Agilent 5250 - Manual

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page xx SUPSOFF ........................................................................................ 4-20 LOWQUAL ..................................................................................... 4-21 MEDQUAL .........................................

Page xxi TABLE OF CONTENTS PFS! Report ..................................................................................... 5-20 PORTFID! Report ........................................................................... 5-23 LANDFID! Report ............................................................

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page xxii Font Correspondences ........................................................................... A-11 Downloading Font Correspondences ............................................ A-11 Font Correspondence Limits ....................................

Configuring the Output Ports ................................................................ D-17 Loading an Output Port Configuration .......................................... D-17 Saving an Output Port Configuration ............................................ D-19 Configuring the Parallel Outpu...

Page i PREFACE 5250 OPTIMA TM Intelligent Protocol Converter 5250OPTIMA ™ User’s Guide and Reference AGILE 875 Alfred Nobel Drive Hercules, CA 94547-1899 TEL (510) 724-1600 • TEL (800) 538-1634 • FAX (510) 724-9624 Customer Support: FAX (510) 724-2222 • E-MAIL [email protected]

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page ii Copyright Information ©1996 AGILEAll rights reserved. Copyright protection claimed includes all forms and matters of copyrightable material and information now allowed by statutory or judicial law or hereinafter granted.AGILE is a registered trade...

Page iii PREFACE About AGILE In 1978 “IBM” and the word “compatible” were rarely found together, but IBM’s mainframe customers wanted a less expensive, more flexible printing solution than IBM offered them. They wanted value, performance and features that only ASCII printers could provide. They want...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page iv Also From AGILE 5250 ALLY™ An intelligent protocol converter that enables an industry-standard parallel ASCII or EBCDIC printer to be attached to a System/3X or AS/400 midrange computer. Its alternate host feature allows the midrange host and a PC...

Page v PREFACE AGILE Product Warranty Standard Warranty AGILE warrants to the original purchaser that this product will be free from defects in materials and workmanship and in good working order per the functional specifications current at the time of shipment for a period of two (2) years from the...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page vi event shall AGILE be responsible for any loss of business, savings or profits, downtime or delay, labor repair or material costs, injury to person or property, or any similar or dissimilar consequential or inconsequential loss or damage resulting ...

Page vii PREFACE FCC Statement This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy. If it is not installed and used in strict accordance with AGILE’s instructions, it may cause interference to radio and television reception. This equipment has been tested and complies with the limi...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page viii About the AGILE 5250 OPTIMA The AGILE 5250 OPTIMA is a powerful, easy-to-use, intelligent protocol converter/printer interface controller that allows industry-standard, parallel or serial, ASCII or EBCDIC printers to be attached to an IBM System...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page x 5250 OPTIMA Features and Specifications Input/Output Ports • IBM Twinax Port • 2 DB-25 Parallel Ports (1 input, 1 output) • DB-9 Serial Port (bidirectional) • DB-25 Serial Port (bidirectional) Host Interface • Automatic terminating / cable-through ...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page xii About This Manual This manual covers the installation and use of the AGILE 5250 OPTIMA intelligent protocol converter. AGILE makes no warranties, expressed or implied, as to its completeness or accuracy. The information in this manual is current ...

Page 1-1 CHAPTER 1 — GETTING STARTED CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED Overview / Objectives This chapter provides information on installing the AGILE 5250 OPTIMA. Sections of this chapter provide instructions regarding: • Choosing a location for the OPTIMA• Physical interfacing to the host system and print...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 1-2 Data Stream Interface The data stream in a print job from an IBM midrange host consists of hexadecimal values, some of which are SCS/DCA control codes, and some of which represent printable characters for an IBM midrange printer. The IBM midrange...

Page 1-3 CHAPTER 1 — GETTING STARTED Before Beginning The following are needed before installing the 5250 OPTIMA: • A suitable location• A serial or parallel printer (or other output device)• A twinax host interface cable connected to the user’s host system or remote twinax controller • Additionally...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 1-4 Electrical Requirements The 5250 OPTIMA requires 110 VAC (50-60 Hz) at 0.5 amperes, unless specifically configured for 220 VAC / 0.25 ampere usage (factory optional).Plug the OPTIMA and the printer into different electrical circuits. Do not use e...

Page 1-5 CHAPTER 1 — GETTING STARTED Package Contents After unpacking the 5250 OPTIMA, please check that all of the following items have been included. If any of these items are missing, please contact AGILE immediately. Unless ordered otherwise, the OPTIMA shipping container includes: • This user’s...

