Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!daver!vsi1!zorch!jeg
From: jeg@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (John E. Girard)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans
Subject: Re: Using local printer with TCP/IP
Keywords: TCP/IP on PC, Local Printer
Message-ID: <1990Jul16.210418.16469@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG>
Date: 16 Jul 90 21:04:18 GMT
References: <5807@balu.UUCP> <360@iquery.UUCP>
Organization: SF Bay Public-Access Unix
Lines: 36


In my last job I set up old floppy-only PCs to be printer managers
with great success.  The trouble with using a daemon on the server
is that the printer has to be with the server, and generally, you
can't send 8-bit characters and bit rasters.

All you have to do is make a directory on the server that everyone
can read/write, and put a simple (even basic) program on the PC that
waits 20 seconds or so then checks the directory for the presence of
files.  If files are present, the program uses a shell call to copy
them, one-by-one, to the printer port, them remove them.  If the PC
or the printer hangs,
the file won't be deleted and you can try again to print it.  Other
neat things you can do:  Password protect the little printing program,
make another directory to "hold" files until the user gets to the
printer, place a special character at the start of the names of the
files that need special handling, such as binary bit-raster graphic
files for an HP laser printer.

All the user needs to do is to print to disk, in fact directly to
the network disk if possible.  Otherwise, the file can be printed
locally and a batch file can copy it over to the network disk.  My
spool batch file script had several options including -f to just 
send the file as-is, -p to send the file via my word processor invoked 
as a batch task, and -b to send it as a binary file (dos /b option)
and put a special character in the start of the name.

Spooling is very fast when it consists solely of copying a file to
a network disk.  And the PC doing the printing just cranks them out
as quickly as it can, without bogging anyone down.  If you have 
several PCs, you can put them around the office so no one has to 
walk to far to a printer, and the file server can stay safely locked
in the closet.

John Girard
jeg@zorch.sf-bay.com