Question & Answer
Question
Is AFP supported on IBM i 7.3? I heard that AFP Utilities was no longer supported.
Answer
The IBM i 7.3 Memo to Users states that at IBM® Advanced Function Printing Utilities (5770AF1) is no longer supported.
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/ssw_ibm_i_73/rzaq9/rzaq9lpp5770AF1.htm
The last release for IBM Advanced Function Printing Utilities (5770-AF1) was IBM i 7.2. The Advance Function Presentation data stream is now an open architecture managed by the AFP Consortium. Replacement products, which offer support for a wider range of image formats and modern font technologies, are available from several of the companies that are members of the AFP Consortium. Among the replacement products are DocPath Boulder Suite (from DocPath) and Overview AFP Designer for iSeries (from Isis-Papyrus). This is not a comprehensive list of replacement products, as other companies may also offer function which replaces Advanced Function Printing Utilities.
Many customers confuse AFP Utilities (hereafter referred to as AFPU) with AFP, and think that AFP resources will no longer be supported. This is not the case.
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/ssw_ibm_i_73/rzaq9/rzaq9lpp5770AF1.htm
The last release for IBM Advanced Function Printing Utilities (5770-AF1) was IBM i 7.2. The Advance Function Presentation data stream is now an open architecture managed by the AFP Consortium. Replacement products, which offer support for a wider range of image formats and modern font technologies, are available from several of the companies that are members of the AFP Consortium. Among the replacement products are DocPath Boulder Suite (from DocPath) and Overview AFP Designer for iSeries (from Isis-Papyrus). This is not a comprehensive list of replacement products, as other companies may also offer function which replaces Advanced Function Printing Utilities.
Many customers confuse AFP Utilities (hereafter referred to as AFPU) with AFP, and think that AFP resources will no longer be supported. This is not the case.
AFP and AFP Resources are Fully Supported at 7.3 and above
Advanced Function Printing (AFP) refers to the technology of generating fully composed pages of data, instead of the more traditional method of creating spooled files one line at a time. In AFP, page elements such as text, images, bar codes, page segments, and overlays, can be specified in any order at any position in the page. Many of the page elements you can use with AFP are special objects called resources.
Existing AFP resources (overlays, page segments, etc...) created with AFPU on V7R2 or older will continue to work and be supported. In addition, we will continue to support AFP Resources created by other means, such as the AFP Driver, and the CRTOVL and CRTPAGSEG commands. The support statement is only referring to the AFPU product itself.
This leads us to the commonly asked question -- "Will AFPU work anyway?"
AFPU may work but it is not supported
The answer is "Yes, but if there are issues it is still not supported." Development has assured us that the v7.2 version will install and run on v7.3. This allows customers who rely on AFPU to have additional time to look at other solutions to replace it.
Existing AFP resources (overlays, page segments, etc...) created with AFPU on V7R2 or older will continue to work and be supported. In addition, we will continue to support AFP Resources created by other means, such as the AFP Driver, and the CRTOVL and CRTPAGSEG commands. The support statement is only referring to the AFPU product itself.
This leads us to the commonly asked question -- "Will AFPU work anyway?"
AFPU may work but it is not supported
The answer is "Yes, but if there are issues it is still not supported." Development has assured us that the v7.2 version will install and run on v7.3. This allows customers who rely on AFPU to have additional time to look at other solutions to replace it.
How do I know if AFPU is being used?
AFPU uses the QAFP library. Object auditing on the QAFP library is one way to determine if the product is being used. Or, audit the AFPU commands, such as Start Advanced Function Printer Utilities (STRAFPU). Other AFPU commands include:
- Convert Overlay to PFM (CVTOVLPFM)
- Convert Page Segment to PFM (CVTPAGSPFM)
- Convert PC Document to Page Segment (CVTPCDPAGS)
- Convert Physical File Member to Page Segment (CVTPFMPAGS)
- Print PFD Data (PRTPFDDTA)
- Start Overlay Utility (STROVLU)
- Start Print Format Utility (STRPFU)
For more details on auditing, refer to:
Auditing Use of Commands: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/auditing-use-commands
Security: Object Auditing: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/security-object-auditing
Keywords for searching: 5770AF1 R730 V7R3M0 7.3
Related Information
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Modified date:
11 March 2024
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nas8N1022140