AFP Upload : Need to Identify Jobs from Win95 on JES
ITEM: RTA000155975
Q:
Topic thread:
Printer Systems (PRINT - NA/ATS)
PSF/AIX
My customer is considering implementing AFP Upload for AIX. They drive
IBM 3900's and IP4000's with PSF/MVS 2.2.0. They have PSF for AIX 2.1.0
installed. They plan to implement a TCP/IP connection between the
RS/6000 and MVS. We see the configuration to be quite straightforward.
The application to be printed at the host is a workstation-based AmiPro
file running on Windows 95. We plan to use a pcl print driver. The
customer uses an OS/2 print server between the Windows 95 workstation
and the RS/6000. Later this year, that print server will be migrated to
a Windows NT platform.
We all think we understand how to get a job from AmiPro (as pcl) to the
RS/6000 where it is transformed to AFP (via pcl2afp) and then uploaded
to JES, where PSF/MVS will ultimately print the job on either the 3900
or IP4000.
Here's the question. If two different people submit AmiPro print jobs,
how does an operator tell them apart on JES. Under "normal enq"
submission, I understand that we could upload AIX print file attributes
to identify each print job on JES. Since these are LAN jobs submitted
via lpr, I don't know how to pass the necessary parameters to Upload.
To my knowledge, neither OS/2 or Windows NT support the "lprafp"
command. How can my customer pass user (the person who submitted the
print job) information through PSF for AIX and on up to JES?
My customer plans to engage IBM Application Solutions Group to implement
this solution. We want to ensure this approach is do-able before anyone
comes onsite and the customer commits to spend money.
Thanks.
A:
There are a couple of libraried items out there have bits and pieces
of this puzzle (see RTA000100724, RTA000105846, RTA000151106, and
RTA000155365, in case you've not already seen them). However, putting
all the pieces together will take some additional programming.
- As noted in the referenced items, it is possible to get USERID
information from a Windows 95 PC onto the header sheet of a
PSF/AIX job.
- For Upload from AIX, it is possible to send the user's name up to
MVS on a different parameter (such as "department" or "building";
some coding is required for the header page exits so that the right
value prints out as the user name. (The userid cannot be sent to
JES directly because of security restrictions.)
To combine the two will take additional programming. When a job is
LPR'ed to AIX, certain information is passed according to RFC1179.
Examples include Hostname, UserID, and any Job Title. It is possible,
through a custom AIX backend program, to capture that information and
reuse it. I talked with the AIX printing specialist in the Advanced
Tech Support group of the WSC, and he would recommend a custom backend
shell script that will call a C program. He has done a number of these
in the past, and would be glad to assist or subcontract for the AIX
piece. He does have some information on his internal web site on
various custom backends. The URL for that information and sample code
is http://tesch.aix.dfw.ibm.com/printips/backends.html.
Note that with the *FREE* IBM LPR Remote Printing Client Version 2.30
for Windows 95 (available for downloading from the www.printers.ibm.com
website), they would not need to go through an intermediate server
(like the current OS/2 server or the planned NT server); they could
LPR directly to an AIX queue running the custom backend program. Just
a thought.
I hope that helps. Let me know if you have additiohnal questions.
Q:
Thanks for your thoughts. The no-charge LPR for Windows 95 sounds like
an interesting possibility. I have looked for it on the website you
identified. I can't find it. Where specifically is it hidden ?
Thanks.
A:
It is hidden quite well, isn't it? From the main screen of
www.printers.ibm.com, select Technical Support, then Other Downloadable
Files, then Network Printers Utilities and Microcode. You should
then see the "IBM LPR Remote Printing Client Version 2.30 for Windows
95"second in the list. Or the FTP site is:
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/printers/products/netprt/lpr
and the files are readme.txt and instlpr.exe.
Let me know if you still have problems getting the code. I really like
it and use it frequently.
Regards.
S e a r c h - k e y w o r d s:
psf/aix psf/6000 psf aix mvs afp upload win95 winnt remote jes server
identify job jobname userid header trailer separator operator sdsf
windows client lpr pcl
WWQA: ITEM: RTA000155975 ITEM: RTA000155975
Dated: 04/1999 Category: XPSF6000
This HTML file was generated 99/06/24~12:43:43
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