SAP Note 18045 - Insertion of PCL-5 printer macros

Symptom:

How can overlays/logos from a Flash Memory Module be included into SAPscript output on PCL-5 printers (e.g. HP LaserJet series 3 and 4, Lexmark series 4039, IBM series 3912/3916)?

Cause and prerequisites

Pre-printed layout sets are expensive and modern laser printers allow overlays/logos to be inserted in the actual layout set text via macro functions.
However, as of Release 3.0A SAPscript allows download and inclusion of TIFF graphics via RSTXLDMC (see note 39031), so using of macros from Flash Memory is not required anymore.

Solution

CAUTION: The following solution can be used only for PCL-5 printers. In R/3, these are the printer types HPLJIIID, HPLJ4, LX4039 and SNI20XX8.
There are various layout set programs that are produced by third-parties on the market, most of which work under MS Windows, and allow you to create page overlays/logos graphically on your PC. If these programs allow you to create a PCL-5 macro definition from the graphic/logo, then this PCL-5 macro (which is loaded into the PCL-5 printer or is resident there in a Flash-Memory cartridge) can be called from SAPscripts using the SAPscript command PRINT-CONTROL.
Examples of such Windows programs are

• TransForm produced by the company mips Technologies

Germany: mips Technologies GmbH, 65527 Niedernhausen
Tel. 06127-3845
mips Technologies GmbH, 81739 Munich
Tel. 089-6271613-0

USA: mips Dataline America, Inc.
13240 Evening Creek Drive, Suite 311
San Diego, CA 92128
Tel. USA+619/679-4070
Fax. USA+619/679-4073

• For Lexmark-OPTRA laser printers (for example, Lexmark OPTRA R, Rx,
  L, Lx, Lxi) the Lexmark MS Windows printer driver, which is included
  in the delivery, makes it possible to generate PCL-5 macros from any
  Windows application that prints using Windows printer drivers.
  The printer driver makes it possible to download the macro
  definition to the printer's RAM, to an installed flash memory board,
  or to a disk in the printer.

• A flash SIMM module (see below) is available for the HP LaserJet 4 printer, a MS Windows program for downloading macros in the printer is included in the sale price of the SIMM module.
  

The following is necessary in R/3 for you to include a printer macro:

• Creation of a customer-specific printer definition and the maintenance of a new print control for every macro

• Insertion of the PRINT-CONTROL command line into the SAPscript layout set or in the layout set of the output text.
  

The following is necessary to prepare the printer:

• The macro (macro file) can be loaded into the printer by printing the file once from the operating system level (e.g. UNIX command lp). DISADVANTAGE: macro definitions contained in the memory of the printer are lost when you turn of the printer!

• So that you can keep the macro on the printer permanently, we recommend the use of a "Flash-Memory cartridge" (memory module for printers). You can load the macro into this and it is then always available, even after turning off the printer. The Flash-Memory module can be overwritten and normally has at least 1 Mb storage, so that you can store a large number of macros there at the same time.
  

For Hewlett-Packard LaserJet printers a product, "Flash SIMM Memory Starter Kit," contains a SIMM memory module and software for loading print macros into the module. The HP Product NUmber is is C4025 (the product belongs to the HP JetCAPS product line).

Detailed description of the actions that are necessary in R/3:

1. Copy the SAP standard printer type to Z...

The following modification (Creating a new print control) must NOT be carried out in SAP standard printer types such as HPLJIIID, HPLJ4, or LX4039. If you use an SAP standard printer type, you must first copy this to a customer-specific definition Z..., and then modify and use this - see note number 3166. You can copy a device type via the transaction Spool administration (SPAD), in the menu "Utilities -> Copy device type."

2. Create a print control ZMxxx for the printer definition Z...

Using spool administration (transaction SPAD), heading "Print control for device type," you must create a new print control for the device type used (e.g. ZHPLJ4). This print control contains the PCL-5 printer command (the macro call). The print control should be called ZMxxx, where xxx is the number (macro ID) of the PCL-5 macro. PCL-5 macros are can be identified by any number between 0 and 32767.
Caution: Some macro numbers are already used by SAP device types and/or printer drivers, see Note 16476.
Example: A macro with the number 100 is created by the PC program and made resident on the printer. The print control for this macro should then be called ZM100.
How are the remaining fields of the new print control filled?
V: 1
H: X
D: blank (space)
Control character sequence: 1B2666...793358
The control character sequence must contain the macro number at the point that is marked by ... This must also be in Hex. The numbers 0,1,2,...9 are represented by 30,31,...39 in Hex. The macro number 150 is represented in Hex as: 313530
Examples:
The print control ZM100 (call of macro 100) must contain the following as a control character sequence: 1B2666313030793358
Print control ZM547 (call of macro 574) must contain the following as a control character sequence: 1B2666353437793358
The new print control must be saved after the control character sequence has been entered correctly.

3. Creation of the SAPscript command PRINT-CONTROL for the layout set

So that the PCL-5 macro is printed together with the SAPscript output on the correspondingly prepared printer, the following command line must appear somewhere on the page on which the macro is to appear:
/: PRINT-CONTROL prctl
where prctl stands for the name of the print control, e.g.
/: PRINT-CONTROL ZM100

The command can be placed anywhere on the page. For example, a new layout set screen can be created and the command line can be entered as screen text for this layout set screen. Another option is to enter the command line at the end of a text element which always appears on this page.

If the layout set is now output on a printer which is allocated to the modified printer type Z..., then the corresponding printer macro is printed (as long as it is loaded into the printer) on every page that contains the PRINT-CONTROL command line.
Note: If the layout set is output on other device types, then in the spooler of the error log, you get the message "Unknown print control ZMxxx should have been printed", since this print control is not one of the SAP standard printer types.

Additional key words

PCL-5, printer, HP LaserJet, Macro, Logo, SAPscript