Printing a PCL file with a custom configuration file

In this example, you will submit a PCL file called PCLFile4.pcl for printing on an InfoPrint printer called molly-lp. In addition, you will specify the form definition F100D, as well as a customized PCL configuration file called custom.cfg, which is located in the directory

For AIX or Linux
/usr/lpp/psf/pcl2afp
The output file name is PCLFile4.afp.

Configuration assumptions: This example assumes these items have been done by your system support group:

  • InfoPrint, including the pcl2afp transform, has been installed on the workstation on which the pcl2afp command is executed.
  • The pcl2afpd daemon has been started on the workstation on which the pcl2afp command is executed.
  • A 3825 printer device has been installed and defined to InfoPrint. A logical printer called molly-lp routes jobs to the physical printer representing that device.
  • The customized configuration file is custom.cfg, located in the pcl2afpdirectory; and you have permission to read this file.

Using the command line options: To print this example, enter this command on the command line:

For AIX or Linux

pdpr -p molly-lp -x "form-definition=F100D
   other-transform-options='-o-C/usr/lpp/psf/pcl2afp/custom.cfg'"
   PCLFile4.pcl
For AIX
enq -P molly-lp -oformdef=F100D
   -o-C/usr/lpp/psf/pcl2afp/custom.cfg PCLFile4.pcl

For Windows

install_path\pcl2afp\custom.cfg
InfoPrint determines the data type, automatically runs pcl2afp, and passes:

For AIX or Linux

-C/usr/lpp/psf/pcl2afp/custom.cfg
to pcl2afp (when you use the -C flag with an AIX print command, no spaces are allowed between the -C flag and the configuration file name, and the configuration file name must be fully qualified).

For Windows

-C install_path\custom.cfg

On AIX, you can get the same result by invoking pcl2afp first, then using enq to process the output of pcl2afp: 

pcl2afp PCLFile4.pcl -o PCLFile4.afp -C /usr/lpp/psf/pcl2afp/custom.cfg
enq -P molly-lp -oformdef=F100D PCLFile4.afp

Using an attributes file with the pdpr command: To print this example, enter this command on the command line: 

pdpr -X pclex4.X PCLFile4.pcl
where the attributes file named pclex4.X contains these settings:

For AIX or Linux: 

document-format=pcl
A data type of PCL. 
other-transform-options='-C /usr/lpp/psf/pcl2afp/custom.cfg'
Use the /usr/lpp/psf/pcl2afp/custom.cfgpcl2afp configuration file. 
form-definition=F100D
Use the F100D form definition for printing the job. 
printer-name-requested=molly-lp
Submit the job to the molly-lp logical printer.

Parent topic: More complex examples