DCPS (DECprint Supervisor)

VSI DECprint supervisor (DCPS) for OpenVMS is a layered product that provides access to selected PostScript printers and supports these printers' special features, such as tray and media selection and two-sided printing. File formats supported include PostScript, ANSI-Compliant DIGITAL Printing Protocol Level 3 (DEC PPL3) and HP PCL. DCPS also includes features such as number-up, layup, automatic data type detection and high-speed image printing, plus translators for a number of printer languages. File formats supported include PostScript, ANSI-Compliant DIGITAL Printing Protocol Level 3 (DEC PPL3) and HP PCL. DCPS also includes features such as number-up, layup, automatic data type detection and high-speed image printing, plus translators for a number of printer languages.

DECprint Supervisor software consists of the following components: a print symbiont that processes print requests for the host on which it resides and software to transmit the request and associated data over Ethernet, Local Area Transport, USB connection, or serial line.

Features

VSI DECprint Supervisor for OpenVMS provides the following features:

• PostScript printing. The print symbiont passes PostScript files directly to the printer. DECprint Supervisor does not interpret or translate PostScript files. Therefore, they must be created using standard PostScript Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3 operators as defined within the printer itself.
• ANSI (DEC PPL3) printing. DECprint Supervisor translates ANSI files into PostScript for printing on the output device. These ANSI files may contain ASCII text, pixel graphics and other features of VSI's ANSIcompliant Printing Protocol Level 3.
• Selection of input tray via INPUT_TRAY, MEDIA_TYPE, PAGE_SIZE or SHEET_SIZE parameters and output tray via OUTPUT_TRAY, within the limitations of the printer and the tray-naming conventions to provide such features.
• Rotation of the page via the PAGE_ORIENTATION parameter for nonPostScript files only.
• Selection of single-sided, double-sided, or tumble printing when available on the printer, via the SIDES parameter.
• Formatting of ANSI text files via the /HEADER, /FORM, /SPACE and /FEED qualifiers and the TAB parameter.
• Control of ANSI file margins, page setup and wrap or truncate options as specified by the DEFINE/FORM command.
• Status and error messages sent to the user's terminal, may be printed on the job trailer page or job log page, written to a log file, or displayed on the operator's console.
• Use of device control modules for basic data types via the /SETUP qualifier. PostScript modules may contain any PostScript operators supported by the printer in the printing context.
• Collection of accounting information for each print job as follows: sheets of paper printed, the number of RMS Gets and the number of QIO Writes. This feature is available for a limited number of printers.
• Access to the PCL interpreter native to selected printers. Printers for which the native PCL interpreter is supported are listed in the Other Hardware Required section of the SPD.
• Support for printers via network interface cards, print servers and terminal servers that support bidirectional Raw TCP/IP sockets or LPD.
• Support for printers via remote LPD queues on other systems.
• Support for PrintServer printers on DECnet or TCP/IP interconnects using CPAP protocol.
• Automatic data type detection and switching. The software attempts to determine the data type of the file. If successful, it will automatically translate, if necessary, and print the file. If it cannot determine the file data type, it will use the default data type defined by DATA_TYPE=AUTOMATIC. If the file is printed using the data type defined by DATA_TYPE=AUTOMATIC, the symbiont will look for a switch to PostScript command (%!) and continue to process the rest of the file as PostScript. This switch may occur only once per file. The switch to PostScript feature is not available when DCPS uses a printer's native PCL interpreter to process the file.
• Printing non-PostScript data types (DDIF, PCL Level 4, IBM Proprinter XL24, ReGIS, Tektronix) on the PostScript printer.
• ASCII LIST translator that formats and numbers ASCII files. This translator numbers each line of text, creates alternating bars of gray and white in the background and creates a running head of the file name and page number.
• Printing two or more page images on a single side of a sheet via the NUMBER_UP parameter.
• Specifying page layup features via the LAYUP_DEFINITION parameter. Page layup features include Borders, Margins, Margin Alternation, Pages Per Sheet, First Page, Page Order and Page Grid. Layup definition options may be provided directly, as arguments to the LAYUP_DEFINITION parameter, or indirectly, as the contents of a file specified by that parameter.
• Specifying a range of pages of the file to be printed via the PAGE_LIMIT parameter.
• Printing jobs with finishing options with the PUNCH and STAPLE parameters, on supported printers equipped with such options.
• Automatically scaling a page created for one paper size so that it fits on a different paper size via use of both the PAGE_SIZE and SHEET_SIZE parameters on the same print command.
• Printing multiple uncollated copies of each sheet via the SHEET_COUNT parameter.
• Use of device control modules for all data types via the /SETUP qualifier. ANSI modules may include control sequences. PCL modules may include binary font data.
• Support for OpenVMS autostart queues, simplifying startup and ensuring high availability of print queues.

Software Requirements

• Java 1.5.0 or later
• Must be installed on an ODS-5 volume

Latest Version

Alpha	Integrity	X86
2.8-1	2.8-1	2.8-2

Licensing

Integrity: BOE.
Alpha: ALPHA-LP.

Documentation