Page 1-7 CHAPTER 1 — GETTING STARTED 18. Ground 19. Ground 20. Ground 21. Ground 22. Ground 23. Ground 24. Ground 25. Ground 10. Printer Acknowledge 11. Busy 12. Paper Error 13. Select 14. Auto Feed 15. Fault 16. Init 17. Select In 1. Strobe 2. Data 1 3. Data 2 4. Data 3 5. Data 4 6. Data 5 7. Data ...

Page 1-9 CHAPTER 1 — GETTING STARTED Connecting to the Host System The 5250 OPTIMA can be connected via its twinax “T” adapter to any IBM 5250 protocol device (System/3X, AS/400 or remote controller) that has an address configured as an IBM 3812 (SCS Mode), 4214, 5219, 5224, 5225 or 5256 printer. Co...

Page 1-11 CHAPTER 1 — GETTING STARTED Connecting a Printer via Centronics Parallel A parallel output cable is included with the OPTIMA. The cable supplied by AGILE may be used, or if a parallel cable is already connected to the printer, it may be used instead.The PARALLEL OUT PRINTER port on the OPT...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 1-12 Due to the OPTIMA’s internal port priority system, if connecting a single serial printer to the 5250 OPTIMA, it should be connected to SERIAL I/O PORT 1. If connecting two serial printers to the OPTIMA, the printers may be connected to either of...

Page 1-13 CHAPTER 1 — GETTING STARTED Connecting a Second Printer via Serial After connecting a printer to the 5250 OPTIMA via SERIAL I/O PORT 1, a second printer may be connected via SERIAL I/O PORT 0.SERIAL I/O PORT 0 has a DB-25, DCE-standard pin-out. It is intended primarily for use as an altern...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 1-14 Connecting the Alternate Host(s) The 5250 OPTIMA supports up to three alternate hosts. Each of these alternate hosts may share the printers attached to the output ports with each other and with the host system. Data received from these ports is ...

Page 1-15 CHAPTER 1 — GETTING STARTED 3. Insert the other end of the AGILE alternate host cable into the PARALLEL IN ALT HOST port of the 5250 OPTIMA. 4. Tighten the thumbscrews until the connection is firm, but do not overtighten. Connecting the First Alternate Host via Serial The 5250 OPTIMA’s fir...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 1-16 Connecting a Second Alternate Host via Serial If using both of the 5250 OPTIMA’s serial ports as alternate host ports, connect the second device through SERIAL I/O PORT 1. This port has a DB-9, PC/AT-compatible connector. Connecting SERIAL I/O P...

Page 1-17 CHAPTER 1 — GETTING STARTED Connecting the 5250 OPTIMA to Power Now that the 5250 OPTIMA has been connected to all of the printers and alternate host devices, it may be connected to the power outlet. PARALLEL OUT PRINTER PARALLEL IN ALT HOST PC COMPATIBLE PC COMPATIBLE PC-AT COMPATIBLE DCE...

Page 1-19 CHAPTER 1 — GETTING STARTED Starting Up Follow these instructions each time the 5250 OPTIMA is powered up: 1. Make certain the printer(s) is/are powered on and ready to receive and to print data. Power on the alternate host(s), if any. 2. If the diskette received with the OPTIMA is not in ...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 1-20 Basic Port Configuration The 5250 OPTIMA is configurable to its specific printer/host environment. While many options are set to factory defaults that may match the user’s needs, the first time the OPTIMA is used, the user will need to configure...

Page 1-21 CHAPTER 1 — GETTING STARTED Setting the Twinax Address Follow these instructions to configure each of the twinax ports to be used: 1. Use d and f to select one of three twinax ports. If using address 1, 2 or 3, select the appropriate port. The display should read: CONFIG: TWINAX n : where ...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 1-22 3. Use d and f until the display reads: ON/OFF= ACTIVE 4. Press ENTER . The display should read: TWINAX n : ON/OFF= Setting the Device Emulation Type The LCD should read: TWINAX n : ON/OFF= 1. Press f twice. The display should read: TWINAX n :EM...

Page 1-23 CHAPTER 1 — GETTING STARTED Configuring the Parallel Out Printer Port The next step is to configure the PARALLEL OUT PRINTER port. Starting this procedure, the display should read: CONFIG: port : where port is one of the 5250 OPTIMA ports. 1. Use d and f , until the display reads: CONFIG: ...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 1-24 Configuring a Serial Printer Port The next step is to configure the serial output ports. If not using any serial output ports, skip this procedure and move to “Configuring the Parallel In Alt Host Port.”Starting this procedure the display should...

Page 1-27 CHAPTER 1 — GETTING STARTED Configuring the Parallel In Alt Host Port Follow this procedure to enable or disable the PARALLEL IN ALT HOST port. The default factory for this port is active, i.e., enabled. If this port is not going to be used, it should be disabled.Starting this procedure th...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 1-28 Configuring a Serial Alt Host Port The next step is to configure the serial ports for alternate host input. If not using any serial ports for alternate host input, skip this procedure and move to “Saving the Configuration.”Starting this procedur...

