A little issue that I ran into today made me think that perhaps I should post about it. For several months now, a customer of mine has been having an issue with printing from SAP to the AdobePDF device on her desktop. This was an outstanding issue before I came on site, and it had been handed from team to team within the IT Department for a while before I came across it.
Some background information (if you are not interested, skip to the end for the solution):
Way back in the mid 90's SAP introduced a method of printing that did not require a network device: Method F (Front-End Printing). This was a little quirky, since it had to use another tool called SAPLPD to work, but it was effective.
Fast-forward a few years. Windows-based document publishers (such as Adobe) began to allow for end users to create files using printing functionality that required user interaction during the printing process. The user would have to supply information like file name, location, etc.
The problem is, access method F does not allow for user interaction after the print command, so when a printout was sent to one of these devices it would not do anything. SAP would think that the print was complete, because it successfully sent the information to the desktop, but the desktop didn't have everything it need to actually do something with it.
A few years ago, SAP created a solution for this. Access Method G was released. It no longer uses SAPLPD, and it simply hands over the printing responsibility to the desktop, which allows a user to control the printout the same way they would with any other windows-based print job. They get the windows printer dialog box where they can set the printer, print properties, etc.
However, as is common, this solution was not shouted from the rooftops. Most customers are still using access method F for front-end printing, and do not get the added functionality of access method G.
So, if you are experiencing the issue of not being able to print to AdobePDF or other front-end printing device that requires user interaction, or you just want the added functionality, simply change the LOCL printer to access method G and select device type SAPWIN.
Hope this helps...
