These release notes describe restrictions, usage hints, and other useful information for DECprint Supervisor (DCPS) for OpenVMS.
Revision/Update Information: These release notes supersede all other documentation.
Operating System & Versions:
OpenVMS Alpha Version 6.2, 7.2-2, 7.3 or 7.3-1
OpenVMS VAX Version 5.5-2, 7.2 or 7.3
Software Version: DECprint Supervisor (DCPS) for OpenVMS, Version V2.1
© 2002 Compaq Information Technologies Group, L.P.
Compaq, the Compaq logo, Alpha, DCPS, DECnet, OpenVMS, VAX and VMS are trademarks of Compaq Information Technologies Group, L.P. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.
All other product names mentioned herin may be trademarks of their respective companies.
Confidential computer software. Valid license from Compaq required for possession, use, or copying. Consistent with FAR 12.211 and 12.212, Commercial Computer Software, Computer Software Documentation, and Technical Data for Commercial Items are licensed to the U.S. Government under vendor's standard commercial license.
Compaq shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. The information is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind and is subject to change without notice. The warranties for Compaq products are set forth in the express limited warranty statements accompanying such products. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.
The DECprint Supervisor documentation set is available on CD-ROM.
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The primary source of information about DECprint Supervisor (DCPS) for OpenVMS, Version V2.1 is the following set of software manuals:
Also see the DECprint Supervisor for OpenVMS Software Product Description (SPD 44.15.xx), which contains a full list of printers supported by DCPS and other important information.
These release notes provide detail on the following:
Starting with DCPS V2.0, the need for DCPS-OPEN and DCPS-PLUS licenses has been eliminated. The right to use all features of DCPS is now included with the OpenVMS operating system license. |
This section describes changes included in DCPS V2.1. You can find more
information for several of these changes elsewhere in these release
notes.
1.1 DCPS Version 2.1 Changes
1.1.1 New Printers Supported
DCPS V2.1 adds support for the following printers:
GENICOM Intelliprint cL160
GENICOM Intelliprint mL402
GENICOM Intelliprint mL450
GENICOM LN45
HP Color LaserJet 4600
HP LaserJet 2200
HP LaserJet 4100
HP LaserJet 9000
IBM Infoprint 21
IBM InfoPrint 32
IBM InfoPrint 40
Lexmark C720
Lexmark C910
Lexmark T520
Lexmark T522
Lexmark T620
Lexmark T622
Lexmark W820
Xerox DocuPrint N24
Xerox DocuPrint N32
Xerox DocuPrint N40
DCPS V2.1 now supports the optional stapler on the previously-supported HP LaserJet 8000, 8100 and 8150 printers, as well as the newly-supported HP LaserJet 9000 and Lexmark W820 printers.
You can find more information in Chapter 4 of these release notes.
1.1.3 New PUNCH Parameter For Punched Output
DCPS now supports punched output on printers equipped with a puncher. The parameter PUNCH or NOPUNCH can be specified on the command line. For example:
$ PRINT /PARAMETERS=PUNCH myfile.ps
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There are no values to the PUNCH parameter. The position of the punched holes is determined by the orientation of the paper in the printer, and the number and spacing of holes is determined by the printer. If NOPUNCH is specified, the job will not be punched, overriding the printer's default punching setting.
DCPS currently supports punching with the following printers:
GENICOM Intelliprint mL450
GENICOM LN45
Lexmark Optra W810
Lexmark W820
DCPS now supports the paper size INDEXCARD (216 x 360 mm; 3 x 5
inches). You can specify these sizes as the logical PAGE_SIZE value for
any printer, and as the physical SHEET_SIZE value for the IBM Infoprint
21 and Xerox DocuPrint N2125 printers.
1.1.5 Additional Name for Optional Stacker Bins
The optional stacker bins on some printers can now be referenced with the name STACKER in addition to their existing names of BIN_1 or OCT. These printers include:
Compaq Laser Printer LN32
Compaq Laser Printer LNM40
GENICOM LN28
GENICOM microLaser 280
GENICOM microLaser 320
GENICOM microLaser 401
The user-modifiable part of the DCPS startup procedure, distributed as SYS$STARTUP:DCPS$STARTUP.TEMPLATE, has been reformatted for clarity.
