Interesting DCPS? behavior when using PRINT/PAGE=

[EdgarZamora_1]

Alpha OVMS 8.3 latest patches
DCPS 2.6 ECO3


While trying to solve some user-reported printing problems, I came across an interesting behavior of DCPS? (not sure if it's DCPS or some other facility, but the queues I'm using are DCPS queues). When I print a text file that has lines longer than 132 characters, the line wraps to the next line (if longer than 132 chars). However, if I use a /PAGE=(1,n) switch the lines get truncated at 132 characters. I've tried multiple printers (HP, Toshiba), different DCPS queue types (IP_LPD, IP_RAW), doesn't seem to matter.

I simplified my testing using a simple text file with one line containing more than 132 chars. It still exhibited this behavior.

Is this expected behavior? Not sure if I'd call it a bug or a feature because it might actually be useful for my users to use this "trick".

[Jon Pinkley · Accepted solution]

This must be printing problem week.

Do you know where the "132" is coming from? Is this the width of the form that is being used (perhaps the default form).

If you use a form with a width other than 132, do lines get truncated at the width of the form?

I would consider this a bug, since I would expect a page to print the same whether I had specified /page or not. That should only affect which pages get printed, not the formatting of the printed pages.

Jon

[EdgarZamora_1]

Yes, the 132 comes from the definition of the default form (and the page_orientation is landscape):

SOURCE> sho que/form default/full
Form name Number Description
--------- ------ -----------
DEFAULT 0 Standard Wide Paper Stock
/LENGTH=66 /STOCK=DEFAULT /TRUNCATE /WIDTH=132

I see a /TRUNCATE in the definition, but when I don't use the /PAGE qualifier, the characters after the 132nd are printed on the next line.

[Paul Anderson_7]

In general, you should use the DCPS parameter PAGE_LIMIT to select which pages to print, instead of the OpenVMS qualifier /PAGE.

Now that you know where the 132-character limit is coming from, is there still a problem as far as you are concerned?

Paul

Paul Anderson
HP OpenVMS Engineering

[EdgarZamora_1]

Here's a recap.

SOURCE> show que land_it/full
Printer queue LAND_IT, idle, on SOURCE::"IP_LPD/bon-prt4-t3500-2",
mounted form DEFAULT
/BASE_PRIORITY=4 /DEFAULT=(FORM=DEFAULT) /NOENABLE_GENERIC /LIBRARY=DCPS_LIB Lowercase /OWNER=[SYSTEM] /PROCESSOR=DCPS$SMB /PROTECTION=(S:M,O:D,G:R,W:S) /SEPARATE=(FLAG)
SOURCE> show que/form/full default
Form name Number Description
--------- ------ -----------
DEFAULT 0 Standard Wide Paper Stock
/LENGTH=66 /STOCK=DEFAULT /TRUNCATE /WIDTH=132
SOURCE> wide

SOURCE> type a.a !did not display well in forum...third line has 135 characters
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012
345
SOURCE> print /que=land_it a.a
Job A (queue LAND_IT, entry 338) started on LAND_IT !This did not truncate
SOURCE> print /que=land_it /page=(100) a.a
Job A (queue LAND_IT, entry 339) started on LAND_IT !This truncated to 132 chars
SOURCE> print /que=land_it /param=(page_lim=100) a.a
Job A (queue LAND_IT, entry 340) started on LAND_IT !This did not truncate

No real problem and don't really need a fix. Thanks Paul.

[Jon Pinkley]

Paul,

Why doesn't DCPS honor the settings in the form? Specifically, it appears that the /truncate is ignored unless /page is also used. That isn't intuitive to me. If I use the same form with the standard line printer symbiont, I would expect the same characters to be printed on the same pages in the same relative possitions on each page that they do when using DCPS and a postscript printer.

Put another way, I would expect the same output with or without /PAGE=1000000. Ed has found that isn't the case. Is that side effect documented somewhere besides this thread?

Jon

[Robert Brooks_1]

In general, you should use the DCPS parameter PAGE_LIMIT to select which pages to print, instead of the OpenVMS qualifier /PAGE.

--


Does "In general, you should . . ." mean the same thing as "You must" or "you should". If it's the former, then I think it should be quite clearly documented. If it's the latter, then I'd expect the standard PRINT /PAGE qualifier to work.

-- Rob (who has never managed a system with DCPS, but can't pass up an opportunity to tweak Paul . . .)