Activation key
Entering the activation key in License Manager enables unlimited application of the ThinPrint software. An activation key is obtained by submitting license and registration keys to ThinPrint GmbH.
Autocreated printers
see ThinPrint AutoConnect
Bandwidth
The capacity of a network or data connection for digital transmission, usually measured in bit/second (bit/s, bits/sec, or bps) or in Kilo-bit/ second (kbit/s, kbits/sec, or kbps).
Bandwidth control
A ThinPrint Port regulates bandwidth for print jobs. Because bandwidth is controlled separately per printer port and can be set individually, optimal performance can be achieved with the following ThinPrint settings:
- Number of ThinPrint Ports
- Different bandwidth settings for each ThinPrint Port
- Assignment of printers to ThinPrint Ports
Class
see Printer Class
Client
The term client signifies a device which connects to, requests data from, and/or starts an application on, a server. It receives, for example, print data from the server and forwards it to a printer. Typical clients are: workstations, notebooks, thin clients, print servers, gateway appliances and network printers.
Client Gateway
see Gateways
Compression
In addition to bandwidth control, ThinPrint compresses print data. Typical compression rates for PCL and Postscript printer drivers lie somewhere between 55 % and 95 % – depending on printer driver, application, and type of data (e. g.: pixel/vector fonts, pixel/vector graphics). With Driver Free Printing there are four available compression options (high image compression, good compression, high image quality, lossless compression) Nonetheless, when printing with either Driver Free Printing or with the native printer driver a higher or lower compression may be chosen without compromising the print quality (see Configuration).
Connection Service
ThinPrint Connection Service enables printing to ThinPrint Clients that are hidden behind Network Address Translation (NAT). But in contrast to ThinPrint Virtual Channel Gateway the print data is sent over pure TCP/IP and not via an ICA or RDP channel.
ThinPrint Engine sends all print jobs to the ThinPrint Connection Service, which passes them on to the ThinPrint Clients. No IP addresses are used for addressing the ThinPrint Clients, but a ThinPrint specific Client ID. This Client ID is assigned automatically by the ThinPrint Connection Service (dynamic mode) or is created manually in the ThinPrint Client (static mode).
Current printer
Setting in the ThinPrint Client Manager: A document is printed with the current printer if a client has only one printer, or no printer ID was given with addressing. Current printer can also be used to set the default printer at the server when using AutoConnect (with the option Default at Server).
Data type
Several types are usually supported for printing under Windows. The two most commonly used – expanded metafile (EMF) and print-ready (RAW) – affect performance on both client and print server machines differently. See also EMF
Dedicated print server
A served “dedicated” to a single task: printing. If a terminal server does not send print data directly to clients, but to central, dedicated print servers, there, it is first rendered and then sent to the clients or printers. The terminal server load is thus lightened. (see also Print server)
Driver Free Printing
Printing using the ThinPrint Output Gateway (see also Driver Free Printing, V-Layer and Native Printing)
EMF
EMF (enhanced metafile) is default data type for most Windows programs. Unlike RAW format, printed documents in EMF are converted to metafile format.
With Driver Free Printing, EMF files are smaller than RAW files containing the same print job. In server-based computing, only the first half of a print job is generated on the terminal server (in consideration of system performance). The main work is performed by the client machine, which improves the terminal server’s performance. See also Data type.
Gateways
ThinPrint differs between the following kinds of gateways:
- ThinPrint Output Gateway
ThinPrint’s “virtual” printer driver for Driver Free Printing - ThinPrint Virtual Channel Gateway
With our Virtual Channel Gateway, we actually put print data coming from a print server into the ICA or RDP virtual channel and send it directly to the client (see Configuring Virtual Channel Gateway). - ThinPrint Client Gateway
Local print server with installed ThinPrint Client
ICA
Independent Computing Architecture (from Citrix); network protocol for communication between Windows terminal servers and ICA clients.
ICA is a 3-part technology for server-based computing which separates application logic from user interface and allows the application to run entirely on the server. ICA requires Citrix XenApp on the server; XenApp requires Microsoft Terminal Services.
