Advanced assistance level
AUTCHK
Basic assistance level
CHGPRTF CHGSPLFA CHGWTR CLROUTQ CRTDEVPRT CRTPRTF DSPDEVD DSPSYSSTS
Intermediate assistance level printer writer
QASTLVL system value
QSPL
spool-control special authority spooled fi le
WRKOUTQ WRKSPLF
Review Questions
1. What is a printer device fi le? 2. What is a printer writer?
3. Why would a system operator need to use the CHGWTR command?
4. If you were a user who had reports in an output queue that is not connected to a printer, what would be the procedure to print these spool fi les? What commands would you use?
5. List and describe the options available to you when you use the WRKOUTQ command. 6. What is spool-control special authority? Why should this authority be granted only
to a limited number of users on the system?
7. If a user checks the status of a printer and sees the status set to MSGW, how would she resolve the problem?
8. Explain why there needs to be security on spool fi les. Give an example.
9. List the three values that uniquely identify a job on the system. What additional value is used to differentiate between spool fi les a job produces?
10. List three changes you can make to a spool fi le using CHGSPLFA.
11. One of the parameters of the CHGSPLFA command is User data; explain the purpose of this parameter.
12. What is the signifi cance of the AUTCHK parameter? 13. How can a user’s assistance level be changed?
14. Explain the differences between the three system assistance levels.
15. Explain why you might not be able to clear an output queue using the CRLOUTQ
command.
Lab 4
Introduction
In this lab, you should become familiar with fi nding spooled fi les and taking appropriate actions to display, print, or send those fi les to other output queues. In the lab, instructions to print a screen refer to the system print-screen facility, not to a network or workstation Print Screen. If you are not sure of the difference, be sure to ask your instructor/mentor.
Before starting this lab, you should be sure you have successfully completed Lab 3. That is, you should have created an output queue in your own user library and changed your user profi le to use that output queue.
Note
In this and subsequent labs, the instruction to Print Screen refers to the operating system Print Screen function and not to a workstation printer’s screen-print function. System Print Screen always creates a spooled fi le and displays the message “Print operation complete to the default printer device fi le.” You must then press Reset (left Ctrl on the micros) to go on.
We recommend that students use the IBM System i Access for Windows product for this course. The Print Screen function is not set up as a default keyboard function, and the key must be programmed. If the workstation you are using has not been programmed, ask your mentor/instructor for assistance in completing this task. (For details on this procedure, see the sidebar following Lab 3 in Chapter 3.)
Part 1
Goals Display your spooled fi les using the Work with Printer Output screen. Use the information displayed on this screen to identify spooled fi les. Use the Change Printer Output display to send a spooled fi le to a printer. Start at Any command line.
Procedure Go to USER menu.
4.1. Sign on as usual. You want to work with the spooled fi les you created in the
previous lab, so select option 1, User tasks, from the Main menu. (We are following a menu path in this lab to increase your familiarity with the commands.) From the
USER menu, read through the initial list of tasks that can be performed, and choose the appropriate one. This choice should take you to the Work with Printer Output screen (Figure 4.25).
Figure 4.25: Work with Printer Output Screen
If the screen you see at this time doesn’t look like Figure 4.25, and instead is titled Work with All Spooled Files, press F21 to change the assistance level to Basic. 4.2. On this screen (Figure 4.25), printer fi les are listed under the printer device whose
output queue currently contains them.
4.2.a. Move the cursor to the Printer/Output column, and use Help to fi nd out the value that would be displayed for the printer if the spooled fi le were in an output queue that does not belong to a printer.
4.3. Return to the Work with Printer Output screen. A different view of this display is available by pressing F11. Please do that now.
With this alternate view, the date and time of creation, number of pages, number of copies, and form type are displayed for each spooled fi le. Pressing F11 typically
presents an alternate view of a list or command prompt screen. Now switch back to the Status display by pressing F11 again. Move the cursor over to the Status
column, and press Help. Use the appropriate function key to enlarge the Help window.
4.3.a. What status will be displayed if a spooled fi le is currently being printed? 4.4. Exit Help, and look again at the Work with Printer Output screen. Notice how the
list items are formatted in the Printer/Output column. The output fi le names are grouped beneath a printer device name and indented two positions.
4.4.a. On your display, what name is used for the Output fi le? If you see more than one name, list all the different names.
4.4.b. How are the Output fi le names assigned? (Where do they come from?) 4.5. From this screen, you can take various options for spooled fi les. One of them is the
Change option, which lets you change certain attributes of a spooled fi le. Select that option now for the fi rst fi le in your list by typing 2 in the option input fi eld and pressing Enter.
