1 | 2   Managed, Bi-directional Enterprise TCP/IP Printing Enterprise TCP/IP Print Application and end user transparent JES2 and JES3 environment support Powerful ISPF-based management and administration Comprehensive logging and tracing facilities High volume simultaneous print requests Enterprise Enterprise computing environments are becoming increasingly complex, with a variety of printers distributed across a mixture of TCP/IP networks and mainframes. And in these complex environments, how well your users do their jobs depends on the efficiency of their print resources. Users need the flexibility to access the right printer for the right task, whether it is a high-speed mainframe printer or a printer attached to a TCP/IP network. They need the performance to get the print to its destination fast. System administrators need the management tools to oversee and control print resources. Unlike most vendors, who meet these requirements by bundling a variety of products, Interlink offers a single a single integrated print services package, called Enterprise Print Services (EPS). EPS gives you bi-directional support of the lpr and lpd TCP/IP printing protocols. It resides on the same host as TCP/IP for OS/390. EPS functions as a print gateway between TCP/IP and SNA networks, mapping print requests between the two environments and allowing TCP/IP and OS/390 users to send print output to remote or locally attached printers. Print Control The EPS user exit language is a powerful 4GL using C-like syntax to change print destinations and/or data streams based on a number of variables for easy customization. The open converter facility allows for full customization of print destined for even your most complex printers and plotters. Printing from the Mainframe to the LAN Access to local and SNA printers may not be enough for your OS/390 users. They may need to take advantage of the network printers in your open systems environment to get print closer to users, to distribute jobs across multiple printers, or to get higher quality output. Or you may simply want to reduce the number of expensive SNA printers within the data center. EPS enables OS/390 users to send print data to TCP/IP network printers via JCL and TSO commands by transparently accepting output destined for JES or 328X VTAM defined printers, translating the print data and forwarding the print requests to the network printers. It also helps you to preserve your investment in existing mainframe applications, since it can accept LU1 and LU3 print data directly from a mainframe applications such as CICS or IMS and deliver the data to a TCP/IP host for printing with formatting maintained. Printing to the Mainframe For large jobs, faster printing, or special handling, network users may want to send print to high-speed, high-capacity printers attached to the mainframe or accessible via the SNA network. TCP/IP users can send print files to EPS using the print commands of their local environments. EPS receives the files and sends them to the JES print queue, where they can be printed on local or remote mainframe printers or routed to other JES NJE nodes for processing. Managing Print Jobs With print traffic traveling in both directions to an increasing number of destinations, effective print management is essential for efficient operations. EPS supplies your system administrators with a wide range of dynamic control and monitoring capabilities, including: Powerful ISPF-based management and administration Extensive logs of printer activity and error conditions Print parameter definition such as class, forms, and character sets Central view of printer and print job status across the network Ability to reassign printers, cancel or hold jobs, rearrange the print queue, update a job's priority, or move jobs to another queue Ability to redirect output using user-defined criteria with EPS user exit language Ability to generate banner pages for either data set or job depending on print requirements EPS also gives system administrators dynamic control of the diagnostic and status messages generated by the product. They can specify whether these messages will be displayed, logged, or routed to a console where operations automation software can be programmed to take an action or send an alert when the message is received. When combined with the e-Control product, EPS can proactively determine print problems and notify personnel. High Performance Since many of today's business processes depend on having printed output available, performance is crucial. EPS enables users to move more print, more quickly and more efficiently throughout the enterprise. When EPS operates with TCPaccess, it gains the advantage of TCPaccess' inherent high performance and low CPU consumption. TCPaccess is native to MVS and written in assembler, it resides on the host, and it occupies a single address space-all factors that contribute to high performance and efficient operation. EPS also operates with the IBM TCP/IP protocol stack for MVS for flexible operations. EPS also operates in its own address space, enhancing performance. Furthermore, the modular architecture of EPS takes advantage of multiprocessor environments, allowing distribution of print tasks across multiple printers and simultaneous execution of multiple processes.