Ricoh InfoPrint Manager for AIX Planning Manual
InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Introduction and Planning Guide
Version 4 Release 3
G550-1060-02
InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Introduction and Planning Guide
Version 4 Release 3
G550-1060-02
Note:
Before using this information and the product it supports, read the information in “Notices” on
page 49.
Third edition (September 2009)
This edition applies to InfoPrint Manager for AIX, Version 4 Release 3 Modification 0 with PTF UO00917 and to all
subsequent releases and modifications until otherwise indicated in new editions.
This edition replaces G550-1060-01.
Internet
Visit our home page: http://www.infoprint.com
You can send comments by e-mail to printpub@infoprint.com or by mail to:
InfoPrint Solutions Company
6300 Diagonal Hwy 002J
Boulder, CO 80301-9270
U.S.A.
This product is or contains commercial computer software and commercial computer software documentation
developed exclusively at private expense. As specified in Federal Acquisition Regulation 12.212 in the case of
civilian agencies and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 227.7202 in the case of military agencies,
use, duplication and disclosure by agencies of the U.S. Government shall solely be in accordance with the
accompanying International Program License Agreement in case of software products and in accordance with the
licensing terms specified in the product’s documentation in the case of hardware products.
© Copyright InfoPrint Solutions Company 2000, 2009.
Contents
Figures ...............v
Tables ...............vii
About this publication ........ix
Organization of this publication........ix
Most recent information ..........ix
The InfoPrint publication library .......ix
InfoPrint Manager common publication library . ix
InfoPrint Manager for AIX publication library . . x
InfoPrint Manager for Windows publication
library ...............xi
Related publications ..........xi
What’s new in InfoPrint Manager for AIX Release
3.................xi
Chapter 1. Introducing InfoPrint Manager
forAIX...............1
Optimizing your print resources ........1
Understanding the InfoPrint Manager server . . . 2
Basic print flow ............2
Logical destinations ...........3
Queues ...............3
Actual destinations ...........4
Host receivers .............4
Documents and jobs ...........4
Auxiliary sheets ............4
Media ...............5
Resource contexts............5
Transforms ..............5
Sizing your InfoPrint Manager environment . . . 5
Understanding server configuration options ....7
Standard server environment ........7
InfoPrint Manager interfaces .........8
Comparing InfoPrint Manager on different platforms 8
Understanding common features ......8
Understanding InfoPrint Manager for AIX
features...............10
Understanding InfoPrint Manager for Windows
features...............10
Supported printers ............10
PCL printers .............10
PostScript printers ...........11
PPDS printers ............11
IPDS printers .............11
||
Supported data streams ..........13
Chapter 2. Planning for configuration 15
Default model .............15
Desktop destination configuration model ....16
Pool destination configuration model ......17
Funnel destination configuration model .....17
Hourglass destination configuration model ....18
Recommended distributed configuration model . . 19
Chapter 3. Planning to print with host
systems ..............21
Print shop scenarios ...........21
A black box shop ...........21
Printing from the LAN and the host .....22
Distributed print shop using remote spooling . . 22
Managing resources with MVS Download ....22
Managing resources with AFP Upload .....22
Chapter 4. Using AFP resources ....25
Chapter 5. Planning to share printers 27
Methods for sharing printers ........27
Sharing the communication link with IPDS
printers...............28
Sharing the communication link with PostScript,
PCL, or PPDS printers ..........28
Submitting jobs to the same print queue....28
Sharing printers between host and LAN applications 29
Printing from existing host applications ....29
Printing from existing LAN applications....30
Chapter 6. Verifying prerequisites . . . 33
Understanding hardware requirements .....33
AIX hardware requirements for print load light 33
AIX hardware requirements for print load heavy 33
AIX hardware requirements for print load high
performance .............33
Client hardware requirements .......33
Printer attachment requirements ......34
Understanding AIX software requirements ....34
Verifying AIX filesets for Version 4.3.0 ....35
Verifying updates to AIX filesets for InfoPrint
Manager for AIX Version 4.3.0 .......36
Verifying AIX Version 5.3 filesets updated by the
InfoPrint Installer ...........37
AFP Download Plus prerequisites .......37
||
Client software prerequisites.........37
Chapter 7. Migrating to InfoPrint
Manager for AIX Version 4.3.0 .....39
Preparing to migrate to InfoPrint Manager for AIX
Version 4.3.0 ..............39
Chapter 8. Collecting required
information for the install.......41
Configuration options you select during the install 41
The invoice shipped with your software .....41
Communications worksheet .........41
Planning for printers ...........42
Chapter 9. Reviewing software
components ............43
© Copyright InfoPrint Solutions Company 2000, 2009 iii
Appendix. Accessibility .......47
Using assistive technologies .........47
Keyboard navigation of the user interface ....47
Notices ..............49
Trademarks ..............50
Glossary ..............53
Index ...............77
iv
InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Introduction and Planning Guide
Figures
1. InfoPrint Manager print flow. Job B is submitted
directly to a logical destination, while Job A is
submitted to an actual destination .....3
2. Default destination configuration model 16
3. Desktop destination configuration model 16
4. Pool destination configuration model ....17
5. Funnel destination configuration model 18
6. Hourglass destination configuration model 18
7. Distributed configuration model .....19
8. Sharing printers ...........27
© Copyright InfoPrint Solutions Company 2000, 2009 v
vi InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Introduction and Planning Guide
Tables
1. Contents of the Common Clients CD-ROM
shipped with InfoPrint Manager server . . . 43
2. Separately-priced features available with
InfoPrint Manager Server ........45
© Copyright InfoPrint Solutions Company 2000, 2009 vii
viii InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Introduction and Planning Guide
About this publication
This publication is for people who are interested in purchasing InfoPrint®Manager
for AIX®and for people who perform the actual installation and configuration of
an InfoPrint Manager environment.
