Environment
Situation
How is it enabled?
What are the benefits?
Resolution
Without the ShortInstallName feature enabled, iPrint printers installed to the Windows workstation can be lengthy. For example:
[pa_name] on [ipp://IPorDNS]
or
MyColorPrinter on ipp://printmanagername.abc-companyname.com
When using the ShortInstallName feature, the printer name will be shortened to:
MyColorPrinter on WhateverName
How is it enabled?
NetWare: sys:\Apache2\htdocs\ippdocs\iprint.ini
Linux: /var/opt/novell/iprint/htdocs/iprint.ini
ShortInstallName = DEFAULT
to
ShortInstallName = whatevername
The short name must be unique for each Print Manager. For this feature to take effect on the workstation requires the printer to be installed after the change is made within the iprint.ini.
The ShortInstallName chosen by the administrator in the iprint.ini is written to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\,,[ShortInstallName] after the printer is installed to the workstation.
The ShortInstallName "resolves" to the value shown in:
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\,,[ShortInstallName],[PrinterName]\iHost Address
1. End user convenience
When a user opens the Windows print dialog within an application, a list of installed printers is displayed. Depending on the application the iPrint printer name could be displayed as:
\\ipp://printmanager.abc-companyname.com/MyColorPrinter
The dialog window may not be wide enough for the end user to see the important part of the name; "MyColorPrinter"
Some appplicaitons will show the printer name as:
MyColorPrinter on ipp://printmanagername.abc-companyname.com
This method of listing the printer allows the end user to see the name of the printer, regardless of the URL length, but there is often no reason to expose the server's address to the end user. A name defined by the administrator might be more appropriate and/or less confusing for the end user.
2. Performance
Some versions of Windows and/or some applications (such as certain versions of Adobe) do not efficiently handle printer names greater than 32 characters. This results in slow printing. Using the ShortInstallName feature can help keep the name under that limit. See KB 7002901 for an example of this issue.