The following changes have been made to the DCPS startup procedure:
%DCPS-I-NEWSTARTUP, newer version of DCPS$STARTUP available
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The software version number of the currently-running version of DCPS is
now displayed in the logical name DCPS$VERSION.
1.1.8 Supressing USERNOTFOUND Messages for All Queues
If an OpenVMS cluster has more than one User Authorization file (UAF), it is possible the user submitting a print job does not have a UAF record on the system running the DCPS queue. DCPS would then issue a USERNOTFOUND operator message. (See the DECprint Supervisor for OpenVMS System Manager's Guide for more information.)
Starting with DCPS V1.1, the logical name DCPS$queuename_IGNORE_UNKNOWN_USER could be defined for a queue, which would suppress USERNOTFOUND error messages for that queue.
DCPS V2.1 adds a new logical name, DCPS$IGNORE_UNKNOWN_USER, which, when defined, suppresses USERNOTFOUND messages for all DCPS queues on the system. The value of the logical name should be TRUE or 1:
$ DEFINE /EXECUTIVE_MODE /SYSTEM DCPS$IGNORE_UNKNOWN_USER TRUE
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Chapters in these release notes referring to previous versions of DCPS
have been removed. Information contained in the old release notes has
been moved to the DECprint Supervisor for OpenVMS System Manager's Guide and
DECprint Supervisor for OpenVMS User's Guide where appropriate.
1.1.10 NETPRINT Utility Moved
The following changes were made to the distribution of the unsupported NETPRINT utility:
The following problems are fixed in DCPS V2.1.
1.2.1 STREAMUSE Error Prevents Queue from Starting
Under certain conditions, DCPS issued the following error message when trying to start a queue:
%DCPS-F-STREAMUSE, Request 4 for Stream Id n ignored.
Not consistent with symbiont state
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It was not possible to start the queue without first stopping other queues or deleting symbiont processes from the system. It was also possible for the symbiont process associated with this queue to use excessive amounts of CPU time.
This problem was often seen when trying to stop stalled queues with a STOP /QUEUE /RESET command. The problem was seen frequently when using certain printer network cards, such as the Emulex NetJet card.
The fix in DCPS V2.1 also reduces the amount of time DCPS will spend
waiting for a response from a printer after a STOP /QUEUE /RESET has
been issued before stopping the queue.
1.2.2 MOPy Prevents Multiple-File Jobs from Printing
With certain printers, specifying multiple copies with the JOB_COUNT parameter in a job with multiple files, the job would fail with the message:
%DCPS-E-NOMOPY, MOPy not supported with multiple files
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Starting with DCPS V1.8, DCPS started taking advantage of the MOPy (multiple original print) feature in certain printers, allowing the printer to produce multiple copies without sending the file to the printer multiple times. A restriction of this support was that jobs with multiple files could not be printed. The printers are:
Compaq Laser Printer LNC02
DIGITAL Laser Printer LN20
DIGITAL Laser Printer LN40
DIGITAL Laser Printer LNC02
This MOPy support has been removed in DCPS V2.1, restoring the pre-V1.8
behavior. This may cause a minor decrease in performance but restores
the ability to print multiple copies of multiple files when using these
printers.
1.2.3 Changing Printer Password Inhibits DCPS Error Page
If you changed a printer's PostScript password from its default of 0,
DCPS would not print an error page if a job ended in error.
1.2.4 Lexmark Optra Se 3455 Trays Not Selectable
With DCPS V2.0, it was not possible to select optional trays on the Lexmark Optra Se 3455 printer. Input trays TRAY_4 and TRAY_5, and output trays BIN_1, BIN_2 and BIN_3 were not selectable. The standard output tray was also not selectable if the printer's default output tray was not set to the standard output tray.
