N-up Output Generator™
Product Overview:
n-Up Output Generator™ is an output
post-processing program that takes
a print file in standard 1-Up format
and reformats the file into an n-Up
format. "n" forms are printed
horizontally across a page thus dramatically
reducing print time. Since the program
acts as a post-processor on program
output, the advantages of n-Up processing
are available without modifying existing
programs. New programs need not be
coded with the complex logic of generating
n-Up output. If the output is in some
specific order such as zip code, account
or part number, the output can be
generated in a format (row or column)
which will eliminate the need to collate
the forms after bursting.
Advantages of n-Up
The main advantage of printing forms
n-Up is the reduction in print time.
Printing 2-Up can reduce print time
by 50% and 3-Up by 67%. Additional
savings are available in areas of
forms cost, storage and handling.
A box of n-Up forms is smaller and
less expensive than "n"
boxes of 1-Up forms, and printer
forms changes (unproductive time)
is required less frequently.
Programming Considerations
n-Up printing using traditional
programming techniques is much more
complicated than conventional 1-Up
printing. Output must be generated
line-by-line across each page instead
of down the page. More experienced
programmers are required and program
maintenance costs are greater. After
all the time, effort and money to
generate the n-Up printing software,
the code is usually not transportable
to another program using a different
form. A minor forms change or new
printer line length can require
extensive program changes. In addition,
if the documents are in a specific
order, the n-Up format output must
be collated after busting to return
to the original order.
There is a better way!
The n-Up Output Generator™ provides
the advantages of n-Up format without
the programming and operational
problems described above. New programs
are written to generate output in
standard 1-Up format, reducing development
time and program complexity. Existing
programs that generate 1-Up format
can be converted to n-Up format
without any software changes. The
n-Up Output Generator™ is also capable
of preserving the order of the original
data so that collating the output
after bursting is not necessary.
n-Up Output Generator™ reformatting
information is provided at execution
time and includes: the number of
horizontal forms to be generated
the format of the output (row or
column) the width of the form the
width of the "gutter"
or space between forms the Forms
Control Buffer (FCB) which defines
printer channel positions The n-Up
Output Generator™ input data (original
print file) may be a disk, tape
or JES sysout data set. The output
file may be a disk, tape or sysout
data set or printer.
The n-Up Output Generator™ can output
the n-Up data in either row or column
format.
Row Format
| Form 1 |
Form 2 |
...... |
Form n |
| Form n+1 |
Form n+2 |
...... |
Form 2n |
| Form 2n+1 |
Form 2n+2 |
...... |
Form 3n |
| Form 3n+1 |
Form 3n+2 |
...... |
Form 4n |
Column Format
| Form 1 |
Form n+1 |
Form 2n+1 |
Form 3n+1 |
| Form 2 |
Form n+2 |
Form 2n+2 |
Form 3n+2 |
| ..... |
..... |
..... |
..... |
| Form n |
Form 2n |
Form 3n |
Form 4n |
Customer Comment
Here's what Mutual of New York (MONY)
has to say about n-Up™. "We
use n-Up to print Premium Notices,
Financial Summaries and Dividend
Checks. We calculate that MONY will
save over $111,000 during the next
five years."
Interested? It's n-Up to
you.
