WorksRight Releases Updated Version of SOQ

by Alex Woodie

WorksRight Software last week issued an updated release of its popular OS/400 spool file archive and restoration utility, Save Output Queue (SOQ). With SOQ 8.9, the company has rolled out several new features, including increasing the product's capability to execute large restores, and other management features. SOQ was developed by Generic Software, which merged with WorksRight Software earlier this year.

SOQ is a spool file management utility that allows OS/400 shops to do several things to manipulate their spool files, including archiving the files to tape, DASD, or optical devices; restoring the files; moving, duplicating, and deleting the files; or converting them from EBCDIC to ASCII and vice versa. The software has been installed at more than 2,500 companies since it was first introduced 15 years ago, a testament to its usefulness and capability.

With SOC 8.9, the company says it has added several enhancements, including improving the performance for large restores. Additionally, this version includes a new feature that allows ownership of restored and duplicated spool files to be assigned to the restoring or duplicating user. Permissions management has also been enhanced for spooled files that have been converted to ASCII text files and placed in an Integrated File System (IFS) directory.

With release 8.9, SOQ's user interface has also been enhanced. Users can interact with the software either from a command line or from a menu screen. All SOQ screens now provide a more consistent OS/400-like appearance, the company says.

Other new features include an enhanced list generation for faster display. With this feature, all multi-screen lists are now built in sections, which provides a faster initial display of the list.. Additionally, a new subset feature allows users to quickly limit multi-screen lists (such as spool files and/or saves) to only those entries desired for processing, the company says.

SOQ 8.90 works with OS/400 V3R1 through V5R2 and costs $695. For more information or a 30-day trial, visit www.worksright.com .

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