Compaq DECprint Supervisor (DCPS) for OpenVMS
Release Notes


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Chapter 7
DCPS Version 1.7 Information

This section describes changes included in DCPS V1.7. You can find more information for several of these changes elsewhere in these release notes.

7.1 DCPS Version 1.7 Changes

7.1.1 OpenVMS V7.2 and Extended File Specifications Supported

Systems running OpenVMS Alpha or VAX V7.2 are supported by DCPS. DCPS V1.7 provides default support for systems with Extended File Specifications, including ODS-5 volumes and deep directories.

Any file in any directory on an ODS-5 volume can be printed. The file name may be truncated on file separator pages and in the heading when printing with the LIST translator. If the file name is truncated, it is so indicated with an ellipsis (...).

7.1.2 New Printer Support

DCPS V1.7 adds support for the following printers:

Compaq Laser Printer LN32
HP LaserJet 4000
HP LaserJet 5000
Lexmark Optra S 1620
Lexmark Optra S 2420

You can find more information in Chapter 4 of these release notes.

7.1.3 TCP/IP Jobs Terminate with BADPARAMS Error

Under certain conditions, jobs printed over TCP/IP would terminate, the queue would stop and a message similar to the following would be sent to OPCOM:


    %%%%%%%%%%%  OPCOM  25-FEB-1998 17:09:53.38  %%%%%%%%%%% 
    Message from user SYSTEM on HUMANE 
    Queue LN32_LAB: %DCPS-F-BADPARAM, bad parameter value 

Changes to eliminate this problem under some conditions were made in DCPS V1.6-1. Additional changes have been made in DCPS V1.7 to eliminate this problem when DCPS is establishing a network connection to a printer.


Chapter 8
DCPS Version 1.6-1 Information

This section describes changes included in DCPS V1.6-1. You can find more information for several of these changes elsewhere in these release notes.

8.1 DCPS Version 1.6-1 Changes

8.1.1 ISO Latin-9 Character Set Added to ANSI Translator

Support for the ISO Latin-9 (ISO 8859-15) character set has been added to the DCPS ANSI translator. This character set includes the Euro symbol.

One way to print the Euro symbol is to include the following ANSI escape sequences in your ANSI file:


        <ESC>.b        selects ISO Latin-9 character set 
        <ESC>n$        prints Euro symbol 

In order to add the ISO Latin-9 character set, the DCPS ANSI translator has been updated. If you are upgrading to DCPS V1.6-1 or later from a previous version and want to print characters from the ISO Latin-9 character set, you must power cycle your printer(s) after upgrading DCPS. This needs to be done only once.

8.1.2 New Printer Support

DCPS V1.6-1 adds support for the Compaq Laser Printer LN16.

You can find more information in Chapter 4 of these release notes.

8.2 DCPS Version 1.6-1 Fixes

The following problems are fixed in DCPS V1.6-1.

8.2.1 TCP/IP Jobs Terminate with BADPARAMS Error

Under certain conditions, especially on a busy or slow network, jobs printed over TCP/IP would terminate, the queue would stop and a message similar to the following would be sent to OPCOM:


    %%%%%%%%%%%  OPCOM  25-FEB-1998 17:09:53.38  %%%%%%%%%%% 
    Message from user SYSTEM on HUMANE 
    Queue LN32_LAB: %DCPS-F-BADPARAM, bad parameter value 

8.2.2 Printing VFC Files Causes Access Violation

Starting with DCPS V1.6, printing a VFC file sometimes caused the DCPS print symbiont to fail with an OPCOM message similar to the following:


 
    %%%%%%%%%%%  OPCOM   7-JAN-1999 14:47:04.60  %%%%%%%%%%% 
    Message from user SYSTEM on FUNYET 
    Process SYMBIONT_90: Message number 0800800C 
    Message number 20000000 
    -TSU 
    -NONAME 
    -TSU 
 
    %%%%%%%%%%%  OPCOM   7-JAN-1999 14:47:05.46  %%%%%%%%%%% 
    Message from user QUEUE_MANAGE on FUNYET 
    %QMAN-E-SYMDEL, unexpected symbiont process termination 
 
    %%%%%%%%%%%  OPCOM   7-JAN-1999 14:47:05.47  %%%%%%%%%%% 
    Message from user QUEUE_MANAGE on FUNYET 
    -NONAME-F-NOMSG, Message number 0800800C 
 


Chapter 9
DCPS Version 1.6 Information

This section describes changes included in DCPS V1.6. You can find more information for several of these changes elsewhere in these release notes.

