SAP Printing

Remote Printing on Microsoft windows PCs / Thin Clients

Description:This Document provides the information about SAP Remote Printing on Microsoft Windows PCs

 

1.1    Defining an Output Device for Remote Printing on Microsoft Windows PCs 

1.1.1    Use

You want to print using your SAP System on a printer that is defined on a remote host with the Microsoft Windows operating system. To do this, you must create a network connection to the printer, as the SAP spool server (SAP spooler) and the Microsoft Windows spool system (operating system spooler) are not on the same host. To be able to use remote Microsoft Windows PC printing, you must create the appropriate device definition for the output device in the SAP System.

SAP provides its own remote printing solution for remote printing using Microsoft Windows PCs. This solution uses the SAPlpd transfer program to transfer output requests from the SAP spool server to the Microsoft Windows spooler. You can use SAPlpd in all Microsoft Windows systems. With Microsoft Windows NT/2000, remote printing can also be implemented using the TCP/IP Print Server.

However, we recommend that you use the SAPlpd transfer program, as the TCP/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. SAPlpd, on the other hand, can also interpret data streams that were generated with the generic, that is device-independent, device type SWIN/SAPWIN, and call the appropriate Microsoft Windows drivers that generate device-specific data streams. You can therefore use printers with SAPlpd that are not specifically defined in the SAP System, but which are addressed device-independently.

 

1.1.2    Prerequisites

        Ensure that you can already print documents on the printer from your PC.

If this is not the case, install the printer on the Microsoft Windows PC. For information about this, see your

Microsoft Windows NT documentation.

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

printer.

        If you want to print with the generic device type SWIN/SAPWIN, you must have installed the newest version of

the SAPlpd transfer program on your Microsoft Windows PC.

 

1.1.3    Procedure

Follow the procedure below to create a device definition for remote PC printing:

...

       1.      Call transaction SPAD, and choose Output Devices.

       2.      If you are not in change mode, switch to this mode by choosing  Change.

       3.      You can now do the following:

        You can create a new device definition by choosing Output Device  Create.

        You can use an existing device definition as a template.

To do this, click the entry for the output device that is to be used as a template, and choose Output

Device  Create Using Template.

1.     4.       Specify the name of the output device and fill out the mandatory fields of the individual tab pages as follows:

 

Field Input

Device Attributes Tab Page

Device Type

Enter the device type that is defined in the SAP System for the printer model, such as HPLJ4 for the HP Laser Jet 4.

For printing under Microsoft Windows, you can also use the genericSWIN device type. SWIN allows you to address any device supported by Microsoft Windows, even if the device type is not defined in the SAP System.

For a list of the device types delivered, see SAP Note 8928 in the SAP Service Marketplace.

Spool Server

Select the SAP spool server that is to format output for this device.

For additional information, see Spool Server .

Device Class Select Standard printer.

Host Spool Access Methodtab page

Access Method

Select the appropriate access method :

              for SAPlpd: S or U

              for Microsoft Windows lpr: U

The data is forwarded with this access method from SAPlpd/Windows lpr to the host spooler.

Host Printer

Enter the UNC name of the printer (name and network path) as it is defined in the Microsoft Windows spool system.

For example: P09330P330

Destination Host

Enter the network name of the Microsoft Windows PC. This is the PC on which the SAPlpd transfer program or the TCP/IP Print Server is running.

After starting SAPlpd, the name of the PC is specified in the SAPlpd window under Hostname.

 

       4.      Optional: Classify the device. To do this, choose Edit  Classification and then the appropriate output type

classification for this device. Although classification of output devices 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.

If you are preparing to assign a mass printer to a time-critical production server, then the spool system

warns you of this disparity.

1.1.4    Result

You can use the printer in the SAP System as soon as you have saved the device definition.

1.1.5    Example

The following example shows the definition of a printer that is to be used as an output device for remote PC printing. The printer is addressed using the generic device type SWIN. The data stream is transferred using SAPlpd.

Device Attributes tab page:

Host Spool Access Method tab page:

As the host spool system and the spool server are on different hosts, the name of the destination host (PC) on which SAPlpd is running is specified on this tab page.

 

1.2    Setting Up Remote Printing for Microsoft Windows PCs 

1.2.1    Use

SAP provides its own remote printing solution for printing from Microsoft Windows PCs. This solution uses the SAPLPD transfer program to transfer output requests from the SAP spool server to the Microsoft Windows spooler. You can use SAPlpd in all Microsoft Windows systems. With Microsoft Windows NT/2000, remote printing can also be implemented using the TCP/IP Print Server.

However, we recommend that you use the SAPlpd transfer program, as the TCP/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. SAPlpd, on the other hand, can also interpret data streams that were

generated with the generic, that is device-independent, device type SWIN/SAPWIN, and call the appropriate Microsoft Windows drivers that generate device-specific data streams. You can therefore use printers with SAPlpd that are not specifically defined in the SAP System, but which are addressed device-independently.

1.2.2    Procedure

The figure below shows the architecture for remote printing with a Microsoft Windows PC:

 

1.3    Remote Printing on Microsoft Windows PCs Assume you have the following configuration:

        An application server named HPUX_C11_11 on a UNIX workstation with the host name HPUX.

        A Microsoft Windows NT PC called PC0033.

1.3.1    Printer Configuration

There is not an SAP application server with a spool work process on the Microsoft Windows PC PC0033. You therefore want to useHPUX_C11_11 as a spool server for printing SAP data.

The shared network printer PC0035LPT1 is available as an output device.

The figure below shows the printer configuration for this example:

To implement this printing configuration do the following:

...

       1.      The SAP spool server (application server with a spool work process) with the ID HPUX_C11_11 must

provide the spool processing and 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.      On the Microsoft Windows PC PC0033, start the transfer   program SAPlpd  that is installed together with the

SAPGUI frontend software.

SAPLPD is the Line Printer Daemon (LPD) developed by SAP for Microsoft Windows. In this way, you can also

use the functions that an LPD provides in UNIX in Microsoft Windows.

You can automatically start SAPLPD by adding the program icon to the start program group.

       3.      Define printer PC0035LPT1 in the Microsoft Windows spool system for the PC PC0033 as an output

device.

       4.      Define the output device in the SAP System.

To do this, create a device definition in transaction SPAD (choose the Output Devices pushbutton  Output

Device menu Create/Create Using Template).

Specify the following in the device definition:

        Specify HPUX_C11_11 as the spool server for the printers.

        For Access method, specify S (Print on LPDHOST using SAP protocol) if the output device is defined

with the generic SWIN device type.

If you are using a different device type, you can specify either Access method U (Print on LPDHOST via

Berkeley protocol) or S.

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

printer. Only whether the spool server is on the same host as the host spool system (operating system

spooler) is relevant for setting up output devices in the SAP System.

 

 

 

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

...

       1.      To use SAPWIN/SWIN, install and start the SAPLPD transfer program on a Microsoft Windows PC.

SAPlpd is installed with the SAP GUI frontend software.

If you are using Microsoft Windows NT/2000, remote printing can also be implemented using the TCP/IP Print

Server.

SAPlpd and TCP/IP Print Server accept the data stream and forward it to the host spool system (operating

system spooler).

       2.      Define the printers you want to use in the Microsoft Windows spooler.

You can use both locally connected and shared network devices.

       3.      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 SAPlpd, choose Access method U (Print on LPDHOST using Berkeley protocol)

or S (Print on LPDHOST using SAP protocol). For printing using the TCP/IP Print Server, you can only

use access method U.

 

 

 

Customer Benefits:Users can take SAP prints remotely from any printer with in the network.

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