Printing *AFPDS Spooled Files on ASCII Laser Printers using Host Print Transform (HPT)

Resolving The Problem

This document provides information on the AFPDS to ASCII Transform code within Host Print Transform (HPT). This feature allows *AFPDS spooled files to be printed on ASCII laser printers, without requiring that an IPDS DIMM be installed in the printer and without requiring Print Services Facility/400 (PSF/400) to be installed on the iSeries system.

This document was last updated on 17 June 2013.

Explanation of the AFPDS to ASCII Transform Code within Host Print Transform (HPT)

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A PC5250 printer session was configured for an HP LaserJet 1000 printer, but IBM® OS/400® spooled files will not print when the printer session is set up to Transform print data to ASCII on AS/400. Is this required to print *AFPDS spooled file containing bar codes or MICR fonts on ASCII laser printers?

Resolution:
*AFPDS spooled files were initially for printing on IPDS/AFPDS printers only. However, several releases ago, Host Print Transform (HPT) added support to convert *AFPDS spooled files to an ASCII laser printer data stream (HP PCL4 or IBM PDS4) using its AFPDS to ASCII Transform code. Therefore, HPT is required to print *AFPDS spooled files on non-IPDS printers; for example, specific HP LaserJet and DeskJet printers. The AFPDS-to-ASCII Transform code supports font selection and bar codes and several other features of the AFPDS printer data stream. However, it does not support the following:

o	Computer Output Reduction (COR)
o	Multi-up
o	Graphics, including the Character Size (CHRSIZ) DDS keyword and large print in an IBM® OfficeVision®/400 document
o	Overlays with OfficeVision/400 documents
o	Forms alignment

Because printing *AFPDS spooled files on non-IPDS printers requires using Host Print Transform (HPT), there is no way to print them on Windows Only printers, such as the HP LaserJet 1000 printer.

The term Windows Only printer refers to whether a particular printer was designed to be used only on a PC running a version of Microsoft® Windows® that are also generally designed to be used in a home or small office environment rather than in a networking environment. Windows Only printers typically use a proprietary printer data stream rather than an industry-standard printer data stream such as IBM Proprinter Data Stream (PPDS), Epson ESC/P2, HP Printer Control Language (PCL), or Adobe® PostScript (PS). Because they use a proprietary printer data stream, they will not work with Host Print Transform (HPT) or a PC5250 Printer Definition Table (PDT) file. Because they do not work with HPT, they also do not work to print *AFPDS spooled files through the AFPDS-to-ASCII Transform code within HPT.

To determine if a specific printer is a Windows Only printer, refer to Rochester Support Center knowledgebase document New.

References:
Refer to the following Informational APAR:

APAR SA47912, OSP PRINT WRITER AFPDS TRANSFORM ENHANCEMENT:

Refer to the following Rochester Support Center knowledgebase document:

New, Information on Printers from Various Manufacturers:

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Description of the AFPDS to ASCII Transform Code within Host Print Transform (HPT)



Restrictions and Limitations of the AFPDS to ASCII Transform

The Host Print Transform AFPDS to ASCII Transform is intended to be used to print *AFPDS spooled files to ASCII laser printers that use either the IBM PPDS or HP PCL printer data streams .....

The best support for this new function will be to PPDS and PCL laser and ink jet printers (D/T4019, D/T4029, HP LaserJet, etc.). The AFPDS to ASCII transform does not support the following:

COR
Multi-up
Graphics (CHRSIZE DDS keyword, Office large print)
Overlays with Office documents
Alignment

Also, to use raster mode, the destination printer must have at least 1 megabyte of memory.


(text from II13564)

This informational APAR is to officially document restrictions of the Host Print Transform (HPT) function of OS/400.

Host print transform does not support Graphics data. If the attributes of your spooled file indicate Graphics special requirements, it will not print via host print transform. The most common way to get Graphics data is to use the CHRSIZ DDS keyword with a DEVTYPE(*AFPDS) printer file.

Color support is available to PCL color laserjet technology printers via MFRTYPMDL values including, but not restricted to, *HPCOLORLJ, *IBM4308, and *LEXOPTRAC. However, the actual color support is limited from a customer standpoint. This color support only allows you to print color text. Color image is not supported. You cannot print color barcodes, either. HPT has never supported the printing of Graphics Object Content Architecture (GOCA) objects, so it follows that printing of color GOCA is not supported.

Even with color text, there are restrictions. Under Presentation Text Object Content Architecture (PTOCA), there are 2 types of color controls. The older PT1 Set Text Color PTOCA command is the control that HPT supports. HPT does not support the newer PT3 Set Extended Color command. If you use the BOX or LINE DDS keywords, and you specify the *COLOR subfunction with the PT1 type color, this actually generates text controls, and HPT will honor the color lines and boxes. Drawing the lines and boxes with the PT3 type color will not work. Lastly, if you use a workstation customizing object that specifies to use RASTER mode, color will not print.

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Technically, this next item is not a HPT restriction, but a restriction of the various print drivers that call HPT. This includes the *IBMPJLDRV, *HPPJLDRV, *IBMSNMPDRV, Lexlink, and remote writer driver programs. When you print spooled files that specify a DEVTYPE(*AFPDS), and you start printing on a page other than page 1, the output may not be as desired. This is because information such as DUPLEX and DRAWER are referenced in a form definition at the beginning of page 1. If you don't print page 1, the form definition is not processed. For Version 5 Release 2, PTFs SI13331 and SI14747 improve this situation for the PJL driver and the SNMP drivers only.