9.1 DCPS Version 1.6 Changes

9.1.1 OpenVMS VAX V5.5-2 and V6.0 Systems Supported

DECprint Supervisor for OpenVMS is now supported on systems running OpenVMS VAX V5.5-2 or later. DCPS V1.4 and V1.5 require a minimum operating system version for VAX systems of OpenVMS VAX V6.1.

The DEC C/C++ Run-Time Components kit must be installed before installing DCPS on an OpenVMS VAX V5.5-2 or V6.0 system. See the DECprint Supervisor for OpenVMS Software Installation Guide for more information.

9.1.2 New Printer Support

DCPS V1.6 adds support for the following printers:

DIGITAL Laser Printer LNC02
DIGITAL Laser Printer LN15+

You can find more information in Chapter 4 of these release notes.

9.1.3 New Paper Sizes

DCPS supports several new paper sizes, as listed in the table below. You can specify these sizes as the logical PAGE_SIZE value for any printer, and as the physical SHEET_SIZE value for the LNC02 printer.
Size Name Size (mm) Size (inches)
FOOLSCAP 203 x 330 8.0 x 13.0
SPFOLIO 216 x 315 8.5 x 12.4
UKQUARTO 203 x 254 8.0 x 10.0

9.2 DCPS Version 1.6 Fixes

The following problems are fixed in DCPS V1.6.

9.2.1 Every Page Is Offset on LN40

If the Offset Stacking feature of the DIGITAL Laser Printer LN40 was enabled from the printer's console, DCPS jobs would print with each page offset from the previous page. This problem is fixed, with the following restrictions:

9.2.2 VFC Files Consume Excessive CPU Time

Starting with DCPS V1.1, printing VFC-formatted files consumed significantly more CPU time than printing similar non-VFC files. VFC printing performance has been improved so that printing VFC files uses approximately the same amount of time as printing non-VFC files.

9.2.3 Layup Files Installed in Incorrect Directory

When installing DCPS on a system on which DCPS was not running, you were asked where to put DCPS layup files. If you chose a location other than the default, DCPS would define the layup logical name DCPS$LAYUP to this alternate location, but the layup files would be moved to the default location. DCPS now validates the location you specify and installs the layup files in that location.

9.2.4 LN20 13x19 Paper Tray Not Selectable

When printing to 13x19 (Universal) paper on the DIGITAL Laser Printer LN20, specifying the INPUT_TRAY parameter would cause the job to fail. Specifying the PAPER_SIZE parameter without also specifying INPUT_TRAY would print correctly.

For example, the following command:


$ PRINT /PARAMETERS=INPUT_TRAY=MULTIPURPOSE MY-RESUME.PS 

would return the error message:


%DCPS-F-UNKPAPSIZE, Unknown papersize in selected tray, cannot print job 
-DCPS-I-JOB_ID, for job MY-RESUME (queue SYS$PRINT, entry 27) on LN20 

and the following command:


$ PRINT /PARAMETERS=(INPUT_TRAY=MULTIPURPOSE,PAGE_SIZE=13X19) MY-RESUME.PS 

would return the error message:


%DCPS-E-SIZNOTRAY, 13x19 size medium is not in the multipurpose tray in LN20. 
-DCPS-I-JOB_ID, for job MY-RESUME (queue SYS$PRINT, entry 29) on LN20 
%DCPS-E-FLUSHING, Rest of Job (to EOJ) will be ignored 

9.2.5 Symbiont Aborts with Internal Error

Under some conditions, especially when the user deleted a currently printing job, the DCPS symbiont would fail. The resulting OPCOM message would be similar to the following:


%%%%%%%%%%%  OPCOM  22-JAN-1997 15:02:28.11  %%%%%%%%%%% 
Message from user SYSTEM on ZIPPY 
Process SYMBIONT_21: %DCPS-F-INTERNAL_ERROR, Internal error detected 
at line 427 of file DCPS$:[BUILD.V13]DP_STMGT.C;1, 
Invalid state change, cannot continue 


Chapter 10
DCPS Version 1.5-2 Information

10.1 DCPS Version 1.5-2 Fixes

This section lists problems that have been corrected in DCPS V1.5-2.

