<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ManualTopic ID="/baanerp/tt/onlinemanual/dev_overview" xml:lang="en">
	<Header>
		<Title xmlns:HTML="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">Device management overview</Title>
		<Keyword ContextSensitive="No"><Level1>Device management</Level1>
			<Level2>overview</Level2>
		</Keyword>
	</Header>
	<GeneralSection><Paragraph class="Default">You can use the device management functionality to set up print devices for ERP LN and to print ERP LN reports to those print devices.</Paragraph>
		<Paragraph class="Default">Raw data is fed into ERP LN and processed into reports, sales invoices, paychecks, and so on. Before you can print the data that ERP LN processes, you must first make sure that your operating system supports the printers in your company.</Paragraph>
		<Paragraph class="Default">Before ERP LN carries out a print job, the print job is stored in a temporary file in the ${BSE_TMP} directory. The printer daemon automatically removes the print jobs after the print jobs are printed. The number of hours between handling a print request and deleting the temporary file is called delete delay time. A record is created for each print request in the <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tt/aad/ttaad320" role="table">Printer Queue (ttaad320)</GUIRef> table.</Paragraph>
		<Paragraph class="Default">The print requests are not automatically removed when the report is printed. Therefore, you must use ERP LN ’s device management to purge the printer queue table.</Paragraph>
	</GeneralSection>
	<GeneralSection><SectionTitle>Devices and logical printers supported by ERP LN</SectionTitle>
		<Paragraph class="Default">If some physical printers in your company are located in close proximity, you can group the printers in one logical printer. ERP LN ’s printer daemon checks the paper types of the printers in the logical printer and directs the output to the first printer in the logical printer with the paper type that is required for the print job. ERP LN ’s device management supports an entire range of device types.</Paragraph>
		<List><ListIntro>In ERP LN, an output device can be one of the following:</ListIntro>
			<ListItemHead>printer</ListItemHead>
			<ListItem>A physical printer in a UNIX environment. The print job is sent to the temporary file on the server and queued to the selected record.</ListItem>
			<ListItemHead>logical printer</ListItemHead>
			<ListItem>A group of physical printers in a UNIX environment. ERP LN sends the output data to a printer in this group.</ListItem>
			<ListItemHead>screen</ListItemHead>
			<ListItem>The output data appears in a display browser on your monitor.</ListItem>
			<ListItemHead>append file</ListItemHead>
			<ListItem>An attachment file in which ERP LN stores the output of a process. If the file does not exist, the file is created automatically.</ListItem>
			<ListItemHead>rewrite file</ListItemHead>
			<ListItem>An attachment file in which ERP LN stores recurring data. If the file does not exist, the file is created automatically. The existing files are overwritten.</ListItem>
			<ListItemHead>direct</ListItemHead>
			<ListItem>A physical printer in a UNIX environment. A device type that you can use if you do not want the printer daemon to handle the printing. At the Device Queue prompt, you must enter the UNIX command to direct the print job to the desired printer.</ListItem>
			<ListItemHead>windows printer</ListItemHead>
			<ListItem>A physical printer that Microsoft Windows supports. The client sends the print job to a temporary file on the server. ERP LN ’s print tool, BWPrint, then starts and directs the print job to the selected printer. For details, refer to <Link href="/baanerp/tt/onlinemanual/dev_windows_printer_devices" role="manual">Windows printer devices</Link>.</ListItem>
			<ListItemHead>windows server printer</ListItemHead>
			<ListItem>A physical printer that Microsoft Windows supports. The printing is handled by a separate Windows printer server with the Infor ES Reporting Service installed. Users do not need the BWPrint software on their client PCs. For details, refer to <Link href="/baanerp/tt/onlinemanual/dev_windows_printer_devices" role="manual">Windows printer devices</Link>.</ListItem>
		</List>
		<Paragraph class="Default">In ERP LN ’s authorization management, you can define a device preference list in a template. You can link this template to a group of users with the same role in your company.</Paragraph>
	</GeneralSection>
	<GeneralSection><SectionTitle>Convert print output to other formats</SectionTitle>
		<Paragraph class="Default">You can configure a file device in such a way that the print output will be converted into a special format.</Paragraph>
		<List><ListIntro>The following fields must be used to specify the conversion parameters:</ListIntro>
			<ListItemHead>Device</ListItemHead>
			<ListItem>You can choose a unique name for a device, however the name SMTP is reserved for Microsoft Outlook to send the print file directly to e-mail and the name FAX is reserved to print directly to a FAX device.</ListItem>
			<ListItemHead>4GL program</ListItemHead>
			<ListItem>Depending on which print output format you want to use, you must specify the name of the conversion script. Examples: ttstpconv, ttcmfprint</ListItem>
			<ListItemHead>Argument</ListItemHead>
			<ListItem><Paragraph class="Default">You must use this field to specify the print output format. Examples: ascii, html, XML, rtf, XML -PDF.</Paragraph>
				<Paragraph class="Default">Certain arguments can be appended with :&lt;Client program&gt; to start a program on the client PC to view the print output. Examples: ascii:excel, html:iexplore, rtf:winword.</Paragraph>
			</ListItem>
		</List>
		<Paragraph class="Default">For details on how to configure a device refer to the <Link href="/baanerp/tt/aad/ttaad3100s000" role="session">Device Data (ttaad3100s000)</Link> session.</Paragraph>
	</GeneralSection>
	<GeneralSection><SectionTitle>Paper types and associated fonts</SectionTitle>
		<Paragraph class="Default">With ERP LN ’s device management, you can define the paper types, fonts, and dimensions of the sheets of paper on which you can print reports. ERP LN can generate various types of output, each of which must be printed on a specific paper type. The paper that is loaded in the physical printers must be suitable for the particular output.</Paragraph>
		<Paragraph class="Default">A paper type indicates the characteristics of the paper on which the output can be printed. You can define specific paper types for every type of output. For example, if you want to print paychecks, you must define the characteristics of the preprinted checks that must be loaded in the printer.</Paragraph>
	</GeneralSection>
	<GeneralSection><SectionTitle>Default report settings</SectionTitle>
		<Paragraph class="Default">The report defaults define a report’s default paper type and font. These values appear in the device selection window, which appears when you start the <Link href="/baanerp/tt/stp/ttstpsplopen" role="session">Select Device (ttstpsplopen )</Link> session.</Paragraph>
	</GeneralSection>
	<GeneralSection><SectionTitle>Device queue data</SectionTitle>
		<List><ListIntro>Every print request, except the request of printer type Direct, is added to the device queue. ERP LN uses the status of the print job in the device queue to do the following:</ListIntro>
			<ListItem>Restart the print job.</ListItem>
			<ListItem>Preserve the print job.</ListItem>
			<ListItem>Display the print job.</ListItem>
		</List>
		<Paragraph class="Default">The printer queue data tells you who made the print request, the contents of the request, and the time the request was started up. The data also shows to which the print job is directed and the status of the print request.</Paragraph>
	</GeneralSection>
</ManualTopic>
