Working with Printer Forms

Printer forms affect the order in which the print server processes print jobs.

Printer forms include information about the length and width of different types of paper used in your printer. You can designate printer forms to prevent your print jobs from printing on the wrong paper. The print server operator is notified when a form change is needed. Printer forms are configured in PRINTDEF or NetWare Administrator.

When a print job requests a printer form other than the form currently mounted in the printer, the print server does not service the job until a print server operator reports that the new form is mounted. A print server operator can use PCONSOLE, PSC, or NetWare Administrator to mount the new form.

Printer form names must begin with an alphabetic character and can have up to 12 alpha-numeric characters. Numbers can range from 0 to 255. Length can range from 1 to 255. Width can range from 1 to 999. These numbers are for your reference only.

NOTE:  Printer forms are stored in the Directory Services database. In bindery mode, printer forms are stored in a file named PRINTDEF.DAT in SYS:PUBLIC.

Creating Printer Forms

To create a printer form, use the following procedure:

Procedure

1. From the browser's Object menu, select a container object and then choose Details.

2. At the Object dialog, press the Printer Forms page.

   The Printer Forms page appears, similar to the following figure.

   Figure 25
   Printer Forms Page
   

3. Choose Create.

   The Create New Form dialog appears.

4. Enter a name for the form in the Name field.

   The name must begin with a letter and must be unique. It can be up to 12 characters long. Spaces are converted to underscores (_).

5. Enter a number from 0 to 255 for the form in the Number field.

6. Enter a number from 1 to 255 for the form in the Length field.

   This is the length of the printer form you are defining, measured in lines of text.

7. Enter a number from 1 to 999 in the Width field.

   This is the width of the printer form you are defining, measured in characters.

8. Choose OK.

   A printer form with the name that you entered is listed in the Printer Forms: list box.

   NOTE:  The width field of the printer form is for information only. The length field is primarily for information only, also, but the information is also used by the rewind function for the printer. The primary functionality forms provide is to notify the operator when a different form is required (that is, different paper should be loaded in the printer).

Mounting Printer Forms

Printer forms can be designated in an effort to prevent your printer from printing a print job on the wrong paper. When the print server detects a print job in the queue, and that print job calls for a form different from the one currently mounted in the intended printer, the print job will not be serviced until a new form is mounted. Each printer form has a unique name and number.

Mounting a printer form consists of two elements:

• Changing the paper NetWare has no way of determining whether the paper was actually changed or not. It relies on information it receives from the operator.

• Mounting the form through the software This is the information that NetWare receives from the operator and that is required in order for printing to continue.

To mount a printer form, you need the following prerequisites:

• The print server must be loaded and accessible.
• The printer must be installed, assigned to the print server, and connected.
• A queue must be created and assigned to the printer.
• At least one printer form must have been created.

To mount a printer form with NetWare Administrator, use the following procedure.

Procedure

1. From the browser, select the Details dialog for the printer you want to configure by double-clicking on the printer object.

   The printer Identification page appears.

2. Select Printer Status.

   The Printer Status page appears similar to that shown in Figure 18 .

   If Printer Status does not appear, the printer is not connected.

3. Select Mount Form.

   The Mount Form window appears. A list of existing forms appears in the Defined Forms field.

4. Select the form you want to mount.

   The form number appears in the box below.

5. Select OK.

You can also mount printer forms from PCONSOLE or at the print server console. See Mounting Printer Forms (PCONSOLE) or Viewing a List of Forms (PSERVER).

Viewing or Modifying Printer Forms

Procedure

1. From the browser's Object menu, select a container object and then choose Details.

2. At the Object dialog, press the Printer Forms page.

   The Printer Forms page appears, listing all current forms in that container.

3. Highlight the form you wish to modify and select Modify.

   The Modify Printer Form dialog appears. The values for the printer form that you selected appear in the fields of the dialog. You can change any of the fields.

4. (Optional) Enter a new name in the Name field.

   The name must begin with a letter, and must be unique. It can be up to 12 characters long. Spaces are converted to underscores (_).

5. (Optional) Enter a number from 0 to 255 in the Number field.

6. (Optional) Enter a number from 1 to 255 in the Length field.

   This is the length of the printer form you are redefining, measured in lines of text.

7. (Optional) Enter a number from 1 to 999 in the Width field.

   This is the width of the printer form, measured in characters.

8. Choose OK.

   The form is now modified. You do not have to choose OK in the object dialog to complete the action.

   You return to the Printer Forms list. The printer form that you selected in Step 1 is still selected. It may appear with a different name if you changed the Name field in Step 2.

Deleting Printer Forms

Procedure

1. Select a printer form from the Printer Forms list box.

2. Choose Delete.

   The Delete Printer Form dialog appears. The values for the printer form that you selected appear in the fields, but are grayed. You can see what values you are deleting as part of this printer form, but you cannot change them here.

3. Choose OK.

   You return to the Printer Forms list box.The printer form that you selected is deleted from the list of printer forms. You do not have to choose OK in the object dialog to complete the action.

   The Delete operation cannot be undone. You must Add a new printer form with the deleted values.