4.6. You should now be looking at the Change Printer Output screen (Figure 4.26).
Figure 4.26: Change Printer Output Screen, Basic Assistance Level
Use extended Help to read about the meaning of the displayed attributes and the possible values they can take.
4.6.a. Can any user change any printed output to print next? Exit Help, and look again at the Change Printer Output screen.
4.7. Notice that although you can redirect a spooled fi le to a defi ned printer, no option is available to send a spooled fi le to another (nonprinter) output queue.
On some entry screens, a list of valid parameter values can be generated by pressing
F4 on an input fi eld. When this is true, the values themselves, such as printer names, which depend on the naming convention and the number of printers in a particular installation, often vary from one system to another. This prompting capability is identifi ed for a particular parameter by showing F4 for list as a choice.
For the spooled fi le we are currently changing, let us use this feature to select a different printer to use by pressing Prompt with the cursor on the entry fi eld. 4.7.a. List all printers whose status is not Stopped that can be selected at this time. Now change the parameter value by selecting PRT01 from the prompt list. Press
Enter to place the selected printer name in the entry fi eld. Press Enter again to execute the command and return to the Work with Printer Output screen. 4.7.b. What message is displayed on the message line?
Notice the changed status of your spooled fi le (see Figure 4.27).
Part 2
Goals Change the assistance level for Work with Spooled Files.
Test system Print Screen to ensure that output is going to your output queue. Change your existing system printer spooled fi les to your own output queue. Start at Work with Printer Output (WRKSPLF, Basic assistance level).
Procedure Press F21 to change the assistance level.
Print the screen; then press F5 to fi nd the new spooled fi le.
Select option 2 on the PRT01 spooled fi les to change to your own output queue.
4.8. Now print the Work with Printer Output screen itself. You should be using the IBM i system Print Screen function; the message “Print operation complete to the default
printer device fi le” will appear at the bottom of your screen. Remember to press Reset after the message appears.
4.8.a. Does the new print fi le appear on the screen?
This type of screen is not automatically updated when, for example, a new spooled fi le enters an output queue. To update the screen, press F5.
4.8.b. To which printer is the new spooled fi le assigned?
The spooled fi le you just created should have gone to your own output queue, but the problem here is that you cannot tell which output queue the spooled fi le is in; you can tell only that it is not in a printer output queue.
The current Work with Printer Output screen appears as it does because Basic assistance level is in effect. Although this display is useful in showing which spooled fi les are in a given printer’s output queue, it does not show which output queue a spooled fi le is in if that queue is not a printer queue. In addition, some spooled fi les of different status do not show up at all. The Change option that you just looked at also lacks certain functions when taken from a Basic assistance level. However, you can see a different display of spooled fi les by using a different assistance level.
4.9. Find the function key to select the assistance level, and press it. Select Intermediate
for the assistance level, and then press Enter. Notice the different title and format of the resulting screen.
4.9.a. How many spooled fi les are there? 4.9.b. Which output queues are they in?
4.10. If you have no spooled fi les, or if there are none in your own (user-name) queue, create one by printing the current screen. Reset to clear the message, and then press
output queue, and you should now have at least one spooled fi le in your user-name output queue.
Note
If the fi le you just created went to PRT01 (the default output queue) instead of to your user-name output queue, you need to review Lab 3, making sure that
• Your user-name output queue actually exists in your library
• Your user-profi le Output queue parameter was changed to the user-name output queue that you created (CHGPRF, prompt, check OUTQ parameter) If both of these conditions are true but your output is still going to the default output queue, you may just need to sign off and back on again. If that does not work, you need to seek help from your instructor/mentor before you go on.
4.11. Under the Device or Queue column, you might also see one or more fi les listed and not shown when the Basic level was in effect, as Figure 4.28 shows. In this case, these fi les are two job logs.
4.12. If these fi les exist, select option 2 for each so that you can change them to your own queue. When you press Enter (after you type 2 in the Opt fi eld for each fi le to be changed), you should see the Change Spooled File Attributes command prompt screen (Figure 4.29). The cursor will be on the Printer parameter.
Figure 4.29: Change Spooled File Attributes (CHGSPLFA) Screen, Intermediate Assistance Level
You could send the spooled fi le to another printer from this screen, just as you could from the Change Printer Output screen of Basic assistance. But you really want to send these fi les to a different output queue (your own), not a printer.
4.13. First, you need to fi nd the Output queue parameter. (If it doesn’t appear on the initial screen, try looking at Additional parameters.) Use Field advance (Tab) or New line to move down to the Output queue parameter. Type in your output queue name. Remember, your output queue name does not begin with an asterisk (*).
4.13.a. Is it necessary to specify your library name for the Output queue Library
fi eld?
Caution
At this point, the Work with All Spooled Files screen should show that all other spooled fi les are in your own user-name output queue. Do not proceed until you are certain of this.
