JobTrayControl

Overview

For every single page of the output, TFORMer can dynamically select a tray on the target printer. This is useful for printing the first page of an invoice on a letterhead, or for adding an envelope to the printout. The tray selection works completely device-independent: TFORMer uses logical tray numbers (tray 1 to tray 10) which are mapped to physical (device-specific) trays or to paper format names (e.g. A4 or Letter) via a JobTrayControl-object.

A JobTrayControl is usually configured using TFORMer Designer, it can then be selected when printing a Job.

The default JobTrayControl object is named _Default_ and performs no mappings. When printing a FormLayout with this default JobTrayControl all pages of the output are sent to the printer without selecting special printer trays. In this case it is completely up to the device driver or the printer itself which trays are being selected.

Using Tray Control

Whenever output trays should be controlled by the FormLayout you must adjust the _Default_ JobTrayControl or create and assign a new JobTrayControl.

A typical JobTrayControl looks like follows:

LogicalTrayNumber	Physical Tray or Name of Paper Format	Description
1	A4	The logical tray number 1 is assigned to paper format A4. Whenever a band is printed which is assigned to logical tray 1 TFORMer instructs the printer driver to select the tray which holds the paper format A4.
2	A5	The logical tray number 2 is assigned to paper format A5. Whenever a band is printed which is assigned to logical tray 2 TFORMer instructs the printer driver to select the tray which holds the paper format A5.
3	Manual Feed in Tray 1	The logical tray number 3 is assigned to the physical printer tray named Manual Feed in Tray 1. Whenever a band is printed which is assigned to logical tray 3 TFORMer instructs the printer driver to select the physical printer tray with this name.
4	(auto)	The logical tray number 4 is not assigned to a specific tray or paper format. Whenever a band is printed which is assigned to logical tray 4 TFORMer does nothing special. The currently selected printer tray or paper format will not change.
5	(auto)	See tray 4
6	(auto)	See tray 4
7	(auto)	See tray 4
8	(auto)	See tray 4
9	(auto)	See tray 4
10	(auto)	See tray 4

A tray is always selected by its logical number. Such a logical tray number (1..10) or the value 0-Default is assigned to each band of a FormLayout. Whenever a band is printed and a new page is started, TFORMer performs a lookup for the physical tray assignment using the active JobTrayControl. If the value 0-Default is assigned this behavior changes: this value instructs TFORMer to use the currently active tray (or paper format name) of the output device.

Note:

TFORMer uses a configuration file named TFORMer.xml for adjusting output options and paper format names. Since paper format names are also used in JobTrayControl please check out TFORMer.XML Configuration File too.