Local printing is the most reliable and often the fastest method to transfer data from the SAP system to the host spool system, as the SAP spool server (application server with a spool work process) is in the same host system as the host spool system (operating system spooler). It is irrelevant whether the printer is directly connected to the PC or whether it is a shared network printer.
To set up the print architecture for local printing, follow the procedure below:
1. Set up an SAP spool server on a host system from which you can conveniently drive your printers.
The spool server is an application server that provides spool processing. It therefore requires at least one spool work process. The number of spool work processes is defined by the parameter rdisp/wp_no_spo, and this must always be set to at least 1.
2. Define all output devices that the SAP spool server is to use in the host spool system (operating system spooler).
You can use both locally connected and shared network devices.
3. Define the output devices in the SAP spool system.
To do this, create device definitions for the output devices in transaction SPAD (choose the Output Devices pushbutton → Output Device menu → Create/Create Using Template).
– Specify the host system on which the spool server (application server with a spool work process) is running, as the spool server of the output device.
– In the Access method field, choose method L for a UNIX host.
– For a Microsoft Windows host, choose access method C.
REMOTE PRINTER
With remote printing, the SAP spool work process sends the formatted data stream to the output device over a network connection.
The options for the data transfer to the output device are listed below:
- Transfer to a network printer
Network printers simulate their own host spool system. They can be directly connected to the network with a network card and receive SAP output data.
Consider the storage capacity of the network printer and the size of the print requests.
Access method U
- Transfer using a UNIX destination host
The host spool system is on a host that uses UNIX as its operating system. The data is forwarded to the Line Printer Daemon (lpd).
Access method U
- Transfer using a Microsoft Windows PC as the destination host
The host spool system is on a host that uses Microsoft Windows as its operating system. Depending on the access method, you can use SAPSprint from SAP or, for Microsoft Windows XP, the TCP/IP Print Server of Microsoft Windows XP. SAPSprint and TCP/IP Print Server accept the data stream and forward it to the host spool system.
Access Methods:
– S (proprietary SAP protocol) for use with SAPSprint
– U (UNIX Berkeley protocol) for use with the TCP/IP Print Server of Microsoft Windows XP and with SAPSprint
While data is simply forwarded with the access method U, the access method S has the following attributes:
○ Encrypted transfer, for example for HR data
○ Compressed transfer
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