Saving the Configuration When done configuring the 5250 OPTIMA, save the configuration to diskette so that the OPTIMA can remember the settings after it is reset or powered off.When starting this procedure the display should read: CONFIG: port : where port is one of the OPTIMA ports. 1. Press f unti...

Page 2-1 CHAPTER 2 — ADVANCED CONFIGURATION CHAPTER 2 ADVANCED CONFIGURATION Configuration Menu To efficiently navigate the menu, it is helpful to be familiar with its punctuation and structure. A complete chart of the menu tree is displayed on the quick reference card included with this manual. Ref...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 2-2 The g button is used to move to the right in the menu, making the current suboption the new parent option, and displaying its suboptions on the right. For example, if the user were to press the g button now, the result would be: CONFIG:TWINAX1: T...

Page 2-3 CHAPTER 2 — ADVANCED CONFIGURATION Punctuation Codes A punctuation code is used to indicate different types of menu listings. Hierarchy headings are followed by a colon (:). Option names are followed by either equals (=) or does not equal ( ≠ ) symbols. If the value for the option is the cu...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 2-4 Setting the twinax port to ACTIVE causes the OPTIMA to start twinax communications on that address. Active twinax ports are displayed in the OPTIMA’s status display; inactive twinax ports are not displayed. To deactivate a twinax port, set its ON...

Page 2-5 CHAPTER 2 — ADVANCED CONFIGURATION 1. IBM 3812 laser printer ( SCS mode — 5219 emulation)2. IBM 4214-2 dot matrix printer3. IBM 5219-D02 daisy wheel printer (default)4. IBM 5224-2 dot matrix printer5. IBM 5225-4 dot matrix printer6. IBM 5256-1 band printer To select an emulation, use the ar...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 2-6 4. TRNSPRNT. Transparent. This is used only for diagnostic purposes.5. HEX DUMP. Hex dump mode will cause the 5250 OPTIMA to print all data it receives as 16 hexadecimal bytes per line on the left column of a page, accompanied in the right column...

Page 2-7 CHAPTER 2 — ADVANCED CONFIGURATION OPTIMA: CONFIG:TWINAX1: OUT TO= PO,S0,S1 One of the reasons the user may want to change this setting is to force non- SCS data streams to be sent to a compatible output device. For example, if the user has an XES mode printer on the PARALLEL OUT PRINTER po...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 2-8 Parallel In Port Configuration To use the PARALLEL IN ALT HOST port, it must be active, the output ports must be selected, and the timeout period must be set. If not using the PARALLEL IN ALT HOST port, it should be deactivated. These options are...

Page 2-9 CHAPTER 2 — ADVANCED CONFIGURATION Output Ports The 5250 OPTIMA has one dedicated output port and two configurable output ports. The PARALLEL OUT PRINTER port is dedicated to output. If not being used for alternate host input, SERIAL I/O PORT 0 and SERIAL I/O PORT 1 can be used as output po...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 2-10 _DIAGASC A diagnostic-only printer configuration, for ASCII printers, that prints the name of each PFS as it is invoked by the data stream, rather than using the PFS to format the document _DIAGEBC A diagnostic-only printer configuration, for EB...

Page 2-11 CHAPTER 2 — ADVANCED CONFIGURATION OPTIMA: CONFIG:PAR OUT: ON/OFF= ACTIVE OPTIMA: CONFIG:PAR OUT: LOAD> _filename Loading a printer configuration for the port will automatically activate the port. OPTIMA: CONFIG:PAR OUT: SAVE> _filename Serial Output Ports If either of the serial por...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 2-12 Format Information The AGILE 5250 OPTIMA is capable of emulating most popular IBM printers. In order to do this, it needs some information about the target printer. The user needs to provide some of this information under OPTIMA: CONFIG: FMTINFO...

Page 2-13 CHAPTER 2 — ADVANCED CONFIGURATION Note: The LINEFEED option for vertical movement is included only for compatibility with older applications, and it should not ordinarily be selected by the user. Resolution HOR RES= and VER RES= should be set to the units used by the printer for the comma...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 2-14 The CORHOFF= and CORVOFF= options specify the offsets only when the page orientation is COR (Computer Output Reduction). The value DEFAULT (the default value) for these options is .05 inches, which is the same offset as the IBM 3812 printer. The...