License key
All ThinPrint software requires a license key. The key has the format: THxx-xxxx-x-xxxxxx-xxxx (32 bit) or TAxx-xxxx-x-xxxxxx-xxxx (64 bit). License Manager uses the license key to generate a registration key according to system configuration. Both license key and registration key are required to request the activation key.
Local resources
Local in this sense means available to or installed upon the selected computer. Client operating systems always search first for a local printer driver. When printing on the client side, then, the printer driver is first sought on the client computer, and only if necessary is a driver downloaded from the server.
LPD client
An LPD client is a network end device which supports the Line Printer Daemon (LPD); e. g., a print server (print box), network printer, or Linux terminal. It is also possible to print with ThinPrint to LPD devices, even if there is no ThinPrint Client available there. Although compression cannot be used, bandwidth control is available to improve printing in this environment.
LPD filter
An LPD filter is run on LPD clients to decompress print jobs which have been processed over ThinPrint.
LPR
Line Printer Remote; Program for issuing a print job (Client component for LPD)
Network Address Translation (NAT)
Multiple private addresses are transformed into a single public IP address. This lets several PCs in a LAN use the IP address for Internet access, while the LAN hides behind the router’s IP address registered in the Internet.
Output Gateway
see Gateways
ThinPrint AutoConnect
The ThinPrint component for auto-created printers is called AutoConnect. It can be run on any Windows server. AutoConnect enables the printers needed for each client to be created automatically on the server.
ThinPrint Client
On the client side, ThinPrint Client is generally responsible for receiving print data, decompressing and decrypting it, and sending it to the print device. Many ThinPrint Clients are available for different end devices and areas of deployment: for all Windows versions, for Mac OS and Linux as well as for internal and external print servers of network printers.
ThinPrint Client Gateway
see Gateways
ThinPrint Client Service Windows
The Windows service version of ThinPrint Client is automatically started when a client machine is activated. Thus, it is not necessary for a user to be logged on for the Client Service Windows to function. This ThinPrint Client is therefore particularly well suited for local print servers under Windows (ThinPrint Client Gateways). ThinPrint Client Service Windows is not designed for print preview with Driver Free Printing.
ThinPrint Connected Gateway
see Connection Service
ThinPrint Connection Service
see Connection Service
ThinPrint Engine
The server component ThinPrint Engine is the actual core of the ThinPrint framework. It provides complete printer driver management including Driver Free Printing. The ThinPrint Engine performs the following main functions:
- Bandwidth controlled transmission of print jobs
- Print data compression and streaming
- Print data encryption
- Provisioning of the virtual printer driver ThinPrint Output Gateway (enables a radical reduction of printer drivers on printing computers = Driver Free Printing).
ThinPrint Preview
ThinPrint component for the client-side print preview with Output Gateway. It consists of the components TPView.dll and TPView.exe with the following features:
| TPView.dll | TPView.exe | |
| page preview | X | X |
| zoom | X | X |
| leaf | X | X |
| save in .tpf file format | X | |
| open .tpf file format | X | |
| X | X | |
| installation with ThinPrint Client | X | |
| can be downloaded at www.thinprint.com/en/support/software/clientsandtools | X |
Port pooling
See Port pooling
Print device
Contrary to popular nomenclature, hardware which produces printed material is called a print device and NOT a printer. Print resolution is measured in DPI (Dots Per Inch). The higher the DPI value, the better the resolution. See also Printer.
Printer
The point of interface between operating system and print device is called the printer. In Windows architecture alone, many possible terms exist: logical printer, printer software, or printer object. Printer settings include, among other, the designation of a connection (i. e., LPT1 or ThinPort), the printer driver (this is normally included by the manufacturer), authorization of share names, etc. In Windows, every printer is represented in the printers folder by an icon with an obvious name.
There is generally not a one-to-one relationship between printer and print devices. Several printers for a single print device, for example, signify that either the print device is connected to several computers, or that many printers with different parameters for the same print device have been set up on a computer.
For better understanding, this guide only distinguishes between printers, printer objects, and print devices when the specific context makes it necessary.
Printer class
Printers whose drivers are compatible can be grouped in a class. For example, many laser printers are compatible with HP LaserJet (class could be: HPLaser). Only one AutoConnect template is necessary for all printers in a class.
