Q: Who can benefit by using RMS/DeskTop™?
A: Management, clerical staff, help desk personnel or anyone using a PC that needs to review, research (mine), manage, notate, print, reformat, archive and retireve report data.
Q: What is RMS/DeskTop™?
A: RMS/DeskTop is a powerful, industrial-strength report management system, which automatically and transparently receives your reports from your organization’s mainframe, mini computer, or PC and stores them on your PC’s media (or LAN file server’s media), providing you with secure report access to view, browse, search, organize, mine, and print any data contained within those reports.
Q: How is RMS/DeskTop™ different from other report viewing products?
A: Unlike other high-level report viewers, RMS/DeskTop is one of the fastest production-grade report viewers in the marketplace today. It provides you with immediate access to data on any page or line of a computer generated report, regardless of its size, because of its advanced repository techniques, block level compression, block-based retrieval, direct jump compressed data reads and multi-level cache.
Q: How is RMS/DeskTop™ reducing costs and increasing productivity?
A: Because of security agreements with our customers, Mantissa is unable to provide specific customer uses or productivity results, but we can tell you that we have customers in the governmental and financial communities that have been successfully using RMS/DeskTop in the USA, Europe, Africa and the Far East to increase productivity, customer satisfaction and reduce costs since 1997 ⎯ and new installations of RMS/DeskTop continue by these customers.
Q: How does RMS/DeskTop™ work?
A: RMS/DeskTop allows you to select a report file that has been stored on disk and display it on your computer monitor in the format it was originally printed or stored. But this is only the beginning of your RMS/DeskTop experience.
When reports (or other desired files of any type) are downloaded from a mainframe to your LAN or local PC through a communications program, the transfer of those files can be performed transparently to your local activity. And, RMS/DeskTop can detect the arrival of reports on your system and immediately begin making them available for your use.
As RMS/DeskTop recognizes the arrival of reports in which you are interested, it will immediately catalog, index, compress, and store those reports according to your predetermined wishes. Then, when you are ready to view the information contained in these reports, it is immediately accessible through its REPORT VIEWER.
Q: Are RMS/DeskTop™ reports secure?
A: YES. Because many of our customers are financial institutions, report security is a primary feature of RMS/DeskTop. Reports are encrypted and secured through multiple levels by individual users, groups, and report access. Reports can never be altered by users or administrators, thus ensuring acceptable audit control standards.
Q: Can a user be restricted to viewing only a portion of an imported report?
A: NO. Restrictions on user viewing rights can be set to the level of whole reports, but as of now specific report sections/pages can not excluded from viewing.
Q: Can you review data in multiple reports at a time with RMS/DeskTop™?
A: YES. RMS/DeskTop provides superior report analysis productivity by allowing the user to view and synchronize reports. Any number of reports may be opened simultaneously or the same report may be opened multiple times, (i.e., compare page 47 data to page 1305 data). Windows may be sized, minimized, maximized, cascaded, or tiled for record or page comparisons.
Q: Does RMS/DeskTop™ provide full report page viewing?
A: YES. A standard report page 132 characters wide can be viewed on a typical screen because the display width is a function of the user’s selection of window and font size, independent of the application that produced the report. Longer line lengths — up to 3000 characters – can be viewed if you have enough monitor real estate! A sliding elevator bar provides horizontal and vertical scrolling within the report viewing window.
Q: Can individual users define their personal viewing attributes in RMS/DeskTop™?
A: YES. The user may select the font style, size and color, and toggle the Green Bar overlay on or off. The Column Rearrangement feature lets the user change the column order when it is handy to have an alternate view of the report. COPY icon copies selected data (Box, Line, Stream or Page Select) to the clipboard to Paste into other PC applications. Icon toolbar is customizable.
Q: Can you extract and/or export report data into traditional PC file formats?
A: YES. RMS/DeskTop provides users with a broad spectrum of popular PC file formats to export reports into. A built-in data extraction (Data Mining) engine lets you extract data from any report in the Repository and format the result into over 33 of the most popular PC file formats, including XLS, DOC, WK4, TXT, DBF, FXD, PDF and HTML. Extraction definitions are easily created as you click and drag over fields. Ad hoc extractions created this way may be further mined in the DT window, saved or discarded. Definitions may be saved and recalled to make the creation of successive reports easy. In addition, Extraction definitions can be included in the DT Importer instructions for automatically producing index tables. Reports and tables may be exported, fully parsed, to other PC applications with File “Save As”. Multiple reports may be selected in a single export operation.
Q: Can I distribute a report(s) ONLY to selected people using RMS/DeskTop™?
A: YES. DeskTop allows the user to maintain control of the reports they manage.