Page 2-15 CHAPTER 2 — ADVANCED CONFIGURATION If the printer is capable of moving variable relative distances to the left, choose SENDMOVE (the default value). This will cause the OPTIMA to send the PFS SNDXTRA> to the printer after each character that needs additional space. If HORMOVE= is set to...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 2-16 Underlining Spaces The setting of the UNDLSPC= option determines the way in which the OPTIMA will tell the printer to underline spaces when an underlined space is encountered in the data stream. It is useful primarily for nine-pin dot matrix pri...

Page 3-1 CHAPTER 3 — CHARACTER CODE TRANSLATION CHAPTER 3 CHARACTER CODE TRANSLATION Overview The data stream that is sent from the AS/400, System/3X or alternate host device is not forwarded directly through the AGILE 5250 OPTIMA to the printer. Rather, all characters must first pass through the ap...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 3-2 Selecting a Translation Table When configuring the OPTIMA output ports, for each input device the appropriate translation table must be selected. The default selection of the translation tables might meet the user’s needs, but the user may need t...

Page 3-3 CHAPTER 3 — CHARACTER CODE TRANSLATION Twinax Translation Because all twinax-generated data is in EBCDIC SCS format, the user should select one of the EBCDIC tables ( EBCDIC->ASCII , EBCDIC->EBCDIC , EBCDIC->HP LJ , EBCDIC->PC , EBCDIC->PS ), depending upon the printer. Choos...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 3-4 To understand the way in which the translation tables work, look at the EBCDIC to ASCII table. Find the output value for the hexadecimal input character 'C1.' (This is an uppercase “A” in EBCDIC.) Look down the left column and find the entry “C_....

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 3-6 Translation Tables ASCII to ASCII This is a pass-though table. It is the default translation table for 5250 OPTIMA-generated data (tests and reports) and for alternate host data. LS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 MS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B...

Page 3-7 CHAPTER 3 — CHARACTER CODE TRANSLATION EBCDIC to ASCII This table is the default translation table for twinax data. LS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 MS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 00 0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C 0D 00 00 FF CR 16 1 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 3-8 ASCII to EBCDIC This table can be used for alternate host data if using a Xerox printer running in EBCDIC mode. LS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 MS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 00 0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 2F 00 00 25 00 0C 0D 00 00 BEL L...

Page 3-9 CHAPTER 3 — CHARACTER CODE TRANSLATION EBCDIC to EBCDIC This table can be used to translate twinax data if using a Xerox printer running in EBCDIC mode. LS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 MS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 00 0 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F NUL SOH S...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 3-10 EBCDIC to HP LaserJet This table translates twinax data for printers that use Roman 8 extended ASCII. LS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 MS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 00 0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C 0D 00 00 FF CR 16 1 00 ...

Page 3-11 CHAPTER 3 — CHARACTER CODE TRANSLATION EBCDIC to PC This table translates twinax data for printers that use the standard PC extended ASCII character set. LS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 MS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 00 0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C 0D 00 00 FF CR 1...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 3-12 EBCDIC to PostScript This table translates twinax data for printers that use the IsoLatin1 extended ASCII character set. LS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 MS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 00 0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C 0D 0...

Page 3-13 CHAPTER 3 — CHARACTER CODE TRANSLATION Xerox 275 Protocol Converter EBCDIC to ASCII This table is used to translate twinax data if the 5250 OPTIMA has been configured to emulate a Xerox 275 protocol converter and if the printer is configured for the ASCII character set. The user should als...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 3-14 LS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 MS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 00 0 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E OF 16 1 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E 1F 32 2 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 2A 2B 2C 2D 2E 2F 48 3 30 31...

Page 3-15 CHAPTER 3 — CHARACTER CODE TRANSLATION LS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 MS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 00 0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 2F 00 00 25 00 0C 0D 00 00 16 1 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 27 00 00 00 00 32 2 40 4F 7F 7B 5B 6C 50 7D 4D 5D 5C 4E 6B 60 4B 61 48 3 F0 F1 F2 F3...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 3-16 LS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 MS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 00 0 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E OF 16 1 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E 1F 32 2 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 2A 2B 2C 2D 2E 2F 48 3 30 31...

Page 3-17 CHAPTER 3 — CHARACTER CODE TRANSLATION LS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 MS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 00 0 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E OF 16 1 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E 1F 32 2 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 2A 2B 2C 2D 2E 2F 48 3 30 31 32 33...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 3-18 LS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 MS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 00 0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 2F 00 00 25 00 0C 0D 00 00 16 1 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 27 00 00 00 00 32 2 40 4F 7F 7B 5B 6C 50 7D 4D 5D 5C 4E 6B 60 4B 61 48 3 F0 F1...

Page 3-19 CHAPTER 3 — CHARACTER CODE TRANSLATION LS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 MS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 00 0 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E OF 16 1 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E 1F 32 2 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 2A 2B 2C 2D 2E 2F 48 3 30 31 32 33...

