Creating the Network Printer Configuration File

The network address of the printer, required for LDEV-specific entries but meaningless if used in a global entry. You may specify the address in one of two forms:

For more information, read "Entering a numeric IP address correctly," later in this chapter.

An integer between 1 and 32767 (inclusive) that identifies the port number by which the spooler establishes a TCP connection to the target printer. If you specify any other number (including 0) for TCP_port_number, OUTSPTJ will replace it with the default value of 9100. Optional.

For example, to configure two printers on ports 2 and 3 of a JetDirect Ex+3 interface, configure the printer connected to port 2 with TCP_port_number 9101 and the printer connected to port 3 with TCP_port_number 9102.

If the printer is unavailable to print a file, this is the initial time interval, in seconds, that the spooler waits before again attempting to connect to the printer. The default is 10 seconds. If you specify another value, it must be a positive integer. Optional.

This value only has meaning when the spooler process is not suspended, when there is a file to print, and when the printer is busy or unavailable. This may happen, for example, if the printer's network interface is powered off or if another host on the network already has a connection to the printer.Do not confuse poll_interval with the polling performed by many third-party spooling solutions to determine if a spool file is available for printing.

The maximum amount of time, in seconds, that the spooler waits before again attempting to connect to the printer. The default is the current value for poll_interval. Optional.

After the spooler fails to establish a network connection to its printer the first time, it waits the number of seconds determined by poll_interval before polling the printer again. Thereafter, each time it fails to establish the connection, it increases the poll interval by 25%, up to the absolute value specified by poll_interval_max. If the absolute value of poll_interval_max is less than poll_interval, the spooler uses the value of poll_interval.

The spooler only uses the absolute value of poll_interval_max to limit the polling interval. The sign preceding the integer (+ or -) determines whether or not a message that the limit has been reached is displayed on the console or Associated device. If you specify a negative value, the spooler displays a message. If you specify a positive value, no message is displayed.

The fully-qualified MPE name of a file containing printer setup information. The setup file can be either a bytestream file or a record-oriented file. If the file is a record-oriented file, any carriage control (CCTL) byte is deleted, all leading and trailing blanks of each record are deleted and the remaining information is concatenated. The default is no setup file.

If you insert setup_file in the global entry, it applies to all network print requests (unless the print request includes its own ENV specification). If setup_file appears in an LDEV-specific entry, the contents are appended to any specification in the global entry unless the print request includes its own ENV specification.

The setup information can be anything that makes sense to the printer, including complex Printer Command Language (PCL) sequences or a combination of PCL and Printer Job Language (PJL) sequences for those printers that support PJL. The spooler does not check the contents of the setup file. Therefore, users should consult appropriate PCL and PJL documentation for their printer before attempting to construct a setup file.

The scheduling queue to which the output spooler process is assigned when it is created. Acceptable values are BS, CS, DS, or ES. The default value, CS, is used if you specify any value other than these choices.

Spooler processes for system printers (HP2680, HP5000, etc.) are created in the BS queue because there are few such printers on a given system and because they require a constant stream of data to avoid warmup cycles and repositioning the paper. Spooler processes for serial printers (i.e. those connected via a DTC) always run in the CS queue and cannot be reassigned. Spooler process for network printers default to the CS queue, but you can assign them to another one. When running in the CS queue, spooler processes compete on an almost equal footing with user processes ("almost" because they are time-sliced, but as system processes they do not decay from the base of the CS queue as user processes do). However, if you have only a few serial or network printers, you may choose to run their spoolers in the BS queue. Hewlett-Packard generally recommends that you do not specify the DS or ES queues for network printers, since the resulting spooler performance would probably be unacceptable.

The amount of time, in seconds, that the native mode spooler waits for a specific network I/O request to complete before it checks whether or not the printer and network are operating properly. This item is one of four that you may use to determine how network and/or printer problems are managed. Default is 10 seconds, but you may enter another positive integer or 0. If you enter a value of 0 for data_timeout, the three other I/O timing items (explained below) are not used. Optional.

The optimal value for data_timeout depends on the speed of the printer, the nature of the data (text, graphics, PostScript), the complexity of the network, and its normal bandwidth. For more information, read "Using I/O timing effectively" later in this chapter.

The amount of time, in seconds, that the native mode spooler waits for an SNMP request to complete before assuming that it will not do so and continuing. The default is 5 seconds. Optional.

When the data_timeout expires, the spooler issues a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) request to check the status of the printer. Since the SNMP request also must use the network, a network problem can also cause the expiration of data_timeout.

The number of times that the spooler cycles through printer status checking before consulting message_interval (the next item) to possibly display error/warning messages. The default is 3, but you may enter a positive integer or 0. A value of 0 means that such messages are never displayed.

Briefly, a single cycle works as follows: After transmitting data to the printer, the spooler waits for a period of time defined by data_timeout. If that timeout expires, the spooler issues an SNMP request to retrieve printer status, then waits a for a period of time defined by snmp_timeout. The item snmp_max_retries defines how many times the spooler executes this cycle before consulting message_interval. If the default value of 3 is used, for example, then the third snmp_timeout causes the spooler to consult message_interval.

Specifies the minimum interval, in seconds, at which a printer status message (such as "LDEV #6, PAPER OUT") is displayed on the console or on an associated device, for as long as the message applies. Optional.

The default message_interval is 0, which displays the message once, when the condition is detected, and not thereafter. You may enter a positive integer. For example, if you enter a value of 60 for this item, the PAPER OUT message will be redisplayed no more than every 60 seconds until the paper is loaded.

