Configuring Systems for Terminals, Printers, and Other Serial Devices (32022-90051)

Chapter 9 185
Describing Asynchronous Devices
How to Use Duplex Printing
How to Use Duplex Printing
Duplex printing is the ability to print on both the front and back sides
of the printer paper. The Laserjet 3D and the Laserjet 3SI are the two
PCL (Printer Control Language) laser printers that support duplex
printing. These two printers also support simplex (one-sided) printing.
To use duplex printing on these printers, duplex printing must be
configured and enabled. Configuration consists of modifying an existing
printer type file so that Duplex Printer Mode is enabled. This is done
using the Workstation Configurator (TTUTIL.PUB.SYS). This printer
type file is then assigned to the printer in NMMGR. This allows the
Terminal I/O driver to send the Front-of-Page (FOP) escape sequence to
the printer when appropriate.
In the Workstation Configurator, the field before the question Does
the printer support duplex printing (Y, N), type Y to
indicate that a printer may be used as a duplex printer. To save this
modification, press
[ENTER] and then the SAVE DATA function key.
Once configuration is complete the printer must be enabled for duplex
printing. Duplex printing can be enabled and disabled by sending
escape sequences to the printer. This can be done in three ways:
• Escape sequences can be embedded in the data file being printed.
• The printer type file can be modified to include the escape sequence
as part of the initialization string.
• The printer type file can be modified to include the escape sequence
as a Vertical Forms Control (VFC) string.
There are three escape sequences for duplex printing:
The two duplex modes provide for the binding of the final document.
Vertical binding allows for binding a document along the physical
length of the page and horizontal binding allows for binding a document
along the physical width of the page. This is shown in Figure 9-1, where
the dotted line (- - -) represents binding.
[ESC]&l1S - Enable vertical binding duplex mode
[ESC]&l2S - Enable horizontal binding duplex mode
[ESC]&10S - Disable duplex mode (enable simplex mode)