Sap Printing Guide Doc 303x2i

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw04s/helpdata/en/d9/4a8eb7 51ea11d189570000e829fbbd/frameset.htm SAP Printing Guide (BC-CCM-PRN) Implementation Considerations The SAP Printing Guide describes the functions of the SAP Spool System. This system was designed to be used on various platforms. SAP provides its own spool service and a spool database so that s do not have to deal with operating system-specific issues. The platform-independent SAP spool system is responsible for the output of forms and documents. The data to be printed is first temporarily stored (“spooled”), then formatted, and finally transferred to a host spool system to be output. You can control all of your output from the SAP system and do not need to arrange further processing in the host spool system. The following are among the main tasks of the SAP spool system: Processing and managing print requests istering output devices Technical mapping of the output devices in the SAP system

Features Among other things, the SAP Printing Guide describes the following: Print Process in General An introduction for s and s, in which the print process from document to printout is explained in general. The focus of the introductory sections is the Output Controller (transaction SP01), which can be used by both s and s to manage print requests. Spool Access Authorizations This section and its subsections describe the access authorizations required specifically for the spool system. Possible Print Architectures and Print Methods The various print architectures are described in this section and its subsections, that is, the different constellations of hardware and software components with the corresponding access methods: Each architecture also requires a specific print method, such as: 1. Local printing: The spool server (application server with a spool work process) and host spool system (operating system spooler) are on the same host. 2. Remote printing: The spool server and the host spool system are on different hosts. 3. Frontend printing: Print data are to be printed on the default printer of the ’s PC. 4. Printing using SAP GUI for HTML Output Devices in the SAP Spool System Output devices must be defined in the SAP system so that they can be addressed from the SAP system. You do this using device definitions with which the devices are managed in the SAP system. This link takes you to a description of these device definitions and their printer settings. Spool Server This section explains what a spool server is, how you define it, and what using logical servers and alternative servers involves. Device Types for SAP Output Devices Device types are explained in this section. A device type in the SAP system is the category of printer to be addressed. The information in the device type, such as font selection, page size,

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and character set selection is used to convert a document from the internal SAP format to a device-specific, printable data stream. Connecting to an External Output Management System (OMS) This section explains how you can connect the SAP spool system to an external Output Management System. Maintaining the Spool Database This link takes you to a section explaining how you maintain your spool database to ensure optimal performance. TemSe Database Storage This section and its subsections explain what TemSe is and how you can manage TemSe objects. Analyzing Printing Problems This link takes you to examples that will provide you with in identifying and correcting errors

Spool and Output Requests Definition The SAP System differentiates between two types of request when printing: 

Spool request



Output request

A spool request is a document for which a print function has been selected. However, it has not yet been output on a printer or another device. The output data for the print document are stored in a partly formatted form in the TemSe Data Store, until an output request is created for it, that is, until it is sent to a particular output device. The spool system uses a spool request to store the print data temporarily in TemSe and to be able to access it. The data is stored in a temporary format. You can also display the print document. The system automatically assigns a 10 digit ID number to a spool request. From the point of view of the SAP spool system, an output request is outputting the print data of a spool request on a particular output device. Multiple output requests may exist for a single spool request. Each represents an instance of the output of the same spool request. Each of these output requests may have different attributes, such as the target printer, number of copies and so on. By differentiating between spool request and output requests, the spool system provides way of storing the data temporarily. You an ister spool requests and output requests using the Output Controller (Transaction SP01).

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Output Control of Spool Requests and Output Requests Purpose Every can manage his or her own spool and output requests in the Output Controller. Call the output controller using transaction SP01 (Tools  CCMS  Spool  Output Controller) or in the system by choosing System  Services  Output Controller.

You require authorization to access other s’ requests. See Authorizations for the output controller

Features In the output controller, you can: 

Check the status of your own current spool requests. To do this, choose System Own Spool Requests.



Specify selection criteria for displaying spool and output requests. A list of spool or output requests then appears that match these criteria.



Output spool requests; that is, the system generates output requests that are sent to the host spooler, for printing or output on other devices.



Display detailed data about a spool or output request and change certain attributes such as destination printer and the number of copies

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Display the data to be printed and it as an ASCII file.



Add spool requests to another spool request.



Delete requests.

Constraints

Requests that have already been ed by the SAP spool system to the host spool system (operating system spooler) cannot normally be deleted. The only exception is the use of output management systems that offer this feature

Selecting and Displaying Spool and Output Requests Use On the initial screen of the Output Controller (transaction SP01), you can specify selection criteria on the Spool Requests and Output Requests tab pages for displaying spool or output requests. In the screenshot below, the is searching in system BCE, client 200 for spool requests with the creation date 09.12.2002.

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Choose criteria.

Execute to display an overview of the spool or output requests that match the selection

Procedure

1. Call the Output Controller (transaction SP01). 2. Choose the tab page Spool Requests or Output Requests. 3. Select the requests by entering any combination of criteria, as shown in the figure above. For more information, such as how to enter value ranges or exclude specific values from the selection, see

Entering Selection Criteria.

4. Choose Execute to display an overview of the spool or output requests that match the selection criteria. 5. Optional: If you want to change the display of the selection fields that appear on the Spool Requests and Output Requests tab pages of the initial screen of transaction SP01, choose Further Selection Criteria. This screen appears:

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You can choose between the following basic settings: Minimum Standard Extended All -defined If you choose -Defined, you make your own selection.

s with istration authorizations are offered more selection fields than s who are only authorized to change their own requests.

Result The List of Spool Requests or the List of Output Requests shows the requests that match your selection criteria. Example You want to display all spool requests created between 01.01.2002 and 01.02.2002 for the output device PRINTER1.

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1. On the Spool Request selection screen, enter the date range in the Date Created field and the name of the output device in the Output Device field. 2. Then choose

Execute.

Displaying the Contents of a Spool Request Use You want to display the content of a spool request. Prerequisites This procedure refers to SAPscript/Smart Forms documents and to ABAP lists. For information about forms that were created with the PDF-based solution integrated as of SAP Web Application Server 6.40, see the section Displaying and Printing PDF-Based Forms. Procedure ... 1. Select the desired spool request in the Overview of Spool Requests, and choose Contents.

Display

By default, the system displays the data in a graphical format, which simulates the print output. 2. If necessary, set the display format. For technical reasons, for example, when troubleshooting, it can be necessary to display the print data either in Raw Format (ABAP list format or OTF format for SAPscript texts) or in Hexadecimal Format. To set the display, choose Goto  Display Requests  Settings from the list of spool requests. 3. If necessary, set the display area. To avoid having an excessive effect on performance, only the first ten pages of a request are displayed, by default. You can set the displayed area yourself by choosing Goto  Display Request  Settings. In the case of a very long document, you can also display only the last pages. The system can display a maximum of 9,999,999 pages. However, note that a memory overrun can occur if you set too large a display area.

Exporting the Contents of a Spool Request Use 6

You want to export the contents of a spool request as a text file to the SAP GUI working directory or to a directory of your choice. The content of the spool request is ed as plain text without, for example, graphics, images, or specific fonts.

The following procedures are irrelevant for the PDF-based form printing integrated as of SAP Web Application Server 6.40, since the print data can be opened and stored as a PDF. See also Displaying and Printing PDF-Based Forms.

Procedure Exporting to the SAP GUI Working Directory: Choose Spool Request  Forward Export as Text. The entire text is stored in your SAP GUI working directory in ASCII format.

A file of this type is named using the following pattern: <SAP system name><spool number>.txt Example: ABC0000004327.txt

You require appropriate authorization for this function.

Exporting to a Directory of Your Choice: With this method of exporting a spool request, the content of the spool request is first displayed and you then the screen list as a text file to the directory of your choice. ... 1. Select the spool request to be exported and choose

Display Contents.

2. In the case of SAPScript/Smart Forms documents, activate list display by choosing Goto. 3. Choose System  List  Save  Local File. 4. Choose one of the available formats and confirm your choice. 5. Choose a directory and save the spool request. By default, only the first 10 pages of a spool request are saved in a file. You can increase the number of pages to be saved by choosing Goto  Display Requests  Settings and making the desired entries in the Display Area group box.

Exporting the Contents of a Spool Request as a PDF File Use 7

You want to export the contents of a spool request as a PDF file to a directory of your choice, and print the file as required. The PDF file contains the print data in the format in which it would be output by the printer.

The following procedure is irrelevant for the PDF-based form printing integrated as of SAP Web Application Server 6.40, since a PDF file is already returned. See also Displaying and Printing PDF-Based Forms.

Procedure The PDF file is generated as follows with report RSTXPDFT4: ... 1. Generate a spool request from the document to be printed. 2. In transaction SE38, start report rstxpdft4. 3. In the displayed window, enter the spool request number and the directory in which the PDF file is to be stored. Leave the PDF File option selected. Choose

Execute.

4. In the next window, you can confirm or change the path in which the file is be stored. Save your entries. 5. The system displays a log from which you can see whether the report was successfully performed. You can then open the file from the directory and print it as required.

Constraints 

The PDF conversion only s true bar codes for Smart Forms, which were generated with the new bar code technology. In all other cases, the bar code is only simulated.



PDF conversion, especially of ABAP lists, is slower and is therefore not suitable for mass printing. However, you can speed up the conversion to PDF using the FASTLISTCONV option in report RSTXPDF3.



The font selection for ABAP lists is predefined in the PDF converter and cannot be changed. For more information about constraints, see SAP Note 323736

Exporting the Contents of a Spool Request as a Table, RTF, or HTML Use

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You want to export the contents of a spool request to a directory of your choice as a table, or in RTF/HTML format. Procedure With this method of exporting a spool request, the content of the spool request is first displayed and you then the screen list as a text file to the directory of your choice. ... 1. Select the spool request to be exported and choose

Display Contents.

2. In the case of SAPScript/Smart Forms documents, activate list display by choosing Goto. 3. Choose System  List  Save  Local File. 4. Choose one of the available formats and confirm your choice. 5. Choose a directory and save the spool request. By default, only the first 10 pages of a spool request are saved in a file. You can increase the number of pages to be saved by choosing Goto  Display Requests  Settings and making the desired entries in the Display Area group box

Displaying and Changing Spool Request Information Use You want to display the header information for a spool request. Procedure ... Select the spool request in the Overview of Spool Requests. You can also select multiple spool requests to display the associated information. Choose

Request Attributes.

Result The system displays information, some of which you can change. You can change the following attributes, among others: Output device: If possible, only divert the output to an output device that uses the same device type as the output device for which the request was originally created. Usually, SAPscript/Smart Form documents cannot be sent to a printer that has a different device type

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For ABAP lists, make sure the selected format is included in the device type of the output device to which you want to divert the output of the request. For PDF-based forms, you must select a PostScript, PCL, or ZPL printer, since print files can currently only be created from the PDF-based forms for these printer types. You cannot use a printer with the device type SAPWIN/SWIN. Delete Date: After the spool request has ed the expiration date, it is marked for deletion. The request is deleted during the next Reorganization of the Spool Database. For more information, see Deleting Multiple Spool Requests Simultaneously.

To retain a spool request in the database, change the date specified in the Delete date field. You can also do this past the expiration date as long as the database has not yet been reorganized. Authorization: You can enter an authorization in this field for the generated spool request or change an authorization that was entered when the spool request was created. The value in the Authorization field must match the value in the authorization field SPOAUTH. It is compared with the authorizations of the that is performing operations on this request. The can only perform the operations with the spool request for which he or she has authorizations, for example, a can print lists of salaries, but cannot view them. If the does not have sufficient authorization, the request is not performed. Completed, no longer possible to add to: Field selected: You can close a spool request before it is printed by selecting the field Completed, no longer possible to add to. The system creates a separate spool request for subsequent requests that would have been added to this request. Field not selected: If you create repeated spool requests in the same transaction, you can combine them into one spool request. For you to be able to do this, this option must be deactivated for the spool request to which you want to add the others. If you do not select this field, the spool system automatically adds additional spool requests that have the same attributes (, title, output device, client from which the request was issued, number of copies, priority, cover sheet setting, archiving mode, and ABAP session number).

