Banner Printing Support

Naming Standard

Details

There are three names that relate to printers that need to be defined and clarified before we can communicate clearly.

  1. Official Printer Name
             8 character identifier
  2. UNIX Printer Queue
            lowercase OPN + ' n '
  3. Banner Printer Code
           uppercase OPN + one or two character suffix

Each item builds on the preceding item(s). Most users will probably need to know only the Banner Printer Code, but it's helpful to know about all three.

Official Printer Names (OPN)

When a printer is added to the Banner system, part of the initial request process is choosing an official name. The name consist of three fields and is eight (8) characters in length. For example, if the Anchorage campus Purchasing Department is adding an HP 4siMX printer, then the new name might be chosen like this:

Location code     (1 char):  A     (Like first letter of usernames)

Department code   (4 char):  PURC  (Common abbreviation known to others)

Unique printer id (3 char):  4MX   (to distinguish between multiple

                                    printers at same "location"+"dept")

                    + -----> Location "A" (Anchorage)
                   / 
                  |  +----->   Dept code "PURC" (Purchasing)
                  | ////
   For example:   APURC4MX    OFFICIAL PRINTER NAME
                        \\\
                         +--> Unique code "4MX"

Usually the printer owners pick the "unique printer identifier" as it should reflect something about the printer that they recognize. It MUST be three characters in length. If the Department code is not exactly four characters in length, it will be padded with hyphens to keep the OPN eight character in length.

Banner Printer Codes (BPC)

Banner Printer Codes (in the table GTVPRNT) consist of the eight character official printer name (always in UPPERCASE) followed by a one or two character uppercase suffix that indicates a different form requirement (page orientation, number-up, lines per page, etc), or printer handling (simplex or duplex, input paper tray selection, header/trailer page suppression, etc). At a minimum the following Banner Printer Codes are defined for new printers:

-L
Landscape form layout
-P
Portrait form layout

For example, the choices you see in Banner might be like this:

  • APURC4MXL   Landscape
  • APURC4MXP   Portrait
  • APURC4MXR   Receipts
  • APURC4MXT   Transcripts
  • ...etc.
APURC4MXL Landscape
APURC4MXP Portrait
APURC4MXR Receipts
APURC4MXT Transcripts
APURC4MXM3 3-up Mailing Labels
...etc.