Setting Properties for a Printer (Shared Printer Queue)

A print processor script can send print jobs directly to a file or terminal instead of to a printer, or to a remote HP-UX system computer via the uucp command, or to another HP-UX system process, such as troff or nroff.

When you create a print processor script, you must share a queue that uses it to allow users to access it. Users access this queue as they would any other print queue.

A print processor script is an HP-UX system executable file. It should conform to the following guidelines. To avoid affecting service to other users, execute scripts in the background.

The following environment variables are set and can be incorporated into your print processor scripts:

To create a print processor script, use a text editor, such as vi, to create a shell script. Make the script executable by using the chmod +x command. Save the script in the server's lanman/customs directory and be sure to share the printer queue that will use the script. Then, use the net print command to tell the shared printer queue to use the print processor script.

	WARNING! Processor scripts are executed as root. Please take appropriate security precautions when using processor scripts.

For more information, type net help print at the Advanced Server/9000 command prompt.

To control printer usage under Advanced Server, set permissions for each shared printer queue. By default, all of the shared printers queues that you create are available to all network users. To restrict access to a shared printer queue you must alter its permission settings for a particular group or user. To change permissions on a shared printer queue, you must be the owner of the printer or have been granted Full Control permission. To change settings, click on the Security tab in the printer's Properties sheet and then click on Permissions.

Four types of permissions apply to network printers:

Although permissions are cumulative, the No Access permission overrides all other permissions.

By default, Administrators, Print Operators, and Server Operators have Full Control rights on a server. All users can manage their own documents.

By auditing a printer, you track its usage. For a particular printer, you can specify which groups, users, and actions to audit. You can audit both successful and failed actions. Advanced Server stores the information generated from auditing in a file. You can view the information using Event Viewer. For more information, see Chapter 7, "Monitoring Events."

	NOTE: To audit a printer, you must set the audit policy to audit file and object access. Set the audit policy using User Manager for Domains. For more information on audit policy, see Chapter 2, "Managing Advanced Server Domains."

Use the Ownership button to determine who owns the shared printer queue and, optionally, to take ownership of the printer. You can take ownership of a printer if you have Full Control of the shared printer queue or if you are logged on as a member of the Administrators group. Ownership allows you to set permissions for the printer.

Because page printers must store an entire page in memory, they require relatively large amounts of memory. If you are using a page printer, such as a laser printer, make sure that the amount of memory available in the device matches the value shown in the Device Settings tab. If the print device has substantially more or less memory than what is shown in the Device Settings tab, print throughput may suffer.

To adjust the Printer Memory setting on the printer's Properties Device Settings tab, double-click on the printer icon in the Printers folder and then click on Properties on the Printer menu.

Advanced Server uses a form-based printing model rather than a tray-based printing model. Under a form-based model, the print server administrator configures the Advanced Server print server by defining the form loaded in each paper source (tray). The form is defined in using the following criteria:

Using Windows-based applications running on a Windows NT-based computer, each user can select a desired print form. This frees the user from having to know which tray contains which form. Advanced Server interprets tray and form assignment data and sends instructions to the print device to select the correct tray.

Windows-based applications can use different forms within a document. For example, you could use Envelope for the first page, Letterhead for the second page, and Letter for the third and following pages.

	NOTE: To set the default form, select the Draw selected form only from this tray check box in the printer's Properties Device Settings tab.

For information on creating custom forms, see the "Creating Custom Forms" section later in this chapter.

Fonts are collections of characters and symbols that have a specific design and resolution. Print devices use three types of fonts:

Advanced Server supports three types of screen fonts that can be reproduced on printers:

For each document, the client computer downloads required screen and soft fonts to Advanced Server which then sends them to the print device. To improve printing times, use device fonts which already are present at the print device.

Not all devices can use all three types of printer fonts. Pen plotters, for example, normally cannot use downloaded soft fonts or print raster screen fonts.