printing assistant for landscapes (pal) - community … · before you can start using the printing...

Printing Assistant forLandscapes (PAL)

SAP NetW eaver Appl i cat i on Server AB AP7.0 including

Enhancement Package 1

PAL SAP NetWeaver Application Server ABAP 7.0 EhP 1

Printing Assistant for Landscapes (PAL) 2

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Printing Assistant for Landscapes (PAL) ............................................................................5

Defining the PAL Landscape..............................................................................................5

Creating RFC Destinations in the Central System ..............................................................7

Supported Access Methods for PAL...................................................................................8

Direct Operating System Call Printing ................................................................................8

Access Method C............................................................................................................... 8

Print locally via LP/LPR with signal Access Method L....................................................... 11

The Central System ......................................................................................................... 11

The Target System .......................................................................................................... 12

Device Type Check.......................................................................................................... 12

Working with the Printing Assistant for Landscapes.......................................................... 13

PAL Object List................................................................................................................ 14

Creating Printer ............................................................................................................... 15

Retrieve Output Device from Target System .................................................................... 16

Deleting Printer................................................................................................................ 17

Defining Systems as PAL Target Systems ....................................................................... 18

Creating Target System Group......................................................................................... 19

Deleting Target System Group......................................................................................... 20

Creating Printer Group..................................................................................................... 20

Changing Printer Groups.............................................................................................. 21

Deleting Printer Group ..................................................................................................... 22

The Distribution Process .................................................................................................. 22

Distribute Printer Group to Target System Group ............................................................. 23

Distribution Status............................................................................................................ 24

Re-Distribute Printer Group to Target System Group........................................................ 25

Printer Status Feedback................................................................................................... 25

Technical Requirements .................................................................................................. 28

Enabling Output Devices for Printer Status Feedback ...................................................... 30



Printing Assistant for Landscapes (PAL)PurposeYou use the Printing Assistant for Landscapes (PAL) to perform the configuration of certaintypes of output devices in one system (Central System) instead of performing theconfiguration separately in transaction SPAD in each system (Target System) of your systemlandscape.

ProcessIn your Central System you define all output devices of your system landscape which use oneof the supported access methods [Page 7] as printers.

Afterwards you distribute the printer definitions from this Central System to other systems(“Target Systems”) via RFC.

When the distribution is successfully finished, all printers can be used immediately on theTarget Systems for actual printing.

We recommend that you use PAL for administration of:

a large number of output devices over a few SAP Systems

a few output devices over a large number of SAP Systems

a large number of output devices over a large number of SAP Systems

The Printing Assistant for Landscapes (PAL) is intended for SPAD administrators only. Youcan access PAL directly (transaction code PAL) or from Administration CCMS Print Printing Assistant for Landscapes.

IntegrationSpool Administration (transaction code SPAD or Administration CCMS PrintSpool Administration)

RFC Destinations (transaction code SM59 or Administration System AdministrationAdministration Network RFC Destinations)

Defining the PAL LandscapeDefinitionBefore you can start using the Printing Assistant for Landscapes, you must define your PALLandscape which means that you have to decide which system shall be used as CentralSystem and which systems shall be used as Target Systems.



PrerequisitesMake sure that all required Output Devices are available in the Spool Administration(transaction SPAD) of the systems in which the actual printing will take place. This can be theCentral System and the Target Systems.

Each PAL Printer requires an associated Output Device as source when beingcreated. You cannot create Output Devices in PAL.

For general information about how to create Output Devices, read the SAP Printing Guidechapter Output Devices.

For information about Access Methods, read chapter Supported Access Methods for PAL[Page 7].

Procedure...

1. You decide which system of your system landscape should act as Central System (see:The Central System [Page 11]) and which systems you want to use as Target Systems(see: The Target System [Page 12]).

2. When the PAL Landscape is set, you define the output devices as PAL Printers(Creating Printer [Page 15]) and put them together into Printer Groups (Creating PrinterGroup [Page 20]). You can choose from the list of output devices created in the SpoolAdministration (transaction SPAD) in the Central System. You can retrieve outputdevice information from the Target Systems as well.

In this documentation the term ‘Printer’ is used as a short form for PAL Printer.

All Printer definitions are finally located in the Central System, no matter if the outputdevice is located in the Central System or retrieved from one of the Target Systems.Printers can only be controlled in the Central System. Modification or deletion ofPrinters in a Target System is not possible.

