSeries-AS/400 and process through a conversion command that is a part of OS/400
There is a discussion available at the IBM support site that will fill in the blanks to this brief description. Just click here to see the writeup.
If you need help with this, or if you would like to contract with Kisco Information Systems to create your overlays for you, please contact us.
Can I use my IBM i as my outbound mail server?
In a word - YES!
Many customers have asked how to set this up and it is really quite simple. The only pre-requisite is that your system must have a direct route to the Internet. If you have configured WebReport/i already, then you already have the SMTP functions configured. The only thing you have to do to use your IBM i as your outbound mail server is update the Mail Router setting in the SMTP Attributes.
Here's what you'll need to do:
ENDTCPSVR *SMTP
STRTCPSVR *SMTP
At this point your IBM i system will be your outbound mail server for WebReport/i and any/all other SMTP-based applications running on your system.
Note: This method does not require that the POP server be active on your system. If you have been routing mail through your POP server, you can now shut it down and change the POP Attributes to stop it from automatically starting during IPL.
Important Note: If you are just starting to use your system for outbound mail, you should set the system up to prevent spammers from relaying mail through your IBM i system. Read the following topic on how to configure for this issue. Failure to do so could result in your system appearing on an Internet blacklist, which could prevent some or all of your mail from being properly delivered.
I am using the AS/400 to send mail, how can I control SMTP message relaying?
Controlling SMTP mail relay involves two processes. First, you have to set the ALWRLY parameter in the SMTP Attributes on your SMTP server. This is updated using the CHGSMTPA (Change SMTP Attributes) command.
If you just want to deny all mail relays, set this value to *NONE and you’re all set, you can stop reading now and move on with your life. However, this will also stop WebReport/i from working. Simply changing this setting to *ALL is not a good idea either as this will allow anyone to relay mail through your system. The best choice for WebReport/i use is the value *LIST. This will restrict email relays to only those IP addresses that you specifically authorize.
Once you have relaying configured and have specified the *LIST setting, you will then have to update the SMTP list to indicate who can relay mail. This is done using the ADDSMTPLE (Add SMTP List Entry) command. There are a lot of options for this, but as a simple example let’s set up an entry that will permit mail to be relayed from your iSeries-AS/400. If your system has an IP address of 10.100.2.1, then you would add a relay accept transaction that looks like the following:
ADDSMTPLE TYPE(*ACCEPT) INTNETADR('10.100.2.1')
SUBNETMASK('255.255.255.255')
This entry will accept all SMTP mail that is sourced from the specific IP address indicated in the INTNETADR parameter. The subnet mask used here is coded so that only the specific IP address will be processed. You can also use this command to post a *REJECT entry to the SMTP list to indicate specific IP addresses to be rejected. Varying the subnet mask can let you define ranges of IP addresses and if you need help on how to code these entries, feel free to contact me (rich@kisco.com). Once entries have been added to the SMTP list, you can delete them using the RMVSMTPLE (Remove SMTP List Entry) command. It would be nice if IBM provided a WRKSMTPLE command too, but the test system I work on has no sign of this feature.
After you get these changes made, you should end and then restart your SMTP server before testing for the results. Ending the SMTP server is done with the following command:
ENDTCPSVR SERVER(*SMTP)
and restarting it is done with the following:
STRTCPSVR SERVER(*SMTP)
How can I trace what is happening with outbound Email on my system?
We are often asked how mail can be traced on the AS/400 when things appear to be configured correctly but the mail is just not going out. We have discovered that OS/400 includes a journaling feature for SMTP that you can activate using the following procedure. Journaling adds overhead to processing on your system, so we recommend that once you activate it, that you go back and deactivate it once you have traced your problem.
Process for customers running WebReport/i Release 11.08 or later:
Starting with WebReport/i Release 11.08, the process documented here has been implemented using a new SMTPJRNL command added to our software. To run an SMTP trace on your system, just do the following after adding the WEREPORT library to your session library list:
Process for customers running WebReport/i Release 11.07 or earlier:
To set up SMTP journaling and look at the journal information:
DSPJRN JRN(QZMF) OUTPUT(*OUTFILE) OUTFILE(QUSRSYS/ZMFSTUFF)
OUTMBR(MAR2) ENTDTALEN(512)
DSPPFM FILE(QUSRSYS/ZMFSTUFF) MBR(MAR2)
This may provide you with some leads on what is going on.
I notice some SMTP server jobs that seem to be stuck in a loop trying to send E-mail to bad destination addresses, is there a way to stop this?
According to information found at the IBM support website, the SMTP server can be set to destroy distributions that it cannot process. How SMTP does this depends on the existence and contents of a single-character, user-defined data area called QTMSCLEAN in the QUSRSYS library. The character in this data area indicates the extent of mail control block clean-up:
When SMTP starts, a recovery function checks the QUSRSYS library for this data area and proceeds accordingly.
Since a warm start frees only a single MCB, it may be necessary to stop SMTP, create the data area, and start SMTP more than one time to get to the MCB that is causing the problem. If there are a large number of MCBs, a cold start may be the fastest way to correct the problem.
To create the QTMSCLEAN data area, use the Create Data Area (CRTDTAARA) command as follows:
CRTDTAARA DTAARA(QUSRSYS/QTMSCLEAN) TYPE(*CHAR) +
LEN(1) VALUE('X') AUT(*ALL)
The above CRTDTAARA command will set the SMTP startup for a warm start. Changing the VALUE parameter to the letter C' will change the startup to a cold start.
Email reports from WebReport/i arrive showing the wrong time of day, how can I correct this?
On the AS/400, there is a system value that controls the time shown on Email messages sent by WebReport/i. The system value is named QUTCOFFSET and it contains the Coordinated Universal Time Offet value. As shipped from the factory, this is set to zero so all Emails are time stamped as if you were located in Greenwich, England (as in Greenwich mean time).
To adjust this value to work correctly on your system, change it to reflect the difference in time between where you are located and Greenwich Mean Time. For US customers, Eastern Time would result in a value setting of -05:00. For Pacific Time, the offset value should be -08:00, and so on for other time zones.
On newer versions of the System i operating system, starting with V5R3 and later, you cannot change the QUTCOFFSET value directly. On these systems, there is a system value named QTIMZON that contains a setting that describes the time zone where your system is located. Use this setting to adjust the time for your outbound email messages.
WebReport/i places HTML documents in source files or in shared folder files, but I need to place them into the IFS (Integrated File Sysytem). How can I use WebReport/i to do this?
Beginning with WebReport/i Release 4.01, this function is supported directly from the WREPORT command. If you have an earlier version of WebReport/i installed, use the following instructions:
WebReport/i can be used to convert your report into HTML. You can then execute a simple CL command to move that converted HTML file into the IFS on your system. The CL command will also take care of EBCDIC to ASCII conversion.
First, process the report to a source physical file. There is a source file in library WEBREPORT named WEBSRC that you can use for this.
Then, process the following command to move the source member to the IFS converting it to ASCII code in the process. This example assumes that you are using the above mentioned source file with a member named REPORT1. The example then assumes that you want to move the report to a directory name WEB under your HOME directory in the IFS with a file name of REPORT1.HTM.
CPYTOSTMF FROMMBR( qsys.lib/webreport.lib/websrc.file/report1.mbr') +
TOSTMF( /home/web/report1.htm') DBFCCSID(37) STMFCODPAG(437)
You should be able to change the TOSTMF parameter to get your report to the IFS location that you want to use.
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