Job submission

RICOH ProcessDirector can receive jobs from any system that can send jobs to hot folders or from any system that can use the LPD protocol or pdpr command. If you have the AFP Support feature, RICOH ProcessDirector can receive jobs from the Job Entry Subsystem (JES) spool on a z/OS host. Jobs are submitted to input devices that you define in RICOH ProcessDirector. Input devices receive the jobs and then initiate job processing.

The supported job submission methods are:

Hot folders

Receives print files through File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or your preferred file copying method. When you copy or move a print file to the hot folder directory, the input device that is associated with the hot folder automatically receives the job and initiates job processing.

LPD

Receives jobs that are submitted using the line printer daemon (LPD) protocol. Users can use the lpr command or another command that uses the LPD protocol to submit jobs to a RICOH ProcessDirector LPD input device. The input device automatically receives the job and initiates job processing.

pdpr

If you are migrating from InfoPrint Manager and you use the pdpr command to submit jobs, you can configure RICOH ProcessDirector to accept jobs from the pdpr command. The RICOH ProcessDirectorpdpr script creates an lprafp command to submit jobs, adding flags to send supported job property values to the primary server.

If you have the AFP Support feature, these job submission methods are also supported:

AFP Download Plus

Converts line data to AFP data and transmits the print job with all required resources across the TCP/IP network from the host system to RICOH ProcessDirector for printing.

Download for z/OS

Automatically transmits output across the TCP/IP network from the host system to RICOH ProcessDirector for printing or archiving.

Download for z/OS and AFP Download Plus are separately ordered features of PSF for z/OS. For information about PSF for z/OS and its features, see the IBM website (http://www.ibm.com).

In addition to deciding which job submission methods to use, you need to determine the naming convention for the job submission directories on the primary computer where you want the input files to be. You must specify these directories when you create an input device:

Folder location directory

The name of the directory that an input device monitors for incoming jobs. For example, /aiw/aiw1/System/hf/LineData for hot folder jobs, /aiw/aiw1/System/lpd/LPDLineData for LPD jobs, or /aiw/aiw1/System/dl/AFP for Download for z/OS or AFP Download Plus jobs.

Staging location directory

The name of the directory where the job submission method places the input file. Consider creating a subdirectory of the folder location directory. For example, /aiw/aiw1/System/hf/LineData/Staged for line data input files received from hot folders or /aiw/aiw1/System/dl/AFP/Staged for AFP input files received from Download for z/OS or AFP Download Plus.

Each directory must provide read and write access to a group that the RICOH ProcessDirector system user (aiw1 is the default) is a member of so that RICOH ProcessDirector can read and modify the input files. One option is to use the RICOH ProcessDirector group (aiwgrp1 is the default). For more information about the RICOH ProcessDirector group, see Creating system groups and users and Completing post-installation tasks.

Before you use Download for z/OS or AFP Download Plus with RICOH ProcessDirector, you must configure the software to communicate with RICOH ProcessDirector. Some of the configuration tasks include:

• Define a JES initialization statement for a functional subsystem application (FSA).
• Create a startup procedure to identify program name, region size, and printing defaults for the FSA.
• For Download for z/OS, create a routing control data set that points to the IP address of the primary computer and port number of the input device.
• For AFP Download Plus, define a Startup Procedure to point to the IP address of the primary computer and port number of the input device.
• Use installation exits, if necessary, for modifications to software functions. Both Download for z/OS and AFP Download Plus can use installation Exit 15, which transmits additional print parameters to RICOH ProcessDirector.

See the RICOH ProcessDirector information center for information about these topics:

• Copying files to hot folders or sending files using the LPD protocol.
• Installing and configuring the RICOH ProcessDirectorpdpr script.
• Configuring Download for z/OS and AFP Download Plus with RICOH ProcessDirector.

For information about configuring Download for z/OS and AFP Download Plus, see PSF for z/OS: Download for z/OS and PSF for z/OS: AFP Download Plus.