RPM Remote Print Manager® (RPM) includes many features other LPD print servers do not offer. Some of RPM’s features are text printing capabilities, page processing, non-text printing options, named queues, multiple print requests, UNIX filter support, number of copies, and more.RPM offers numerous ways to customize print data such as SCS to ASCII conversion, ASA carriage control, removal of PCL codes, and more. Each one of RPM’s hard-to-find features has real-world uses and is available in all versions of RPM unless otherwise noted. These features were added largely because of customer feedback.
Remote Print Administrator
RPM’s Remote Print Administrator (RPM Elite only) was designed to provide administrators the ability to remotely manage software configuration and job processing:
- View logs for remote troubleshooting
- Comprehensive management of queues, jobs, and other settings
- Remote administration through web browser
License Manager
Brooks License Manager displays license information and provides useful tools to administer the license. The license manager transforms a trial license to a registered license upon purchase, maintains license codes for reinstallations, and tracks add-on module registrations.
- License wizard enhances ease of use
- Supports advanced products and features
- Enhanced support for license re installation
- Web-unlock can connect through a proxy server/firewall
User Interface
Users and administrators can now view and configure the RPM software through a modern interface which provides advanced sorting and management of queues and print jobs.
- Displays long job names
- Updated default settings
- Added support for importing and exporting configuration
- Changed “Resume” to “Suspend”
- Enhanced support for specifying control file destination
- Filter queue disables printer selection
Text Printing
One of RPM’s major strengths is its ability to adapt text to the Windows fonts and printers.
- RPM allows selection of any Windows printer
- RPM stores the printer setup for that printer, including standard features such as landscape vs. portrait, and printer-specific features included by the manufacturer
- RPM allows the selection and use of any font supported by the printer
- RPM also supports
overstrike, bold, and italics effects with selected font
Zero-Byte Files
RPM is one of the few commercial LPD servers on any platform that accepts zero-length data files. RPM interprets this to mean the length is unknown or unspecified, and accepts bytes until the connection is closed. RPM Elite or Select can be configured to close the connection after a specified amount of time.
Page Processing
- RPM can scale the font to fit desired number of lines per page and/or line width
- RPM supports “pr” style printing with page headers
- RPM can override the starting and ending page on any print job
- For non-text printing, RPM allows definition of a page delimiter string
User Controls
- Start and stop processing for any queue, or individually by job
- Let RPM run “hands-off” or control the process as much as required
- Control the starting and ending page printed for a job
- RPM shows you the status for each queue/job and the printer status from last print request
Non-Text Printing Options
- Pass the data directly to a Windows printer, including networked printers
- Invoke a program, passing the data file as an argument
- Pass a handle to a COM object (Note: this is the most efficient method possible)
- Write the file to disk, giving control over the location and name
Protocols Supported
RPM supports the LPD protocol as documented in RFC 1179, and the stream or reverse telnet protocol as is widely practiced. Our LPD support is second to none in the industry, providing a high level of confidence. If your business system supports LPD, then RPM supports you.
Named Queues
Unlike typical PC-based print servers or hardware print devices, RPM provides flexibility by allowing the creation of unlimited named queues, and with each queue associates any combination of processing type and related options.
Multiple Print Requests
RPM supports multiple print requests in a single connection; this is not allowed by the standard but is practiced in certain free UNIX systems.
UNIX “Filter” Support
The filter queue provides the user more control and options for naming files and handling illegal filename characters. Filter processing is now scheduled more efficiently for greater throughput.
RPM Supports Number of Copies
The LPD standard does not include a provision for printing copies, but popular print clients use several non-standard means for this request. RPM supports most, if not all, including AIX and Linux/UNIX.
