Author Topic: Storing Individual PDF Files in OnDemand for i  (Read 3347 times)

BHUMENY

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Storing Individual PDF Files in OnDemand for i
« on: March 22, 2017, 02:19:25 PM »
We have approx. 500K individual PDF files each containing a form that we would like to store in OnDemand.
We are not concerned about auto indexing etc. as the metadata is already stored in a table.  We are just looking for a efficient method of storing them.
If we were to combine "several" of the files into a larger stream files, could these files then be compressed by OnDemand when they are stored using ARSLOAD?

These files did not come from a larger print stream, but are created individually by an application.
E.G.  A user enters some numbers into an online form, a calculation is done and the resulting form is then saved as a PDF file.
This file is then made available to the customer.

In the future, we will be looking at loading these PDF files using the PDF Indexer.
But we are unsure of the benefits of doing so.  Would the "resources" be removed and the size of the individual files reduced?

Thanks in advance.
Bill

run8

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Re: Storing Individual PDF Files in OnDemand for i
« Reply #1 on: March 22, 2017, 02:39:28 PM »
I don't see any advantage to doing what you're proposing unless you have the PDF indexer installed.

Just use your metadata to craft a Generic Indexer file and use arsload. If you specify  a compression method on the application group, you might get a reasonable compression ratio depending on the exact nature of your PDF files.

...John Reay
Run 8 Systems Inc.
Toronto
...John Reay
Run 8 Systems Inc.
Toronto

Ed_Arnold

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Re: Storing Individual PDF Files in OnDemand for i
« Reply #2 on: March 22, 2017, 02:47:35 PM »
Adding to what John says with the disclaimer that I'm not an "i" guy....

> Would the "resources" be removed and the size of the individual files reduced?

Resources would only be collected with the PDF Indexer.

You would get the benefit of compression... google "arsadmin compress" to see if you could use that info to get an idea of how much basic compression would save you.

Ed
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BHUMENY

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Re: Storing Individual PDF Files in OnDemand for i
« Reply #3 on: March 22, 2017, 03:24:07 PM »
John:
When it comes to storing and retrieving these documents, you don't believe there is any benefit to having only 500 files vs. 500K?


Ed:
It would be great to be able to use the "arsadmin compress" command to test the compression, but it doesn't look like that command/function is available on the iSeries.  We will probably have to do it the old fashion way.

Thanks.
Bill

run8

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Re: Storing Individual PDF Files in OnDemand for i
« Reply #4 on: March 22, 2017, 07:34:11 PM »
When it comes to storing and retrieving these documents, you don't believe there is any benefit to having only 500 files vs. 500K?


I don't think you'll save any space, and they'd be more usable as individual PDF documents. 500K isn't really a large number in the overall scheme of things.



It would be great to be able to use the "arsadmin compress" command to test the compression, but it doesn't look like that command/function is available on the iSeries.  We will probably have to do it the old fashion way.

Sure it is...
 STRQSH
$                                                               
 arsadmin compress                                               
 ARS1012I Usage: arsadmin compress [options]                     
         Version:  9.5.0.3                                       
         compress Compress a file                                 
                 -b <off> Offset to begin at.  (Default 0)       
                 -c <type> Document Compress Type                 
                    'D' Disable Compression                       
                    'F' OD77Lite Compression (Default)           
                    'L' LZW12 Compression                         
                    'N' No Compression                           
                    'O' OD77 Compression (Default)               
                    'Z' LZW16 Compression                         
                 -l <len> Length to end at.  (Default file size) 
                 -o <out_file> Output File                       
                 -s <src_file> Input File                         
                 -1 <trace_file> Trace file                       


What server version are you using?

...John Reay
Run 8 Systems Inc.
Toronto
...John Reay
Run 8 Systems Inc.
Toronto

BHUMENY

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Re: Storing Individual PDF Files in OnDemand for i
« Reply #5 on: March 23, 2017, 08:06:15 AM »
What server version are you using?

We are at 9.5.0.6.
I was looking for the command in the admin guide (SC19-2792-01) and I couldn't find it there.

I will test on the iSeries.
Thanks.

Justin Derrick

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Re: Storing Individual PDF Files in OnDemand for i
« Reply #6 on: March 23, 2017, 08:43:14 AM »
FYI, compressing PDFs is generally a waste of CPU time -- most PDFs are already compressed internally.

The only way choosing a compression setting is reasonable is if the system that produces the PDFs doesn't do any compression.

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BHUMENY

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Re: Storing Individual PDF Files in OnDemand for i
« Reply #7 on: March 23, 2017, 08:47:54 AM »
I do not know if the PDF Files are already compressed or not.
I will use the arsadmin compress command on the iSeries to test them.

And yes.  The arsadmin compress command was available on our system.

Thanks.