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Note Device Configurator is not available in Sage 100 Premium.

General

 

 What are the default device codes and descriptions?

The default device codes are listed in the following table.

PD	This device code is used for printing to display or printing to a deferred printer when running in character mode. Multiple PD devices are not required in multiuser environments. Do not attempt to create, delete, or modify a PD- type device. The absence of this device code results in the absence of the ability to select Display or Deferred within a printer selection window in a character-based report.
PF	This device code is used for printing to a file when running in character mode. Multiple PF devices are not required in multiuser environments. Do not attempt to create, delete, or modify a PF-type device. The absence of this device code results in the absence of the ability to print to file in a character-based report.
PW	The PW device assumes the default Windows printer and relies on Windows Print Manager for all control sequences.This device code is supplied for Windows printers. This is the only Windows printer device that can be configured as a global printer because it is associated with your Windows default printer. This device code is independent of the local Windows printer name and the local Windows printer driver for the default printer. If a specific Windows printer is selected in the Device Name field in Device Configurator, it should be set up as a local printer because it is dependent on the local Windows printer name.
PR	The PR device assumes the default Windows printer, but allows the user to enter control code sequences to be passed through the Windows Print Manager to the printer. This device code is supplied for Windows Printer Port. It is found as a global printer and is configured to use your Windows default printer. This device code is specifically associated with the HP Laser Series Portrait driver. The PR device code is never independent of both the local Windows printer driver and local Windows printer name (like the PW device code); therefore, it should never be used as a shared device. Using any Windows Printer Port device issues a form feed, by design, at the end of the print job.
LP	This device code contains LPT1 for the device name and is set up as Physical Device using the HP LaserJet Series Portrait driver.

 

 How do I define local and global printers?

Local and global printers can be defined using Device Configurator. You can toggle between local printers and global printers by clicking Local Printers or Global Printers in Device Configurator. Local printers are seen only by the current workstation. Global printers are available to all workstations.

Local printers are not required to be physically attached to a workstation. Frequently, a printer's device configuration for one workstation is not correct for another workstation (for example, when setting up Windows printers and Windows Printer Port printers). These device codes should not be set up as global printers.

The software uses a link file scheme for referencing available device codes when a Printer Selection window appears. The link files are stored in the \MAS90\SOA folder. Devices such as LP and PW are stored in Device Configurator and are found as fixed-length ASCII files named LP and PW in the SOA folder. When setting up local printers in Device Configurator, do not use a device code that already exists for a global printer or another workstation's local printer; doing this can cause the device code to overwrite the link file, possibly rendering that device code unusable for the original workstation.

The sharing of a global Windows printer device may result in a false printer in use message. The sharing of global Windows Printer Port printers may result in a global system hang of the software. In Sage 100 Advanced, a runaway process may also occur. When setting up local printers, configure each workstation separately.

 

 What should the MAS90.INI file look like for a DOS printer?

The MAS90.INI file is a standard Windows INI file with groups and items. Each printer is considered a group and each setting for the printer from Device Configurator (printer name, printer type, lines per page, CR mode, PTON mode, etc.) are stored as items under that group. The default MAS90.INI file is shown below:

[info]

Level=3

Build=Fri-03May96-1142-T83.0-WSM

Modified=Wed-29May96-1729-T222.1-KYK

 

[device LP]

Id=HP LaserJet 4

Driver=HP Laser Srs IV Port

PhysNm=lpt1

Prtype=1

Pglines=060

Cp=1B283130551B2873307031362E363668307332623430393954

Cpcols=133

Cr=True

Ff=1B266C3048

Ptoff=1B45

Pton=1B266C32411B266C3168306F3664363670306C33653630461B2661304C

Sp=1B283130551B28733070313068307330623430393954

Spcols=80

 

[device PD]

Id=Deferred Printing

PhysNm=

Prtype=

Pglines=

 

[device PF]

Id=File Output

PhysNm=

Prtype=

Pglines=

 

[device PW]

Id=Dflt Windows Printer

PhysNm=*WINPRT*;AsIs

Prtype=1

Pglines=066

 

The device LP is the default printer used for character based printing. This will need to be modified if the user has a different type of printer or is using another port. Mode settings may also need to be changed.

