January 23, 2004

SPC 2004 CUSTOMER PRESENTATION: BAY STATE MILLING DEMONSTRATES THE POWER OF xfServerPlus
Come to SPC 2004 in Providence and find out how the largest family-owned and operated flour miller in North America has used Synergy/DE xfServerPlus to connect the world of e-business to the flour industry. Bay State Milling will present their Synergy application, which allows customers like Krispy Kreme Doughnuts to log in and access past invoices, account information, shipping information, and details about Bay State Milling's products.

There will be a different customer presentation at each SPC location:

• Birmingham, England
• Cleveland, OH
• Read about the New Orleans customer presentation in the February 3 issue of Synerg-E-News.

Register today on the SPC 2004 Web site.

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USING XML TO COMMUNICATE WITH WEB SERVICES: A CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
Located in Windsor, Connecticut, Kaman Industrial Technologies has nearly two hundred branches and five major regional distribution centers, and provides replacement parts and support services to nearly every sector of industry in North America.

Kaman Industrial Technologies is one of the nation's larger distributors of power transmission, motion control, material handling, and electrical components, as well as a wide range of bearings. Kaman Industrial Technologies is also a subsidiary of Kaman Corporation (www.kaman.com), a $1 billion company with businesses focused on aerospace, industrial distribution, and music distribution. Kaman Industrial Technologies’ Synergy/DE 8.1.3-based Mica Distribution System (MDS) software manages sales, purchasing, inventory control, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and logistics processing for their Industrial Distribution division.

How is Kaman Industrial Technologies using XML?
XML is helping Kaman Industrial users streamline business processes by enabling them to communicate with Web services.

To read the rest of Kaman Industrial’s story, visit the Synergy/DE, XML, and Web Services microsite.
(Attention HelpDesk Support customers: After clicking on this link, log into the Resource Center. You'll then be redirected to the Synergy/DE, XML, and Web Services microsite.)

How is the Synergy XML API helping you simplify business-to-business transactions?
Let us know.

Get a real-world look at the Synergy XML API...Attend SPC 2004. Register today.

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SYNERGY/DE CUSTOMER DMS NAMED TO DELOITTE'S "TECHNOLOGY FAST 50" PROGRAM FOR FOURTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR
MILFORD, Conn., and GOLD RIVER, Calif., Jan. 21, 2004 -- Distribution Management Systems, Inc. (DMS)—for the fourth consecutive year—makes the list of the fastest-growing technology companies in Connecticut in 2003 as recognized by Deloitte, one of the nation’s leading professional services firms. The “Connecticut Technology Fast 50,” an annual awards program, ranks technology companies located in Connecticut by revenue growth.

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

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SUPPORT TECH TIP: EXECUTING A SYNERGY PROGRAM AS A FOREIGN COMMAND THAT RECEIVES A PARAMETER
Question:
I need to execute a Synergy program as a foreign command and be able to pass a parameter to it on an OpenVMS system. How can this be done?

Answer:
OpenVMS allows passing parameters to an .exe file if you define the .exe as a foreign command. You can use the CMDLN subroutine to retrieve the passed-in parameter from the Synergy routine. Refer to the "System-Supplied Subroutines and Functions" chapter of the Synergy Language Reference Manual for more information about the CMDLN subroutine.

The following example allows the executable DIR:program.exe to accept command line arguments:

  $ PROG :== $DIR:program

For the following example

  $ prog parameter1 "Parameter2" PARameTER3

the value returned by the CMDLN routine is

"PARAMETER1 "Parameter2" PARAMETER3"

Note that the unquoted parameters are automatically uppercased. Enclosing a parameter in quotation marks preserves the case of the parameter, but the quotes are also returned by the CMDLN routine.

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DID YOUR 2004 SYNERGEX CALENDAR ARRIVE?
In this year’s calendar, local Sacramento artist John Tessler salutes the creative process inherent in the software cycle—from inspiration to realization to implementation. The calendars were mailed out in December -- if you haven’t received yours, or if you would like to order extras* for your coworkers, visit the Synergex Web site and fill out the Calendar Request Form.
*While supplies last

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NEED SYNERGY/DE PRODUCT LICENSE INFORMATION? VISIT SYNERGEX.COM.
Within the Synergy/DE Resource Center you can discover everything you need to know about product licenses—all in one place:

• Download and print the “Synergy/DE Product License Agreement*.”
• Read about our “License Transfer Fees and Requirements.”
• Find out how to add Synergex's Product License Agreement (PLA) to your own Product License Agreement.

To get to the Synergy/DE Product License Information Web page within the Resource Center, start from the Synergex home page. Then log into the Resource Center and click on the License Information link in the second column under the Synergy/DE HelpDesk Support heading.

(Not yet on Synergy/DE HelpDesk Support? Take a tour of the Resource Center as our guest. Just click on the Synergy/DE Guest User? link in the upper right corner of the Synergy/DE
Solutions page of the Synergex Web site. As a guest user, you will be able to tour some of the areas of the Resource Center and discover all of the resources that are available with a HelpDesk subscription.)

Need more information about accessing the Resource Center? Visit the Synergex Resource Center FAQs Web page.

*Note: A signed PLA is required before product license keys can be issued.

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SIGN UP TODAY FOR THESE UPCOMING SYNERGEX EVENTS

• February 26-27, 2004 SPC 2004-- Birmingham, England
  
• March 2-4, 2004 VisualSmart Sponsors DCI Show-- Chicago, Illinois
  
• March 11-12, 2004 SPC 2004-- Cleveland, Ohio
  
• March 15-16, 2004 SPC 2004-- Providence, Rhode Island
  
• March 18-19, 2004 SPC 2004-- New Orleans, Louisiana

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