Summary
This is a description of the enhancements made to the printer properties retention behavior of the Citrix generic universal printer in version 9.230 of the ICA Client with hotfixes PSE400R02W2K3001, PSE400R02W2K001, and later hotfixes.
Note: Do not confuse the Citrix Generic Universal Printer with the Citrix Universal Print Driver.
Background
Citrix Presentation Server 4.0 has an option for the system to create a single generic universal printer in a session that is not bound to any underlying client printer.
When you enable the creation of the generic universal printer (it is disabled by default), an extra printer is created in the session with the name Citrix UNIVERSAL Printer in session <xx>. This single printer can target any client-side printer.
Note: By design, the Preview on client option is always enabled. This option is required because the generic universal printer is not bound to any underlying client printer. The print dialog provided by the preview application is the only way users can designate which printer they want to target. It also allows device-specific printer settings to be adjusted before printing because you cannot use the Local Settings button.
Given that the Citrix UNIVERSAL Printer is not bound to an underlying client printer, it is not possible for the Universal Print Driver (UPD) to enumerate printer capabilities and prune unavailable options from the user interface.
Citrix equipped this printer with a large list of standard papers, resolutions, and so on regardless of whether the intended printer supports these options.
Before the ICA Client version 9.230 and Presentation Server 4.0 hotfixes PSE400R02W2K3001 and PSE400R02W2K001, the generic universal printer would not save or retain changes to printer preferences because the generic universal printer was not associated to a physical printer or its device driver.
Changes in PSE400R02W2K3001 and PSE400R02W2K001
Hotfixes PSE400R02W2K3001 and PSE400R01W2K001 allow you to save and retain printer properties in the generic universal printer by setting the default printer properties retention behavior of Presentation Server 4.0 to Retained in user profile.
Changes to the ICA Client Version 9.230
Version 9.230 of the ICA Client adds the capability to store the generic universal printer’s printer properties in the client device properties store.
Version 9.200 (and later) of the ICA Client has the capability to add a setting to the client’s appsrv.ini file present in the <User Profile>\Application Data\ICAClient folder. This setting allows users to set the client to always use the printer settings from the actual printer instead of the retained settings in the properties store. This also applies to the generic universal printer.
The Win32FavorRetainedPrinterSettings=Off setting in the client’s appsrv.ini file prevents the system from retaining any changes to the properties store.
Recommendations
Like on any Windows-based system, when setting personal printing preferences using the Printers and Faxes utility, the default settings are changed and saved for all documents you print to that printer. These preferences include the page orientation, the tray from which paper is sent, and the number of copies printed.
Therefore, only changes using the Printers and Faxes utility are intended to be retained.
Changes from within a software program are only for individual documents and are not saved.
When users must change their default printer preferences using published applications, Citrix recommends publishing Print Manager to allow users to set and retain their own personal printing preferences.
More Information
CTX106812 – How to Create the Citrix Universal Printer
CTX884335 – How to Publish Print Manager on a Windows NT/2000/2003 Terminal Server
CTX108334 – Citrix Universal Printer Does Not Appear in Session
CTX108170 – Presentation Server 4.0 Printing Enhancements
Set personal printing preferences
