Which of the following are common interfaces using for installation of printers nowadays?

Administrators can use the following

Spool

Printing Interfaces and TCP/IP Print Drivers:

By utilizing the MVS Functional Subsystem Interface,

Spool

can run as the system spool for PSF, and can take over the spooling functions of JES2 or JES3.

Spool

can also supply line mode and page mode files to PSF for printing on all types of PSF-attached AFP printers. Users can control remote AFP printers such as the IBM 3812-2, IBM 3816, IBM 3820, IBM 3825, IBM 4028-NS1, as well as non-IBM AFP printers.

High-performance centralized AFP printers are also supported by the PSF interface. These include, for example, IBM 3800-3, IBM 3900, IBM 3827, and IBM 3835. Because the

Spool

PSF interface uses a standard interface to PSF, new AFP printer announcements by IBM are automatically supported by

Spool

.

Xerox Printer Access Facility (XPAF)

Xerox Printer Access Facility (XPAF) is the Xerox host software that allows Xerox DJDE/Metacode, AFP, PCL, and PostScript documents to be printed on Xerox printers that are connected through channel or through SNA or TCP/IP networks.

By utilizing the MVS Functional Subsystem Interface

Spool

can run as the system spool for XPAF, and provide functions similar to those available in the

Spool

PSF printer interface.

For more information about XPAF, see the

Xerox XPAF documentation

.

PSS from MPI Tech supports formatting and printing of AFP data on PCL and PostScript printers.

By utilizing the MVS Functional Subsystem Interface,

Spool

can run as the system spool for PSS and provide functions similar to those available in the

Spool

PSF printer interface.

For more information, see the

PSS documentation

.

Advanced Laser Printer Interface

The Advanced Laser Printer interface uses the built-in formatting functions and fonts that are provided by desktop laser printers. This means that it is unnecessary to add device-dependent printer-control sequences to the print files.

Sample code is provided for HP-LaserJet and Xerox 4045 printers, but it is also possible to use this interface for other printers.

The following

Spool

parameters are supported and have been adapted from AFP:

FORMDEF

-- Specifies formatting at the start of the file; can be used to request an overlay to be printed along with the data.

PAGEDEF

-- Specifies formatting at the start of the file; used to specify the line density and the default font.

CHARS

-- Indicates that a maximum of four fonts can be specified. TRCs can be used in the print file to specify where to use one of the four fonts. This makes it possible to print files formatted by DCF for the IBM 3800-1.

The

Spool

Advanced Laser Printer interface ensures that identical line mode files that are sent to HP-LaserJet, Xerox 4045 printers, or AFP printers can be printed with almost identical results.

Sites that use IBM Communications ServerTCP/IP Services can configure

Spool

to send reports to remote TCP/IP hosts or printers for printing.

Many new printers are delivered with networking support pre-installed so they can be connected directly to the network; this allows users from different operating environments to sharea physical printer. These new printers support multiple communication protocols like IPX/SPX, NetBIOS, and TCP/IP, and multiple network operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, UNIX, and Linux. The same kind of networking support can be provided to existing printers using external network adapters.

In many ways, these network-attached printers can be considered as small, stand-alone print servers. When used with the TCP/IP communication protocol, these printers have their own TCP/IP address and they have built-in LPD (Line Print Daemon) support; therefore, they are able to receive and process LPR and IPP print requests from any TCP/IP, LPR/LPD, or IPP supporting platform.

The Original LPR/LPD Protocol

The LPR/LPD protocol was originally designed to send a print request from a workstation to a remote print server, not directly to a remote printer; therefore, once an LPR request has been started, it is not possible to interfere with it. Printer commands like forward-space or backspace, and file status check pointing are not supported. The only way that you can check the status of your printout is by walking to the printer and checking to see if the expected physical pages have been successfully printed.

The TCP/IP PrintDirect Protocol

Now, in addition to the LPR/LPD protocol, some of the printer vendors' products, like HP JetDirect, Lexmark Marknet, IBM NP Series, and AXIS also support bi-directional TCP/IP application protocols. HP calls this protocol for TCP/IP

Direct Mode

printing. Other vendors call this protocol Reverse Telnet, Direct Sockets Interface or TCP/IP Stream protocol. We are using the term

PrintDirect

protocol.

Hewlett-Packard has developed a special Job Control Language for printing called Printer Job Language (PJL). Using PJL, it is possible to switch printer language, monitor printer status, request printer model and configuration, change default or job printer configuration parameters, and obtain control panel messages.

