DECprint Supervisor (DCPStm) for OpenVMS
System Manager's Guide


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Chapter 6
Specifying Separation, Log, and Error Pages

6.1 What Are Separation Pages?

Separation pages are sheets that show where a user's print job or each file in a print job begins and ends. Separation pages include:

A job flag page looks like a job burst page without the border around the page. A job trailer page looks like a job flag page with the message "END OF JOB" printed at the top and with additional information listed for the job (for example, when it finished, which PRINT qualifiers and parameters were used, and how many pages were printed). File separation pages are differentiated from each other in an analagous fashion, and from job separation pages by the presence of file-specific information (for example, the file specification, file size, and modification time).

You can enable separation pages for print jobs and each file in a print job. The following sections show you how.

6.2 Enabling Job Separation Pages

Job separation pages keep print jobs separate. Figure 6-1 shows one type of job separation page; a job burst page.

Figure 6-1 A Job Burst Page


You enable and disable job separation pages by editing the DCPS$STARTUP.COM file; the user cannot override these settings.

Enter the /SEPARATE qualifier to parameter 5 in the execution queue entry in DCPS$STARTUP.COM, as shown here:


@sys$startup:dcps$execution_queue -          
    DCPS_TTB4 -                    ! P1 - Execution queue name        
    "SERIAL/TTB4" -                ! P2 - Device name 
    DCPS_LIB -                     ! P3 - Logical name for /LIBRARY 
    "" -                           ! P4 - Default queue parameters 
    "/SEPARATE=(BURST,NOFLAG,TRAILER)"   
                                   ! P5 - Default queue qualifiers 

Notes:

6.2.1 Error Messages on the Trailer Page

If the print job contains errors, the trailer page includes messages that can help the user determine what went wrong with the print job. Following are examples of these messages:


28-MAR-2000 11:03  %DCPS-I-TRAYSUBST, Output will be delivered to the 
only tray on printer-name


28-MAR-2000 11:03  %DCPS-W-INVACC, invalidaccess: Attempt to access 
restricted object or capability - offending command is get 

These types of messages are also displayed on the user's terminal if /NOTIFY was specified in the PRINT command for the print job.

The following types of messages are not printed on the job trailer page:

6.2.2 Suppressing Job Trailer Pages

DCPS normally prints a job trailer page if errors occur during the job, even if /SEPARATE=TRAILER is not specified for the queue, as mentioned in sections Section 6.2 and Section 6.2.1. This behavior may be undesireable when printing on expensive media, especially if the reported errors are unimportant.

To prevent DCPS from printing job trailers, even when errors occur for the job, define the following system-wide logical:


$ DEFINE/SYSTEM/EXECUTIVE DCPS$queuename_SUPPRESS_JOBTRAILER 1

Note

Running DCPS this way makes it much more difficult to diagnose real problems when they arise. If you are getting nuisance error messages, Compaq recommends that you resolve the underlying problem rather than suppressing the messages.

6.2.3 Specifying a Special Input Tray for Job Burst and Flag Pages

When users print jobs on expensive or special media, it may be desirable to print job burst and flag pages from a special input tray. This technique is also useful for specifying a different color paper for separating print jobs.

With the DCPS--PLUS license, you may specify a special input tray for job flag pages and job burst pages. Define a logical name using the following command:


$ DEFINE/SYSTEM/EXECUTIVE DCPS$queuename_SEPARATOR_TRAY n

In this command, queuename is the name of the execution queue and n is the PostScript input tray number. The tray numbers are specific to your printer model and may be listed in your printer owner's manual.

6.3 Enabling File Separation Pages

File separation pages separate the files in the print job. Figure 6-2 shows an example of a file flag page.

Figure 6-2 A File Flag Page


To enable default file separation pages, do the following:

Users can override the default file flag, burst, and trailer attributes for a queue by specifying the /[NO]FLAG, /[NO]BURST, and /[NO]TRAILER qualifiers in the PRINT command.

In the following example, each file in the job will be preceded by a file flag page and followed by a file trailer page:


$ PRINT/FLAG=ALL/TRAILER=ALL FILE1.PS,FILE2.PS,FILE3.PS

Note

If the PAGE_LIMIT parameter is used in the PRINT command, or if the print job is terminated, the file flag page and file trailer page may not be printed.

6.4 Adding a System Message to Separator Pages

You can add a system message to the top of job and file burst, flag, and trailer pages for all jobs printed on your system. The following example shows you how:


$ DEFINE/SYSTEM/EXECUTIVE PSM$ANNOUNCE "Computer Services Group"

The example shows that the logical name PSM$ANNOUNCE is now "Computer Services Group".

