SAP Note Number 894444

Tool for server-based printing on Windows (SAPSprint)

Summary
Symptom
This note provides information about how to solve problems you may have
when printing with SAPLPD as a print server.

Cause and Prerequisites

The previous implementation of SAPLPD as a print server is increasingly
unstable since the introduction of Windows 2000. In particular for high print
output, the process may hang.
For this reason, we have prepared an entirely new implementation of the print
server as a Windows service in SAPSprint. It replaces SAPLPD. You can print
using the access methods 'S' and 'U' from every SAP system, just as before. No
changes are necessary in the SAP system itself. You must replace SAPLPD with
SAPSprint on the print server, and configure it accordingly.
This is described below.

Installation
Before you install SAPSprint, delete SAPLPD manually. To do this, you normally
need to completely delete the installation directory only. If you installed
SAPLPD as a service using the srvany tool, you can remove the service by
calling 'Instsrv SAPLPD remove'.
You can download SAPSprint as a self-extracting executable file from SAP
Service Marketplace:
http://service.sap.com/~form/handler?_APP=00200682500000001943HEADER=NEV
ENT=TREE&TMPL=01200615320200006164&V=MAINT&TA=ACTUAL
Start the program. After you enter the installation path, the system asks for
the TCP/IP port and another path for storing log files. Normally, the default
setting of 515 is suitable for the port. You should only change this setting
if the Windows TCP/IP print service is also running on the computer. The
SAPSprint Windows service starts as soon as the installation is over.
We recommend that you set up the following options for the service in the
Windows Service Control Manager: Restart the service after the first error in
the recovery actions, and set the wait time until the restart to zero.
This ensures that the service is restarted when errors are detected. This
should minimize the number of incorrect print requests in the SAP system.
Furthermore, the service must run under a domain user that has the relevant
authorizations for the required printers. After the installation, the service
runs under "Local system account". This can access locally-defined printers
only. You can also set the user in the Windows Service Control Manager, in the
options of the SAPSprint service.
If you want to delete SAPSprint, you can do so using the normal Windows
uninstall tool.

Settings
You can display the call parameters available for SAPSprint by calling
'sapsprint -?' on the command line. The most important parameters are those
that set options, especially log options for troubleshooting.
You can set the log level to 5 by specifying 'sapsprint -oi LogLevel 5'.
Immediately after installation, no log level is set up, which means that no
log file is created. By setting the log level to 1, 5, or 9, you can ensure
that more information is available in the directory that you specified during
the installation. A file called sapsprint.dbg and a print job specific file
with a variable name are generated. The second file is deleted after
successful printing. It is only retained if the printout is recognized as
incorrect. If you set the option 'sapsprint -oi KeepFile 1', then both this
file and the print file are retained. This is primarily intended for
troubleshooting by SAP Support.
All options are case-sensitive. You can display the most important SAPSprint
options by calling 'sapsprint -?'. All possible options are described in Note
85469. Normally, the options described there are not necessary - you should
use them only in exceptional circumstances.

Technical details
SAPSprint consists of the program 'sapsprint.exe', which contains the
implementation of the Windows service and the receiver for print data from the
SAP system. The SAPWIN data stream is processed in the DLL 'sapwin.dll'. This
DLL is also used by the new front-end printing, as described in Note 821519.
SAPWIN processing errors therefore affect both print methods. Patches for
SAPSprint and the new front-end print are available in Note 841175.

Solution
Install SAPSprint as described above. SAPSprint replaces the SAPLPD's server
functions. Use the new method described in Note 821519 for front-end printing.
Do not install SAPSprint on every workstation.
SAPLPD is no longer developed.

Related Notes
Number
947514
946209
927074
821519
213524
85469
42268
16420
12550

Short Text
Printed output of Thai ABAP lists shifted after kernel patch
Analyzing SAPSprint problems
Patches for SAPSprint
Front-end printing with control technology
SAPsprint installation in an MSCS environment
Options for the SAPSprint print server tool
Operate SAPLPD as a service on Windows NT/2000/XP
Problems with SAPLPD
Problems with remotely connected printers (WAN)