For a spool request to be added to another, you must deactivate the New Spool Request option when creating the spool request. If you are combining requests, note the following rules:

1. If the expiration dates of combined spool requests are not the same, the spool system uses the latest date for the entire spool request. 1. To print out a "combined" spool request, set the Print immediately option on the last of the spool requests that is to be added. The spool system adds the last spool request and then sends the entire "combined" spool request to the output device. If the following situations exist, you cannot add any additional requests:

1. A request is "completed" and cannot have additional jobs added to it when it has been sent to the host spooler for printing.

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2. No other spool requests can be added to a spool request you generated with the Print immediately option set or that you sent to the printer from the output controller. For more information, see Adding Spool Requests to Another Spool Request. Delete After Printing if No Errors: If this field is selected, the spool request, output request, and output data are deleted automatically after the request has been successfully printed. The spool system retains spool requests that contain errors. You need to delete requests of this type manually. Otherwise, they are automatically deleted during a reorganization of the spool database after the expiration date. The delete option is set in a 's master record and can be changed:

1. When a spool request is created 2. In the request attributes (

) for the spool request

Adding Spool Requests to Another Spool Request Use You create repeated spool requests in the same transaction and want the system to combine them into a single spool request. The requests can then be handled as a single job for purposes of printing and spool management. Prerequisites 

Create the spool request to which the following requests are to be added. To do this, start the print process as normal, for example, by choosing , and then deactivate Print Immediately on the following print window.



The spool request to which the others are to be added must not be sent to the host spool system. It is no longer possible to add there.



The spool requests that are to be added to an existing spool request must be generated in the same transaction and have the same attributes (such as , title, output device, client from which the request was issued, number of copies, priority, cover sheet setting, archive mode, and ABAP session number).

Procedure ... 1. In the list of spool requests, choose the spool request to which you want to add the additional spool requests. 2. Choose

Request attributes.

3. Ensure that the option Completed, no longer possible to add to is deactivated, and save changes, if necessary. 4. Generate the spool request to be added by starting the print process as normal, for example, by choosing . 5. In the following print window, ensure that the New Spool Request option is deactivated. 6. Choose Continue. 11

Result The second spool request is added to the first spool request generated. You can display the content of the spool request or check whether the spool request was added as follows: ... 1. In the overview of spool requests, choose the spool request to which the additional spool request was added. 2. Choose

Display Contents.

The content is displayed differently, depending on which documents were added: For SAPscript/Smart Forms documents and ABAP lists, the content of all added documents is displayed at once. The reason for this is that these document types are written to one file when added. 

For more information about adding spool requests consisting of SAPscript/Smart Forms documents and ABAP lists, see SAP Note 85318 in the SAP Service Marketplace.



In the case of forms that were created with the PDF-based solution integrated as of SAP Web Application Server 6.40, a separate file is created for each added document. You therefore first see the content of the spool request as a part list, where a part consists of one added document. For more information about this, see the section Displaying and Outputting PDF-Based Forms. 

Outputting Spool Requests Use You want to print one or more spool requests on a device. Prerequisites The spool request was created without the attribute print immediately. It is therefore only printed when you explicitly release it in the Output Controller (transaction SP01). Procedure You have the following options: Print Spool Request Directly Without Changing it First If you want to release a request directly, select the entry and choose You can also select and then print multiple requests in this way. Printing a Spool Request After Changing its Parameters 12

Print Directly.

If you want to change the request before printing it, for example, to send the request to a different printer or change the number of copies to print, choose Print with changed parameters.... You can change the following settings, among others, before printing: Output Device: If possible, only divert the output to an output device that uses the same device type as the output device for which the request was originally created. 1. Usually, SAPscript/Smart Forms texts cannot be sent to a printer that has a different device type 2. For ABAP lists, make sure the selected format is included in the device type of the output device to which you want to divert the output of the request. 3. For PDF-based forms, you must select a PostScript, PCL, or ZPL printer, since print files can currently only be created from the PDF-based forms for these printer types. You cannot use a printer with the device type SAPWIN/SWIN. Start Time: To set a later time for printing, choose this pushbutton. After changing the parameters, choose Print to print the request or Print All (if you have selected multiple requests).

Deleting Multiple Spool Requests Simultaneously Use You want to delete multiple spool requests simultaneously. You can perform the deletion in the output controller or, with appropriate authorization, in Spool istration. Prerequisites Every can delete his or her own spool requests in the Output Controller (SP01). For Spool istration (SPAD), you require authorization. Procedure Deleting in the Output Controller (SP01): ... 1. Choose Tools  CCMS  Spool  Output Controller (transaction SP01). 2. Display the overview of the spool requests. 3. Select the requests to be deleted. 4. Choose

Delete.

Deleting in Spool istration (SPAD): ... 1. Choose Tools  CCMS  Spool  Spool istration (transaction SPAD). 13

2. On the tab page . choose Settings. You can delete spool requests by the following criteria: 

Spool requests whose expiration date has been reached



Spool requests that have been successfully output



All requests



Requests with a certain minimum age When deleting a spool request, you delete the following files or entries in addition to the request itself:

1. 

The spool request itself; the record of the spool request in the spool database

2.  The print file; the data is stored separately from the spool request, in the temporary sequential object database (TemSe). 3. 

istration data for all output requests generated for the spool request.

4.  Any error logs that exist; these are stored separately from the spool request, in the temporary sequential object database (TemSe). We recommend that you regularly delete old print requests in the background with report RSPO1041. You can also delete inconsistent spool requests in the background during the spool consistency check with report RSPO1043

Deleting Spool Requests in the Background Use You want to delete old spool requests from the database at regular intervals. You can use the background deletion to do this.

As deleting in the background affects performance, you should schedule it either during the night or at the weekend.

Prerequisites You require appropriate authorizations.

Procedure Execute report RSPO1041 in the background (SE38). When deleting in the background, spool data that has errors or is obsolete is also be deleted from the TemSe data store

Displaying and Printing PDF-Based Forms Use As of SAP Web Application Server 6.40, you can display and print spool requests of PDF-based forms from an SAP system.

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Since printing PDF-based forms is based on a different technology, the Output Controller (transaction SP01) has been adjusted appropriately. Prerequisites 

You must have created a form in the new PDF-based form solution that is integrated into the ABAP Workbench (SE80) and the SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio as of SAP Web Application Server 6.40.

  To be able to print from the spool request list or from the part list described below, you must have a PostScript, PCL, or ZPL printer, since print files can so far only be created for these printer types from the PDF-based forms. You cannot use a printer with the device type SAPWIN/SWIN.

Procedure ... 1. In the Output Controller (transaction SP01), display the list of spool requests. Documents that were created using the new PDF-based form solution are marked with the PDF icon. If you choose the print icon in the spool request list, the entire spool request is immediately output. 2. If you choose Display Contents or the PDF icon, the part list of the spool request appears. A part corresponds to a print document. A spool request contains multiple parts, if the add function was used when printing, and multiple documents were assigned to one spool request. The system displays the individual parts of a spool request in the part list, together with their size, creation time, and the number of pages. 3. You have two options for printing: 

You can display the PDF files and print from these.

If you print the PDF file using the print functions of the PDF plug-in, the file is printed locally on your Microsoft Windows printer. No output request is generated in the SAP system when printing in this way. 

You can send the spool request or the part or parts to the printer from the part list.

If you print from the part list, you can select and print a part or any number of successive parts (such as parts 4-6).

Spool istration Purpose Unlike the Output Controller (transaction SP01), in which both s and s can work, Spool istration (transaction SPAD or Tools  CCMS  Spool  Spool istration) is intended for s. Features

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All devices, servers, and so on that are involved in printing are defined and managed in spool istration (transaction SPAD). In the spool istration, you can perform the following tasks: 

Setting Up Output Devices and Managing Output Devices



Setting Up and Managing Spool Servers



Setting Up and Managing Device Types

 

Maintaining Character Sets,

 

Setting Up and Managing Output Management Systems



 

Other general istration work, such as  

Deleting Old Spool Requests Checking the Consistency of the Spool Database

Access Authorizations for the Spool System Definition The following separate spool access authorizations exist in the SAP System: 

Authorizations for Output Devices The authorizations for output devices define which s can generate output requests for which output device.



Authorizations for the System (for s) You can assign the following authorizations to s with system authorizations:

1. Defining and managing output devices, spools servers, and output management systems 2. Defining and managing device types, formats, and other objects in the spool system. 3. Client selection   Authorizations for the output controller The authorizations for the output controller determine which operations a can perform with spool and output requests.

For more information about authorizations in the spool system, see SAP Note 119147 in the SAP Service Marketplace

Authorizations for Output Devices Definition The authorizations for output devices define which s can generate spool and output requests for which output device. Use 16

The system always checks the device authorizations before creating a spool or output request. s can only create requests if they have an appropriate authorization for the relevant output device. The system checks device authorizations using the authorization object S_SPO_DEV. You can also specify output quantity with the authorization object S_SPO_PAGE. The authorization objects are shown with the corresponding field values in the figure below:

Additional Information about the Authorization Objects Authorization Object

Action

S_SPO_DEV

Allow access to named printers

S_SPO_PAGE

Restrict print quantities for requests to a certain maximum number of pages

Additional Information 

Example: FI_PR* means: Print on devices that begin with this character string



Instead of authorizing output on individual devices, you can also use authorizations for groups



The parameter rspo/auth/pagelimit must have the value 1 in the system profile.



All s must have an authorization based on S_SPO_PAGE when the changed profile becomes active; otherwise no will be able to print.

Integration To be able to output with requests on output devices, the must also have authorizations for the following authorization objects in addition to the authorizations for the object S_SPO_DEV: 17



System s and end s: Authorizations for the Output Controller (authorization object S_SPO_ACT) The authorizations for the output controller specify which operations a can perform with spool and output requests in the Output Controller (transaction SP01).

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System s: System authorization (authorization object S_I_FCD) The system authorizations specify which spool istration operations (transaction SPAD) a can perform in which clients.

To be able to use frontend printing, s must have authorization for the output device %LOC in addition to authorization for the frontend printer. For more information about spool authorizations, see SAP Note 119147.

Authorization Groups for Output Devices Definition You can assign output devices to an authorization group. s may then print on all output devices in such a group, provided that they have authorization to do so. Activities To print on a device group of this type, you must perform the following actions: 

Assign the output devices to a group



Create the device authorization for the authorization group



Assign the authorization to the profile

Asg the Output Devices to a Group ... 1. Start transaction SPAD, and choose Output Devices. 2. Choose the output device that you want to assign to a group. If the output device does not yet exist and is therefore not included in the selection, switch to change mode ( ) and create a new output device by choosing Output Device  Create (Using Template). 3. The device definition appears. If you have not yet activated change mode, choose

Change.

4. On the Device Attributes tab page, enter the name of the authorization group in the Authorization Group field. The group name is in the same namespace as the names of the output devices. For example, of the FI group can print on all printers beginning with FI. Creating Device Authorization and Asg the Authorization to the Profile 18

Instead of entering an output device explicitly in a authorization, you can specify an authorization group. During the authorization check the system uses authorization object S_SPO_DEV for the output devices as well as the authorization groups. This checks authorization either for the output device concerned or for the authorization group.

If you use the name of an existing output device as the group name, usage authorization for this device can no longer be assigned separately. The authorization still applies for all devices in this group.

Example A group of s is to be able to print on all printers in building section D3. ... 1. Enter Printers in D3 in the Authorization Group field in the device definition of the relevant printers. 2. Then create a device authorization for this authorization group. 3. Assign the authorization to the profile. The s are then authorization to use all of the printers in this authorization group, even if printers are added or removed.

Authorizations for the System Definition The system authorizations specify which functions a spool can run in which client.

Use The system checks an s authorizations if an wants to perform the following actions:

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

Manage the spool requests of another



Set up and manage devices



ister TemSe

Structure System s require one or more values for the authorization object S_I_FCD to be able to ister the spool system in certain clients:

The authorization values can be divided into the following groups:

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

istrating spool requests in the spool istration The authorization to istrate spool requests is controlled using the values SP01 and SPOR. SP01: An additional authorization for object S_SPO_ACT is required for accessing spool requests of other s in the current client (client of the request = client of the ). The owner automatically has the authorization S_SPO_ACT BASE to access spool requests in other clients (client of the request  client of the ), to list spool requests and their attributes. If the has the authorizations SPAD and SPAM for the authorization object S_I_FCD, he or she has unrestricted access to spool requests for other clients. SPOR: An additional authorization is required for object S_SPO_ACT to access spool requests of other s.



