Re: Converting a *USERASCII spooled file (containing PCL) into a PDF file in the IFS

We used to use Ghostscript to convert from PDF to PCL. That utility can do the opposite. I do not know if Ghostscript is available through the package support on the i. I do see that it might be available on the PERZL site - there is a thread in the IBMiOSS list on midrange.com - https://archive.midrange.com/opensource/201609/msg00058.html is one of the emails, turns out to or from me. This was probably using the previous OpenSource support - someone else, Jack Woehr, maybe, can give better help these days.


I do have to ask, could the original spooled file be created as *SCS or *IPDS or *AFPDS? Then CPYSPLF can be used to directly convert the SPLF to a PDF file. We do that all the time here, including with SPLF that have overlays or page segments or bar codes or other graphical elements.


I used to work at a company almost 30 years ago that wrote documents to *USERASCII with PCL code - excuse me if I say that this feels like a very old technique, better replaced with newer ways - but I am not in Juan's shop.


Regards
Vern

On Mon, 11 Nov, 2024 at 12:54 PM, Patrik Schindler <poc@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


To: midrange systems technical discussion

Hello Juan,

Am 11.11.2024<http://11.11.2024> um 16:53 schrieb Juan Concepcion via MIDRANGE-L <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>>:

Is there a way to convert a *USERASCII spooled file (containing PCL) into a PDF file in the IFS?

On IBM i: Dunno.

GnuPCL what GhostScript is to PostScript. I'm using this to convert PCL print jobs from OS/400 on a separate Linux install. Not sure if there are AIX binaries for PASE?

See also:

https://github.com/PoC-dev/lpd-pdfif

:wq! PoC