This publication helps you prepare to use InfoPrint Manager for AIX. It describes
the features of this product for driving printers across a wide range of speeds. It
addresses migration from previous versions of InfoPrint Manager for AIX 4.2 at a
high level. This publication also explains the differences between the AIX and
Windows
Organization of this publication
This publication contains these chapters and appendix:
v Chapter 1, “Introducing InfoPrint Manager for AIX,” on page 1
v Chapter 2, “Planning for configuration,” on page 15
v Chapter 3, “Planning to print with host systems,” on page 21
v Chapter 4, “Using AFP resources,” on page 25
v Chapter 5, “Planning to share printers,” on page 27
v Chapter 6, “Verifying prerequisites,” on page 33
v Chapter 7, “Migrating to InfoPrint Manager for AIX Version 4.3.0,” on page 39
v Chapter 8, “Collecting required information for the install,” on page 41
v Chapter 9, “Reviewing software components,” on page 43
®
versions of InfoPrint Manager.
Most recent information
For the most recent information about InfoPrint Manager, go to the InfoPrint
Solutions Company Web site at http://www.infoprint.com.
The InfoPrint publication library
For the most current information, see the InfoPrint Solutions Company Web site at
http://www.infoprint.com.
InfoPrint Manager common publication library
These publications are common to both InfoPrint Manager for AIX and InfoPrint
Manager for Windows:
v InfoPrint Manager: SAP R/3 Planning and Configuration Guide, S550-1051. For print
administrators who need to create and configure both the SAP R/3 environment.
we recommend that users possess a detailed knowledge of a SAP R/3
environment, as well as administering and maintaining either AIX or Windows
operating systems. This publication describes how a business enterprise that
uses SAP R/3 can use either InfoPrint Manager for AIX or InfoPrint Manager for
Windows to manage its print environment.
v InfoPrint Manager: Reference, S550-1052. For print administrators, operators, and
application programmers with the need to do command-line functions. This
© Copyright InfoPrint Solutions Company 2000, 2009 ix
publication describes the commands, utilities, transforms, attributes, and
attribute values associated with InfoPrint.
v InfoPrint Manager: PSF and Server Messages, G550-1053. This publication lists the
PSF and Server messages and explanations from InfoPrint Manager.
v InfoPrint Manager Print-on-Demand Feature: Submit Express User’s Guide, S550-1054.
This publication is for the user who installs, configures, and uses Submit Express
on a Windows or Macintosh workstation. Although you can use this publication
for general guidance in using Submit Express, you should use the online Help to
find more detailed instructions.
v InfoPrint Job Ticketer: Job Ticketer User’s Guide, S550-1055. This publication is a
guide for using the InfoPrint Job Ticketer Web application. This guide provides
descriptions of tasks and procedures that an end-user needs to know to set up
their workstation to use the application, and then to create, layout, store, retrieve
print jobs, and submit the jobs to a print server for printing.
v InfoPrint Job Ticketer: Administrator’s Guide, S550-1056. This publication is a guide
for system administrators who are responsible for the InfoPrint Job Ticketer Web
application. This guide provides information about the Job Ticketer system
requirements, installation and configuration, system maintenance, security, and
problem determination.
InfoPrint Manager for AIX publication library
InfoPrint Manager for AIX includes publications in PDF format on a CD-ROM
supplied with the product.
The publications for InfoPrint Manager for AIX are:
v InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Introduction and Planning Guide, G550-1060. This
publication gives an overview of InfoPrint Manager for AIX, introduces the
concepts, and helps you prepare to use it. It addresses migration from previous
versions of the product. And it explains the differences between the AIX and
Windows versions of InfoPrint Manager.
v InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Installation Instructions, G550-1059. This publication
describes how to install InfoPrint Manager for AIX 4.3. These instructions
explain the procedures for local and remote installations.
v InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Getting Started, G550-1061. This publication helps you
install and configure InfoPrint Manager for AIX. It focuses on the software
configuration of server and client system.
v InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Configuration and Tuning Guide, S550-1062. This
publication provides information about configuring and tuning the InfoPrint
Manager for AIX, Version 4.3. This book is designed for the InfoPrint Manager
administrator who needs to understand how to configure and tune an InfoPrint
Manager system. It helps administrators to evaluate, develop, and maintain both
a logical and hardware configuration for their environment.
v Guidelines for Installing InfoPrint Manager for AIX 4.2 in an HACMP Configuration,
G550-1063. This publication helps you install and configure HACMP
™
with
InfoPrint Manager for AIX. It also describes how to use HACMP with InfoPrint
Manager for AIX.
v InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Using Generalized Fax, S550-1064. This publication
describes how to configure and use the Generalized Fax support that is included
with InfoPrint Manager for AIX. This publication includes information about
sending and receiving faxes from an InfoPrint Manager server.
x InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Introduction and Planning Guide
v InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Procedures, G550-1066. This publication describes how
to set up an InfoPrint environment, to submit print jobs, to schedule jobs, and to
manage the print environment.
InfoPrint Manager for Windows publication library
InfoPrint Manager for Windows includes publications in PDF format on a
CD-ROM supplied with the product.
The publications for InfoPrint Manager for Windows are:
v InfoPrint Manager for Windows: Introduction and Planning Guide, G550-1071. This
publication gives an overview of InfoPrint Manager for Windows, introduces its
concepts, and helps you prepare to use it. It describes features of this product.