Spool istration The authorization for spool istration is controlled using the two groups of authorization values SPAD and SPAR. SPAD: Authorization for cross-client spool istration SPAR: Authorization for client-specific spool istration



Functional Authorizations Without a functional authorization, the owner of SPAD cannot perform any spool istration functions. The values SPAA, SPAB, SPAC, and SPAM are functional authorizations.



TemSe istration The TemSe data store is a store for spool request data, background processing job logs, and other data that must usually only be retained in the system for limited periods of time. SPTD and SPTR are TemSe authorizations.

Integration To be able to manage spool requests of other s, the requires the corresponding authorizations for the output controller of the authorization object S_SPO_ACT. The following table lists actions with the checked authorization objects and the associated field values: Action

Authorization Object

Authorization Field Value

ister spool requests in the current client

S_I_FCD ----------------------------S_SPO_ACT

SPOR or SP01 -----------------------------Depending on the operation to be performed

ister spool requests in other clients (client of the request  client of the )

S_I_FCD ---------------------------S_SPO_ACT

SP01, SPAD, SPAM -------------------------------By default, BASE = display authorization All other functions require the corresponding value.

If the wants to print the request on a printer, he or she also requires an additional device authorization for S_SPO_DEV.

Example You can assign a the authorizations for the spool output control with the values below. The can perform all for spool output control operations. Authorization Object

Field

Values

S_I_FCD (system authorization)

S_I_FCD (system istration function)

SPAD, SPAM, SP01

S_SPO_ACT (Spooler: actions)

SPOACTION (Authorization field for spooler actions) SPOAUTH (value for the authorization check)

* (asterisk)

SPODEVICE (Name of the output device)

* (asterisk)

S_SPO_DEV (Device authorization)

21

* (asterisk)

Authorizations for the System Definition The system authorizations specify which functions a spool can run in which client.

Use The system checks an s authorizations if an wants to perform the following actions: 

Manage the spool requests of another



Set up and manage devices



ister TemSe

Structure System s require one or more values for the authorization object S_I_FCD to be able to ister the spool system in certain clients:

The authorization values can be divided into the following groups: 

22

istrating spool requests in the spool istration The authorization to istrate spool requests is controlled using the values SP01 and SPOR. SP01: An additional authorization for object S_SPO_ACT is required for accessing spool requests of other s in the current client (client of the request = client of the ).

The owner automatically has the authorization S_SPO_ACT BASE to access spool requests in other clients (client of the request  client of the ), to list spool requests and their attributes. If the has the authorizations SPAD and SPAM for the authorization object S_I_FCD, he or she has unrestricted access to spool requests for other clients. SPOR: An additional authorization is required for object S_SPO_ACT to access spool requests of other s. 

Spool istration The authorization for spool istration is controlled using the two groups of authorization values SPAD and SPAR. SPAD: Authorization for cross-client spool istration SPAR: Authorization for client-specific spool istration



Functional Authorizations Without a functional authorization, the owner of SPAD cannot perform any spool istration functions. The values SPAA, SPAB, SPAC, and SPAM are functional authorizations.



TemSe istration The TemSe data store is a store for spool request data, background processing job logs, and other data that must usually only be retained in the system for limited periods of time. SPTD and SPTR are TemSe authorizations.

Integration To be able to manage spool requests of other s, the requires the corresponding authorizations for the output controller of the authorization object S_SPO_ACT. The following table lists actions with the checked authorization objects and the associated field values: Action

Authorization Object

Authorization Field Value

ister spool requests in the current client

S_I_FCD ----------------------------S_SPO_ACT

SPOR or SP01 -----------------------------Depending on the operation to be performed

ister spool requests in other clients (client of the request  client of the )

S_I_FCD ---------------------------S_SPO_ACT

SP01, SPAD, SPAM -------------------------------By default, BASE = display authorization All other functions require the corresponding value.

If the wants to print the request on a printer, he or she also requires an additional device authorization for S_SPO_DEV.

23

Example You can assign a the authorizations for the spool output control with the values below. The can perform all for spool output control operations. Authorization Object

Field

Values

S_I_FCD (system authorization)

S_I_FCD (system istration function)

SPAD, SPAM, SP01

S_SPO_ACT (Spooler: actions)

SPOACTION (Authorization field for spooler actions) SPOAUTH (value for the authorization check)

* (asterisk)

SPODEVICE (Name of the output device)

* (asterisk)

S_SPO_DEV (Device authorization)

* (asterisk)

Predefined Authorization Profiles for System istration Definition Spool s must have system authorizations (S_I_SPO) so that they can define and ister output devices and other spool system objects. The system authorizations have been combined into the predefined authorization profiles described below.

Use Basic authorization (authorization object: S_TCODE) is required by all s, otherwise, they cannot access the spool istration functions (transaction SPAD, istration  CCMS  Print  Spool istration). You can assign s separate access to one of the following spool istration functions using predefined authorization profiles: 

Defining and managing output devices (make printers and fax devices available to s in the SAP system)



Defining and managing spool servers (attributes for spool servers, such as alternative server)



Defining and managing the mapping of external output management systems (OMSs) in the SAP system



Defining and managing device types, formats, and other objects in the spool system.

Structure The authorization object is S_I_FCD (system authorizations). The following predefined authorization profiles are available: Predefined Profile S_I_SPO_A

Authorization This profile grants unrestricted spool system maintenance authorization. It allows all operations in Spool  Spool istration, including defining printers, modifying device types, and so on.

24

S_I_SPO_D

This profile restricts spool maintenance to defining and editing devices (printers). Device definitions identify a printer in your system to the SAP system.

S_I_SPO_E

This profile restricts spool maintenance to managing external output management systems (OMSs) in the spool system. It allows a to define or edit the physical and logical OMS definitions in the SAP spool system. These definitions enable communication between the SAP system and an external OMS.

S_I_SPO_T

This profile restricts spool maintenance to maintaining device types and associated components. A can define or edit a device type, work with SAP formats and SAP character sets, and so on. Add one or more of the authorization profiles listed above to an profile to specify the access that an has to spool requests in the spool output controller

Authorizations for the Output Controller Definition s can manage spool requests, generate output requests, and check output logs in the output controller (Transaction SP01, Tools CCMS  Spool  Output Controller). The status of the determines whether he or she requires authorization for the actions in the output controller. s can have the following status: 

/end with unrestricted access to their own spool and output requests. No authorization is required for the output controller.



System s with access to spool and output requests of other s. They require appropriate authorization for the authorization object S_SPO_ACT.

Use Whether the authorizations are checked for the output controller or not depends on whether the creator of a spool request or another is attempting to access the spool request. Access by the Creator of a Spool Request The creator of a spool request does not require any special authorization to be able to work with his or her own spool and output requests. The system identifies whether the creator of the spool request or another is attempting to access the spool request. To do this, the system compares the value in the authorization field of the spool request with the name of the .

The name of the does not need to be explicitly specifies in the authorization field of the spool request. If the field is empty, the system automatically assumes that the name of the owner of the spool request is entered as the authorization value.

Access by an 25

If an accesses the spool requests of another and one of the following conditions applies, the system checks the ’s authorizations for the output controller: 

The authorization field of the spool request contains a value other than the name of the person that is attempting to access the request.



The authorization field is empty, however, a other than the owner of the spool request is attempting to access the spool request.

In these cases, the system only allows the the access that is explicitly specified in the authorization S_SPO_ACT. Structure The authorization object S_SPO_ACT must be assigned the following values, depending on the desired function, so that system s can access the spool requests of other s:

Integration To be able to work with spool requests in the output controller, the must also have authorizations for the following authorization objects in addition to the authorizations for the object S_SPO_ACT: 

System authorization (authorization object S_I_FCD) The system authorization specifies which spool istration operations a can perform in which clients.



Authorizations for output devices (authorization object S_SPO_DEV) Device authorization for at least one printer is required to physically output a spool request.

Example With the following authorization, a can reprint all requests whose authorization value begins with FI: 26

Field

Value

Authorization field for spool actions

REPR

Value for the authorization check

FI*

Print Architecture and Printing Methods Definition All hardware and software components involved in printing are combined in the print architecture. Depending on the order of these individual components, an architecture that fulfills different purposes and requires a specific print method, such as those listed below, is produced: 

Local printing



Remote printing (network)



Frontend Printing (SAP GUI for Windows)



Frontend printing (SAP GUI for HTML)

Structure The figure below shows the individual components of the print architecture that are required to print from the SAP System:

The individual components interact as follows: ... 27

1. After the triggers the print process, the print requests are sent to the spool server, which contains the dialog and spool work processes required for the processing. 2. A dialog work process (D-WP) of the spool server forwards the spool data to the spool database for temporary storage. 3. When the data is explicitly sent to an output device, an output request is generated from the spool request. This is forwarded to the spool work process (S-WP). 4. The spool work process formats the output request data. This converts an internal data stream of the SAP Systems to a data stream that the output device understands. 5. After formatting, the spool work process forwards the print request to the host spool system (operating system spooler). The host spool system has the following tasks: 

Wait queue management



Transferring the data to the output device

Depending on the situation of the host spool system, one of the following print types is used:  local: The print requests are forwarded to the printer through a local network. The host spool system and the spool work process are on the same host. It is irrelevant whether the output device is directly connected to the server, or whether it is defined using a remote print server.  remote: The print requests are forwarded from the spool work process to the printer through a remote network. The host spool system is on a different host to the spool work process. This remote host is called the target host.

Planning the SAP Print Architecture Purpose The individual steps below you in planning your optimal print architecture. You should plan especially carefully if you must deal with the following print tasks: ●

Printing time-critical documents Example: delivery notes; if these are note added to the delivery, the product cannot be sent

●

Printing large print requests Example: Printing long monthly lists

Process Flow Perform the steps below to plan your print architecture: 4. ... 28

1. Determine the most important print requirements. To do this, answer the following questions: ○

Who prints time-critical documents, such as delivery notes?

○

Who prints large documents, such as ABAP list reports?

○

What is the expected total quantity of output requests that will occur in your SAP System? 2. Using the print requirements, determine how important the respective printers are.

Important printers are, for example, printers whose output is time-critical. You should consider the following points: ○

Can the existing printers handle the expected print workload, or should you purchase additional

output devices? ○

Would a faster line printer be able to speed up printing of long lists yet provide the print quality

you require? ○

Would a central print department be more cost-effective than setting up small line printers in

individual departments? Your hardware supplier, SAP consultant, and/or the SAP Competence Centers can help you select printers appropriate to your printing requirements. 3. Optional: Classify the printers: Although classifying printers is optional, it provides this advantage: If you also classify your spool servers, the spool system checks that the device and server classifications match. This helps to ensure an optimal output configuration. 4. Assign every print group to one or more spool servers, if you have set up three or more spool servers in your SAP System. Output devices are assigned to spool servers in their device definitions. The device definition contains all of the required information about the printer; the SAP System uses this information to address the printer. For information about the server classes for spool servers and the optimal printer throughput, see the General Guidelines for Optimal Printer Throughput.

Local Printing (Access Methods C and L) Use 29

Use local printing if the host spool system (operating system spooler) and the spool work process of the SAP System are on the same host. The print architecture has characteristics typical of local printing, explained below. Local printing is the fastest and most reliable form of printing from the point of view of SAP Systems. You can use local printing for the following operating systems: ●

all Windows platforms that SAP s for application servers iServer eSeries

●

UNIX

All other operating systems use remote printing. Prerequisites Architecture Prerequisites ●

The system prints locally if the host spool system (operating system spooler) and the spool work process of the SAP System are on the same host.

●

It is irrelevant whether the printer is directly connected to the PC or whether it is a shared network printer.

●

The printer must be defined at operating system level of the spool server.