LS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 MS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 00 0 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E OF 16 1 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E 1F 32 2 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 2A 2B 2C 2D 2E 2F 48 3 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 3A 3B 3C 3D 3E 3F 64 4 40 41 4...

LS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 MS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 00 0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 16 1 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 32 2 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 48 3 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 4 00 00 0...

Page 4-1 CHAPTER 4 — PROGRAMMABLE FUNCTION STRINGS CHAPTER 4 PROGRAMMABLE FUNCTION STRINGS Overview Programmable Function Strings (PFSs) are used by the AGILE 5250 OPTIMA to control all functions that vary from printer to printer. Whenever some special formatting or control function is required, the...

Page 4-3 CHAPTER 4 — PROGRAMMABLE FUNCTION STRINGS until the value is correct. Press g , and the LCD should read “ END .” Press d , then press ENTER when the display reads “ INSERT! .” Continue editing and inserting until the PFS is completely defined using the printer’s control codes.To delete a va...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 4-4 Decimal – Prints out the parameter value in decimal (base 10). To use this format, the user must have the character code translation table for the OPTIMA set correctly. Byte – One byte. It cannot send a value greater than 255. HiLoWord – A two-by...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 4-6 PFS Descriptions The following is a complete list of PFSs currently offered with the 5250 OPTIMA. Each listing describes the action of the PFS and indicates when each PFS will be sent to the printer by the 5250 OPTIMA. The descriptions also indic...

Page 4-7 CHAPTER 4 — PROGRAMMABLE FUNCTION STRINGS INIT T2 This PFS is empty by default in all printer configurations. Use this to initialize the printer to a known state for communication with input on the twinax address that by default is TWINAX 2 . For instance, the user can clear the margins, se...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 4-8 INITOPT This PFS is defined in all printer configurations except “Generic.” Use this to set the printer to a known font, orientation and margins for OPTIMA- generated output. This PFS is sent before sending a hex dump or performing any options un...

Page 4-9 CHAPTER 4 — PROGRAMMABLE FUNCTION STRINGS This is not normally used with laser printers, and it is only used when some type of PFS Suppression is active or when Vertical Movement has been set to Line Feed. Normally, the 5250 OPTIMA sends the VERMOVE PFS to control all vertical movement. POR...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 4-10 LINEDEN This is used to set the line density at the printer. This PFS is sent to the printer whenever the System changes the line density setting in response to an SCS Set Line Density or Set Single Line Distance command.Although the OPTIMA norm...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 4-12 P PSCPI Print with proportional spacing in portrait orientation. This PFS is sent to the printer when the 5250 OPTIMA’s page orientation algorithm has selected a portrait orientation, and when the System has requested proportional spacing (using...

Page 4-15 CHAPTER 4 — PROGRAMMABLE FUNCTION STRINGS If the printer is capable of printing any font at any pitch (CPI), then this PFS should set the pitch for the current font. If a specific font is needed to achieve 10 CPI, then this PFS should be defined to select that font.If the RES CPI= option (...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 4-18 COR 15 Select a landscape font greater or equal to 20 pitch. This PFS is sent to the printer when the 5250 OPTIMA’s page orientation algorithm has selected computer output reduction, and when the System has specified a font with a pitch less tha...

Page 4-19 CHAPTER 4 — PROGRAMMABLE FUNCTION STRINGS BSBOLD1 and BSBOLD2 Backspace bold. These PFSs are sent to the printer in response to an SCS Begin Emphasis command, or when a character-Backspace-same character sequence or a text-Carriage Return-same text sequence is detected in the data stream. ...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 4-20 UNDLOFF If UNDLSPC has been set to UNDERLIN in the FMTINFO menu, this PFS will be sent to the printer to turn off underline mode. This is sent to the printer in response to an SCS End Underscore command, at the end of the word to be underlined i...

Page 4-21 CHAPTER 4 — PROGRAMMABLE FUNCTION STRINGS LOWQUAL This PFS is sent to the printer when the System has selected a low quality or draft print mode using the SCS Page Presentation Media command with the pq parameter set to 03h. This is normally applicable only for dot matrix printers. The use...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 4-22 DUPLEX Print in duplex (double-sided) mode for documents that are to be bound on the side of the page (selected by sending the SCS Page Presentation Media command with the dx parameter set to 02h). If the System is printing in duplex mode, it wi...

Page 4-23 CHAPTER 4 — PROGRAMMABLE FUNCTION STRINGS P ENVEL Use paper from source/drawer 4. This PFS is sent to the printer at the beginning of each portrait page when the System has sent an SCS Page Presentation Media command with the sd parameter set to 04h. It uses format information from ENVELOP...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 4-24 LPAPER 2 Use paper from source/drawer 2. This PFS is sent to the printer at the beginning of each landscape page when the System has sent an SCS Page Presentation Media command with the sd parameter set to 02h. It uses format information from PA...