Q: Can report layouts be reformatted using RMS/DeskTop™?
A: YES.
Q: Does RMS/DeskTop™ maintain multiple report versions?
A: YES. The DeskTop Viewer displays an expandable/collapsible hierarchy of all systems that are currently accessible to the RMS/DeskTop workstation. Report series and/or sub-nodes may exist in any node.
Q: Can reports be highlighted and annotated in RMS/DeskTop™?
A: YES. DeskTop provides sophisticated review features which include the ability tohighlight report data and attach expandable/collapsible “sticky notes” (annotations) within reports. DeskTop’s visual annotation tools makes it easy to draw attention to specific report contents, jump quickly between points of interest and even affix notes to a page. Choose from fifteen different highlight colors, easily navigate existing annotations using the integrated Annotation Manager or control who is able to view and edit annotations using the integrated annotation security. “STICKY NOTE”, like annotations, can be created and “pasted” on the report page. Notes can be publicly or privately viewed. Each note lists the author and is time stamped. The Annotation Manager lists all notes for a report and hyper-links the user to a selected note listing.
Q: Can report data be transferred to forms for printing using RMS/DeskTop™?
A: YES. If you work with pre-printed forms, RMS/DeskTop’s Form Overlay support allows to you to view your report data on-screen just like the final output would appear. Invoices, statements, purchase orders, routing tickets, verification receipts and other business forms can be viewed with the data as it was originally produced. No massive .PDF files, no expensive image-capture processes. It’s simple to use, simple to setup and powerfully effective.
Q: What file system repository does RMS/DeskTop use?
A: RMS/DeskTop uses a proprietary 32-bit file system that runs on top of NTFS. Its File System Repository is a relational database of compressed reports. The Repository supports MS Access or SQL Server databases. The Repository can work with any server software that provides the file locking function. Report data in the Repository is highly compressed and encrypted. The Repository can be huge, holding millions of pages of report data. The Repository is designed for heavy volume and quick response.
Q: What are the main components of RMS/DeskTop?
A: The feature components of DT3 are the:
DeskTop IMPORTER. The RMS/DeskTop Importer continuously polls the import directory and initiates the file import process when a new file is discovered.
DeskTop EXPLORER. The RMS/DeskTop Explorer gives the user a quick and easy way to select reports. Reports are organized in a hierarchical, tree/branch display. Double clicking on a report line opens & launches the report view window.
DeskTop SECURE. The RMS/DeskTop Secure program provides a flexible yet powerful security control over the system. The Administrator function controls authorization to the system. User password control and ID authorizations limit access. Users are granted privileges (i.e., print, copy, delete) by individual or group authorization using a “Everything-Except” or “Nothing-Except” methodology. Access can be secured to a single authorized individual. Reports can never be altered by users or administrators, thus ensuring acceptable audit control standards.
Q: Can RMS/DeskTop retrieve reports from a mainframe system?
A: YES. To download reports from a mainframe CPU via the DeskTop IMPORTER you need Mantissa’s RMS/Basic™ and RMS/Spool™ systems running on the mainframe. Then report data can be automatically downloaded to a single DeskTop site or to a network of DeskTop PC locations.
Mainframe application output is captured by RMS/Basic, which then distributes report packets to RMS/Spool. RMS/Spool automatically downloads the report data through either a TCP/IP or VTAM network to a LAN or stand-alone DeskTop import directory.
For mainframe reports not distributed by RMS or application output from any CPU (midrange or PC), the report files can be FTPed as ASCII text files to the DeskTop import directory inbox for capture into DeskTop. The DeskTop IMPORTER continuously polls the import directory and initiates the file import process when a new file is discovered. Reports sent from RMS/Spool include header information that the IMPORTER uses as report properties in the Explorer catalog listing. Pre-set Extraction instructions which recognize report IDs can initiate actions such as building index tables.
Q: Can report printing be secured by RMS/DeskTop™?
A: YES. Users can be limited or allowed to print reports through the Administrative GROUP Report Security Definitions (RSD).
Q: What printer controls are available with RMS/DeskTop™?
A: DeskTop provides sophisticated printing controls not found in other report viewing products. While DeskTop greatly reduces the need for hardcopy output, you may still need to occasionally print a report. Its powerful printing engine allows you to generate hardcopy of not only the report data, but also index table spreadsheets, annotations or forms overlay imagery as well. It offers the unique ability to bypass Windows printer drivers and feed line-mode data directly to printers, allowing you to take full advantage of high-speed line-mode printers. Logical Printers provide precise control over report printing, including top/left margins, exact font pitch, and exact line spacing. Each logical printer saves Windows printer device specific settings. This allows precise registration for aligning report data on preprinted forms. Also, logical printers provide for character mode type printers typically used with multi-part forms (allows native print speeds).
