Converting line data to a text data stream

IP PrintWay™ automatically converts line data into text data except in these situations:

• Print Interface already formatted line data into text data.
• You specify a filter in the Filter field for the Line data format.
• You select the Remote PSF option in the Mode field.
• You select the VTAM® protocol.
• IP PrintWay basic mode: You select the None option in the Formatting field.
• IP PrintWay extended mode: IP PrintWay detects that the data set does not contain line data.

You can specify these fields in the printer definition to control how IP PrintWay converts line data into text data:

• Carriage control type: An indication of whether to use the carriage-control characters that are present in the data set to format data. By default, IP PrintWay automatically determines whether a data set contains carriage controls and uses carriage controls if they are present.

  Tip: For most printing applications, do not select any value in this field. The IP PrintWay default is suitable for most applications, regardless of whether carriage controls are present or not.

• Delete form feed: An indication of whether to delete form-feed controls from the beginning and end of data sets. By default, IP PrintWay does not delete any form-feed controls.

  Tip: You might need to delete form-feed controls if your applications insert form-feed controls that result in blank pages being printed at the beginning or end of data sets.

• Form feed: The form-feed controls, specified in EBCDIC, that the printer or print server requires. IP PrintWay extended mode converts the form-feed controls to ASCII and adds them to text data to indicate the start of a new page. The default form-feed controls are: X'0D0C' (carriage-return and form-feed). IP PrintWay basic mode ignores this field.
• Line termination: The line-termination controls, specified in EBCDIC, that the printer or print server requires. IP PrintWay converts the line-termination controls to ASCII and adds them to text data to indicate the end of a line. The default line-termination controls are:
  • IP PrintWay basic mode:
    • LPR, direct sockets, IPP, and email protocols: X'25' (line-feed)
    • VTAM protocol: X'0D15' (carriage-return and new-line)
  • IP PrintWay extended mode:
    • LPR (with an ASCII printer code page), direct sockets, IPP, and email protocols: X'0D15' (carriage-return and new-line)
    • LPR protocol (with an EBCDIC printer code page): X'0D25' (carriage-return and line-feed)
    • VTAM protocol: X'0D15' (carriage-return and new-line)

  Tips:

  • IP PrintWay extended mode: If the Printer code page field contains ISO8859-1, leave the Line termination field blank. If you need to specify 25 or 0D25, specify a printer code page that translates EBCDIC X'25' to ASCII X'0A'', such as code page IBM-850.
  • IP PrintWay basic mode: Consider specifying 0D25 in the Line termination field. This value is more suitable for many ASCII printers than the IP PrintWay default line-termination control of X'25'.
• Omit line termination at EOF: An indication of whether to omit the line-termination controls that IP PrintWay adds at the end of each document that contains ANSI carriage controls. IP PrintWay does not add any line-termination controls at the end of documents for the IPP, VTAM, and email protocols, so this field does not apply to these protocols.

  Tips:

  • Some printers require line-termination controls at the end of documents so data for the next document starts printing at the beginning of the line.
  • Line-termination controls added at the end of documents can cause a printing problem when an application adds transparent data to the end of a document.
• Transparent data char: The transparent-data control used in the input data. IP PrintWay transmits data after the transparent-data control without converting it from EBCDIC to ASCII. However, IP PrintWay does not transmit the transparent data control and the 1-byte length field after the control. The default transparent data control is X'35'.

IP PrintWay uses the ANSI or machine carriage controls in the input data stream to format data. IP PrintWay supports the print no space, space 1 line, space 2 lines, and space 3 lines carriage controls. If FCB processing is enabled, IP PrintWay also supports skip-to-channel carriage controls. For more information about how to enable FCB processing in the printer definition, see Using an FCB to format data.

For data sets without carriage controls, you can specify these fields in the printer definition to control how IP PrintWay formats data into pages:

• Pagination: An indication of whether IP PrintWay formats line data without carriage controls into pages. By default, pagination is selected.
• Margins: Top and Margins: Bottom: Number of blank lines to leave in the top and bottom margins. The default is no margins.
• Page height: Number of lines to print on a page. The default is 58 lines.
• Print page header: An indication of whether to insert a header at the top of each page. The 3-line header contains the fully qualified data set name and a page number, followed by two blank lines.