Printer driver
Printer drivers are programs which enable communication between client applications and print devices. Each print device requires unambiguous commands which are specific to that device, to employ such print functions as color, margin, format, etc. An operating system comprehends these individual commands for specific print devices through the printer driver.
Printer object
Under Windows: a printer created in the printers folder; it appears with its name in the printers folder .
Printer pool
see Port pooling
Printer queue
The number of documents which are to be printed from a particular print device and/or are already waiting for processing is referred to in Windows terminology as the printer queue. Under NetWare and OS/2, the term printer queue is synonymous for printer.
Print job
Print jobs are composed of a source code in the language of the relevant printer. This source code contains both print data, such as a text or picture, and print device commands such as form feed or page format.
Print server
A print server is hardware which connects print devices with a network. The print server is thus responsible for the printer queues of connected print devices. A print server can also be a specific hardware device which exclusively embodies the network connection and a serial or parallel connection (print appliance / external print server / print box). A print server can also be pre-integrated within a printer, so that separate hardware is unnecessary and the print device can be directly connected with the network (internal or onboard print server). (see also Dedicated print server)
Print server services
Print server services is the term for the print server software which handles communication with non-Windows clients. Because a print job from a UNIX client is different than one from a Macintosh client, there are different print server services. These can change the parameter for data type as needed, for instance.
Print spooler
see Spooler
RDP
Remote Desktop Protocol; communication protocol between Remote Desktop Session Hosts or virtual desktops and clients under a Windows operating system. The name of the service is Terminal Services, and the connection type under Windows is named Remote Desktop Connection.
Remote Desktop Connection
see RDP
Remote Desktop Services
see Terminal Services
Remote Desktop Session Host
see Terminal server
Rendering
A printer driver is used to translate a print job into printer-specific format.
Session-in-Session
When printers are assigned by AutoConnect in a terminal session, they are still available if a further session is configured from a terminal server, onto another machine.
Spooler
Print spooler describes the number of those programs or DLLs (Dynamic Link Libraries) which receive, process, temporarily save, chronologically sort, and distribute queued print jobs.
With network printers, the spooler has a client component and a server component. The client component is normally found where the application is being run. The server component is generally where the print device is installed, at the print server, for example.
Spooling
Simultaneous Peripheral Operation On Line: Print jobs are temporarily stored as files on a hard disk. This procedure is known as spooling and is only one of the several functions of the spooler. Unspooling is the process of reading this file and sending it to the print device.
SSL
see TLS
Template
Printer object used as a “model” to enable automatic client printer connection to ThinPrint Engine over AutoConnect.
Terminal server
= Remote Desktop Session Host: a Windows server with Microsoft Terminal Services or Remote Desktop Services
Terminal Services
= Remote Desktop Services: a Windows service for remote desktop sessions
Thin client
A minimum performance computer with only elementary hardware and / or software components (no hard drive). In a server/client architecture, a client system on which no application programs are run. Instead, all applications are processed at the server.
ThinPrint Output Gateway
see Gateways
ThinPrint Port
To print with ThinPrint, printers are linked to ThinPrint Ports on the machine that creates the print jobs. These printer ports are created and configured with the MMC. It is, however, not necessary to create a port for every printer; many printers can be configured to the same port. With port pooling, however, one or more printers are connected to several ports.
ThinShare
See ThinPrint Engine on print servers
TLS
To establish a secure connection with SSL / TLS, the communication partners must first agree on the cryptographic methods and parameters to be used. Basically, SSL / TLS offers the options of key exchange, systematic encryption, and the calculation of a cryptographic proof sum. There are various methods that can be used with each of these options.
Since SSL is now obsolete, ThinPrint prefers encryption with TLS, but still supports SSL 3.0.
VirtualCopy
See ThinPrint Engine on print servers
V-Layer
See ThinPrint Engine on print servers
x64
Identifies all 64-bit processors from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) as well as Intel processors with an AMD compatible 64-bit extension (e. g. Xeon and Pentium with EM64T). In contrast ia64 identifies the 64-bit processor Itanium from HP and Intel.
XenApp
Server-based software (Citrix) for Microsoft Terminal Services