3. Now you must form Target System Groups out of the Target Systems (see: CreatingTarget System Group [Page 19]).

4. Finally you can start distributing Printer Groups to Target System Groups (see:Distributing Printer Group to Target System Group [Page 23]). Distribution can takeplace between Printer Groups and Target System Groups, but not between singlePrinters and Target Systems. You can distribute one Printer Group to several TargetSystem Groups.



Creating RFC Destinations in the Central SystemUseEach Target System [Page 12] requires an RFC destination in the Central System [Page 11].Follow this procedure to create and test the RFC destinations.

PrerequisitesEach Target System should have one system user with the required authorization profile whois designated for the purpose of PAL communication.

ProcedureLog on to the Central System and select Administration System Administration Administration Network RFC Destinations or transaction code SM59. Check first

whether there are already RFC destinations for your Target Systems. RFCdestinations which will be used for PAL must have Connection Type 3 (ABAPConnection).

Create an RFC destination for each Target System. The overall procedure is described in theApplication Help: “Entering Destination Parameters“. For PAL, there are a few details to betaken into account:

Select Logon & Security. Go to section Logon.

Enter the system user created before in the Target system (see section Prerequisites)

for this RFC destination. It is not recommended using the Current User option.

Leave the input field language empty. The logon language of the user in the CentralSystem to be used for RFC communication to the Target System will be selectedautomatically then.

Enter a password and save it.

ResultThe RFC destinations to your Target Systems are created and saved. Before you go on, youshould do the following:

Perform a connection test for each RFC destination.

Perform a remote logon test for each RFC destination.



Supported Access Methods for PALBackgroundEach PAL Printer requires an output device. Each output device you want to use in your PALlandscape must exist in the Spool Administration (transaction code SPAD) of the CentralSystem or of the Target Systems in order to become available in PAL.

PAL supports output devices with the following access methods:

S (Print on LPDHOST via SAP protocol)

U (Print on LPDHOST via Berkeley protocol)

G (fronted print with control technology)

M (e-mail to receiver/owner)

L (Print locally via LP/LPR with signal)

C (Direct operating system call)

Special requirements for output devices using access method C [].

Special requirements for output devices using access method L [Page 11].

Direct Operating System Call Printing

Access Method CRequirementsAccess method C Printers must have an AIX or Windows NT spool server assigned. ThePrinter is accessed from the spool server by a direct Operating System (OS) API call.

In order for this printer to work properly the assigned spool server has to know the Printer bythe name defined in transaction SPAD.

In Fig. 1 a printer with name 'TEST35' has to be defined to machine ldcil1a on OS level.

Fig.1



During distribution PAL can make sure that a Windows NT or an AIX Spool Server will beselected in the Target System to which the Printer will be distributed. But:

PAL can not make sure that the selected Spool Server knows the Access Method CPrinter on the OS level.

Therefore it is likely that PAL will select the wrong Spool Server. After the distribution, it ispossible that a Spool Server of a Printer with Access Method C must be corrected in aparticular Target System or in all Target Systems. See section Spool Server Change fordetails.

In such a case PAL raises the following warning message before a distribution of an AccessMethod C Printer takes place:



PAL tries to select a Spool Server in the Target System that matches the one of the CentralSystem (Operating System wise). If this is not possible, PAL tries to assign any WindowsNTor AIX Spool Server. If neither a WindowsNT nor an AIX Spool Server can be found in aparticular Target System, PAL raises the following error message:

Printer Group “<NAME>” distributed to none of the selected TargetSystem Group(s). Distribution failed.

In such a case the associated Access Method C Printer cannot be distributed to a TargetSystem.

Spool Server ChangeIf you have to change the Spool Server of a distributed Printer in a Target System, you canrun report SPCPC_SPOO_SERV_MASS_CHANGE in transaction SE38.

This report is intended to be used for Access Method L and C Printers. As described above,PAL cannot assure to select the correct Spool Server during distribution time for suchPrinters. You can use this report then to change the Spool Server of many Printers at thesame time.

This report will change only the Spool Servers of Printers to which this system is a TargetSystem. Printers residing on this system as a Central System will not be affected.

When you do not enter a value in the selection screen section PAL printer filter criteria, allPAL Printers (to which this system is a Target System) will be changed.

The only mandatory field is the input field new Spool Server. The value help for this fieldspresents available Spool Servers of this system. Logical Spool Servers are displayed as well.