Page 4-25 CHAPTER 4 — PROGRAMMABLE FUNCTION STRINGS LANDMAN Use manual feed paper (sheet feed). If the System specifies manual feed with the SCS Printer Setup command, and if the printer is in landscape mode, this PFS will be sent to the printer. If the printer has more that four paper drawers, this...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 4-26 JOBSTRT Prepare the printer to receive a new print job. This PFS is sent to the printer when the System declares that a new print job is about to start (upon receipt of an SCS Set Initial Conditions command). Some of the potential uses for this ...

Page 5-1 CHAPTER 5 — MAINTENANCE & TROUBLESHOOTING CHAPTER 5 MAINTENANCE & TROUBLESHOOTING Diagnostics When the AGILE 5250 OPTIMA either powers up or is reset, it performs a set of diagnostics on the internal hardware. These diagnostics include a ROM checksum test to ensure that the ROM has ...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 5-2 The user must know on which addresses OPTIMA will be configured. If using a wrong address, the twinax status indicator will flash, but this will not cause an error at the system. If the status indicator is flashing, either the twinax address has ...

Page 5-3 CHAPTER 5 — MAINTENANCE & TROUBLESHOOTING If the error is on the PARALLEL OUT PRINTER port, the display will read either “ Par Out: Offline ” or “ Par Out: No Paper .” The “ Offline ” message can be caused either by the unit being offline or by a fault condition at the printer (e.g., ou...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 5-4 Printing Reports The 5250 OPTIMA will print nine reports that allow the user to verify that the unit is functioning properly, and that the status, fonts and other configuration settings are correct. If experiencing problems with the unit, it is h...

Page 5-35 CHAPTER 5 — MAINTENANCE & TROUBLESHOOTING LOOP! Report This report is a diagnostic test that is not normally used. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789{- }~abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz!@#$^&*()[+]? Troubleshooting This guide is intended as a quick reference for identifying and correc...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 5-36 o OPTIMA to Twinax Host Check that the twinax “T” cable adapter is firmly connected to the OPTIMA and that the twinax cable is securely fastened to one side of the “T.” Refer to the system documentation and to Chapter 1 — Getting Started: Connec...

Page 5-37 CHAPTER 5 — MAINTENANCE & TROUBLESHOOTING Step 5: Configuration Test Confirm correct configuration by sending both a CONFIG! Report and an OPTIONS! Report to the printer. Consult the printouts of these reports for sources of potential problems. Step 6: Twinax Host Test Confirm that the...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page 5-38 Contacting AGILE Technical Support If the problem persists after each of the potential problems listed above has been checked and corrected, call the AGILE technical support hotline. Please have the following information available before calling...

Page 5-39 CHAPTER 5 — MAINTENANCE & TROUBLESHOOTING AGILE technical support is available between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. PST. For Express Exchange Service customers who would like next-business-day replacement of a unit, AGILE technical support must be contacted early enough so that...

Page A-1 APPENDIX A — INTERFACING XEROX PRINTERS APPENDIX A INTERFACING XEROX PRINTERS Introduction The AGILE 5250 OPTIMA provides extensive special support for Xerox printers in XDPM and XPPM modes. XDPM mode is also referred to as XES mode or UDK mode.XES mode is the native Xerox print mode for Xe...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page A-2 XES Mode The XES command set used by Xerox printers allows more functionality than the SCS command set used by IBM printers. For example, the XES command set allows overlay forms, APA (All-Points-Addressable) graphics, special fonts for barcodes ...

Page A-3 APPENDIX A — INTERFACING XEROX PRINTERS The OPTIMA provides several methods that allow SCS and XES documents to coexist in the same environment. Coexistence In order to eliminate the formatting conflicts that can arise when using XES commands to control document formatting, the OPTIMA provi...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page A-4 These separate addresses appear to the system as two logical printers, although they can share a single Xerox printer. The OPTIMA automatically holds data from one address when the other address is using the printer, in the same way that it queue...

Page A-5 APPENDIX A — INTERFACING XEROX PRINTERS Automatic PFS suppression Automatic PFS suppression uses the format of a well-formed XES job to automatically begin and end PFS suppression.In the XES command set, there are four different commands that can be used to begin a job. These commands indic...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page A-6 Passing FFs in auto FF suppression mode Because Auto FF suppression mode is active for the duration of the XES job, a method is necessary to pass form feeds to the printer. The method the OPTIMA uses is designed to take advantage of the behavior ...

