Adding a Network Printer

There are two stages to adding a network printer. First you must create a destination ROUTE-FILE entry for the printer using the ROUTE-FILE Maintenance Utility and then configure the printer itself with the Print Management Utility.

Route File Entry

Use the ROUTE-FILE Maintenance Utility to create a destination entry. A network printer entry must be set up as follows:

• The system name defines the name of the printer. You will use this name when configuring the printer with the Print Management Utility.

• The network type must be OSI (that is, null- or full-network), X.25 or TCP.

• Connections to network printers must be character mode circuits. At the prompt

  Is it a character mode entry? [y, (n) q]

  enter y  (yes).

• For TCP connections, at the prompt

  port number: default 1203:

  enter the port number used by your printer:

  • If your printer is connected via a network printer interface (such as the Mannesmann Tally In Line), or has an internal TCP/IP network interface (for example, Hewlett Packard JetDirect), enter the port used by the interface. This will normally be 9100.

  • If your printer is connected via a terminal server, press RETURN to accept the default (1203).

• At the prompt

  Is this destination either for use by NPU (Network
  Printing Utility) or for a device which requires
  Call User Data (eg. NetworkX) ? [y,(n),q] :

  enter y  (yes).

  You will then be prompted for the name of any additional protocol, as follows:

  NPU type
  1. Telnet
  2. MPS 'FF'
  3. SPAG Y/13
  4. DDA
  5. LPR
  Other types
  6. NX (Network X)
  7. General CUD
  enter type : default raw [q] :

  Enter the number of the additional protocol you require (options 1 to 5) - refer to Protocols for more details. If you have chosen the X.25 network type, you can simply press RETURN. Note that options 6 and 7 do not apply to npu.

  You will then be prompted to supply additional information, as follows:

  MPS 'FF' Call User Data (hexadecimal) : default none [q] :

  If you are connecting via NetworkX, enter the necessary routing information.

  SPAG Y/13 Called X121 address : default none [q] :

  Enter the X.121 address of the X.25 PAD.

  DDA DDA Connection Level [0/1/q] :

  Enter 0  for MPTS, or 1  for MPS.

  System identifier name : default none [q] :

  Enter the MPTS port name.

  Call User Data (hexadecimal) : default none [q] :

  If you are connecting via NetworkX, enter the necessary routing information.

  LPR Target Printer Name [q] :

  The information that you enter here depends on how your printer is connected to the network.

  • For a printer that is connected to a remote host, you must supply the name of the printer as listed by the /usr/ucb/lpc status command.

  • For network printer interfaces such as the Mannesmann Tally In Line and the Hewlett Packard JetDirect, you can specify the name of a print filter - refer to your printer interface documentation for details.

    Local Spool Directory : default /tmp [q] :

  Enter the path of a temporary directory on your host, or press RETURN to accept the default.

Printer Configuration

You administer network printers by selecting the Network Printer Administration option (netprint) from the Print Management Utility menu. The following menu is displayed:

                 Network Printer Administration
addnetprinter  - Add a new Network Printer
editnetprinter - Change Network Printer Configuration Details
listnetprinter - Display Network Printer Configuration Details
remnetprinter  - Remove a Network Printer

To add a new network printer, select addnetprinter. You will see the following prompts:

1. Is this a Reality private (PTR) printer [y/n]:

   • For a Reality printer, enter y.

   • For a UNIX printer, enter n  and go to step 4 below.

2. Is this a Reality Release 4.x network printer [y/n]:

   • For RealityX release 4.0 or later, or Reality on UNIX, enter y.

   • For earlier releases of RealityX, enter n  and go to step 4 below.

3. REALROOT not set.  REALROOT [absolute path]:

   This prompt is only displayed if you entered y  at the previous prompt and the environment variable REALROOT is not set. Enter the absolute pathname for REALROOT (refer to your Reality documentation for details).

4. Network printer name :

   Enter a name for the network printer.

5. Printing destination name (as defined in /etc/ROUTE-FILE):

   Enter the system name of the printer?s ROUTE-FILE entry.

6. Is this printer shared by other hosts or applications [y/n]:

   Enter y  (yes) or n  (no) as appropriate.