As a default, the checkbox Confirm before change is selected. A list of affected Printers willbe displayed using this default setting. You can check first if the New Spool Servers arecorrect before you select button Change Spool Server.



Print locally via LP/LPR with signal Access Method LRequirementsPrint jobs are sent to access method L connected printers via OS command. On UNIX this isusually the LP or LPR command. The same way job status is queried from the system. Thesecommands are sent from the spool server the output device has been assigned to. Thereforethe commands depend on the OS type of the spool server of the output device....

For PAL Printers with access method L:

1. The Target System must have at least one spool server with the same OS type as thespool server of the PAL Printer in the Central System.

2. The name of the Printer under which it is known to the OS must be identical with thename on the Target Systems Spool Server and on the Central Systems Spool Server.In SPAD the field 'Host printer' contains this name.

3. The command used for submitting a print job and for query of the jobs status has toequal and executable in the Target System and the Central System.

The Central SystemDefinitionThe Central System is the system in the PAL Landscape in which you execute transactionPAL.

UseIn the Central System you define and manage your output devices, and you distribute yourPrinter definitions to the Target Systems.

RequirementsTransaction PAL is supported starting with SAP NetWeaver 7.0. Therefore the CentralSystem must be a NW 7.0 system.

This does not apply for the Target Systems. Read chapter The Target System[Page 12] for details.



The Target SystemDefinitionA PAL Landscape typically consists of several Target Systems. Target Systems are thesystems which finally receive the Printer definitions distributed from the Central System.

RequirementsSystems on release Web Application Server 6.20 and higher can be used as TargetSystems. Note that the Central System must be at least on SAP NetWeaver 7.0.

Each Target System must have a valid RFC Destination in the Central System. Readchapter Creating RFC Destinations in the Central System [Page 7] for informationabout how to perform this step in transaction SM59.

Recommendation

In each Target System you should create a special system user which is designatedsolely for the purpose of PAL communication. When you create the RFC destinationsin the Central System, you should specify this user in the RFC destination.

User authorization must contain the following authorization objects:

S_TCODE (values: PAL, SPAA, SPAD)

S_ADMI_FCD (values: SP01, SPOR, SPAA, SPAB, SPAC, SPAD)

ActivitiesTarget Systems cannot be used directly like the Central System but must be ‘created’ first.This means that the designated systems need to be defined as Target Systems.

Read chapter Defining Systems as PAL Target Systems. You will find information about howto perform this manual step in transaction PAL.

Device Type CheckUseThe Device Type Check runs automatically:

When you start to distribute a Printer Group to a Target System Group, PAL checksautomatically whether the associated device type(s) are installed on the TargetSystem(s).

When you use the Re-Distribution function described in chapter Re-Distribute PrinterGroup to Target System Group [Page 25].

The Device Type Check checks whether the device types used by the output devices whichare the source of the Printers in this Printer Group are correctly installed in the TargetSystem(s).



Activities...

If a device type is missing and the Target System(s) support the Device Type Distributionfunction, you can install the device type remotely from the Central System via PAL.

If a Target System does not support Device Type Distribution the following message isdisplayed:

Device Type distribution not supported on Target System. Applyupdates in Target System.

In this case PAL has no information about whether the required device type is availableon the Target System or not. If the required device type is missing, Printer Groupdistribution to this Target System will fail.

If a Target System supports Device Type Distribution, PAL checks if the required device typeis not present or if it is outdated. You will get the following message:

Older Device Type version in Target System found.

In both cases button Distribute Device Type in the last column will become active. Click thisbutton to distribute the associated device type to the Target System before the actual PrinterGroup distribution takes place.

ResultIf Target System supports Device Type Distribution and the Device Type Check is successful,the following message is displayed:

Device Type in Target System OK.

If you want to skip the successfully checked device types, select Show only problematicentries.

Working with the Printing Assistant for LandscapesPrerequisites

You have defined:

the Central System [Page 11]

the systems in your PAL landscape which will be used as Target Systems [Page 12].

You have checked:

Each Target System has a valid RFC destination in the Central System.



The output devices are created in the Spool Administration of the systems in which theactual printing will take place. This can happen in the Central System and also in theTarget Systems.

ProcessIf all output device definitions are located in the Central System, you should start with thedefinition of the output devices as PAL Printers as described in Creating Printer [Page 15].

