DCPS now allows you to print files that utilize an indexed, relative, or sequential file organization. In DCPS versions V1.1 through V1.3, you received a BADFILEORG error if you attempted to print an indexed or relative file.

Indexed and relative files are accessed sequentially, by their primary index and relative record number respectively. This new capability is consistent with the TYPE command.

The :ALL--IN--1 compatibility kit, and the option to install it, is no longer part of the DCPS kit for OpenVMS VAX systems. The :ALL--IN--1 product now provides the printer support that was provided by the compatibility kit in earlier versions of DCPS.

The compatibility kit was never necessary for OpenVMS Alpha systems.

10.3.9 DCPS User Card Removed

The DCPS kit no longer includes a User Card, either in hardcopy format or online. If you installed a previous version of DCPS, the online version of this card (SYS$COMMON:[SYSHLP.EXAMPLES.DCPS]DCPS-USER-CARD.PS) will exist in the DCPS examples directory. The information on the card is still correct, though no longer complete.

The following list provides a brief description of the significant changes included in DECprint Supervisor Version 1.3. You can find more information for several of these changes elsewhere in these release notes.

• Support for the DIGITAL LN17ps High Performance Network Printer, utilizing either the LAT or Appletalk interface.
• Support for the DIGITAL Colorwriter LSR 2000 printer, utilizing the Appletalk interface.
• Fixes for some problems in previous versions of DCPS.
• Other changes from previous versions.

This section lists problems that have been corrected in DCPS V1.3.

11.2.1 Repeated Messages for Queue with Invalid LAT Device

A DCPS queue started with autostart would repeatedly display the following message when the associated LTA device was incorrectly defined:

%DCPS-F-LRJNAMEUNKNOWN, Port name is unknown

11.2.2 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.

11.2.3 Queue Stalls Indefinitely While Printing End of Document

A DCPS queue would sometimes go into a Stalled state while or just before printing the last sheet of a document, and would never resume printing.

11.2.4 DCPS Installation Repeatedly Gets %DCL-W-SYMOVF Errors

When the DCPS installation procedure scanned for existing DCPS print queues, it would repeatedly generate the error message shown below if your system contained a logical name (for example, SYS$PRINT) and a queue name that were identical. The installation would never complete, and you would have to abort it by typing Ctrl/Y.

%DCL-W-SYMOVF, no room for symbol definitions - delete some symbols

11.2.5 Symbiont Termination when All Message Fields Disabled

If the job controller was started with all message fields disabled, the DCPS symbiont would terminate with a %STR-F-STRTOOLON message whenever it attempted to generate a -DCPS-I-JOB_ID message containing additional job identification information. A message similar to the following would be sent to OPCOM:

%%%%%%%%%%% OPCOM 21-MAR-1996 20:28:01.70 %%%%%%%%%%% Message from user SYSTEM on DANTOO Process SYMBIONT_15: %F-STRTOOLON, string is too long (greater than 65535)

Symbiont terminations caused by disabled message fields were erroneously believed to have been completely fixed in DCPS V1.1, as reported in Section 14.2.5.

11.2.6 Online Help Fixed and Expanded

Some minor errors in the PRINT_PARAMETERS online help were fixed. In addition, online help about the LN17ps and Colorwriter LSR 2000 printers was added.

11.2.7 Gray Bars from the LIST Translator Are More Visible

Gray bars generated by the LIST translator to highlight alternate groups of lines are now more visible for the DEClaser 5100 printer at resolutions above 300x300 dpi and for the Apple LaserWriter IIg printer.

11.2.8 Automatic Scaling When Queue Has PAGE_SIZE and SHEET_SIZE Parameters

DCPS now assumes an implicit NUMBER_UP=1 when all of the following conditions exist:

• The DCPS-PLUS license is installed.
• Queue default parameters for both PAGE_SIZE and SHEET_SIZE have been set to different sizes.
• Your PRINT command does not specify these parameters:
  • PAGE_SIZE
  • SHEET_SIZE
  • INPUT_TRAY
• NUMBER_UP and LAYUP_DEFINITION are not specified for the queue or in your print command.

NUMBER_UP=1 scales the logical page size to fit on the physical sheet size. This fix results in the same behavior as specifying different values for PAGE_SIZE and SHEET_SIZE on the command line without specifying NUMBER_UP or LAYUP_DEFINITION.

