Front-End Printing with Control Technology (Access Method G) (SAP Library

Front-End Printing with Control Technology (Access Method G)

Use

As of SAP NW 7.0 EHP 1, front-end printing with control technology and access method G replaces the traditional front-end printing using SAPlpd (access method F). Front-end printing with access method G also provides the following advantages:

● Simplified configuration and more stable execution, especially when printing using Windows Terminal Server, since SAPlpd is no longer required as a separate process with this type of front-end printing. The environment variable LP_CMD is also no longer required in terminal server environments.

● The printer selection is no longer displayed in the SAP system. Instead, a Microsoft Windows printer selection window is called directly from the control. The restriction on the length of printer names therefore no longer applies.

● Front-end printing is possible for non-Windows platforms with SAP GUI for Java.

Integration

Technically, the new front-end printing is based on controls that have been implemented in SAP GUI for some time. Controls are DLLs that run in the process context of SAP GUI. The new print control receives the print data and forwards them to the underlying operating system print system. If you are using the SAP GUI for Windows, you can also use the device type SAPWIN to use any printer with a Microsoft Windows driver. When printing with the SAP GUI for Java on other platforms, you need to use an appropriate device type, such as PostScript.

Prerequisites

● For front-end printing with control technology (access method G), we recommend that you use the current version of SAP GUI.

● If access method G does not appear in the list of access methods, you need to use report RSPO0075 to add it. You can then create printers with the new access method “G” in the usual way.

● We recommend that, when you are creating a printer in the SAP system, you make the entry __DEFAULT in the Host Printer field for the Host Spool Access Method. __DEFAULT calls the relevant default printer name.

For information about the prerequisites, refer to SAP Note 821519.

Activities

● If you select a printer with access method G when printing from the SAP system, there are two options:

○ If the option No Device Selection at Frontend is not selected in the device definition, under Microsoft Windows, the printer selection dialog box appears on the screen, from which you can select a printer defined at your front end.

○ If the No Device Selection at Frontend option has been selected in the device definition, the system prints directly either to the default printer or to another printer entered in the device definition.

More information: Front-End Printing (SAP GUI for Windows).

If you are printing using the SAP GUI for Java, whether a printer selection window appears depends on your spool program.

● You can change the default front-end printing settings, such as settings for log files, in the print options editor. You can call this from the SAP GUI options dialog (Adjust Local Layout → Options → Front-End Print → Configure Front-End Print). You can choose the Help button in the print options editor to display its documentation.