Assigns a numeric value and attributes to a print form name. The /FORM qualifier is required. To modify a form's name or number, you must delete and redefine the form. Values for any DEFINE/FORM qualifier can be modified by reentering the DEFINE/FORM command with different values, as long as the form name and number remain the same.

Requires OPER (operator) privilege.

Format

DEFINE/FORM form-name form-number

Parameters

form-name

Assigns a name to the form being defined. The form name can be the name of an existing form type or a string of 1 to 31 characters that defines a new form type. The character string can include any uppercase and lowercase letters, digits, the dollar sign ($), and the underscore (_), and must include at least one alphabetic character.

form-number

Assigns a number in the range 0 to 9999 to the form being defined. The DEFAULT form, which is defined automatically when the system is bootstrapped, is assigned number zero.

Description

The system manager or operator uses the DEFINE/FORM command to assign a name and number to a type of paper stock and printing area for use with printer or terminal queues. When a new queue file is created, the system defines a form named DEFAULT with a form number of zero and all the default attributes.

Some DEFINE/FORM qualifiers specify the area for printing. The LEFT and RIGHT options of the /MARGIN qualifier and the /WIDTH qualifier determine the number of characters per line. Using the RIGHT option of the MARGIN qualifier and the /WIDTH qualifier, you can affect the point at which lines of text wrap. (You cannot use the LEFT and RIGHT options of the /MARGIN qualifier and the /WIDTH qualifier for filling or formatting the text, however.)

You also can use the DEFINE/FORM command to specify different types of paper stock. The /DESCRIPTION qualifier enables you to describe more fully the form name.

After forms have been defined, they can be associated with print jobs and output execution queues. For information on specifying forms with jobs, see the description of the PRINT/FORM command.

To find out what forms have been defined for the system, use the SHOW QUEUE/FORM command. To find out which form is mounted currently on a particular queue and which form is specified as that queue's default form, use the SHOW QUEUE/FULL command. For information on associating forms with queues, see the descriptions of the /DEFAULT and /FORM_MOUNTED qualifiers of the INITIALIZE/QUEUE, SET QUEUE, and START/QUEUE commands.

For more information on how to use forms to control print jobs, see the HP OpenVMS System Manager's Manual.

Qualifiers

/DESCRIPTION=string

A string of up to 255 characters used to provide operator information about the form. The default string is the specified form name.

The string can be used to define the form type more specifically. For example, if you have form names such as LETTER1, LETTER2, and LETTER3, the /DESCRIPTION qualifier could be used to let the users and operators know that LETTER1 refers to the standard corporate letterhead paper (8.5 inches x 11 inches), LETTER2 refers to the smaller corporate letterhead paper (6 inches x 9 inches), and LETTER3 refers to the president's personalized letterhead paper.

Enclose strings containing lowercase letters, blanks, or other nonalphanumeric characters (including spaces) in quotation marks (" ").

/LENGTH=n

Specifies the physical length of a form page in lines. The default page length is 66 lines, which assumes a standard page length of 11 inches with 6 lines of print per inch. The parameter n must be a positive integer greater than zero and not more than 255.

The print symbiont sets the page length of the device equal to the form length. This enables the driver to compute the number of line feeds for devices lacking mechanical form feed.

/MARGIN=(option[,...])

Specifies one or more of the four margin options: BOTTOM, LEFT, RIGHT, and TOP.

BOTTOM=n	Specifies the number of blank lines between the end of the print image area and the end of the physical page; the value of n must be between 0 and the value of the /LENGTH qualifier. The default value is 6, which generally means a 1-inch bottom margin.
LEFT=n	Specifies the number of blank columns between the leftmost printing position and the print image area; the value of n must be between 0 and the value of the /WIDTH qualifier. The default is 0, which means that the print image area starts as far to the left of the paper as the printer can go.
RIGHT=n	Specifies the number of blank columns between the /WIDTH qualifier and the image area; the value of n must be between 0 and the value of the /WIDTH qualifier. When determining the value of the RIGHT option, start at the /WIDTH value and count to the left. The default value is 0, which means that the print image extends as far to the right as the /WIDTH value.
TOP=n	Specifies the number of blank lines between the top of the physical page and the top of the print image; the value of n must be between 0 and the value of the /LENGTH qualifier. The default value is 0, which generally means that there is no top margin.

/PAGE_SETUP=(module[,...])

/NOPAGE_SETUP (default)

Specifies one or more modules that set up the device at the start of each page. The modules are located in the device control library. While the form is mounted, the system extracts the specified module and copies it to the printer before each page is printed.

/SETUP=(module[,...])

Specifies one or more modules that set up the device at the start of each file. The modules are located in the device control library. While the form is mounted, the system extracts the specified module and copies it to the printer before each file is printed.

For more information on device control modules, see the chapter on Batch and Print Operations in the HP OpenVMS System Manager's Manual.

/SHEET_FEED

/NOSHEET_FEED (default)

Specifies that print jobs pause at the end of every physical page so that a new sheet of paper can be inserted.

/STOCK=string

Specifies the type of paper stock to be associated with the form. The string parameter can be a string of 1 to 31 characters, including the dollar sign, underscore, and all alphanumeric characters. If you specify the /STOCK qualifier, you must specify the name of the stock to be associated with the form. If you do not specify the /STOCK qualifier, the name of the stock will be the same as the name of the form.

You can create any string that you want; however, when you are creating forms with the same stock, be sure that the /STOCK string is identical in all the DEFINE/FORM commands that refer to the same type of paper.

If you are defining a number of forms to provide different formatting options, specify the same stock type for each form. Jobs that request any of these forms will print on the same queue. If you want to modify the stock string associated with a form, you can do this only if the form is not referenced by any job or queue.

/TRUNCATE (default)

/NOTRUNCATE

Discards any characters that exceed the current line length (specified by the /WIDTH and /MARGIN=RIGHT qualifiers). The /TRUNCATE qualifier is incompatible with the /WRAP qualifier. If you specify both the /NOTRUNCATE and /NOWRAP qualifiers, the printer prints as many characters on a line as possible. This combination of qualifiers is useful for some types of graphics output.

/WIDTH=n

Specifies the physical width of the paper in terms of columns or character positions. The parameter n must be an integer from 0 to 65,535; the default value is 132.

Any lines exceeding this value wrap if the /WRAP qualifier is in effect or are truncated if the /TRUNCATE qualifier is in effect. (If both the /NOTRUNCATE and /NOWRAP qualifiers are in effect, lines print as far as possible.)

The /MARGIN=RIGHT qualifier overrides the /WIDTH qualifier when determining when to wrap lines of text.

/WRAP

/NOWRAP (default)

Causes lines that exceed the current line length (specified by the /WIDTH and /MARGIN=RIGHT qualifiers) to wrap onto the next line. The /WRAP qualifier is incompatible with the /TRUNCATE qualifier. If you specify both the /NOWRAP and /NOTRUNCATE qualifiers, the printer prints as many characters on a line as possible. This combination of qualifiers is useful for some types of graphics output.

Example

$ DEFINE/FORM /MARGIN=(TOP=6,LEFT=10) CENTER 3
      

The DEFINE/FORM command in this example defines the form CENTER to have a top margin of 6 and a left margin of 10. The defaults remain in effect for both bottom margin (6) and right margin (0). The form is assigned the number 3.