July 24, 2003

HEALTH BUSINESS SYSTEMS ENABLES PHARMACIES TO HANDLE HIGHER PRESCRIPTION VOLUMES
Health Business Systems (HBS) announced that they have released Rx Workflow, their new end-to-end prescription solution, which will enable pharmacies to track a prescription through all phases of the prescription-filling process.

To read the entire press release, visit our Web site.

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ADVANCED SYNERGY/DE CLASSES PLANNED FOR FALL 2003
Have you been developing with Synergy/DE for years? Would you like to learn how to use the more advanced features of this powerful development environment?

Plan to attend one of the upcoming advanced Synergy/DE training classes.

Topics will include:

• Synergy XML API and Synergy HTTP API
• Distributed computing with Synergy/DE xfServerPlus and xfNetLink, including component and connection pooling
• Advanced Professional Series Workbench features
• Synergy application profiling
• Synergy DBMS utilities and tuning
• Windows, Web, and Web Service development with Microsoft .NET and Synergy/DE
• and more

For more details, visit the Synergex Web site.

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PLATFORM NEWS: SCO ORDERS IBM TO STOP USING AND DISTRIBUTING AIX
On June 16, SCO announced that it had "terminated IBM's right to use or distribute any software product that is a modification of or based on Unix System V source code." SCO is claiming that IBM violated the terms of its contract with SCO by contributing AIX source code to Linux. In their response, IBM says their license "can't be terminated."

Although we don't believe this legal battle between SCO and IBM will affect Synergy/DE customers in the near future, we will continue to monitor it and report any additional significant information in future Synerg-E-News newsletters and/or on our Web site.

Additional information can be found on Computerworld's Web site.

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SUPPORT TECH TIP: CLEARING INTERPROCESS MESSAGES ON UNIX AND OPENVMS
Synergy/DE uses interprocess messages for a number of tasks, such as communicating with chained programs or detached processes. These messages can cause problems on your system if they're left to pile up in message queues on Unix or in the Synergy Message Manager's memory space on OpenVMS. Generally an interprocess message is cleared when it's received, or it's cleared by the program or process when it's no longer relevant. But some programs and processes don't clear unneeded messages, leaving these messages to fill queues or the Synergy Message Manager's memory space. On Unix, you'll get errors if messages exceed a message queue's capacity. (These errors are generally related to the chained program or detached process.) On OpenVMS, vestigial messages may cause the Synergy Message Manager to use excessive amounts of CPU time or possibly crash. (On Windows, Synergy/DE uses named pipes and similar resource problems can occur, but vestigial messages are generally either lost or they hold system resources until the machine is rebooted.)

To get information on messages or to remove them from your system, use one of the following utilities:

• To get information about message queues on Unix, use the Unix utility ipcs, which has several options for this purpose. For example, to list information on all of the message queues on a system, enter
  
  ipcs -qa
  
  To clear message queues, use the Unix utility ipcrm. The following, for example, removes the message queue whose ID is 4. (You can use ipcs to get a message queue's ID.)
  
  ipcrm -q 4
  
  
• On OpenVMS, the dblstatus.exe program (distributed with Synergy/DE in the DBLDIR directory) enables you to view messages and clear them from the Synergy Message Manager. For example, to view all the messages in the Synergy Message Manager, start dblstatus.exe, and then select the -MA option ("Display contents of all messages"). To remove messages, use the -K option (removes one message) or the -KA option (clears all messages from the Synergy Message Manager).

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WHERE IN THE WORLD IS SYNERGY/DE NOW?
Tuning up cars and keeping motors running up and down the eastern seaboard.

Need a quart of oil? Want to touch up a scratch on your car door?

Call on Robbins Auto Parts, Inc. (Robbins). A leader in the auto parts business for over 60 years, Robbins carries a full line of foreign and domestic automobile parts, chemicals, tools, and equipment representing over 200 top lines. With company headquarters in Dover, New Hampshire, Robbins’ 12 stores serve much of the eastern seaboard.

Robbins Auto Parts opened its first warehouse store in Dover in 1933. Sidney Robbins, the founder, showed considerable courage by opening a store in the midst of the worst economic depression in U.S. history. Nevertheless, Mr. Robbins provided the best service he could until a fire virtually destroyed the store in 1950. Not to be overcome, Robbins rebuilt the store, this time adding a machine shop. A decade later, joined by sons Stanley and Richard, he began to expand the business, and now employs over 300 people in 12 retail stores, 2 warehouses, and a hardware store.

Robbins uses an in-house Synergy/DE-based auto retail and wholesale system for accounts payable, general ledger, inventory control, and distribution control.

“We’ve been developing with Synergy/DE for almost 20 years,” comments MIS Manager Ralph Beaudoin. “We like the fact that it evolves—and keeps evolving—with our business every step of the way.”

Within the year, Robbins plans to put a Web front-end on their application to interface with ACDelco’s Web site. For more details about Robbins, visit their Web site.

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SIGN UP FOR FREE WORKBENCH WEBUCATION
On Wednesday, August 6, Synergex is holding a free Professional Series Workbench Highlights class at 8 a.m., PT. To attend, simply sign up on our Web site.

"It is very hard for us to get away to a training course. The Highlights seminars are like virtual training courses that allow us to keep current."

Chuck Noll
Corporate Jets

For more details, and to sign up, visit the Synergex Education Web page.

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