In previous versions of DCPS, the implicit scaling was assumed for command line parameters but not for queue parameters. A workaround in those versions was to include an explicit NUMBER_UP=1 with the queue parameters.

11.2.9 Job Log and Job Trailer Pages Sent to Specified Output Tray

The job log and job trailer pages, if any, are now normally directed to the output tray you specified with the OUTPUT_TRAY parameter. However, if DCPS reports a NOOUTTRAY, OUTTRAYNOTAVL, or OUTTRAYMISMATCH error when initially attempting to select the specified output tray, the job log and trailer pages are instead directed to the printer's default output tray so that you get an indication of the problem.

In previous versions of DCPS, the job log and trailer pages were always sent to the printer's default output tray for non-PrintServer printers. For example, it was previously documented that use of OUTPUT_TRAY=FACE_UP for the HP LaserJet 4SiMX printer would not direct the trailer page to the face-up output tray. This restriction no longer exists.

11.3 DCPS Version 1.3 Changes

DCPS now supports the C6 (326x460 mm) paper size. You can specify C6 as the logical PAGE_SIZE value for any printer, and as the physical SHEET_SIZE value for the LN17ps printer.

11.3.2 Device Control Modules Changed for UNRECOGNIZED Printer

The four device control modules for "unrecognized" printers, as well as those for other printers, were changed. If you made any changes to previous versions of these Compaq-supplied modules, you may need to rework your changes. See the System Manager's Guide and comments in the LPS$$UNRECOGNIZED_* modules for more information.

This chapter describes the changes that are in Version 1.2 of the DECprint Supervisor.

12.1 DCPS Version 1.2 Highlights

The following list provides a brief description of the significant changes included in DECprint Supervisor Version 1.2. You can find more information for several of these changes elsewhere in these release notes.

• DCPS Version 1.2 requires less memory and pagefile space. This is achieved by allowing a supervisor process to control multiple print queues (run "multistreamed"). This allows a system to have far fewer DCPS supervisor processes, and thus alleviates memory and pagefile consumption.
• DCPS Version 1.2 reduces idle queue processor overhead by allowing supervisor processes to control multiple print queues, thereby reducing the number of supervisor processes and the overhead imposed by each.
• DCPS now supports printing to printers on an AppleTalk network from OpenVMS Alpha systems.
• AppleTalk printer names may now be specified with 8-bit accented characters.
• The ANSI translator has been fixed and no longer abnormally truncates lines when printing with A4 page sizes in landscape orientation.
• When printing to serial- and LAT-connected printers, DCPS is less aggressive on job startup. Previously, DCPS could cause a print job from a UNIX host or LATSYM to abort if the job had completed on that host, but was still printing at the printer. DCPS now waits for the printer to stop printing before it begins the new job. A new DCPS logical can be defined to restore the old behavior, if needed.
• Previous versions of DCPS could hang, especially on AppleTalk connected printers, if a job name contained the "]" character. This problem is corrected in this release.
• Under rare circumstances, DCPS V1.1 and V1.1A could exit with the following message "%DCPS-F-INSEF, insufficient event flags". This problem is corrected in this release.
• New system logicals are now recognized for changing DCPS modes and behaviors to other than the defaults.
• The startup template command procedure, DCPS$STARTUP.TEMPLATE has been updated to show how to configure the print supervisor for multistreamed operation.
• The kit installation procedure and IVP have been enhanced to check for and report running DCPS queues and components that might cause unpredictable behavior during an upgrade.
• This release also contains several other corrections and minor enhancements to the product.

This section describes problems that have been fixed in DCPS Version 1.2.

12.2.1 Truncated Lines when A4 Page is Printed Landscape

Beginning with Version V1.1A the ANSI translator used a modified definition of the size of the printing area for an A4 page printed landscape. However, this new definition sometimes caused lines to be abnormally truncated. This problem has been fixed. See Section 13.1.2.

12.2.2 AppleTalk Printer Names with Multinational Characters

If an AppleTalk printer name includes multinational characters (for example, accented characters), DCPS did not properly handle these names and could not find the printer on the AppleTalk network. The characters supplied for the /ON qualifer use the DECMCS character set. These characters had to be converted to the Macintosh character set to be used on the AppleTalk network. With Version 1.2, this conversion now occurs.

When multinational characters are used, the printer name printed on the bottom of separation pages may be printed in the wrong character set.

