1. Can you already print on the printer from your PC? If not, then you must install the printer in your Windows PC. You can find details on this in your Windows documentation.

You must be able to print on the printer from your PC before you can use if from the R/3 System.

Also, be sure that the Windows PC is reachable by network link from the R/3 System. You can use the ping command to check the network connection to the PC: ping <host name of PC>. Run this operating system command at the host system on which the R/3 spool server is to run. If the command returns a success message (for example, 0% packet loss), then the network connection is fine.

2. Is the SAPLPD transfer program running on your Windows PC? This program transfers print output from the R/3 System to the Windows output controller.

For more information on SAPLPD and its options, see Setting Up the SAPLPD Transfer Program for Printers and Fax Machines.

3. Define the printer in the R/3 System. Choose Tools ® CCMS ® Spool ® Spool administration and then Output devices. Choose Change and then Create to set up a new printer definition.
4. Fill out the definition screen.

The graphic shows a completed definition. You can find help for filling out the fields in the tables after the graphic.



 

Printer Definition

Field	Value
Output device	Enter a name for the printer. It is the name with which your R/3 users will access the printer. The name may be up to 30 characters long and are case-sensitive. Users must enter the name exactly as you define it.
Short name	Allow the system to generate a short name from the Output device name. This name is used internally by the spool system.
Device type	Enter the device type that has been defined in the R/3 System for the printer model that you have. The Possible entries arrow displays the available device types. For generic Windows printing, use the SWIN device type. This lets you use any device supported by Windows, even if the device type is not defined in R/3.
Spool server	Enter the name of the R/3 spool server that is to prepare output for this device. Use Possible entries arrow to chose from the spool servers in the R/3 System. The spool system automatically generates the host system name from the spool server instance name.
Host printer	Enter the name of the printer from the Windows Print Manager. Example: P330 If you are using the SWIN device type, then you can also enter %DEFAULT% or __DEFAULT (underscore underscore DEFAULT) to use the default printer in the Windows Print Manager. If it is a network printer, you can also enter the Microsoft UNC name from the Print Manager. Example: \\P09330\P330
Access method	Enter S for generic Windows printing with device type SWIN. Use S by preference for all other device types as well. Access method U is also supported for PC printing, but SAP recommends that you always use access method S. Method S offers better service: return of error messages, encryption (coming soon) and so on, so you should use it for all new printer definitions. Method U continues to work, so you need not change your existing output device definitions if you do not want to. See "Access methods" in Functional Area 3: Output and Status Querying for more information.
Device class	Enter a space. This accepts the default value, printer.
Location	Any identification for the printer that you want to enter. This information is displayed to users when they choose a printer. The companion field, Message, lets you override the Location text with a special message such as Printer out of order.
Lock printer in R/3 System	Mark this field to prevent R/3 users from sending output requests to this device. Users are allowed to create output requests for the printer, but are warned that the printer is locked.
SAP Title page	Mark this field if jobs sent to this printer should have a cover sheet. A cover sheet is printed only if one has been defined in the title page action in the format actions used with the printer. All R/3 device types include pre-defined cover pages. Further, users may override the default setting you make here. They may require that a cover sheet be printed, if one is defined. Or they may print without a cover sheet.

 

When you press ENTER or the green check button, an additional field is shown:

Field	Value
Destination host	Enter the network name of the Windows PC. This is PC on which you started the SAPLPD program in step 2. You can find out the network name by entering the command hostname at the command prompt in a DOS window.

 

5. Optionally: Classify the device.

Choose Edit ® Classification. Choose the output-type classification that is appropriate for this device.

Background: If you classify your servers as well, then the spool system checks that the device and server classifications match. This helps you keep enforce an optimal output configuration. See Spool Server Definitions: Classifying Servers, Using Logical Servers, and Using Alternate Servers for more information.

6. Optionally: Choose a storage mode for spool requests for this device. If you are not sure of the setting to use, then do not use this option.

Choose Edit ® Data storage. Then choose from the following:

– Matching profile: Use the storage mode specified in the system profile of the Spool server. This is the default.

– Database: Store spool request data for this device in the R/3 database. This is the safest but also the slowest way to manage spool request data.

