HP OpenVMS Systems Documentation

HP DECprint Supervisor (DCPS) for OpenVMS
System Manager's Guide

If the DECprint Supervisor software fails to determine the data type of a print file correctly, the user can explicitly specify the DATA_TYPE parameter. If necessary, you can set up a generic queue for specific data types. All files printed to this queue will have the specified data type, unless the user explicitly specifies another data type using the DATA_TYPE parameter. Users can also specify the DATA_TYPE=AUTOMATIC parameter to explicitly specify automatic data type detection.

The automatic data type feature examines the following to determine the data type of the file:

1. The value of the DATA_TYPE parameter in the PRINT command
2. The queue default data type specified in the DCPS$STARTUP.COM file
3. OpenVMS file tags (for example, DDIF stored_semantics tags)
4. The contents of the file
5. The file extension

If the DECprint Supervisor software cannot determine the file data type from these steps, the default text data type is used. If no default text data type has been defined by the user or the system manager (see Section 4.2.2), the file is processed as ANSI. When the default text data type is used, the text can precede PostScript; the file is printed properly. However, the file may not be printed properly if any more text follows the PostScript data. In this case, it may be necessary to edit the file and print the text and PostScript data as separate files.

In general, though, users should not be encouraged to modify the contents of their files or the file extensions so that the data type can be determined. Instead, the application that generates the file may be examined and modified if necessary; or you can provide site-specific file extension files, default text data types, or generic queues with explicit default data types.

You use standard OpenVMS DCL commands to manage the DECprint Supervisor queues, jobs, and related system resources.

Table A-1 lists the commands used to manage print queues, print jobs, and related system resouces. More information for these commands can be found in the HP OpenVMS DCL Dictionary.

Because PostScript printers are controlled by the DECprint Supervisor software, the DCL SET PRINTER command has no meaning in a DECprint Supervisor environment. Print job characteristics for the DECprint Supervisor are set and displayed by other means.

Print job characteristics for DECprint Supervisor are determined by:

1. Parameters embedded in the job data
2. Parameters passed in the /PARAMETERS qualifier of the PRINT command
3. DEFINE /FORM qualifiers
4. For PrintServer printers, default parameters which are in the PrintServer configuration database
5. The default queue parameters, which are defined in the DCPS$STARTUP.COM file

Items 1, 2, and 3 in this list are controlled by the PostScript interpreter or the data syntax translator, depending on the type of job being processed. Item 4 is controlled by the PrintServer server management interface described in the DEC PrintServer Supporting Host Software for OpenVMS Management Guide.

Table A-2 shows the SET PRINTER qualifiers and the equivalent control in a DECprint Supervisor printing system.

This appendix provides some information about OpenVMS logical names that are used by the DECprint Supervisor for OpenVMS software.

Here are some guidelines for using these logical names:

• Any logical whose name begins with "DCPS" is only used by the DECprint Supervisor software. Other logical names (for example, PSM$ANNOUNCE) may be used by and impact other components of your OpenVMS system.
• You should place your desired definitions for these logical names in DCPS$STARTUP.COM or in something that it invokes. The startup procedure template has comments about how to define some of these.
• Changes to some logical names have an immediate effect, while changes to others take effect only when a queue starts or when a DCPS symbiont process is first created. The ramifications of this are particularly significant if you are using multistreamed DCPS symbiont processes (see Section 3.5.1.2). You should assume that the symbiont reads all logical names only when it is first created, thus requiring you to first stop all queues and then retart them before your changes can take effect.
• You should define the desired logical names in the system table in executive mode (that is, using DEFINE /EXECUTIVE_MODE /SYSTEM).
• In an OpenVMS Cluster environment, you should define the desired logical names on all nodes that utilize the DCPS software. To examine logical names defined by DCPS, you need to look on the node on which the DCPS symbiont process is running.
• Additional logical names may be listed in the Release NotesRelease Notes.

Table B-1 lists the logical names used by DCPS, their acceptable values and a brief explanation of what they mean. There are also references to other sections of this document or other documents where you can find more information about the logical names.