Print classes

Print objects include spooled files, output queues, printers, printer files, writer jobs, and Advanced Function Printing™ (AFP™) resources, which include fonts, form definitions, overlays, page definitions, and page segments. AFP resources are accessible only on Version 3 Release 7 (V3R7) and later versions of i5/OS™. (Trying to open an AFPResourceList to a system that is running an earlier version than V3R7 generates a RequestNotSupportedException exception.)

The IBM^® Toolbox for Java™ classes for print objects are organized on a base class, PrintObject, and on a subclass for each of the six types of print objects. The base class contains the methods and attributes common to all server print objects. The subclasses contain methods and attributes specific to each subtype.

Use the print classes for the following tasks:

• Working with server print objects:
  • PrintObjectList class - use for listing and working with server print objects. (Print objects include spooled files, output queues, printers, Advanced Function Printing (AFP) resources, printer files, and writer jobs)
  • PrintObject base class - use for working with print objects
• Retrieving PrintObject attributes
• Creating new server spooled files using the SpooledFileOutputStream class (use for EBCDIC-based printer data)
• Generating SNA Character Stream (SCS) printer data streams
• Reading spooled files and AFP resources using the PrintObjectInputStream
• Reading spooled files using PrintObjectPageInputStream and PrintObjectTransformedInputStream
• Copying spooled files
• Viewing Advanced Function Printing (AFP) and SNA Character Stream (SCS) spooled files

Examples

• Example: Creating spooled files shows how to create a spooled file on a server from an input stream
• Example: Creating SCS spooled files shows how to generate a SCS data stream using the SCS3812Writer class, and how to write the stream to a spooled file on the server
• Example: Reading spooled files shows how to use PrintObjectInputStream to read an existing server spooled file
• Example: Reading and transforming spooled files shows how to use PrintObjectPageInputStream and PrintObjectTransformedInputStream to obtain different transformations when reading spooled file data
• Example: Copying a spooled file shows how to copy a spooled file to the same queue that contains the file you want to copy.
• Example: Listing spooled files asynchronously (using listeners) shows how to asynchronously list all spooled files on a system and how to use the PrintObjectListListener interface to get feedback as the list is being built
• Example: Listing spooled files asynchronously (without using listeners) shows how to asynchronously list all spooled files on a system without using the PrintObjectListListener interface
• Example: Listing spooled files synchronously shows how to synchronously list all spooled files on a system