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Configures one spooled printer, or a group of spooled printers related by device class, to conditionally enter into a forms message dialog with its operator(s) when the current spool file includes a forms message. Syntax | |
FORMSALIGN [DEV=] {ldev
devclass
devname }
[;[DIALOG=]{{EACHCHANGE
EACHFILE
EACHCOPY } [, {FORMIDOVERRIDE
NOFORMIDOVERRIDE}]}]
[;SHOW]
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Parameters | |
- ldev
This is the logical device number of a printer. The printer must be configured as an MPE type 32 device. - devclass
This is the device class name of a class of printers. Each printer in the class must be configured as an MPE Type 32 device. The devclass name must begin with a letter and consist of eight or fewer alphanumeric characters. - devname
This is the device name of a printer. The devname must begin with a letter and consist of eight or fewer alphanumeric characters. It is not possible to have a devclass name and a devname name that are the same. If you enter an alphanumeric character string, the command searchs the device class list first, and then the device name list. - EACHCHANGE
The spooler process conducts the forms message dialog only when these two conditions are met: when the (case-insensitive) forms message of the current spool file differs from that of the previous spool file printed by that process and when an overriding formid specification is not in effect
Two different spool files (different SPOOLIDs) with the same forms message will print without the forms message dialog if they are printed consecutively. - EACHFILE
The spooler process conducts the forms message dialog only when these two conditions are met: when the spoolid of the current spool file differs from that of the previous spool file printed by that process, the current spool file contains a forms message and
when an overriding formid specification is not in effect
The second and subsequent copies of the same spool file will print without the forms message dialog if they are printed consecutively. - EACHCOPY
The spooler process conducts the forms message dialog for every copy of every spool file that contains a forms message if an overriding formid specification is not in effect. - FORMID- OVERRIDE
This is a subparameter of the chosen EACHxxxx keyvalue. With this feature selected, the native mode spooler first checks its current and previous spool files for the same nonblank, case-insensitive FORMID. If the FORMIDs match, both the DIALOG option for the spooler process and any forms message in the current spool file are ignored, and no forms message dialog takes place. In other words, identical FORMIDs override all other considerations. Note that the DIALOG option is not changed. It is ignored as long as the two FORMIDs match. If the two FORMIDs do not match, the spooler conducts the forms message dialog using the forms message of the current spool file. If the current spool file has no forms message (whether or not it has a FORMID), the spooler: conducts no dialog if standard forms are already mounted conducts the standard forms dialog if special forms are mounted
Any DIALOG option is ignored. - NOFORMID- OVERRIDE
This is a sub-parameter of the chosen EACHxxxx keyvalue. With this feature selected, the native mode spooler ignores any and all FORMIDs associated with the current spool file or the previous spool file. The setting of the DIALOG option always determines the conditions under which the spooler process conducts the forms message dialog. The FORMID is then useful only as an item in a selection equation. The setting of (NO)FORMIDOVERRIDE only affects the spooler's behavior with respect to the forms message dialog. It has no effect on the use of the FORMID keyword in a selection equation of either the SPOOLF or LISTSPF command. Thus, it is still possible to select a subset of all spool files to alter, delete or display, based on FORMID=, regardless of the setting of (NO)FORMIDOVERRIDE for a given device. They are independent of each other.
| | | |  | NOTE: No matter which set of the above options is selected, if the current spool file has no forms message but special forms are mounted on the device, the spooler conducts the standard forms dialog. | | | | |
If the DIALOG option is omitted, the configuration is not changed. - SHOW
Specifying this option causes the configuration for the specified DEV(s) to be displayed as in the examples below. When ;SHOW is used alone, the current configuration is displayed. If other parameters are present, the configuration is first updated and then displayed. If this option is omitted, nothing is displayed.
Operation notes | |
The FORMSALIGN command can be used on a spooled or an unspooled printer, or on a device class containing any mixture of spooled and unspooled printers. When used on a spooled printer, the specified options become effective on the next copy selected for printing on that device. The choices are retained until changed by another FORMSALIGN command, even if the printer should become unspooled and a new spooler process started for it. When used on an unspooled printer, it has no effect but will be retained (unless changed by another FORMSALIGN command) and will become effective immediately upon spooling the printer. Files that include a forms message and that are directed to an unspooled printer always trigger a forms message dialog with the printer's operator. Any FORMID accompanying the file is irrelevant when the file is directed to an unspooled printer. The options specified in the FORMSALIGN command are stored in the appropriate device files. For example, options for LDEV 6 are stored in file 00000006.DEVICES.3000devs. This is why the options are retained even when no spooler process exists for LDEV 6. There is one file name entry in this group for every configured device on the system. These files contain information vital to the internal management of all configured devices. A corresponding CLASSES group in the 3000devs account holds one file name entry in this group for every configured class on the system. These device files are reconstructed at each system startup, and options other than the default (EACHCHANGE, FORMOVERRIDE) are not retained across system startups. Thus, your SYSSTART file should include one FORMSALIGN command per device or class for which you want to set options other than the default. | | | | | NOTE: Because this command may affect more than one device (if applied to all devices in a class), it is possible to get warnings for some of those devices and not for others. A warning on one or more devices affects only that device. The command continues to execute until all selected devices have been configured and/or shown, or an error is detected. An error terminates the command. | | | | |
A sample of the output might be:
FORMSALIGN LP;SHOW
FORMID
LDEV DEVNAME DIALOG OVERRIDE
6 LDEV6 EACHCHANGE YES
14 LDEV14 EACHCOPY NO
15 LDEV15 EACHFILE YES
19 LDEV19 EACHCHANGE NO
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Example 1 | |
Current (pre-command) native mode spooler operation: Check the FORMIDs of the previous and current spool file. If they are both nonblank and identical, skip any forms message dialog. If they are different, conduct a dialog. Determine the proper dialog by examining the forms message of the current spool file. If the forms message is nonblank (that is, it was explicitly specified by a user when the spool file was created), enter into the normal forms message dialog. If the forms message is blank and special forms are mounted, prompt the operator to mount standard forms.
