Serial printers transmit unsolicited data to the host system when power-up initialization occurs. The OpenVMS operating system normally interprets unsolicited data from a terminal device as a login request. The printer software startup file sets the SECURE_SERVER terminal characteristic for all printer terminal devices on the host system. SECURE_SERVER prevents the OpenVMS host and the printer from engaging in a potentially endless login dialog.

To eliminate login dialog, set terminal characteristics for terminal devices by using the following procedures in this order:

1. SYSGEN AUTOCONFIGURE
2. SYSTARTUP_VMS
3. DCPS$EXECUTION_QUEUE.COM

AUTOCONFIGURE uses SYSGEN parameters to set default terminal characteristics for all terminal devices on the system. Your system will not encounter the login dialog problem if SECURE_SERVER is set with SYSGEN. The SYSGEN parameter that accomplishes this is TTY_DEFCHAR2. Refer to the OpenVMS Upgrade and Installation Manual for information on setting SYSGEN parameters.

The system startup procedure may also set terminal characteristics. Since this command file executes prior to the printer startup file, your system will be less vulnerable to the login dialog problem if SECURE_SERVER is set for printer terminal devices within the SYSTARTUP_VMS file.

DCPS$EXECUTION_QUEUE.COM (the printer execution queue command file) sets the SECURE_SERVER terminal characteristic for printer terminal devices by default. This file is provided in the software kit.

If your printer is configured on a LAT device in a local area Ethernet, set the LAT port and the terminal server characteristics for the printer to minimize login dialog. Refer to the Software Installation GuideSoftware Installation Guide for LAT port characteristics.

11.2 What to Do if a PrintServer Printer Is Not Printing

The following troubleshooting procedures can help you diagnose error conditions that can occur during installation of DECprint Supervisor software for PrintServer printers.

If the printer is not printing, check the OPCOM messages. If the cause of the failure is not immediately apparent, check the queue characteristics, as follows:

1. Execute the following instruction, inserting the name of the PrintServer device queue:

   $ SHOW QUEUE queue-name/FULL

   
   For example, the queue characteristics for the PrintServer device queue LPS40$FANG on node VIPER are as follows:

   $ SHOW QUEUE LPS40$FANG/FULL

   Printer queue LPS40$FANG, on VIPER::FANG, mounted form DCPS$$FORM (stock=DEFAULT) /BASE_PRIORITY=4 /FORM=DCPS$DEFAULT /LIBRARY=DCPS_LIB /OWNER=[SYSTEM] /PROCESSOR=DCPS$SMB /PROTECTION=(S:E,O:D,G:R,W:W) /SCHEDULE=(NOSIZE) /SEPARATE=(FLAG,TRAILER) $

2. If the queue characteristics do not match those recorded in DCPS$STARTUP.COM, delete the device queue and all generic queues that point to it. Then execute the DCPS$STARTUP.COM file. DCPS$STARTUP is located in SYS$STARTUP:. For example:

   $ STOP/RESET/QUEUE generic-queue-1 $ STOP/RESET/QUEUE other-generic-queues $ STOP/RESET/QUEUE pserver-name $ DELETE/QUEUE generic-queue-1 $ DELETE/QUEUE other-generic-queues $ DELETE/QUEUE pserver-name $ @SYS$STARTUP:DCPS$STARTUP

   
   Recheck the queue characteristics. If they are correct and the job still does not print, refer to the DEC PrintServer Supporting Host Software for OpenVMS Management Guide for further information.

Slower printing speeds can result from:

• Printing of complex ANSI jobs from applications
• Printing of complex PostScript jobs
• Occurrence of ANSI translator prologue mismatch
• Changing the printer password from the default (refer to the Software Installation GuideSoftware Installation Guide).

Complex ANSI jobs include those that use many downloaded fonts on a page. These jobs always take longer to print.

For serial printers, a 30-second delay before the printing of ANSI jobs indicates an ANSI prologue mismatch between the ANSI translator and the print job. On a serial printer, power cycle the printer (turn it off and then on) to load the appropriate prologue. The first ANSI print job is delayed by the loading of the prologue, but subsequent ANSI print jobs are printed more efficiently.

If your printer is connected to multiple nodes running different versions of the printing system, power cycling the printer may not eliminate the 30-second delay. The node that connects to the printer first persistently loads its prologue. The other nodes must load the prologue with every print job. To eliminate the delay in this case, every node should run the same version of the DECprint Supervisor software.

