SAP Note 17559 - SP01 error log: unknown print control...

Symptom:

A SAPscript print request terminates with the status "incorrect". The error log in transaction SP01 contains the following message:
OTF module: Unknown print control xxxxx should be output. xxxx stands for the name of the print control (for example, SLINE), but may also be missing.

Other terms

Print control, SP01, OTF

Reason and Prerequisites

The SAPscript print request contains the name of print controls that have not been maintained for the device type. Alternatively, the device type definition may be incorrect. The output does not normally contain errors. It is only the status of the print request that is set to "Error" or "Problem" in transaction SP01.

Solution

You can normally suppress this message by defining the print control (for example, S1150) for the device type you use for printing (for example, HPLJIIID) in spool administration (transaction SPAD). Do not change any of the SAP standard device types when you do so. Instead, copy the standard device type to the customer name space (Zxxx) (see Note 3166). Refer also to Note 11214.

The following causes may be the reason for the message, depending on the print control named in the log:

Print controls S0120, S1100, S8000, S8400, and so on:

This behavior is incorrect because these print controls are normally empty at the time the character sets are selected (that is, they do not contain any print commands) in the case of the device types in the SAP standard system. If one of these print controls is not defined, a message appears in the output log.

Print control not named (name ):

Every SAPscript spool request contains the names of the print controls used to activate all possible printer fonts (such as COURIER 120 normal) and printer barcodes (such as MBBARC). Print controls for printer fonts are named SFxxx, while those for printer barcodes are named SBPxx and SBSyy. You use the SAPscript font maintenance transaction to manage the assignments between fonts/barcodes and print controls.
The printer fonts may contain the following entry, for example:
KYOF1200 COURIER 120 _ _ SF001 SF017
This means that font COURIER 120 normal is set to portrait mode with SF001 on KYOF1200; landscape mode is set with SF017.
Only the first print control is maintained for line printers, which cannot print in landscape mode.
SNI9014 COURIER 120 _ _ SF001
The printer barcodes may contain the following entry, for example:
KYOF1000 ARTNR SBP01 SBS01
This means that print control SBP01 activates barcode ARTNR for KYOF1000, while SBS01 deactivates it.

The print request contains a page format in landscape mode (for example, DINA4 L), but was printed on a device type defined as a line printer with printer driver STN2 and does not have any print controls for printer fonts in landscape mode (since line printers cannot print in landscape mode). In this case, the name of the print control is not included in the error message. Solution: If you have to print on this printer type, define the form in portrait mode.

The print request contains barcodes that are not maintained for the device type used. In this case, as above, the name of the print control does not appear in the error message. Note 5196 lists the printer types in the SAP standard standard for which barcodes have been maintained. Solution: if you need to print the barcode, you should use a device with a device type for which the barcodes have been maintained. Otherwise, you should delete the barcode string in the application form. You can easily find out whether barcodes appear in the application form by checking the list of strings defined for it to see whether one of them has the attribute "Barcode" (for example, barcode MBBARC).

• Print controls SCxxx (for example, SC125) or SLyyy (for example, SL080):

The printer driver STN2 for line printing has to set the default line spacing (LPI = Lines per inch) and the default character spacing (CPI = Characters per inch) at the beginning of each new page. This is done with the print controls SLxxx (for example, SL060 = 06.0 LPI) and SCyyy (for example, SC120 = 12.0 CPI). The values for line and character spacing are derived from the header data of the SAPscript form with which the print request was generated and the selection of their setting is optional. If the form header data contains LPI and CPI values, for which there are no corresponding SLxxx or SCyyy print controls for the device type used (for example, IBM6408), the error message specified above is displayed. In this case, the form is not printed with the correct line or character spacing.
Solution: The SAPscript form must only use "established" values or CPI and LPI values supported for the individual device type (for example, CPI and 6 LPI) in the header data.
Device types for line printers only support very specific LPI and CPI values and the corresponding print controls:
6 LPI (6 lines per inch) = print control SL060 (all device types)
8 LPI (8 lines per inch) = print control SL080 (many device types)
4 LPI (4 lines per inch) = print control SL040 (few device types)
10 LPI (10 lines per inch) = print control SL100 (few device types)
12 LPI (12 lines per inch) = print control SL120 (few device types)

10 CPI (10 lines per inch) = print control SC100 (all device types)
12 CPI (12 lines per inch) = print control SC120 (many device types)
15 CPI (15 lines per inch) = print control SC150 (some device types)
5 CPI (5 lines per inch) = print control SC050 (few device types)
6 CPI (6 lines per inch) = print control SC060 (few device types)

Other print controls:
Some printer drivers require other print controls in addition to those for the fonts/barcodes. If these have not been maintained for the device type, the error message is output. Examples include:
S<<<<, S>>>>, SLINE, SPAGE, SPORT, SLAND, SUL<<, SUL>>, SUB<<, SUB>>, SUP<<, SUP>>
The R/3 online printer installation documentation ("Printer manual") tells you which print controls are required by which printer drivers.