10.1.1 No Job Is Printed if Output Tray Is Specified

If you specified the OUTPUT_TRAY parameter with DCPS V1.5-1, DCPS would not produce any printed output for your job. If you also specified the NOTIFY qualifier, you would see error messages similar to the following on your screen:


Job MY-FILE (queue MY_QUEUE, entry 330) started on MY_QUEUE 
$ 
%DCPS-I-JOBSTART, Job MY-FILE (queue SYS$PRINT, entry 330) started on MY_QUEUE 
$ 
 
%DCPS-W-UNDEF, undefined: Name not known - offending command is $ 
-DCPS-I-JOB_ID, for job MY-FILE (queue SYS$PRINT, entry 330) on MY_QUEUE 
$ 
 
%DCPS-E-FLUSHING, Rest of Job (to EOJ) will be ignored 
-DCPS-I-JOB_ID, for job MY-FILE (queue SYS$PRINT, entry 330) on MY_QUEUE 
$ 
 
%DCPS-W-UNDEF, undefined: Name not known - offending command is $ 
-DCPS-I-JOB_ID, for job MY-FILE (queue SYS$PRINT, entry 330) on MY_QUEUE 
$ 
 
%DCPS-E-FLUSHING, Rest of Job (to EOJ) will be ignored 
-DCPS-I-JOB_ID, for job MY-FILE (queue SYS$PRINT, entry 330) on MY_QUEUE 
$ 
 
Job MY-FILE (queue MY_QUEUE, entry 330) terminated with error status 
%SYSTEM-F-ABORT, abort 


Chapter 11
DCPS Version 1.5-1 Information

11.1 DCPS Version 1.5-1 Highlights

DECprint Supervisor Version 1.5-1 adds support for the DIGITAL Laser Printer LN20.

You can find more information about this printer in Chapter 4 of these release notes.

11.2 DCPS Version 1.5-1 Fixes

This section lists problems that have been corrected in DCPS V1.5-1.

11.2.1 Colorwriter LSR 2000 Jobs Remain in Starting State

When attempting to print to the Colorwriter LSR 2000 printer with DCPS V1.5, the job would remain in a starting state and never print.

11.2.2 CONFIDENTIAL Does Not Appear When Using LAYUP or NUMBER_UP

If you specified the LAYUP or NUMBER_UP parameter when printing the DCPS example file CONFIDENTIAL.PS with DCPS V1.4 or later, the word "CONFIDENTIAL" would not appear on the output.

11.3 DCPS Version 1.5-1 Changes

This section describes changes made in DCPS V1.5-1.

11.3.1 New Paper Sizes

DCPS now supports the 12x19.5 inch (864x1404 mm) and 13x19 inch (936x1368 mm) paper sizes. You can specify 12X19.5 or 13X19 as the logical PAGE_SIZE value for any printer, and as the physical SHEET_SIZE value for the LN20 printer. Note that the LN20 console and documentation refer to the 12x19.5 and 13x19 paper sizes as 12x19 and Universal respectively.


Chapter 12
DCPS Version 1.5 Information

12.1 DCPS Version 1.5 Highlights

DECprint Supervisor Version 1.5 adds support for the following printers:

DIGITAL Laser Printer LN15
DIGITAL Laser Printer LN17+ps
DIGITAL Laser Printer LN40

You can find more information about these printers in Chapter 4 of these release notes.

12.2 DCPS Version 1.5 Fixes

This section lists problems that have been corrected in DCPS V1.5.

12.2.1 Printing ANSI Document with User-Defined Fonts Fails

When printing an ANSI document that contains a user-defined font, the print job would sometimes fail. This problem has been corrected in DCPS V1.5.

12.3 DCPS Version 1.5 Changes

This section describes changes made in DCPS V1.5.

12.3.1 Sending ANSI Documents Using the DEClaser 3500 Fax Option

You can now fax ANSI documents using the DEClaser 3500 fax option, in addition to previously supported PostScript and text files. Documents consisting only of lines of printable ASCII characters can be sent as a text file following the instructions in SYS$COMMON:[SYSHLP.EXAMPLES.DCPS]FAX_3500_PRINTME.PS, or as an ANSI document as described in the DECprint Supervisor for OpenVMS User's Guide.

12.3.2 Cisco MultiNet Is Now Process Software MultiNet

The TCP/IP software product MultiNet has been sold by Cisco Systems, Incorporated to Process Software Corporation. References to Cisco MultiNet will be changed to Process Software MultiNet as DCPS documentation is revised.


Chapter 13
DCPS Version 1.4 Information

13.1 DCPS Version 1.4 Highlights

The following list provides a brief description of the significant changes included in DECprint Supervisor Version 1.4. You can find more information for several of these changes elsewhere in these release notes.

13.2 DCPS Version 1.4 Fixes

This section lists problems that have been corrected in DCPS V1.4.

13.2.1 Only One Bin Gets a Separator Page if Collating Without OUTPUT_TRAY

If the default output tray for the LN17ps was set to the collator and a SHEET_COUNT=n parameter for the print job was specified without also specifying the OUTPUT_TRAY=xxx parameter, only one copy of any separator page (job burst, flag, or trailer page) would be generated. Further, such pages would be delivered to random bins.

13.2.2 LN17ps Printer Hangs in Processing State

When the LN17ps collator was specified as the default output tray and the input tray was MANUAL_FEED, the printer would hang when the specified SHEET_COUNT was greater than one.