11.4 What to Do if Layup Definition Files Are Not Found

DECprint Supervisor software places the following sample layup definition files in [SYSHLP.EXAMPLES.DCPS]:

• LPS$HOLES.LUP
• LPS$SINGLEHOLES.LUP
• LPS$DOUBLEHOLES.LUP
• LPS$NUP.LUP
• COLOR-PRINTER-FULL-PAGE.LUP
• PROPRINTER-FULL-PAGE.LUP

Make sure that the layup directory logical name, DCPS$LAYUP, points to SYS$SYSDEVICE:[SYSHLP.EXAMPLES.DCPS] or to the directory that contains the .LUP sample files on all nodes in the cluster.

11.5 What to Do if Files Are Printed With Unexpected Results

The DECprint Supervisor software attempts to print every file in every print job even if there are problems in the specification of print parameters and print job attributes. Print queues with erroneous default parameters can still print files, but all the print parameters are not effective and messages are generated indicating the problem, as described in Section 11.5.1.

In cases where the file is printed using the wrong data type translator, the file data type has not been correctly determined by the DECprint Supervisor software. The methods for solving problems with automatic data type detection are described in Section 11.5.2.

11.5.1 What to Do if Default Queue Parameters Are Not Effective

If you enter a parameter in DCPS$STARTUP.COM incorrectly, print jobs sent to that print queue are printed, but the invalid parameter and the parameters following it are not applied to the print job.

If an invalid print parameter is included in the queue definition, the printing system generates an error message that is displayed on your screen and printed on the job trailer page for every print job sent to the associated queue. The parameters that are not processed take the default settings.

In the following example, there is an extra L in the argument to the second parameter, PAGE_ORIENTATION. Therefore, the printing system ignores the second parameter, NUMBER_UP=2. Only the first parameter, SHEET_SIZE=B, is processed.

@sys$startup:dcps$generic_queue - ! Landscape queue DCPS$WIDE$PRINT - ! P1 - Generic queue name TEK4014_TTB4 - ! P2 - /GENERIC = execution queues "SHEET_SIZE=B,PAGE_ORIENTATION=LLANDSCAPE,NUMBER_UP=2" ! P3 - Default queue parameter ! P3 - Default queue parameter

For every print job for this queue, an error message similar to the following is displayed on the screen and printed on the job trailer page in the message section:

10-MAR-2000 15:21 %DCPS-E-PARSYNERR, Syntax error in the /PARAMETERS qualifier at or near PAGE_ORIENTATION=LLANDSCAPE

11.5.2 What to Do if A File Data Type Is Not Recognized

If the DECprint Supervisor software fails to determine the data type of a print file correctly, the user can explicitly specify the DATA_TYPE parameter. If necessary, you can set up a generic queue for specific data types. All files printed to this queue will have the specified data type, unless the user explicitly specifies another data type using the DATA_TYPE parameter. Users can also specify the DATA_TYPE=AUTOMATIC parameter to explicitly specify automatic data type detection.

The automatic data type feature examines the following to determine the data type of the file:

1. The value of the DATA_TYPE parameter in the PRINT command
2. The queue default data type specified in the DCPS$STARTUP.COM file
3. OpenVMS file tags (for example, DDIF stored_semantics tags)
4. The contents of the file
5. The file extension

If the DECprint Supervisor software cannot determine the file data type from these steps, the default text data type is used. If no default text data type has been defined by the user or the system manager (see Section 4.2.2), the file is processed as ANSI. When the default text data type is used, the text can precede PostScript; the file is printed properly. However, the file may not be printed properly if any more text follows the PostScript data. In this case, it may be necessary to edit the file and print the text and PostScript data as separate files.

In general, though, users should not be encouraged to modify the contents of their files or the file extensions so that the data type can be determined. Instead, the application that generates the file may be examined and modified if necessary; or you can provide site-specific file extension files, default text data types, or generic queues with explicit default data types.

You use standard OpenVMS DCL commands to manage the DECprint Supervisor queues, jobs, and related system resources.

Table A-1 lists the commands used to manage print queues, print jobs, and related system resouces. More information for these commands can be found in the OpenVMS DCL Dictionary.

