Finishing option management (PrintTickets)

Introduction

We can see print tickets as printing options carried by a job intended to be printed. (Selection of input drawer, output drawer, double-sided, etc.)

This documentation deals with print tickets embedded in the XPS MAPPING file.

Operating principle

General

The XPS format was invented by Microsoft. Its first release dates from 2006. Mapping now uses (partially on its IBM-i OPALE version and completely on its Linux/Windows ONYX version) this format as a pivot format. In the case of XPS operation, the composition engine necessarily generates an XPS stream. Then MAPPING uses one of its converters to convert this XPS format into final streams (Zebra/TEC for label printing, PDF, PCL, etc.)

The principle is to position finishing information in the XPS document which will be taken up and translated by the conversions into the printing languages. The switch to use is -set:OPTION=value of the map_xps command. Options can be set globally (for the document) or at page level with either of the -pages:xxx (page selection) or -filter:xxx switches (page selection based on index values).

Different levels of the XPS file

The XPS format is a very structured format (unlike PDF for example) and also includes printing options (print tickets or finishing options). It is a compressed file (ZIP format). Its behavior structure 3 different levels:

1. JOB level
2. DOCUMENT level
3. PAGE level

Each sub-level overloads its higher level.

Each of these levels can include print ticketing commands as well as other concepts. The /Metadata/Job_PT.xml file for the level in question contains the print ticket commands:

1. Job level: /Metadata/Job_PT.xml
2. Document level: /Documents/1/Metadata/Job_PT.xml (for the 1st document) or /Documents/2/Metadata/Job_PT.xml (for the 2nd document)
3. Page level: /Documents/1/Pages/Metadata/Page1_PT.xml (for the 1st page of the 1st document) or /Documents/2/Pages/Metadata/Page10_PT.xml (for the 10th page of the 2nd document)

Example file Job_PT.xml or PageXX_PT.xml

Job level

The file containing print ticket information at job level is /Metadata/Job_PT.xml Mapping does not manage print tickets at the job level. Therefore, the content of this file remains the same for all XPS MAPPINGs. It is not possible to change it.

Here is its content:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16" standalone="yes"?>
<psf:PrintTicket xmlns:psf="http://schemas.microsoft.com/windows/2003/08/printing/printschemaframework" 
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" version="1" 
xmlns:nsmappingsuite="http://www.mappingsuite.com/XMLSchema/2008/3/mappingsuitexpsdocumentwriter" 
xmlns:psk="http://schemas.microsoft.com/windows/2003/08/printing/printschemakeywords">
</psf:PrintTicket>

Document level

The file containing print ticket information at document level is /Documents/1/Metadata/Job_PT.xml' (for the 1st document)

Here is an example of content:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16" standalone="yes"?>
<psf:PrintTicket xmlns:psf="http://schemas.microsoft.com/windows/2003/08/printing/printschemaframework" 
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" version="1" 
xmlns:nsmappingsuite="http://www.mappingsuite.com/XMLSchema/2008/3/mappingsuitexpsdocumentwriter" 
xmlns:psk="http://schemas.microsoft.com/windows/2003/08/printing/printschemakeywords">
<psf:Feature name="psk:PageMediaType">
<psf:Option name="psk:MEDIATYPE1">
</psf:Option>
</psf:Feature>
</psf:PrintTicket>

We can see that a print ticket command of mediatype which has the value MEDIATYPE1 has been inserted there.

<psf:Feature name="psk:PageMediaType">
<psf:Option name="psk:MEDIATYPE1">
</psf:Option>

In fact, the difference between the content of the file at job level (File not changed by print tickets) and this one is the insertion of these lines.

Example command to insert a medyatype command at document level:

IBM-i :

CALL PGM(MAP_XPS) PARM('-infile:/home/in.xps' '-set:MEDIATYPE=MEDIATYPE1' '-outfile:/home/out.xps')

Linux/Windows :

map_xps '-infile:/home/in.xps' '-set:MEDIATYPE=MEDIATYPE1' '-outfile:/home/out.xps'

Note: The absence of the -pages:X parameter in the map_xps command automatically positions its action (here the mediatype) at the document level and not at the page level

The different options that can be positioned in XPS are:

⇒ DUPLEX: front/back management

Possible values:

yes (or long)   → front/back following the long edges

shorts   → front/back following the short edges

no   → front only

⇒ FRONTSIDE: forces the printing of a page on a front (used in PCL 5 output only, and must be positioned at page level, or in combination with the -filter:XXX and -pages:NN options)

Possible values: yes / no

Attention: for multi-document XPS, changing the document implies by default a return to the front, regardless of the "frontside" information on the first page of the document. To disable this operation in order to allow continuous R/V printing across all documents (i.e. without taking into account the concept of document), it is possible to add a parameter in XPSConfig.conf: <jobduplexalldocumentscontiguously>ON</jobduplexalldocumentscontiguously>

⇒ INPUTBIN / OUTPUTBIN: management of input and output bins

Possible values: numerical value only

⇒ ORIENTATION: management of the orientation of the pages of the document

Possible values:

0   Portrait

1   Landscape

2   Reverse portrait

3   Inverted landscape

⇒ COPY: number of copies (complete document or certain pages)

Possible values: numerical value only

⇒ STAPLE: stapling management

Possible values:

1   SaddleStitch (staple in the middle of the sheet)

2   StapleBottomLeft (bottom left stapling)

3   StapleBottomRight (bottom right stapling)

4   StapleDualBottom (staple at the bottom)

5   StapleDualLeft (left stapling)

6   StapleDualRight (right stapling)

7   StapleDualTop (staple on top)

8   StapleTopLeft (staple top left)

9   StapleTopRight (bottom right stapling)

10   None (to stop stapling)

⇒ MEDIATYPE: paper type management

Possible values: alphanumeric value (examples: Archive, Label, Bristol, Preprinted, etc.)

⇒ NUP: grouping of 1, 2 or 4 pages of the initial document on 1 output page

Possible values: 1, 2 or 4

⇒ LEFTOFFSET: management of the left margin

Possible values: numeric, expressed in points

⇒ TOPOFFSET: high margin management

Possible values: numeric, expressed in points

⇒ JOBCUT: job break command (to use the cutter on equipped printers)

Possible values: 0 or 1

⇒ TOGGLE: command to shift the paper in the printer output tray

Possible values: 0 or 1

Note:

The following toggles are respectively equivalent (except for orientation): -duplex:XXX, -frontside:XXX, -inputbin:NN, -outputbin:NN, -copy:NN, -staple:NN, -mediatype:XXX, -nup:NN, -leftoffset:NN, -topoffset:NN, -jobcut:NN, -toggle:NN.

Examples:

⇒ To configure double-sided on an existing XPS file:

map_xps -infile:/tmp/myfile.xps -set:DUPLEX=yes -outfile:/tmp/myoutfile.xps

⇒ To set front only to an existing XPS file:

map_xps -infile:/tmp/myfile.xps -set:DUPLEX=no -outfile:/tmp/myoutfile.xps

⇒ To force certain pages to be printed on a particular input tray:

map_xps -infile:/tmp/myfile.xps -set:INPUTBIN=2 -pages:2,3 -outfile:/tmp/myoutfile.xps

⇒ To configure the front side on the first page and front/back side on the following ones:

map_xps -infile:/tmp/myfile.xps -set:DUPLEX=yes -outfile:/tmp/tmpfile.xps

map_xps -infile:/tmp/tmpfile.xps -set:DUPLEX=no -pages:1 -outfile:/tmp/myoutfile.xps