I am thinking that DDS keywords could handle what you have stated below.
Probably much better than overlays - because stuff can be moved around on the page "on the fly" under program control.
DDS keywords can control colors - or default to black only.
Greenbar (graybar) can be accomplished as:
A R BOX4 BOX(1.2 0.5 5.1 6.3 0.2 +
A (*SHADE 50))
Signatures can be placed anywhere on a page using the DDS PAGSEG keyword - with OVERLAYS they are limited to only one place on the page (unless you have multiple fixed signature locations).
I would suggest using RLU to create a few lines, boxes, signatures, etc and print them out to get an idea if that would work OK for you.
You can use variables in DDS keywords so RPG or COBOL can pass the horizontal and vertical coordinates where to place signature, logo, text, etc. Cant really do that with overlays - everything is fixed.
R PFPAGESEGR PAGSEG(&PFPAGESEG &VPOS_SG &HPOS_SG)
PFPAGESEG 8 P
VPOS_SG 5S 3P
HPOS_SG 5S 3P
With DDS keywords you can also control logo sizes, signature sizes, etc on the fly under pgm control.
You can always combine overlays AND dds keywords also (so you don't have to change everything all at once). Although this can be tricky as the origin point (0,0) may not be the same between printers which can get frustrating.
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mike Cunningham
Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2013 2:11 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: AFP/IPDS laser printers
Most of it is lines and boxes. Some of the boxes have to be shaded a light grey. Some logos. Most interesting one to try and take care of is the floating signature in a letter. Our PO overlay has a signature but it is in one place and the same on all POs. For letters from our admissions office they are all different length and have different signatures depending on which recruiter they met.
We also do what we call "grey bar" which is the old standard green-bar but on white cut-sheet paper. We print alternating bands of light grey either every other line of print or every three lines of print like the old green-bar. To make wide reports easier to read. Could DDS do this?
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Stone, Joel
Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2013 2:59 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: AFP/IPDS laser printers
If you are simply doing lines, boxes, font sizes, a great method is to use DDS printer file keywords to generate them (instead of an overlay).
And use page segments for signatures, logos, graphics, etc.
If you are already using external printer files, it may be possible to do WITHOUT pgm changes.
Just a thought.
Not sure how complex your overlays are - but if they could be replaced with DDS commands it may work out better.
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mike Cunningham
Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2013 7:29 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: AFP/IPDS laser printers
Can anyone recommend a good IP laser printer that supports AFP/IPDS printing? We want to create overlays with our spooled output and then send to a printer. Looking to eliminate a proprietary Xerox printer language we use to create overlays now and get back to something more universal. We current create overlays to use with emailing some documents (POs) but when we print POs we use preprinted forms. We are on V7.1. We have not done this but think we could use the built in PDF output and associate it with an AFP output queue and then FTP a PDF to any printer that supports receiving an FTP of a PDF. But just having an AFP/IPDS compatible printer sounds a lot easier. Color is not needed but could be useful. 70-80 page per minute range on the printer.
Or we look into how to load an overlay to an HP printer and then how to trigger the use of that overlay from a non-AFP spool file.
Mike Cunningham
VP of Information Technology Services/CIO Pennsylvania College of Technology
--
This is the Midrange Systems Technical Discussion (MIDRANGE-L) mailing list To post a message email: MIDRANGE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
visit:
http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/midrange-l
or email: MIDRANGE-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives at
http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l.
________________________________________________________________________
This inbound email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs SkyScan
service.
________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
This outbound email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs Skyscan service.
For more information please visit
http://www.symanteccloud.com
______________________________________________________________________
midrange.com