Note

The PSM$ANNOUNCE logical is used by other print symbionts (for example, LATSYM) as well as by the DCPS symbiont. Your definition of PSM$ANNOUNCE will also affect these other symbionts.

6.5 Requesting Job Log Pages

A job log page is an optional sheet with information about the print job and any messages that occurred during the print job. Use the MESSAGES=PRINT parameter in the PRINT command to print a job log page. When printed, the job log page precedes the job trailer page. If you are not printing job trailer pages, the job log page is the last page of a job.

6.6 The File Error Page

If the software cannot access the print file when the print job starts printing, a file error page is printed and the software continues with the next file in the print job (if any).

The file error page contains the following information:


Chapter 7
Creating Setup Modules and Device Control Libraries

7.1 What Is a Setup Module?

A setup module is a file containing instructions that modify the appearance of a print job or redefine the instructions in the print job.

You can include a setup module in a print job with the PRINT command's /SETUP qualifier. The following example uses a setup module that specifies 600 dots-per-inch (DPI) resolution:


$ PRINT/QUEUE=LPS32$2SIDES/SETUP=RES_600X600 IMAGE.PS

You can also implicitly include setup modules in a print job through the use of a form (see Chapter 8).

7.2 Locating Setup Modules

DECprint Supervisor ships with various setup modules, which are located in the following device control library:

SYS$LIBRARY:DCPS$DEVCTL.TLB

To list the setup modules, use the following command:


$ LIBRARY/LIST SYS$LIBRARY:DCPS$DEVCTL.TLB

The list of setup modules displays, similar to the following:


DCW1000_DISPLAY 
DCW1000_ENHANCED 
DCW1000_HIGHRES 
LPS$$APPLE360_INITPSDEVICE 
LPS$$APPLE360_SETINPUTTRAY 
RES_1200X1200 
RES_1200X600 

Note

Do not modify any of the setup modules or the device control library.

Some setup modules are created only for certain printers. Those setup modules have the printer name as part of their file name. For instance, the setup module DL3500_RET_DARK is intended for the DEClaser 3500 printer.

Note

Do not change the contents of the standard supplied device control library.

7.2.1 Locating Custom Setup Modules

Custom setup modules go in special device control libraries, which are required to be .TLB (text library) files located in SYS$LIBRARY. The following command lists all of the text libraries in SYS$LIBRARY. To determine what subset of these are special device control libraries used with DCPS, correlate the .TLB file names with the libraries and library search lists associated with the /LIBRARY qualifier for your system's DCPS print queues.


$ DIRECTORY SYS$LIBRARY:*.TLB

7.2.2 Displaying the Contents of a Setup Module

To see the instructions that a setup module contains, do the following:

  1. Extract the setup module from the device control library. The following example extracts the setup module DI_ON from DCPS$DEVCTL.TLB and renames it MYSETUP.TXT in the user's directory:


    $ LIBRARY/EXTRACT=(DI_ON)/OUT=MYSETUP SYS$LIBRARY:DCPS$DEVCTL.TLB
    

  2. Type or edit the setup module to display its contents:


    $ TYPE MYSETUP.TXT
    

    The setup module DI_ON enables DECimage, and contains the following instructions:


    %! 
    % ~~~~~~~~~~ DI_on ~~~~~~~~~~ 
    statusdict begin false setDECimage end 
    systemdict /languagelevel known {languagelevel} {1} ifelse 
    2 ge {currentpagedevice /Install get exec} if 
    statusdict begin true setDECimage end 
    % ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
    

    Note

    Some setup modules contain escape sequences or graphics, which cannot be displayed when you type the file. For such modules, you may wish to use the DUMP/RECORD command on the extracted file.

7.3 Creating Custom Setup Modules

You can create setup modules that affect print jobs with different data types. Some setup modules manipulate ANSI print jobs, while others affect PostScript jobs. You can create setup modules for any data type you support.

Notes:

7.4 Creating Device Control Libraries

To make the setup module accessible to users, you must create a device control library and put the module in the library. Create a different library for setup modules of each data type. Do not include setup modules of different data types in the same library. You can create a library for ANSI, PCL, Proprinter, or PostScript files.

Note

Do not put your custom setup modules in the standard DCPS$DEVCTL library. Custom setup modules in DCPS$DEVCTL will be deleted if you upgrade DECprint Supervisor software.

To create a library for setup modules, use the following command format:


$ LIBRARY/CREATE/TEXT SYS$COMMON:[SYSLIB]library-name.TLB

You supply the library-name, the name you give to the library.

