Softcopy

Highlights

Beginning with z/OS V1R7 in September 2005, z/OS licensed books have been declassified and are included on the z/OS V1R7 Collection, SK3T-4269, and the z/OS V1R7 and Software Products DVD Collection, SK3T-4271. The z/OS Licensed Product Library CD-ROM, LK3T-4307, is no longer being updated.

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Beginning with z/OS V1R7 and later PDFs, Library Server and Softcopy Reader V3.6 provide support for fully searchable PDFs as a prototype of the final phase of the extended shelf rollout. We first introduced library groupings of PDFs in PDF extended shelves with z/OS V1R4 in October 2003, providing the ability to access and manage PDFs similar to BookManager BOOKs, but the extended shelves could not be searched. In March 2004, Library Server and Softcopy Reader 3.3 supported mixed PDF and BookManager files in an extended shelf, enabling BOOKs and PDFs with corresponding BOOKs to be searched. Then, beginning with z/OS V1R7, we introduced full search of individual PDF files in z/OS V1R7 and later and the ability to search extended shelves, even those without corresponding BOOKs. Beginning in June 2007, we provided indexed z/VM V5R2 and V5R3 PDFs and extended shelves. Beginning in November 2007, we provided indexed z/VSE V4R1 PDFs and extended shelves.

For the PDF indexing prototype, the PDF files for z/OS V1R7 and later element and feature libraries, for z/VM V5R2 and V5R3, and for z/VSE V4R1 include indexes, and associated PDF extended shelves include library-wide indexes. This new function gives the indexed PDFs a high-function linguistic BookManager-like search, as well as the print facility that PDFs are known for. You can search the content of individual indexed PDFs and receive weighted (not only sequential) search results. Using the PDF extended shelf index, you can search across the content of indexed PDFs in the indexed extended shelf and perform a library-wide search. The new searchable PDFs will help z/OS, z/VM, and z/VSE customers wade through large libraries and access information more quickly. In the future, we plan to index more and more IBM PDFs, and other companies can also provide indexed PDFs.

An indexing utility for PDFs and shelves of PDFs, as well as search support for these shelves is provided in IBM Library Server, which ships for free as part of z/OS V1R7 and later. Beginning in September 2006, searching of indexed PDF shelves is integrated into IBM Softcopy Reader 3.6 for Windows and Linux (downloadable from the BookManager Web site). Selecting PDF shelf search hits from Library Server or IBM Softcopy Reader for Windows launches the IBM Advanced Linguistic Search Plug-in for Adobe to display search results within individual indexed PDFs.

You can download a free IBM Advanced Linguistic Search Plug-in for Adobe (usable with Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader when run in stand-alone mode or as a browser client on Windows).

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Beginning in August 2003, the collections include extended shelves (XKS files) for PDFs. These extended shelves enable users to access groups of PDFs through the Shelf Organizer in release 3.0 or later of IBM Softcopy Reader and to download and manage PDFs using release 4.2 of SoftCopy Librarian. The Shelf Organizer can now launch the user's choice of PDF file readers (for example, Adobe Reader) and can create and modify extended shelves. The program for setting autorun preferences has also been updated for use with extended shelves.

Initially, extended shelves include only PDF publications. Additional publication formats are expected to be added to the extended shelf format in the future.

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Beginning in September 2002, the graphics in BookManager BOOK files have been upgraded to improve viewing under BookServer and Softcopy Reader. This upgrade increased the size of the affected files, resulting in the reorganization of some softcopy collections. For example, the z/OS Version 1 Release 4 Collection was reorganized to have the BookManager files occupy two discs, with product libraries sorted alphabetically by title across the first two discs; the PDF files occupy the last two discs, also with libraries sorted alphabetically by title. For information about the new organization of affected collections, see the topic "What's On Each CD?" in the online collection booklet. Other than the increase in size, the change is transparent and did not disturb the original build date and time stamp of the affected BOOK files or the existing bookshelves and indexes.

