Although both the BEPS Override Table and Barr EOM’s Business Rules offer a cost-saving alternative to the expense of making modifications to host systems or software applications, they are very different entities. Before delving into the details, let’s briefly review the workings of the BEPS Override Table.

  BEPS Override Table 

The BEPS Override Table automatically sets attributes for spool files and is useful for unattended print spool operation. As files are written to the spool directory, entries in the Override Table can automatically set or change file attributes. The Override Table contains the instructions for updating the attribute values, which are then used to print the file. A typical use for an Override Table in BEPS might be to select specific print jobs for conversion to another format and redirect them to a print device that is different from the one defined by the job header created by the host system, or input source (that is, mainframe computer, Windows application, and so on).

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  Barr EOM Business Rules

The Business Rules engine in Barr EOM is more flexible and far-reaching than the BEPS Override Table. One major difference is that the Barr EOM Business Rules engine increases the number of conditions to choose from and the number of different actions that can be taken. Business Rules encompass more than the basic print-job information that is available in BEPS. Let’s take a look at a few examples of the expanded selection options.

As you can see, selection criteria encompass not only an expanded list of document properties; there are also criteria based upon the source of the document, the destination of the document, and even the document owner. All of these criteria, described in plain English for easy identification, can be nested as in any interactive programming language.  

Selections can also be made based upon the time and date stamps on a document. This feature is useful in the case of print jobs that run on a predefined schedule.  Once the selection criteria have been made, a set of simple point-and-click operations complete the new rule.  

Here again the options for actions to be taken on the selected document or documents increased considerably over the available options in BEPS. 

Along with the alteration of document properties and destinations, the Business Rules engine supports an entirely new set of actions associated with the documents contents, scheduling, routing, retention, and others. 

Perhaps the most visible change in Barr EOM’s Business Rules generator is that it is a completely new application, written specifically for Barr EOM and architected under the strict guidelines of Barr’s new I/Omation platform. This change is evident by looking at the new user interfaces and the ease of screen navigation. 

Additional functions in Barr EOM support the triggering of email notifications, the assigning of documents to specific folders, transforming documents, and running external commands.

In this brief article we have only scratched the surface on Barr EOM Business Rules. Because of the power and flexibility of the Business Rules we will be covering them extensively in future newsletters. If there is a specific business situation that you would like us to cover in a future issue of Ins & Outs, please drop us an e-mail at InsAndOuts@barrsystems.com or contact Barr Systems directly at 1 (800) BARR-SYS [227-7797].

For a detailed description of how to create Business Rules and more information about all of the features available in Barr EOM, please click here.