Finally, this publication explains the differences between the AIX and Windows
versions of InfoPrint.
v InfoPrint Manager for Windows: Getting Started, G550-1072. This publication helps
you install and configure InfoPrint Manager for Windows. It focuses primarily
on server and client system software configuration.
v InfoPrint Manager for Windows: Procedures, G550-1073. This publication describes
the primary tasks necessary for setting up an InfoPrint environment, submitting
print jobs, scheduling jobs, and managing the print environment.
Related publications
The related publications are:
v AFP Conversion and Indexing Facility User’s Guide, S550-0436.
v Page Printer Formatting Aid: User’s Guide, S550-0801.
v Using OpenType Fonts in an AFP System, G544-5876.
What’s new in InfoPrint Manager for AIX Release 3
The enhancements and changes in this release apply to InfoPrint Manager for AIX :
v “Support for PSF and AIX print system”
v “Support for IBM Java Runtime Environment Version 5.0” on page xii
v “Support for Managed IPDS Dialog (MID)” on page xii
v “Support for color management resources added to selected transforms” on page
xii
v “Support for Unicode Extended Code Pages” on page xii
v “Support for page count for AFP” on page xii
v “Support for separator pages for AFP Download Plus” on page xii
v “Support for BCOCA desired symbol width” on page xii
Important:
1. All client and server machines must be upgraded at the same time.
2. Make sure that all InfoPrint clients are at the same level as the InfoPrint
Manager server installed for optimum performance and experience.
Support for PSF and AIX print system
InfoPrint Manager and InfoPrint ProcessDirector can now share Print Services
Facility™(PSF) and AIX print system components on the same AIX system. The
About this publication xi
shared commands include lp, enq, qprt, and lpr. If you remove either InfoPrint
Manager or InfoPrint ProcessDirector, the shared PSF and AIX print system
components remain installed.
Note: InfoPrint Manager for AIX and InfoPrint Manager ProcessDirector must be
at these minimum levels to support PSF and AIX print system component sharing:
v InfoPrint Manager for AIX Version 4 Release 3 Modification 0, Program Number
5648-F35
v InfoPrint ProcessDirector for AIX, Version 1 Release 3 Modification 1, Program
Number 5765-G74 with PTF US00105
Support for IBM Java Runtime Environment Version 5.0
InfoPrint Manager now supports IBM®Java™Runtime Environment Version 5.0.
This is the only Java version supported by both the InfoPrint Manager clients and
servers. However, InfoPrint Job Ticketer also supports Sun Java 5.0. All InfoPrint
Manager components must use the same Java level.
Support for Managed IPDS Dialog (MID)
InfoPrint Manager now supports Managed IPDS™Dialog (MID). This support
allows additional sharing capability for specific print engines. Under this
enhancement, the printer can request that the PSF host release its control of the
print engine (but not drop the TCP/IP connection), thus allowing the print engine
to print data streams other than IPDS during periods of time where the IPDS
activity is minimal. This is to optimize the performance of the printer.
Support for color management resources added to selected
transforms
Release 3 adds support for color management resources (CMRs) to the gif2afp,
jpeg2afp, pdf2afp, ps2afp, and tiff2afp transforms. This support provides color
fidelity with better printer performance.
Support for Unicode Extended Code Pages
Unicode Extended Code Pages (ECP) are code pages with additional information
used by OpenType and TrueType fonts. This enables users to easily define new
composite double-byte characters.
Support for page count for AFP
The page count for AFP™function in InfoPrint Manager enables users to see the
number of pages in an AFP file to be printed by PSF on a printer before sending it
to the printer. Users can turn on and off this page count function. However, the
result of the page count function might not be 100% accurate, because only the
begin page group (BPG) and end page group (EPG) pages are counted.
Support for separator pages for AFP Download Plus
Release 3 adds support for AFP Download Plus (AFPDP) to have the option of
sending the separator pages (header page, data set header page, and trailer page)
in MOD:CA format to the receiver. When AFPDP is enabled to send the separator
pages, the separator pages generated by InfoPrint Manager will be suppressed for
these jobs.
Support for BCOCA desired symbol width
With release 3, end users can specify a symbol width rather than specify the size
for each bar and space within the bar code symbol. This enables users to have
direct control over the total width of a bar code symbol. Also, the total width of
the bar code symbols created by the printers does not vary as much based on the
printhead resolution.
xii InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Introduction and Planning Guide
Dropped support
With this release, InfoPrint Manager no longer supports:
v The Advanced Security/Scalability Feature. This includes the DCE version of the
server and DCE-enabled clients.
v These PSF Functions:
– PSF Direct
– PSF DSS upload-SNA attachment
– PSF DSS channel attachment
v The font downloader feature
v Impositioning assist function
v Tape Input
v The ability to view local files using plug-ins from the InfoPrint Job Ticketer
v Variable data support from InfoPrint Submit Express
v 3170 DSS support
v Printers that can only be driven by the 7913 IPDS Printer LAN attachment
v IBM AIX 5.1 and 5.2 systems
v LCDS and Meta Driver PRPQ
The InfoPrint Manager clients are no longer available in these languages:
v Danish
v Swedish
v Finnish
v Norwegian
About this publication xiii
xiv InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Introduction and Planning Guide
Chapter 1. Introducing InfoPrint Manager for AIX
InfoPrint Manager for AIX is a flexible and scalable print management solution,
providing you with many choices of how to expand and manage your print
environment. Your print environment might be simple with a few high-speed
devices located together, or you might support hundreds of printers dispersed
across your enterprise. In either case, InfoPrint Manager helps you make the most
of your printing resources.
