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mySAP Business Suite Unicode Printing with Lexmark Printers One World - One Printer A WHITE PAPER ON THE PRODUCT INTERNATIONAL PRINTING FOR mySAP Business Suite May 2003, Version 2.5

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mySAP Business SuiteUnicode Printing with

Lexmark PrintersOne World - One Printer

A WHITE PAPER ON THE PRODUCT

INTERNATIONAL PRINTING FOR mySAP Business Suite

May 2003, Version 2.5

2 - A Lexmark International White Paper mySAP Business Suite Unicode Printing

FOREWORDThis document is intended for use by technical system architects who are interested in theadvantages of Unicode capability in the mySAP Business Suite. It provides answers tothe following questions:

Planning

♦ What SAP applications does the Lexmark International Printing for mySAP BusinessSuite work with?

♦ Which mySAP Business Suite components are necessary for Unicode printing?

♦ What do I need in order to use International Printing for mySAP Business Suite?

Execution

♦ How do I connect the various components together?

♦ How do I configure my print subsystem?

This document discusses the International Printing for mySAP Business Suite solution.Lexmark also offers double byte character set (DBCS) solutions for Traditional Chinese,Simplified Chinese, Korean and Japanese that work with R/3 version 4.0A and above.Information on these solutions can be found athttp://www.lexmark.com/US/products/networking/fontdimms.htmlhttp://www.lexmark.com/US/products/networking/DBCS.htmlhttp://www.lexmark.com/US/products/networking/DBCS_color.html

The information in this document has been drawn from SAP, Lexmark and the UnicodeConsortium. Product details may change in the future, but the information containedherein is believed to be accurate at the time of publishing.

mySAP Business Suite Unicode Printing A Lexmark International White Paper - 3

Why Use Unicode?All large companies deal internationallythese days. One of the impediments tobusiness dealings then becomes thelanguage barrier. This language barrieris greatest when we don't use the samealphabet, such as when dealing withAsia or the Middle East.

SAP® has provided a solution for themultitude of characters using blendedcode pages and Multi-Display/Multi-Processing (MDMP) technologies.These technologies are proprietary toSAP, thus requiring SAP specific toolsto communicate with non-SAP softwaresuch as Microsoft Windows.

Unicode fixes this problem in auniversal manner. The Unicodetechnology was developed by manycompanies, academic institutions andthe ISO standards organization toprovide a unique number for eachcharacter, no matter what program orlanguage is being used. Most modernsystems utilize the Unicode standard,including browsers, operating systemsand directories.

SAP has adopted the Unicode standardand all newly released products willsupport Unicode. At the same time SAPsupports communication with code pageconversion between Unicode and non-Unicode systems, so you can phase inUnicode into your system landscape.

In fact, a Unicode system makes itpossible to integrate your SAP and non-

SAP systems. A Unicode system inJapan can send data to a system in Paris,which can process and display theJapanese characters correctly. A globalsystem can be truly global.

Unicode based data can not only beprocessed and displayed, with theLexmark solution it can easily beprinted as well. The advantages ofchoosing a Unicode printer with an SAPsystem are faster time to first printout,faster total print time and consolidatedhardware and supplies since one printerconfiguration can be utilized worldwide.The ability to make a global purchasewith one product greatly simplifiespricing, procurement and supply issues.

The Unicode printer stores a completeUnicode font inside so that printerresources do not need to be downloadedinto the printer prior to every print job.

Unicode data to be printed is encoded ina format called UTF-8. This formatallows encoding and transmission of allUnicode characters, while preservingcompatibility with existing devices. Thisis the reason for the use of the UTF-8device type (LEXUTF8).

According to an SAP online survey,SAP customers are very interested inUnicode to improve their systemintegration and provide a singleinterface and logon for all languages.This will allow them to provide datamaintenance globally.

4 - A Lexmark International White Paper mySAP Business Suite Unicode Printing

International Printing for mySAPBusiness SuiteInternational Printing for mySAPBusiness Suite® is a joint developmentproject between Lexmark and SAP thatfully supports SAP's Unicode initiative.

