Hercules Studio Printer Users Guide


Defining a printer is done in 3 stages:
  1. The stationery (paper) used for printing. This contains paper properties like size, color, pattern etc.
  2. The separator control rules (also called decolation rules). This defines how an end of job is recognnized and what is the file name that will be assigned to the job's output.
  3. The printer itself. Here we define attributes like the host address, as well as the stationery and decolation rules to be used when running this printer.
Hercules Studio comes whith 1 pre-configured printer, one pre-configured stationery, and 2 pre-configured decolation rules. If you are going to run one of the following systems: mvs38 or any other legacy MVS, VM SP, then all you need to do is start the printer, change the IP address and port to match those defined in the printer section in hercules configuration, and connect it to a running hercules. If you would like to define your own decolation rules, stationery, or define a new pre-configured printer, keep reading...

Printer Definition

Printer Properties

Printer Name - This is the name of the printer as it will appear when being run. You can select other pre-configured printers from the drop-down menu.

IP Address - the address assigned in the hercules configuration file to the network printer. A typical network printer is defined in hercules like this:
    000E 1403 localhost:1403 sockdev

Note the "sockdev" definition that identifies this as a network printer. For more elaborate description of the device definition in hercules in general, and defining socket printers in particular, consult the Hercules documentation regarding 1403 type printer in the Hercules Reference Summary.

Port number - this is the port number used by the printer socket. See IP Address definition for more inforamtion on network printer definition.

Stationery - This loads the requested stationery to the printer and defines the look of the paper used in the output. You can use one of the pre-defined stationeries, or define you own. Defining custom stationery is described in details in the "Stationery" section.

Lines Per Inch - This is the number of lines that will be printed for every inch (veritcally). It controls the density of the printed lines. A value which is too low may cause pages to "overflow" and miss the last lines on each page, while too high a number will result in a condenced printing.

A typical Lines Per Inch value is 6.

Font size - This is the font size to use. 11 or 12 are typical values.

Spool Directory - This is the root directory of the "spool", i.e., where "sysouts" (the printed files) will be created. Note that by using decolation rules you can define further subdirectories according to your need. For example, you can have a subdirectory for each day, for each user, etc. See the Decolation Rules section for more details. Decolation Rules - This defines the decolation rule to be used. A decolation rule is what defins to the printer:
  1. How to identify a job end.
  2. What fields in the output (actually in the first page) are to be used as fields which later can be used to specify the file name.
  3. Other characteristics of a job. See the section about decolation rules for more information about defining decolation rules.
See the section about decolation rules for more information about defining decolation rules.

Buttons on the printer dialog:

Delete - This button deletes the current printer from the repositoy.

Connect - Attempts connecting the printer to a running OS inside Hercules. Once cilcked, the printer will attempt connecting to the printer socket. Depending on whether Hercules was started/switched-on yet or not - the printer will wait for an available connection. In any case after clicking this button, it's mode will change into "Disconnect". If clicked again it will disconnect from Hercules (or stop waiting for a connection if none was established yet).

Exit - this button closes the connection, if established, and exits the printer dialog. (TODO: does exit keep the connection/ minimizes to system try?)

Closing/hiding the dialog - When the printer is cnnected to a hercules, you can close the window. The dialog will be minimized into an icon on the system tray. You can click the icon on the tray to restore the printer dialog. Closing the window while there is no active connection closes the dialog like any normal window closure.

Stationery Definition

Stationery Properties Stationery STyle
The stationery dialog defines the look and feel of the "paper" on which the printing takes places. The fields in this dialog are:

Name - This is the name of the stationery. When later starting a printer, you can select that name from the stationery drop-down field in the printer dialog. Some names are reserved. Selecting them diables changes to the stationery definition. You can change the name, and that will enable editting these all fields.
Exiting the dialog saves the stationery definition.

Papaer Tab

Paper Size - This defines the paper size for the printer. There are several sizes to choose from. When selecting Custom size, a non-standard paper size can be defined.

Units - Size can be expressed either in decimal inches or millimiters.

Orientation - Defines the paper orientation.

Top Margin - Gap to be lft at the top of the paper. Top margin is always measured in inches. The default is 1/2 inch.

Style Tab

Tractor Feed Holes - Adds tractor holes image to resemble legacy contiuous paper.

Decorated - Adds a fine frame around the printable area.

Bars Color - Defines the typical horizoltal bars color. Selecting "Custom" opens up the next field

Custom Bars Color - Enter the desired color using html notation. In HTML notation Red, Green, and Blue are defined using a hexadecimal value between 00 and FF. The value should be receded with a number sign. For example pure green is expressed as #00ff00

Decolations

Decolation Properties Decolation Triggers


Decolation rules define how the stream of output comming from the hosted operating system will be cut into individual PDF file (The decolator was a device used for seperating continuous paper into individual jobs).
There are 2 tabs in the decolation dialog: Seperator and Accounting.

Seperator Tab

In the seperator tab you define the rules by which the printer will identify a job's end. When a page with all the defined values is encountered, an end-of-job condition is triggered. The Nummber Of Job ENd Pages is used when the hoted operating system prints more than one such page.

Accounting Tab

In the accounting tab you define values to be extracted from every job's first page. These values can then be used in the file name template.
The file name can be defined using the extracted values. You can also define directories with names extracted from the job's output, and thus, for example, have a directory or each date of output. You can have more thanone level of output, for example you can have for each date a lower level which has the user (or job owner), etc.