Optimizing your print resources
Your print resources are the applications that generate print jobs, your printer
devices, and the InfoPrint Manager objects that control the jobs as they process and
print. Your default InfoPrint Manager configuration includes one InfoPrint
Manager server, a queue, a logical destination, and an actual destination (physical
printer). Before adding more InfoPrint Manager objects, consider how InfoPrint
Manager can help you:
v Manage your printer devices and distribute your printing workload
Many print environments have a significant investment in printer devices and a
significant printing workload. InfoPrint Manager gives you the ability to manage
all of your printer hardware centrally. You can establish a configuration that lets
you route jobs with common requirements to a particular printer or set of
printers that support those types of jobs. This lets you mitigate situations where
some printers are idle while others have a backlog of jobs waiting to print. By
optimizing the use of each printer, you can distribute your print demands
among all available printers.
v Balance the use of AIX operating systems
By balancing the printing work load, you can also optimize the use of your AIX
systems that support printing. These systems can use a significant amount of
their resources to accept, schedule, and process jobs, and to manage the printers
they control. System usage includes processing time, memory, and fixed disk
capacity. If you use several InfoPrint Manager servers running on several AIX or
Windows systems, you distribute the printing demands of your organization and
produce output more efficiently.
v Control print jobs
InfoPrint Manager provides you with flexibility in specifying defaults for your
print jobs. You might want to use different job defaults for specific output
devices or for specific types of jobs. When you configure your system, you
should consider when and how you plan to use defaults and how to use them
most effectively. Effective use of defaults can influence other configuration
decisions you make.
v See significant events when they happen
InfoPrint Manager supports event notification to inform job submitters,
operators, and administrators of conditions that require their attention. For
example, InfoPrint Manager can notify operators when queues have a backlog of
jobs or when the printers they operate are out of paper. Your job submitters can
receive notification if InfoPrint Manager cannot schedule their jobs at the
requested destination. Notifications include event messages to help your
personnel diagnose and isolate the cause of the problem. When you configure
InfoPrint Manager, you select the types of notification you want, thus ensuring
© Copyright InfoPrint Solutions Company 2000, 2009 1
that the appropriate people are alerted when significant events occur. The most
common form of notification is that a job has completed successfully. For
example, when a set of payroll checks has finished printing, someone in the
Payroll department can be notified that they are ready.
Continue with the next section that describes the different InfoPrint Manager
objects and basic configuration considerations for each.
Understanding the InfoPrint Manager server
The InfoPrint Manager server contains a number of “objects” that are used to
control the processing of submitted jobs. Objects include queues, logical
destinations, actual destinations, and any defaults for job and document
characteristics. The server administrator creates, deletes, and modifies these
software objects to optimize the management and performance of the InfoPrint
Manager environment.
The InfoPrint Manager server can also contain auxiliary sheets, media,
resource-context, and transform objects. You can use auxiliary sheets to separate
jobs and to print job identification information. Resource-context objects point to
the directory locations of Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) resources, such as
fonts and overlays, that some jobs require.
Basic print flow
You can submit print jobs to the InfoPrint Manager server in a variety of ways.
Various print submission methods are described in Chapter 3, “Planning to print
with host systems,” on page 21 and Chapter 5, “Planning to share printers,” on
page 27. No matter which method you use, your jobs will travel similar paths once
they get to the server.
In the most common configuration, you submit jobs to an InfoPrint Logical
Destination (LD). The LD forwards the job to a print queue, and the print queue
forwards the job to an InfoPrint Actual Destination (AD). The AD then sends the
job to the printer. See Job B in Figure 1 on page 3 for an illustration. This
configuration is especially useful if you have multiple printers and want to balance
the workload between them.
Another common configuration is to submit jobs directly to the AD. The AD then
forwards the job to the LD that is associated with it. The LD sends the job to a
print queue, and the print queue sends the job back to the AD where it started.
Then, the AD sends the job to the printer. See Job A in Figure 1 on page 3 for an
illustration. This configuration is particularly useful when you need to make sure
jobs are sent to a specific printer.
Note: If you submit jobs directly to an AD, the AD and LD that you associate with
it must reside in the same server.
2 InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Introduction and Planning Guide
Job B
Logical
Destination 1
Job/Document
Queue 1
Defaults
Job A
Actual
Destination 1
Figure 1. InfoPrint Manager print flow. Job B is submitted directly to a logical destination, while Job A is submitted to
an actual destination
Actual
Destination 2
Actual
Destination 3
The following sections provide more information about the different kinds of
InfoPrint objects and what happens to your print job at each step of the process.
Logical destinations
Logical destinations are objects in your InfoPrint Manager system that you can
submit jobs to. In the simple print model shown in “Basic print flow” on page 2,
the InfoPrint Manager environment has one default logical destination. You might
want to add more logical destinations to support specific types of jobs and specific
groups of job submitters. When you create an additional logical destination, you
specify a name for the logical destination and associate it with a specific queue.
The logical destination and the queue must reside in the same InfoPrint Manager
server.
You can specify default job and document attributes for a logical destination, so
that all jobs submitted to that logical destination are automatically assigned certain
default values. This saves time for the job submitter, and helps make sure that jobs
submitted will not fail because of missing resources. If necessary, the submitter can
override the default values by explicitly setting the attributes at submission time.
