3477 InfoWindow display station configuration recommendations

Configure printers that are supported by the InfoWindow® display as recommended in Appendix A of the IBM® 3477 InfoWindow User's Guide. Configure printers that are not supported by the 3477 with the following values:

When you leave the display's configuration menu, the printer device description is automatically created if both the following are true:

After the printer device description is created on the iSeries server, enable the host print transform using the Change Device Description (Printer) (CHGDEVPRT) command. The display's printer configuration is not used after the host print transform is enabled. The data stream generated for the printer is based on the MFRTYPMDL parameter value specified in the printer device description on the iSeries server.

Note:
Do not change the display's printer configuration after your device description has been created on the iSeries server. Doing so can cause the i5/OS printer device description to be replaced. In this case, the host print transform is no longer enabled. The CHGDEVPRT command can be used to enable the host print transform again.

Understanding the 3477 power-on initialization sequence

The 3477 sends a power-on initialization sequence to the attached printer every time the printer or display is powered on. This initialization is designed for IBM printers. If a printer is attached that does not support the IBM data stream, some unrecognizable characters might be printed. After this initialization sequence, the data stream generated is based on the MFRTYPMDL parameter in the printer device description on the iSeries server. No more unrecognizable characters will be printed.

If your 3477 is a Model H, you can turn off the power-on initialization sequence by doing the following:

  1. From the 3477's setup menu, select Test Workstation.
  2. Press the Alt, Shift, and Setup keys together.
  3. The F6 key is now set to switch between power-on initialization active and power-on initialization not active.

    Pressing F6 displays +6 or *6 on the bottom of the screen. If +6 is displayed, power-on initialization is not active. If *6 is displayed, power-on initialization is active.

  4. Press the Reset key to return to the 3477 setup menu.

Maintaining printer customization

Before you do the work of creating a workstation customizing object for a printer, try printing jobs using the host print transform support. You might not need to create a customizing object for the printer due to the extended support provided by the host print transform.

The 3477 Model H is the only 3477 InfoWindow display that supports customization. The 3477 Model H display can use a workstation customizing object (located in the device description of the display) to define the printer attached to it. Conversely, the host print transform uses a workstation customizing object located in the device description of the printer. If you have customized some printer features in the display's workstation object, use of the host print transform overrides the customization.

However, if you need to customize your printer while using the host print transform, you should:

  1. Make sure the host print transform is enabled.

    The TRANSFORM parameter value for the printer device description must be *YES.

  2. Use a workstation customizing object that is compatible with the host print transform.

    Customize the printer features in this object to match the customized features that you used in the display's workstation customizing object.

  3. Use the workstation customizing object name that is compatible with the host print transform as the value for the WSCST parameter in the printer device description.
    Remember:
    The location of the WSCST object name (in the printer device description, not in the display device description) is important when using customization with the host print transform.

See Workstation Customization Programming Link to PDF for detailed information on customizing printers.