The upgrade primarily affects BOOK files that were built with host versions of the BookManager Build products and that contain graphic figures and illustrations. The original graphics were copied, converted into a Web-ready format, and inserted into the BOOK files for use with BookServer and Softcopy Reader. The original graphics still remain for viewing on host platforms. To benefit from the upgraded graphics, you should upgrade to the latest release of Softcopy Reader, Version 2.3.6 or later.

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Since September 2000, the collections have included only softcopy versions of the collection index (catalog) in BookManager, PDF, HTML, and text formats, along with an interface to the softcopy index and to the book Installing, Managing, and Using the Online Library. This improved access to the softcopy books has eliminated the need for hardcopy collection booklets for many users, and the hardcopy versions are no longer included with the collections. If you need hardcopy versions of these books, we recommend that you print the PDF files.

For information about how to use the softcopy collection index to locate manuals on a collection and search all the books on a disc, see our Frequently Asked Questions page.

New in September 2006: The program for setting autorun preferences has been updated to handle tabbed browsers. The program will no longer close an open collection browser window when a different disc is inserted.

New in August 2003: The program for setting autorun preferences has been updated for IBM Softcopy Reader 3.0 or later, which supports extended shelves (XKS files) for PDFs. Extended shelves enable users to access groups of PDFs through the Shelf Organizer in Softcopy Reader.

New in June 2003: The program for setting autorun preferences has been improved:

• It has been updated to support the latest level of IBM Softcopy Reader (which was repackaged to eliminate the prerequisite for the Java Runtime Environment on the client machine).
• It was recoded to comply with accessibility standards.
• It was renamed from SETUP.EXE to AUTORUN.EXE.

New in December 2002: The PDF index provided for multidisc collections that contain both PDF and BookManager files is now accessible from the interface to the softcopy indexes.

New in June 2002: Multidisc collections that contain both PDF and BookManager files contain a new PDF index that lists only the PDF files in the collection. The index is available in both HTML and text formats (PDFINDEX.HTM and PDFINDEX.TXT) in the root directory of the discs that contain publications.

New in March 2002: A new program allows you to set autorun preferences to customize the actions that the system takes when you insert a collection disc containing publications into your CD-ROM or DVD drive. You can choose different autorun preferences for each type of collection disc: for BookManager-only discs, for PDF-only discs, and for mixed discs that include both BookManager and PDF files. Depending on the type of disc, you can choose, for instance, to start IBM Softcopy Reader, display the collection index, display the disc index, show the autorun preferences panel again next time, or do nothing when a collection disc is inserted. The autorun preferences program is SETUP.EXE, found in the root directory on the discs.

Also new in March 2002: For multi-disc collections, each disc containing publications includes a new disc index listing the bookshelves and books on that disc, in addition to the index of all the bookshelves and books in the collection. The disc index is a file named disc.htm in the root directory of the disc. If the collection index is displayed in your browser window, click on the "Collection Index" tab to display the disc index. You can set your autorun preferences to automatically display the disc index when you insert a collection disc into your disc drive.

New in December 2001: The search function for the softcopy collection index includes a new option to display a list of all search hits in a separate window. This new option is only available if you are viewing the softcopy collection index using the Internet Explorer browser. (Note: the new option was not included on the December 2001 VSE Collection.)

New in June 2001: If you have autorun enabled on your computer, your Web browser automatically displays the softcopy collection index when you insert a collection disc containing publications into your CD-ROM or DVD drive. This softcopy index lists the books in the collection and links to the books on the disc in the drive. Previously, the index was automatically displayed only for single-disc collections. Beginning in March 2002, you can set autorun preferences to control what happens when you insert a collection disc containing publications into your disc drive.

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Starting in September 2000, each collection package includes a program for installing softcopy tools. This program and the softcopy tools it installs are on a separate tools disc in multi-disc CD-ROM collections. The install program runs only on Windows 95 (or later), or on Windows NT 4.0 (or later). If you have autorun enabled, the install program for softcopy tools (SCTOOLS.EXE) starts automatically when you insert the disc with tools in your drive. You can then read about and install or update the desired softcopy tools.

