Reviving InfoSeeker: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:52, 8 February 2022

InfoSeeker was a 5250 based viewer for proprietary IBM "BOOK" files, providing system documentation before IBM finally adopted PDF as documentation document format of choice.

About BOOK files

IBM "removed" InfoSeeker from OS/400 in V4R4, to force people to use either the poor quality Windows-based IBM Softcopy Reader, or alternatively use the public internet based IBM Document Library Server (defunct^[1]) which provided an online conversion from BOOK to HTML format to view content in a browser directly.

There once has been a web service to convert BOOK files to PDF, but the functionality was removed.

One possible alternative to view BOOK files might be the InfoSeeker viewer^[2], which was still completely included in V4R5. Compared to the officially working V4R3 version, it tested the existence of a data area. If it wasn't existing, the message line will just tell that STRINFSKR has been removed.

Making it work again

CRTDTAARA DTAARA(QUSRSYS/QBMGINFSKR) TYPE(*CHAR) LEN(8)^[3]

The length parameter isn't critical, because there is no content anyway.

After creating the data area STRINFSKR will function again.

Additional details

BOOK files and accompanying SHELF files are expected to be located in in /QDLS/QBKBOOKS/BOOKS/.
- QDLS is a file system with limits of file names like MS DOS.
/QDLS/QBKBOOKS/BOOKS is part of the QBOOKPATH system variable.
To open a BOOK file directly, use STRINFSKR OPTION(*BOOK) BOOK(BOOKNAME).
- The .BOO extension is implicit.
- The BOOK's name is searched in all paths listed in the QBOOKPATH system variable

Weblinks

STRINFSKR, Midrange Mailing-List via Midrange.com
IBM.com:
IBM Z Publications Archive site will replace the Library Server site, IBM-Main Mailing-List via Google Groups
boo2pdf Web Service, no longer functioning

Footnotes

↑ It has been taken down from service at June 1, 2019. With it, a lot of older but still useful documentation vanished from the Internet.
↑ However, it cannot display imbedded graphics, neither bitmapped, nor vector based.
↑ Thanks to Mark Waterbury for extensive debugging and eventually providing a web link showing this command.

[1] It has been taken down from service at June 1, 2019. With it, a lot of older but still useful documentation vanished from the Internet.

[2] However, it cannot display imbedded graphics, neither bitmapped, nor vector based.

[3] Thanks to Mark Waterbury for extensive debugging and eventually providing a web link showing this command.

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 ** [https://www.ibm.com/docs/da/zos/2.1.0?topic=system-installing-using-infoseeker-your-as400 Installing and Using InfoSeeker on Your AS/400 System]
 ** [https://www.ibm.com/resources/publications/searchInput Search for publications]
+** [https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/ibm-softcopy-reader-windows-v40-0 IBM Softcopy Reader for Windows V4.0] Download Page
 * [https://groups.google.com/g/bit.listserv.ibm-main/c/iP290SgPgpI IBM Z Publications Archive site will replace the Library Server site], IBM-Main Mailing-List via Google Groups
 * [http://ps-2.kev009.com/boo2pdf/ boo2pdf Web Service], no longer functioning