Spooled File Routing: What Controls Where Spooled Files Go

Troubleshooting

Problem

This document provides information on spooled file routing, or what controls where spooled files go.

Resolving The Problem

How to Find your Spooled Files

This video shows the basics of finding the output queue where your spooled files are being created.

IBM OS/400 and IBM i5/OS Printing Routing Chart

The first thing you need to do is find your spooled file in an output queue. Once you do, follow the instructions below to decipher why it went there.

Once you have found the spooled file, ensure you are in intermediate assistance level by pressing the F21 key. Next, take option 8 (Attributes) next to the spooled file to look at the spooled file attributes. Page down once and find the Device file. This is the name of the printer file that was used to create the spooled file. This is where you start.

Note: The operating system looks at the OUTQ values before looking at the DEVICE values. So, as you fill in the table below, follow the OUTQ column down, and then the DEVICE column down.


                                                       OUTQ          DEV
Printer File
   DSPFD printer_file_name                             ____________  _____________

Job Description
   WRKUSRJOB username, take Option 5 on Active
   Job, select Option 2. Then you can run the WRKJOBD
   command and take Option 5 to display the jobd.      ____________  _____________

User Profile
   DSPUSRPRF userprofile                               ____________  _____________

Workstation Description
   DSPDEVD device_name
   (may need to sign off/on to make it take effect)    ____________  _____________

QPRTDEV System Value
   WRKSYSVAL QPRTDEV, Option 5
   (Changing this does not require an IPL, but you
   need to sign off to make it take effect.)                         _____________

If the spooled file does not go where the above table says it will go, there are (normally) only two possible reasons:

1.	Something is overriding the Printer File, such as an application, OVRPRTF, and so on.
2.	If the spooled file goes to QPRINT, it is because the system could not find the output queue specified.

[{"Type":"MASTER","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB57","label":"Power"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU058","label":"IBM Infrastructure w\/TPS"},"Product":{"code":"SWG60","label":"IBM i"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF012","label":"IBM i"}],"Version":"7.1.0"}]

Historical Number

19604536

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Document Information

Modified date:
03 November 2021

UID

nas8N1017766

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