Users of OS/2, DOS, or previous levels of Windows can still install or update the softcopy tools and view the softcopy versions of the collection index and the book Installing, Managing, and Using the Online Library directly from the tools disc. After inserting the disc with tools in your drive, read about the softcopy tools in any of the INSTALL.xxx files. Install or update the desired tools, following the directions in the INSTALL.xxx file. Read about the contents of the collection in any of the SCINDEX.xxx files.

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The IBM Softcopy Reader consists of a book reader and a Shelf Organizer. It expands the function provided by the Library Reader, which it replaces. For example, you can do the following:

• Use cut, copy and paste commands to move and copy books from one shelf to another
• Filter lists of bookshelves and books
• Delete bookshelf files
• Perform an exact search on bookshelves
• Search and work with notes using consolidated interfaces for books
• Launch your choice of PDF file readers
• Access groups of PDFs
• Create and modify PDF extended shelves

The IBM Softcopy Reader can be installed using the softcopy tools install program provided on the collections. The latest level of the IBM Softcopy Reader is also available for downloading from http://www.ibm.com/software/office/bkmgr/softcopyread.html.

New in September 2006: IBM Softcopy Reader 3.6 or later can now search indexed extended shelves of PDF files using the Quick Shelf Search (that is, the Indexed Shelf Search) function in Bookshelf Organizer. When a PDF is selected from the search results list, Softcopy Reader launches Adobe Reader and the IBM Advanced Linguistic Search Plug-in for Adobe V1.3 or later to produce a ranked list of highlighted search results within the selected PDF.

The IBM Advanced Linguistic Search Plug-in runs on a Windows client and requires Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat. You can download the latest level of the plug-in from the World Wide Web, or it is available in the \plugins directory on IBM Online Library collections beginning in March 2007.

New in November 2004: IBM Softcopy Reader 3.5 can now search the BOOK files in an extended shelf. For more information, see the "Starting Book Reader and Shelf Organizer" section of the book Installing, Managing, and Using the Online Library.

New in September 2004: IBM Softcopy Reader for Linux ships in the ilrjava directory along with IBM Softcopy Reader for Windows. IBM Softcopy Reader for Linux is currently not supported by the program for installing softcopy tools or by the autorun preferences program, both of which run only under Windows.

New in June 2004: IBM Softcopy Reader 3.4 or later provides users without Windows Administrator authority with the capability to both install and run IBM Softcopy Reader.

New in October 2003: Softcopy Reader for Windows is supported only on Windows(tm) 2000 and Windows XP.

New in August 2003: IBM Softcopy Reader 3.0 or later for Windows supports extended shelves (XKS files) for PDFs. Extended shelves enable users to access groups of PDFs through the Shelf Organizer in Softcopy Reader.

Softcopy Reader's Bookshelf Organizer has been renamed to Shelf Organizer, in recognition of the capabilities of the new extended shelf (XKS file) format. The Shelf Organizer can now launch the user's choice of PDF file readers--for example, Adobe® Reader(tm). The Shelf Organizer can also create and modify extended shelves.

Initially, extended shelves include only PDF publications. Additional publication formats are expected to be added to the extended shelf format in the future.

New in March 2003: IBM Softcopy Reader 2.4.0 or later has been repackaged using a special tool to link the Java Runtime functions along with the Softcopy Reader application code, building it into a Windows executable instead of a jar file. In addition to eliminating the prerequisite for the Java Runtime Environment on the client machine, this change has significantly improved runtime performance.

For details about the Softcopy Reader, see the README file and the user's guide provided in the zip file for the program. The user's guide is also available on the Internet.

New in March 2001: The IBM Library Readers for Windows, OS/2, and DOS are no longer shipped on CD-ROM and DVD collections, and are no longer supported. Instead, only the IBM Softcopy Reader is included on the collections.