Controls whether or not a PCL Paper Source command is sent to the printer, allowing banner pages to be taken from a separate paper tray. No default. Optional.

The spooler performs no checks on the value you enter for banner_intray except to verify that it is an integer. It is your responsibility to provide a valid positive value. Typical values are 1 (selects the upper tray) or 4 (lower tray). Consult your printer's documentation for details.

If you enter a positive integer, it is inserted into the PCL Paper Source command, Esc&l#H, replacing the "#", when a banner (header or trailer) is printed. If you omit this item, no Paper Source command is sent to the printer during banner printing, and any banner page is then taken from whichever intray was last used. If you enter a negative value or 0, the printer behaves as if the item were omitted. This allows an LDEV-specific entry to cancel a global entry.

Once selected, the banner page intray is not automatically deselected to print data, nor can the spooler detect the tray that was in use prior to the Paper Source command that selected the banner tray. If you use the banner_intray item, you should also specify a value for the next item, data_intray. Alternatively, you can include a PCL Paper Source command that selects your normal data output tray in your setup_file or in a user-specificed ENV file.

If the printer does not support multiple source tray selection, it ignores any Paper Source command sent to it. Therefore, it is safe to include this item in the configuration file for such a printer, especially if you intend to replace it soon with a printer with multiple source trays.

When used in conjunction with the banner_intray item for a printer with multiple paper sources, the data_intray item instructs the printer to take banner pages and data pages from different intrays. No default. Optional.

The spooler performs no checks on the value you enter for data_intray except to verify that it is an integer. It is your responsibility to provide a valid positive value. Typical values are 1 (selects the upper tray) or 4 (lower tray). Consult your printer's documentation for details.

If you enter a positive integer, it is inserted into the PCL Paper Source command, Esc&l#H, replacing the "#", when a data page is printed. If you omit this item, no Paper Source command is sent to the printer before printing data, and the paper for data is then taken from whichever intray was last used. If you enter a negative value or 0, the printer behaves as if the item were omitted. This allows an LDEV-specific entry to cancel a global entry.

If the printer does not support multiple source tray selection, it ignores any Paper Source command sent to it. Therefore, it is safe to include this item in the configuration file for such a printer, especially if you intend to replace it soon with a printer with multiple source trays.

Used to restrict banner printing to either a header or a trailer, or neither one. The default is TRUE for both items, which prints headers and trailers, but you may also set either or both to FALSE. The values are not case-sensitive. Optional.

The banner_header and banner_trailer items are only tested if Headers have been enabled for the device with MPE's HEADON command. In other words, setting either item to TRUE does not override an MPE/iX HEADOFF condition. However, setting both items to FALSE renders an MPE/iX HEADON command meaningless.

Specifies whether or not the printer supports the necessary Printer Job Language (PJL) features to effect Page Level Recovery (PLR) and actual (as opposed to estimated) Page Count Logging. Enter a value of FALSE to indicate that the printer does not support the necessary PJL to do correct PLR or actual Page Count Logging. Enter TRUE to indicate that the printer does support the necessary PJL commands. (The values are not case-sensitive.) To have the spooler automatically test the printer for PJL support, omit the item. No default. Optional.

Be careful not to specify TRUE for a printer that does not support the required level of PJL. If you do, the spooler may never complete the print job (since it sends a PJL request and then waits for a corresponding reply, which it will never get from a non-PJL device). Or, if the spooler does complete the job, the output will be interspersed with PJL command text generated by the spooler.

If you do not need Page Level Recovery or actual Page Count logging on a printer that supports it, you may wish to set pjl_supported to FALSE anyway. If you set this item to TRUE or if PJL support is discovered automatically, there may be a noticeable delay between printing the header and data, or between printing the data and the trailer.

When you are configuring a LaserJet IIIsi, set the pjl_supported item to FALSE (instead of TRUE or instead of omitting the item altogether). The LaserJet IIIsi printer supports only a primitive level of PJL, not a full implementation.

Specifies whether or not the printer has its own jam recovery procedure. The default, FALSE, indicates that the printer does not have its own recovery procedure and,when a jam occurs, will rely upon the spooler's. Optional.

If your printer is configured with enough memory to reprint any pages lost due to a paper jam (with no help from the host), you should set this item to TRUE. Note, however, that if you specify TRUE, and the printer does not recover from a jam on its own, data may be lost. (This is why the more conservative value (FALSE) is the default — output may be duplicated but should never be lost.)

If you adopt the default value or set jam_recovery to FALSE, you may get duplicate pages of output, especially if the printer does not support Page Level Recovery and has to restart the print job from the beginning of the file.

Specifies whether or not socket-level tracing is on. The default is OFF. Optional.

When this item is ON (enabled), it initiates a socket-level trace of the TCP connection. Socket-level tracing is useful when you suspect that the problem is in the bytestream of data sent to the printer as opposed to a problem that may be occuring at the TCP transport layer. (If you suspect that the problem is related to networking, using the transport_trace item, described next.)

To format the data you receive from a socket trace, use the NMDUMP utility and, when prompted, specify subsystem number 5 (sockets).

Specifies whether or not TCP-level tracing is on. The default is OFF. Optional.

When this item is ON (enabled), it initiates a TCP-level trace of the socket in addition to a socket-level trace of the TCP connection. Transport-level tracing is useful when you suspect problems with transport level software or, for example, if you need to identify TCP port numbers and/or connection parameters on either your local or the remote systems.

To format the data you receive from a transport trace, use the NMDUMP utility and, when prompted, specify subsystem number 3 (NetTransport).

If this value is 26, then the A4 page size is selected for the Banner. Default is set to 2 which is Letter.