Non-Graphical Printing Recommendations for AGRIS

This article applied to printing non-graphic forms and reports from AGRIS

Printing from AGRIS uses the basic printing capabilities of Windows.  As a result, any printer that can print from Windows can be used to print from AGRIS (if printing in a Citrix/Terminal Server environment, please review the note below).

The challenge with printing is generally getting the printout to format in an acceptable way.  For example:

• Is the font large enough?

• Is the orientation of the page correct-portrait or landscape?

• Does everything fit on the page the way it is supposed to, especially when using pre-printed forms or checks where the ability to format properly is critical?

The types of formatting issues listed above often necessitate the use of text drivers within AGRIS.  The text drivers in AGRIS format print jobs and can adjust the font size (10 or 17cpi), orientation (portrait or landscape), and generally help to display things correctly on the page.  While we do not R&D any specific printers for use in AGRIS, we make the following recommendations to ensure the best functionality with the text drivers used by the application:

• Choose printers that are PCL compatible (the text drivers used in AGRIS use PCL commands to instruct the printer how to format the print job).

• Avoid "host-based" printers, which are often budget printers that lack a processor and have less RAM than a traditional printer.  These kinds of printers rely on the computer sending the print job to format the document for the printer and as such are not compatible with PCL commands.  For a quick listing of what HP printers are host-based and which ones support PCL commands, refer to the article titled "HP printers supported in Citrix XenApp Server environments" (http://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetPDF.aspx/4AA0-8465ENW.pdf).  Printers that support PCL will show a driver in the PCL column and N/A in the host-based column and host-based printers will show a driver in the host-based column and N/A in the PCL column.

• It is recommended that Laser printers use a Windows-native driver.

• AGRIS  does not recommend the use of multifunction (scanner/copier/fax/printer) laser printers if the use of a text driver in AGRIS is required.  The complex drivers that these printers use can cause conflicts when printing from AGRIS.

NOTE:
If a printer is to be used in a Terminal/Citrix Server environment, make sure the printer is supported in that environment by the manufacturer.  For additional information, refer to the manufacturers website for a list of printers that are supported in Terminal/Citrix Server environments.  Again, the article titled "HP printers supported in Citrix XenApp Server environments" available on HP's website (http://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetPDF.aspx/4AA0-8465ENW.pdf) would be a good place to start.

NOTE:  
If a text driver is specified in AGRIS for a DeskJet/LaserJet style printer and then the printer fails to print text-based documents from AGRIS, it indicates that the printer or the Windows printer driver does NOT support PCL.  Depending on the situation, a different Windows print driver may solve the issue or it may be that the printer is host-based, which does NOT support PCL commands at all.