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A-Shell Consolidated Reference

Since we are running A-Shell/Windows under ATS, printing works like it does normally under A-Shell/Windows (rather than like it does under the UNIX and LINUX versions of A-Shell.) However, there are a couple of special considerations to be aware of. One of these is that you can’t possibly use the DEVICE=PROMPT: mechanism to display the standard Windows printer selection dialog box at the time of printing. (As described in the prior section, this will probably hang the client.)

A second consideration is that since you are running on the server, all printer selection is done relative to the server, not the client. This is generally a good thing, since it eliminates the need to coordinate printer definitions on every client machine. But it does mean that all printers must be defined to the server, even if only used by a single local workstation.

An important exception to the rule about printing on the server is that you can use the AUXLOC: device (see A-Shell Setup Guide for printer configuration parameters) to forward print files from the server to the workstation via the emulated auxiliary port channel. Emulators such as ZTERM and ATE that support this feature allow you to then redirect the file to a printer known only to the client workstation. If the emulator is ATE, you can take this capability a few steps further, essentially opening up the entire range of A-Shell/Windows printing features via the ATE workstation rather than the server. (Then again, since the server in this case is also running A-Shell/Windows, that might not be much of an advantage, except in remote connections, where it is not practical for the client and server to share a common printing network.) See the ATE Reference for more information on ATE configuration and printing in particular.