Printer pooling (or clustering) is a powerful feature of InfoPrint Manager. Pooling
allows jobs to be submitted to a single logical destination and then routed to
appropriate physical devices. This feature enables you to distribute your work load
evenly among available printing devices and to optimize printer utilization. It
prevents bottlenecks where a large number of jobs are queued for a few printers
while other equally capable printers sit idle. In short, printer pooling lets you see
your output faster, and logical destinations make printer pooling possible.
Queues
A queue receives jobs from one or more logical destinations and routes jobs to one
or more actual destinations. The queue holds a job until an actual destination
capable of processing the job becomes available. In the simple print model shown
in “Basic print flow” on page 2, the InfoPrint Manager environment has one
Chapter 1. Introducing InfoPrint Manager for AIX 3
default queue. The queue and the actual destination that it sends jobs to do not
have to be in the same server. The actual destination can be in an InfoPrint
Manager server on a different AIX or Windows system.
Actual destinations
An actual destination represents an output device, such as a printer, fax machine,
or electronic mailing system. In general, you create one actual destination for each
physical output device that you use with InfoPrint Manager. It is possible to create
more than one actual destination for a device, but that configuration is not
common. You configure the actual destination to mirror the features and
capabilities of the output device, such as the output resolution of a printer. You
also configure the actual destination to control the order in which it processes jobs,
for example, by job size or by submission time.
If you do not specify values for all of the attributes when you create an actual
destination, InfoPrint Manager provides default values for many of them or
obtains those values by using Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
requests. You can make modifications, as required, at a later time.
Host receivers
A host receiver provides the point of connection between InfoPrint Manager and a
host system. The host system connects with the host receiver and downloads print
jobs.
™
The MVS
InfoPrint Manager. .
Note: Within InfoPrint Manager, the term MVS Download refers to both the
Download for z/OS
z/OS feature of PSF for z/OS.
See Chapter 3, “Planning to print with host systems,” on page 21 for additional
information about host printing.
Download receiver receives print jobs from MVS and submits them to
Documents and jobs
A job is a unit of work you send to InfoPrint Manager for processing. A job can
consist of a single file or many files. (To submit multiple files in a single job you
must use the pdpr command, the InfoPrint Submit Express, or InfoPrint Job
Ticketer.) In InfoPrint Manager terminology, each file in the job and its
accompanying attributes is called a document. (Both jobs and documents include
attributes that define their respective requirements.)
Job validation is the process of ensuring that there is an actual destination capable
of processing the requirements of the job. The values of job and document
attributes determine the requirements (such as duplex printing or card-stock
media) that the actual destination printing the job must support.
A job can include a complete description of its requirements, or the job submission
process can be streamlined through the use of defaults. See “Logical destinations”
on page 3 for details.
®
feature of PSF for z/OS and the AFP Download Plus for
Auxiliary sheets
An auxiliary sheet is a sheet of paper that can print at any or all of the these
points during a job:
4 InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Introduction and Planning Guide
v At the beginning
v At the end
v Between sections
The auxiliary sheet can have information printed on it, or it can be blank. InfoPrint
Manager provides five default types of auxiliary sheets, but you can customize
your own sheets if necessary. You can also apply a user-exit program to control the
information printed on an auxiliary sheet.
Media
A medium represents the type of media, that is, paper, envelopes, transparencies,
or multi-part forms, that an actual destination prints on. You can configure a
medium to describe its dimensions, color, purpose, or any other useful
information.
InfoPrint Manager uses the names of media as values for actual destination
attributes, such as media-supported. Actual destination attributes that reference
media can use any name as long as the name is in syntax limits.
Resource contexts
When properly configured, InfoPrint Manager automatically locates the AFP
resources (fonts, overlays, form definitions, page definitions, and page segments)
that print jobs require. You can store the resources in a centrally available location
and then use InfoPrint Manager resource contexts to identify the location. After
you have configured the resource contexts, InfoPrint Manager automatically locates
the AFP resources required by a job and then uses them for processing.
Transforms
Transforms are InfoPrint objects (like queues and destinations) that you create and
configure in InfoPrint Manager. Transforms receive data in a particular format or
formats, process the data in some way, and output the changed data. When you
create a transform, you have complete control over what data format or formats it
operates on and what type of processing it does. The processing that the transform
performs can be anything from simply copying the data to a different place on
disk, to filtering the data stream that the transform receives (for example, to
remove a particular PostScript
different format (for example, converting PCL to AFP).
In addition, you can specify whether you want the file that the transform produces
to be printed. If the transform doesn’t submit the file to be printed (for example, if
the transform completes its processing and saves the file to a different location), it
is called a terminating transform.
®
order), to transforming the data to a completely
Sizing your InfoPrint Manager environment
The number of InfoPrint Manager servers you need depends on many factors. In
this section, we provide only an overview of the most important performance
issues that can influence your server purchase plans. To begin, the features and
configurations of each InfoPrint Manager server system are extremely important.
Important server factors that affect printing system performance include these:
v Processor speed
v Number of processors
v Available RAM
Chapter 1. Introducing InfoPrint Manager for AIX 5
v Available hard disk space
v Hard disk speed
v Number of hard disk drives
v Balance of InfoPrint Manager filesystems across available disk drives
v Tuning specifications for hard disk drivers
v Paging space allocations (drive locations and size)
v Number of data paths (single or dual)
The output devices that InfoPrint Manager drives are also important:
v Speed and resolution of printers or other output devices
v Number of concurrent processes for each actual destination
v Number of output devices per actual destination
Finally, how you submit print jobs to each InfoPrint Manager server is important:
v Number of client systems submitting jobs
v Frequency of job submission from client systems
v Speed of network data transfer
v Size (density) of jobs to be printed
v Complexity of jobs to be printed
v Number and types of input data streams
v Overall network traffic
Sizing your InfoPrint Manager environment is a complex task. It might be
impossible to determine in advance precisely how many AIX systems and
Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 2008
systems will adequately serve your printing needs.
