Print Interface

The Print Interface component of Infoprint Server provides z/OS UNIX System Services printing commands and a subsystem so you can print from the local z/OS® system. Print Interface accepts different data formats; transforms the data streams to EBCDIC line data, AFP, PCL, PostScript, PDF, or other data formats that the printer accepts; and allocates output data sets on the JES spool.

Print Interface also provides an LPD that lets you submit print requests from remote workstations that have TCP/IP access. In addition, Print Interface can receive print requests from remote workstations that use the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) or the SMB printing protocol, which is standard on Windows systems. Print Interface also provides an SAP R/3 Output Management System that can receive SAP R/3 print requests.

Print Interface does these functions:

• It creates an output data set on the JES spool for each document to be printed. Print Interface maps the printing options specified on lp commands and some of the printing options specified on lpr commands to JES output parameters. These parameters are the same parameters that you can specify on JCL statements when you submit batch jobs.
• It responds to query requests with the status of the output data set on the JES spool or a list of the printers defined in the Printer Inventory.
• It responds to cancel requests by removing data sets that are on the JES spool. The data sets must not yet have been selected for printing. For security reasons, Print Interface does not let unauthenticated users on remote systems cancel print requests.

After Print Interface creates output data sets on the JES spool, the data sets can be printed in any of these ways:

• JES or PSF can print the data sets.
• JES can transmit the data sets to another location for printing.
• IP PrintWay can transmit the data sets to a remote printer in your TCP/IP or SNA network.

Some of the benefits of Print Interface are:

• Printing of any data format that the printer supports

  Print Interface lets users submit print requests with any data format that the printer supports. These formats include, but are not limited to, PCL, PostScript, MO:DCA-P, line data, XML, and text. Print Interface automatically detects the data format.

• Automatic data transform

  if you have installed an IBM® transform product, Print Interface can automatically transform data to and from the AFP data format on the z/OS system In addition, if you have installed a Ricoh transform product, Print Interface can automatically send data to AIX®, Windows, and Linux systems to be transformed remotely.

• Validation of print requests

  Before accepting print requests, Print Interface validates, with some exceptions, that a document can print as requested on the selected printer. For example, Print Interface rejects a document with a data format that the printer does not support or that cannot be transformed into a supported data format.

• Notification of completion

  Print Interface notifies users on the local z/OS system when processing of a document is complete.

• Identification of printed output

  Print Interface maintains the user ID of the job submitter for printing on separator pages. Both PSF and IP PrintWay lets installations write an exit to print separator pages.

• Double-byte character set (DBCS) support

  Print Interface converts DBCS data from one code page to another before writing the data to the JES spool.

• IPP server

  Print Interface includes an IPP server to support printing from Windows systems. The IPP server lets Windows users print on z/OS printers without installing the Infoprint Port Monitor for Windows.

• SMB support

  Print Interface includes support for SMB printing, which is used by Windows systems. SMB support lets Windows users print on z/OS printers without installing the Infoprint Port Monitor for Windows.

• SAP R/3 Output Management System

  Print Interface provides an SAP R/3 Output Management System (OMS) that is SAP-certified as interface software for the SAP R/3 4.0 system. The SAP OMS, with the SAP R/3 Application Server for z/OS, lets SAP R/3 users print on any printer defined in the Printer Inventory, cancel jobs, obtain accurate job status, and receive immediate notification when their documents have completed (successfully or unsuccessfully).

• Print Interface subsystem

  The Print Interface subsystem can transform and print output from z/OS applications with minimal changes to the applications' job control language (JCL). The subsystem processes the application's output, transforms it to the format required by the printer or email destination, and writes it to the JES spool. From the JES spool, the transformed data can be printed on any printer, including AFP printers controlled by PSF and PostScript or PCL printers controlled by the IP PrintWay™ component of Infoprint Server. Also, the transformed data can be sent to email destinations using the email support that IP PrintWay provides.