How many readers remember the days of white and green fanfold paper slowly inching out the back of an impact printer? Of that number, how many remember those days fondly?
I suspect the answer to both questions is “not many,” and for good reason. Informative, graphically oriented documents have been a part of our lives for as long as most people can remember. And it’s due in large part to a technology invented by IBM called Advanced Function Printing (later renamed Advanced Function Presentation to accommodate online document viewing).
IBM Z is recognized for its security, resiliency, agility, performance and scale, and IBM's AFP architecture is known for more than simple print jobs. Today, AFP is a comprehensive data stream architecture, perfect for organizations with complex output requirements. In this blog, I’d like to break down the AFP architecture’s key components and dive into how Enterprise Output Management (EOM) principles from LRS enhance AFP by streamlining output processes, optimizing resources, and maintaining consistent document integrity across large-scale environments.
AFP Architecture Overview
Developed in 1984 by IBM (and transferred to Ricoh in 2007), AFP architecture aimed to rival Xerox’s Metacode, DJDE, and LCDS technologies by offering a fully integrated data stream for page composition. Unlike traditional print systems that format data line-by-line, AFP creates entire pages in one go, thanks to “all-points addressability.” This flexibility allows for precise placement of text, images, barcodes, and other elements on a page. EOM solutions can further enhance this by ensuring that these complex documents reach their destinations reliably, regardless of format or destination.
Essential AFP Components
- AFP Conversion Indexing Facility (ACIF): ACIF enables developers to blend data with resources, creating mixed-object document content architecture (MODCA) files. ACIF integrates into a centralized output management environment, such as LRS EOM, allowing users to handle complex multi-platform documents with reduced risk of data loss or corruption.
- Print Services Facility (PSF): Operating within an IBM Z environment, PSF is a crucial component that AFP utilities use to facilitate and manage print jobs while ensuring that data is securely managed and delivered to the appropriate output device, maintaining data integrity and delivery accuracy.
- Data Types in AFP: AFP architecture supports multiple data types, such as AFPDS (printer-independent data stream that composes full pages within a document), LINE data (record-oriented text), and mixed-mode data (a combination of AFPDS and LINE). These flexible data types allow users to compose documents containing a mix of text, images, and other data. LRS solutions optimize this by managing how each data type is routed, formatted, and stored, reducing errors and downtime in production environments.
- AFP Viewers: Since AFP is a specialized format, viewers such as IBM’s Workbench Viewer or third-party tools are necessary to render documents correctly. With LRS EOM, document viewing is simplified across platforms, ensuring that AFP documents can be accessed and viewed within the enterprise.
Key AFP Resources
Resources are the building blocks of AFP’s ability to manage complex document creation. They make it possible to handle complex tasks like form definition, duplex printing, and embedding images or barcodes. LRS EOM solutions manage resources more effectively, tracking usage and standardizing resources across environments. Here are the main AFP resources:
- Form Definitions: Define the characteristics of the physical form to be printed on.
- Page Definitions: Format and compose line data into logical pages on physical sheets.
- Page Segments: Contain composed text and images that are prepared before formatting and included during printing.
- Overlays: Also known as electronic forms, are a collection of predefined data such as lines, shading, text, boxes, or logos. They can be merged with variable data on a sheet while a spooled file is being processed.
- Fonts: A collection of characters of a certain size, typeface, and type style. All AFP fonts are encoded as either single-byte or double-byte fonts, depending on the language for which they are being used.
Typical AFP Design for the Enterprise
Document Example - Composed Using AFP
The Role of LRS in AFP Document Management
While AFP provides the infrastructure to generate, format, and present data-rich documents, LRS’ EOM solutions simplify and secure these complex operations.
- Centralized Management: LRS EOM solutions create a “single point of control” enabling administrators to track print jobs and maintain consistency across diverse platforms.
- Automated Job Routing and Error Management: By automating job routing and monitoring, LRS EOM enhances the reliability of the AFP system. Errors are detected and resolved before they impact the end-user experience.
- Resource Optimization: LRS technology optimizes resource usage by managing how forms, fonts, and overlays are stored and accessed, minimizing redundancy and ensuring all elements are up to date across the enterprise.
- Data Stream Transformation: LRS offers specialized data stream transformation tools that run on multiple operating system platforms including UNIX, Linux, and Windows. These tools ingest output generated with tools like AFP on the mainframe and produce a suitable format to match print and/or viewing requirements for the enterprise. This can eliminate the need to purchase new devices and remove the burden and costs of handling the specialized data streams on the mainframe.
- Addition of Destination Choices for AFP Output: With LRS Secure Print, Mobile Print and Report Archive/Viewing solutions, AFP output can be securely printed at a local printer or viewed via an online GUI using a user’s organizational credentials. These solutions make it possible to swipe a badge, enter a PIN or wave a mobile phone and release your mainframe output alongside print jobs from Mac, Windows, Linux, Desktop, and mobile device environments.
Mainframes as mainstays of digital transformation
The mainframe provides a specialized environment that is ideal for secure transaction processing. It is particularly suited for application workloads that require the highest levels of security, reliability, and scalability. Such workloads include financial transactions, healthcare records, and government services, which demand absolute trust. By utilizing mainframes for these tasks, organizations can leverage optimized architectures to achieve exceptional performance and efficiency, all while reducing costs and risks.
Because the IBM Z platform is used for critical workloads, the documents generated by IBM Z applications are equally important. On a Windows PC, a user may simply print again if a document fails to print. Running a large batch job or initiating numerous online transactions from an IBM Z application is a less trivial matter. Since 1982, LRS software has been providing reliable, secure delivery of critical output from any application to any printer, fax server, online system or other output destination. The first time, and every time.
Conclusion
After 60 years, mainframe computers are more relevant than ever for hybrid cloud optimization, AI innovation, and digital transformation. The AFP architecture has come a long way as well, providing a robust framework for generating complex, data-rich documents on mainframe systems. With the addition of LRS EOM solutions, the AFP system transforms from a simple print solution into a highly secure and efficient document management platform, perfect for today’s fast-paced, information-driven businesses. From initial composition to final output, the synergy between AFP and LRS EOM ensures that organizations can rely on their document workflows to operate with precision, efficiency, and consistency.
Exploring this integration might seem daunting, but with a comprehensive approach, enterprise output management through AFP and LRS solutions can transform the way your organization handles high-volume output. Contact LRS and we will be glad to help.