If you want to retrieve output device definitions from other systems, you must define thosesystems as Target Systems first as described in Creating Target System [Page 18].

ProcedureYou are now in your Central System. On the SAP Easy Access screen, select Administration

CCMS Print Printing Assistant for Landscapes or transaction code PAL.

The main screen is displayed. It is divided into 3 sections: header, PAL Object List section,and PAL Object Details section....

1. The header section contains a Help function which is linked to current developmentinformation and a Show function. You can use the dropdown menu next to field Showto select the level of PAL Object type you want to process. Afterwards all existingobjects of this type will be displayed in the PAL Object List section.

2. In the PAL Object List [] section all objects of the selected type are displayed.You can create, change and delete PAL Objects. You can also check the distributionstatus of PAL Objects.

3. The PAL Object Details section is only displayed as long as one PAL Object is selectedfor maintenance. For Printers and Target Systems there is only one tab page ‘Details’available. Printer Groups and Target System Groups have a second tab page‘Members’ where Printers or Target Systems can be added and removed.

If you want to search for an existing PAL Object, go to field Get, select an option from thedropdown menu, enter the name or description in the free text field and select Go.

Depending on the value you select in the Show field, the table below contains all existing PALObjects of the type. For example, if you want to check which Target Systems are created,select level ‘Target Systems’ from the Show field.

PAL Object ListDefinitionThe entrance screen of the Printing Assistant for Landscapes provides a table in which allexisting PAL Objects of a special type are listed. You can select the PAL Object type bychoosing from the dropdown menu next to button Show. There are four different PAL Objecttypes available:

Printer [Page 15]



Printer Group [Page 20]

Target System [Page 18]

Target System Group [Page 19]

UseAfter you have defined the PAL Landscape, the next step is to create the required PALObjects. You can also change and delete PAL Objects, but we recommend that you finishmaintaining your PAL Objects before you go on with the Distribution Process [Page 22].

Creating PrinterUseCreating a Printer means that you define an existing output device which uses one of thesupported access methods (see: Supported Access Methods for PAL [Page 7]) as PALPrinter.

In this documentation the term ‘Printer’ is mostly used instead of the long term‘PAL Printer’. Usage of both terms is restricted to PAL.

ProcedureYou can choose output devices...

1. from the Central System

2. from any Target System.

In section Show select ‘Printer’. In the PAL Object List all existing Printers are displayed. Tocreate a new Printer, click Create.

...

Source of output device: Central SystemSelect ‘Central System’ and click Next.

The dialog box ‘Create PAL Printers’ appears. All available output devices are listed. You canselect the required output device directly from the list or use the filter function to search forspecific output devices. To choose more than one output device, press SHIFT and click onthe output devices in the list. Click Next. Confirm the following message with Yes.

Source of output device: Target SystemGo to chapter Retrieve Output Device from Target System [Page 16].



ResultThe selected output devices are now displayed with status Success and description ‘Printer<NAME> created’.

Click Close.

Retrieve Output Device from Target SystemUseWhen you create Printers you can use output devices from the Central System [Page 18] andfrom one or more Target Systems. In this chapter you find a description how to retrieve outputdevices from Target Systems for usage in PAL.

ProcedureIf the output device is defined in a Target System, select ‘Target System’ and choose a TargetSystem from the F4 help or enter the Target System name directly. Choose Next.

The popup ‘Create PAL Printers’ will be opened in which all output devices available in theTarget System are listed.

This list does not contain:

Output devices which use access methods that are not supported by PAL

Output Devices which are already defined as Printers in the Target System

You can select the required output devices directly from the list or use the filter function tosearch for specific output devices. To choose more than one output device, press SHIFT andclick on the output devices in the list. Click Next.

Afterwards the selected output devices are displayed in another popup with their current TestStatus.

If there is an output device already existing in the Central System which has the same nameor description, this output device will be displayed with a warning.

Test Status Description More Information

OK Output Device can beinstalled

Output Device can bedefined as Printer.

Warning Output device ‘XX’exists in CentralSystem but it can beoverwritten.

Collision. Output device withidentical name already existsin the Central System but it isnot defined as Printer. ThePrinter definition can beoverwritten.

Error Printer ‘XX’ already An output device with



exists in CentralSystem as PAL Printer.

identical name already existsin the Central System asPrinter.

This Printer definition can notbe overwritten.