Note: You can run multiple InfoPrint Manager servers on one AIX system, but you
can run only one InfoPrint Manager server on a Windows system.
Your InfoPrint Solutions Company sales representative can help you determine if
you have enough physical printing devices to address the printing needs of your
enterprise. Essentially, this is a question of how many pages of output must be
produced in how much time. Your estimate of printed output, combined with the
rated speeds of your print devices, should give you the information you require to
guide printer purchases.
Determining how many servers you need to drive your printing devices, however,
requires experimentation and patience. Consult with your InfoPrint Solutions
Company sales representative to agree on a reasonable number to start with.
Finally, it is important to monitor the performance of your printing environment
regularly to see how the system reacts to actual usage and the changing needs of
your business. InfoPrint Manager provides useful tools to make such monitoring
easy. You can use standard accounting and audit logs to collect statistical data on
jobs processed by any printing device in your environment. You can even
customize these logging activities to suit the needs of your business. These logs
provide invaluable information on workload balancing. You can also use these logs
to determine billing procedures or simply to determine how resources are being
used at your installation.
6 InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Introduction and Planning Guide
Note: The InfoPrint Manager server provides standard accounting logs, and you
can also get customized accounting and audit logs with printers that use the PSF
DSS.
Understanding server configuration options
Because InfoPrint Manager for AIX Version 4 Release 3 provides print management
for many different environments, it provides two different types of installation on
the InfoPrint server: standard and basic installations. Once you have decided to use
InfoPrint Manager, the next decision you must make is whether to use the
standard server environment or the basic server option. The following sections
describe how each server runs and should give you an idea of which installation
you need.
Note: If you read over this following information and are unsure about which
server configuration is best for you, consult with your InfoPrint Solutions
Company representative to make sure that you create the environment that meets
your needs.
Standard server environment
When you install the InfoPrint Manager server, a standard printing environment is
created. This environment is generally appropriate for data center printing or
distributed printing of many different types of data (including ASCII, line data,
ditroff, GIF, JPEG, PCL, PDF, PostScript, XML, and TIFF data). Print jobs in the
standard environment often consist of billing statements, payroll statements, and
application forms. Users submit these jobs from a command line, a workstation
application (such as a word processor), or an InfoPrint client (such as InfoPrint
Select).
In a standard printing environment, InfoPrint Manager assigns jobs to printers
through late binding. Late binding is much like going to a crowded restaurant and
being put on a waiting list for the next available table: you are not “bound” to a
particular table until one becomes available. You might have special requirements,
such as a non-smoking table with six places (much like a print job that requires
document finishing capabilities or a particular paper size), but the hostess (much
like the scheduler on the InfoPrint server) handles these qualifications for you.
Basic server option
When you install the Print-on-Demand Feature, the standard server environment is
replaced or extended with the basic printing environment. The basic printing
environment is generally appropriate for commercial print shops printing large
runs of image data (usually in PostScript or TIFF format). Users submit these jobs
from a client (Windows or Macintosh) personal computer using InfoPrint Submit
Express or InfoPrint Job Ticketer.
In a basic printing environment, InfoPrint Manager assigns jobs to printers through
early binding. Early binding is much like standing in a checkout line at a
supermarket. Once you pick the line, you “bind” yourself to it, no matter what
happens. Whether the cashier has a problem with the cash register (much like a
paper jam occurring in the physical printer) or a customer in front of you requires
a few price checks (much like adding new forms to the server), the only way to
change your position is to physically move to another line (much like manually
moving a print job from one print queue to another).
Chapter 1. Introducing InfoPrint Manager for AIX 7
Note: To use the basic view of the GUI instead of the standard view, see “Using
the basic view of the GUI” in the InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Getting Started.
InfoPrint Manager interfaces
The main InfoPrint Manager interfaces are the InfoPrint Manager Administration
GUI and the InfoPrint Manager Operations GUI, collectively known as the
InfoPrint Manager GUIs. To administer your InfoPrint Manager environment, you
will primarily use the InfoPrint Manager Administration GUI. You can use this
Java-based interface to create, delete, or modify most InfoPrint objects. Printer
creation wizards make it easy for you to create InfoPrint actual destinations.
To oversee the day-to-day operation of your InfoPrint Manager environment, you
will use the InfoPrint Manager Operations GUI. This interface includes a subset of
the functions available in the InfoPrint Manager Administration GUI. In the
InfoPrint Manager Operations GUI, you can release jobs for printing and disable
actual destinations. You cannot, however, modify the fundamental configuration of
the InfoPrint Manager environment; you cannot delete or add logical destinations,
for example.
Both of the InfoPrint Manager GUIs are installed on the AIX system that the
InfoPrint Manager server is installed on. In addition, they can both be installed on
remote Windows systems. As a result, administrators and operators can manage
the InfoPrint Manager system without going to the AIX system that InfoPrint
Manager is installed on.
Note: Mixing different levels of the interfaces, servers, or both might cause
unexpected results with the Printer Details. Keep all of the clients and servers in
the same namespace at the same level.