As most printer vendors support PCL nowadays, they also support PJL to some extent. PJL has become a de facto standard for printer job control. The PrintDirect support is based on PJL. Using the PJL protocol, it has been possible to implement the same kind of recovery and end-user control for TCP/IP-attached printers that we have for VTAM- and PSF-attached printers.

Benefits of PrintDirect Support

The benefits that are provided by the TCP/IP PrintDirect support are summarized as follows:

• End users have full control of printing on TCP/IP-attached printers.

• End users can monitor the printing progress by the number of pages printed.

• Printer commands like forward-space, backspace, interrupt, and cancel are fully supported on TCP/IP-attached printers.

• Check-pointing and restart from checkpoint after interruption are supported.

• No secondary spooling occurs on the receiving side; print data goes directly to the printer.

• Uniform printing support is provided for VTAM-, PSF-, and TCP/IP-attached printers.

• Provides simple, automatic formatting of text print files

• Provides bi-directional TCP/IP PrintDirect support

The TCP/IP print features are packed as print drivers, which can be selected at the printer node level. The following TCP/IP print drivers are supported. For more details about these drivers, see TCP/IP PrintDirect.

The basic TCP/IP LPR print driver supports:

• LINCNT and FCB page length

• NOCC files

• Single-page ASA files

• FCB-controlled formatting of ASA and Machine carriage control characters

• Advanced Laser Printer Interface supported for TCP/IP-attached printers

• TCP/IP printers are displayed in the same way as VTAM and PSF printers

• The menu system shows the number of pages/lines read as the number of pages/lines sent to print for TCP/IP LPR printers

• TCP/IP printer parameters shown on the Menu System Printer panel

• Pseudo sense code and info status code to help identify printing problems

• Partial print support

• Cancel and interrupt printer command support

• Halt file and drain printer support; so PRTOPT=2 is no longer needed

• New file and printer status messages

• Support for retrying TCP/IP printer session request in 2½ minutes

• Support for double cancel for a TCP/IP printer

• Separator page user exit ESFU010X

• SMF record type 6 and

  Spool

  SMF record subtype 11 -- print end

• The 'TCPIP' device-type prefix requirement is removed

• Support for up to 64 characters in the printer node TCPHOST parameter

• TCP/IP print user exit can be used to delete, print, or change print records, or to insert printer commands or data during print formatting

• Translate tables for EBCDIC code pages to Microsoft Windows 3.1, Latin 1 translation

• SCS Transparency support for passing binary data without translation

• Compression of data that is sent to TCP/IP-attached printers

• TCP/IP trace facility

Most printers support IPP (Internet Printing Protocol). The new IPP print driver may be used to send print requests to remote IPP printers, remote IPP print servers, and remote CUPS IPP servers over the Internet.

The basic IPP print driver supports FCB-controlled formatting of ASA and machine carriage control print files and print data translation. This driver supplies translation tables for many EBCDIC code pages to Microsoft Windows 3.1, and Latin 1.

Some TCP/IP-attached printers, in addition to the LPR/LPD protocol, also support a simple protocol for receiving one buffer of raw print data at a time over port 9100 or other ports. HP calls this protocol for TCP/IP Direct Mode printing. Other vendors call this protocol Reverse Telnet, Direct Sockets Interface, TCP/IP Stream protocol, or TCP/IP socket gateway.

If your printer supports bi-directional PJL, then use the PJL5 print driver instead of the DSO print driver.

Activate this support by specifying TCPDRIV=DSO in the printer node definition. This performs the same functions as the standard LPR printer driver.

Some HP LaserJet-compatible printers must be informed about the actual printer language of the subsequent print data to be able to print it. This is typically done using a PJL ENTER LANGUAGE command. The support is activated by specifying TCPDRIV=PJL on the printer node definition.

TCP/IP LPR PJL print driver support provides:

• All the basic LPR print driver support

• The default is to send 'PJL ENTER LANGUAGE = PCL'

• If PRMODE=PS, send 'PJL ENTER LANGUAGE = POSTSCRIPT'

Not all HP LaserJet-compatible printers have PJL support. To better utilize these non-PJL printers, PCL-based automatic print formatting has been added. This support is activated by specifying TCPDRIV=PCL5 on the printer node definition.

