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From: tj@utcs.UUCP
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: <1986Dec9.214956.2121@utcs.uucp>
Date: Tue, 9-Dec-86 21:49:56 EST
Article-I.D.: utcs.1986Dec9.214956.2121
Posted: Tue Dec  9 21:49:56 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 9-Dec-86 21:55:55 EST
References: <549@orcisi.UUCP> <154@dasys1.UUCP>
Reply-To: tj@utcs.UUCP (tj)
Distribution: net
Organization: University of Toronto Computing Services, general purpose UNIX
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Checksum: 33746

There are a number of solutions to this. Novell networking software (and for 
that matter almost any netware) must catch printer output and send it
to the network printer.

Their approach has two schemes. One is that every time you exit an application
program in DOS you close the printer port file. The other is that after N 
seconds of inactivity on the printer port it is reopened and closed. This
latter scheme could actually be done quite easily on unix side if you wanted.

By far the better approach is to actually network the IBM PC to unix
using something like 3 Com or Tops (not sure if either of these have
this software quite ready yet) and use unix as a file or print server.
I have seen the tops working between apple Mac and IBM PC and it is
impressive. (sit on the mac and do a dir of the pc hard drive, grab
a file from the pc and print it on the laserWriter on appletalk... it puts
the pc on appletalk, really well too...)

good luck.