Can PSF/AIX SAP OTF output be printed on PSF/MVS 3800?

ITEM: RTA000106716



Q:                                                                              
ABSTRACT:     Can PSF/AIX SAP OTF output be printed on PSF/MVS                  
              attached 3800s?                                                   
SEARCH ARG:   3800 sap                                                          
TOPIC THREAD: PRINT                                                             
              PSF/AIX                                                           
..                                                                              
I have reviewed several items of SAP printing to 3800 using PSF/AIX and         
still have some questions.  My customer wants to make use of their              
installed 3800 until they can get the cash to upgrade to new printers.          
                                                                                
In the meantime several AIX SAP applications will be coming online that         
will generate a large printing requirement.  We have reviewed the               
PSF/AIX OTF2AFP transform documentation and know what can be done using         
PSF/AIX, but we are unsure if once we create the output via PSF/AIX and        
then uploaded to PSF/MVS whether the 3800s will be able to print it.            
                                                                                
Our concerns have to do with resources and format of PSF/AIX generated          
data.                                                                           
                                                                                
1) The 3800 uses Unbounded box fonts whereas we guess PSF/AIX will              
generate an AFPDS datastream looking for Bounded box fonts (X1,2 etc vs.        
all X0). We have both, but the PSF/MVS system is using the UB.  Will we         
be able to print?                                                               
                                                                                
2) For all PSF/AIX transforms (Postscript, ASCII and OTF) are all the           
output datastreams image?  Seems the 3800 would perform very poorly on          
an image datastream.                                                            
                                                                                
Are you aware of anyone printing PSF/AIX transformed data on PSF/MVS           
based 3800s?                                                                    
                                                                                
A:                                                                              
Yes, we do have a customer doing this with AFP Upload today for both            
SAPscript and ABAP listings coming from SAP R/3.  Their RS/6000s are            
in Vermont, their MVS system is in Raleigh, and their 3800 is in                
Charlotte NC.  They're so pleased that they will be rolling this out            
to other sites.  I can give you a contact name offline, if you like.            
                                                                                
To answer your second question first, the output of the PCL and the             
PostScript transforms is full-page image.  I would definitely NOT               
send this to a 3800.  The file will be enormous because you have to             
produce uncompressed IM1 image out of those transforms, and the 3800            
will not perform satisfactorily.                                                
                                                                               
On the other hand, the output of the OTF transform is PTOCA (AFP                
text), so the resulting AFP file will be smaller and print at a                 
higher speed.                                                                   
                                                                                
The fact that the 3800 uses unbounded box fonts is not an issue because         
the fonts are only referenced in the datastream; when the AFP file gets         
to the host, PSF/MVS will resolve the fonts from their names in the             
data.  You may have to do some customization in PSF/AIX to ensure that          
you call out fonts for which you have the unbounded box rasters on the          
mainframe, but it can certainly be done.  (Where the customization is           
done depends on whether the SAP R/3 data is SAPscript or ABAP reports.)         
                                                                                
If the customer does not plan to implement AFP Upload (optional feature         
of PSF/MVS), then keep in mind that however they get the data to the            
MVS host, they will have to reblock the AFPDS once it is transferred           
to the MVS system (whereas AFP Upload takes care of all that for you            
transparently).                                                                 
                                                                                
Also, note that the document on using PSF/AIX with SAP R/3 does not             
ship automatically with the feature tape at this time.  You can either          
download and print hardcopy from the PENPUBS disk (SAP2AFP LIST3820).           
                                                                                
Thanks for using WWQ&A.                                                         
                                                                                
S e a r c h - k e y w o r d s:                                                  
sap2afp OTF sapscript r/3 sap ABAP MVS AIX PSF/AIX PSF/6000 PSF                 
PCL PostScript image uncompressed performance 3800 Upload AFP reblock           
infoprint                                                                       
                                                                                
                                                                               


WWQA: ITEM: RTA000106716 ITEM: RTA000106716
Dated: 01/1999 Category: XPSF6000
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