Planning printer definitions for IP PrintWay

Before using IP PrintWay™ to send print output to remote printers and email destinations, you must create printer definitions. Typically, you should create one printer definition for each printer and one for each email destination. In the printer definition, you specify the printer's address or the recipients' email addresses. However, depending on the job submission method used and the type of printer, job submitters can sometimes specify a printer's address or email addresses during job submission in job attributes and JCL parameters. If so, you might be able to create one printer definition for a group of printers that share the same attributes, and another printer definition for all email destinations.

Guideline: Create at least one printer definition for each printer for these reasons:

• Some job submission methods (for example, the LPR command) do not support specification of job attributes or JCL parameters.
• Job submitters cannot specify the printer's address if the printer uses the IPP or VTAM® protocol.
• Infoprint Central cannot display information about idle IP PrintWay printers when a printer definition does not exist for that printer.

In the printer definition, you also can specify attributes that IP PrintWay uses to format data in the output data set and transmit data sets to the printer. Table 49 summarizes the printer attributes that IP PrintWay uses and indicates whether the attributes are required or optional.

After you create printer definitions and specify attributes used by IP PrintWay, job submitters can print from batch applications using JCL. However, before job submitters can print from VTAM applications using NetSpool or from local and remote systems using Print Interface, you might need to specify additional attributes in the printer definition. For information about these attributes, see Planning printer and printer pool definitions for NetSpool and Planning printer definitions for Print Interface.

You can create and edit IP PrintWay printer definitions before starting IP PrintWay or while IP PrintWay is running. If you create or edit a printer definition while IP PrintWay is running, IP PrintWay uses the new attributes the next time IP PrintWay selects a data set from the JES spool that uses the printer definition. IP PrintWay extended mode also uses the new attributes the next time it retries printing a data set that failed to print.

IP PrintWay basic mode and IP PrintWay extended mode use the same printer definitions. However, when you move from IP PrintWay basic mode to IP PrintWay extended mode, you might need to make some changes. For information, see Comparing printer definitions for IP PrintWay basic mode and extended mode.

Table 17 lists the tasks related to IP PrintWay and refers to the topic that describes how to do each task. Some of the tasks apply only to the indicated IP PrintWay transmission protocol. Notice that some tasks apply only to IP PrintWay extended mode or IP PrintWay basic mode. The title of each task indicates, in parenthesis, to which mode the task applies. If no mode is indicated in the title, the task applies to both modes.