The following command creates a new PostScript device control library, PS1, for your customized PostScript setup modules:


$ LIBRARY/CREATE/TEXT SYS$COMMON:[SYSLIB]PS1.TLB

For more information, refer to the OpenVMS Librarian Utility Manual.

7.4.1 Putting Setup Modules in Libraries

To insert a setup module into a device control library, use the following command format:


$ LIBRARY/INSERT SYS$LIBRARY:library-name.TLB module-name

In the command line, you supply the following information:
library-name The name of the library
module-name The name of the setup module

The following command puts the PostScript setup module, CONFIDENTIAL.PS, into your PostScript device control library, PS1.TLB, and names the setup module CONFIDENTIAL:


$ LIBRARY/INSERT SYS$LIBRARY:PS1.TLB CONFIDENTIAL.PS

The following command puts the ANSI setup module, A4_PAGE.TXT, into your ANSI device control library, ANSI1.TLB, and names the setup module A4_PAGE:


$ LIBRARY/INSERT SYS$LIBRARY:ANSI1.TLB A4_PAGE.TXT

7.4.2 Specifying a Library Search List

If you have several device control libraries, you need to set up a search list of the libraries in SYS$STARTUP:DCPS$STARTUP.COM. The search list specifies which device control libraries to search, and the priority of the libraries.

Example 7-1 shows a search list of device control libraries.

Example 7-1 Search List for Device Control Libraries

$ DEFINE/SYSTEM/EXECUTIVE/NOLOG DCPS_LIB - 
         DCPS$DEVCTL,- 
         "PS1/DATA_TYPE=POSTSCRIPT",- 
         "ANSI1/DATA_TYPE=ANSI",- 
         PS2 

In Example 7-1, the software does the following:

  1. Looks in the standard device control library DCPS$DEVCTL for required setup modules and for any setup modules that have been specified with /SETUP or /FORM.
  2. Looks in the PostScript library PS1 for any specified setup modules not found in the standard device control library. (PostScript setup modules can be used with any type of file, so the PostScript device control library is always included in the search for a setup module.)
  3. If the print job is ANSI, looks in the library called ANSI1.
  4. If the print job is a data type other than ANSI, skips the ANSI1 library and looks for it in the PostScript library PS2.

To define your library logical name and search list, perform the following steps:

  1. Edit DCPS$STARTUP.COM and add the following command line:
    Command Line Example
    $ DEFINE/SYSTEM/EXECUTIVE/NOLOG -
    
    logical-name -
    search-list
    $ DEFINE/SYSTEM/EXECUTIVE/NOLOG DCPS_LIB -
    
    DCPS$DEVCTL,-
    "PS1/DATA_TYPE=POSTSCRIPT",-
    "ANSI1/DATA_TYPE=ANSI",-
    PS2

    In the command line, you supply the following information:
    logical-name: Use a logical name that expands to a list of library names. Make sure the logical name also appears in the execution queue definition (parameter p3). search-list: Add the list of libraries to be searched. Use the following guidelines as you add libraries:
  2. Stop and restart the execution queue to include your new library. (If you add a setup module to an existing library, you do not have to reinitialize the queue.)

7.4.3 Device Control Libraries Must Exist for Queue to Start

All device control libraries specified for a queue must exist for the queue to start. For example, if a queue is defined with the following logical, the libraries SYS$LIBRARY:DCPS$DEVCTL.TLB, SYS$LIBRARY:ANSI.TLB and SYS$LIBRARY:PS.TLB must all exist as text libraries:


  $ DEFINE/SYSTEM/EXECUTIVE DCPS_LIB - 
      DCPS$DEVCTL, - 
      "ANSI/DATA_TYPE=ANSI", - 
      "PS/DATA_TYPE=POSTSCRIPT" 

7.4.4 Preserving Custom Setup Modules During Upgrades

When you install DECprint Supervisor software, it creates a new version of the standard device control library (DCPS$DEVCTL.TLB). If you purged old files during the software installation, early copies of the device control library are deleted. (Refer to the Software Installation GuideSoftware Installation Guide for more information.)

When you add custom setup modules, create a new library and refer to it in the library search list. This preserves your custom setup modules when you upgrade your software.

Upgrading from DECprint Printing Services or PrintServer Client Software

DECprint Printing Services software and PrintServer Client software have their own device control libraries (CPS$DEVCTL.TLB and LPS$DEVCTL.TLB). When you upgrade to DECprint Supervisor, the CPS$ and LPS$ device control libraries are no longer used. If you have custom setup modules in either of those libaries, insert the modules into a new library and specify the library in the device control library search list.


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