PCL.SEP and SYSPRINT.SEP Incorrectly Documented

 Last reviewed: May 28, 1997
Article ID: Q112558
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows NT operating system version 3.1
  • Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 3.5 and 3.51
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server version 3.5 and 3.51

SUMMARY

Page 192 of the of the Microsoft Windows NT 3.1 "System Guide" or page 213 of the Microsoft Windows NT 3.5 "System Guide" describes the separator files that are included with Windows NT 3.1. The documentation suggests that PCL.SEP only "switches [a] printer to PCL printing." This is not completely correct, PCL.SEP also causes a separator page to be printed in front of the print job. SYSPRINT.SEP is not mentioned at all in the description under the heading "Using Separator Files."

MORE INFORMATION

SYSPRINT.SEP is one of the four separator files installed by default on a Windows NT system in the %SYSTEMROOT%\SYSTEM32 directory. The other three files are PSLANMAN.SEP, PCL.SEP, and PSCRIPT.SEP. PSCRIPT.SEP functions as the documentation states, it does not print a separator page at the beginning of the document, but it does switch the printer to PostScript printing. The DEFAULT.SEP file mentioned in the documentation on page 192 does not actually exist.

SYSPRINT.SEP is a PostScript-compatible separator file that has virtually the same functionality as the PSLANMAN.SEP file. That is, it prints a separator page at the beginning of each document. The only real difference between SYSPRINT.SEP and PSLANMAN.SEP is that there is some error handling code at the beginning of the SYSPRINT.SEP file which is not found in the PSLANMAN.SEP file.

Additional query words: prodnt header footer title sheet
Keywords : kbprint ntdocerr ntprint
Version : 3.1 3.5 3.51

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Last reviewed: May 28, 1997
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