V5R2 or V5R1 broke POSTNET bar code printing

[Jim Essinger <esinger@xxxxxxxx>]

Greetings,

I just ran into it again.  It took me a while to remember, but back in 
November when we upgraded from V4R5 to V5R1 and then (within 2 weeks) to 
V5R2, we could no longer print POSTNET bar code to an IBM InfoPrint 20 
printer token ring attached as IPDS to our AS/400.  The bar code is created 
using a DDS field: type - number, length - 9 no decimals, signed, with the 
bar code keyword filled in.  Looks like:

A  41        PZIP09         9S 0O    20
A                                      BARCODE(POSTNET 5 *HRZ *NOHRI X'00'-
A                                       (*WIDTH 0.100) (*RATIO 2.50))


With no changes to our programming or DDS, the printer now rejects the 
spool file with a message and sense data that points to something aboheut 
the length of the bar code.

---------
Message ID . . . . . . :   PQT3665
Severity . . . . . . . :   40
Message type . . . . . :   Information
Date sent  . . . . . . :   07/01/03
Time sent  . . . . . . :   15:20:08

Message . . . . :   Bar Code Specification Check exception at printer P6.

Cause . . . . . :   Printer P6 detected a data value that was either not 
valid or not supported in bar code data. The print request being processed 
when
  the exception occurred was file LSREP13 number 000001 in job 
558926/JIM/JIMEB. The corresponding sense data is X'040C'..X'00' 
X'01'.  Processing of the print request ended. The previously listed 
PQT3630 message contains all of the sense data received from the printer 
for this condition.  The error was caused by the process used to create the 
bar code data or by the process used to include the bar code data in the 
spooled file or resource object.

--------

As I found in the IPDS and SCS Technical Reference on page 164 found at:

http://www-6.ibm.com/jp/printer/manual/pdf/IPDS_Tech_Ref.pdf 


the hex value of 040c..00 indicates the length of the bar code field is not 
right.


Has anyone else run into this problem?  Before I start the long (and 
expensive!) trek thru hourly support, I thought I would try you 
Know-It-Alls (and I mean that in the nicest way!!!) to see if any of you 
have had this problem and found a fix or PTF for the problem.  We create 
these letters once each year, with some reprinting when the customer loses 
the letter.  By November, we are done printing them until the next July.

Thanks for your help!!


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Jim Essinger
Senior Programmer/Analyst
Student Loan Fund of Idaho

6905 Highway 95
Fruitland  ID  83619

or

PO Box 730
Fruitland, ID 83619

208-452-4058 Extension 133
esinger@xxxxxxxx

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