Transforms
Different document formats use different transforms. Different transforms behave differently when making temporary work copies:
- AFPDS
- Since the file is already AFPDS, there are no transforms needed. When the job is scheduled
to the actual destination, the Input Manager segments the AFP file, creating the segment
list in
/var/psf/seglistand the segments themselves in/var/psf/segments. - 1403 line data
- When a line data job to be formatted with a page definition is scheduled to the actual
destination, ACIF does not make another temporary copy in a work area of its own; rather, ACIF works with Input
Manager to build the seglist in
/var/psf/seglistand the AFP segments directly into/var/psf/segments. - PostScript
- The Postscript transform pipes the source file to its work area (by default, /var/psf/ps2afp or /var/psf/ps2afp2, which is user-customizable in the daemon configuration files). This means that the
Postscript transform can process files larger than its work area. The output of the
Postscript transform is piped to Input Manager, which segments the AFP data, and creates
segments in
/var/psf/segments,with the segment list file in/var/psf/seglist. - The PDF transform is similar to the Postscript transform, except that the whole PDF file must be copied to the transform's work area (by default, /var/psf/appe, /var/psf/ps2afp, or /var/psf/ps2afp2, which is user-customizable in the daemon configuration files). This means that the PDF transform needs at least as much space in its working directory as the largest PDF file it will process, and that the copy must happen before the transform can begin. Like the Postscript transform, the output of the PDF transform is piped to Input Manager, which segments the AFP data, and creates segments in /var/psf/segments, with the segment list file in /var/psf/seglist.
- Image tranforms (GIF, JPEG, and TIFF)
- The Image transforms do not copy the file before transforming them to AFP, and pipe the output to Input Manager, which segments the AFP data, and creates segments in /var/psf/segments, with the segment list file in /var/psf/seglist.
- ASCII
- ASCII does not get transformed to AFP; it is converted directly to IPDS and sent to the printer. No segment lists or segments are created. ASCII includes Proprinter II or QuietWriter III ASCII, or flat ASCII that you are not formatting with a pagedef.
In addition, with the PSF other-driver DSS, the data is further transformed into PCL
or PPDS and stored in a file in /var/pd or $PDBASE before being sent to the printer. This file is removed as soon as it prints.