This Natural profile parameter specifies the print files to be used during the session. Within a session, up to 31 logical print files (numbered 1 to 31) and the hardcopy print file (Number 0) can be used.
The old dynamic parameter PRINTER can be used as a
synonym for PRINT.
PRINT corresponds to the
NTPRINT
macro in the parameter module
NATPARM. To provide different print file
definitions, PRINT or NTPRINT can
be specified multiple times.
| Possible settings | See Keyword Subparameters below. | |
|---|---|---|
| Default setting | See below. | |
| Dynamic specification | yes | The parameter PRINT can only be specified
dynamically. In NATPARM, the macro NTPRINT
must be used.
|
| Specification within session | no |
The software components for accessing print files in different
environments are called access methods. For the duration of a Natural session,
each logical print file can be assigned to one access method only. The access
method for a print file is determined by the keyword subparameter
AM (see below).
In z/OS under TSO and in batch mode, print files need not be predefined
in the JCL. Provided they are defined by subparameter AM=STD, they
can be allocated dynamically during the session by a Natural program using the
DEFINE
PRINTER statement or the application programming
interface USR2021 (in library SYSEXT).
This document covers the following topics:
See also Print and Work File Handling with External Datasets in a Server Environment in the Operations documentation.
With the PRINT parameter, you first specify one
or more logical print file numbers, and then several keyword subparameters,
which define the characteristics for these print files:
| PRINT=((print-file-numbers),keyword-subparameters,...) |
The file numbers must be specified first and enclosed in parentheses. The numbers can be from 0 to 31. They can be specified in any sequence. Multiple numbers must be separated from one another by commas or blanks. To specify a range of numbers, you can use a hyphen (-).
The various types of keyword subparameters are described below.
For print files with different characteristics, you specify different
PRINT parameters. If any previous definition (or
default) for the same print file exists, only the values for the specified
keyword subparameters are overwritten, all other values remain unchanged.
PRINT=((2,12,18),AM=STD,DEST='PRINT**',OPEN=INITOBJ,CLOSE=CMD) PRINT=((1,3,6-11,15),AM=NAF) PRINT=((0),AM=STD,DEST=HARDCOPX)
With an NTPRINT macro, you first specify one or
more logical print file numbers, and then several keyword subparameters which
define the characteristics that are to apply to these print files:
| NTPRINT (print-file-numbers),keyword-subparameters,... |
The file numbers must be specified first and enclosed in parentheses. The numbers can be from 0 to 31. They can be specified in any sequence. Multiple numbers must be separated from one another by commas. To specify a range of numbers, you can use a hyphen (-).
The various types of keyword subparameters are described below.
For print files with different characteristics, you specify different
NTPRINT macros. If any previous definition (or default)
for the same print file exists, only the values for the specified keyword
subparameters are overwritten, all other values remain unchanged.
NTPRINT (2,12,18),AM=STD,DEST='PRINT**',OPEN=INITOBJ,CLOSE=CMD NTPRINT (1,3,6-11,15),AM=NAF NTPRINT (0),AM=STD,DEST=HARDCOPX
The following keyword subparameters are available: AM | DEST | OPEN | CLOSE | ROUTE | CP
AM=xxx specifies the type of access method to be used.
For an online session, all print files to be used have to be assigned to a specific access method.
For a batch session, any print files not assigned to a specific access
method will be automatically detected and assigned by the standard batch access
method (AM=STD), provided that they have been predefined in the
JCL. See also profile parameter FAMSTD (overwriting of
print and work file access method assignments).
Note:
PRINT=OFF is equivalent to: PRINT=((1-31)),
AM=OFF). It does not affect any of the other keyword subparameter
specifications. PRINT=((0),AM=xxx) or
NTPRINT (0),AM=xxx determines the
hardcopy print access method and is equivalent to the profile parameter
HCAM=xxx.
DEST=name specifies the print
destination (1 - 8 characters).
This corresponds to the OUTPUT value of the
DEFINE
PRINTER statement (and can be overwritten by a
DEFINE PRINTER OUTPUT specification).
