When changing printers, consider the areas of data interchange, data stream, fonts, and host printer emulation.
AFP data containing DBCS data can be generated on i5/OS. In addition, the server can receive AFP-generated data from the zSeries system containing DBCS data and print it on IPDS™ printers attached to the iSeries™ server. The IPDS printers must be configured with *YES specified for the AFP parameter.
Printers consist of SNA character string (SCS) and intelligent printer data stream (IPDS) printers.
SNA character string (SCS) is a data stream composed of EBCDIC controls, optionally intermixed with end-user data, which is carried within a request/response unit. Host-attached SCS printers can be configured by the systems engineer or by the customer, using a diskette or selection of keys on the printer. The appropriate printer operator's guide should be used to determine how to configure the SCS printer for the language you are using.
One of the strengths of IPDS is that independent applications can create source data. The source data from independent applications is merged at the printer to create an integrated mixed data page. For example, text data can be produced on an editor, image data can be the output of a scanner stored in a folder, and graphics data be produced by the Business Graphics Utility program. IPDS makes it possible to integrate application output rather than requiring the use of integrated applications.
Font types for IPDS printers can be configured through the use of the Create Device Description (Printer) or Change Device Description (Printer) (CRTDEVPRT or CHGDEVPRT) commands. Fonts can be downloaded from the host or can be saved in printer storage.
For a list of the character identifier (CHRID values) supported by the various printers and languages, see the Printer Device Programming PDF.
The iSeries Access programs support multiple languages on a single server. An iSeries Access user (except for host emulation) can use any single language of choice that is installed on the attached iSeries server. If an iSeries Access user has a host emulation session with five different iSeries servers, the user can potentially view a different language on each session. However, the same personal computer ASCII code page must be on all the systems.
See the iSeries Access topic for your environment for information about installing and configuring attached PC printers.