SAP System Prerequisites To be able to address an output device from the SAP System in which you are working, you must define the output device in this SAP System. You do this using a device definition. When you are configuring the output device in a device definition, you specify how the printer is connected to the SAP System using the access method. The access method specifies whether you are using local or remote printing. The access method is identified by a letter and informs the system which architecture is in use and which operating system you are using. In this way, the system knows the way in which data is to be transferred. The system uses the following access methods for local printing, depending on the operating system that you are using:  

Access method C: ed on all Windows plattforms that SAP s for application servers; iServer eSeries Access method L: UNIX

The figure below illustrates how your print architecture must look so that it can be used for local printing:

30

Activities ●

With local printing, the spool work process of the SAP Systems transfers the output stream, formatted for the printer, to the host spool system (operating system spooler) on the same host. The system uses the access method (C or L) that you have specified in the device definition. The data does not need to be transferred over a network connection to reach the host spool system, which makes the connection fast and reliable.

●

The data stream is printed using a local or remotely connected printer

Setting Up Local Printers Use Local printing is the most reliable and often the fastest method to transfer data from the SAP system to the host spool system, as the SAP spool server (application server with a spool work process) is in the same host system as the host spool system (operating system spooler). It is irrelevant whether the printer is directly connected to the PC or whether it is a shared network printer. Procedure The figure below shows the architecture for local printing:

31

To set up the print architecture for local printing, follow the procedure below: ... Set up an SAP spool server on a host system from which you can conveniently drive your printers. The spool server is an application server that provides spool processing. It therefore requires at least one spool work process. The number of spool work processes is defined by the parameter rdisp/wp_no_spo, and this must always be set to at least 1. Define all output devices that the SAP spool server is to use in the host spool system (operating system spooler). You can use both locally connected and shared network devices. Define the output devices in the SAP spool system. To do this, create device definitions for the output devices in transaction SPAD (choose the Output Devices pushbutton  Output Device menu  Create/Create Using Template).

1. Specify the host system on which the spool server (application server with a spool work process) is running, as the spool server of the output device. 1. In the Access method field, choose method L for a UNIX host. 2. For a Microsoft Windows host, choose access method C.

Remote Printing (Access Methods S and U) Use Use remote printing if you are printing over a network; that is, when the host spool system (operating system spooler) and the spool work process of the SAP System are on different hosts. The print architecture has characteristics typical of remote printing, explained below. Prerequisites 32

Architecture Prerequisites ●

The system prints remotely if the host spool system (operating system spooler) and the spool server of the SAP System (application server with a spool work process) are on different hosts.

●

There must be a network to transfer the data to the print server.

For performance reasons, we recommend that you use remote printing (production and mass printing) only for LAN connections. ●

Fixed IP addresses are required (unlike frontend printing).

●

It is irrelevant whether the printer is connected locally or remotely to the application server.

●

Remote printing requires reliable communication partners so that timeouts do not occur.

SAP System Prerequisites To be able to address an output device from the SAP System in which you are working, you must define the output device in this SAP System. You do this using a device definition. When you are configuring the output device in a device definition, you specify how the printer is connected to the SAP System using the access method. The access method specifies, for example, whether you are using local or remote printing. The access method is identified by a letter and informs the system which architecture is in use and which operating system you are using. In this way, the system knows the way in which data is to be transferred. The system uses the following access methods for remote printing, depending on the operating system that you are using:  

Access Method U: UNIX systems; Microsoft Windows system (using a T/IP Print Server and SAPSprint) Access Method S: Microsoft Windows systems (using SAPSprint)

The figure below illustrates how the print architecture must look for remote printing:

33

Activities With remote printing, the SAP spool work process sends the formatted data stream to the output device over a network connection. The options for the data transfer to the output device are listed below: ●

Transfer to a network printer Network printers simulate their own host spool system. They can be directly connected to the network with a network card and receive SAP output data.

Consider the storage capacity of the network printer and the size of the print requests. Access method U ●

Transfer using a UNIX destination host The host spool system is on a host that uses UNIX as its operating system. The data is forwarded to the Line Printer Daemon (lpd). Access method U

●

Transfer using a Microsoft Windows PC as the destination host The host spool system is on a host that uses Microsoft Windows as its operating system. Depending on the access method, you can use SAPSprint from SAP or, for Microsoft Windows XP, the T/IP Print Server of Microsoft Windows XP. SAPSprint and T/IP Print Server accept the data stream and forward it to the host spool system. Access Methods: 

34

S(proprietary SAP protocol) for use with SAPSprint.



U (UNIX Berkeley protocol) for use with the T/IP Print Server of Microsoft Windows XP and with SAPSprint. While data is simply forwarded with the access method U, the access method S has the following attributes:



○

Encrypted transfer, for example for HR data



○

Compressed transfer.

Setting Up Remote Printing for Microsoft Windows PCs Use SAP provides its own remote printing solution for printing from Microsoft Windows PCs. This solution uses the SAPSprint service to transfer output requests from the SAP spool server to the Microsoft Windows spooler. You can use SAPSprint in all Microsoft Windows systems. With Microsoft Windows XP, remote printing can also be implemented using the T/IP Print Server. However, we recommend that you use the SAPSprint transfer program, as the T/IP Print Server can only forward data that has already been formatted for the printer, that is, device-specific data, directly to Microsoft Windows without using Microsoft Windows printer drivers. SAPSprint, on the other hand, can also interpret data streams that were generated with the generic, that is deviceindependent, device type SWIN/SAPWIN, and call the appropriate Microsoft Windows drivers that generate device-specific data streams. You can therefore use printers with SAPSprint that are not specifically defined in the SAP System, but which are addressed device-independently. Procedure The figure below shows the architecture for remote printing with a Microsoft Windows PC:

To set up the print architecture for remote Microsoft Windows PC printing, follow the procedure below: ... 35

To use SAPWIN/SWIN, install the SAPSprint service on a Microsoft Windows PC. The service starts running automatically right after the installation. If you are using Microsoft Windows XP, remote printing can also be implemented using the T/IP Print Server. SAPSprint and T/IP Print Server accept the data stream and forward it to the host spool system (operating system spooler). Define the printers you want to use in the Microsoft Windows spooler. You can use both locally connected and shared network devices. Define the output devices in the SAP System. To do this, create a device definition for the PC output device in transaction SPAD (choose the Output Devices pushbutton  Output Device menu  Create/Create Using Template). 1. Specify the host system on which the spool work process is running, as the spool server of the output device. 2. For printing using SAPSprint, choose Access method U (Print on LPDHOST using Berkeley protocol) or S (Print on LPDHOST using SAP protocol). For printing using the T/IP Print Server, you can only use access method U.

Setting Up Remote Printing for UNIX Hosts Use Remote printing is used to print using a remote network. The host spool system (operating system spooler) and the spool work process of the SAP System are on different hosts. The SAP spool work process es output data to the host spooler in a UNIX system using a network connection. You do not require a special transfer program, such as SAPSprint under Microsoft Windows for remote printing from a UNIX system, as UNIX already has a Line Printer Daemon (LPD). You can use any printer that is accessible from the host spool system. It is irrelevant whether the printer is directly connected or whether it is a shared network printer. Prerequisites High reliability required: This access method can lead to printing performance problems if the UNIX communication partner is not active when an output request is sent. The UNIX partner must have high availability. You should therefore only use this method if your company ensures a high availability of the communication partner and has a fast network. If the UNIX partner is not active when an output request is sent to it, then the spool work process must wait for network time-outs to terminate the attempted communication. The spool server cannot process other output requests while it is waiting. Network printers: You should not use this access method to print directly to a printer that is equipped with its own Ethernet or Token Ring card. The problem with this configuration is that the SAP spool server must restrict its transmission speed to that acceptable to the printer. If the printer does not have its own hard disk and you are not accessing it by way of a printer server, then data transmission to the printer can tie up the SAP spool server for considerable lengths of time. ed Host Systems: This method is available for almost all LPD systems. 36

True64 systems (previously OSF/1) are an exception, however. Only local printing is possible with these systems, as the True64 spool system requires that the sender is running as the root . However, the SAP System cannot run as the root .

Procedure The figure below shows the architecture for remote printing with a UNIX host:

To set up the print architecture for remote UNIX printing, follow the procedure below: 1.Set up a SAP spool server on any host system. The spool server is an application server that provides spool processing. It therefore requires at least one spool work process. The number of spool work processes is defined by the parameter rdisp/wp_no_spo, and this must always be set to at least 1. 2.Define the printers you want to use in the UNIX spool system. 3.Define the output devices in the SAP System. To do this, create device definitions for the output devices in transaction SPAD (choose the Output Devices pushbutton  Output Device menu  Create/Create Using Template). 1. Specify the host system on which the spool work process is running, as the spool server of the output device. 1. For Access method, specify U (Print on LPDHOST using Berkeley protocol).

Optimal Configuration of Front-End Printing Purpose As with the other output methods, the spool work process performs the processing for frontend printing. Conflicts can occur in your SAP spool system between normal and front-end print requests. Even if you have classified your spool servers and output devices by the type of output for which they are to be used (such as production printing, mass printing) - as SAP recommends - problems can occur with the server workload due to front-end printing.

37

Process Flow The way in which you should configure your system to avoid conflicts of this type is explained below. The way in which you should configure your system to avoid conflicts of this type is explained below. 

If possible, set up two spool work processes on each application server, in particular if you are using front-end printing with control technology (access method G). To do this, add the profile parameter rdisp/wp_no_spo (number of spool work processes) to the instance profile of the relevant server, and set its value to at least 2.



Define the maximum number of spool work processes to be used for front-end printing. By default, a maximum of one spool work process for each spool server is defined for front-end printing; that is, this spool work process can also process front-end print requests. If a very large quantity of front-end printing is performed in your system, add profile parameter rdisp/wp_no_Fro_max to the instance profile, and increase the number of work processes.



If you want to reserve spool work processes for front-end printing, you can use the parameter rdisp/wp_no_spo_Fro_min to do this. The spool work processes reserved with this parameter are then available exclusively for frontend printing. So that your SAP spool system can process requests as effectively as before despite the reservation, you should increase the number of spool work processes by at least one, as one spool work process is used for front-end printing, by default.

Example: In the instance profile of the spool server mn1234_YXZ_99, the number of spool work processes is defined as 2 using the profile parameter rsdisp/wp_no_spo, and the number of spool work processes reserved for front-end printing is defined as 2 using the profile parameter rdisp/wp_no_spo_Fro_min. Increase the value of rdisp/wp_no_spo to at least 3. For more information, see SAP Note 351492 in the SAP Service Marketplace.

Constraints for Front-End Printing The following constraints apply to front-end printing, due to the special way in which it works: 

You cannot perform front-end printing in the background, as there is not connection to the front end.



Since release 4.5A, you can print from the update process to the front end. To do this, the must still be logged on when the print request is sent in the update process.

However, we recommend that you do not use front-end printing from the update process, as it is not possible to check whether multiple update work processes are attempting to perform front-end printing simultaneously. Front-end printing does not work for more than one work process.

38



A free session is required for front-end printing, so it must not be the case that all sessions are occupied. However, front-end print requests are not lost if all sessions are occupied, but are temporarily stored in the database. The printing is performed once there are sufficient sessions available on the terminal again. The print requests are output on the current terminal even if the is now working from a different terminal. You can subsequently print the print requests in transaction SP01 by choosing Restart Frontend Printing in online operation without requiring an additional session.



Front-end printing should not be used for production or mass printing. For more information about constraints for front-end printing, see SAP Note 114426 in the SAP Service Marketplace.

Front-End Printing with Control Technology (Access Method G) Use Unlike traditional front-end printing with access method F, the front-end printing with control technology and access method G, available as of SAP Web AS 6.20, provides the following advantages: 

Simplified configuration and more stable execution, especially when printing using Windows Terminal Server, since SAPlpd is no longer required as a separate process with the new type of front-end printing. The environment variable LP_CMD is also no longer required in terminal server environments.



The printer selection is no longer displayed in the SAP system. Instead, a Microsoft Windows printer selection window is called directly from the control. The restriction on the length of printer names therefore no longer applies.



Front-end printing is possible for non-Windows platforms with SAP GUI for Java.

