Using the Host On-Demand PDT compiler

The Host On-Demand PDT compiler is supplied as a convenience for users who need to create new Host On-Demand Printer Definition Table (PDT) files for 3270E host printing. PDT files are not typically needed, but can be used if necessary to create binary print output files for specific non-Windows customized printer types. PDT files are created by first creating or modifying a source Printer Definition File (PDF) and then compiling it into a binary PDT file. PDT files are not used for printing to Windows printers.

To create a new PDT file, copy your source PDF into the \ZIETrans\plugins\com.hcl.zietrans.rcp.workbench_nnnn\zietrans\PDT\pdfpdt\usrpdf\ directory. A collection of sample source PDFs is provided in this directory. Unzip the sample PDFs into the usrpdf directory to modify or compile them. Open a command prompt to the \ZIETrans\plugins\com.hcl.zietrans.rcp.workbench_nnn n\zietran\PDT\ directory and run the pdtcom.bat command. The Compile a Printer Definition Table window opens. In this window, select your source file from the drop-down box, enter a description, and click the OK button to compile it into a PDT file. The compiled PDT file is stored in the \ZIETrans\plugins\com.hcl.z ietrans.rcp.workbench_nnnn\zietran s\PDT\pdfpdt\ directory. The file extension of the compiled PDT file is .hodpdt.

Copy the compiled PDT file into a folder, for example, MyPDT, in the root of the .ear project for your ZIETrans Web application.

The compiled PDT file is configured to ZIETrans on the Printing tab of the connection editor for the default connection. In the Initialize section, select Basic text files (Plain text format) and click the Initialize button. In the Name/Value table, set the PDTFile property to have a value like MyPDT/usribm3250.hodpdt. Also set the printMimeType property to application/octet-stream and the usePDT property to true. For more information see Printing. Users will retrieve their 3270E print output as a binary print file suitable for copying to a particular type of non-Windows printer.

More information on Host On-Demand PDF and PDT files can be found in the Host On-Demand documentation: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/host-on-demand/13.0.

Note:

Printer Definition Files have no relation to Adobe Portable Document Format files.
If you have an existing PDT file from other HOD installations, you can use it for your custom printer without recompiling it. Simply copy the PDT file into place in the Web as directed above, and set the default connection's print settings to use it.
For more information about Japanese JIS2004 support, see JIS2004 support for PDT printing and Print-to-File for 3270E sessions.