This error occurred most often while printing trailer pages.

On some occasions, a blank data sheet was sent to the collator just prior to the printer hanging.

This problem is attributed to both a bug in the LN17ps printer and in DCPS V1.3. With the DCPS V1.4 fix, you are unlikely to see this problem.

13.2.3 Output May Be Clipped on the LN17ps

Printer output on the LN17ps might have been clipped when the following conditions were met:

To avoid such clipping, use INPUT_TRAY=MANUAL_FEED.

When you specify an INPUT_TRAY value of FRONT or MULTIPURPOSE for the LN17ps along with a sheet size, DCPS V1.4 now requires you to specify the sheet size that matches the console-specified manual size.

13.2.4 Erroneous TRAYSUBST Messages

Erroneous DCPS-I-TRAYSUBST messages may have occurred for specific output trays for the following printers:
Printer Output Tray Substitution Reported
LN17ps Top OCT
LN17ps Upper OCT
LPS17 LCOS 2
LPS32 LCOS 4
LPS40 LCOS 4

The correct tray was selected even though the erroneous TRAYSUBST message was issued.

13.2.5 Required Device Control Module Not Found for PrintServer Printers

If the first job submitted to a DIGITAL PrintServer printer contained an invalid parameter, a "Required device control module LPS$$INITPSDEVICE not found" error message was issued and the print queue stopped. This error occurred only if the first job printed contained an invalid parameter.

This error did not occur with desktop printers.

13.2.6 Erroneous Connection Termination Error for DEClaser 5100

DCPS was unable to communicate with the DEClaser 5100 via the NIC card, and would instead consistently fail with CONTERMINATED errors.

This problem was erroneously believed to have been fixed in DCPS V1.3, as reported in Section 14.2.2.

13.2.7 PrintServer Printer Hangs When Network Connection Is Lost and Jobs Are Pending

A DCPS print queue could hang when all the following conditions were true:

This was fixed in DCPS V1.4 by enabling the KEEPALIVE option for such TCP/IP connections. However, if your system is configured for unusually long KEEPALIVE timeouts, you may continue to see this problem. If so, you may recover by deleting the job (DELETE/ENTRY) or stoping the queue (STOP/QUEUE/RESET).

13.2.8 Problems with VFC Files Containing Large Control Fields

If you printed a VFC-formatted file that utilized a fixed-length control field larger than two (2) bytes, the DCPS symbiont could abort with an access violation (ACCVIO) or other error.

13.2.9 ANSI Text Not Wrapped Properly When Using a Form

If you printed ANSI text with a form that specified the /WRAP qualifier, the input records were sometimes broken into output line segments that exceeded the usable line width implied by the form.

13.3 DCPS Version 1.4 Changes

This section describes changes made in DCPS V1.4.

13.3.1 Support for Raw TCP/IP Connections

DCPS V1.4 adds the ability to communicate with printers via raw TCP/IP sockets. Raw TCP is a network protocol that utilizes the TCP/IP protocol directly without any additional interpretation of the TCP data stream. It is supported by many printer Network Interface Cards (NICs), print servers, and terminal servers. Table A-1 lists commonly-used raw TCP/IP port numbers.

There are other printer protocols that layer upon TCP/IP, including CPAP (Common Printer Access Protocol), LPD, and Telnet. DCPS uses CPAP to communicate with DIGITAL PrintServer printers. DCPS does not support LPD or Telnet.

To communicate with your printer using raw TCP/IP, the NIC, print server or terminal server that you use to connect your printer to the network must provide a raw TCP/IP port. Further, this raw TCP/IP port must support bidirectional communication between the printer and your OpenVMS system. DCPS does not work with unidirectional ports, such as those found on the NICs for the DEClaser 3500 and 5100 printers, the RapidPrint 200 and 500, and HP JetDirect cards that interface with the printer via its XIO (versus MIO) slot.

For more information about raw TCP/IP connections and creating queues that utilize them, refer to the DECprint Supervisor for OpenVMS System Manager's Guide and comments in DCPS$STARTUP.COM.

13.3.2 "IP_CPAP" Replaces "TCPIP" Connection Type

In previous DCPS versions, a "tcpip/..." syntax was used in DCPS$STARTUP.COM to specify communication with a DIGITAL PrintServer printer via TCP/IP.

In DCPS V1.4, a new "ip_cpap/..." syntax is introduced to replace the "tcpip/..." syntax. CPAP (Common Printer Access Protocol) is the network protocol supported by DIGITAL PrintServer printers, and is just one of many TCP/IP printer-related network protocols. The "tcpip/..." syntax is no longer recommended because of its ambiguity, though DCPS continues to support it.


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