IPDS on non-IPDS printer

[gbrune]

A client company has been using AFP on a Kyocera 9500 for quite some
time on OS/400 v4r5. They are going through a major software change,
and the new software requires an IPDS printer. They already have a good
bit of money invested in multiple Kyocera 9500 printers, and really
want to continue using them. I have heard about some different
solutions to convert to IPDS and was hoping someone could point out the
direction we should be taking. There is a hardware device from IOCorp
(model 5735km) that plugs into ethernet and then directly to the
printer. I haven't really priced it by calling anyone, but an internet
price I saw was about 1600 (seems expensive to me). There are also some
DIMM hardware solutions, but most of those seem to be tied to HP or
another major printer, none for Kyocera. Then there are some software
solutions that you can install on a Windows box. Is there any other
solutions that we should be looking at? Anyone have any experience with
any of this?

Thanks in advance,

Greg Brune

[l***@nospamjbmsystems.com]

Hi Greg,

There are software solutions (less costly than the hardware box) that your
client could use. My OctoTools software, used more for automated document
processing with medium to high volume throughputs sometimes requires a good
lpr/lpd to get data from OS/400s, mainframes, and other PCs . For this
function we recomend RPM Select from Brooks Internet. Brooks has a product,
Excelliprint, which should fit your client perfectly and is priced much
lower than the hardware solutions. For additional info go to:
http://ipds.brooksnet.com/index.html

They are very helpful and can answer you question if you call them. BTW
Greg, if you get a chance, take a look at my site; www.octotools.com and be
sure to check out the "befrore" and "after" examples in the output samples
tab to give you a better idea of what OctoTools is capable of. Thanks and
good lulck.

Larry T 978 535-7676

[Paul Tykodi]

Hi Greg,

When a customer wants to use IBM's Advanced Function Presentation
(AFP) printing application architecture, they have a wide variety of
options for preparing the information to be printed.

With an IBM iSeries - AS/400 host, some of the most frequently
considered options are as follows:

Cost (free) shipped as part of the base operating system ( i5 OS -
OS/400) - a software module known as Host Print Transform, which is
able to convert the *AFPDS spool file format to PCL for printing on a
wide variety of laser printers including Kyocera. The Host Print
Transform feature is very robust but it has certain limitations in
terms of functionality when compared to an IPDS capable printer.

Cost (significant) - Convert AFP format to IPDS. On the host this
solution requires the extra cost software package known as Print
Services Facility/400 (usually abbreviated PSF/400). Each printer
serviced by PSF/400 needs to have an IPDS capability either via
middleware sitting between the originating host and receiving printer
or at the printer itself.

Some possible options for Kyocera Printers as follows:

IPDS Middleware
--------------------

Already Mentioned
ExcelliPrint by Brooks Internet Software
(http://www.excelliprint.com)

Others
Mercury by docuFORM
(http://www.docuform.de/en/Default.html)
Blue Server & DocOut by MPI Tech
(http://www.mpitech.com)
IPDS Client 2005 by Intermate
(http://www.intermate.com/web/InterWeb.nsf/(VIEWDOCSBYID)/663D70A88557A1AEC1256FF7003688EF?OpenDocument)
InfoPrint Manager by IBM
(http://www.printers.ibm.com)
iConvert by Solimar Systems
(http://www.solimarsystems.com)
Master Printer Server by Praim
(http://www.praim.com)

IPDS Hardware Solutons

Print Servers from Axis Communications
(http://www.axis.com)
Ebox by CSP GmbH
available through Custom Business Link
(http://www.custombusinesslink.com)
Link-Com by MPI Tech
(http://www.mpitech.com)
IAPS by Intermate
(http://www.intermate.com)
Print Servers from I-O Corp
(http://www.iocorp.com)

HTH

Best Regards,

/Paul
--
Paul Tykodi
Principal Consultant
TCS - Tykodi Consulting Services LLC

Post by gbrune
A client company has been using AFP on a Kyocera 9500 for quite some
time on OS/400 v4r5. They are going through a major software change,
and the new software requires an IPDS printer. They already have a good
bit of money invested in multiple Kyocera 9500 printers, and really
want to continue using them. I have heard about some different
solutions to convert to IPDS and was hoping someone could point out the
direction we should be taking. There is a hardware device from IOCorp
(model 5735km) that plugs into ethernet and then directly to the
printer. I haven't really priced it by calling anyone, but an internet
price I saw was about 1600 (seems expensive to me). There are also some
DIMM hardware solutions, but most of those seem to be tied to HP or
another major printer, none for Kyocera. Then there are some software
solutions that you can install on a Windows box. Is there any other
solutions that we should be looking at? Anyone have any experience with
any of this?
Thanks in advance,
Greg Brune