7. Do you wish to limit the number of connect retries [y/n]:

   Enter y  (yes) or n  (no) as appropriate. If you enter y  you will be further prompted as follows:

   Number of connect retries [< 0 (default for ever)]:

   Enter the required number of retries or press RETURN to accept the default value.

8. Retry interval / end-of-job delay [1-60 (default 15)]:

   This prompt is only displayed if you answered y  at step 6 or step 7. Enter the number of seconds (1-60), or press RETURN to accept the default value.

   For Reality printers, no further prompts are displayed - go to step 13.

9. Does this printer have any character mapping requirements [y/n]:

   Enter y  or n  as appropriate. If you enter y, you are further prompted as follows:

   Mapping definition [full file path or definition]:

   Enter the full pathname of a mapping definition file, or for short mapping definitions, enter the mapping definitions themselves separated by colons (:).

   If you have specified a mapping definition file, you will be prompted:

   Printer [name in mapping file]:

   Enter the name of the required group of mapping definitions in the mapping definition file. If you do not enter a name, the network printer name is used.

   For more information about mapping definitions and mapping definition files, see Mapping Definitions.

10. Does this printer have any prologue data requirements [y/n]:

    Enter y  or n  as appropriate. If you enter y, you are further prompted as follows:

    Prologue definition [full file path name or definition]:

    Enter the full pathname of a prologue definition file, or for short prologue definitions, enter the prologue definitions themselves.

    If you have specified a prologue definition file, you will be prompted:

    Printer [name in prologue file]:

    Enter the name of the required group of prologue definitions in the prologue definition file. If you do not enter a name, the network printer name is used.

    For more information about prologue definitions and prologue definition files, see Prologue Definitions.

11. Do you require beginning-of-job banner information [y/n]:

    Enter y  or n  as appropriate. If you enter y, you will be presented with a menu as follows:

    Select the banner information required
            1. Job Id
            2. Time And Date
            3. Host name
            4. Print file name
            5. Printer name
            6. Destination name
            7. User Id
               Enter your choice [1-7 or <ret> to exit]:

    The menu is repeatedly displayed, showing the currently selected options, until you press RETURN only.

12. Do you require any end-of-job form feeds [y/n]:

    Enter y  or n  as appropriate. If you enter y, you will be further prompted as follows:

    Number of form feeds [1-10 (default 1)]:

    Enter the number of form-feeds required or press RETURN to accept the default value.

13. A number of messages confirming that the network printer has been installed are displayed as follows:

    Installing network printer: name

    Network printer name successfully installed

    For UNIX printers only, two further messages are displayed:

    destination "name" now accepting requests

    printer "name" now enabled

Mapping Definitions

A character mapping definition consists of a single input character, followed immediately by up to 10 output characters. Each character must be expressed as two hexadecimal digits representing the appropriate ASCII code. For example, to convert all linefeed (X'0A') characters to CR/LF (X'0D' followed by X'0A'), would require the following mapping definition:

0A0D0A

If you wish, you can create a file containing your mapping definitions. This must contain one or more sections, each with the following format:

Name:
MappingDefinition
MappingDefinition
MappingDefinition
...

where Name is a name that identifies the associated group of mapping definitions, and MappingDefinition is a mapping definition for a single input character (as described above). Each definition must begin on a new line. Blank lines and lines beginning with a # character will be ignored.

You can specify up to 256 mapping definitions for each printer.

Prologue Definitions

A prologue definition is normally a printer setup command consisting of a sequence of characters, with each expressed as two hexadecimal digits representing the appropriate ASCII code.

For example, the following prologue definition (X'1B' followed by X'45': ESC E) would turn on emphasised printing for a Fujitsu DX2100 printer in Proprinter mode:

1b45

If you wish, you can create a file containing your prologue definitions. This must contain one or more sections, each with the following format:

Name:
PrologueDefinition
PrologueDefinition
PrologueDefinition
...

where Name is a name that identifies the associated group of prologue definitions, and PrologueDefinition is a prologue definition as described above. Each definition must begin on a new line and must not be greater than 80 characters in length. Blank lines and lines beginning with a # character will be ignored.

The prologue definition file may be a maximum of 256 characters in length; if it is longer than this, it will be truncated to that length.