Printing with GO-Global

Introduction

GO-Global makes client-side printing simple and reliable across all major platforms. Whether printing to a local, USB, or network printer, GO-Global automatically detects and configures printer settings to ensure a seamless experience. Administrators can easily manage printer access, driver sources, and configurations to meet security and performance needs — all from the Admin Console.

GO-Global supports client-side printing on all client platforms. By default, GO-Global automatically detects the client's default printer information once the user has signed in to the GO-Global Host. This includes the default printer's port and printer driver. If the printer driver is not installed on the GO-Global Host, GO-Global will attempt to locate the driver and automatically install it.

When running applications on GO-Global Hosts, users can print to network printers and to printers that are directly connected to their computers (e.g., via serial, parallel and USB ports).

Administrators can control which, if any, printers are made available to users using the -ac and printerconfig GO-Global startup parameters.

When running GO-Global from a shortcut, use the -ac parameter with "all", "none" or "default" to respectively make all, none or only the default printer available from applications running on the GO-Global Host. For example, to make all printers available, create a shortcut with the target specified as follows: "C:\Program Files\GraphOn\AppController\AppController.exe" -ac all

Similarly, when running GO-Global from the logon page, use the printerconfig parameter with "all", "none" or "default". For example, the following parameter will make all printers available: http://hostname/logon.html?printerconfig=all

If no options are specified, GO-Global automatically configures the user's default printer only.

Designation Access to Printer Drivers

GO-Global can obtain printer drivers from the following sources:

• Universal Printer Driver: GO-Global includes a Universal Printer Driver that can print to any client printer. Enable this option to allow the use of the Universal Printer Driver for configuring client printers.
• Windows Printer Drivers: Enable the Windows Printer Drivers option to allow printers to be configured using already installed native drivers.

When only the Universal Printer Driver is enabled, only the Universal Printer Driver will be used as a printer driver. No native drivers will be used. This is the default setting.

When Windows Printer Drivers is enabled, native printer drivers that are installed on the host will be used. If a printer's native driver is not installed, or if a printer's native driver is a Type 4 printer driver (which GO-Global does not support), that printer will be configured to use the Universal Printer Driver if the Universal Printer Driver option is checked. Otherwise, if the Universal Printer Driver option is not checked, the printer will not be available to users.

When neither the Universal Printer Driver or Windows Printer Drivers is enabled, no printers will be configured and client printing is disabled.

The Universal Printer Driver is supported on Windows, Linux, and macOS. When printing with the Universal Printer Driver, the user (or group) needs to have full access to the temp directory.

A printer named Preview PDF is configured in each session when the Universal Printer Driver is enabled. Documents printed to this printer are automatically converted to a .pdf file and displayed on the client computer. Users can save, print, or email the document at their discretion. A PDF reader, such as Adobe Reader, is required on the client computer in order to use the Universal Printer Driver's PDF conversion feature.

Administrators set access to printer driver sources through the Host Options dialog.

To designate access to printer drivers

1. In the Admin Console, select the desired host from the list of All Hosts.
2. Click Tools | Host Options.
3. Click the Client Access tab.
4. Click the box beside the desired driver source or sources.
5. Click OK.

Client-side printing is enabled by default. Administrators disable client-side printing through the Admin Console's Host Options dialog.

Printer Configuration

When GO-Global clients connect to a host, proxy printers are automatically created on the host and serve as an interface for printing to the client printer. Proxy printers are printers GO-Global sets up on the host as a bridge between the applications running in a GO-Global session and the client printers. Proxy printers can be configured automatically or manually.

Native printer drivers are preferred when configuring proxy printers — if they are available and if settings allow them to be used. Alternatively, the Universal Printer Driver can be used when the native driver is not available.

There are several methods an administrator can use to manage which printer drivers should be used when creating proxy printers. Settings from client printers are replicated in their proxy printer counterpart. A session's proxy printers are removed when the session ends. Proxy printers are not removed when a session disconnects. All proxy printers on the system are removed when the Application Publishing Service starts.

When a proxy printer is configured, there is a hierarchy of preferences when selecting a native printer driver. If the Windows Printer Drivers option is disabled in the Admin Console, this hierarchy is not applied.

Native drivers are selected in the following order:

• Printers Applet. A user’s manual selection of a printer driver in the Printers Applet takes precedence over all other driver selection methods.
  
• Mapped Printer Drivers. MappedPrinterDrivers.xml contains a list of driver names that can be used for each driver. This file is generated by the Application Publishing Service, but can also be manually edited by administrators.
  
• Client driver name. The driver with the exact name of the driver that is installed on the client is used to configure the proxy printer.

Adjusting the Printable Area

In some cases, applications that print using the GO-Global Universal Printer Driver (UPD) will have areas of the document that are clipped — when portions of the document near the edges of the page are not printed. To address this issue, define the printable area of a document with an alternate .PPD file.

To install the alternate .PPD file
1.    Download UniversalRemotePrinter.ppd from: https://releases.graphon.com/files/UniversalRemotePrinter.ppd
2.    Stop the Application Publishing Service.
3.    Rename the original UniversalRemotePrinter.ppd, then copy the alternate UniversalRemotePrinter.ppd to the following folder:  C \Windows\System32\spool\drivers\x64\3
4.    Delete UniversalRemotePrinter.bpd if it exists.
5.    Start the Application Publishing Service.

If there are any issues with the alternate .PPD, use the same process above to revert to the original .PPD.

The UniversalRemotePrinter.ppd file defines driver settings for the Universal Printer Driver. In the default version of this file, the area to which the driver can print is the full extent of a page. This means that text or images can be printed to the edges of a page. Most printers are not physically capable of this. The alternate .PPD file defines a 1/4 inch (6.35 mm) margin for the defined paper sizes. This allows applications to predict the printable area and thereby lay out print jobs without clipping.

Conclusion

By supporting both native and universal printer drivers, GO-Global delivers flexible, cross-platform printing for all users. With centralized control, automatic driver management, and PDF output capabilities, administrators can optimize printing efficiency while maintaining a consistent user experience across any environment.

Are you an ISV exploring cloud-based application delivery? Contact us to learn how GO-Global can help you streamline software access for your end users. Or download a free trial to test it yourself.