Page A-9 APPENDIX A — INTERFACING XEROX PRINTERS Special Formatting Problems This section discusses some additional issues regarding data stream conflicts. Font Downloading XES mode printers require a special translation table to be used when downloading sixelized data to the printer. When downloadi...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page A-10 These types of problems are sometimes made more acute because of the OPTIMA’s dynamic data routing.To reduce these kinds of problems, the OPTIMA provides Auto UDK character translation. Auto UDK character translation works, because regardless of...

Page A-11 APPENDIX A — INTERFACING XEROX PRINTERS Input to OPTIMA: s x20,200,5 s x40,400,5 d Output from OPTIMA: s x20,200,5 d s x40,400,5 d In the example above, when the OPTIMA encountered the second UDK character, it automatically terminated the previous UDK command. This termination was provided...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page A-12 This feature does not cause interference with the proper termination of XES commands. Antiquities The OPTIMA supports the following additional Logical Not (¬) commands for compatibility with existing documents and applications. Their use is not ...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page A-14 If the GFID number of an entry already exists in the table, the new entry replaces the old entry. For example: ¬¬(((0 87=PrestigeElite12iso-P ))) If this entry were sent to the OPTIMA after the previous example, the old font entry of LetterGothi...

Page A-15 APPENDIX A — INTERFACING XEROX PRINTERS The Xerox Menu Each of the OPTIMA’s twinax address ports (and other input ports) has a submenu of options that are used to control the special modes of operation used by Xerox printers. This menu can be found at: OPTIMA: CONFIG: TWINAX n : XEROX: in ...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page A-16 NOUDKXLT This setting causes the OPTIMA to pass any =UDK= character assignments to the printer and not to perform the UDK character translation itself. PFS Suppression Configuration This option is useful for both XDPM and XPPM data streams.The P...

Page A-17 APPENDIX A — INTERFACING XEROX PRINTERS OPTIMA: CONFIG:TWINAX n : XEROX:FF SPRS= NO SPRS This option tell the OPTIMA not to suppress the FF> PFS. This means that form feeds received for this twinax address will be sent to the printer normally. AUTOSPRS This option tells the 5250 ALLY to...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page A-18 OPTIMA: CONFIG:TWINAX n : XEROX:XTLSPRS= IGNORE specifies that Logical Not commands in the data stream are to be ignored, i.e., treated as printable text. This mode is very useful in debugging data streams that use Logical Not commands. REMOVE s...

Page A-19 APPENDIX A — INTERFACING XEROX PRINTERS The OPTIMA has two different modes of transparency for use in passing Metacode from the host system to the printer. The OPTIMA’s normal handling of transparent data is to remove the data from the transparent “packet” and to send the data to the print...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page A-20 LINEFEED specifies that the OPTIMA should use line feeds to move from line to line. This causes the line density to be based upon the current font’s height. Regardless of the setting of this option, the OPTIMA always uses line feeds when PFS sup...

Page B-1 APPENDIX B — SCS/DCA COMMAND SUMMARY APPENDIX B SCS/DCA COMMAND SUMMARY Overview The AGILE 5250 OPTIMA, like the IBM printers it emulates, accepts SCS (SNA Control String) and DCA - FFT (Document Content Architecture - Final Form Text) commands. These commands control formatting of the text...

Page C-1 APPENDIX C — PSEUDO TRANSPARENCY APPENDIX C PSEUDO TRANSPARENCY Introduction Most ASCII and EBCDIC printers have features that are not available on IBM midrange printers. If the user’s application software is aware that the destination of the data may be a non-IBM printer attached to a prot...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page C-2 The transparent packet itself consists of two trigger characters, the data to be sent to the printer without translation, and one trigger character that is used to terminate the transparent packet. For example, to send an ASCII escape (1Bh) to th...

Page D-1 APPENDIX D — OPTEDIT APPENDIX D OPTEDIT Overview OPTEDIT™ is a menu-driven program used to edit the full configuration of the AGILE 5250 OPTIMA. It serves as an alternative to editing the configuration from the OPTIMA front panel. OPTEDIT operates on IBM PC, PS/2 and compatible computers wi...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page D-2 Running OPTEDIT To run OPTEDIT, choose the directory where OPTEDIT resides, type OPTEDIT at the DOS prompt, and press ENTER . The software will prompt the user to specify the letter of the disk drive where the configuration file to be edited is l...

Page D-3 APPENDIX D — OPTEDIT 5) Press Y to quit the program and save the new configuration.6) To use the new configuration, remove the diskette from the PC disk drive and replace it in the OPTIMA disk drive. If the OPTIMA is powered down, power up the unit. If the OPTIMA is powered up, press the RE...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page D-4 Basic Port Configuration The OPTIMA is configurable to the user’s specific printer/host environment. While most of the configuration options are set to factory defaults that may match the needs of the user, the OPTIMA ports will need to be config...