This means that front-end printing with control technology (access method G) is used for all cases for front-end printing using Windows Terminal Servers and SAP GUI for Java. In the long-term, it will also replace front-end printing using SAPlpd (access method F) for printing from SAP GUI for Windows. Integration Technically, the new front-end printing is based on controls that have been implemented in SAP GUI for some time. Controls are DLLs that run in the process context of SAP GUI. The new print control receives the print data and forwards them to the underlying operating system print system. If you are using the SAP GUI for Windows, you can also use the device type SAPWIN to use any printer with a Microsoft Windows driver. When printing with the SAP GUI for Java on other platforms, you need to use an appropriate device type, such as PostScript. Prerequisites To be able to use front-end printing with control technology (access method G), you need to install the following: Release-dependent kernel patch Release-dependent SAP NetWeaver Packages SAP GUI patch for SAP GUI for Windows For more information, see SAP Note 821519. You then need to use report RSPO0075 to add access method “G”. You can then create printers with the new access method “G” in the usual way. “G” is the access method for front-end printing with control technology. If access method “G” is not yet provided in report RSPO0075, you need to import the correction instructions attached to the above SAP Note. For technical reasons, the prerequisites for the new

39

front-end printing cannot be provided as correction instructions. Import the Package in any case. We recommend that, when you are creating a printer in the SAP system, you make the entry __DEFAULT in the Host Printer field for the Host Spool Access Method. __DEFAULT calls the relevant default printer name. Activities If you select a printer with access method G when printing from the SAP system, under Microsoft Windows, the Microsoft Windows selection box appears, from which you can select a printer defined at your front-end (see also Front-End Printing (SAP GUI for Windows)).. If you are printing using the SAP GUI for Java, whether a printer selection window appears depends on your spool program. Example Example of Device Definition with Device Type SAPWIN:

Example of Device Definition with Device Type POST2:

40

Front-End Printing (SAP GUI for Windows) Use With front-end printing under Microsoft Windows, the system addresses a printer that is defined in the Microsoft Windows operating system of the front end PC. Front-end printing using Microsoft Windows is therefore especially useful in the following cases: 

s want to print directly at their workstation, without having to create a specific device definition in the SAP system. This is especially the case for s that often work at different work stations or log on to the SAP system on a mobile basis, and want to print at their current location.



Unlike the access methods of other methods of printing, the access methods F and G for frontend printing do not require any fixed IP addresses. This means that the default printer of any Microsoft Window PC can be generically addressed.



s want to avoid costly istration work, in that they do not want to have to set up front-end printers individually as remote printers. However, defining a generic output device is sufficient.

There are two types of front-end printing. Front-end printing with access method F, which works with the transfer program SAPlpd, is the traditional type of front-end printing. Since SAP Web AS 6.20, there is also a new procedure for front-end printing available to you, which you can use in parallel: front-end printing using control technology with access method G. This no longer requires SAPlpd. The printer selection is also no longer displayed in the SAP system. Instead, a Microsoft Windows printer selection window is called directly from the control. The restriction on the length of printer names therefore no longer applies. You can use both types of printing in parallel for front-end printing in the SAP GUI for Windows. Prerequisites Authorizations In addition to the general print authorizations, every requires the following authorizations for front-end printing: 

Authorization object S_SPO_DEV, authorization field SPODEVICE, authorization %LOC Authorization object S_RFC: Field

41

Value

RFC_TYPE

FUGR

RFC_NAME

LPRF

ACTVT

16

Architecture Prerequisites 

At least one printer must be defined.



The host spool system (operating system spooler) must be on a front end PC.



There must be an active connection to the front end PC, that is, the must be logged on to the SAP system at the time of printing from the SAP system.

Front-end printing in the background is not possible, as there is no active connection to the front end. 

An additional SAP GUI session is required for transferring the data to the front end; therefore, the must only be using a maximum of five sessions.



For printing with SAPlpd (access method F), you should use the newest SAP GUI and the newest version of the transfer program SAPlpd. You can find the newest versions in the Software Center of the SAP Service Marketplace (http://service.sap.com/patches). For the exact paths, see SAP Note 328252.



For more information about additional prerequisites for front-end printing without SAPlpd (access method G), see Front-End Printing with Control Technology.



It is irrelevant whether the printer is connected locally or remotely to the front end.

SAP System Prerequisites To be able to address s’ front-end printers from the SAP system, the corresponding device definition must contain the following details: 

If you define an output device in an SAP system, specify the type of connection with which the output device is to be addressed. This connection type is known as the access method and is identified by a letter. In the case of an output device for front-end printing, this is access method F or G, depending on whether you want to use front-end printing with SAPlpd or front-end printing with control technology.



So that the default printer at every host can be primarily addressed, you must specify the host printer __DEFAULT (two underscores) in the device definition. __DEFAULT calls the relevant default printer name. Of course, you still have the option of selecting another printer:







42

In the case of front-end printing with control technology (access method G), the printer selection window of the Microsoft Windows operating system is displayed. You can choose a printer other than the default printer in this window.  In the case of front-end printing with SAPlpd (access method F), you can select another operating system printer in the printer selection window of the SAP system. However, to be able to do this, the option No Device Selection at Frontend must be inactive in the device definition. 

We recommend that you specify the device type SWIN or SAPWIN, or the relevant languagedependent version of SAPWIN to ensure that the system sends a printer format that any Microsoft Windows driver can interpret (see SAP Note 423003 in the SAP Service Marketplace).

However, you can also use any other SAP device type for front-end printing.

Activities Front-End Printing Using Printers with Access Method G If you select a printer with access method G when printing from the SAP GUI for Windows, the Microsoft Windows selection box appears, from which you can select a printer defined at your frontend. Front-End Printing Using Printers with Access Method F

1. When the prints from the SAP system, he or she can select the name of the frontend printer with the print parameters. This will either mean that the default printer is directly addressed, or you can select another front-end printer in the SAP printer selection window. For you to be able to select another operating system printer in the printer selection window of the SAP system, the option No Device Selection at Frontend must be inactive in the device definition. 2. The output is first sent to the saplpd transfer program on the front end PC using SAP GUI. SAPlpd is started automatically.

3. SAPlpd forwards the data stream to the Microsoft Windows print manager. 3. The document is then output on the default printer or, if appropriate, on another selected printer. Setting Up Front-End Printing Using the Windows Terminal Server As of SAP Web AS 6.20, front-end printing with control technology (access method G) is available, which replaces the traditional type of front-end printing with SAPlpd (access method F) for printing using the WTS. Front-end printing with control technology has the following advantages: ·

It is significantly easier to configure and runs more stably.

·

SAPlpd is no longer required as a separate process.

· The environment variable LP_CMD is no longer required in Windows Terminal Server environments. For information about setting up front-end printing with control technology, see the section FrontEnd Printing with Control Technology (Access Method G).

Printing Using E-Mail Use You can use printing using e-mail to send data as an attachment to an e-mail. The recipient can then display and/or print the data. All device types can be used to print the e-mail. However, you must ensure that the relevant display program or printer is available for the device type. We recommend that you use device type pdf1, as

43

with pdf1, a PDF file is generated from the document, and sent as an e-mail attachment. You can then display this with a PDF display program, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, and print it as required. Prerequisites 

As of SAP Web AS 6.10, you must have activated and configured the interface to send e-mails from the SAP system, SMTP, in SAPconnect (transaction SCOT). For more information, see the Guidelines for SMTP Configuration. These guidelines explain, among other things, how to create an SMTP node in transaction SCOT, which can be used without special additional settings for e-mail printing. Up to SAP Basis 4.6D, communication is performed using an additional external communication system and, accordingly, a SAPconnect node with the corresponding RFC connection must be set up until SAP Basis 4.6D (inclusive).



So that the recipient not only receives the mail, but can also reply using the REPLY button, you must maintain the e-mail addresses for all s in the maintenance transaction SU01.

If you are using a default domain in transaction SCOT, the mail is sent, but the relevant cannot reply using the reply button, as the generic sender address does not really exist. 

You must have created a device definition for printing using e-mail in the SAP system.



To print using e-mail, the sender must, in addition to the usual authorization for the output device, also have authorization for the (pseudo) output device %MAI. With this authorization, you can easily remove the right to use devices with access method M from individual s.

Activities The figure below shows the process of printing using e-mail:

44



You are printing a document using an output device that was specially defined for printing using e-mail.



The SAP spool system determines the recipient of the mail in three steps:

  1.

 

... ...

a. The system first checks whether the has already entered an e-mail address in the print window that appears after the triggers the print function. If this is the case, the system sends the e-mail to this address. If the in the print window selects an output device with access method M for printing using e-mail (and for releases up to SAP Web AS 620, then chooses enter), a field appears, in which the can enter an e-mail address if required. The length of this mail address is restricted to 50 characters.

2.

b. If no e-mail address is specified, the e-mail is sent to the address that is specified in the device definition. The length of this e-mail address is also restricted to 50 characters.

3.

c. If there is neither an e-mail address specified in the print window, nor in the device definition, the mail is sent to the mail address from the profile (transaction SU01). By default, the creator of the mail is entered here. This function was originally developed to replace the frontend printing function that was mis to SAP Basis 4.6 for the SAP GUI for HTML. The should be able to send the print file to himself or herself by e-mail and to print it.

For printing using e-mail, it is a prerequisite that SAP s that send e-mail using printers with the access method M have a valid e-mail address in their master record. This address is used as the sender address. The recipient can send a reply to this e-mail address using the reply function of his or her e-mail program. 

SAPconnect sends the data to the target host. You must configure this interface appropriately in transaction SCOT.

Result The recipient receives an e-mail with the print document as an attachment. The recipient can display and print this document with an appropriate viewer. If the print document is, for example, contained in the mail attachment as a PDF file, you can read and print this document with the Adobe Acrobat Reader. The message text of the e-mail is defined by default, however, you can change it, as described at the send of SAP Note 311037. For more information about printing using e-mail, see SAP Note 513352 in the SAP Service Marketplace.

45

Access Methods Use To be able to address an output device from the SAP System in which you are working, you must configure the output device in this SAP System using a device definition. When you configure the output device in a device definition, you specify the access method with which the output device is connected to the SAP System, such as whether you are using local or remote printing. The access method is identified by a letter and informs the system which architecture is in use and which operating system you are using. The access method is specified during the definition of output devices in the SAP System so that the system knows how it should transfer the spool work process data for this output device to the host spool system. There are the following access methods: Access Method

Use

C

Local printing from a Microsoft Windows NT or Microsoft Windows 2000 system or from AS/400 and OS/390. The spool work process of the SAP System and the host spool system (operating system spooler) are on the same host.

L

Local printing from a UNIX system The spool work process of the SAP System and the host spool system (operating system spooler) are on the same host.

S

Printing using a remote Microsoft Windows PC with the SAPSprint service program. The spool work process of the SAP System and SAPSprint are on different hosts. The spool work process transfers the output data to the SAPSprint on the remote PC.

U

Printing using a remote UNIX server or Microsoft Windows PC (with or without use of SAPSprint), where the spool work process of the SAP System and the host spool system (operating system spooler) are on different hosts. The spool work process transfers the output data to the host spooler in the remote system using the Berkeley protocol (BSD).

F

Printing on a frontend printer Output requests are printed locally at the ’s PC.

E

Printing using an external output management system The printer is connected to an external output management system.

P

Printing using a device pool

I

Archiver The device is an archiving device for SAP Archivelink.

M

Printing using e-mail

Output Devices in the SAP Spool System Definition

46

A target device must be specified for the output for every document to be printed in the SAP system. As the document can be output using not only printers, but also archiving devices, these devices are called Output Devices in the SAP system. In the SAP system, output devices are the logical representations of the real output devices. Use You must create a device definition in the SAP system for every output device. This definition contains all the important data for addressing the device; otherwise the device cannot be correctly addressed. This data includes, for example: ●

Device type, such as POSTST or HPLJ4

●

Name of the spool server (= application server with a spool work process)

●

Host spool access method (such as local or remote)

●

Destination host (for remote access methods) For information about the device definition in general and the various types of output devices, see the following sections:

●

Defining Output Devices for Microsoft Windows Printing

●

Defining Output Devices for UNIX Printing

●

Defining an Output Device for Frontend Printing (SAP GUI for Windows)

●

Defining an Output Device for Frontend Printing (SAP GUI for HTML)

●

Defining Output Devices for Printing Using E-Mail

●

Defining Logical Output Devices

●

Printer Pools

Device Definition (General) Use You must create a device definition in the SAP system for every output device on which you want to print a document, so that the SAP system recognizes this device. This device definition contains all of the important data for addressing the device. If the device definition contains errors or is incomplete, the system cannot address the device.