The following sections identify the current restrictions that exist
with DECprint Supervisor. See the DECprint Supervisor for OpenVMS System Manager's Guide and DECprint Supervisor for OpenVMS User's Guide for
printer-specific restrictions.
2.1 Printers with Auto-Sensing Features
Many printers can sense the data type of a print job. Such printers allow you to specify how and whether the auto-sensing feature is enabled, per interconnect channel, through the front panel or printer management software.
For most printers that offer this feature, the DECprint Supervisor software works properly when the printer is set to "PostScript" mode, or to "Auto-Sensing" mode. You must set such printers to operate in one of these modes before starting the DCPS queues. The DCPS software does not operate properly if the printer is set to "PCL" mode.
See Chapter 4 and the DECprint Supervisor for OpenVMS System Manager's Guide for additional information.
2.2 Job Remains in Starting State for Raw TCP/IP or LAT Queue
Most printers respond to the PostScript synchronization command at the beginning of a DCPS job, but some do not. If all jobs to a queue remain in the Starting state, you may need to take one of the following steps:
If you set up a DCPS queue that uses a raw TCP/IP connection and specify an incorrect TCP port number for the printer, any print jobs that you submit to the queue will remain in a starting state. DCPS cannot determine that you have provided an incorrect port number, because the network failure that it receives is no different than if the printer had been busy or offline.
Note that a print job in a raw TCP/IP queue may remain in a starting state for other reasons as well.
Check the documentation for your printer, network interface card, print
server, or terminal server to determine the correct TCP port number to
use. The TCP port number may also be listed in Table A-1.
2.4 Connection Terminations for Raw TCP/IP Queue
You may get CONTERMINATED errors for long print jobs when using raw TCP/IP connections. For jobs that consist of a single file or only use the native PostScript capability of the printer (for example, they do not use native PCL), these errors are most likely to occur at the end of the job, with job trailer pages (if specified for the queue) and print job accounting (if enabled) being lost. For other jobs, these errors may occur in the middle of the job, with subsequent documents as well as the trailer pages and accounting information being lost. DCPS requeues the terminated jobs, placing them in a Holding state so that you can reprint them once you resolve the termination problem.
Some network devices, including the HP JetDirect cards, drop a TCP/IP connection if they do not receive any input from the host system within a specified amount of time. This is a feature, meant to prevent host software from monopolizing the device. DCPS, however, waits for the printer to acknowledge that previous documents are printed before switching from PostScript to some other native printer language and also before printing a trailer page and gathering accounting information. Even though the printer may be busy, the NIC may not receive any more input from DCPS before the timeout is reached.
If your NIC allows you to alter the TCP/IP idle timeout value, you can work around this problem by disabling or increasing the timeout. Check your NIC documentation to determine if this is possible, and how to do it. Then release any requeued jobs for which desired output was lost, and delete the other requeued jobs.
Note that it is the length of a job in time (versus size) that is
important. For example, a very small PostScript program can take a very
long time to print. Hence, it is difficult to predict how large a
timeout is adequate.
2.5 NOT_READY Warnings for Unavailable Raw TCP/IP Printer
If a job is queued to a printer that uses a raw TCP/IP connection, and the printer is busy or offline, you will get NOT_READY warning messages for the printer.
If you believe or determine that the printer is busy, you can ignore
these messages. DCPS cannot, unfortunately, differentiate between the
printer being busy, offline, or otherwise unavailable.
2.6 Translators Do Not Generate Color PostScript
The translators provided with DCPS (for example, ReGIS) do not generate
color PostScript commands, even if your source file contains color
information. The colors are instead translated to various shades of
gray.
2.7 Job Trailer Page Jogs with PostScript Level 2 Printers
When job jogging is enabled on PostScript Level 2 printers to separate
jobs by offsetting them, jogging occurs between the body of a job and
its trailer page (if any).
2.8 Unable to Perform ANSI Tray Selection for Certain Printers
An attempt to print an ANSI file containing a tray selection escape sequence might fail, depending on which printer you are using. If so, the job might abort with a PostScript configuration error, with the offending command being "setpapertray".