12.2.3 DELETE/ENTRY and "(DCc) Circuit connect failure"

At apparently random times, it was possible for a PrintServer printer to display the a "(DCc) Circuit connect failure" error and stop responding to print requests. This problem occured as a result of a DELETE/ENTRY command if the job number on the PrintServer printer was 100 or greater. DCPS now correctly handles DELETE/ENTRY and no longer causes this error.

12.2.4 Speed of Printing of Certain File Types

Changes have be made to improve how files with variable length records are handled by the symbiont. These changes can improve the speed at which these files print.

12.2.5 Handling of Communications Problems on Serial Interconnect

In previous releases, there could be a delay of up to 4 minutes to free the system resources associated with a serial device. This could occur when a STOP/QUEUE/RESET command was issued when a job was printing, but a communication problem had occurred. When such a delay occurred, the queue could not be restarted soon after it had been stopped. Now when a communication problem is detected, the system resources are freed more quickly, and a print queue can be restarted soon after it is stopped.

12.2.6 DCPS$queuename_PID Logical and Startup Errors

With V1.1A, if a queue failed to start, the logical DCPS$queuename_PID would be left in the system logical name tables. This no longer occurs.

12.2.7 Looping when Handling Messages with ']' in Job: field

DCPS now properly handles PostScript printer messages with a ']' character in the job name. Parsing such a message in previous versions would result in an infinite loop. This was most likely to be noticed when printing to a printer on an AppleTalk network.

12.2.8 Handling of Long Device Names in DCPS$STARTUP.COM

DCPS V1.1A did not properly account for the SCSNODE name when determining the value for the /ON qualifier from the P2 value supplied to DCPS$EXECUTION_QUEUE.COM by DCPS$STARTUP.COM. If the node's SCSNODE name was less then 6 characters, an error could occur when the queue was started. This has been fixed.

12.2.9 Form Setup Modules and Multiple File Jobs

A setup module specified by the /SETUP qualifier of a form is sent to the printer just once at the beginning of a print job if the setup module is PostScript. If the job included multiple files or copies of a file, the PostScript context established by this setup module could be lost and the rest of the files would not print as expected. This happened because, when needed, DCPS sends the PostScript 'newsheet' operator between files to ensure new files start on new sheets. The PostScript context is now saved before executing 'newsheet', and restored after executing 'newsheet'.

12.2.10 Interrupting Busy Printers When a Job Starts

Previous versions of DCPS, when used with serially-connected printers, used an aggressive synchronization sequence to gain control of the printer's PostScript interpreter. This is no longer the case, as it occasionally caused problems when a printer was used in a shared multi-host environment.

However, if you rely on DCPS's previous ability to abort errant PostScript jobs on one queue by starting a job on another queue, you can define a DCPS logical to restore the previous functionality, as described in the System Manager's Guide.

12.2.11 Suppressing PostScript Synchronization when a Job Starts

Defining the logical DCPS$queuename_NO_SYNC causes the DCPS symbiont to avoid using its usual synchronization sequence on printers other than PrintServer printers. This includes printers that use LAT or Raw TCP protocols on built-in Network Interface Cards (NICs). It has no effect when using printers connected via other interconnects. This logical is supported by Versions 1.2 and later of DCPS to help avoid problems that have been reported in past versions.

12.2.12 DDIF Files with Invalid Parameter Values

The DDIF translators have been modified to handle files with invalid values for some parameters. Specifically, if the value for either the "PixelPath" or "LineProgression" parameter is invalid, then the default value for that parameter is assumed.

12.2.13 Insufficient Event Flags

Under some circumstances, DCPS V1.1 and V1.1A exits with the following message:

%DCPS-F-INSEF, insufficient event flags

This problem might occur with LAT-connected printers when more than one host attempts a connection to the printer at the same time. This problem is corrected in Version 1.2.

12.2.14 PostScript Operator findfont Has Been Modified

The example file [SYSHLP.EXAMPLES.DCPS]PS_SUPPLEMENT.PS has been changed. The re-definition of the PostScript operator 'findfont' has been modified to minimize naming conflicts with other definitions of the keyword 'findfont'. Also, if PS_SUPPLEMENT.PS is loaded more than once, the 'findfont' operator is not re-defined, and previous problems due to recursion no longer occur. The redefinition of the PostScript operator 'findfont' has been modified to minimize naming conflicts with other definitions of the keyword 'findfont'. Also, if PS_SUPPLEMENT.PS is loaded more than once, the 'findfont' operator is not redefined, and previous problems due to recursion no longer occur.

