Overview

If your application does not have the print driver for your printer, NetWare® supplies print device definitions for many common printers.

Purpose of Print Device Definitions

Print device definitions are sets of functions and modes found in files with .PDF extensions that correspond to printers, plotters, and other peripherals.

The two primary purposes of these definitions are to set the printer up so that the job is printed properly and to ensure that the printer is left in a known state after completing a print job.

Printer functions (also referred to as control sequences, escape sequences, or printer commands) give instructions to the printer. Print device definitions contain the necessary control sequences for such items as boldface type, underlining, and other printer controls.

To define a printer's functions, you enter control sequences or printer commands into the print device database. To do this, you need the technical reference manual that came with your printer.

Print device definitions do not necessarily represent the full functionality of the printer. A print device definition can be modified to change the functions the machine will actually perform.

	NOTE: Print device definitions are used by print job configurations. You must create and use a print job configuration to specify a print device mode for print jobs. See "Working with Print Job Configurations" in Chapter 7.

Location of Print Device Databases

The print device definitions (.PDF files) supplied in NetWare Services software are copied to the SYS:PUBLIC directory during installation. Additional device definitions that you create are also stored in this directory unless you specify another location.

Figure 3-18 shows a partial list of print device definitions included in NetWare. New definitions are added periodically.

Print device definitions can be created and modified in the graphical NetWare Administrator utility and in PRINTDEF. This chapter describes the procedures for using PRINTDEF. For information on using NetWare Administrator, see "Working with Print Device Definitions" in Chapter 2.