ProductGLMHVPPlugin
GLM HVP Plugin
Overview
The "SkerCoDe HVP Plugin" software is an extension for the SAP printer driver HVP (High Volume Printer), which is used in the SAP component GLM (Global Label Management). The plug-in enables printing on ZPL (Zebra Programming Language) compatible printers. SAP does not deliver any plugins.
Use case
SAP GLM uses Microsoft Word for label creation and label printing. The final labels are generated on the GLM generation server and printed o n a printer selected in the GLM print program. The GLM generation server (WWI) is a Windows system with Windows printers. The printout is rendered and spooled using the Windows spooler.
SAP GLM offers functions in which the use of normal Windows print drivers is restricted or not possible. This includes:
- Print more than 32768 copies in one print job
- Consecutive numbers or texts with a large number of copies (depending on the label template size)
Here is an example of using consecutive data:
The requirements in labeling, especially with regard to consecutive numbers, are diverse. For this reason, the possible uses of SAP GLM are limited without consecutive numbers.
The SAP Windows printer driver HVP offers the solution. It is an essential component in the SAP GLM architecture. If it is used, the print job is automatically processed differently in GLM. Instead of always creating new pages for consecutive data in Word, only one page with static parts is created and the variable parts (consecutive data) are transferred to the HVP printer driver via an interface.
The HVP printer driver creates a Windows bitmap for the static part and also Windows bitmaps for the variable parts. Offset information is also calculated for the variable components in order to determine the exact position on the label. These bitmaps and other control information are transferred to a plugin via an interface, which generates information that can be processed by the printer.
Architecture
The architecture of the GLM/WWI generation server integrates the SAP HVP printer driver in parallel with the standard Windows printer drivers. The use of the HVP component is triggered from the SAP system by selecting a printer with the HVP printer driver.
