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Status Submitted
Workspace IBM i
Categories Print
Created by Guest
Created on Mar 3, 2026

RELATED IDEAS

Provide a fast way to list PRINTER FILE objects

There is currently no scalable, programmatic interface dedicated to retrieving a list of printer files (*PRTF) on IBM i.

To obtain a list of printer files today, applications must use any of these interfaces:

DSPFD OUTPUT(*OUTFILE),

QGYOLOBJ,

QSYS2.OBJECT_STATISTICS (IBM i Services), or

SQLTOOLS.OBJECT_LIST (SQL Tools)

and specify Object Type = *FILE and then filter that result set for only PRTF file attribute (in this case).

On systems with large file counts, this becomes unnecessarily expensive and slow. And most systems have large numbers of *FILE objects.

Why This Is a Print Domain Issue

Printer files are not just generic objects — they are core to:

Output governance

Form control

Compliance review

Spool behavior management

Print modernization initiatives

Administrative tooling frequently needs to evaluate attributes such as:

Lines Per Page

Unprintable Character replacement setting

Overflow line

Device type

etc.

Today, gathering that data requires first enumerating every *FILE object on the system, which is unrelated to print management. and then throwing away the vast majority of data that was just produced.

There is no print-focused list API.

Proposed Enhancement

Provide a dedicated Open List API for printer files, conceptually similar to existing Open List APIs, for example:

QGYOLPRTF – Open List of Printer Files

Capabilities:

Support specific name, generic name, or *ALL

Return core printer file attributes

Optimized internally to select only *FILE objects with attribute=PRTF

Follow standard Open List patterns (receiver variable, continuation handle, etc.)

This would:

Eliminate unnecessary full *FILE object scans.

Improve performance

Enables user-written and scalable administrative and compliance tooling

Provides a print-focused API aligned with modern IBM i Services patterns

Reduces the need for sluggish workarounds

This would modernize print object management in a way consistent with other subsystem-focused APIs.

Idea priority Medium
  • Guest
    Mar 8, 2026

    I said "fast". Yes the QGYOLOBJ API and both OBJECT_STATISTICS and my own OBJECT_LIST UDTF can produce a list of objects. But imagine this. you want a list of Printer files. Say there are 20 on the system. Yes your only option is to all all *FILE object (let's say there are 20,000+ on the system) and then once you have that list, filter out all but PRTF files.  That's what OBJECT_STATISTICS (and the others) provides.

    Reply
  • Guest
    Mar 5, 2026

    Hi, if I have understood your primary need correctly and it is to find a fast programmatic way to list all Printer Files on an LPAR, then I think you can do this with the SQL Object Statics to get a list of just printer files pretty quickly

    Hope this helps

    Steve Bradshaw

    The Friendly Techie at RowtonIT.com

    IBM Champion, Member of CEAC, TD of i-UG.co.uk


    Example below:

    Select Objname As File_Name,
     Objlib As Library,
     Objtype As Object_Type,
     Objattribute As Attribute,
     Objtext As Text_Description,
     Objcreated As Creation_Date,
     Objowner As Owner,
     Objdefiner As Definer,
     Objsize As Size_Bytes,
     Last_Used_Timestamp,
     Days_Used_Count
     From Table (
     Qsys2.Object_Statistics('*ALL', '*FILE')
     ) As Obj
     Where Objattribute = 'PRTF'
     Order By Objlib,
     Objname
     Limit     100;
    Reply

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