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Print Services Facility for i5/OS™ (PSF for i5/OS), a feature of i5/OS, a feature of OS/400, is the AFP™ system manager and Intelligent Printer Data Stream™ (IPDS™) printer manager for IBM System i models. PSF for i5/OS is at the heart of the native, integrated System i print and presentation architecture. It supports the complex document requirements of today's communications, manages each page of each job to IPDS printers, and integrates fully with the
e-output functions of System i servers.
Print management
First and foremost, PSF for i5/OS manages the delivery of System i output. It directs a dialog with the IPDS printer that enables each page and each job to be printed completely, with full error recovery and page range support. PSF for i5/OS also manages all of the elements required for each page, such as fonts, images and overlays, dynamically delivered as needed to the printer.
And, because of the seamless integration within i5/OS, PSF for i5/OS functions are a natural, automatic part of the System i print interface.
PSF for i5/OS uses this same IPDS architecture to print reliably to network-deployed printers with the same functionality as direct-attached printers. These capabilities are essential in realizing the promise of network-deployed printers.
Today's output requirements
PSF for i5/OS is the common denominator across the many trends impacting business and e-business communications. The need to convert preprinted form-based output to electronic output, to implement more complex pages, to handle production printing speeds, to consolidate multiple print datastreams, and to re-engineer output for e-business all point to the integrated System i AFP architecture. PSF for i5/OS occupies a central role in the flow of output from applications to users.
Print Services Facility for i5/OS can take document and reports residing in IBM System i output queues and manage them to completion at the printer. It accomplishes this by converting the document or report datastream to IPDS. This datastream is very similar to AFP (Advanced Function Presentation™) but is printer-specific.
Additionally, and most importantly, IPDS is an interactive datastream. This enables a conversation between PSF for i5/OS and the printer to ensure all required document resources (fonts, overlays, images) are delivered when they are needed and all pages are printed completely and accurately.
Schematic of delivery structure for print and e-business output using PSF for i5/OS architecture.
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