Forcing Spooled Files to Print in Portrait Rather Than COR Using Host Print Transform (HPT)

Document N1019007 contains a save file with pre-built Workstation Customizing Objects (WSCSTs) for some of the most requested and most helpful customizations. The attached save file includes a pre-built WSCST object called PCL5PORTRT where the Paper Orientation (PRTORIENT) tags have been set up to force all spooled files to print in portrait and the Set Characters per Inch in COR Mode (CPICOR) tags have been set up to compress 10 CPI fonts to 17.1 CPI, compress 12 CPI fonts to 20 CPI, and compress 15 CPI fonts to 25 CPI.

For more information, please refer to the following document:

N1019007: Pre-Built Workstation Customizing Objects (WSCSTs) from IBM iSeries Remote Technical Support

] When Host Print Transform (HPT) performs Computer Output Reduction (COR) processing, it sends a control to the printer to set the orientation to landscape and compresses the font. HPT determines what orientation control to send to the printer by looking at the Paper Orientation (PRTORIENT) tags, in particular the PRTORIENT tags for ORIENT=LANDSCAPE and ORIENT=RTT270 (which is reverse landscape). Therefore, operating system spooled files can be forced to print in portrait by changing these particular PRTORIENT tags to send controls that set the orientation to portrait rather than landscape. Edit the Workstation customizing object (WSCST) source member, and find the PRTORIENT tags in the table (you can type PRTORIENT on the SEU command line and press the F16 key). This entry tells HPT what controls to use for the different printer orientations. Computer Output Reduction (COR) is generally used to rotate and shrink output in cases where the pages in the spooled file are too large to fit on the actual page. In this case, HPT will still be shrinking the output, but will no longer be rotating. The PRTORIENT tags are what tell HPT which controls to use for the different printer orientations. The following table shows the original settings for an HP LaserJet 4 and the settings needed to force all output to print in portrait (HPT will no longer be printing in landscape even if specifically requested in the spooled file attributes):

] When Host Print Transform (HPT) performs Computer Output Reduction (COR) processing, it not only sends a control to the printer to set the orientation to landscape and compresses the font, but also attempts to print the text in the middle of the page by sending a special control at the beginning of each line to shift it over about 3/10 inch. This results in a 7.7 inch print line, rather than an 8.0 inch print line. Therefore, when the spooled file is designed for an 13.2 inch print line, the font must be compressed to ensure that characters are not truncated when the operating system spooled file is printed. This can be done by modifying the CPI in COR Mode (CPICOR) tags to send a PCL5 font control to the printer that will select a font with the recommended CPI value as shown in the following table:

] When Host Print Transform (HPT) performs Computer Output Reduction (COR) processing, it sends a control to the printer to set the orientation to landscape and compresses the font and attempts to print the text in the middle of the page by sending a special control at the beginning of each line to shift it over approximately 3/10 inch. This results in a 7.7-inch print line rather than an 8-inch print line. Therefore, even when the spooled file is designed for an 8-inch print line, the font must be compressed to ensure that characters are not truncated when the operating system spooled file is printed. This can be done by modifying the CPI in COR Mode (CPICOR) tags to send a PCL5 font control to the printer that will select a font with the recommended CPI value as shown in the following table: