HOWTO: Using ADBUTIL the Zetafax address book utility program.
ZTN1056
ID: ZTN1056
This Zetafax technical note applies to:
- Zetafax 5 and later
Summary
ADBUTIL.EXE is the Zetafax address book maintenance program. This program is used to update and maintain the address book files. These are a pair of files ADB.DB and ADB.IDX, which are stored in the zfax\SERVER\Z-DB directory, and contain the address book entries and an index into the database file respectively.
We recommend that you make a backup copy of the address book file ADB.DB before making changes to the structure of the file using this program.
More information
ADBUTIL runs from a command prompt from the zfax\SERVER directory, where 'zfax' is the name of the directory where the Zetafax server files are installed. When using ADBUTIL the fax server should be closed down.
To run the utility simply open a DOS command prompt box and change to the zfax\SERVER directory, then type in ADBUTIL and hit return.
ADBUTIL is run without parameters, with the fax server stopped, and is menu driven. Functions available are as follows:
Export address book
This is used to produce an ASCII text file of the address book. You can select between the system address book, a user's private address book, or the complete address book.
Use this option to view the ASCII format required for import into the address book.
Import address book
This is used to import an ASCII text file (in the same format as that produced by the Export command) or a comma delimited text file (CSV) into the address book. An error will be displayed if an entry already exists (in the same way as if the entry had been added using the workstation program). The " Delete user" command can be used to clear a specific set of entries before importing.
When importing using CSV format the following fields can be accepted:
- Name
- Organisation
- Fax Number
- Telephone
- Unique name
- Address
You will be given the option of ignoring the first line in your CSV file (it is sometimes used for displaying field names). It is also possible to import your CSV file into address groups. If this option is chosen the addressees will be split into groups of 50.
Validate records
This runs various checks on the address book files and reports and corrects any errors that it finds. It should be run if any consistency errors are reported by ADDMAN, or if the fax server is stopped improperly at any time (e.g. power failure).
Create address book
This deletes all entries in the existing address book and creates a new, empty book. It should not normally be required.
Modify address book
This is used to alter the size of the address book file or of the index file. It can be used to extend an existing address book retaining the old entries, although it is advisable to make a backup copy of the files first. The size of the index file is determined by a " provision factor" - this gives the ratio between the number of entries in the index and the maximum number of entries it would be possible to index. A factor of 1.0 is suitable for most installations - however, if you use aliases (" also known as ..." ) on most records and disk space is not a problem, then you may improve the performance on a nearly full address book by using a value of 2.0 or 3.0. Similarly, if you have a large address book but do not use aliases much, and disk space is more important than access time, then a value of 0.4 or 0.5 could be used.
List statistics
This displays statistics from the last run of ADDMAN, giving details about the number of disk accesses for particular operations, etc. Note that the disk access count does not take into account any disk caching software being used on the machine.
Delete user
This is used to remove all private address book entries for a given user, or all the system address book entries. These are not removed automatically when a user is deleted using the INSTALL program, to allow users to be renamed or temporarily disabled.
Rename user
This renames a private address book and is used if the name for a user is to be changed.
References
For additional information on Zetafax and its address books, please see the following Zetafax technical notes:
ZTN1014-INFO Zetafax supported address books.
Last updated: 4 January 2000 (GC/GW)