AFP printing

One common way to use AFP data is to print it. Figure 1 shows the main components of AFP printing: resources, data streams, and the printer driver.

Figure 1. Components of AFP printing

1. Different types of resources are stored in resource libraries and can be retrieved by PSF for printing. A resource is a collection of printing instructions and sometimes data to be printed. It is bounded by delimiters that identify its type, such as graphics, image, or text.
2. Data streams can contain line data, MO:DCA-P data, and XML data. A data stream is data and control information that is transmitted through a data channel. The data streams are stored on the system spool, which is a storage area that lets users queue jobs to a device, such as a printer. The system spool for z/OS® is Job Entry Subsystem (JES).
3. The data streams and resources are processed by the printer driver, which is a program that passes commands and resources with a data stream from the system spool to tell the printer how to print the data. The printer driver for z/OS is PSF. For more information about PSF, see Introducing Print Services Facility.