Frontend Printing (SAP GUI for
Windows)
Use
With frontend printing under Microsoft Windows, the system addresses a printer that is only defined in the Microsoft Windows operating system of the frontend PC.
· Users want to print directly at their workstation, without having to create a specific device definition in the SAP System. This is especially the case for users that often work at different work stations or log on to the SAP System on a mobile basis, and want to print at their current location.
· Unlike the access methods of other methods of printing, access method F for frontend printing does not require any fixed IP addresses. This means that the default printer of each Microsoft Windows PC on which the SAPlpd transfer program is running can be generically addressed.
Generic means that you only have to create one output device in the SAP System for frontend printing. This device is defined in such a way that the default printer at every frontend can be called.
· Administrators want to avoid costly administration work, in that they do not want to have to set up frontend printers individually as remote printers. However, defining a generic output device is sufficient.
Prerequisites
Authorizations
In addition to the general print authorizations, every user requires the following authorizations for frontend printing:
· Authorization object S_SPO_DEV, authorization field SPODEVICE, authorization %LOC
· Authorization object S_RFC:
Field |
Value |
RFC_TYPE |
FUGR |
RFC_NAME |
LPRF |
ACTVT |
16 |
Architecture Prerequisites
· At least one printer must be defined.
· The host spool system (operating system spooler) must be on a frontend PC.
· There must be an active connection to the frontend PC, that is, the user must be logged on to the SAP System at the time of printing from the SAP System.
Frontend printing in the background is not possible, as there is no active connection to the frontend.
· An additional SAP GUI session is required for transferring the data to the frontend; therefore, the user must only be using a maximum of five sessions.
· You should use the newest SAP GUI and the newest version of the SAPlpd transfer program.
You can find the newest versions in the Software Center of the SAP Service Marketplace (http://service.sap.com/patches). For the exact paths, see SAP Note 328252.
· It is irrelevant whether the printer is connected locally or remotely to the frontend.
SAP System Prerequisites
To be able to address users’ frontend printers from the SAP System, the corresponding device definition must contain the following details:
· If you define an output device in a SAP System, specify the type of connection with which the output device is to be addressed. This connection type is known as the access method and is identified by a letter.
For an output device for frontend printing, the access method is F.
· So that the default printer at every host can be addressed, you must specify the host printer __DEFAULT (two underscores) in the device definition. __DEFAULT calls the relevant default printer name.
· We recommend that you specify the device type SWIN or SAPWIN, or the relevant language-dependent version of SAPWIN to ensure that the system sends a printer format that any Microsoft Windows driver can interpret (see SAP Note 423003 in the SAP Service Marketplace).
However, you can also use any other SAP device type for frontend printing.
The figure below shows how the architecture for frontend printing using Microsoft Windows must look:
Activities
...
1. When the user prints from the SAP System, he or she can select the name of the frontend printer, if the default printer is to be automatically selected.
2. The output is first sent to the Sapped transfer program on the frontend PC using SAP GUI.
Sapped is started automatically.
3. Sapped forwards the data stream to the Microsoft Windows print manager.
4. The document is output on the default printer.
See also:
Frontend Printing on Local Printers
Defining Output Devices for Frontend Printing Using the SAP GUI for Windows
