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The Infoprint Server feature of z/OS and the associated Infoprint Transform products provide an integrated end-to-end solution for enterprise print submission, processing, delivery and management. Infoprint Server is made up of several components that perform distinct functions but are tightly integrated with one another, sharing functions like Print Interface, the Printer Inventory and a common message log. Infoprint Server and Infoprint Transforms can help you consolidate distributed print workloads onto your reliable, scalable System z server and leverage your printing assets for improved productivity and a lower overall cost of ownership for output delivery and management.
Infoprint Server takes advantage of the existing Job Entry Subsystem (JES) in z/OS as the central repository for all jobs processed by Infoprint Server. Since JES printing support has been improved and enhanced over more than 30 years, it can provide very robust support for spooling, selection, scheduling, prioritization, routing and delivery of print jobs and their associated attributes to print processing systems such as Infoprint Server.
Infoprint Server's components play important roles. The Printer Inventory is at the heart of the Infoprint Server system and can provide a single repository for defining all of the printers in the enterprise managed by Infoprint Server, including PSF printers. It is designed to perform print file validation, determine job routing, provide default job attributes, and many more functions. The Print Interface component can provide a replacement for the standard z/OS Line Printer Daemon (LPD) with additional function. It can accept print requests over many print submission protocols, including standard lp/lpr, Windows File/Print and the Internet Printing Protocol.
Infoprint Server can also receive print jobs from traditional MVS batch jobs using JCL, or from online transaction systems such as CICS or IMS using the NetSpool component. By capturing output from VTAM application programs, NetSpool lets you migrate those applications for printing on PCL or PostScript printers in a TCP/IP network, or for printing on AFP printers with PSF—usually with no changes to the application programs.
The IP PrintWay component supports printing over TCP/IP to PCL and PostScript printers, over the Internet using Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) or sending output as an e-mail attachment. Re-architected in z/OS V1R5, IP PrintWay extended mode uses the Sysout Application Programming Interface (SAPI) to access jobs and job properties from JES, providing greater flexibility, scalability and reliability than in previous releases. IP PrintWay support for HP Printer Job Language (PJL) lets you track the number of pages printed on printers that support HP PJL for more accurate accounting as well as restart automatically from the page at which an interruption occurs during printing.¹
The entire Infoprint Server environment can be easily managed over the Internet using Infoprint Central, a Web-based graphical user interface. Help desk operators, for example, can monitor print jobs, start and stop printers, reset printers, track Infoprint Central actions by user ID, pinpoint network connectivity issues¹, re-route jobs or entire print queues, display job and printer messages from a common message log, and much more. It can manage printers driven by IP PrintWay extended mode and PSF printers, for a truly centralized print management solution.
The following optional Infoprint Transform products complement Infoprint Server by providing programs that let the print system automatically convert from one data format to another according to your output needs.
Infoprint Transforms to AFP (5655-N60) include the following data conversion programs:
- HP PCL to AFP
- Adobe PostScript to AFP
- Adobe PDF to AFP
- SAP R3 ABAP and OTF formats to AFP
Infoprint Transform for AFP to PCL, and Infoprint Transform for AFP to PostScript (5655-P19 and 5655-P21) help you leverage your existing AFP applications and distributed printers by transforming AFP output to print on PCL or PostScript-compatible printers.
Infoprint Transform for AFP to PDF (5655-P20) lets you convert AFP output into standard Adobe PDF so that it can be delivered as e-mail to same time and print costs, or published on a Web site or portal. AFP documents are encrypted while being transformed to PDF to protect them from unauthorized use. AFP documents can also include indexing and linking information that is converted while transforming into PDF into internal document links (bookmarks), or into links to external sources such as an internet address.
IBM Infoprint Coaxial Printer Support V2.1 for z/OS (5655-N62) provides support for printing to coaxial printers with Infoprint Server.
Infoprint Transform Manager for Linux (5639-P51) permits remote data transformation of the following file formats to AFP on an Intel Linux platform:
- Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) 1.5
- Adobe PostScript Language Level 3
- HP Printer Control Language (PCL) 6
- Graphics interchange format (GIF)
- Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) file information format (JFIF)
- Tagged image file format (TIFF)
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