The third interface that you will use with InfoPrint Manager is called the InfoPrint
SMIT administrator’s interface. You use the InfoPrint SMIT administrator’s
interface to:
v Start and stop InfoPrint servers
v Access migration tools
v Perform troubleshooting procedures
v Access the InfoPrint SMIT Operator’s GUI (see ″Using the SMIT Operator’s GUI″
in InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Getting Started)
v Perform miscellaneous configuration tasks
v Manage security functions
v Use the InfoPrint utilities
Comparing InfoPrint Manager on different platforms
If you are trying to choose a platform (AIX or Windows) on which to run your
InfoPrint Manager server, be advised that while InfoPrint Manager for AIX and
InfoPrint Manager for Windows support many of the same features and functions,
each product has unique features not available in the other.
Understanding common features
These InfoPrint Manager features are available on both platforms:
v Interoperability with other InfoPrint Manager servers (AIX or Windows)
8 InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Introduction and Planning Guide
v Impositioning, that is, arranging pages so they will appear in proper sequence
after press sheets are folded and bound
v BSD and PSF device support systems
v Print-on-Demand, which includes:
– A simplified “basic” version of the InfoPrint Manager server that defaults to
one-to-one mapping of logical and actual destinations.
– InfoPrint Submit Express client support
– InfoPrint Job Ticketer support
v Support for these input document formats:
– AFP
– ASCII
– DBCS ASCII
– GIF
– JPEG
– Line data (EBCDIC)
– PCL (PCL 6 and earlier)
– PDF Version 1.7 and earlier
– PostScript Level 3 and earlier
– TIFF
– SAP ABAP and OTF
– XML
– PPML
– DITROFF
®
v Adobe
PostScript transform
v PCL transform
v XML transform
v Full event notification
v InfoPrint Manager Notifications to enable client systems to receive messages
from InfoPrint Manager server systems
v The InfoPrint Manager Administration GUI for performing most administrative
tasks
v The InfoPrint Manager Operations GUI for performing operator tasks
v InfoPrint Select client for job submission
v A powerful command-line interface to all InfoPrint Manager features
v Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) support
®
v MVS Download for job submission from z/OS, OS/390
, and MVS host systems
v InfoPrint Page Printer Formatting Aid (PPFA)
v The pdaccount command, which you can use to generate comma-delimited
reports of print server data to be fed into spreadsheets
v Configurable transform support (through transform objects)
v InfoPrint SAP Print Feature, which includes the SAP Output Management
Support (OMS) and the sap2afp transform.
v The IPP Gateway to allow you to print from an IPP client system to printers that
are not IPP-enabled
Chapter 1. Introducing InfoPrint Manager for AIX 9
Understanding InfoPrint Manager for AIX features
These features are currently only available in InfoPrint Manager for AIX:
v InfoPrint E-Mail output support
v Generalized Fax input and output support
v SAPconnect support for fax-in and fax-out in the InfoPrint SAP Print Feature
v Support for printers that use standard AIX printer backend programs (piobe and
some versions of rembak)
v AFP Upload TCP/IP
v SMIT interface for performing tasks not supported by the InfoPrint Manager
Administration GUI, including PPO and security administration
If you require the features currently only available on InfoPrint Manager for AIX,
but prefer the Windows platform, consider a mixed environment of AIX systems
and Windows systems. In many cases, a mixed environment provides you with
immediate access to all InfoPrint Manager features.
Understanding InfoPrint Manager for Windows features
This release of InfoPrint Manager for Windows includes these features that are
unique to the Windows platform:
v The InfoPrint Manager Management Console interface for performing
administrative tasks not supported by the InfoPrint Manager Administration
GUI. The InfoPrint Manager Management Console also features graphical
administration of the security Groups and Access Control List (ACL).
v Interaction between InfoPrint Manager and the Windows print spool to expand
InfoPrint capabilities
v Distributed Print Facility (DPF) for host printing
v Support for the Internet Print Protocol (IPP) to allow InfoPrint Manager to access
a printer using a Uniform Resource Indicator (URI) string
v The Windows gateway printer to allow job submission to without using an
InfoPrint Manager client. (The destinations appear as shared printers on the
Windows network.)
v Customization of MVS Download without programming
Supported printers
InfoPrint Manager for AIX supports a wide range of printers from InfoPrint and
other vendors.
PCL printers
InfoPrint Manager for AIX supports all compatible printers capable of interpreting
the Hewlett-Packard Printer Control Languages (PCL 4, PCL 5, PCL 5c, PCL 5e,
PCL XL, and PCL 6). InfoPrint Manager is capable of converting all kinds of
datastreams to PCL 4, PCL 5, PCL 5c, or passing through any version of PCL to
your PCL printer.
10 InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Introduction and Planning Guide
PostScript printers
InfoPrint Manager for AIX supports printing to PostScript printers by passing your
PostScript directly to your PostScript printer.
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Note: The AIX DSS now supports sending PDF files to printers. However, this
feature is not turned on by default. If your printer supports PDF input, you have
to add PDF to the actual destination document-formats-supported attribute. The
support only works for AIX DSS actual-destinations created after PTF U823037 or
higher is installed. Any existing AIX actual destinations need to be recreated by
copying them to a new actual destination before adding PDF to the
document-formats-supported attribute.
In addition with this PDF support, PSF-Other printers that specify the PDF value
for the document-formats-ripped-at-destination attribute will also print PDF files.
PPDS printers
In addition, InfoPrint Manager is capable of driving any printer that accepts the
Personal Printer Data Stream (PPDS). InfoPrint Manager is capable of converting
all kinds of datastreams, except formatted ASCII, to PPDS, or passing through any
version of PPDS to your PPDS printer.
Note: InfoPrint Manager only supports non-impact PPDS printers as PSF
Other-driver and PSF Command devices.