TCP/IP LPR PCL5 print driver support provides:

• All the basic LPR print driver support

• LINECOUNT support for NOCC files

• Include of FCB, FORM, and CHAR PCL resources in front of print data

• Automatic formatting by mapping of FCB, FCB-extension, LRECL, and CHAR parameters into added PCL commands, to set up the printer to match the actual print file, if no FCB or CHAR PCL resource is found

Many HP LaserJet-compatible printers support an extended set of PJL, which allows job separation, print job configuration, and printer configuration. This extended PJL support is activated by specifying TCPDRIV=PJL4 on the printer node definition.

TCP/IP LPR PJL4 print driver support provides all of the LPR PJL print driver support.

The following features have been added:

• LINECOUNT support for NOCC files

• Include FCB, FORM, and CHAR PJL resources in front of print data

• Automatic formatting by mapping of FCB, FCB-extension, LRECL, and CHAR parameters into added PJL commands, to set up the printer to match the actual print file, if no FCB or CHAR PJL resource found

• Print job separation and identification using PJL JOB and EOJ commands

• Partial printing of binary print files using PJL JOB START/END commands

• Display current print file name and file number on printer control panel

• PJL commands that are specified using Output statement USERDATA parameters

• Changing of current printer configuration by sending PJL INITIALIZE, RESET, DEFAULT, or SET commands to the printer

• PJL trace facility

Some HP LaserJet-compatible printers support PJL status read-back from the printer to the host, which can be used to query the printer configuration and the printer status information, and to receive unsolicited printer and print job status information. This is bi-directional PJL support; it is used to implement the

Spool

TCP/IP PrintDirect support. Activate this support by specifying TCPDRIV=PJL5 on the printer node definition.

TCP/IP PJL5 PrintDirect driver support provides:

• All the LPR PJL4 print driver support

• Bi-directional printer communication support

• Printer device attendance messages (printer control panel messages) on the Menu System Printer panel

• Intervention required printer support

• Physical number of pages printed on the Menu System Printer panel

• Print file check-pointing support

• Interrupt printer command and restart print support

• Backspace and forward-space printer command support

• Restart and repeat printer command support

• PJL DINQUIRE, INQUIRE, and INFO response info saved in a spool file

• PJL info trace facility

The LCDS print driver routes print files to Xerox DocuSP printers.

The LCDS print driver supports:

• The automatic conversion of carriage control to machine carriage control

• The automatic addition of carriage control information (if it is missing)

• The automatic inclusion of the FCB

• The addition of record length information per record

The BARR print driver routes print files in the 'Mainframe IP Record Format' to BARR printers over the TCP/IP network using the LPR/LD protocol.

The BARR print driver supports:

• The automatic conversion of carriage control to machine carriage control

• The automatic addition of carriage control information (if it is missing)

• The addition of record length information per record

The IPDS print driver prints IPDS files with PRMODE=PAGE and FCB=ASIS using the TCP/IP direct sockets carrying-protocol.

The Data Set print driver automatically copies

Spool

files into MVS data sets or USS HFS or ZFS files.

The Data Set Print Driver supports:

• Text reports stored in EBCDIC without translation and with preservation of carriage control information

• Control over data set disposition, file disposition, and JCL allocation attributes

• Use of the D print driver option, which writes the output from the existing print drivers into an MVS data set or a USS HFS or ZFS file

The Email print driver automatically distributes

Spool

print files including PDF/HTML/RTF wrapped text files by email.

The Email Print Driver supports:

• Attaching print files as text, PDF, PCL, Word, Excel, and other file formats

• Automatic conversion of text files into PDF, HTML, or RTF files while being sent through email

• Direct and indirect connection to LAN-based email servers

• Control over recipients (including cc and bcc), subject line, and attachment file name

• Automatic creation of unique identifying names for recipient, subject, and attachment file

• The OUTPUT statement email parameters MAILTO, MAILCC, MAILBCC, MAILFROM, and MAILFILE are supported

• HTML-based email message body formatting including multiple fonts, colors, and image support.

• Web Link support so a link to a

  Spool

  file is included in the email message instead of the actual

  Spool

  file as an email attachment. Click on the Web Link to view the

  Spool

  file using the

  Spool

  Web Interface.

The ESF print driver automatically writes all types of files, including PDF/HTML/RTF wrapped text files directly into a

Spool

system. Text files can be converted to PDF/HTML/RTF reports before they are stored in

Spool

.

The ESF Print Driver supports:

• Text reports stored in EBCDIC without translation and with preservation of carriage control information

• Automatic conversion of text files into PDF, HTML, or RTF files while being written to a

  Spool

  system.