Also, some printers, such as the Compaq Laser Printer LN16 and GENICOM microLaser 170, have input trays with PostScript tray numbers of 0. The ANSI escape sequence DECASFC is used to select trays, but a value of 0 means "no tray change" and selecting tray 0 is therefore not possible. For example, an ANSI escape sequence of
<CSI>0!v
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does not select tray 0, but rather indicates no change of tray.
A workaround to this problem is to create and subsequently invoke a setup module that redefines the settoptray, setbottomtray, setlcittray and setmanualfeedtray PostScript commands within the TRN$XLATE_DICT dictionary.
For example, for a Compaq Laser Printer LN16, DIGITAL Laser Printer LN15 or LN15+, or GENICOM microLaser 170, you should create a setup module that contains the following definitions for settoptray, setbottomtray and setmanualfeedtray:
TRN$XLATE_DICT begin
/settoptray { statusdict begin 0 setpapertray end } def
/setbottomtray { statusdict begin 1 setpapertray end } def
/setmanualfeedtray { statusdict begin 3 setpapertray end } def
end
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For an HP LaserJet 4M Plus, you should create a setup module that contains:
TRN$XLATE_DICT begin
/settoptray { statusdict begin 3 setpapertray end } def
/setbottomtray { statusdict begin 0 setpapertray end } def
/setlcittray { statusdict begin 1 setpapertray end } def
end
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PostScript tray numbers are documented in the DECprint Supervisor for OpenVMS User's Guide.
2.9 AppleTalk Queues Do Not Start or Jobs Remain in Starting State
The first print queue in the process to use AppleTalk fails with the following error and the queue does not start:
%DCPS-W-ATK_FOR_VMS, Error connecting to AppleTalk for VMS driver
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If other queues using the AppleTalk interconnect are started on that same process this error is not reported. These queues will start, but jobs on these queues remain in the "starting" state.
If a queue using the AppleTalk interconnect is started before the AppleTalk network software is running, then the queue might start but will not be functional. This occurs when DCPS is running as a multistreamed symbiont and another print queue is running in the same process.
To recover from such an error, stop all queues supported by any currently running symbiont processes that have detected that the AppleTalk network software is not running (one error message is generated per symbiont process). Restart the AppleTalk software and the queues.
To avoid this problem, run the AppleTalk network software before
starting any DCPS print queues.
2.10 Some Printers Do Not Send Status Messages to the Host
Some PostScript printers, because of their internal architecture, report status information only to the printer console and not to the host system with which they are communicating. As a result, DCPS is not aware of some status conditions (for example, paper out, paper jam, page too complex, cover open, etc.) and cannot report them to you. Instead, the DCPS queue will enter the Stalled state if DCPS subsequently attempts to communicate with the printer. This subsequent attempt may come during the same job that first experienced the problem or in a later one.
The following is a list of some of the printers which exhibit this behavior:
- DEClaser 5100 printer
- LN17ps printer
- some HP LaserJet III and IV printers (but not the HP LaserJet III with the HP PostScript-Plus Level 2 cartridge or the HP LaserJet IIISi if jam recovery is disabled)
When multinational characters are used in the PostScript
"printername", the printer name printed on the bottom of
separation pages may be printed in the wrong character set.
2.12 DDIF Printing Requires DECwindows Software or DECimage Application Services
To print DDIF encoded bitonal images, DCPS requires that either
DECwindows software or Version 3.1 of DECimage Application Services
(DAS) be installed on your system. DAS is only available on OpenVMS VAX
systems.
2.13 Compatibility of NUMBER_UP and PostScript Drivers
PostScript files created with the LaserWriter 8.0 or 8.1.1 driver or the Adobe 2.1.1 Windows driver in conjunction with the application may produce PostScript files that do not print as expected with NUMBER_UP greater than 1.
Symptoms include pages being clipped, printed outside of the NUMBER_UP page spots, or being improperly scaled.
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