Editing Device Types (SAP Library - BC

Editing Device Types

The device type consists of several components, all of which are linked by a header, which is the device type definition itself. This topic explains what you can specify directly in the device type definition.

To create or edit a device type, choose Tools ® CCMS ® Spool ® Spool administration and then Full administration. Then choose Device types to display a list of device types. If you have already copied the device type (see Copying Device Types), then just double–click your device type. Otherwise, use Create or Create with reference to set up a new device type.

You can then edit the following fields:

SAPscript Driver: Enter the name of the SAPscript printer driver to use with this device type. The drivers convert output from the SAPscript OTF format into Postscript or PRESCRIBE format, for example.

The following table describes SAPscript drivers in more detail.

SAPscript OTF Drivers

Drivers	Printers
POST	PostScript printers
PRES	Kyocera printers that use the formatting language PRESCRIBE
HPL2	Hewlett-Packard or compatible printers that use the PCL-4 (LaserJet II) or PCL-5 (LaserJet III, 4, 5, and 6) printing language
STN2	Line printers. This is a generic driver for printers that cannot be driven by one of the other OTF drivers. Proportional fonts are not supported, but character attributes such as boldface, italic, and so forth are supported. Note: The STN2 line printer driver requires that a printer can be driven in true line-mode. That is, the printer can correctly print a file that contains only printable characters and NEWLINE, CARRIAGE RETURN, and FORM FEED commands. A PostScript printer is, for example, not a line printer.
SWIN	Windows printers by way of the SAPlpd transfer program. This driver is for use only with the SAPWIN/SWIN device type. SWIN converts SAPscript OTF format to an internal R/3 protocol that SAPlpd understands and converts to Windows GDI commands. By way of SAPWIN/SWIN, you can use any type of Windows printer, regardless of whether it has a device type definition in R/3.
TELE	Default driver for fax and telex traffic from the SAPcomm communications server. Used only in the standard device types predefined for SAPcomm (TOPCALL, for example). Produces an ASCII-only output stream. The driver ignores font changes, superscripts and subscripts, underlining and other changes in font attributes.

Other drivers you may notice are either for SAP internal use or are not used.

You can only use the following functions if you are using (or copying) device types HPLJ4000, KYOFS170, POST2 and SWIN:

Drivers for list printing: Enter the name of the list printer driver for this device type. The drivers convert output from the internal list format to one of the following formats: PCL-5, PostScript (Level 2) or PRESCRIBE II.

The following table describes the SAP System drivers for list printing in more detail:

Drivers	Printers
HPL2	Hewlett-Packard or compatible printers, that use printing language PCL-5 (LaserJet III, 4, 5 and 6).
POST	PostScript printers (PostScript Level 2)
PRES	Kyocera printers that use the PRESCRIBE II printing language.
SWIN	Windows printer, by way of the SAPlpd transfer process
[No entry]	Leave the field empty if your device type should not use the list printing drivers. However, when implementing formats for your device type, you can specify that individual formats should use a driver for list printing. For information about this, see Editing Device Type Formats.

Printer character set: Enter the ID number of the R/3 character set compatible with the printer model you are defining. This character set is used to convert output characters from their R/3-internal representation to the codes needed for outputting the characters at the printer. The character set must be defined in the SAP spool system (Spool Administration).

Enter the same ID number in all three character set fields. The first character set is used for all output requests sent to printers of this type. The second and third character sets are reserved for future use.

To select an R/3 character set for a printer, use the character set specified for a similar device type, if possible. Otherwise, check that the character set identification on the printer status sheet or in the printer manual is similar to that in the R/3 character set. If you are still not sure which character set to use, compare the character codes in the R/3 character set with those in the technical guide to your printer, or do a test print with a character set. (See Testing Output Devices for more information).

If you cannot find an R/3 character set that meets this requirement, then you can define an additional character set. (See Maintaining Character Sets for help.)

OCR-A or OCR-B (optical character recognition) printing: If your device type is among those supported by R/3 for OCR, then you only need to enter the standard R/3 character set for the device type. This character set includes the special OCR-A characters hook, chair, and fork. The character set can be used for both normal and OCR output. See Printer Types that Support OCR Printing for supported printer types. OCR printing is not supported for Eastern European and Asian character sets.

First Page of SAP Printing Guide