Re: Toshiba e-Studio 80 and e-Studio 45

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