The meaning of this keyword subparameter depends on the access method.
| Access Method | Meaning of DEST |
|---|---|
AM=STD |
DEST is the logical dataset name ( If the destination is to be for multiple files, two asterisks (**)
have to be specified for the file number. These will be replaced by the
corresponding logical file number for each print file. A
The default value is Under z/VSE, only 7-character names are supported. |
AM=CICS |
There is no default value for print files under CICS. Here, the
The Natural CICS interface also supports a variable (see
|
AM=CMS |
For usage of DEST under CMS, refer to
Natural under
VM/CMS in the Operations
documentation.
|
AM=IMS |
Specifies the IMS TM destination. |
Note:
PRINT=((0),DEST=xxx) or
NTPRINT (0),DEST=xxx determines the
hardcopy print destination and is equivalent to the Natural profile parameter
HCDEST=xxx.
OPEN=xxx determines when the file is to be opened:
| Value | The file is opened |
|---|---|
INIT |
for output at session initialization. |
OBF |
according to the default OPEN value for
the different environments (batch, CICS, Com-plete, TSO).
|
OBJ |
when the execution of the first object which accesses the file
starts. This is the general default, except for AM=COMP and
AM=IMS.
|
OBJ1 |
when the execution of the first object on Level 1 that accesses the file starts. Otherwise, it is opened when it is first accessed. |
ACC |
when it is first accessed by a statement. This is the default
for AM=COMP and AM=IMS.
|
INITOBF |
for output at session initialization. Any subsequent re-opening
of the file sets the default OPEN value for the
different environments (batch, CICS, Com-plete, TSO).
|
INITOBJ |
for output at session initialization. Any subsequent re-opening of the file will be performed when the execution of the first object which accesses the file starts. |
INITOBJ1 |
when the execution of the first object on Level 1 that accesses the file starts. Otherwise, it is opened when it is first accessed. |
INITACC |
for output at session initialization. Any subsequent re-opening of the file will be performed when it is first accessed by a statement. |
CLOSE=xxx determines when the
file is to be closed:
| Value | The file is closed |
|---|---|
OBJ |
either when processing of the object in which it was first
accessed is finished or when command mode, NEXT mode or
MAINMENU is reached.
|
CMD |
when command mode, NEXT mode or
MAINMENU is reached. This is the default for AM=NAF,
AM=COMP and AM=IMS.
|
FIN |
at session end (this is the default for AM=STD).
With CLOSE=FIN, a DEFINE PRINTER
statement causes an error if the printer was opened already. A CLOSE
PRINTER statement for the printer is ignored.
|
USER |
only if the file is open and one of the following conditions is
true:
|
ROUTE=xxx determines whether
logical print file routing is done according to the OUTPUT clause
of the DEFINE
PRINTER statement.
ON |
Print file routing is done. The target print file can be any
available print file except PC. This is the default value.
|
OFF |
No print file routing is done. |
am |
Print file routing is done to printers of the specified access
method am only. Possible value is any valid print
file access method (see description of subparameter
AM above).
PC is not allowed for
am.
|
Print file routing means that, if the name defined in the
OUTPUT clause of a DEFINE PRINTER statement denotes a
print file destination which is defined by a different logical printer, all
print output is routed to this print file. If no printer with the specified
name is found, the print output can be routed to any free printer.
This keyword subparameter defines the code page for the print output.
It is assumed that all code page data, for example, Natural sources, contents
of A-format fields, etc., are stored in this code page. If no code page is
specified with the keyword subparameter CP, the code
page resulting from the evaluation of the profile parameter
CP is used.
If Natural code page support is disabled (for example, by parameter
CP=OFF), any value specified for this parameter is ignored.
See also profile parameter CP and
Profile Parameters in the
Unicode and Code Page Support documentation.
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 - 64 characters |
The name of the desired code page. Any character string is possible, but must be predefined by one of
the code page parameters |
The following keyword subparameters are available: RECFM | BLKSIZE | LRECL | TRUNC | PAD | PADCHRO | ASA | STRIP
RECFM=xxxx determines the
default record format of the dataset.
The following formats are supported:
F |
Fixed |
V |
Variable |
U |
Undefined |
B |
Blocked |
S |
Spanned |
A |
ASA |
M |
Machine control characters |
The following values and also combinations of values are possible:
| Possible value: | F, FA, FM, FB, FBA, FBM, V, VA, VM, VB, VBA, VBM, VBS,
VBSA, VBSM, U, UA, UM |
| Default value: | RECFM=VBA (variable blocked with ASA).
|
The RECFM specification only applies if no
record format is predefined in the JCL or (z/OS only) in the dataset DCB.
