FORMDEF PRESENT and DIRECTION Parameters

The use of PRESENT and DIRECTION parameters on the FORMDEF is confusing. The examples in The SMO Reference Pages show a sheet of paper and the placement of the Medium Origin for a particular PRESENT and DIRECTION combination. Notice that for a particular Medium Origin combination, the results for cut-sheet paper, wide continuous forms paper, narrow continuous forms paper, and Cut Sheet Emulation are different. This was done to guarantee that the application pages would be oriented in the same manner on all printer and media types. Cut Sheet Emulation, (CSE), divides a continuous forms printer's paper web into two equal sheetlets.

The PRESENT parameter has two possible values, PORTRAIT and LANDSCAPE. The DIRECTION has values of ACROSS and DOWN. There is an additional optional parameter, CUTSHEET. It specifies whether the SMO command will be sent to cut-sheet printers. This is invoked by coding a value of YES. If NO is coded or allowed to default the media origin on cut-sheet printers will not be changed and will be at the default location which is equivalent to a form definition with PRESENT PORTRAIT and DIRECTION ACROSS. Coding the N_UP parameter, (1-up, 2-up, 3-up, 4-up), has the same effect as coding CUTSHEET. The CUTSHEET parameter was created to allow form definitions that did not have N-UP coded to cause SMO to be enabled on cut-sheet printers.

When Print Services Facility (PSF) or Infoprint Manager (IPM) converts an output file to Intelligent Printer Data Stream (IPDS) to send to the printer it includes an SMO value if SMO is supported by the printer. This value is calculated by examining the Medium Origin of the form definition and then checking to see if the printer is cut-sheet, wide continuous, or narrow continuous. CSE on the printer will report back wide or narrow continuous as appropriate. PSF/IPM then specifies the proper SMO. The resulting SMO values are included in the figures for completeness.