5.8.3 Host printing

This feature is available to 3270, 5250, and UTS host sessions. You can create one or more printer sessions and associate them with the current terminal session. Each printer session is bound to a Device ID on the host system and any subsequent print jobs sent to that Device ID will be directed to the Host Access for the Cloud web client.

The host session builds a PDF file that contains the file to print and sends it to the web client. After receiving the file, the web client downloads the file following your browser’s configured download options. Different browsers provide different options for handling downloaded files. When the PDF file is received, you can direct it to any printer that you have access to.

NOTE:An administrator can provide end users with the ability to print by setting the Host Printing User Preferences option.

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To configure host printing

From a host session, click Settings on the tool bar to open the left navigation panel.
In the left panel, click Print.
Click Add to open the configuration dialog box. There are three tabs; Connection settings, Page Setup settings, and Advanced settings. Each tab has different settings available to customize your printer session.
Click Save to return to your session. The settings take effect when the session is reopened.

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Connection settings

By default, printer sessions are available from the printer icon on the terminal session tool bar. If you do not want end users to have access to this printer session, clear Enable this printer session on the Connection tab.

These settings differ depending on your host type.

3270 connection settings

Setting	Description
Name	Provide an easily identifiable name for your printer session. Required.
Protocol	Select the protocol to use. The options are: TN3270E - TN3270E of Telnet Extended, is for users of TCP/IP software who connect to their IBM mainframe through a Telnet gateway that implements RFC 1647. TN3287 - TN3287 is for users of TCP/IP software who connect to their IBM mainframe through a Telnet gateway that implements RFC 1646.
Device ID	Specify whether you want to use a Device ID, prompt for Device Name or, if you select TN3270E, a TN Association, to link the terminal session with the print session. Required. Select one: Specify Device ID - Specify the Device ID to use when the printer session connects to the host. Use TN Association - (TN3270E) If you choose to use a TN association, Host Access for the Cloud uses the device name specified in the connection settings to link the 3270 and 3287 session together. TN Association is only available if you select TN3270E as the protocol. Prompt the user - When the printer session connects, the user is prompted to supply the Device ID for the printer session.

5250 connection settings

Setting	Description
Name	Provide an easily identifiable name for your printer session. Required.
Device ID	Specify whether you want to use a Device ID or prompt for a Device ID: Specify Device ID - Specify the Device ID to use when the printer session connects to the host. Prompt the user - When the printer session connects, the user is prompted to supply the Device ID for the printer session.

UTS connection settings

Setting

Description

Name

Provide an easily identifiable name for your printer session. Required.

Protocol

The choice of DEMAND or MAPPER protocols depends on the type of UTS session you create. UTS session types are determined by the values you supply for the TSAP and Application options on the Connection panel. For example, if you enter values that create a UTS MAPPER or DEMAND session, you should select MAPPER or DEMAND as the protocol.

Specify what protocol you want to use:

MAPPER - You can choose to specify the Device ID to use when the printer session connects to the host or prompt the user to supply the Device ID for the printer session, then continue configuring the session.
DEMAND - After providing a name for the session, you can continue configuring the session using Page Setup and Advanced tabs,

Page Setup settings

The Page Setup tab contains setting options for paper size and orientation, along with dimensions, margins, and scaling values.

Setting	Description
Paper size	Select the size of paper used by the printer.
Orientation	There are three modes you can choose; Portrait (vertical), Landscape (horizontal) or Auto, which is the default. With Auto selected, the printer evaluates the print job and uses the most appropriate format.
Units of measurement	Select the unit of measurement you want to use for page margins and page sizes. The values are inches or millimeters.
Dimensions	Enter the number of rows and columns to display per printed page. 60 is the default row value and the column value defaults to 80.
Margins	Sets the left, right, top, and bottom page margins.
Scaling	Sets the horizontal and vertical scaling for printed output. Increase the percentage to increase the horizontal or vertical space used by the printout.

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Advanced settings

There are three options available to you when deciding when to download the PDF file.

Automatically - (default) The PDF is downloaded automatically when the print job is complete. When this option is selected, the Inactivity timeout setting is not available.
Manually - Once a print job commences, you can initiate a download anytime by locating the print job in the download list available from the Print icon on the tool bar and clicking Flush. The print job is aggregated into a single PDF file and downloaded.
After inactivity timeout - Using this option you can print multiple print jobs, have them aggregated into a single PDF, and then automatically downloaded when you specify.

If you decide on a value greater than 0 (for example, 5 seconds) any print jobs assigned to a printer that arrive within 5 seconds of each other will be appended to the same PDF. After 5 seconds and no remaining print jobs, the PDF is downloaded. If you specify 0 for the inactivity timeout, each print job is downloaded immediately upon completion. You can always interrupt a print job by clicking Flush.

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To print your host printer session

When the terminal session opens, you can now:

Select the printer session you want to use. All print sessions associated with the opened terminal session are available to you. Click on the tool bar to see a list.
The host session receives the print data from the host and builds a PDF file to print. A link to this file is sent to the web client indicating it is available for download.

You can monitor the various print jobs using the tool bar page counter or the counter associated with separate printers in the print drop down list.

The page counter on the tool bar reflects the total number of pages either being actively printed or complete but waiting for the file to download from the server. You can trigger a download by selecting Flush from the printer list.

The page counter attached to printers in the printer drop down list displays the same value but on a per printer basis. The sum of these separate print jobs is reflected in the tool bar count. The count is cleared once the print jobs are downloaded.
After the PDF file becomes available, the file either begins downloading or waits for you to trigger a download using the Flush option, depending on the options you configured.

If necessary, due to an overlong running print job or some other issue, you can flush your current print job. The Flush option is available from the list of printer sessions accessed from the printers icon on the tool bar. When you flush a print job, whatever has been accumulated so far is printed and processing of print data continues.