A JES print driver automatically writes all types of files, including PDF/HTML/RTF wrapped text files directly into

Dispatch

,

Deliver

,

Bundl

or JES. Text files can be converted to PDF/HTML/RTF reports before they are stored in

Dispatch

,

View

and

Bundl

. They can be viewed using

Web Viewer

using Acrobat Reader, the native web browser, or Microsoft Word.

The JES Print Driver supports:

• Text reports stored in EBCDIC without translation and with preservation of carriage control information

• Automatic conversion of text files into PDF, HTML, or RTF files while being written to

  Dispatch

  ,

  Deliver

  ,

  Bundl

  or JES.

The SAR print driver automatically writes all types of files, including PDF/HTML/RTF wrapped text files directly into a

View

report database. Text files can be converted to PDF/HTML/RTF reports before they are stored in

View

, from where they can be viewed through

Web Viewer

using Acrobat Reader, the native Web Browser or Microsoft Word.

The SAR Print Driver supports:

• Text reports stored in EBCDIC without translation and with preservation of carriage control information

• Automatic conversion of text files into PDF, HTML, or RTF files while being written to a

  View

  report database.

The FTP print driver automatically sends all types of files, including PDF/HTML/RTF wrapped text files directly to remote FTP servers running on various platforms for further processing. Text files can be converted to PDF/HTML/RTF reports while they are being sent.

The FTP Print Driver supports:

• Text reports stored in EBCDIC without translation and with preservation of carriage control information.

• Text reports converted to ASCII using the translate table specified on the TRANS parameter of the NODE statement.

• Automatic conversion of text files into PDF, HTML, or RTF files while being sent to a remote FTP server.

The SFTP print driver automatically sends all types of files, including PDF/HTML/RTF wrapped text files directly to remote SFTP servers running on various platforms for further processing. Text files can be converted to PDF/HTML/RTF reports while they are being sent.

The SFTP Print Driver supports:

• Text reports stored in EBCDIC without translation and with preservation of carriage control information.

• Text reports converted to ASCII using the translate table specified on the TRANS parameter of the NODE statement.

• Automatic conversion of text files into PDF, HTML, or RTF files while being sent to a remote FTP server.

The XCOM print driver automatically sends all types of files, including PDF/HTML/RTF wrapped text files directly to remote

XCOM Data Transport

serves running on various platforms for further processing. Text files can be converted to PDF/HTML/RTF reports while they are being sent.

The XCOM Print Driver supports:

• Text reports stored in EBCDIC without translation and with preservation of carriage control information.

• Text reports converted to ASCII using the translate table specified on the TRANS parameter of the NODE statement.

• Automatic conversion of text files into PDF, HTML, or RTF files while being sent to a remote

  XCOM Data Transport

  server.

Connect Direct Print Driver

The Connect:Direct print driver automatically sends all types of files, including PDF, HTML, and RTF wrapped text files using Sterling Commerce's Connect:Direct file transfer product to remote Connect:Direct servers running on various platforms for further processing.

The Connect:Direct Print Driver supports:

• Text reports stored in EBCDIC without translation and with preservation of carriage control information.

• Text reports converted to ASCII using the translate table specified on the TRANS parameter of the NODE statement.

• Automatic conversion of text files to PDF, HTML, or RTF files while they are being sent to a remote Connect:Direct server.

The SharePoint print driver automatically transfers all types of files, including PDF, HTML, and RTF wrapped text files directly to remote SharePoint servers running on Windows Servers for further processing.

The SHRP - SharePoint Print Driver supports:

• Text reports stored in EBCDIC without translation and with preservation of carriage control information.

• Text reports converted to ASCII using the translate table specified on the TRANS parameter of the NODE statement.

• Automatic conversion of text files to PDF, HTML, or RTF files while they are being sent to a remote SharePoint server.

Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS) is an open standard that lets different content management systems inter-operate over the Internet. Specifically, CMIS defines an abstraction layer for controlling diverse document management systems and repositories using web protocols. The CMIS print driver automatically transfers all types of files, including PDF, HTML, and RTF wrapped text files directly to remote CMIS-enabled ECM systems for further processing.

The CMIS print driver supports:

• Text reports stored in EBCDIC without translation and with preservation of carriage control information.

• Text reports converted to ASCII using the translate table specified on the TRANS parameter of the NODE statement.

• Automatic conversion of text files to PDF, HTML, or RTF files while they are being sent to a remote CMIS-enabled ECM system.