– File system (global): Store spool request data for this device in the globally-shared R/3 file system. This is faster than database storage, but carries the risk of loss of spool request data in the event of database or other system problems.

– File system (local): Store spool request data for this device in a local file on the Spool server’s host. This is the fastest storage mode, but carries the risk of loss of spool request data in the event of database or other system problems.

Background: This setting determines how the R/3 TemSe database manages spool request data. For more information on risks and benefits of these storage modes, see Managing the TemSe Database and the TemSe section in Functional Area 1: Spool Request Management and Storage.

7. Optionally, specify the types of paper available at this device.

Choose Paper tray info.

In the dialog, mark the paper trays and special paper feeders available at the device.

In the accompanying fields, choose the appropriate paper types from the Page formats that are defined in R/3.

Background: The R/3 spool system cannot use this information to switch paper trays according to the output. But it does use this information to detect potential incompatibilities between the output format and the available papers. It then chooses the best available format for printing at this device.

For more information, see the "Paper tray" sections in Functional Area 2: Device Management and Formatting, SAPscript: Text Processing and Forms Printing, and "List Output": The Spool System and ABAP Reports and Editors.

8. Optionally, activate security functions for this device (available only if you are using access method S).

Choose Edit ® Security. Then mark the functions that you want to activate for communications between the R/3 System and this device:

– No security: Output data is transmitted across the network from the spool server to the PC without any encoding or encryption. No SNC authentication is used.

This is the default setting.

– Disguise: The spool server and the SAPLPD program use a converted output data stream. Output data is protected from casual observation, but the conversion encoding is not secure against relatively easy decoding.

You do not have to implement R/3 Secure Network Communications (SNC) to use this security option.

– Authentication of the partner
Authentication and signing
Authentication and security for privacy: These options activate functions in R/3 Secure Network Communication. Both the R/3 server and the target PC (SAPLPD program) must be SNC-enabled. See the R/3 security documentation (restricted access) or contact SAP for assistance.

Authentication requires that the host printer verifies its identify. Security for privacy activates key-based secure encryption of output data.

– Compulsoriness of security: Mark whether the PC (SAPLPD program) must meet your security requirement or not. Mark Optional to allow printing even if the PC cannot comply. Mark Compulsory to terminate printing immediately if the PC cannot comply.

Background: The options above specify how the R/3 spool server is to behave. This option lets you specify what the server should do if the target PC (SAPLPD program) is not able to respond with the same level of security. This covers for example the situation when a server demands authentication, but a PC is not SNC-enabled.

9. Optionally, choose Next screen to display the second device definition screen.

Here you can make the following specifications:

– Lang. cover sheet: Choose the language in which R/3 cover sheets should be output. This setting determines the language used for texts such as "Recipient" that you place on the title page or that are present in the default SAP title page.

– Monitoring using monitoring infrastructure: Mark this field if this is an important printer whose status should be tracked in the Release 4.0 CCMS alert monitor.

– Each copy as a separate request: Mark this field if the device is not able to repeat a single output request in order to print multiple copies of a document. If this field is marked, then the spool system sends a separate output request for each copy that the R/3 user requests.

– Sequential request processing: Mark this field to require that the spool system print output requests in the order that they are generated. For more information on sequential printing, see "Print in Order of Generation" in Multiple Spool Workprocesses and Spool Server Selection.

– Host title: Optionally, choose the default setting for whether or not the SAP cover sheet should be printed at this device. Users can override this setting when the fill out printing options.

– SAPscript additional information: If it is necessary to adjust the positioning of SAPscript output on this device, you can do so in these fields.

Negative values in Horizontal move and Vertical shift move the positioning of SAPscript output up and to the left. Positive values move the output down and to the right.

Background information: See Positioning on the Output Page in SAPscript: Text Processing and Forms Printing.

10. Save the device definition and exit.

Deciding Whether to Use SWIN, the Printer-Specific Device Type, or Both

Checking SWIN’s Performance

Setting Up the SAPLPD Transfer Program for Printers and Fax Machines

For additional background information, see Implementing R/3 "Local Printing".