BLKSIZE=nnnnn determines the
default block size (in bytes) of the dataset.
| Possible values: | 0 or 8 to 32767 |
| Default value: | 1016 |
The BLKSIZE specification only applies if no
block size is predefined in the JCL or (z/OS only) in the dataset DCB.
LRECL=nnn determines the
default record length (in bytes) of the dataset.
| Possible values: | 0 or 5 - 254 |
| Default value: | 0 |
This subparameter is used particularly to check for truncation and padding.
For RECFM=V (B) the LRECL value
includes a 4-byte record descriptor word.
If LRECL=0 is defined, the following applies:
With RECFM=V (B), LRECL defaults
to the minimum of BLKSIZE-4 and 254.
With RECFM=U, LRECL defaults to
BLKSIZE.
With RECFM=F (B), the maximum record length in the
Natural program being executed is taken when the file is opened. If no record
length from a program is available when the file is opened, for example with
OPEN=INIT, a record length of 132 is taken (plus 1 for ASA or a
machine control character and/or plus 4 for a record-descriptor word if the
record format is variable).
The LRECL specification only applies if no
record length is predefined in the JCL or (z/OS only) in the dataset DCB.
TRUNC=xxx determines whether
the output records are truncated:
ON |
Output records that are longer than the record length
(LRECL) of the dataset will be truncated. This is the
default value.
|
OFF |
Error NAT1512 will be issued if an output record is longer than the dataset record length. |
PAD=xxx determines whether the
output records are padded or not (applies only to datasets of fixed record
length):
ON |
Output records that are shorter than the record length
(LRECL) of the dataset will be padded with padding
characters defined by keyword subparameter PADCHRO. This is the
default value.
|
OFF |
Error NAT1510 will be issued if an output record is shorter than the dataset record length. |
This subparameter defines the character which is used for padding if
PAD=ON is defined for the print file.
| Possible values: | 'x' |
(one character x within
single quotes)
|
x'xx' |
(one hex character
xx)
|
|
| Default value: | ' ' |
(blank or
x'40')
|
ASA=xxx determines whether the
ASA record format is used.
ON |
An ASA character is included in the output print records. Under
z/OS, this enforces ASA record format, regardless of the
RECFM setting in the DCB or the
RECFM subparameter. This is the default value.
|
OFF |
No ASA character is included in the output print records. Under
z/VSE batch access method (AM=STD), a valid ASA character must be
supplied in column one of the output record if the output file is a spool file,
otherwise error NAT1530 will be issued.
|
Trailing blanks are stripped off for batch sequential print files
(AM=STD) if the dataset is defined with variable record format
(RECFM=VB) to reduce
disk space. This may cause problems with subsequent applications accessing this
dataset due to the missing blanks. These problems can be avoided by setting
STRIP=OFF.
ON |
Trailing blanks are stripped off. This is the default value. |
OFF |
Trailing blanks are not stripped off. |
The following keyword subparameters are available:
REREAD | FREE | BUFNO | DISP | VMAX
REREAD=xxx sets the
REREAD option for the closing of the tape file:
ON |
The REREAD option is set for the CLOSE
SVC. This causes the volume to be repositioned to reprocess the dataset
. This is the default value.
|
OFF |
The REREAD option is not set for the CLOSE
SVC.
|
FREE=xxx determines whether the
dataset is de-allocated when the file is closed:
ON |
The FREE option is set for the CLOSE
SVC, which means that the dataset is de-allocated when it is closed (and
not at step termination).
|
OFF |
The FREE option is not set for the CLOSE
SVC. This is the default value.
|
BUFNO=nnn defines the default
number of z/OS I/O buffers of the dataset.
| Possible values | 0 - 255 |
| Default value | 0
In this case, z/OS allocates five I/O buffers per default. |
The number of I/O buffers can improve the performance of print file access dramatically. Note that the storage for I/O buffers is allocated below the 16 MB line.
The BUFNO specification applies only if the
BUFNO parameter is not specified in the JCL for the
dataset.
DISP=xxx determines whether the
print file is opened for modification.
This corresponds to the JCL DD statement subparameter
DISP=MOD.
MOD |
New records are added at the end of the file. |
NOMOD |
The print file is rewritten from the start. This is the default value. |
VMAX=xxx controls the
LRECL setting for an output file with variable record
format (RECFM=V).