Table A-1 Printing System Management Commands

Command	Function
ASSIGN/MERGE	Removes jobs from one queue and puts them in another existing queue.
ASSIGN/QUEUE	Assigns a logical queue to an execution queue.
DEASSIGN/QUEUE	Deassigns a logical queue and stops the logical queue.
DEFINE/CHARACTERISTIC	Defines a queue characteristic name and number.
DEFINE/FORM	Defines a printer form name, number, and attributes.
DELETE/CHARACTERISTIC	Deletes the definition of a queue characteristic.
DELETE/ENTRY	Deletes one or more job entries from a queue.
DELETE/FORM	Deletes the definition of a form.
DELETE/QUEUE	Deletes a queue.
INITIALIZE/QUEUE	Not recommended for use with the DECprint Supervisor software.
SET ENTRY	Changes or deletes attributes of a job that is in the queue but not currently executing.
SET QUEUE	Changes the status and attributes of a queue.
SET QUEUE/ENTRY	This command has been superseded by the SET ENTRY command, which performs identical functions. Compaq recommends that you use the SET ENTRY command.
SET QUEUE/RETAIN	Retains print jobs upon completion or termination due to an error.
SHOW ENTRY	Display information about print jobs.
SHOW QUEUE	Displays information about queues and jobs.
SHOW QUEUE/CHARACTERISTICS	Displays information about queue characteristic names and numbers available on a queue.
SHOW QUEUE/FORM	Displays the names and numbers of the forms defined for your system.
START/QUEUE	Starts or restarts a queue.
START/QUEUE/MANAGER	Starts the system job queue manager and opens the queue file.
STOP/QUEUE	Pauses an execution queue.
STOP/QUEUE/ABORT	Stops the executing print job, but does not stop the queue.
STOP/QUEUE/MANAGER	Stops the system job queue manager and closes the job queue file.
STOP/QUEUE/NEXT	Stops the queue after the current job has finished printing.
STOP/QUEUE/REQUEUE	Stops the executing print job and requeues it to the specified queue, but does not stop the queue.
STOP/QUEUE/RESET	Stops a queue immediately and returns control to the system.

A.2 Use of SET PRINTER with DCPS

Because PostScript printers are controlled by the DECprint Supervisor software, the DCL SET PRINTER command has no meaning in a DECprint Supervisor environment. Print job characteristics for the DECprint Supervisor are set and displayed by other means.

Print job characteristics for DECprint Supervisor are determined by:

1. Parameters embedded in the job data.
2. Parameters passed in the /PARAMETERS qualifier of the PRINT command.
3. DEFINE/FORM qualifiers.
4. For PrintServer printers, default parameters which are in the PrintServer configuration database.
5. The default queue parameters, which are defined in the DCPS$STARTUP.COM file

Items 1, 2, and 3 in this list are controlled by the PostScript interpreter or the data syntax translator, depending on the type of job being processed. Item 4 is controlled by the PrintServer server management interface described in the DEC PrintServer Supporting Host Software for OpenVMS Management Guide.

Table A-2 shows the SET PRINTER qualifiers and the equivalent control in a DECprint Supervisor printing system.

Table A-2 SET PRINTER Qualifier Equivalents for DECprint Supervisor Queues

SET PRINTER Qualifier	Equivalent Control
/CR	Insertion of carriage return characters is controlled by the current data type translator.
/FALLBACK	Translation of DIGITAL multinational characters is controlled by the current font. If the character does not exist in the specified font, the font error character prints.
/FF	Mechanical form feeds are controlled by the current data type translator or the PostScript interpreter.
/LOWERCASE	The DECprint Supervisor printer is considered to be a lowercase printer. It does not translate lowercase to uppercase.
/PAGE	The number of lines printed on each page is controlled by the ANSI translator (ANSI files only). This characteristic is available through DEFINE/FORM.
/PASSALL	Whether the system interprets special characters or forwards them as 8-bit binary data is controlled by the current data type translator.
/PRINTALL	Whether the printer interprets special characters or prints their 8-bit binary equivalent is controlled by the current data type translator.
/TRUNCATE	Truncation of data that exceeds the limitation imposed by the /WIDTH qualifier is controlled by the form definition or the current data type translator.
/WIDTH	The number of characters allowed on each line of the currently installed media is controlled by the form definition, or a combination of the current data type translator and the current font.
/WRAP	Generation of a carriage-return/line-feed by the printer when it reaches the end of a line is controlled by the form definition or the current data type translator.