bldxffiles - Xternal Format File Builder

To build external format files for all print files:

bldxffiles -[ALCPRTX | U] [abcdpstv] Username JobName JobStep [-k separatorChar] [-l Language] [-olineNumber] [-v SpecVersion]

To build external format files for a single file:

bldxffiles -S[ALCPRTX] [abcdpstv] | -q | -F UserName FilePathName PrintFileName [-k separatorChar] [-l Language] [-olineNumber] [-m machineID] [-v SpecVersion]

Enables you to build various additional files from a report programs print files, including CSV files that can be opened with a spreadsheet program and PDF files.

You can run this utility from a command line or by accessing a parameter form. To access the parameter form, do a form transfer to bldxffiles or run lapm bldxffiles from the command line.

You have several main options for how to indicate which files you want built:

  • Specify one or more of the -C, -L, -X, -A, -R, and -P options to generate the CSV, XML, ADO, RTL, or PDF files.

  • Specify the -F option to generate only a PDF file from an input file.

  • Specify the -U option to generate the same type of files that were generated by the report job when it ran originally.

Note: You can also generate these additional files at run time by setting parameters in the report configuration files. For more information, see Lawson Administration: Jobs and Reports.
Program Option Description
-A Generate the ADO files (_ado.xml, .csv and _ado_schema.xml). These are used by the OLE DB server.
-L

Generate CSV files starting from a point in the report. Use in conjunction with the -o option, which indicates the line number to start at. Can also be used in conjunction with the -S option to create a partial CSV file for a single print file.

Example: bldxffiles -L sjohnson CU201JOB 1 -o28

The generated CSV file will be CU201_partial.csv
-C Generate CSV files.
-P Create PDF files from print files.
-R Create a print file with right-to-left orientation. A print file created through the -R option does not contain drill and data extraction capabilities and is only used for printing.
-T Include the total groups in the CSV file for any groups set up with the $TOTOFGRP key word.
-X Generate XML (.xml and .xid) files. Currently, these are used internally by Lawson Software.
-U Generate files based on the report configuration parameters currently in place.
-S Build files only for the path and print file specified.
-F

Build PDF files from the specified input file. This input file can be any text file, not necessarily a print file. The PDF files are created in the current working directory of the user running bldxffiles.

Other than the -v option, all other options are ignored if you use the -F option.
-k separatorChar

Use the specified separator as the value separator in CSV files. The choices are:

  • a = Tab

  • b = Space

  • c = Comma (the default)

  • s = Semicolon
-l Language Specify the language to use for the generated files. This assumes the language has been defined and translations for column headings have been provided through the translation utilities. For more information, see Lawson Administration: Translation.
-o Specify a line number to start at to make a partial CSV file. Used in conjunction with the -L option. Do not put any spaces between the option and the line number.
-v SpecVersion

The output file suffix and display mode for the PDF file. Valid SpecVersion values always start with the "PDFPRM=" prefix. Display mode values include:

  • _L - Normal landscape mode (default)

  • _P - Portrait mode

  • _L158 - Condensed landscape mode

  • _L198 - More condensed landscape mode

  • _L233 - Maximum condensed landscape mode

If you include the -v SpecVersion parameter, the display mode value is appended to the file name. For example, if you specify -v PDFPRM=_L158 the resulting PDF file name will be InputFileName_L158.pdf

You can use -V instead of -v to see a more verbose output to the screen.
-d Turn on XFF debugging.
-p Create the .prop and .grp files in the print directory. Otherwise, the global .prop and .grp files in the RptMap directory are used. In either case, .prop and .grp files are generated if they do not already exist or if their timestamps do not match the RptMap.
-m machineID Use the machine ID to find the print file.
-q Display the parameter wildcard usage. See below.
UserName

If you are not using the -F option, this is the name of the user who created the print files to be converted.

If you are using the -F option, this is a placeholder only. You must specify some text for this, but it can be any character.
JobName The name of the job whose print files are to be converted.
JobStep The job step whose print files are to be converted.
FullFilePath The path to the input file, if you are using the -S or -F option.
FileName The name of the input file, if you are using the -S or -F option.
I/O Options Optional. Display the output or redirect it to a file. (Available only through the parameter form.)

Parameter Wildcard Usage

You can use wildcard values in the UserName and FullFilePath parameters. The format is:

<PrefixChar><VarString>

where <PrefixChar> can be =, $, *, #, @, +, %, or !. You must use one of these characters as a prefix to signal that what follows is a variable string. Different prefix characters are available because not all of them work on all operating systems. For example, you may receive an error if you use the dollar sign as a prefix character on a UNIX system.

where <VarString> can be any of the following:

String Description
LAWDIR or L

%LAWDIR% environment variable value.
GENDIR or G %GENDIR% environment variable value.
HOME or H

%HOME% environment variable value.
USER or U

The user name from the operating system user account of the person running bldxffiles.
CWD or C The current working directory.
LPU %LAWDIR%\print\UserName where UserName is the user name of the person running bldxffiles.

Examples:

bldxffiles -SC =U =LPU\jobname\1 reportfilename

bldxffiles -F $U @H filename

bldxffiles -SXC +U +C reportfilename