ON |
Providing a nonzero BLKSIZE value exists
for the file, VMAX=ON sets LRECL=BLKSIZE-4
for variable record format, regardless of the LRECL
setting in the DCB or the LRECL
subparameter.
|
NAT |
LRECL is set to the length +4 of the
largest record in the application program if this value is less than
LRECL in the DCB for the
dataset.
|
OFF |
LRECL from the DCB for the dataset or
the LRECL subparameter is used. This is the default
value.
|
The following keyword subparameters are available:
SYSNR=nn determines the logical
VSE SYS number.
| Possible values: | 1 - 99 |
| Default value: | By default, the SYS number is print file number
plus 40 for print files 1 - 31; for print file 0, that is the hardcopy printer,
the default is SYSLST.
Example: The z/VSE default |
LABEL=xxx determines the tape
label processing:
ON |
The tape is in standard label format. This is the default value. |
OFF |
The tape is unlabeled with front tape mark. |
NOTM |
The tape is unlabeled without front tape mark. |
REWIND=xxx determines the
action to be taken when a tape file is closed:
ON |
The tape is rewound when the file is closed. This is the default value. |
OFF |
The tape is not rewound when the file is closed. |
UNLOAD |
The tape is unloaded when the file is closed. |
The following keyword subparameter is available:
DISP |
FREE
DISP=xxx determines the open
mode of the file:
EXT |
The open mode is set to EXTEND.
|
NOEXT |
The open mode is set to the default value OUTPUT.
This is the default value.
|
FREE=xxx determines whether the
linkname of the file is released when the destination file is switched over to
another one.
ON |
The linkname is released. |
OFF |
The linkname is kept. |
Example:
DEFINE PRINTER (1) OUTPUT 'P01' WRITE (1) 'TEST' CLOSE (1) DEFINE PRINTER (1) OUTPUT 'FILE=REPORT01.NEW,LINK=LINKP01
If FREE is set to ON, the linkname
is released; with FREE=OFF, it is kept.
The following keyword subparameters are available:
TYPE=xxxx specifies the type of
CICS storage medium to be used:
MAIN |
Temporary main storage. |
AUX |
Temporary auxiliary storage. |
TD |
Transient data. |
The default value used depends on the DEST parameter setting.
If the DEST subparameter value matches a valid CICS
transient data queue, the TYPE subparameter defaults to
TD, otherwise MAIN will be taken as the default
value.
DISP=(xxx,xxx)
specifies the CICS temporary storage queue disposition.
Possible value pairs are:
(NEW,KEEP) |
The storage queue is deleted when the file is opened. This is the default value. |
(NEW,DELETE) |
The storage queue is deleted when the file is opened and when it is closed. |
(OLD,DELETE) |
The storage queue is deleted when the file is closed. |
(OLD,KEEP) |
The storage queue is not deleted. |
Note:
The DISP specification does not apply to
CICS extra-partition transient data queues.
The following keyword subparameter is available:
DRIVER
DRIVER=name specifies the
name of the Com-plete print driver to
be used.
The following keyword subparameter is available:
DEST
DEST=print-server-queue |
The environment variable
If the environment variable
|
DEST=printer-file-name |
If no print server queue for that printer is available,
Since the |
NAT_PRINT_ROOT=/nat/printer DEST=printer1 UserId=xyz
The first output will be written to file
/nat/printer/printer1/xyz1.
To specify a file with absolute path definition, the
OUTPUT clause of the DEFINE PRINTER statement
must be used.
The following keyword subparameters are available:
BLKSIZE=nnnnn specifies the size of the print buffer sent to the IMS TM destination.
DRIVER=name specifies the
name of the Natural IMS print driver to
be used.
For possible values, see NIMPARM Macro Parameters and Support of the Natural WRITE (n) Statement in the section Natural under IMS TM in the TP Monitor Interfaces documentation.
With the following keyword subparameters, you can set default values for
the DEFINE PRINTER
statement options of the same names (see the Statements
documentation). When a printer is closed, all DEFINE PRINTER
statement options are reset to their default values.
The following keyword subparameters are available:
PROFILE |
NAME |
FORMS |
DISP |
COPIES |
CLASS |
PRTY
PROFILE=name specifies the
name of printer control characters
table (NTCCTAB
macro).
NAME=name specifies the listing
name.
FORMS=name specifies the
listing forms name.
DISP=disposition specifies the
listing disposition (HOLD,
KEEP, DELETE or LEAVE).
COPIES=nnn specifies the number
of copies to be printed (1 - 255).
CLASS=class specifies the spool
class (1 byte).
PRTY=nnn specifies the listing
priority (1 - 255).