Prerequisites You should have analyzed the requirements of your company with regard to printing, as described in Planning the SAP Print Architecture. You should also have put the planning into action. For information about how the print architectures look and how to set them up, see Print Architecture and its subsections that deal with the individual architectures.

Activities 

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Once you have determined the constellation of hosts, servers, and printers (print architecture) create a device definition for the printer (output device) in transaction SPAD. There are mandatory fields in the device definition that you must fill out, so that the system can address the output device, such as Device Type of the Printer and Access Method.



Once you have created the device definition in your SAP system and specify the name of the defined printer when printing, the system accesses the corresponding device definition to address the printer.

Structure The following fields are mandatory when you are creating an output device, depending on the printer on which you want to print and from which operating system you are printing (transaction SPAD  Output Devices  Change Output device  Create/Create using template): Tab Page

Field

Additional Information

Device Attributes

Output device

The name of the printer in the SAP system. It can be up to 30 characters long, and is casesensitive.

Short name

The system accesses the printer using this name. It can be generated automatically.

Device type

Enter the device type that is defined in the SAP system for the printer model here, such as HPLJ4 for the HP Laser Jet 4000. The generic device type SWIN is available for printing under Microsoft Windows, with which you can use every device ed by Microsoft Windows, even if the device type is not defined in the SAP system. For a list of device types, see SAP Note 8929 in the SAP Service Marketplace. For information about how to proceed if the appropriate device type does not exist, see Device Types for SAP Output Devices.

Spool Server

Enter the name of the SAP spool server (application server with the spool work process) that is to prepare the output for this device here.

Host Spool Access Method (operating system spooler)

You select the type of connection to the printer here. The access method that you must enter depends on your operating system and print architecture (such as front end printing, local, and remote printing). It determines how data is transferred to the host spooler.

Host Printer

Enter the name of the output device as it is specified in the host system (operating system). Enter the name exactly as it is defined in the host, that is, with the same capitalization. The name cannot contain any spaces. If you enter __DEFAULT in this field, the default printer of your Microsoft Windows PC is addressed.

Host

This field appears only for local printing. The input is generated automatically and depends on the spool server.

Destination host

Fill this field out for remote printing (over a network): Name of the host that receives the data to be

Host Spool Access Method

48

output. This is the host on which the (SAP)lpd is running. In addition to these mandatory fields, there are fields that already contain a default values or that can remain empty. These are required for the type of printing, but not by the SAP system for controlling the printer, such as tray and cover sheet information

Device Type (Short Description) A device type in the SAP System is the category of printer to be addressed. When you define an output device, choose the name of the device type that was defined in the SAP System for your printer model, such as Post2 for a PostScript printer. The device type is the total of all properties of an output device that the SAP System requires to control the output device correctly, such as control commands for font selection, page size, character set selection, and so on. In most cases, the SAP System already provides the appropriate device type for the printer type for the printer model that you want to use. For a current list of the ed device types, see SAP Note 8928 in the SAP Service Marketplace. The attachment for the note contains most device types and can be ed. For information about very specific device types, see the attachments of the relevant SAP Notes. Most printers can also be controlled using a generic format, that is, a device-independent format, such as PostScript. They can be switched to a mode that is compatible with one of the standard printers for which an SAP device type is available. In this case, a ed model is emulated. Almost all printers are delivered with Microsoft Windows printer drivers. The system can control these printers with the generic (device-independent) device type SWIN using SAPSprint. The Microsoft Windows spool system then performs the processing of the print data. Only if the specified device types are not available, and generic device types cannot be used, must you create your own device type or edit a copy of an existing device type. We recommend that only those with specialist knowledge of the SAP Spool System and printer driver code do this.

Defining Output Devices for Microsoft Windows Printing Use You want to define an output device in the SAP System that is to be print using the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Prerequisites When printing using Microsoft Windows, you can connect an output device (PC printer) to the SAP System using a local or remote connection. Before you can define an output device for printing using the Microsoft Windows operating system, you must determine what type of connection is used; that is, which access method you need to select for this printer.

Procedure Determine what the underlying print architecture (connection) is.

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

If the SAP spool server (application server with the spool work process) and the Microsoft Windows spool system are on the same host, you can create a local connection to the printer. The print requests are processed by the Microsoft Windows spool system. Local connection is usually best, as it is the fastest and most reliable access method.



If the SAP spool server and the Microsoft Windows spool system are not on the same host, you must create a remote PC connection to the printer. This is the standard PC connection, as

other than Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000, no other Microsoft Windows operating system s spool servers.

Defining Output Devices for UNIX Printing Use You want to define an output device in the SAP system that is to print using the UNIX operating system. Prerequisites When printing using UNIX, you can connect an output device (PC printer) to the SAP system using a local or remote connection. Before you can define an output device for printing using the UNIX operating system, you must determine what type of connection is used; that is, which access method you need to select for this printer.

As of SAP Web AS 6.20, front-end printing with control technology (access method G) is available. This allows front-end printing from the SAP GUI for Java on non-Microsoft Windows platforms, such as UNIX. For more information, see the Front-End Printing with Control Technology section.

Procedure

1. Determine what the underlying print architecture (connection) is. 

If the SAP spool server (application server with the spool work process) and the UNIX spool system are on the same host, you can create a local connection to the printer. The print requests are processed by the UNIX spool system. 

Local connection is usually best, as it is the fastest and most reliable access method. 

If the SAP spool server and the UNIX spool system are not on the same host, you can create a remote PC connection to the printer. 

2. Create the device definition.

Defining Logical Output Devices Use You can also define output devices as logical output devices. These logical devices refer to physical devices or to other logical devices, so that you can set up a printer hierarchy. This is useful in the following case, for example.

50

You define the logical printer Shipment Document Printer. Your s can always select this printer to print shipment documents. If the real printer to which this logical output device points is not available, you simply assign the logical printer to another physical printer. If your logical output device Shipment Document Printer is first mapped to the physical printer P330 and you now want to map it to the physical printer P521, you only need to change the mapping. You do not need to adjust the whole device definition. Nothing changes at application level, since the logical printer Shipment Document Printer is configured as a printer.

With the definition of logical output devices, you can also easily transport a whole printer hierarchy into a different system. You then assign the physical devices in the other system. Procedure

1. Call Spool istration (transaction SPAD), and, on the Devices/Servers tab page, choose the Output Devices pushbutton. 2.

Choose Change and then Create to create a new device definition.

3.

Enter a name for the logical output device.

4.

Choose Logical output device as the device class.

5.

In the Map to field, specify the physical device to which the local device is to map. 6.

Save your entries.

You can now assign this logical output device to another physical output device as often as required.

Restrict Output Devices for Clients Use You are an outsourcer and are operating multiple clients for various customers on one SAP System. You want to restrict the output devices for individual clients, so that each customer sees only their own output devices. Procedure Follow the procedure below to create an output device for individual clients:

1. Start Spool istration by calling transaction SPAD. 2. Create an output device as described in the sections under Output Devices in the SAP Spool System. 51

4. In the device definition, choose Extras  Display Client Field, and enter the desired client. 5. 4. Save the output device.

If you want to display an overview of all output devices for a client, on the Spool istration initial screen, choose Settings  Display “Client” Field, and enter the name of the client.

Result s can only print on the output devices that have been defined for the client in which they are working.

Timeouts and Retries when Printing If an output request is sent to a remote output device, the SAP system verifies that it can reach this output device. If the connection times out, the device reacts as follows: 5. ... 1. If the spool work process waits more than 15 seconds for a reply, then it records the problem in the SAP system log. You can therefore check in the system log for devices that have chronic communication problems. 2. If the spool work process must wait more than 30 seconds, then it locks the output device for five minutes and goes on to other output requests. The output request remains in status Waiting. At the end of this lock period, the spool work process attempts to establish communication again. The output requests are only reactivated once the host spool system is available. The connection test is repeated three times every five minutes. If the remote host spool service cannot be reached, the output requests still have the status Waiting. 

The connection test is restarted (three times every five minutes) if

  

  

A new output request is generated for the host spool system concerned An output device of this host spool system is reactivated The SAP application server is restarted. The output requests are reactivated once the host spool system can be reached. This operation can be repeated up to three times. If the output requests could still not be output, they are given the status Error.

Instead, you can set individual timeouts for printers that need them in their device definitions.

Testing Output Devices Use You want to test a new printer. 52

Procedure ... 1. Call Spool istration (transaction SPAD). 2. Choose Utilities For device types and then, depending on the text, Test data (ABAP) or Test data (SAPScript). These utilities test printing from an ABAP report and from SAPscript and print out the character sets specified in the output device type. 3. If you want to perform the SAPscript test, enter the text name sapscript-druckertest and language EN or DE in the SAPscript text processing screen displayed. You can search for additional print test files by entering the text name *test*.

Alternative Printer Names for Testing For testing printers, you can define more than one name for a printer. This is useful because it means that s can continue using the printer as usual under one name while you test different attribute settings using a different name

Spool Server Definition The spool server is an SAP application server that provides spool processing. It therefore requires at least one spool work process.

SAP Note 108799 in the SAP Service Marketplace explains how many spool work processes you should configure for each server.

A spool server processes the data for transfer to the spool system of the operating system. You can set up a spool server by adding the profile parameter rdisp/wp_no_spo to the instance profile of the corresponding server (istration  CCMS  Configuration  Profile Maintenance) and entering the desired number of spool work processes.

Setting or Changing Properties of a Spool Server You can enter additional attributes and istration information for spool servers. To do this, call transaction SPAD (Tools  CCMS Spool  Spool istration), and, on the Devices/Servers tab page, choose the Spool Servers pushbutton. The list of defined spool servers appears. If you double click the relevant spool server, a window showing the attributes of the spool server appears. The following example shows the attributes for a mass printing server: 53

You can enter or change the following attributes in this window: 

Server Name: You can enter a description of the spool server in the long field of the Server Name area.



Server Class: Choose a suitable entry, depending on the intended use of the server, from the input options for the server class field, such as production printing, mass printing, and so on. The classification of the spool server helps you to realize your planned printing architecture, that is, to assign newly defined output devices to the corresponding spool server. If you specify the spool server in a device definition, the spool system compares the classification of the output device to the classification of the server. If they do not match, then the spool system warns you.

If you are preparing to assign a mass printer to a time-critical production server, then the spool system warns you of this disparity.

54



Alternative server: You can specify a “replacement printer”, the alternative server, for a spool server. The alternate server takes over the processing of output requests if the original server is down or unavailable. For more information, see Alternative Server.



Allow Load Balancing: You can define whether the output processing workload of a server may be distributed among its alternate servers. By default, load balancing is deactivated. Instead, the spool system ensures that output requests are printed in the order that they are generated.



Logical server: You can define spool servers as logical servers. A logical server is a name that can, in turn, stand for one or more logical or real servers (a real spool server is a server that actually has spool work processes and can run in the SAP System). Using logical servers, you can transport a complete printing architecture to another system with only minimal changes. To activate printing in the target system, you only need to edit the assignment of the logical server. You can do this using the Mapping field. For more information, see Logical Spool Servers.

Classifying Spool Servers Use You can classify spool servers according to their intended use, such as a spool server for mass printing or for production printing. This classification helps to make your print architecture clearer. It also helps you to realize your planned print architecture, such as asg classified output devices to the correct spool server. If you specify the spool server in a device definition of an output device, the spool system compares the classification of the output device to the classification of the server. If the classifications do not match, then the system warns you Procedure You classify spool servers through the device definition: ... 1. Start transaction SPAD, and choose Spool Servers. 2. Open an existing server definition by double clicking it, or create a new definition in change mode by choosing Spool Server  Create/Create Using Template. 3. Select the appropriate classification from the Server Class list: Production printing: as a server for time-critical printers whose output is connected to the production process, such as wine label printers. 



Mass printing: as a server for printers with large print requests, such as long lists.

Desktop printing: as a server for local printers at the ’s workstation, such as small laser printers for smaller, non-critical print requests 

Test printing: is used to assign a test classification to new printers or to changes in the output configuration 

You can use combinations from the above classifications. 4. Save your selection.