 

 Are there any dependencies requiring PDx and PFx devices to be configured in the MAS90.INI file?

There are no dependencies requiring PDx and PFx devices to be configured in the MAS90.INI file. The only requirement is that a PD or PF device exist so that the programs know to print to a deferred print queue or to a file rather than a printer. Everyone on the system can print to file or deferred at the same time; the dependencies on the numerical identifiers on the devices (i.e., PD1, PD2, PD3, etc.) has been removed.

For deferred and preview printing, each task generates a unique ASCII file named in part on the terminal FID value and the session number. At job completion, this temporary file is renamed DPxxxx, following the existing naming convention used by the deferred print program SYDEFP.

For file output, the object file assumes the name as specified by the user from the moment it is created until the report is completed, negating the need to rename a temporary file to the desired file name at the end of the print job.

For deferred and preview print jobs, a special notation is placed in each header record. A single byte – Hex 03 – is placed at the end of each header record, immediately preceding the record separator. By identifying the header records, the GUI viewer program can format and otherwise manipulate report titles as desired.

Files are stored in the HOME/TEXTOUT folder. File output naming and folder assignment are under the control of the user. A default file name is presented to the user – located in the TEXTOUT folder – but the user is free to change the name and folder as desired.

 

 How do I send all output to the default Windows printer?

A default Windows printer is included in the MAS90.INI file as device PW. Substituting this device into the Default Printer option under Preferences will send all output to the default Windows printer. Entering a Device Name of *WINPRT* in Device Configurator will create a Windows printer for the software to use in the Windows environment. This device cannot be printed to in the character based environment. Forcing all output to go directly to the default Windows printer is specified with the "AsIs" parameter at the end of the *WINPRT* statement. Without this statement, the user will see a Select Printer window each time a report is printed. The specific printer being used can also be specified after the *WINPRT* statement by using its full Windows path name following the semi-colon. Note that on a network, the same printer may have different names on each workstation. Keep the "AsIs" line and change printers using the Printer Selection window if necessary.

Entering *WINDEV* in the Device Name field in the Device Configurator window will set up a "pass-through" printer device using the same parameters as *WINPRT*. The software will send the control sequence defined in Device Configurator directly to the printer through Windows Print Manager. The printer driver selected must support transparent, pass-through printing.

Other settings in the Device Configurator window are ignored if *WINPRT* is entered in the Device Name field. This includes the value in the Lines/Page field and values entered in the Maintain Device Modes window. Device Configurator allows users to specify additional information, but these fields are ignored when printing to the Windows printer. Modifications to a Windows printer can be made through the software only in the Forms window for form-printing programs. Here the user can specify how many 1000ths of an inch the top margin of the form needs to be.

Windows printers are configured locally for each workstation on a network. Most printer-related issues will probably have something to do with the way this printer was configured on the network. A queue may no longer exist or a computer that the printer is attached to may be turned off. The user may not even have a default Windows printer set up. Review the printer configurations of other workstations and verify that all printers are printing correctly.

 

Troubleshooting

 

 How do I fix the problem of printing output to an incorrect printer?

A link file is a fixed-length 256-byte ASCII text file stored in the ..\MAS90\SOA folder that is created and/or updated at the time changes are saved in Device Configurator. Every device in Device Configurator has a link file associated with it.

Link files are used during printer selection. The MAS90.INI and MAS90XXX.INI files are used during printing, but the link files are used when the Printer Selection window appears in the software. In the absence of a link file, the associated device will not appear as a valid printer selection.

Print output to the incorrect printer is frequently caused by incorrect information in the device link file. Because all the link files are stored in the same SOA folder, device codes created for global printers and local printers cannot be duplicates. Creating a duplicate device code (either between local printers, or between a local printer and global printer) will overwrite the link file for the original device code, possibly rendering it invalid.

 

 The type on my reports looks different if I print to a Windows printer than if I print to a printer that has been set up in Device Configurator. How do I fix this?

The software makes use of TrueType fonts on Windows printers in order to select the best font size for the page size. These fonts will look different than a printer's native font. To use the printer's native font, select the Show Native Printer Fonts Only check box in Printer Preferences.