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Use

The Output Text Format (OTF) is the established SAP output format for printing forms. It consists of a number of simple, device-independent commands, thus allowing output to be directed to different output devices such as line printers and laser printers, or as an on-screen print preview. OTF is an explicit output format, which means that once SAP Smart Forms has generated an OTF output, no modifications can be made.

Note

OTF is set as the default in the Form Builder.

Prerequisites

OTF is usually output using spool processing. For this output, a printer must be set up in the system with a device type that understands OTF.

Note

SAP Printing Guide (BC-CCM-PRN).

Features

You can convert OTF into other formats:

  • Use function module CONVERT_OTF to convert OTF to PDF (set import parameter FORMAT to 'PDF'). The prerequisite for this is that OTF is returned as a table in the application program.

  • When sending output as an e-mail or fax, you can specify a conversion for nodes in SAPconnect administration (transaction SCOT). See also: Formats.

Activities

Activating OTF Statically

In the Form Attributes in the Form Builder, go to the Output Options tab page and set the Output Format in the Output box to Standard Output. The attributes Output Mode and Output Device are not filled and are locked.

By default, OTF output is sent to spool processing. The printer specified in the printer settings is used as the output device (prerequisite: the standard parameter USER_SETTINGS is set; otherwise a printer must be specified either dynamically using the spool settings or manually in the spool dialog).

Note

See also: Default Settings (Standard Output).

For information on other output options, see Output Media.

Activating OTF Dynamically

There is no standard parameter for activating OTF output dynamically. OTF is the default output format. To override this setting, activate either XSF output, HTML output, or XDF output. However, even if one of these output formats is set in the form, you can still use OTF output:

  1. Define a structure for the output options (type: SSFCOMPOP):

    data: output_options    type SSFCOMPOP.

  2. Deactivate all other output formats set in the form:

    * Deactivate XDF

output_options-xdfcmode = 'X'.
output_options-xdf = SPACE.

* Deactivate XSF and XSF + HTML

output_options-xsfcmode = 'X'.
output_options-xsf = SPACE.
    Note

    Since HTML output is based on XSF, you only need to deactivate XSF output.

  3. Now you can set other parameters for standard output. Some parameters are already set in the default settings (see Default Settings (Standard Output)).

  4. Call the generic function module and pass the structure output_options to the standard parameter with the same name.