With International Printing for mySAPBusiness Suite, global accounts can usea single printer and a single set-up forall printing needs for all languages.Benefits include reduced hardwareinvestment (fewer devices are requiredfor development, support, back-up),reduced development effort, easier end-user support and additional support forless common languages.

International Printing for mySAPBusiness Suite allows global companiesto consolidate the number of printingdevices with individual local languagesupport solutions, used both locally aswell as in regional and corporateheadquarters. With International

Printing for mySAP Business Suite thesame device with the same generic set-up can print any mySAP Business Suitedocument in the local language.

International Printing for mySAPBusiness Suite can print any nativelanguage character specified in theUnicode 3.0 standard, in addition to theexisting, printer-resident characters. It isbased on Agfa Monotype's World Font,a monospace, sans serif typeface withover 50,000 characters, which is storedon the printer's hard disk. In addition,Lexmark has added UTF-8 encodingcapability to its most recent printers, andSAP has developed UTF-8 supportthrough a new UTF-8 device type,called LEXUTF8. Additional typefacesand corporate fonts can be added toInternational Printing for mySAPBusiness Suite.

mySAP Business Suite Unicode Printing A Lexmark International White Paper - 5

Which Applications Can UseUnicode?R/3® Enterprise is the first mySAPBusiness Suite component to be releasedwith Unicode capability. Additionalcomponents such as mySAP CRM,mySAP SCM, mySAP Enterprise Portaland mySAP SRM will be released withUnicode capability in the next releasecycle.

SAP customers can begin the sizing ofUnicode projects by enhancing theirABAP programs to comply with theversion 6.10 syntax. All new codepresently being written to the 6.10syntax will automatically work with newreleases whether or not they utilizeUnicode.

SAP GUI version 6.20 is Unicodebased. Like all other GUI versions, 6.20is capable of working with all earlierreleases of R/3.

Lexmark printers have been tested andare compatible with R/3 Enterprise.Additional testing will be performedwith other Unicode based mySAPBusiness Suite components. TheLexmark Unicode printers can be usedwith Unicode and non-Unicode systems.

mySAP Business Suite Overview

mySAP Exchanges

HR SCM Fin. PLM CRMR/3 Enterprise Ext. Set 1.10

R/3 Enterprise Core 4.7

Web Application Server 6.20

Client SAPBrowser GUI 6.20

mySAP Enterprise Portal

mySAPCRM

mySAPBI

mySAPSRM

mySAPPLM

mySAPFin.

mySAPSCM

mySAPHR

HT

ML,

Jav

a

= R/3 Enterprise

Device Type

6 - A Lexmark International White Paper mySAP Business Suite Unicode Printing

R/3 LatinServer

R/3Japanese

ServerR/3

ChineseServer

JapaneseJapanese

ChineseChinese

LatinLatin

SAP GUIClients

Latin &Japanese

Printer

ChinesePrinter

R/3 UnicodeServer

UnicodeUnicode

SAP GUIClients

UnicodePrinter

Simplify Your Printing and Your NetworkReduce your system complexity with Unicode. Only one server, one database and oneprinter is required for all the Unicode 3.0 languages.

mySAP Business Suite Unicode Printing A Lexmark International White Paper - 7

Which mySAP Business SuiteComponents do I Need forUnicode Support?For full Unicode support, a system willneed to have the following:

♦ A Unicode based system, such asR/3 Enterprise

♦ SAP GUI 6.20 on the client or aUnicode based browser

♦ Unicode compatible clients, suchas Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000,Windows XP or Apple Mac OS X,IBM OS/2 or Unix

♦ ABAP 6.10 or above compliantprograms.

♦ A Unicode compatible database

♦ A Unicode compatible server OS

Consult SAPNet release notes (OSS) forthe latest information and suitability ofhardware and software.

8 - A Lexmark International White Paper mySAP Business Suite Unicode Printing

What Do I Need to UseInternational Printing for mySAPBusiness Suite?The Lexmark International Printing formySAP Business Suite feature allowsfor a complete Unicode 3.0 font set to bedownloaded to the printer andpermanently stored for fast printing inall languages.

