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Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!lll-crg!rutgers!husc6!necntc!encore!linus!philabs!tg!dasys1!cforeman
From: cforeman@dasys1.UUCP (Charles F. Foreman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sources.wanted
Subject: Re: Wanted: unix tty server that will act as a printer for a PC
Message-ID: <154@dasys1.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 1-Dec-86 23:41:43 EST
Article-I.D.: dasys1.154
Posted: Mon Dec  1 23:41:43 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 9-Dec-86 03:46:32 EST
References: <549@orcisi.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Datamerica Systems, NYC
Lines: 49
Xref: mnetor comp.sys.ibm.pc:414 comp.sources.wanted:139

In article <549@orcisi.UUCP>, michael@orcisi.UUCP writes:
> Scenario:
> 
> A COM port on an IBM PC is connected to a serial line on a Unix
> machine.  On the PC, I copy/print a file to the COM port.  The tty
> server on the unix machine receives the file and spools it to a laser
> printer attached to the unix machine.  Assume that only simple ascii 
> files are to be printed and transmitted.
> 
> The only problem I can forsee is how will the tty server detect the end
> of the file?
> 
> Has anyone ever tried this?
> 
> 
> 
> Michael Herman
> Optical Recording Corporation
> 141 John Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada  M5V 2E4
> 
> UUCP:  utcsri!oscvax!orcisi!michael
> CSNET: michael%orcisi.UUCP%omnitor.ARPA@csnet-relay.CSNET
> ARPA:  michael%orcisi.UUCP%omnitor.ARPA@csnet-relay.ARPA
> 
> ALSO:  mwherman@watcgl.waterloo.edu

I am currently faced with a very similar (in fact, identical) situation.
We are purchasing a Sperry IT, and plan to redirect all printer output to
a serial port on our UNIX system. I dealt with this problem by writing
a simple daemon which watches the serial port for data and writes it
to a temporary file. A second program (called "unspool") sends a signal
to the daemon which causes it to close the output file and pipe it into
the printer spooler (or deletes it without printing if desired).

Of course, using this type of arrangement you would have to go over to
the UNIX system and type "unspool" after each printing. Alternatively,
you could insert a special character at the end of everything sent from
the PC, which would be caught and interpreted as the end of file.

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|     \/    \/   New York  |------------------------
|     ||\   ||     Mets    |   Charles F. Foreman  |
|     || \  ||             |   Datamerica Systems  |
|    -|-  \ -|-     N      |   101 Fifth Avenue    |
|   / ||\  /|| \     Y     |   New York, NY 10003  |
|     /\ \/ /\             |                       |
|        ||        1986    |  phri!dasys1!cforeman |
|        /\    World Champs|------------------------
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