The IBM Library Readers will continue to be available on an as-is basis from the BookManager Web site at http://www.ibm.com/software/office/bkmgr/ilr.html for those users who choose to continue using them.

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New in March 2005: The LookAt installation program automatically updates the LookAt directory based on your installation settings. For example, if you update a LookAt profile to point to a repository stored at C:\zOS V1R6, the installation program automatically updates the directory with this information.

New in September 2004: The z/OS DVD Collection now includes a bookshelf of the books in the current z/OS LookAt DIR file shipped on the collection (minus files not on the IBM Publications Center).

For more information about LookAt, see the LookAt Web page.

What is LookAt? LookAt is a message lookup facility that lets you look at z/OS message explanations quickly and easily. It is included in the \lookat directory of the following collections:

• z/OS Version 1 Release x Collection (SK3T-4269)
• z/OS Version 1 Release x and Software Products DVD Collection (SK3T-4271)
• z/VM Collection (SK2T-2067)
• z/VM DVD Collection (SK5T-7054)

The latest level of the LookAt code is also available from the LookAt download site.

On your z/OS system, you can retrieve the explanation and any other information associated with a z/OS message by using the simple command, LOOKAT, and typing the message number. The message must be documented in a book enabled for LookAt - over 160 z/OS messages books are enabled for LookAt.

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The IBM SoftCopy Librarian (SCL), a free program included on all IBM Online Library collections, improves softcopy management on a z/OS or OS/390 host or server, as well as on LANs and workstations. Starting in October 2003, SoftCopy Librarian is supported only on Windows(tm) 2000 and Windows XP.

You can use the SoftCopy Librarian to obtain and manage bookshelves over the Internet, from the IBM PUBLIB Web site, as well as from other Web sites that provide support for the SCL. For an introduction to the SoftCopy Librarian, see the SoftCopy Librarian chapter in Installing, Managing, and Using the Online Library, GC31-8311. For details, see IBM SoftCopy Librarian: User's Guide, GC23-3414, which is in the IBM Online Library Reference bookshelf on any disc other than the tools disc in the collections.

The latest version of the SoftCopy Librarian for Windows can be downloaded from http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/epubs/df/ebrsclwj.exe. The program is also available on the softcopy collections in the \scl directory. The level of the code on the collections is the one that was available when the collection was built.

New in August 2003: SoftCopy Librarian 4.2 or later supports downloading and management of PDFs via extended shelves (XKS files). Also, SoftCopy Librarian 4.2 or later has been repackaged using a special tool to link the Java Runtime functions along with the SoftCopy Librarian application code, building it into a Windows executable instead of a jar file. In addition to eliminating the prerequisite for the Java Runtime Environment on the client machine, this change has significantly improved runtime performance.

New in June 2002: The softcopy collections include only Softcopy Librarian Version 4; they no longer include Version 3. Support for Version 3 will end on September 30, 2002. If you have been using Version 3, use Version 4 instead.

An OS/2 version of the SoftCopy Librarian for Windows can be downloaded from ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/ibmreader/tools/. The OS/2 version is available on an as-is basis.

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Many collections provide books in PDF format as well as BookManager format. For OS/390, PDF and BookManager versions of the books are provided on separate collections. For z/OS, PDF and BookManager versions of the books are provided on the same collection. You can use an Adobe Reader to view and print the PDF files. Printing the PDF files provides high-quality hardcopy books that look like the printed books from IBM. If you do not already have an Adobe Reader installed, you can install one using the softcopy tools installation program included on the collections. If you need further information on installing and using an Adobe Reader, see the Adobe website: http://www.adobe.com.

PDF support in BookManager BookServer makes it easy to locate and download PDF files from the OS/390 Internet library and z/OS Internet library. When you open a BookManager book, or search or open a bookshelf, a PDF download button is displayed if a PDF file is available with the same filename as the BookManager book. You can use the power of BookManager to search and find the book and information you want and then download the PDF file to print it!.

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