This feature will work with the LexmarkT series, C750, C910, C912, W812 orW820 printers. A minimum of 32MBRAM and a hard disk option is required.The International Printing for mySAPBusiness Suite CD is P/N 11K2990 andis available through LexmarkInternational. It is also available onolder Optra T and W810 printers, inconjunction with the Bar Code SIMMoption (to supply the UTF-8 decodingalgorithm). Color output is notsupported from the LEXUTF8 devicetype.

The latest UTF-8 device type isavailable through SAPNet (OSS Notes)at http://service.sap.com. This devicetype is also shipped standard with allcurrent R/3 releases and is shipped onthe Lexmark International Printing formySAP Business Suite CD.

The International Printing for mySAPBusiness Suite CD contains:

♦ 4 TrueType screen fonts ofAndale WorldType font

♦ 4 font files of Andale WorldTypefont for download in hard diskformat

♦ License agreement (fonts arelicensed for use on one printer andup to 5 workstations using that oneprinter)

♦ README.TXT installation anduse instructions

♦ SAP LEXUTF8 UTF-8 devicetype for use with SAP R/3 4.6C,4.6D, 6.10 and higher.

Visithttp://www.lexmark.com/US/solutions/SAP/mySAP/ for the latest information.

mySAP Business Suite Unicode Printing A Lexmark International White Paper - 9

How Do I Connect the VariousComponents Together?The Lexmark Unicode printers may beconnected on the network using accessmethod "L" for print jobs routed viaTCP/IP. This is the recommendedconnection since it allows fastest printspeeds and offloads the printing taskfrom R/3 dialog work processes. Thisconnection also allows the use ofLexmark's highly acclaimedMarkVision Professional networkprinter management utility for completeprinter management across enterprise

networks, which is a valuable resourcefor mission critical SAP print devices.

It is also possible to connect Lexmarkprinters to local or network ports onWindows clients and utilize accessmethod "F" for Front-end printing. Thismethod of printing uses a dialog workprocess and may cause a heavy load onthe system if used excessively.

10 - A Lexmark International White Paper mySAP Business Suite Unicode Printing

How Do I Configure My PrintSubsystem?Three steps are required to configure an R/3 system for printing.

1) Create an Output Device within the SPAD transaction.

2) Associate the LEXUTF8 device type with this Output Device.

3) Select the desired transport connection to the printer, i.e. F, L, U, S, etc.

mySAP Business Suite Unicode Printing A Lexmark International White Paper - 11

RESOURCESAdditional information can be obtained at http://www.lexmark.com or from your localLexmark office.

Looking Forward to the Unicode Advantage: Internationalization and Integration byMichael Redford, SAP Professional Journal, January/February 2002, pages 95-112.

SAP's Solutions to Support Global Customers by Michael Boss and Michael Depner,presented at ASUG (Americas' SAP Users' Group) annual meeting 2002.

SAP Service Marketplace, SAP White Papers:The Release and Maintenance Strategy of mySAP Business Suite ComponentsSAP NetWeaver for Open e-Business Integration - OverviewSAP R/3 Enterprise (at service.sap.com/enterprise)

service.sap.com/unicodeservice.sap.com/releasestrategyservice.sap.com/sapgui

SAP Notes: 79991 Multi Language Support/Unicode540911 Unicode –conditioned release restrictions for SAP R/3

Enterprise548016 Conversion to Unicode544623 Unicode Installation

(Note - the above documents require an SAP Service Marketplace ID for access)

More information on Unicodehttp://www.unicode.org

12 - A Lexmark International White Paper mySAP Business Suite Unicode Printing

TRADEMARKSLexmark and Lexmark with diamond design are trademarks of Lexmark International,Inc., registered in the United States and/or other countries. Passion for printing ideas is atrademark of Lexmark International, Inc. SAP, R/3 and mySAP Business Suite areregistered trademarks of SAP AG. All other brand and product names are trademarksor registered trademarks of their respective owners.