Steps for diagnosing truncated or missing print data

Determine why print data is truncated or missing.

Procedure

Perform one or more of the following steps:

Check to see whether the value for the record length is valid. The value is specified using the WIDTH option and variable on the LPR command.
If MVS™ displays truncated records, check the value of the LINESIZE option on the SERVICE statement in the LPD configuration file.
If you use the FILTER L or FILTER R options on the LPR command, check to see whether the control characters on the first column of the source file are valid. LPR issues a message indicating whether a record of data has been ignored.
Using a packet trace and the file size listed in the LPR trace control record, verify that the correct number of bytes were sent by the LPR client and received by the LPD server.
Check the LPD trace for error messages. Verify that the Job xxx Received and Job xxx Finish Printing messages were received.
If sending a print request to a remote printer through the LPD server, check the LPD trace to determine whether all data were sent successfully to the remote printer. If not or if data are incorrect, check the printer for errors or restrictions on the type of data it supports (for example, postscript only, text only).
Check for partial temporary data sets and either rename them or delete them. The LPD server creates temporary data sets when connections are broken, and the server does not completely process a print job. (Depending on the LPR client, the server can requeue the job for printing at a later time.) When the connection is restored, the daemon checks for temporary data sets and processes them. After processing, they are erased.
The temporary data sets are stored on a volume with a data set prefix you define in the LPD cataloged procedure. Following are samples of these data sets:
```
TCPUSR4.PRT1.QUEUE                                             WRKLB2
TCPUSR4.RALVM12.CFnnn                        BROWSED           WRKLB2
TCPUSR4.RALVM12.DFAnnnLU                     BROWSED           TCPWRK
TCPUSR4.RALVM12.JFnnn                                          WRKLB2
 
 
            The QUEUE... represents, in this sample PRT1's print
                         queue file.  It will contain the name of
                         the JOB files that have not been completely
                         processed yet.
            The CF... represents the CONTROL FILE.
                      Contains the control data/commands sent to LPD.
            The DF... represents the DATA FILE.
                      The actual data sent to be printed.
            The JF... represents the JOB FILE.
                      Contains names of the above files that have
                      not been processed yet.
            where nnn is the three digit job number.
```
Occasionally, depending on the precipitating incident and the time the connection was broken, the LPD server creates only a portion of one or more data sets. When partial temporary data sets are created, the server issues allocation or failure-to-erase messages. If you receive any of these messages, search for the partial data sets and either rename or delete them. After doing this, you might need to reissue the print request or requests.

The LPD trace and the system log at the time a connection is broken show the status of all print jobs (and the status of some data sets) and identify the owners of the print requests.