Use this print driver to automatically transfer all types of

Spool

print files, including PDF, HTML, and RTF wrapped text files directly to IBM MQ for z/OS for further processing.

The MQM print driver supports:

• Text reports stored in EBCDIC without translation and with preservation of carriage control information.

• Text reports converted to ASCII using the translate table specified on the TRANS parameter of the NODE statement.

• Automatic conversion of text files to PDF, HTML, or RTF files while being transferred to IBM MQ for z/OS.

Use this print driver to automatically store all types of files, including PDF/HTML/RTF wrapped text files, as Binary Large Objects (BLOBs) in IBM DB2 for z/OS databases using the OAM – Object Access Method.

The DB2 OAM print driver supports:

• Automatic conversion of text files into PDF files while being stored as Binary Large Objects (BLOBs) in IBM DB2 for z/OS databases.

• Automatic conversion of AFP, Metacode, PCL, PDF, and TIFF reports to PDF files before they are stored as Binary Large Objects (BLOBs) in IBM DB2 for z/OS databases.

Use the CSSMTP print driver to automatically send

Spool

print files, including PDF, HTML, and RTF wrapped text files by email using the Communication Server SMTP (CSSMTP) application.

The CSSMTP print driver supports:

• Attaching print files as text, PDF, PCL, Word, Excel, and other file formats.

• Automatic conversion of text files into PDF, HTML, or RTF files when they are sent through email.

• Control over recipients (including cc and bcc) subject line, and attachment file name.

• Automatic creation of unique identifying names for recipient, subject, and attachment.

• The OUTPUT statement email parameters MAILTO, MAILCC, MAILBCC, MAILFROM, MAILFILE, and REPLYTO.

TCP/IP Printer Definitions

This example shows printer definitions for three TCP/IP-attached printers:

DEFNODE HPLPR,HP-LPR,SEP=4,TCPDRIV=LPR,TCPPORT=515,COMP=YES DEFNODE HPPCL5,HP-PCL5,SEP=2,TCPDRIV=PCL5F,TRANS=C037T19U DEFNODE HPPJL5,HP-PJL5,SEP=4,TCPDRIV=PJL5FI,TRANS=C277T19U DEFNODE XXHPTCP,XX-HPTCP,TCPDRIV=PJL4,TRAN=C50019U NODE S1PRT1,HPLPR,GROUP=1,TCPHOST=Remote1,TCPPRT=My-printer NODE S2PRT1,HPPCL5,GROUP=2,TCPHOST=193.3.128.44,TCPPRT=raw NODE S3PRT1,HPPJL5,GROUP=3,TCPHOST=193.3.128.44 NODE S4PRT1,XXHPTCP,GROUP=4,TCPHOST=233.99.128.22,TCPPRT=Queue1

TCP/IP Email Notification

You can use the email notification support to inform printer administrators and end users about print completion or print failure via email.

The new email notification support works the same as the SMTP email print driver MAILSTAT support, except that it works for all

Spool

TCP/IP print drivers.

Activate email notification support on the printer level or at the file level.

Pull printing is a printing feature where a user print job is held on a server, referred to as

server-based pull printing

, or on a user's workstation, also known as

serverless pull printing

. These print jobs are then released by the user at any printing device which supports this feature. In other words, they are

pulled

to the printer. Various software products exist that support pull printing. A user must first be authenticated at the printer, either using embedded software such as a pin code entry or an external device like a smartcard. Then the user can select from the list of print jobs they want to release at that device. Some systems also allow delegation where the user can access print jobs that are submitted by other users or systems.

You can use

Spool

with various Pull Printing products. The main challenge is to have the end user network logon ID (userid) assigned to reports coming from

Spool

. You can do this in the following ways:

• If the Pull Printing product provides an LPD interface to receive

  Spool

  LPR print requests, it is possible that no further customization will be needed.

  Spool

  passes the userid that is associated with the file at creation time in the LPR control file.

• If the Pull Printing product provides PJL support,

  Spool

  passes the userid that is associated with the file at creation time in the PJL statements that are generated when the TCP/IP PJL4 and PJL5 print drivers are used. This can also enable the Pull Printing product to work without further customization. User exit 9, the supplied

  Spool

  TCP/IP print user exit, contains sample code that you can tailor to insert PJL statements if specific PJL statements or syntax is required.

Which is a common interface for printers and other devices?

What are the 4 types of printers commonly used?

Which is the most common way to connect a computer to a printer?

What are the two most commonly used printers?