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Banner pages are pages that are printed at the beginning of a print job and that normally contain job identification information. In NDPS, banner pages can be configured for PostScript*, PCL*, and text formats.
NDPS provides you with a variety of options for creating and selecting banner page designs. You can choose from several ready-to-use banner page designs, or you might create a unique design that includes your company's logo, a drawing, or even a photograph.
When you add a new banner, it will be immediately available for printer configurations. If you want a banner page to be printed, you can select which banner design you want to use at the General tab on the Configuration page. The Configuration page lists only banners available in the format your printer supports. For example, if you are using a PostScript printer, only banners in PostScript format will be available at the General configuration page.
Each banner page includes the following information in an information box at the bottom of the page: Job Name, Job Owner, Time Printed, Date Printed.
If your client, printer, and server are not all configured for the same language, you might experience problems with the output of your banner pages, such as the job name being corrupted. If you are working in this type of mixed environment, you should consider not using banner pages.
Banners are added to the resource database through the Broker's Resource Management Service.
See the following topics for information about specific tasks associated with using banners.
Make sure the Resource Management Service is enabled either in Novell iManager or by going to your server console and viewing the Broker status screen.
In Novell iManager, click Manage Broker and then browse to and select the Broker you want to work with.
Click Resource Management Service > Banners.
Add or delete banners.
Click OK.
A list of supported banners is supplied by both the Novell Gateway (through the PDS) and third-party gateways. The gateway first determines which file extension (.PCL, .PS, or .TXT) is appropriate for the way the Printer object (or Printer Agent) was configured during creation. It then queries the associated Broker for a list of banner page files with that extension. For a list of formats supported by a specific NDPS printer, go to the main Printer Details page and click the Features button.
Administrators with knowledge of printer languages can create custom banners for use with NDPS. NDPS currently supports three types of custom banners:
PCL (.PCL extension). See Creating a PCL Banner.
PostScript (.PS extension). See Creating a PostScript Banner.
Generic text (.TXT extension). See Creating a Generic Text File.
All custom banners that are created should have one of these extensions. When creating custom banners, keep in mind that complex banners will increase the print time for jobs. Here are some tips for creating an efficient banner:
A working knowledge of the Hewlett Packard* (HP*) PCL printer language is needed in order to create a custom PCL banner. The easiest way to create a PCL banner is to create the banner using an application like WordPerfect or MS Write. Be sure to leave the lower third of the custom banner page blank because NDPS will overlay the following information in a PCL banner page:
After formatting the banner page, print the banner document to a file using the appropriate PCL printer definition.
The driver properties will have to be changed from printing to a port/network to printing to a file on disk. All PCL banners must have the .PCL extension.
Remove the form feed and reset commands in the file that was printed to disk.
You will need a binary editor to remove the form feed and any reset commands from the file. The form feed and reset commands will be in the overlay that NDPS provides. A form feed in PCL is a decimal 12 (hex 0C). There are several possible reset commands that need to be removed. Decimal 27, 69 (hex 1B,45) is the printer reset in PCL. The following Universal Exit Command (UEL) also needs to be removed:
Decimal 27,37,45,49,50,51,52,53,88 (Hex 1B,25,2D,31,32,33,34,35,58)
Once the form feed and reset are removed, you have a banner file that can be used with NDPS.
Add the banner to the Resource Management Service.
See Adding or Updating Brokered Resources for more information.
A working knowledge of the Adobe* PostScript printer definition language is needed in order to create a custom PostScript banner. The easiest way to create a PostScript banner is to create the banner using an application like WordPerfect or MS Write. Be sure to leave the lower third of the custom banner page blank because NDPS will overlay the following information in a .ps banner page:
After formatting the banner page, print the banner document to a file using the appropriate PostScript printer definition.
The driver properties will have to be changed from printing to a port/network to printing to a file on disk. All PostScript banners must have the .PS extension.
Using a text editor, remove the PostScript operator called showpage from the file that was printed to disk.
The driver will probably have a procedure that includes the showpage command. (The showpage command will be in the overlay that NDPS provides.) Sometimes showpage is embedded in another function within the driver and you will have to use care in removing it.
Add the banner to the Resource Management Service.
See Adding or Updating Brokered Resources for more information.
A generic text banner must have a .TXT extension. The banner can be formatted in any printer language. NDPS will not overlay any additional information on this banner page.
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