SMS Scheduled Housekeeper (continued)

13. Rebuild DOS spool control file

Rebuilds the master file that references all of the DOS spool files (.DFP) files in a particular spool folder. This should be run after Delete DOS spool files as the DOS spool file isn't rebuilt in the same way as the Windows spool file in Line 100.

14. Invoice Integrity check report

The invoice integrity report is absolutely essential in systems such as Sage Line 100/ SMS Sapphire Manufacturing where important information is copied over from one side of the system to the other. In this case the invoicing data from Sapphire Manufacturing is made available in a temporary postings file which is updated to Sage through the end of day routine. It is possible that problems with either data being written into the temporary postings file by Sapphire Manufacturing or problems updating this to the Sales Ledger may have occurred. This report interrogates the invoices in the Sapphire Manufacturing tables and matches them off one-by-one. If any of them do not appear in the Sage Sales Ledger then they will be identified on the spooled report.

15. Delete Windows spool files

The Windows Spool Control file is similar to the DOS spool control file in the way that it becomes corrupt after 10,000 spool files are created. It appears that the only way to rebuild the Windows Spool Control file is to delete all of the WFP files in the svnspool folder, and log on to Line 100. This event is set to run Never by default as many companies may want to keep certain older spool files for audit / reference purposes. If a company does not require this facility then it is advisable to run this weekly only. This will ensure that the windows spool control file never becomes corrupt, as it would be impossible to create 10,000 spool files within one week.

16. Duplicate GRN report

Different programs in the systems use different methods to identify and alter GRN records. All of these programs use either the GRN number, Batch number, or Unique GRN number to identify the GRN record. For this reason these fields should be absolutely unique in the system (in most cases). This options runs the duplicate GRN report under all three options (GRN number, Unique number, and Batch number). User will need to check the spooler for these results. If this report discovers any duplicate GRNs then the SMS Helpdesk should be notified so that the appropriate action can be taken.

17. Delete Temporary Files

Temporary files are created in the day to day use of Sapphire Manufacturing. These files can grow to become quite large and so they need to be cleared down regularly. This process is necessary to keep the size of hard disk space wastage to a minimum, and to decrease the time taken by system backup, as the files are created in the svndata folder and most customers backup the entire contents of this folder.

18. Identify Negative GRNs

Negative GRNs have a place within Sapphire Manufacturing when used as BORROWED-OPEN GRNs. However, when a GRN is shown as having negative stock and it is not a BORROWED-OPEN GRN then the system has no way to handle it. There are many reasons these GRNs can be created. All of the program related reasons should have been sorted out a long time ago, however, the SMS Helpdesk should still be notified of these GRNs if and when they occur. These GRNs need to be zeroed out and a stock take should be performed on the affected Stock Item. Running this will produce a report on the spooler.

19. Run Customer Defined Batch Files

Running batch files is easy to set up through the Windows Scheduler. However, it may be beneficial to have it set up as an event on the Housekeeping Scheduler so that it can be better integrated into the overnight routines. This may be useful for users with split systems where files need to be copied between to two parts of the system. The number of programs that cannot be run through this event is only limited by the time constraints. This is the only scheduled event that has a user defined priority which can be defined as either 0 or 99 depended upon whether the customer wants to run it at the start of the scheduled events or the end.