Logical Spool Servers Definition A logical server stands for one or more other logical and/or real SAP spool servers. Logical servers can be used in place of real SAP spool servers anywhere in the spool system. The logical server is a “placeholder“ for the spool server assigned to it, while a real server is an actual application server with a spool work process and can output print requests.

55

If, for example, a logical server is specified as the spool server for output in the device definition of an output device, you have the following options: 

The logical server is directly assigned to a real spool server. Printing can be performed using this real spool server.



The logical server is directly assigned to another logical spool server. The system check in turn for the assignment of this second logical server. A real spool server with which printing can be performed must be present somewhere in the series of assignments.

The following figure shows some possibilities for how an output device can be assigned to a spool server: A: Output device assigned directly to the spool server B: Two output devices that are assigned to the spool server using a logical server B: Two output devices that are assigned to the spool server using two logical servers

Use You have the following options for printer istration through the use of logical spool servers: 

56

Grouping devices (local and remote printers): You can group the SAP output devices, for example, defining logical servers for devices connected over a network and for local devices. Both logical servers could point to the same real SAP spool server. However, you can manipulate the devices separately for such purposes as switching devices to another spool server.



Switching Spool Servers: If you assign output devices to a logical spool server, you can then switch the devices from one server to another quickly and easily.

For example, if a spool server is down for maintenance, you can switch all of its devices to another server simply by changing the Mapping field in the definition of the logical spool server. When the original server is active again, you can switch the devices just as easily back to it. Switching spool servers can be performed automatically. To do this, an alternative server must be specified in the spool server definition. 

Balancing the Output Workload: You can distribute the output processing workload of a spool server between the server and its alternative server. To do this, you must have specified an alternative server and selected the option Allow Load Balancing.



Transporting the Print Landscape Between Systems: Unlike real servers, logical servers can have the same names in different SAP Systems. You can therefore define a uniform SAP print architecture using logical servers and then transport this to all of your systems. An output landscape of this type – device definitions and server definitions – can be transported in its entirety to another SAP System. After transport, you only need to enter the real spool servers that exist in the respective systems.

Defining a Logical Spool Server Procedure 1. Choose Tools  CCMS  Spool Spool istration (transaction SPAD). 1. On the Devices/server tab page, choose the Spool Servers pushbutton. The list shows all real spool servers in your SAP System as well as any logical servers you have defined. The color-coding in the list shows the status and availability for output-processing of each server. For an explanation of the status coding, see Spool Server Hierarchy Display. 2. If you are not in change mode, switch to this mode by choosing

Change.

You can now do the following: 

You can create a new spool server by choosing Spool Server  Create.



You can use an existing spool server as a template.

To do this, click the entry for the spool server that is to be used as a template, and choose Spool Server  Create Using Template. 3. Define the server’s attributes. To do this, fill out the desired fields and select the desired options. The following example shows the definition of a logical production server:

57

Server Name: Enter a server name in the shorter field and a description of the server in the longer field. Server Class: Choose a suitable entry from the input options for the server class field, such as production printing, mass printing, and so on. The classification helps you to realize your planned printing architecture, that is, to assign newly defined output devices to the corresponding spool server. If you specify the spool server in a device definition, the spool system compares the classification of the output device to the classification of the server. If they do not match, then the spool system warns you.

If you are preparing to assign a mass printer to a time-critical production server, then the spool system warns you of this disparity. Logical Server: Select Logical Server and choose enter. In the Mapping field, specify the real or logical server to which this logical server should refer. The spool system "maps" the logical server name to the server in Mapping. Because this "mapping" is recursive, you can specify either a real server or another logical server. Alternative Server: If appropriate, enter the name of the logical or real server in the Alternative Server field. Should the server you are defining be inactive or not have a spool work process, then the SAP System uses this specification to find another spool server to carry out output processing. Allow Load Balancing: If you activate load balancing, the load can be distributed between the spool server and the alternative server if the spool server is overloaded.

If you activate load balancing, it is possible that requests are no longer printed in the order in which they were created.

1.

4. Save the spool server definition and choose Back to return to the server display. Here, you can use the server display functions to see how your servers are linked to one another through the Mapping and Alternate server fields.

For help interpreting and manipulating the display, see Interpreting the Spool Server Display. Result If you have defined a logical server, you now can enter it as a spool server anywhere in the spool system, for example, in device definitions. Using logical servers in place or in addition to real servers offers benefits such as load balancing and use of a standardized printing architecture across SAP Systems.

58

Alternative Server Definition When defining a spool server, you can define another server as an alternative. This alternative server is used in the following cases: 

The actual server has failed; the system searches for the corresponding alternative server



The server is overloaded; the system balances the output workload over the actual server and the alternative server. However, to do this, you must activate the Allow Load Balancing option in the definition of the spool server. By default, this option is not activated to ensure that requests are processed in the order in which they are created.

Use When creating SAP output devices, specify a server under Spool Server in the definition of which an alternative server is specified. In this way you ensure that the requests for this output device are processed even if the primary specified server fails. You can also distribute the output workload between the spool server and its alternative server by selecting the Allow Load Balancing option in the definition of the spool server. Server Switch if the Spool Server Fails If you specify an alternative server when defining a spool server, all output devices are processed by the alternative server if the actual server fails. The figure below shows a server switch and the specifications required for this in the definition of the spool server:

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Distributing the Output Workload if the Spool Server Is Overloaded The workload of a spool server is calculated from the number of spool work processes, the number of requests to be processes, and the number of pages. If a server is overloaded, the processing of output requests can be delayed. If an alternative server is defined for this server and load balancing is activated, the requests can be distributed between the servers. The figure below shows load balancing and the specifications required for this in the definition of the spool server:

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If you have activated load balancing for a server, the requests to this server may not any longer be processed in the order in which they were created. Requests created later can overtake requests created earlier if they are processed by an alternative server that has a lower workload.

Sequence Consistency has priority in the classification. If an output device is configured to print requests with a consistent sequence; that is, in the order in which they are created, and is assigned to a spool server with load balancing, the load balancing is ignored for this device.

Asg Output Devices to Other Spool Servers Use You want to change the server assignment for multiple output devices, because, for example, the previous spool server has failed and you have not specified an alternative server or activated load balancing.

Procedure There are different methods to assign output devices to other spool servers, depending on whether you have defined logical servers or not:

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

You have defined a logical server between the output devices and the real spool server, that is, a logical server is specified as the spool server in the device definitions of the output devices. Somewhere in the hierarchy, this logical spool server points to a real spool server that performs the output formatting. If this real server fails, you only need to edit the definition of the logical spool server. You must enter a different real spool server in the Mapping field of the server definition. You do not need to change the device definitions of the individual output devices of the individual output devices, as they do not point to the real server that you are changing, but only to the logical server.

You have assigned the production printers Prod1 and Prod2 to the logical spool server Log_Prod, which is classified as a production server. The logical production server Log_Prod points in turn to the real server twdf5001_DEV_00.

If the real server twdf5001_DEV_00 fails and you want to assign the production printers Prod1 and Prod2 to the real spool server twdf5000_DEV_00, you only need to change the mapping information in the definition of the logical server. It must point to the current real spool server twdf5000_DEV_00. As the logical production server is specified in the device definitions of the individual output devices, you do not need to change anything in these definitions. 

You have not defined logical servers in your system. In this case, you can change the server assignment for all output devices whose names match a certain pattern (such as PRI*).

... a. In Transaction SPAD, choose Utilities For Output Devices Assign Server. b. On the next screen, enter the desired pattern for the output devices, as well as the name of the old spool server assigned and the name of the new spool server to which you want to assign the devices. c. Choose Display List, then Convert to switch spool servers.

Result You have changed the server assignment for some or all of your output devices. If output requests still exist for the affected devices, for which processing is not yet complete, processing of the requests is transferred to the new spool server.

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Maintaining Character Sets The SAP system manages its own character sets. These characters sets specify: Which characters a particular printer or screen display routine can output the hexadecimal code to use to send a character to a printer or display routine.

The following topics describe how to maintain character sets in spool istration. In general, you only need to maintain character sets when you add a new device type to the SAP system. To maintain character sets, do the following: Identify the manufacturer of the character set using Character Set Manufacturer. You only need to perform this step if the manufacturer of the character set is not already identified in the spool system. Define the character set required by the printer using Character Sets. To do this, you must:

1. Identify which characters are in the character set using their SAP ID numbers 2. Enter the binary code for each character, as required by the printer or display routine. The easiest method for defining a character set is to copy the existing character set that most closely matches the new character set. Then add or delete characters as necessary to customize the character set

Maintaining the Spool Database Purpose Maintain the spool database regularly to ensure optimal performance and size. You should perform the following tasks to maintain the spool database regularly: 

Check the consistency of the spool database



Delete old spool requests

Process Flow The figure below shows the most important methods of maintaining the spool database:

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Scheduling both deletion and the consistency check in the background is preferable to performing these tasks in dialog. Scheduling these tasks in the background ensures the regularity of deletion and of consistency checks. It also eases the workload both of the and of the systems. For more information about consistency checks, see spool consistency checks. For more information about deleting old spool requests, see: 

Deleting Multiple Spool Requests Simultaneously



Deleting Spool Requests in the Background

Spool Consistency Check Use You can use the spool consistency check to check whether tables that contain spool requests, output requests, and output data are inconsistent. If necessary, you can delete inconsistencies. Along with deleting old spool requests, the spool consistency check is one of the most important functions for maintaining the SAP spool database. You should perform the spool consistency check regularly in the background.

As the spool consistency check affects performance, you should schedule it either during the night or at the weekend. 64

Prerequisites You require an authorization. Features The spool consistency check checks the following table entries for spool requests: 

Header entry in table TST01 (TemSe objects)



Object associated with the header entry; it can be stored in the file system or in the database table TST03 (TemSe data of the object)



Entry in table TSP01 (spool requests)



Entry in table TSP02, if output requests exist

Activities You can identify and delete inconsistencies both in the background and in dialog: 



You can use report RSPO1043 to identify and delete inconsistencies in the background. This has the following advantages:

Inconsistencies are only deleted if they appear during repeated runs. There is therefore no danger of accidentally deleting temporary inconsistencies. 

Temporary inconsistencies are not actual inconsistencies and must not be deleted. Temporary inconsistencies may occur, for example, if a is writing data to the TemSe during the consistency check. 



No timeouts

  You can use transaction SPAD or report RSPO0043 to display and delete inconsistencies in dialog. However, we do not recommend these methods for your production systems due to the following disadvantages:





Accidental deletion of temporary inconsistencies

Only after a minimum of a second check can you determine whether an inconsistency was only temporary, because, for example, another was writing to the TemSe during the check, or whether the check has found an actual inconsistency. 



Timeouts

For more information about spool consistency checks, see SAP Notes 48400 and 98065 in the SAP Service Marketplace.

Only delete inconsistent spool requests with the spool consistency check and not with the TemSe consistency check due to the following disadvantages of the TemSe consistency check:

1.  The TemSe consistency check does check the header entries in table TST01 and associated objects only for spool requests, but rather for all TemSe objects. 65

2.  Deleting TemSe inconsistencies includes only the header entry in TST 01 and the actual TemSe object. However, to delete a spool request, you must also remove the entry in TSP01 (spool requests) and, if an output request exists, in table TSP02 (output requests).

TemSe Data Store Use TemSe is a store for temporary sequential data; that is, objects that are not normally permanently held in the system are stored in the TemSe. The spool system uses the TemSe to store output data temporarily. You can set whether the spool data is to be stored by TemSe in the SAP database or in the file system (for more information, see Storage Methods for Spool Objects in TemSe). TemSe Objects Every TemSe object consists of a header entry in table TST01 and the actual object. This can be stored in the file system (for example, job logs) or in table TST03 (for example, HR data). There are the following TemSe objects, among others: 

Spool requests (TemSe Name: Spool....)



Job logs (TemSe Name: JOBLG...)



Objects from other applications, such as Human Resources (TemSe Name: HR)



An object whose name begins with KONS; this is object is constantly used by report RSPO1043 and should never be deleted (SAP Note 98065)

A Spool Request as a TemSe Object With spool requests, you can decide whether the object is stored in the file system or in table TST03. By default, a spool request is stored in table TST03. You have the following options to define a storage location for spool requests: 

Using the profile parameter rspo/store_location; where you can specify file system (parameter value G) or table TST03 (parameter value db)



In the device definition of an output device (Edit  File Storage)

Spool requests also have entries in table TSP01 (Spool Requests) and possibly in table TSP02 (Output Requests). Features of TemSe

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

Storage of temporary objects, such as spool requests and job logs



istration and display of temporary objects

TemSe cannot ister objects that require more than two gigabytes of storage space, regardless of whether the objects are stored in the database or in the file system. Spool requests of a size greater than two gigabytes must therefore be split into several smaller requests.

