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Re: [sqr-users] Help! SQR mysteriously prints extra pages! Problem solved
Congratulations, Mark! Thanks for sharing the solution back to the
group.
[I always love it when none of us know the complete solution but
we put our heads together and we find the solution.]
Ray
On Wed, Oct 08, 2003 at 05:32:12PM -0500, Mark Hall wrote:
> After a lot of digging and some good pointers from Jay and Ray this is
> how I solved the problem.
>
> For the benefit of those who may encounter this problem in the future I
> will attempt to explain the problem and the solution as I understand
> them. (Which isn't necessarily very well.) SQR was sending a report,
> actually a check advice form (DDP003.sqr for all of you PeopleSoft
> types), to a unix print que. When I generated the advice as a PDF file
> it looked just fine; all of the text and graphics appeared on one page
> as they should. But when I sent it to an HP printer the text and
> graphics were being printed across a range of pages. In addition many
> blank pages were being ejected from the printer. In the raw .lis file I
> couldn't see any extra formfeeds. Nor could I see anything in the
> program logic that would have caused this problem. Ray (see below)
> pointed out what the basic problem was and Jay (also see below)
> elaborated on it further. If I understand what Jay was saying correctly
> the problem was that the graphics being printed on the form, boxes and
> shading in this case, caused a lot of extra bytes of binary data to be
> included in the data stream that was sent to the printer. The printer
> was factoring these extra bytes into its line wrap and line feed
> calculations - even though this extra binary data wasn't actually
> printed on the report - and the extra line feeds were eventually forcing
> the unwanted extra page ejects. Jay noted how to solve this problem
> for VMS. I then began to search for an equivalent solution for AIX. I
> found a handy AIX tutorial at the following URL
> http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/aix/aixbman/printrgd/toc.htm.
> After studying how the Unix print spooler works I determined that if I
> could pass the passthru argument to unix this should cause the spooler
> to ignore all of the binary data when it calculated the number of lines
> printed on the page and thereby prevent the extra lines feeds which were
> causing the extra pages to eject. After a while I stumbled onto a
> setting in smit. The navigation is Print Spooling>Change / Show Print
> Que Characteristics. Select the appropriate print que. Select Default
> Print Job Attributes. There you will find a setting for the
> Pre-processing FILTER NAME. Select the pass-through filter option from
> the list of choices available for that setting (capital I).
>
> This solved the problem.
>
>
> Mark Hall
> IS Analyst
> ERP Team
> 260-373-8796
> mark.hall@parkview.com
>
>
> >>> jbeller@lbisoftware.com 10/07/03 09:34AM >>>
> I agree with Ray, the HP "thinks" you're trying to print after the
> end-of-page.
>
> This frequently occurs when your document has embedded binary data
> (graphics or escape sequences) and is sent to the printer as a Text
> document. Even though the binary data doesn't "use up" any space on the
> printed page, the HP thinks you're printing text and counts the number
> of bytes per line (affects wrap) and lines per page (affects formfeed).
>
> So, if you're creating a .lis file that has more than the
> "number-of-lines-per-page" lines before reaching the <FF> character, the
> printer will eject to a new page (typically a spooler function),
> regardless of the formfeed=no setting on the printer.
>
> What you need is a way to tell the printer (or spooler) that you're
> printing binary and your document will handle the pagination.
>
> In VMS, this would be the PRINT /PASSALL /NOFORMFEED command - not sure
> what the equivalent would be under AIX. Hopefully, someone out there can
> supply that.
>
> jay
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ray Ontko [mailto:rayo@ontko.com]
> Sent: Monday, October 06, 2003 6:31 PM
> To: sqr-users@sqrug.org
> Subject: Re: [sqr-users] Help! SQR mysteriously prints extra pages!
>
>
> Mark,
>
> The problem is that you are attempting to print past the
> end of the page, so the HP printer is adding a newline after
> each print attempt.
>
> I don't recall the exact escape sequence that you need to
> send the printer, but it's the one that defines the printable
> area of the page. Since you're printing past the printable
> area, the printer thinks you want to start the NEXT text on
> a fresh page.
>
> Ray
>
> On Mon, Oct 06, 2003 at 04:23:57PM -0500, Mark Hall wrote:
> > I am totally stumped on this one. I have an sqr (DDP003P.SQR, The
> check
> > advice print, for all of you peoplesoft types out there) that for
> some
> > strange reason prints mystery pages. I can see no reason why. My
> > checks print fine and the advices use the same layout. When I run
> the
> > process to a pdf file the pdf looks fine. All the text and graphics
> are
> > on one page just like they should be. When I look at the raw .lis
> file
> > I only see one formfeed (at the bottom of the page where it should
> be).
> > But when I run it to an hp printer it just goes crazy. It prints
> some
> > stuff on the first page. Then it prints some stuff on the next page.
>
> > Then it goes to the next page and prints a line. Then it prints a
> line
> > on the next page. And so on for a few more pages. Then it prints a
> > whole bunch of blank pages. Then it prints the category subtotals
> on
> > one page. Then finally it prints the grand totals on the last page.
> It
> > spits out about 45 pages between blanks and pages with stuff on them.
>
> >
> > I've tried the formfeed=no option but that doesn't work. Like I said
> I
> > don't see any extra formfeeds.
> >
> > Does anyone have any idea what the problem is? Any help would be
> > greatly appreciated. We are going live in a few weeks and I am at
> my
> > wits end.
> >
> > I am running the PeopleSoft version of sqr on an AIX 5.1 box and
> > printing to an HP LaserJet 4000T. PeopleTools release 8.4.3.
> >
> >
> >
> > Mark Hall
> > IS Analyst
> > ERP Team
> > 260-373-8796
> > mark.hall@parkview.com
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > sqr-users mailing list
> > sqr-users@sqrug.org
> > http://www.sqrug.org/mailman/listinfo/sqr-users
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Ray Ontko rayo@ontko.com Phone 1.765.935.4283 Fax 1.765.962.9788
> Ray Ontko & Co. Software Consulting Services http://www.ontko.com/
>
>
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ray Ontko rayo@ontko.com Phone 1.765.935.4283 Fax 1.765.962.9788
Ray Ontko & Co. Software Consulting Services http://www.ontko.com/
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