Microsoft KB Archive/174544

= PJL Control Commands May Cause Postscript Code to Print =

Article ID: 174544

Article Last Modified on 10/31/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51
 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q174544



SUMMARY
When you print to a postscript printer in Windows NT, job output produced may contain the entire flush of the postscript code rather than the actual desired job output.



MORE INFORMATION
By default, Microsoft Windows NT issues Printer Job Language (PJL) commands for job control purposes for postscript print drivers. This may cause undesirable effects if you intend to redirect the output to a file for post processing by other programs (for example, Page imposition program or PostScript preview program). PJL was developed by Hewlett-Packard to provide a method for switching printer languages at the job level, and for status readback between the printer and the host computer. Please reference Hewlett-Packard's "Printer Job Language Technical Reference Manual" for more details.

To turn off these job control commands in Windows NT, use the following procedures:

Windows NT 3.51

 * 1) In Print Manager, select the printer.
 * 2) On the Printer menu, click Properties.
 * 3) Click Details, click Job Defaults, and then click Options.
 * 4) Click to clear the Page Independence check box.

NOTE: In Windows NT 3.51, selecting the Page Independence check box allows pages to be printed or previewed out of order. Use this option if you are generating output to be used by a Page imposition program or a PostScript preview program. To improve print speed, do not check this option if you are printing directly to a printer.

To preview a page or print a page out of sequence, select the Page Independence check box.

Windows NT 4.0

 * 1) Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
 * 2) Select the printer, then click Document Defaults from the File menu.
 * 3) Click the Advanced tab and expand the Document Options-Postscript Options tree.
 * 4) Click the Generate Job Control Code check box and then click No.

NOTE: In Windows NT 4.0, this specifies whether to generate job control code (such as adding CTRL+D at the beginning and end of the document, or PJL commands). If you print to an AppleTalk port, click No.

Additionally, the setting for Generate Job Control Code is separated out from the Page Independence setting which can be found in the same location as step 2 above. Page Independence is not enabled by default and has the same implications in Windows NT 4.0 as it does in Windows NT 3.51.

For more information, please see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

ARTICLE-ID: 168924

TITLE : Print to File with 5Si Mx PS Driver Inserts Wrong Control Code

Keywords: kbinfo kbprint KB174544

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