Work with printer output

Many jobs on the iSeries™ server result in printer output. Learn how to find, track, and manage printer output across the iSeries server.

Many jobs generate output that requires printing. The operating system handles this by creating spooled files that contain the document data and processing instructions for the print job. After creating the spooled files, the operating system sends them to an output queue. Similar to a job queue, output queues hold many spooled files until a printer becomes available. The output queue that the operating system sends the spooled file to varies according to the job attributes, user profile, and workstation settings. Before any of the spooled files can be printed, a printer device must be varied on, and a print writer started. The print writer is an i5/OS™ function that runs for each active printer on the system. When started, the print writer watches the specified output queue (or queues) and sends the spooled files to its printer.

• Manage printer output
  With iSeries Navigator , you can to find and manage printer output from two locations: Basic operations and work management.
• Start printers
  From the command-line interface, you can start an iSeries printer.
• Start an iSeries printer from iSeries Navigator
  From iSeries Navigator, you can start an iSeries printer.