Part 3
Goals Use the Work with Output Queue command to fi nd and hold a spooled fi le. Send a spooled fi le to a printer; delete other spooled fi les.
Check the printer output queue and release a spooled fi le. Check for messages pending for a printer.
Start at WRKSPLF at the Intermediate assistance level. Procedure Run the command to work with your output queue. Select option 2 to change to a printer output queue. Select option 4 to delete.
Use F22 to work with printers.
Select option 8 to work with printer output queue. Select option 6 to release a spooled fi le.
Note
You may need your instructor’s help with this portion of the lab. The printers described in the following lab are the ones confi gured on our college’s system. The names of the printers will be different on your system.
4.14. Without leaving the Work with All Spooled Files screen, print the screen, and then reset. From the command line, type the command to work with output queues, and request parameter prompting. (Not sure of the command? Try GO CMDOUTQ.) Specify your own output queue (do not use *ALL) and library, and run the command. The Work with Output Queue command is concerned only with the fi les in the specifi ed queue. This differs from the Work with Spooled Files command, which lists all output fi les for a given user, regardless of queue.
4.14.a. How many fi les are in your output queue now?
To fi nd a particular spooled fi le in a list, you could use option 5 to display each one until you fi nd the one you are looking for. Keep in mind that more recently created spooled fi les appear at the bottom of the list; within priorities, you could press F11
on the Work with Output Queue screen to display an alternate view that shows date and time of creation; that information should help you locate the spooled fi le more quickly.
4.15. Find the print-screen fi le created in step 4.14, and select the appropriate option to hold it. You should notice the change in its status. (Press F11 again to see status, if necessary.) Delete the other fi les.
4.15.a. What happens when you select Delete?
Go ahead and confi rm to delete your other spooled fi les.
4.16. Use F9 to retrieve the previous WRKOUTQ command, and change the OUTQ
parameter value to PRT01. (Be sure to delete excess characters within the parentheses.) Run the command, and then page through the fi les in the queue. Do you fi nd any fi les with your user name? If so, delete them. At this point, there should be no fi les in the PRT01 output queue with your name. Be sure this is true
before you go on.
4.17. To print the fi le you held in step 4.15, you need to send it to a printer with an active writer, such as BIO125 (or an active printer on your system; if you are not sure
what printer to use, ask you instructor). First, return to your own output queue by
pressing F3 from the WRKOUTQ PRT01 display screen. (If this doesn’t take you to the Work with Output Queue display for your own queue, either recall or enter the
WRKOUTQ command that names your output queue.) Now you should see only the
single held spooled fi le in your output queue. Use the Change option to change the printer parameter value to BIO125. Press Enter to make the changes.
4.18. Back at the Work with Output Queue screen, fi nd the function key for Printers and press it. You should now see a list of printers similar to that in Figure 4.30.
Figure 4.30: Work with Printers Screen, Basic Assistance Level
If your display is titled Work with All Printers and formatted differently from Figure 4.30, you are probably using Intermediate assistance level. To make your display appear similar to the fi gure, change to Basic assistance level.
4.18.a. What is the current status of BIO125? Of PRT01? Of BIO216?
From the list of printers, choose BIO125, and select the option to display output for the printer.
4.18.b. Is your spooled fi le in the list?
Return to the Work with Printers display, and change the assistance level to Intermediate. Select option 8 on device BIO125, but notice that this time the option is defi ned as Work with Output Queue.
4.18.c. How many fi les are now displayed? Is your fi le (the print screen of Work with All Spooled Files) there?
Select the option to display your fi le to make sure it is the one you
redirected. What is its status? If its status is HLD, as it should be, release it. 4.19. Once you’ve released your print fi le, the change in status should register, and the fi le
should be printed. If you refresh the screen at this point, the fi le should be gone or the status should show that the fi le is being printed. If it has not been printed, check the status of the queue itself to make sure the queue is not on hold. (The output queue status is displayed in the upper-right corner of the screen.) If the queue is on hold, notify the system operator.
Another possibility is that the printer could be “ended” (status END). If so, starting the printer may do the trick; but, again, this is the system operator’s job, so ask the operator to start the printer if necessary.
If the printer is not on hold and not ended, there may be messages that require a reply. From the Work with All Printers screen, select option 7, Display messages.
If messages such as “Verify alignment on device BIO125” are pending, they need to be replied to before printing can continue. Such replies are also the operator’s responsibility; please alert the system operator to the need for a reply to the message.
4.20. By this time, your fi le should have been printed. Be sure to collect the printed output and clip or staple it to your answer sheet. When you return to the Work with Output Queue screen for the printer and refresh, your print fi le should be gone. If