IBM i Access for Windows: Changing the Font Mapping in PC5250 to Use Courier New Rather Than Courier

Resolving The Problem

Important Note: This document discusses IBM i Access for Windows, as well as older versions of "Client Access" including System i Access for Windows, iSeries Access for Windows and Client Access Express. These names essentially refer to the same product; however, the functionality and name changed over the last several releases. For the purposes of this document, the terms System i Access, iSeries Access and Client Access Express may be used interchangeably. Where a difference is important, the version of the product is used to identify the differences.

This document provides instructions for changing the font mapping by replacing the PCSPD.DAT and PCSPDW.DAT files when using 7.1 (V7R1M0 or R710) IBM i Access for Windows (5770XE1), 6.1 (V6R1M0 or R610) IBM i Access for Windows (5761XE1), as well as 5.4 (V5R4M0 or R540), V5R3M0 (R530) or V5R2M0 (R520) iSeries Access for Windows (5722XE1).

This document was last updated on 9 December 2013.


Changes to How Fonts Are Mapped in PC5250

Starting in V5R2M0 (R520) iSeries Access for Windows, Personal Communications (PC5250) controls font mapping through both the PCSPD.DAT and PCSPDW.DAT files. These files consist of a list of global font IDs (or GFIDs) followed by the attributes of the font mapping. The attributes include the Typeface, GFID1, Family, Char Set, Width, Height, Weight and Style.

In earlier Service Packs for V3R1M3 (R313) and V3R2M0 (R320) Client Access/400 for Windows 95/98/NT (5763XD1) and in the base code for V4R4M0 (R440) Client Access Express for Windows (5769XE1), PC5250 made a change to map the IBM OS/400 or IBM i5/OS font IDs to similar fonts in Windows rather than always mapping them to Courier. This means that OS/400 or i5/OS spooled files could start printing in other fonts than Courier, such as Gothic, Prestige and Artisan. However, this can cause spooled files printed through PC5250 printer sessions to print differently than they did before.

In later Service Packs, PC5250 started shipping two alternate versions of the PCSPD.DAT file that can be used to correct the differences in how OS/400 or i5/OS spooled files print with the new font mapping:

PCSPD.NEW	Changes all instances of the Courier font to Courier New. Courier New is a fully scaleable font and it is more commonly found on Windows 95/98 and Windows NT/2000 PCs than the Courier font.
PCSPD.SAM	All fonts are changed to Courier New with the exception of OCR-B, OCR-A, Symbol, Katakana, APL, Shalom, Light, Boldface, Essay, and Barak.

If you are having problems with the font used when printing through your PC5250 printer sessions, you can either edit the PCSPD.DAT file to select a different font, or you can replace it with either the PCSPD.NEW or PCSPD.SAM file. It is generally recommended that you replace the PCSPD.DAT file with the PCSPD.SAM file, since it changes more fonts to Courier New than the PCSPD.NEW file does, but there may be instances where using the PCSPD.NEW file is preferred.

The following topics explain how to replace the PCSPD.DAT and PCSPDW.DAT files with either the PCSPD.NEW or PCSPD.SAM file. Furthermore, instructions are provided using either a graphical interface (Windows Explorer) or a command interface (Windows Command Prompt).

Note: In some cases, the PCSPD.DAT, PCSPSW.DAT, PCSPD.SAM and/or PCSPD.NEW files may not be found in the C:\Program Files\IBM\Client Access\Emulator\Private folder, though that typically only occurs if running V5R2M0 Client Access Express for Windows without a recent Service Pack. However, if these files are not found, detach (or download) the files from this document and save them in the C:\Program Files\IBM\Client Access\Emulator\Private folder before following the steps below.


Changing the Path to PC5250 Emulator Files (7.1 and 6.1 IBM i Access for Windows)

If running 7.1 or 6.1 IBM i Access for Windows, change the Path to PC5250 emulator files option from "My Application Data" or "User specified path" to "All Users Application Data" prior to editing or replacing your PCSPD.DAT and PCSPDW.DAT files.

This will cause IBM i Access for Windows to use the \IBM\Client Access\Emulator\private folder under the Windows All Users\Application Data folder for PC5250 display and printer emulation sessions, By default, this folder would be:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\IBM\Client Access\Emulator\private

This change can be made by doing the following:

1.	Close all PC5250 printer sessions.
2.	Bring up the IBM i Access for Windows Properties from the Windows Control Panel, or by clicking on the Windows Start button and navigating to All Programs > IBM i Access for Windows > IBM i Access for Windows Properties.
3.	Click on the PC5250 tab and set the "Path to PC5250 emulator files" to "All Users Application Data". For example:
4.	Click on OK to close the IBM i Access for Windows Properties panel.
5.	Restart your PC5250 printer sessions.

After making this change, you may need to manually move your *.ws, *.bat and *.ini files from the previous "My Application Data" folder, or user specified path, to the "All Users Application Data" folder (for example, "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\IBM\Client Access\Emulator\private"). You may also need to manually change or replace any existing icons or shortcuts that point to your PC5250 display and printer sessions (*.ws) or multiple sessions batch (*.bat) files.

If that does not resolve the issue, use Windows Explorer to navigate to your "All Users Application Data" folder. If this folder is empty or does not contain the PCSPD.DAT, PCSPDW.DAT, PCSPD.SAM or PCSPD.NEW files, then detach these files from this document and proceed with the instructions in one of the sections below.