Page D-5 APPENDIX D — OPTEDIT Input Ports The OPTIMA has three twinax addresses, one parallel input port and two serial ports that are configurable for use as input ports. To use a port for input, in addition to activating it as described earlier, the user must choose a mode (except for the serial p...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page D-6 5) TRNSPRNT. Transparent mode used for alternate host input. When in transparent mode, the data output by the OPTIMA is identical to the data received, with the exception that the data is routed through the active translate table. This mode is no...

Page D-7 APPENDIX D — OPTEDIT Choosing the Timeout Period When any twinax, parallel or serial input port has stopped using an output port for a user-configurable timeout period, the OPTIMA considers the output port available and gives it to the next input port in the queue.The timeout period should ...

Page D-9 APPENDIX D — OPTEDIT Interfacing Xerox Printers Before using these twinax port options, it is recommended that the user become familiar with the issues discussed in Appendix A — Interfacing Xerox Printers. These options are also available for alternate host input ports, but they are used on...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page D-10 Use the arrow keys to move the cursor to the appropriate choice, and press ENTER . The Xerox Special Options screen will return. To return to the OPTEDIT main screen, press F10 or Esc . PFS Suppression This option is useful for both XDPM and XPP...

Page D-11 APPENDIX D — OPTEDIT “Auto, but not Bold/Und” behaves like “Auto Suppress PFSs in XES,” except that it will not suppress the BOLD ON> , BOLD OFF> , BSBOLD1> , BSBOLD2> , UNDL ON> and UNDLOFF> PFSs. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor to the appropriate choice, and press...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page D-12 “Suppress FFs in Form jobs” will cause the OPTIMA to suppress the FF> PFS during form-based XDPM print jobs. The form-based XDPM job is delimited by <UDK>+M or <UDK>+N. The form feed suppression will continue until the XDPM job en...

Page D-13 APPENDIX D — OPTEDIT To define this option, use the arrow keys to move the cursor on the XEROX Special Options screen to the words “XTL Suppression=” (Use XTL Commands is the default), and press ENTER . The following choices will be displayed: • Ignore XTL Commands• Remove XTL Commands• Us...

Page D-15 APPENDIX D — OPTEDIT Alternate Host Input Ports Besides the three twinax addresses, there are three other ports that can be used by the OPTIMA to receive data. These are the Centronics parallel input port and the serial I/O ports (Serial 0 and Serial 1). Each of these ports can be used as ...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page D-16 Serial Interface Settings To choose the baud rate, at the appropriate port on the OPTEDIT main screen, use the arrow keys to move the cursor to the word “Baud=” (the default is 9600 for Serial 0; 19200 for Serial 1), and press ENTER . The user w...

Page D-17 APPENDIX D — OPTEDIT Configuring the Output Ports The OPTIMA has one dedicated parallel output port and two output- configurable serial ports. The Centronics parallel output port is dedicated to output. If not being used for alternate host input, Serial 1 and Serial 0 may be used as output...

Page D-19 APPENDIX D — OPTEDIT Saving an Output Port Configuration If the user makes any changes to the configuration of an output port after loading a printer configuration from the OPTIMA diskette, the user should save the changes. Saving the full configuration will save the changes to the configu...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page D-20 Configuring Serial Ports for Output If either of the serial ports are not going to be used as alternate host input ports, they may be used as output ports.To build a serial output port configuration from scratch, the user will have to activate t...

Page D-23 APPENDIX D — OPTEDIT Each of the options is displayed on the Formatting Information screen along with its default selection. Editing each of these options is done in the same manner as editing any other options: If the default setting is inappropriate, use the arrow keys to move the cursor...

AGILE 5250 OPTIMA User’s Guide and Reference Page D-24 Special Editors There are two special editors for translation tables and programmable function strings. Programmable Function Strings The appropriate PFSs are defined for an output port when a printer configuration is loaded from the OPTIMA disk...

Translation Table Editing Before using OPTEDIT to change a translation table, the user should become familiar with the issues discussed in Chapter 3 — Character Code Translation.The translation table editor allows the user to modify translation tables. To use the translation table editor, press F4 o...

Page G-1 GLOSSARY GLOSSARY A A/B switch A switch that allows input devices to share a printer. A F P Advanced Function Printing. AFPDS Advanced Function Printing Data Stream. Alternate host Input device other than the twinax host that can use the printer attached to the 5250 OPTIMA, such as a PC, ne...

Page 1 INDEX INDEX Symbols 275 EMUL (twinax mode) ................................................................ 34 A ABSOLUTE (setting for VERMOVE option) ....................................... 45Absolute Horizontal Print Position (SCS command) ........................ 173Absolute Vertical Print...