Is anyone using CA-Spool's LPD function to serve UNIX printing?

[Anon Anon]

Hi,

I'm an IBM mainframe (z/OS) guy with good UNIX knowledge but almost no experience with printing from UNIX systems.

 

We're about to replace our Solaris based UNIX printing solution with CA-Spool's LPD function.

 

While testing, I'm having difficulties printing a text file that has some PCL command enbedded (mainly to change the font size). Currently, LPDSERV DOPTS=D is being used. CA-Spool determines the file is "text" and does a transformation using the java transforms. If I force it to binary using FTOPS=B, then it prints as expected.

 

Printing postscript or fully composed PCL works great even with the default setting; CA-Spool correctly recognizes them a binary.

 

What are your LPDSERV and LPDDEST settings? Is anyone running with DOPT=D?

Id appreciate any advice you can priive realted to UNIX printing via CA-Spool

 

Regards

Peter

[Cesar_Molina]

Peter,

 

Your LPDSERV DOPTS=B parameters is used as the default option on how the LPD Server will determine the file type for incoming print requests after  processing the first 32K of data.

You can add to your LPDEST definition for the printer queue name you are printing form your distributed system a FOPTS=B to override the default value of D that was set by LPDSERV DOPTS=B.

This way you can force and always be sure that the proper file type is assigned so transformation occurs on your incoming data.

 

Let us know if this helps with this question.

If it does not then please feel free to open a ticket and refer back to this community post so we can run some tests in our labs using your data and environment.

 

Regards, Cesar

[Anon Anon]

Hello Cesar

thanks for the reply. I wanted to reply from the Communities web page but

can't find an option to reply from there. The "Actions" button below your

reply shows "No actions are available" ???? How should I respond from the

Communities web page?

 

Regards

Peter

 

 

 

This e-mail, including attachments, is intended for the person(s) or company named and may contain confidential and/or legally privileged information.

Unauthorized disclosure, copying or use of this information may be unlawful and is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this message and notify the sender.

All incoming and outgoing e-mail messages are stored in the Swiss Re Electronic Message Repository.

If you do not wish the retention of potentially private e-mails by Swiss Re, we strongly advise you not to use the Swiss Re e-mail account for any private, non-business related communications.

[Anon Anon]

Hello Cesar

Thanks for your explanation, but I do unserstand the meaning of DOPTS= and

FOPTS= on LPDSERV and LPDEST, resp.

 

>>This way you can force and always be sure that the proper file type is

assigned so transformation occurs on your incoming data.

 

This statement from you would apply to FOPTS=D, right? "D" means CA-Spool

analyses 32KB of file data and tries to find out what kind of file this

is.

 

On the other side, if either LPDSERV DOPTS=B (and no FOPTS=) or LPDEST

FOPTS=B is set, then CA-Spool handles the files as "binary", i.e. it sends

the data unmodified to the printer. I.e. there will never be a

transformation. Right? So printing fully composed PCL files, postscript

files, plain text files and plaint text files with some PCL esacpe

sequences will be sent as is to the printer.

 

 

My main intent of posting this question, however, was to get feedback from

the community. Who is using the LPD interface and what are you LPDSERV and

LPDDEST settings?

 

Regards

Peter

 

 

 

This e-mail, including attachments, is intended for the person(s) or company named and may contain confidential and/or legally privileged information.

Unauthorized disclosure, copying or use of this information may be unlawful and is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this message and notify the sender.

All incoming and outgoing e-mail messages are stored in the Swiss Re Electronic Message Repository.

If you do not wish the retention of potentially private e-mails by Swiss Re, we strongly advise you not to use the Swiss Re e-mail account for any private, non-business related communications.

[Cesar_Molina]

Hello Peter,

 

You're welcome. Your understanding on how the OPTS= (D/F) works for LPDSERV and LPDEST are correct.

Just keep in mind that the value you define in the LPDSERV via DOPTS= can be override by the LPDEST control statement for the printer queue name you are printing from the distributed system.

Peter, once the data is detected to be binary then yes is treated as a file we do not supposed to change and transfer "as is" so the integrity of the data is not compromised.

 

I know you wanted to have a pulse form the other clients following us in this community as how they are using the LPD task provided by CA Spool.

At this point I will let other clients to exchange with us their knowledge but if you want something else to discuss the just cut a new issue and ask any outstanding question you might have.

 

Regards, Cesar

[Anon Anon]

Hello Cesar

Thank you.

 

Can you explain my other question on why I'm not able to respond from the

communities web page? I'd rather do that since I can avoid filling the

discussion with email footers that get appended our mail server.

 

Regards

Peter

[Cesar_Molina]

Hello Peter,

 

It sounds like you are not able to respond directly because perhaps you have not login to the web site yet.

When time permits today please visit the communities.ca.com web site and look at the right upper corner.

Look for a link that reads "Login" and click on it.

That link is located in the right side of a solid gray bar that runs left to right.

The following options are located on that bar: Home/Content/People/Communities/Help

Once you login click in Home, out of the gray bar above, and see if you can look for an entry for this community thread.

If you click on it and scroll down then you should be able to click in a "Reply"  blue link.

If you do not login you still can see the thread but that "Reply" blue link is not made available.

 

Hope this helps reply to this one Peter form the communities web site.

Regards, Cesar

[Anon Anon]

Hello Cesar,

That was it. I must have lost my login status at some point and didn't recognize.

 

Thanks

Peter

[Cesar_Molina]

No problem Peter, anytime...

Cesar