If the FORMIDs of the previous and current spool file are both blank: Examine the forms message of the current and previous spool files. If they are the same, skip any forms message dialog. If they are different: If the current forms message is nonblank, enter into the normal dialog. If it is blank, prompt for standard forms.
To duplicate this operation, enter:
FORMSALIGN 6; DIALOG=EACHCHANGE, FORMIDOVERRIDE
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Example 2 | |
The MPE V/E and CM spoolers conducted a forms message dialog for each copy of each spool file printed. To duplicate this operation, enter:
FORMSALIGN 6; DIALOG=EACHCOPY, NOFORMIDOVERRIDE
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Examples 3 and 4 assume that LDEV 6's spooler process prints the sequence of files shown below, and that the sequence starts with standard forms on the device. The FORMID and FMSG columns denote actual text except for "(none)", that denotes the absence of text. Example 3 assumes that FORMIDOVERRIDE is in effect, while example 4 assumes that NOFORMIDOVERRIDE is in effect. For each example, a mark under a DIALOG option indicates that the spooler conducts a normal forms message dialog (F) or prompt for standard forms (S) at that point in the sequence with that DIALOG option in use. Example 3 | |
FORMIDOVERRIDE
SEQ # SPOOLID FORMID FMSG COPY # EACHCHANGE EACHFILE EACHCOPY
----- ------- -------- ------ ------ ---------- -------- --------
1 O100 (none) MSG01 1 F F F
2 O100 (none) MSG01 2 F
3 O101 (none) MSG01 1 F F
4 O102 (none) (none) 1 S S S
5 O102 (none) (none) 2
6 O103 FORM02 MSG02 1 F F F
7 O103 FORM02 MSG02 2
8 O104 FORM02 MSG03 1
9 O105 FORM02 (none) 1 S S S
10 O106 FORM00 (none) 1
11 O107 FORM04 MSG04 1 F F F
12 O108 FORM05 MSG04 1 F F F
13 O108 FORM05 MSG04 2
14 O109 (none) MSG04 1 F F F
15 O110 (none) (none) 1 S S S
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Notes (by SEQ #): - 1
No FORMID, and the forms message text changes. Here the assumption is made that we started with standard forms. - 6
Since FORMIDOVERRIDE is in effect, the change in FORMID from SEQ 5 to 6 triggers the forms message dialog regardless of which DIALOG option is in effect. - 7
Since FORMIDOVERRIDE is in effect, the same FORMID as in ``SEQ 6 overrides an EACHCOPY specification. - 8
In general, avoid using the same FORMID on files with different forms message texts. As in this example, the options causes the forms message, MSG03, to be skipped. That may not be the effect you intend. - 10
The standard forms dialog is not repeated, even with a new FORMID. - 12
Here the FORMID changes from SEQ 11 but the forms message does not. Since we are using FORMIDOVERRIDE, the FORMID change triggers the forms message dialog. - 14
Same as note 12, except that the FORMID change is from an explicit FORMID to no FORMID. Because the forms message is nonblank, the spooler enters into a normal forms message dialog. Had the forms message been blank, the spooler would have prompted the operator for standard forms here instead of at SEQ 15.
Example 4 | |
NOFORMIDOVERRIDE
SEQ # SPOOLID FORMID FMSG COPY # EACHCHANGE EACHFILE EACHCOPY
----- ------- -------- ------ ------ ---------- -------- --------
1 O100 (none) MSG01 1 F F F
2 O100 (none) MSG01 2 F
3 O101 (none) MSG01 1 F F
4 O102 (none) (none) 1 S S S
5 O102 (none) (none) 2
6 O103 FORM02 MSG02 1 F F F
7 O103 FORM02 MSG02 2 F
8 O104 FORM02 MSG03 1 F F F
9 O105 FORM02 (none) 1 S S S
10 O106 FORM00 (none) 1
11 O107 FORM04 MSG04 1 F F F
12 O108 FORM05 MSG04 1 F F
13 O108 FORM05 MSG04 2 F
14 O109 (none) MSG04 1 F F
15 O110 (none) (none) 1 S S S
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Notes (by SEQ #): - all:
Dialog decisions are based exclusively on forms message changes and the DIALOG option, because NOFORMIDOVERRIDE is in effect. - 8
The caveat of example 3 is not as important here, since any FORMID or lack of FORMID does not contribute to the forms message dialog decision.
Use | |
This command may be issued from a session or a job, in a break, or in a program. It is not breakable while updating the configuration, but is breakable during the display portion of the command if the ;SHOW option is used. Any user may execute the command with the ;SHOW option alone, in order to display current configurations. When changing a configuration, it may be executed from the console or by a user to whom the command has been allowed with the ALLOW command or by a user who has used the ASSOCIATE command on a devclass or a device class that includes ldev or devname. Errors | |
The FORMSALIGN command may generate this warning message:
DEVICE "\" MUST BE A PRINTER. (CIWARN 4627)
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The FORMSALIGN command displays this message if ldev or devname is not configured as an MPE Type 32 device (a printer). If the devclass form of the command is used, this message is displayed for each LDEV in devclass that is not a printer. A logical device number is substituted for the "\" shown above. |
