Questions and Answers
When I submit a batch job what extended printing options does it inherit ?
When you submit a batch job or start a remote batch job by connecting to a server system the current settings for all WPxx= parameters are inherited by it. However, you should note the following:
- Parameter values WPPD=D and WPFD=D are always assumed in batch jobs because batch jobs cannot communicate with the user via any user interface.
- The WPDF= and WPDS= values used are the ones selected for the last report produced by the submitting job.
- The default printer for a user on a server may be different to their default printer on a client system.
Can I choose Portrait or Landscape mode?
Yes. These are options in the Windows printer dialog.
Why are the defaults wrong when the printer dialog appears?
When the printer dialog appears it uses the Windows environmental default settings for the selected printer (eg: the paper size). If these defaults are wrong then alter them via the standard Windows facilities.
What type and size of fonts should I use?
If your report has lots of inserted text (rather than just fields, labels and column headings) then you should look to use fixed pitch fonts such as MS LineDraw, Courier or Lucida Console.
For reports that do not contain a lot of inserted text, variable pitch fonts such as Arial or Times New Roman may work very well.
For 80 wide reports printed in portrait mode font sizes of 8 through 11 should be used. A common problem for 80 column reports is often in the report length rather than the report width. For example a 12 point font may work well with 80 columns in terms of width, but 66 lines of length may cause an overlapping of printed lines because 66 lines of a 12 point font cannot be squeezed into the vertical space available.
For 132+ wide reports printed in landscape mode, font sizes of 7 or 8 should be used.
Why is there a lot of blank space on the bottom of my reports?
This is because LANSA reports have been configured for IBM i line printer environments. Typically there are 66 lines x 132 columns with a last print line of 60. Footings are often printed on line 57 (or less).
This means that there may be up to 9 unused lines on the end of your report. While this works well when printing on line printer stationery with its wide margin physically at the bottom (or top) it often looks wasteful when printed on A4 paper.
To decrease the number of unused lines on a report page, simply increase the OVERFLOW parameter value to a higher number such as 65 or 66.
Alternatively, on multiple page reports, try using the WPAS (automatic stretching) parameter so that the longest page printed is logically stretched to cover the entire printed page, and all other report pages are proportionately stretched.