Printers

 
This tab deals with the following categories of options:
 

Printer Directory List
 
  Provides a list of directories that will be used to store the configuration files of your 3DPLM printers. You can add your own directories and also protect or not the access to the desired directories when logged as administrator.
 

Protecting Printers

When logged as administrator, you can right-click the desired directory from the list then select Protect Printers to protect the access to this directory (the green symbol under the Protection column turns red).
Inversely, once a directory has been protected, you can make it accessible by right-clicking it then selecting Free Printers (the red symbol turns green).
  Note: you can also use the above-mentioned commands when logged as a standard user but it is recommended to be an administrator.
  "Protecting" a printer directory means that when accessing the Printer Properties dialog box to configure a printer, the parameters defined by your administrator are displayed but you cannot modify them.
Once a printer directory has been protected by your administrator, you can still add printers from this directory but you cannot modify them.
  When logged as administrator, you also have the ability to use the lock symbol opposite the Printer Directory List area: clicking this symbol prevents end users from selecting and thus, modifying the printer directories displayed in this area.
For detailed information on lock mechanisms, refer to Locking Settings.
  You can also refer to Scenario for Printer Administration for a detailed scenario illustrating printer administration.

 

Editing Variables

Please note that you can use variables other than ${CATReferenceSettingPath} or ${CATUserSettingPath} ; user-defined variables are supported.
To edit a user-defined variable, click the  button then enter the new value in the Printer Directory dialog box that opens:
 
  When finished, click OK to validate.

Adding a Directory

To add a directory to the list, click the button then browse your filetree.

If no directory has been added, ${CATUserSettingPath} and ${CATReferenceSettingPath} are automatically added to the list. These two variables reference in the Version 5 environment the directories where setting files are stored:

  • CATReferenceSettingPath: points to the directory (or directories) where administrator settings are stored
  • CATUserSettingPath: points to the directory where user settings are stored.

Note that any directory you add must have a father directory named "Printers". This father directory must be located at the end of the path, for instance e:\users\Printers.  If no such directory exists, the application automatically adds it to the path.

Removing a Directory

To remove a directory from the list, select it then click the button.

 

Printer Creation Directory
 
Lets you navigate to the directory where the configuration files for your new 3DPLM printers will be stored by clicking the button.

By default, 3DPLM Printer configuration files are stored in the permanent setting files which are created in a location referenced by the CATUserSettingPath environment variable. This location is:

  • $HOME/CATSettings/Printers/PLOTxxxx.xml  (on Windows)
  • $HOME\CATSettings\Printers\PLOTxxxx.xml  (on UNIX).

where "$HOME" represents the CATUserSettingPath variable.

If no directory has been specified, the box displays ${CATUserSettingPath} to indicate that the default location will be used.

Once a directory has been specified in the Printer Creation Directory box, any new 3DPLM printer you add afterwards (refer to Adding a Printer for detailed information) is added to this directory.

When an environment variable references several concatenated paths, the new printer is added to the last added path and not to the first anymore. This change has been made in order to match the settings files' behavior.
However, if you want to go back to the previous behavior, i.e. add the printer to the first path, you can export the PRINTER_CREATION_DIR_FIRST variable but do not forget that this method is not recommended:

set PRINTER_CREATION_DIR_FIRST = 1   (on Windows)

or

export PRINTER_CREATION_DIR_FIRST = 1   (on UNIX)

"1" is just taken as an example, you can put any other value because it has no impact.

A better method is to work with a user-defined variable. To learn how to define your own variable, refer to Customizing Your Environment on Windows or on UNIX.

Note: any printer creation directory you specify must have a father directory named "Printers". If no such directory exists, the application automatically adds it to the path.
When working in administrator mode, new printers are created in ${CATUserSettingPath} by default but you can change it to ${CATReferenceSettingPath} if needed. In that case, once printers have been created, do not forget to change ${CATReferenceSettingPath} back to ${CATUserSettingPath} to provide a user environment to end users.

 

Driver Configuration Path
 
Lets you customize the path to external drivers that may have been defined with CAA Version 5 APIs. This option is relevant when working in a CAA environment only.

Enter the path to the configuration file where your driver settings are stored or click the button to navigate to the desired location.
This file is identified by the suffix *.cfg.

By default, the external driver configuration file is stored in:

  • $HOME/CATSettings/Printers/Drivers.cfg  (on Windows)
  • $HOME\CATSettings\Printers\Drivers.cfg  (on UNIX).

where "$HOME" represents the CATUserSettingPath variable.

If no path is specified, the box displays ${CATUserSettingPath}\Printers\Drivers.cfg to indicate that the default location is used.

 

Printer Group Definition
 
Lets you define, modify and delete groups of printers. These groups then enables you to filter the printers displayed in the Print dialog box and therefore, select the desired printer more easily.

Note that the printer groups you define in this tab are saved in the Printers.CATSettings file (stored in the CATSettings directory).
 

  1. Click the New button to open the Printer Group dialog box:

The left column displays the printers that have already been set up.

The group name is displayed in the Name field and can be modified if needed. The group number is incremented for each new group you create.

  1. In the left column, select the printers to be added to the new group then click the button to add them to the right column of the dialog box.

Once a printer has been added to a group, you can remove it by selecting it in the right column then clicking the button: in that case, the removed printer reappears in the left column.

Note: you use the multi-selection to select your printers in the left and right columns.

  1. Click OK to close the Printer Group dialog box.

The Printer Group Definition area now looks like this:

  1. You can then carry out the following actions on the created groups:

  • modification: select a group then click Modify. This opens the Printer Group dialog box detailed above and you can then add or remove printers

  • removal: select a group then click Remove to remove it from the group list.

Once printer groups have been defined, you can use them to filter the printers displayed in the Print dialog box using a specific combo box.