Select printers that are displayed with Test Status OK, and click Finish. Confirm thefollowing message with yes. If the Printer definition was successful, the selected outputdevices are displayed with status Success in a list.

If you select printers that are displayed with warning and set the Overwrite flag, this Printerdefinition will replace an identical definition in the Target System.

You will receive a warning that you are going to overwrite existing Printer Definitions:

You have specified to overwrite Output Device(s) in Central System.Do you want to proceed?

You cannot undo overwritten Printer definitions.

Confirm the warning with Yes and click Close.

Deleting PrinterProcedureIf you want to delete a Printer, you need to check whether the Printer is member of a PrinterGroup or not. If yes, remove it from the Printer Group as described in chapter Creating PrinterGroup [Page 20] section Remove Printer from Printer Group. Then select the Printer inthe PAL Object List and click Delete.

ResultThe Printer is deleted.

This action will only delete the Printer definition in PAL.

The output device in SPAD will not be deleted.



Defining Systems as PAL Target SystemsUseSystems which shall be used as Target Systems in PAL must be defined as Target Systemsfirst. This means that you create a new PAL Object of type Target System

The Central System does not need to be defined as Central System.

PrerequisitesTarget Systems must have the following minimum support packages installed:

SAPKB70016

SAPKB64022

SAPKB62064

All Target Systems must have a valid RFC destination in the Central System before they canbe created. See chapter Creating RFC Destinations in the Central System [Page 7].

ProcedureIn section Show select ‘Target System’. In the PAL Object List all existing Target Systems aredisplayed. If you want to create a new Target System, click Create.

The Dialog box ‘Create Target System‘ appears. Enter Target System Name, Description andRFC Destination of the system.

Click Check (Check RFC Destination and Support Status). If you get statusOK, the RFC Destination works fine. A list of supported access methods will

appear in a separate window.

Click OK.

The PAL Object Details section appears. Click Save to finish the procedure.

Delete Target SystemIf you want to delete a Target System, check first if:...

1. the Target System is member of a Target System Group, and

2. a Printer Group is already distributed to this Target System Group.

If both applies, you must delete the Printer Group from the Target System Group first asdescribed in chapter Deleting Printer Group [Page 22].

Then remove the Target System from the Target System Group as described in sectionRemove Target System from Target System Group.

Finally select the Target System in the PAL Object List and click Delete.



Creating Target System GroupUseA Target System Group (TSG) is a set of Target Systems to which one or more PrintersGroups will be distributed. Printers can not be distributed to Target Systems directly.

You can

create empty Target System Groups and add members later

add members directly when creating the Target System Group

remove members from a Target System Group as described in section ChangingTarget System Group.

You can not add a Target System to more than one Target System Group.

ProcedureCreat e Targ et Syste m G roup

In the PAL Object List, select Target System Group' from the dropdown menu.

Click Create. A dialog box ‘Create Target System Group’

Enter name and description of the Target System Group.

If you want to create an empty Target System Group, click OK. A sub screen appearswith two tab pages. To save the empty Target System Group, click Save on the Detailstab page.

If you want to add Target Systems immediately, select the Target System from the listin the dialog box which contains all Target Systems that were defined in the CentralSystem before. You can also use the filter function to search for special TargetSystems. To select more than one Target Systems, press SHIFT while clicking on theTarget Systems in the list.

When you have added the Target Systems, click OK. Choose the Members tab page on thesub screen to check if the Target Systems have been added correctly. Afterwards choose theDetails tab page and click Save.

Changing Target System GroupsAdd Target System to Target System GroupIf you want to add Target Systems to an existing Target System Group, choose the TargetSystem Group from the PAL Object List and select tab strip ‘Members’, and click Add.Proceed as described in section Procedure.

Remove Target System from Target System GroupIf you want to remove Target Systems from a Target System Group, choose the TargetSystem Group from the PAL Object list and select tab strip ‘Members’. Choose the systems,and click Remove. You will receive a message:



Selected Target System(s) will be removed from “<NAME>”. Do you wantto proceed?

Choose Yes and then Save.

ResultTarget System(s) removed from Target System Group "<ID>”. Updates in Target Systems willtake place with next distribution.

Deleting Target System GroupUseYou can directly delete a Target System Group when no Printer Group is distributed to theTarget System Group.

If you want to delete a Target System Group to which a Printer Group is distributed, you mustdissolve the distribution first.

