Configuring Printers for Recovery

You can configure a printer so that, when something happens that might prevent it from printing, TotalFlow Production Manager stops assigning new jobs to that printer and starts assigning jobs that request that printer to a backup printer. Jobs that are waiting to print on the first printer are moved to the backup printer. Jobs that have already been sent to the first printer are not moved. The job that was printing when the printer stopped is moved to the backup printer.

To configure a printer for recovery:

  1. Log in to TotalFlow Production Manager as an administrator.
  2. Make sure that the SNMP connection is functional. If SNMP is disconnected or disabled, TotalFlow Production Manager cannot receive information from printers.
  3. In the menu bar, click Operations.
  4. Click Printers.
  5. In the Printers tab, select the printer, click More, then Properties...
  6. In the Properties for Job Ticket Printer dialog, click Backup.
    Printer Properties dialog: Backup page
  7. Set the Backup printer property to the name of the printer or printer pool where you want to send jobs that are already assigned to this printer and new jobs that request this printer.
  8. Set the Recovery triggers property to specify the conditions that cause the printer to go into recovery mode.
    You can specify individual errors and warnings or these special conditions:
    Any error
    Any one or more error conditions exist.
    Any warning
    Any one or more warning conditions exist.
    Cannot contact printer
    TotalFlow Production Manager cannot contact the printer when sending a job to it.
    1. To add a recovery trigger, select it in the Recovery triggers list.
    2. To remove a recovery trigger, clear it in the Recovery triggers list.
  9. By default, the printer waits 15 minutes after the onset of a recovery trigger before going into recovery mode. The delay gives you time to correct a temporary condition like Door open or Paper low. To set a longer or shorter delay, change the value of the Recovery delay (minutes) property.
  10. Enable the Print recovery sheet option to allow the backup printer to print an extra sheet before the first recovered job. The recovery sheet informs the operator that the job printed after it is a recovered job.
  11. Click OK.
Note: In case of a cascade flow of backup printers, if a backup printer is also in recovery mode, the recovery mechanism is not triggered and the jobs remain on the initial printer.
Parent topic: Creating Printers