Editing Cover Pages for Output Requests (SAP Library

Editing Cover Pages for Output Requests

In all standard R/3 device definitions, the cover page used for output requests is defined in the X_PAPER format of the device type definition. The X_PAPER cover page is the default, used if no cover page has been defined for the page format of an output request that is being output.

If the default X_PAPER cover page for a particular type of device is not suitable for use at your site, then you can replace or modify it in either of these ways:

You can change the definition of the default X_PAPER cover page.
You can override the default cover page by defining special cover pages for particular formats. If a format has its own cover page action, then the spool system uses this instead of the X_PAPER cover page.

If you have multiple types of printers at your site, you must define a separate cover page for each device type.

Procedure: Defining or Editing a Cover page

To define or edit a cover page for output requests, do the following:

Copy the device type: If the cover page is for a standard R/3 device type, then copy the device type to a name that begins with Y or Z (the namespace reserved for customers).

To copy the device type, choose Tools ® CCMS ® Spool ® Spool administration ® Full administration and then Utilities ® For device types ® Copy device type. In the first field on the next screen, enter the name of the device type you want to copy. In the second field, enter a name for the new device type. This name should begin with a Z to avoid any conflict between your device type definition and the standard R/3 definition.

If you only want to change the cover page, select Use references. This adds to your copy a reference to device format actions in the standard R/3 device type. Modify the cover page action; the other actions remain as in the R/3 standard even after a system upgrade.

Do not change cover pages in the original standard device type. If you do so, your changes may be lost when the next SAP System upgrade or release is installed.

Edit the new device type: Return to the initial spool administration screen and select the Device Types tab page. Enter the name of the new device type and confirm your entry. Choose This graphic is explained in the accompanying text

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Formats.

Choose the format for which you want to create or edit a cover page. Enter X_PAPER as the format if you want to modify the default cover page. Enter the name of another format to create a cover page specifically for that format.

Edit the Cover page action. The next two sections explain what to enter in a cover page action and which variables and symbols you can use to output information on the cover page. The default cover page action is one of the X_PAPER actions. X_PAPER is used for all formats if the format does not have its own cover page action.

Start by setting up the printer: A cover page action should first issue any printer commands necessary for setting up the printer. The cover page action is issued before the initialization action in which the device is set up for the coming output request. This means that the cover page action must make all printer adjustments necessary so that the cover page prints correctly. (The cover page must come before initialization because by default the spool system uses the X_PAPER cover page. X_PAPER cannot make the required settings as the subsequent print request may use any one of many formats. If the cover page followed initialization, its settings might alter settings made during the initialization. The initialization for the print job therefore comes after the cover page.)

If you are editing a copy of a standard R/3 cover page action, you do not need to change the initialization commands. If you are creating a new cover page action, then use, whenever possible, a standard R/3 cover page as a guide to the commands to be issued to a given type of printer.

For example, you may need to set all of the following printer attributes at the start of a cover page action:

The printer font and/or character set
The printer emulation mode
The page format (or page length for the SAPscript STND and STN2 line printer drivers)
The leading (lines per inch)
The page orientation (portrait or landscape)

Then print the cover page: For the cover page text, you can use two types of variables to add information such as user name, recipient address, and so on.

For a list of the variables, see Variables for Printing Data on Cover Pages.

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