ProcedureTo delete a Target System Group, select the Target System Group in the PAL Object List andclick Delete.

This action will only delete the Target System Group. The Target Systems whichwere members of the deleted Target System Group will not be deleted but canbe used in other Target System Groups then.

If a Printer Group has been distributed to this Target System Group, you will receive thefollowing error message:

Target System Group “<NAME>” still in use.

In this case you must dissolve the distribution of the Printer Group to this Target SystemGroup as described in chapter Deleting Printer Group [Page 22] section Delete PrinterGroup from Target System Group.

Afterwards you can delete the Target System Group as described above.

Creating Printer GroupUseA Printer Group (PG) is a set of Printers which is to be distributed to one or more TargetSystem Group(s) (TSG). Printers can not be distributed to Target Systems (TS) directly. Theymust be a member of a Printer Group.



You can

create empty Printer Groups and add members later

add members directly when creating the Printer Group

remove members from a Printer Group as described in section Changing PrinterGroup.

You can not add a Printer to more than one Printer Group.

ProcedureIn the PAL Object List select ‘Printer Group’ from the dropdown menu.

Click Create. The dialog box ‘Create Printer Group’ appears.

Enter name and description for the Printer Group.

If you want to create an empty Printer Group, click OK. A sub screen appears with twotab pages. To save the empty Printer Group, click Save on the Details tab page.

If you want to add Printers immediately, select the Printers from the list in the dialogbox which contains all Printers defined in the system. You can also use the filterfunction to search for special Printers. To select more than one Printer, press SHIFTwhile clicking on the Printers in the list.

When you have added the Printers, click OK. Choose the Members tab page on the subscreen to check if the Printers have been added correctly. Afterwards choose the Details tabpage and click Save.

Changing Printer GroupsAdd PAL Printer to Printer GroupIf you want to add Printers to an existing Printer Group, choose the Printer Group from thePAL Object List and select tab strip ‘Members’, and press Add. Proceed as described insection Procedure.

Remove Printer from Printer GroupIf you want to remove Printers from a Printer Group, choose the Printer Group from the PALObject list and select tab strip ‘Members’. Choose the printers, and click Remove. You willreceive a system message ‘Selected Printer(s) will be removed from <NAME>. Do you wantto proceed?’Click Yes.

The Printer Group is saved when message ‘Operation completed successfully’appears.



Deleting Printer GroupUseYou can directly delete a Printer Group which is not distributed to a Target System Group.

If you want to delete a Printer Group which is distributed to a Target System Group, you mustdissolve the distribution first.

ProcedureDelete Printer GroupTo delete a Printer Group which is not distributed to a Target System Group, select the PrinterGroup in the PAL Object List and click Delete.

This action will only delete the Printer Group. The Printers which were membersof the deleted Printer Group will not be deleted but can be used in other PrinterGroups then.

You can display the content of the Printer Group by expanding the entry in the PAL ObjectList.

Delete Printer Group from Target System GroupIf the Printer Group is distributed, you must dissolve the distribution first, otherwise you willget error message Printer Group “<NAME>” still in use.

Select the Printer Group; click Delete Delete Printer Group from Target System Group.Select the Target System Group and click Ok. A dialog box ‘Distribution Status’ appearswhich shows the following message:Printers in “<NAME>” deleted from all selected Target SystemGroup(s).

Afterwards you can delete the Printer Group as described in the section above.

The Distribution ProcessPurposeDistribution can take place between Printer Groups and Target System Groups, but notbetween single PAL Printers and Target Systems. A Printer Group may be distributed toseveral Target System Groups.

Process FlowDistribution is the final step you have to perform during PAL configuration....



1. You have defined the PAL Landscape [Page 5] (Central System and Target Systems)and created the RFC Destinations in the Central System [Page 7].

2. You have created your PAL Objects [Page 14].

3. Now you have to distribute [] all definitions from the Central System to theTarget Systems.

Distribute Printer Group to Target System GroupPrerequisitesYou can:

Distribute one or more Printer Groups to one or more Target System Groups.

You cannot:

Distribute individual Printers to individual Target Systems or to Target System Groups.

Distribute Printer Groups to individual Target Systems.

If you want to distribute an individual PAL Printer to an individual Target System,you can create a Printer Group which contains this printer only and a TargetSystem Group which contains this Target System only. Afterwards you canperform the distribution procedure as described above.