Q: Can you index selected report fields and create research tables with RMS/DeskTop™?
A: YES. Indexed tables can be created from selected report data and saved as tables for research and analysis. Index Tables provide viewing and searching flexibility and performance. They can be created automatically from import definition instructions. View a table by clicking on the TABLE icon. Then, when you double click on an index table cell you are instantly hyperlinked to that record in the report view. Multiple index tables may be created for a single report. The tables can be data mined through the Filter Expression popup. They can be printed, Saved or exported fully parsed into other applications such as Excel, etc.
Q: Tell me about the RMS/DeskTop™ search engine criteria for fast seaarches.
A: Selecting the Search icon opens the Report Text Search pop-up panel. Enter the search string or range criteria. The search finishes almost as fast as pressing the Find button, no matter how large the report. The line in which the search string is found is highlighted in blue, the search string is circled in red. Next and Previous item search icons help you jump through the report. DeskTop remembers each search criteria so searches may be recalled without having to re-key.
Q: Are there any “add-on” RMS/DeskTop™ applications that are beneficial to the Enterprise?
A: YES. RMS/DeskTop Archive Manager and AFP Viewer are two add-ons that provide significant value to Enterprise storage and productivity.
Q: Please explain how Archive Manager is beneficial to the Enterprise?
A: Now the Enterprise can easily generate offsite archives or self-contained RMS/ DeskTop repositories for distribution with the RMS/DeskTop Archive Manager (DT/AM) add-on.
Fully-Integrated Solution – DT/AM provides a fully integrated archive and distribution mechanism for RMS/DeskTop. Accessing archived data is just as easy as it is for the data residing in your live repository. In fact, both your live and archived data appear alongside each other in the RMS/DeskTop Explorer!
Wide Variety of Supported Devices – DT/AM works with a multitude of storage devices, including DLT tape, CD-R, Zip disks, etc. In fact, any storage device that provides drive letter access works great with DT/AM.
Custom Data Organization Tools – Unlike “general purpose” backup programs, DT/AM finally makes it possible to group your information together into archive volumes based on their relationship, not just their creation time. Create a volume that contains all data pertaining to a specific customer or company division. Also, users may group documents together based on their retention requirements. It’s all possible with DT/AM.
Minimize Archive Storage Needs – Government and industry regulations may require you to store an archive backup of data within a certain period of time. This results in prematurely generated archive volumes using only a fraction of media on which they are stored. Over time, this results in your media storage needs becoming over-inflated. DT/AM overcomes this issue by offering Cumulative Volume support, which generates consecutive replacement volumes for a given archive type until as much as possible of the storage media’s capacity is used. Each cumulative volume update contains all the data stored by it’s predecessor, allowing you to destroy or reuse the previous iteration and reduce storage requirements.
Q: Please explain how the AFP Viewer is beneficial to the Enterprise?
A: The DeskTop’s AFP Viewer add-on for RMS/DeskTop provides support for IBM Advanced Function Print (AFP) documents from within the RMS/DT application. No external viewing application is required!
Fully supports the AFP document format – With the new AFP Viewer add-on, RMS/DeskTop can now display, search and print AFP documents. Custom fonts, graphical and overlay elements are all taken care of!
Fully integrated into RMS/DT – AFP documents are opened and displayed in their own viewing window inside RMS/DeskTop, just like ASCII text reports. View AFP documents and ASCII text reports side-by-side!
Wide Range of Magnification and Rotation possibilities – Magnify an AFP document’s contents as much as 500 percent or as little as 10 percent. Rotate it as needed, even display 2 or 4 pages on-screen at a time!
Document Management For External Binary File Support – You can use the organizational and security capabilities of the DT repository to securely store any type of document, not just ASCII text reports. Whether it be a word processing document, spreadsheet or graphical image, DT will allow you to store multiple revisions and control who has access to it. Whenever an authorized user accesses the document, RMS/DeskTop launches the appropriate application with the document automatically opened! The IMPORTER does not reformat these files but does apply aging and versioning to the files. These files appear in the EXPLORER and when selected will launch the associated viewer application. For example: .doc file types will launch Microsoft Word, .xls will launch Microsoft Excel, .pdf will launch Adobe Acrobat Reader, etc. (assuming those applications are available to the user).
Q: What are the requirements for installing RMS/DeskTop?
A: For both the RMS/DeskTop Server and the workstations it requires at least: Microsoft Windows XP version or higher, 1 GHz x86 processor or 1.4 GHz x64 processor (if using 64-bit CPU), 2 GB of RAM memory, 40 GB of disk storage and a TC/IP connection to your network.