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IPDS printers
InfoPrint Manager for AIX supports IPDS printers including but not limited to:
v InfoPrint 75
v InfoPrint 100
v InfoPrint Color 130 Plus
v InfoPrint EMP156
v InfoPrint Pro C900 AFP
v InfoPrint Pro 907
v InfoPrint Pro 907EX
v InfoPrint Pro 1107
v InfoPrint Pro 1107EX
v InfoPrint Pro 1357
v InfoPrint Pro 1357EX
v InfoPrint 1145 (no MFP support)
v InfoPrint 1422
v InfoPrint 1532
v InfoPrint 1540 MFP
v InfoPrint 1552
v InfoPrint 1560 MFP
v InfoPrint Color 1567
v InfoPrint 1570 MFP
v InfoPrint 1572
v InfoPrint 1572 MFP
Chapter 1. Introducing InfoPrint Manager for AIX 11
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v InfoPrint 1580 MFP
v InfoPrint 1585
v InfoPrint Color 1654
v InfoPrint Color 1664
v InfoPrint Color 1754 Express
v InfoPrint Color 1759 MFP
v InfoPrint Color 1764
v InfoPrint Color 1764 MFP
v InfoPrint Color 1767
v InfoPrint Color 1769 MFP
v InfoPrint 1832
v InfoPrint 1834
v InfoPrint 1846 MFP
v InfoPrint 1850 MFP
v InfoPrint 1852
v InfoPrint 1854
v InfoPrint 1856 MFP
v InfoPrint 1860 MFP
v InfoPrint 1866 MFP
v InfoPrint 1870 MFP
v InfoPrint 1872
v InfoPrint 1880 MFP
v InfoPrint 1930 MFP
v InfoPrint 1940 MFP
v InfoPrint 2000 SCS and AFP Models
v InfoPrint 2060ES
v InfoPrint 2075ES
v InfoPrint 2085
v InfoPrint 2090ES
v InfoPrint 2105
v InfoPrint 2105ES
v InfoPrint 2190
v InfoPrint 2210
v InfoPrint 2235
v InfoPrint 3000
v 3160 Advanced Function Printer with Feature 4120, 4161, 4162, or 4163
v 3900 Advanced Function Printer Models 001, D01, D02, 0W1, 0W3, DW1, and
DW2 (including support for the MICR Post-Processing Interface Feature, the Set
Media Modifications command to drive post-processing devices, such as Beste
Bunch spot color printers, and the Interface Feature 4720)
v 3930 Page Printer Models 03D and 03S
v 3935 Advanced Function Printer with Feature 4020, 4121, or 4161
v InfoPrint 4000
v InfoPrint 4000 Model ID5/ID6
v InfoPrint 4000 Model IR3/IR4
12 InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Introduction and Planning Guide
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v InfoPrint 4100 MD1/MD2
v InfoPrint 4100 Model HD1/HD2
v InfoPrint 4100 Model HD3/HD4
v InfoPrint 4100 Model HD5/HD6
v InfoPrint 4100 Model HS1
v InfoPrint 4100 Model HS2
v InfoPrint 4100 Model HS3
v InfoPrint 4100 Model PD1/PD2
v InfoPrint 4100 Model PS1
v InfoPrint 4100 MS1
v 4312 Network Printer 12. OS Code Release Level 2.23 or later is required. For
IPDS printing, the IPDS feature with IPDS Code Level 1.25 or later is required.
v 4317 Network Printer 17. OS Code Release Level 2.23 or later is required. For
IPDS printing, the IPDS feature with IPDS Code Level 1.25 or later is required.
v 4324 Network Printer 24. OS Code Release Level 2.35 or later is required. For
IPDS printing, the IPDS feature with IPDS Code Level 1.25 or later is required.
v 4400 Thermal Printer
v InfoPrint 5000 Model AD1/AD2
v InfoPrint 5000 Model AD3/AD4
v InfoPrint 5000 Model AS1
v InfoPrint 5000 Model AS3
v InfoPrint 6500
v InfoPrint 6700
v InfoPrint SP 8200 DN1
Supported data streams
InfoPrint Manager for AIX is capable of converting these data streams to IPDS,
PCL 4, PCL 5, PCL 5c, or PPDS:
v Advanced Function Presentation
v ASCII
v DBCS ASCII
v CompuServe Graphics Interchange format (GIF)
v Device-independent troff (ditroff)
v EBCDIC
v Joint Photographic Experts Group image (JPEG)
v PCL (PCL 6 and earlier)
v PDF (1.7 and earlier)
v PostScript (level 3 and earlier)
v SAP ABAP and OTF (with purchase of the InfoPrint Manager: SAP Print
Feature)
v Tagged Image File Format (TIFF)
v XML
v Personalized Print Markup Language (PPML) (with purchase of the optional
InfoPrint Manager: Print-on-Demand Feature)
™
(AFP)
Chapter 1. Introducing InfoPrint Manager for AIX 13
In addition, InfoPrint Manager will pass through any data stream including PDF,
PostScript, PPDS, PCL 5e, PCL XL, PCL 6 (which is a combination of PCL 5e and
PCL XL), and PPDS.
Note: If you send PostScript data generated by an InfoPrint 17xx PS printer driver
to an IPDS printer via InfoPrint Manager, specific controls inserted in the data
stream are lost. To avoid this, you can use the generic PostScript driver.
To provide optimal system performance, the InfoPrint Manager server can
transform input data and drive printers concurrently. InfoPrint Manager can
support multiple document formats on the same printer.
14 InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Introduction and Planning Guide
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