ProcedureIn the PAL Object List, select 'Printer Group' from the dropdown menu. Select your PrinterGroup from the list and click Distribute. A selection screen with all defined Target SystemGroups appears. Select the Target System Group(s) you want distribute the Printer Group to.

Make sure that the distribution combinations are correct before you select OK.

ResultWhen the Device Type Check [Page 12] is finished, the Printers (Members ) of your PrinterGroup can be used in the Target Systems for printing.

If you change Printer Groups or Target System Groups after the distribution, you must updatethe distribution afterwards.

ExampleIf you add a Printer to a Printer Group which is distributed to a Target System Group, anotification message will appear:Printer(s) added to Printer Group "<NAME>". Updates in Target Systemswill take place with next distribution.

Proceed as described in chapter Distribution Status [Page 24] Re-Distribute.



Distribution StatusUseAfter you have distributed a Printer Group to a Target System Group, the distribution status isstored in the Central System and can be displayed from the PAL Object List.

FeaturesYou can use this function anytime to check the distribution status of your PAL Objects. Toopen the distribution status for all PAL Objects, simply click Distribution Status.

To open the distribution status for one Printer, for example, select the Printer from the PALObject List and click Distribution Status. A dialog box will appear which shows the PrinterGroup, including all members, the Target System Groups including all Target Systems, andthe Distribution Status. Column 'Remarks' shows the detailed outcome of the last distributionoperation or the result of a modification operation in SPAD or the outcome of a groupingoperation in PAL (adding or removing a Printer to or from a Printer Group), for example:

Distributed successfully.

Need to be removed. Printer has been marked for removal. Re-distribution required.

Printer has been modified on Central System. Re-distributionrequired.

Printer not yet distributed. Re-distribution required.

Distribution failed. Printer “XX” already exists as non-PALPrinter

The Distribution failed error happens when you try to distribute a Printer Groupto a Target System Group which contains a Target System from which one ofthe Printers in the Printer Group has been retrieved.

You can get over this error by checking the overwrite flag in the 'PAL ObjectProperties' section of the Printer.

ActivitiesIn some cases, re-distribution is necessary. For example, when a printer has been added toor deleted from a Printer Group which is distributed to a Target System Group, the TargetSystems in this Target System Group must be ‘notified’ about the changes.

For more information and examples read chapter Re-Distribute Printer Group to TargetSystem Group [Page 25] for more information.



Re-Distribute Printer Group to Target System GroupUseDuring PAL configuration period reorganization of Printer Groups and Target System Groupscan be necessary. You can add or remove Printers from a Printer Group (see chapterCreating Printer Group [Page 20]). You can also add or remove Target Systems from aTarget System Group (see chapter Creating Target System Group [Page 19]). Withoutperforming a re-distribution these modifications apply only to the definition of a Printer Groupand Target System Group in the Central System. To reflect the changes made on the CentralSystem in the Target Systems, a re-distribution has to be done. During the re-distributionPrinters are automatically added to or removed from the affected Target Systems.

ExampleUpdate error corrections

If a distribution fails with error, for example because of RFC destination failure, you correctthe RFC destination in the Target System(s) first. Then click Distribution Status, select theapplicable Printer Group and click Re-distribute.

Update Printer Group Modification

If you remove a Printer from a Printer Group or a Target System from a Target System Group,you must re-distribute the changed configuration to the affected Target System Group(s) asdescribed above.

Printer Status FeedbackPurpose

You can request status feedback for Printers with the following connection types:

Access Method S

Access Method U

Access Method L

PrerequisitesPrinters with access method S must be connected over a TCP/IP port to their Windowsmachine.

Internet Graphics Service (IGS) must be up with Interpreter RspoConnector installed. Formore information about IGS Setup, read SAP Note 454042 and the following documentationavailable from the SAP Library:



SAP NetWeaver by Key Capability Application Platform by Key Capability ABAPTechnology UI Technology SAP Graphics Internet Graphics Service Configuringthe IGS Configuring the IGS for ABAP-based Front-End Technology.

SAPSprint must be up and running.

ExampleAfter a Printer has been created, you can access the status of that particular Printer. Selectthe Printer in the PAL Object List and click Printer Status in the PAL Object Details section.

One of following status messages will be displayed (see Fig. 1):

...