12.2.15 OUTPUT_TRAY=LCOS Not Supported for PrintServer 17 Printers

You can now use the OUTPUT_TRAY=LCOS parameter to select the large capacity output stacker on PrintServer 17 printers.

12.3 DCPS Version 1.2 Changes

This section describes changes in DCPS Version 1.2.

12.3.1 Running DECprint Supervisor as a Multistreamed Process

Beginning with Version 1.2, a DECprint Supervisor process is capable of running as a multistreamed symbiont process.

12.3.2 AppleTalk Interconnect Supported on OpenVMS Alpha Systems

Printing to printers on an AppleTalk network from an OpenVMS Alpha system is now supported. The AppleTalk for OpenVMS network software from PATHWORKS for OpenVMS (Macintosh) V1.3 or later must be installed and running.

12.3.3 DCPS Includes Files for the DEClaser 3500 FAX Option

DCPS includes example files for the the DEClaser 3500 printer's FAX features.

12.3.4 The Network Printer Setup Utility Updated

The Network Printer Setup Utility has been updated. The kit can be found in SYS$COMMON:[SYSHLP.EXAMPLES.DCPS.NETPRINT] in the file NETPRX11.ZIP. The new version works with V5.0A and V5.1 of PATHWORKS for OpenVMS (LAN Manager). This version of the Network Printer Setup Utility is also supplied on the PATHWORKS Unsupported Utilities Kit.

12.3.5 Logical to Enable Device Control Library Caching

The system logical DCPS$DEVCTL_CACHE (with no queue name specified) can be defined to specify that device control library caching is enabled for all DCPS print execution queues on that system. Also see Section 14.1.4.

12.3.6 DCPS$STARTUP.TEMPLATE Updated

The file SYS$STARTUP:DCPS$STARTUP.TEMPLATE has been modified to provide example definitions for both DCPS$MAX_STREAMS and DCPS$DEVCTL_CACHE.

12.3.7 Executable Components Check for Compatible Versions

Beginning with DCPS Version 1.2, the executable components attempt to ensure they are a matched set. If a mis-match occurs, DCPS reports an error when the queue starts.

12.3.8 Reducing the Amount of Memory and Idle Time CPU

DCPS V1.1 and V1.1A use considerably more memory than previous versions of DCPS. This use of memory can become a significant problem when many DCPS queues are started on a system. DCPS Version 1.2 and later address this problem by reducing the peak memory requirements of DCPS and by allowing DCPS to run multistreamed.

Also, beginning with DCPS V1.1, DECthreads is used to implement the numerous functions of DCPS. All processes that use DECthreads execute periodically to determine if any threads can run. Even when no jobs are printing, DECthreads causes a DCPS process to run to determine if any threads can run. If there are many DCPS queues started on a system, the scheduling and periodic execution of all these processes can use a significant amount of CPU time. This problem is resolved by running DCPS as a multistreamed process, thereby reducing the number of symbiont processes that must execute. Also, DCPS symbiont processes never get swapped out of memory because they periodically execute.

There are several factors to consider to determine an appropriate number of queues per DCPS symbiont process including:

• DCPS Version 1.2 must be configured to support at least four execution queues to reduce the memory requirements to that of DCPS V1.0C.
• You can reduce the number of process slots taken by DCPS by increasing the number of queues per process. This will free up process slots. By reducing the number of DCPS symbiont processes, you reduce the number of DECthread processes that must run periodically, which improves system performance.
• With Version 1.2 and later of DCPS, even though a DECprint Supervisor process can be configured to support more than one execution queue, DCPS can translate only one file at a time. To avoid contention for translators, when a stream (queue) in a process needs a translator that is already in use, the translator for that stream is started in a separate temporary process. This can impact performance if your site primarily uses one translator, and print queues are generally busy. To reduce the likelihood of a impact on performance, choose a smaller value for DCPS$MAX_STREAMS.
• The maximum number of queues per process is 32. This limit is imposed by the OpenVMS queue manager.
• If DCPS is configured to support only one print queue per process (the default), DCPS Version 1.2 uses less memory than V1.1 or V1.1A, but more memory than DCPS V1.0C.
• A DECprint Supervisor process running multiple print queues represents a potential single point of failure. If the supervisor process fails, or someone stops the process, then several queues are affected.