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WOW, fantastic information Paul ! Thanks so much for the detailed information; I'm sure lots of folks will benefit :-) Chuck "Tykodi, Paul" wrote: > Dear Leo, > > Last year I crafted a small report about the growing use of digital > copier/printers in organizations that also use the IBM iSeries and AS/400 > hosts as well. These office equipment devices are frequently called MFP's > which is an abbreviation for multifunction peripheral. The Toshiba e-Studio > devices that you are installing fall into this category of combination > machine. Some general information about them would be as follows: > > The MFP segment includes a low end of device (for home use or small > business frequently using InkJet or Laser printing technology), a medium > powered device category (typically a digital copier printer with a rated > throughput in the 25 to 80 PPM range) and a high end device category > frequently used in the print shop and print on demand industry segments. > > One of the software development companies known for creating OEM print > drivers (Software 2000) includes the following quote regarding the growing > use of digital copiers as printers on their web site > http://www.sw2000.com/new/index1.html. This segment has historically been > driven by technology-savvy copier suppliers. Today it threatens to replace > many of the business network printer devices with more capable and useful > machines. Devices are based on the combination of digital scanner, digital > printer, and copier and printer interfaces. Users can operate the device > as-if a standalone photocopier with the same ease they are familiar with, > and as a networked high-speed computer printer. Printer features are similar > to high-end business lasers although speeds are commonly higher due to the > copier engine expertise by many companies in this area. > > Companies that own iSeries or AS/400 hosts are beginning to purchase the MFP > machines, that are rapidly filling the medium powered device category > described above, on a recurring basis. End users trying to link their > iSeries hosts to these MFP machines for printing purposes are finding some > new challenges that are sometimes rather difficult to overcome. Currently > IBM has rather limited information available on the iSeries AS/400 > Technical Support web page that explains the steps to follow to successfully > configure an OS/400 printer device description that can properly support an > MFP. > > The answers to your specific questions would be as follows: > > 1. What iSeries Host Print Transform driver program to use - Remote Output > Queue in order to use LPR as the transport protocol. If you need to print to > an actual iSeries print device, create a virtual printer that is not made > active at IPL and link it to your remote output queue. > > The MFP print controller market has moved much more slowly than the > multi-protocol printer interface market segment (ie products like HP > JetDirect) into supporting the Raw TCP Socket printing protocols (frequently > referred to as port 9100 by many users). Lack of Raw TCP Socket support in > the MFP print controller prevents you from using the iSeries HPPCLDRV > driver. > > Also the support for SNMP has been slow to materialize in many of the MFP > print controllers because the original printer MIB (RFC 1759) didn't say a > lot about the management of finishing features (hole punch, stapling, > booklet creation, etc.). A new updated RFC is just now heading into the > Standards Track approval process that describes how to manage these extended > printer capabilities across a network by using SNMP. It is therefore quite > likely that by the end of this year there will be SNMP enabled MFP print > controllers appearing in the marketplace that support the SNMP feature set > required by the iSeries IBMSNMPDRV driver program. This is typically not the > case today. > > 2. What Manufacturer Type and Model to Select When Enabling Host Print > Transform on the iSeries host - My first suggestion would be the HP 5si for > the e-Studio 45. The reason is that the input tray mappings (WSCST Tag > DWRSLT) for the HP 5si very closely match the values used by the Toshiba > GL-1010 print controllers. > > e-Studio 45 w/GL-1010 Print Controller > > e-Studio Input Tray Description PCL Tray Selection Number > > Upper Tray 1 > Lower Tray 4 > Pedestal Upper Tray 5 > Pedestal Lower Tray 20 > Pedestal With Only the Large Capacity Tray 5 > Instead of the two smaller trays > > In this scenario, the only input tray selection number that is unsupported > by the HP 5si is Pedestal Lower Tray. > > When printing to the e-Studio 80, I would suggest the Host Print Transform > HP 8000 driver as the first choice when using the GA-1060 print controller > since the only input tray selection number that is unsupported by the HP > 8000 is the Lower Cassette. If printing to the e-Studio 80 with the SC-2 > print controller, I would suggest the Hp 5si driver as the first choice > because the only input tray selection number that is unsupported by the HP > 5si is the Lower Cassette. > > e-Studio 80 w/GA-1060 Print Controller > > e-Studio Input Tray Description PCL Tray Selection Number > > Upper Cassette 1 > Middle Cassette 5 > Lower Cassette 10 > Large Capacity Feeder 8 > > e-Studio 80 w/SC-2 Print Controller > > e-Studio Input Tray Description PCL Tray Selection Number > > Upper Cassette 1 > Middle Cassette 4 > Lower Cassette 20 > Large Capacity Feeder 5 > > If either the e-Studio 45 or the e-Studio 80 is using a Fiery print > controller (GA-1040 or GA-1110), you will need to get the PCL 5e reference > for the controller from Toshiba in order to determine the PCL numbers that > select the input trays. > > 3a. Other Things to be Aware of When Printing SCS Data to an MFP - > Frequently end users want to select finishing options for their iSeries > output. The commands that activate finishing options on an MFP when using > PCL based data streams are known as PJL (Printer Job Language) commands. > These commands are always sent at the beginning and the end of a job in > order to set the default environment for the processing of a particular > spool file. The Host Print Transform function of OS/400 has no support for > PJL commands. > > If you create a PC5250 print session with Client Access that does not use > Host Print Transform (uncheck the box Transform Print Data to ASCII on > AS/400), the OS/400 EBCDIC data would be transferred natively from the > iSeries to the PC running Client Access. If you also make sure that you do > not select the Use PDT checkbox, Client Access will convert your EBCDIC data > into a Windows format known as GDI on the PC running Client Access. The GDI > format is the generic input format required by Windows print drivers. You > should be able to use the appropriate Toshiba Windows print driver to format > the data and all of the finishing options will then be supported. > > Besides Client Access there are some third party iSeries printing software > products in the marketplace that perform the same function as the PC5250 > printer sessions available with Client Access. > > 3b. Other Things to be Aware of When Printing IPDS Data to an MFP - Since > Host Print Transform doesn't support PJL commands and the Client Access > PC5250 sessions don't support the conversion of native IPDS formatted data > streams into other data stream formats, the third party software market is > currently the only option available for processing iSeries resident AFP > enabled applications that an end user would like to merge with finishing > options such as hole punching and stapling available on an MFP. The only > other option currently available from IBM is to transform the AFP output to > PDF and then print the PDF file through a standard Toshiba print driver > choosing the appropriate finishing options. > > Also Beware Duplex - Sometimes (but not always) Fiery controllers will use a > special Letter paper size command that is unique to the Fiery controller in > order to know whether the Letter paper has been installed in portrait or > landscape orientation in an input tray. If the Fiery controller doesn't > receive its unique paper orientation command, it is not possible to invoke > short edge duplex when printing on Letter sized paper. Typically you can > sneak the appropriate PCL sequence into the Paper Drawer Selection Tag of a > WSCST, as a second PCL sequence to send, when it is found to be necessary. > > Bottom Line - Both the iSeries - AS/400 hosts and the multifunction > peripherals are very good business productivity tools. With a little effort > and imagination, they can be made to work together efficiently and reliably. > > HTH > > Best Regards, > > /Paul > -- > Paul Tykodi > National Product Manager > LCI-Intermate US, Inc. > > p: 603.431.0606 x115 > f: 603.436.6432 > paul@intermate-us.com > www.intermate.com
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