Ready

Busy

Standby

Non-critical alert

Moving offline

Critical alert

Printer unavailable

Offline

Moving online

Unknown

Idle

Printing

Warm-up

Fig. 1 Status messages



Depending on the status message some additional information will be displayed with (seeFig. 2):

Low paper

No paper

Low toner

No toner

Door open

Jammed

Offline

Service requested

Input tray missing

Output tray missing

Marker supply missing

Output near full

Output full

Input tray empty

Overdue preventive maintenance

Fig 2. Additional information



Technical RequirementsPrinter status feedback is retrieved by Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) usingthe Host MIB (RFC 2790) and Printer MIB (RFC 1759) definition.

For performance and stability reasons the printer status request is routed out of the dialogwork process to an external RFC Server, the Internet Graphics Service (IGS). Depending onthe connection type of the printer,

IGS talks directly to the Printer via SNMP or

IGS talks to SAPSprint which in turn talks to the Printer via SNMP

For more information about SNMP visit the homepage of the Internet Engineering TaskForce at: http://ietf.org/ and http://tools.ietf.org/.

Requirements...

1. Printers with access method S must be connected over a TCP/IP port to their Windowsmachine.

2. Internet Graphics Service (IGS) must be up with Interpreter RspoConnector installed.

For more information about IGS Setup, read SAP Note 454042 and the documentationavailable from the SAP Library:

SAP NetWeaver by Key Capability Application Platform by Key Capability ABAPTechnology UI Technology SAP Graphics Internet Graphics Service Configuring the IGS Configuring the IGS for ABAP-based Front-End Technology.

3. SAPSprint must be up and running.



4.

Internet Graphics Service SetupMake sure that IGS has the RspoConnector Interpreter loaded. Check ReportGRAPHICS_IGS_ADMIN in the Central System: Select tab strip Status and check sectionRegistered_Interpreter. The Interpreter RSPOCONNECTOR must be listed here.

Read the Internet Graphics Service documentation for information about installing andconfiguring the IGS. You can access this documentation from:

SAP NetWeaver Library SAP NetWeaver by Key Capability Application Platform by KeyCapability ABAP Technology UI Technology SAP Graphics Internet GraphicsService.

SAPSprint Service SetupSAPSprint must be up and running. Protocol version must be 229 or higher. Check theprotocol version of SAPSprint with the CLI command 'sapsprint -v':

C:\Development\fes\dev\src\dbg\ntintel>sapsprint -vThis is SAPSprint Version 7, 1, 0, 0.1, 0, 1, 8 for Windows(32Bit)Protocol Version 229Copyright ® 2005 SAP AG

If the line stating the protocol version is not displayed, SAPSprint uses version 228 or lower.To find out versions and installation instructions, read SAP Note 894444.

RFC DestinationRFC destination IGS_RFC_DEST is required because the Central System uses it tocommunicate with IGS.



Enabling Output Devices for Printer Status FeedbackUseTo ensure that Printer Status Feedback works in PAL you need to check a couple of settingsin transaction SPAD.

ActivitiesPrinter with access method SMake sure that the content of the field 'Host printer' matches the name of the printer as it isdefined to the Windows OS on which SAPSprint is running. Otherwise SAPSprint will not beable to find the printer and cannot retrieve its status. If the printer is connected to theSAPSprint hosting machine via a print server, make sure you specify this server as well (like\\servername\printername).

Make sure that the content of the field 'Destination host' matches the network host name orthe IP address of the machine that hosts SAPSprint. Make sure that this machine is visiblefrom the machine on which IGS is running.

Fig.1 Settings for Access Method S



Make sure that the printer is connected via TCP/IP port to the machine that hosts SAPSprint(see Example)

Fig. 2

Printer with access method U and LMake sure the content of the field 'IP-Address/Hostname' matches the network host name orIP address of the printer.

Make sure that the machine on which IGS is running is able to see this printer under thespecified IP address or host name.

Printer status is retrieved by using public MIB definition as described in Host MIB (RFC 2790)and Printer MIB (RFC 1759). As long as no other means of printer status feedback aresupported (e.g. making use of private MIB) the content of the field 'Community Name' shouldbe 'public'.

Make sure you specify '1' for content of field 'Version'.

Usually the printing device is represented with SNMP device index '1' in the Host MIBdefinition. Anyhow a multi function device (e.g. a combined fax, copy and printing device) mayrepresent the printer with a different device index. Refer to the documentation of the printermodel provided by the manufacturer for information about which device index must be used.



Fig. 3 Settings for Access Method U

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