Note that TemSe is not an archiving system. The maximum permissible number of spool requests is limited. The default value is 32000 and can be increased to 2 billion. However, this can affect performance, depending on the capacity of the database and the database host (see SAP Note 48284). You should therefore use the print list archiving option for spool requests. You can check space usage to avoid storage space problems.

Displaying and Managing TemSe Objects Use You want to display and manage TemSe objects. Procedure Displaying TemSe Objects To do this, choose Tools  CCMS  Spool  TemSe Contents (transaction SP11). Managing TemSe Objects To do this, choose Tools  CCMS  Spool  TemSe istration (transaction SP12). In TemSe istration, you can also ister the character set buffer used by the spool system (though not the buffer used by SAPscript). To do this, choose the Character Sets menu.

The TemSe functions TemSe Contents and TemSe istration are only intended for dealing with problems, such as for analyzing printer problems. Do not delete objects using these TemSe functions if you can avoid doing so. Instead, delete old spool data with spool deletion functions in dialog and in background processing.

Storage Methods for Spool Objects in TemSe Use You can use the profile parameter rspo/store_location to set up the TemSe database to store spool request data either in the SAP database (default parameter db) or in the file system of the host operating system (parameter value G).

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The default storage method for TemSe objects is specified in the system profile of each SAP application server. You can therefore theoretically specify different storage methods for different servers. However, we strongly advise against this, as only restricted data access is possible in this case.

Further, you can set the storage location individually by SAP output device if required. Unless you have special requirements with respect to a particular device, it is best to use a uniform storage method across the entire SAP System. The following table summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of each type of storage: Storage Method File system

Database

Advantages 

fast



better performance

Disadvantages 

TemSe data must be backed up and restored using operating system tools, separately from the database.



In the event of problems, it can be hard to restore consistency between the data held in files and the TemSe’s object management in the database.



regular backup



Slower than file system storage



restore using database tools



Increased database load



consistency is ensured

Details for Storage in Files If the data is stored in files, the TemSe manages object management records for its objects in the SAP database. However, it stores the object data, including the spool data, in files. By default, these files are stored in the following global SAP directories: 

Unix installation: /usr/sap/<SYSTEM ID>/SYS/global



Microsoft Windows: \\sapglobalhost\sapmnt\<system ID>\global

You can specify an alternative directory with the rsts/files/roots/G system profile parameter. For more information, see Storage Location for Spool Data . Files are held in directories that are named for the client (three digits) and the type of TemSe object (five characters, as specified in table TST07).

001JOBLG contains logs for background jobs that were performed in client 001. 026SPOOL contains spool data for client 026. 68

Within these directories, individual spool files are named with the spool request ID number (such as 00013152).

The reports that check spool/TemSe consistency (RSPO0043) and that reorganize the spool and TemSe (delete old spool requests, RSPO0041) are able to handle both database and file system storage.

Checking Space Usage in TemSe Use You want to display the distribution of the storage space among your TemSe objects. Procedure ... 1. Call transaction SP12 (Tools  CCMS  Spool  TemSe istration). 2. Choose TemSe Data Storage  Memory Allocation. The TemSe – istration of Temporary Sequential Data screen appears. Result The system display a large overview of the TemSe objects. You have the following options: 

You can check the number and size of the TemSe objects.



You can check the number of objects that are stored with an unlimited retention period.

You can only determine the total number of objects with unlimited retention periods. You cannot explicitly check the retention period of spool requests in TemSe istration. It is display in the header data of the spool requests (transaction SP01).

Avoiding Capacity Problems in TemSe Use If you store too many spool requests in the TemSe data store, capacity problems can occur. Procedure You can avoid capacity problems as follows:  69

delete obsolete spool requests daily in the background



Encourage s to activate the option Delete after output in their master records This is especially important for s who have authorizations to execute background processing jobs and batch input sessions.



delete inconsistent spool requests in the background regularly



Delete background jobs regularly with report RSBTCDEL

TemSe Consistency Check Use You can use the TemSe consistency check to check whether entries in the TemSe data store are consistent. Prerequisites You require authorization. Features ... 1. The TemSe consistency check checks the following table entries for all TemSe objects: 

Header entry in table TST01 (TemSe objects)

Object associated with the header entry; it can be stored in the file system or in the database table TST03 (TemSe data of the object) 

The TemSe consistency check does not check the following entries:



Entries in table TSP01 (spool requests)



Entries in table TSP02, if output requests exist

However, as these entries are important for spool requests, the TemSe consistency check is not suitable as a consistency check for spool requests. 2. You can determine TemSe inconsistencies in dialog (transaction SP12  TemSe database  consistency check) and delete them using the appropriate pushbuttons in transaction SP12.

We recommend that you do not perform the check in dialog due to possible timeouts. 3. You can use report RSTS0020 to determine inconsistencies in the background and delete them in dialog with report RSTS0030. Deletion in the background is not possible.

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Activities ... 1. Execute report RSTS0020 in the background. The result is a list of inconsistencies. 2. Execute the report at least once more after an interval of around 30 minutes. You must determine the exact interval based on the length of the running jobs. 3. Compare the results. It is possible that there is an entry in the first run that is marked as inconsistent, but no longer appears in the second run. This is a temporary inconsistency. Temporary inconsistencies are not actual inconsistencies and must not be deleted. Temporary inconsistencies may occur, for example, if a is writing data to the TemSe during the consistency check. A check must be performed more than once to ensure that the inconsistency is not merely temporary. Inconsistencies that appear in multiple logs are actual inconsistencies and should be deleted. However, you cannot delete TemSe inconsistencies in the background. 4. To perform the deletion, start report RSTS0030 in dialog for the subareas of TemSe, in which the consistency check found inconsistent objects. 5. Select TST01 and TST03 for the check. 6. As soon as the report has generated the object list, you can delete either all or the selected inconsistencies. You can only specify the names generically using place holders and not as an area with a lower and an upper limit.

Analyzing SAP Printing Problems Print-Out Missing or Incorrect The procedure that we recommend for analyzing a printer problem is explained below. This section reviews both of the following:

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

The decisions that you must take at each step in the procedure



The actions that you should take to correct a problem. Isolating the problem and finding the correct analysis procedure

Output Log Use The output log displays important details about output. Features The system records the following information in an output log: 

Errors that occur during the processing of an output request.



Messages from the SAP spool work process



Messages returned by the host spooler



Attributes of the output request

Activities You have the following options for creating output logs: 

If print problems occur, the system automatically creates an error log: The icon in the overview of output requests indicates for which requests a log exists. Choose to display the log. The first screen of an error log presents summary information. You can also display more detailed formation by choosing All Info.

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

The can also set up targeted output logging: A log does not always mean that there is an error. When you are defining the printer, you can specify that the print data is logged in each case, for example, for test purposes. For more information, see Logging Output Data.

Logging Output Data Use You want to log output for test purposes or to correct an error. Procedure You can activate logging of output data for a specific printer in the Device definition. Do the following: 1. In Spool istration (transaction SPAD), switch to the Devices and Server tab page. 2. Either choose the Output Devices pushbutton and then the desired output device, or enter the name of the desired output device. The Spool istration: Output Device screen appears. 3. Switch to change mode, if you are not already in it. 4. Choose Edit  Test Tool. The Debugger tab page appears. 5. Select a logging method from the list. You have the following options: 

Log the first 10 KB



Log the first 100 KB

With access method L, you can also select on the Debugger tab page whether the print command is to be logged. This is the command that the SAP System uses to an output request to the host system spooler. Do not alter the settings of any other debugging options. 6. Save the device definition to make your changes effective. 7. Output data is logged for each output request sent to the printer until you turn data logging off on the Debugger tab page of the device definition.

Question 1: Was the Output Request Printed? Question 1: Was the Output Request Printed?

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In addition to checking physically whether output has appeared, you can use the spool output controller to check on the status of a job. Do the following: 1. Call transaction SP01 or choose Tools CCMS  Spool Output Controller. 2. Enter all available information that you have on the spool request in the selection screen. 3. The most important status information about the spool requests means the following: -- (no status): The spool request has not yet been sent to the output device. Print the spool request to see if it is output normally. Being processed: The job is currently being formatted and/or transmitted to the host system spooler. You can wait to see if processing finishes normally. Or you can go to analysis procedure Determining Why Output Request Was Not Processed to check whether processing is proceeding normally. Waiting or Complete and still has not appeared at the printer, you can go directly to the analysis procedure Determining Why Output Request Was Not Processed. If the status is Complete, also check the request information. To do this, select the spool request and choose . The Output Attributes tab page shows the status of completed output requests. If Processed… without printing is selected, the output request has not yet been printed. Go to the error analysis procedure shown above. For information about the status in general, see the Displaying the Status of Spool and Output Requests.

Correcting Severe Output Problems In a severe output problem, your printer or fax machine printed something, but the result is illegible. The wrong character set may have been used (for example, Dingbats was printed instead of alphanumeric characters). Line breaks, page breaks, or the text layout may be incorrect. Uninterpreted printer command language statements may have been printed. Or the printer may produce blank paper. If a severe problem occurs, check for the following settings: 

Was the correct device type specified in the output device definition? To do this, call transaction SPAD, or choose Tools  CCMS  Spool  Spool istration. Enter the name of the output device in the Output Device field on the Devices /servers tab and choose enter. On the next screen, choose Goto  Device Type.

The printer name definition for a Kyocera printer specifies device type HPLJIIID for a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet printer. 

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Does the emulation specified at the printer match the emulation specified in the device definition? Many printers several emulations. That is, the printers are able to understand multiple printer languages. The printer can be switched between emulations either by an incoming print job or by way of the printer control . For example: A correctly-configured Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 4M printer can be switched between PostScript and PCL-5 emulations. Do the following:

1. Check the emulation at the printer as well as in the SAP System. You may be able to use the printer control to determine the emulation that is active at the printer. Or you may need to print a test sheet to see what the emulation setting is. 2. Once you have determined which emulation is active at the printer, check whether the emulation in the defined device type is the same. Choose Tools  CCMS  Spool  Spool istration. Enter the name of the output device in the Output Device field on the Devices /servers tab and choose enter. On the next screen, choose Goto  Device Type. 3. If the emulations do not match, try to determine why. Is the default emulation at the printer set incorrectly? Can the printer default be changed without causing problems for other output requests? Did output requests from other s change the emulation at the printer? If the printer default cannot be changed, can you change the SAP output device definition to match the printer default? You can specify that the SAP System sets the printer to the correct emulation at the start of each output request. To do this, copy the SAP device type. Then, in the INIT (printer initialization) action, enter the required print command to switch the emulation. Look in your printer manual for the command to enter. The SAP System automatically restores the default emulation at the end of a print request. For more information, see Editing Device Formats.

You specify that your Hewlett-Packard printer starts in PCL-4 emulation mode (HewlettPackard LaserJet printer command language). However, the printer definition in the SAP System specifies the device type POSTST for the printer. That means that the SAP System is sending PostScript code to a printer that is expecting commands in the PCL-4 language. You can solve the problem in any of the following ways:

  Change the default emulation setting at the printer so that it starts in the correct emulation mode.  



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 Specify a compatible device type in the SAP device definition.  Edit the SAP device type format so that the printer automatically switches to the correct emulation at the start of an SAP print request.

Is the correct character set specified in the WIN.INI file (WinCharSet parameter) for the Windows printer with device type SWIN (SAPWIN)? Using the WinCharSet parameter, you can specify the character set and font to be used with SWIN (device type) printers. Generally, the WinCharSet parameter should not be included in the WIN.INI file or, if included, it should be set to 0. If all SWIN output requests are printed using the wrong character set (Dingbats, for example), check the WIN.INI file. If the parameter WinCharSet is included, remove it from the file. For more information, see Setting the Character Set for SWIN and SAPLPD.

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