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If a spooled file is of type *AFPDS, and it contains inline font resource (*FNTRSC) objects, these objects will not be used when printing. Host Print Transform only uses *FNTRSC objects that reside in libraries.

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When using a double byte character set (DBCS) transform, and printing a DBCS spooled file, PAGRTT(*AUTO) will not work the same as when using a single byte character set transform (SBCS). Examples of DBCS transforms use *HPDBCS, *IBMPAGES, *ESCPDBCS, *CANLIPS3, and *NECPCPR201, among others. When using a DBCS transform, and PAGRTT(*AUTO) is specified in the spooled file attributes, the output will be printed as if PAGRTT(0) was specified. PAGRTT(90) will print landscape. PAGRTT(*COR) will print landscape, but only SBCS data is reduced, DBCS data and grid lines are not reduced, which could cause misalignment of data.

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Prior to V5R4M0 (R540) i5/OS, Host Print Transform does not support the Font Horizontal Scaling Factor triplet that is in the *AFPDS architecture. This allows you to widen or narrow the characters when using a scalable font. If this exists in the spooled file, the font will not be scaled horizontally as requested. Infoprint Designer, for example, is a product that allows you to specify a horizontal scaling factor when adding text data.

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Host Print Transform does not support the stapling function that is offered via the printer file, or with a form definition.

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Host Print Transform does not support the use of .otf fonts with the FONTNAME DDS keyword.

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Host print transform does not support the Include Object AFPDS structured field. This control is the one that uses X'D3AFC3' as an identifier. This AFPDS control is most commonly used when specifying to rotate or size a page segment using the DDS support.

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Rotation of overlays via the OVERLAY DDS keyword is not supported.

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When you create a spooled file that specifies DEVTYPE(*AFPDS) PAGRTT(90, 180, or 270), and includes an overlay, the position of the overlay when printed through Host Print Transform (HPT) could differ than on a real IPDS printer. This is because the point of rotation origin differs between IPDS and PCL. To get similar results you must specify the proper page size in your spooled file attributes. For example, if you are printing with PAGRTT(90), on Letter size paper, specify a width of 11 inches and a length of 8.5 inches, as those are the dimensions of the page after rotation. This is just a guideline, the printers' unprintable border may also cause slight differences.

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Even if you are not using DEVTYPE(*AFPDS), it is very important that you specify the proper page size in your spooled file attributes if you specify PAGRTT of 90, 180, or 270. This is because the point of origin in rotation differs between IPDS printers and host print transform printers. The best way to get HPT output and IPDS output to print similar is to specify the page size which matches the paper size you are actually using.

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The use of the AFPRSC DDS keyword is not supported by Host Print Transform (HPT) until IBM i 7.2. As with Transform Services, Host Print Transform supports both TIFF and JFIF (JPG or JPEG), but does not support PDF, PCL, BCOCA, GOCA, or IOCA.

Note: Host Print Transform (HPT) does not support AFP overlays or AFP page segments with color image, but does support color TIFF or JFIF (JPG or JPEG) images starting in 7.2 i5/OS.

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It is possible to perform landscape printing on an IPDS AFP capable printer by using a form definition that was created for a cut sheet printer which specifies a Medium Descriptor containing a Orientation of landscape. Host print transform does not honor this type of landscape printing.

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If a form definition is specified that specifies a Page Origin Position, it will be ignored by Host Print Transform (HPT).


For More Information (References)

For more information, refer to the following Software Knowledge Base documents:

SA47912, OSP PRINT WRITER AFPDS TRANSFORM ENHANCEMENT

the following Informational APARs:

APAR II10583, OSP-AFP TO ASCII HPT DIFFERENCES
APAR II13564, HOST PRINT TRANSFORM RESTRICTIONS

the following Software Knowledge Base documents:

N1010127, Raster Imaging for AFPDS-to-ASCII Transform

New, How Host Print Transform (HPT) Handles the Unprintable Border when Printing *AFPDS Spooled Files

New, Explanation of Computer Output Reduction (COR) and Options To Circumvent It

New, Computer Output Reduction (COR) Not Supported by AFPDS to ASCII Transform within Host Print Transform (HPT)

New, CODE3OF9 Bar Code Prints without HRI on HP LaserJet Printer (PMR Summary)

350033173, Printing Scalable Fonts through Host Print Transform (HPT) (PMR Summary)

29075427, Difference between the IBM® AFP™ Compatibility Fonts (5769FNT) and AFP Font Collection (5648B45):

and the following manuals:

Printer Files topic within the DDS Reference, Version 5, at the following Web site:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/iseries/v5r2/ic2924/info/rzakd/rzakdmst.pdf

DDS Reference: Printer Files within the iSeries Information Center, at the following Web site:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/iseries/v5r2/ic2924/info/rzakd/rzakdmst03.htm

OS/400 Printer Device Programming Version 5 (SC41-5713-04), at the following Web site:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/pubs/html/as400/v5r1/ic2924/books/c4157134.pdf