1.3 Overview

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The Print System Remote Protocol (RPRN) is based on the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) protocol, as defined in in [C706] and [MS-RPCE]. It supports synchronous printing and spooling operations between a client and a server and includes print job control and print system management.

An enhanced replacement for this protocol is defined in [MS-PAR] The Print System Asynchronous Remote Protocol. It provides asynchronous forms of the synchronous operations supported by the Print System Remote Protocol and extends them with additional asynchronous operations. It also provides for higher-level authentication in RPC calls between client and server (see [MS-PAR] sections 3.1.3 and 3.2.3.

The Print System Remote Protocol provides the following functions:

  • Management of the print system of a print server from a client.

  • Communication of print job data from a client to a print server.

  • Notifications to the client of changes in the print server's print system.

Server processing instructions are specified by the parameters that are used in the protocol methods. These parameters include:

  • Printer driver configuration information.

  • The spool file format for the print data that is sent by the client.

  • The access level of the connection.

  • The target print queue name for name-based methods.

  • A handle to the target print queue for handle-based methods.

Status information is communicated back to the client in the return codes from calls that are made to the print server.

The following sections give an overview of these functions.