Very Computer

SCO 3.2v5.0.5.  No VisonFS or Samba yet.

I'm stuck with an application where support insists that the names of the
printers remain hard coded in their application.  At least it uses the
stock SCO print spooler.  The problem is that the customer wants to use
transparent printing to print to local printers attached to Wyse 150+
terminals, and Windoze 98SE computers using Tiny Term.  I can easily make
it print using either:
        belch-report | lprint -
or
        lp -L
However, I need to integrate local printing into the SCO print spooler to
keep the application vendors support staff happy.  They went into
hysterics when I found the secret printer configuration file and hacked
it into functionality.  However, that has been declared politically
unacceptable.

I used Digiboards transparent print driver for the terminals, so that's
done.  But how do I convince the SCO print spooler to do a transparent
print to a Windoze telnet session?  Lprint doesn't work with scoansi or
ansi because someone ran out of space for tokens in termcaps and left out
the PN and PS tokens.  Do I have to hack the spooler script to pipe the
output to lprint or imbed PS and PN tokens in the script?  Surely,
there's an easier way.

The application vendors support personality also suggested I install
VisionFS so that OSR5 can print to a shared Windoze printer on a PC.  Can
it do that?  If so, that would bypass the transparent print problem.

Drivel:  I tried to sell them print servers (the right answer), but they
decided that would be to "complex" and expensive.  Duh.

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Jeff Liebermann enscribed:
| SCO 3.2v5.0.5.  No VisonFS or Samba yet.
|
| I'm stuck with an application where support insists that the names of the
| printers remain hard coded in their application.  At least it uses the
| stock SCO print spooler.  The problem is that the customer wants to use
| transparent printing to print to local printers attached to Wyse 150+
| terminals, and Windoze 98SE computers using Tiny Term.  I can easily make
| it print using either:
|       belch-report | lprint -
| or
|       lp -L
| However, I need to integrate local printing into the SCO print spooler to
| keep the application vendors support staff happy.  They went into
| hysterics when I found the secret printer configuration file and hacked
| it into functionality.  However, that has been declared politically
| unacceptable.

About here, I might have declared them economically unacceptable :-)

| I used Digiboards transparent print driver for the terminals, so that's
| done.  But how do I convince the SCO print spooler to do a transparent
| print to a Windoze telnet session?  Lprint doesn't work with scoansi or
| ansi because someone ran out of space for tokens in termcaps and left out
| the PN and PS tokens.  Do I have to hack the spooler script to pipe the
| output to lprint or imbed PS and PN tokens in the script?  Surely,
| there's an easier way.

Can you set LPDEST={their printer} for each terminal session?

| The application vendors support personality also suggested I install
| VisionFS so that OSR5 can print to a shared Windoze printer on a PC.  Can
| it do that?  If so, that would bypass the transparent print problem.

Yep, if they are not the braindead windoze only printers.

This barebones interface script will give you the basic idea.

:

# Edit file and insert name of remote PC and printer name
PCDEST=compaq
PCPRINTER=laser1_pcl5
/usr/vision/visionfs/bin/visionfs print //"$PCDEST"/"$PCPRINTER" $6
exit 0

'Course its probably better to use a script from a print server printer
and substitute the vision command line for the netcat command string.

| Drivel:  I tried to sell them print servers (the right answer), but they
| decided that would be to "complex" and expensive.  Duh.

There's always one.  Print Servers are like rabbits around my customers,
they just keep multiplying.
-tom-
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Jeff Liebermann commented on:

Quote:> SCO 3.2v5.0.5.  No VisonFS or Samba yet.

> I'm stuck with an application where support insists that the names of the
> printers remain hard coded in their application.  At least it uses the
> stock SCO print spooler.  The problem is that the customer wants to use
> transparent printing to print to local printers attached to Wyse 150+
> terminals, and Windoze 98SE computers using Tiny Term.  I can easily make
> it print using either:
>    belch-report | lprint -
> or
>    lp -L
> However, I need to integrate local printing into the SCO print spooler to
> keep the application vendors support staff happy.  They went into
> hysterics when I found the secret printer configuration file and hacked
> it into functionality.  However, that has been declared politically
> unacceptable.

I was going to suggest a really basic script e.g.

   lprint $6
   exit 0

But - by the time the spooler has got to it, had a chug around the terminal
may be re-drawing something and I think a print job poping up at the
same time _may_ confuse it. Worth a try.

Quote:> I used Digiboards transparent print driver for the terminals, so that's
> done.  But how do I convince the SCO print spooler to do a transparent
> print to a Windoze telnet session?  Lprint doesn't work with scoansi or
> ansi because someone ran out of space for tokens in termcaps and left out
> the PN and PS tokens.  Do I have to hack the spooler script to pipe the
> output to lprint or imbed PS and PN tokens in the script?  Surely,
> there's an easier way.

I think that is the only way

    echo "esc seq to lock keyboard"
    echo "esc seq to switch to printer"
    cat $6
    echo "esc seq to switch back to screen"
    echo "esc seq to unlock keyboard"
    exit 0

Quote:> The application vendors support personality also suggested I install
> VisionFS so that OSR5 can print to a shared Windoze printer on a PC.  Can
> it do that?  If so, that would bypass the transparent print problem.

Yes - Much better solution to the one above.

The New 3.1 Visionfs even allows you to add a Windows printer
from the Unix command line.

--
========================================================================

R&D Manager, Premiervet                    Sysop Compuserve Unixforum
========================================================================

Yes.  See http://aplawrence.com/Unixart/visprint.html, but
apparently VFS 3.1 has a new way to do printing (I'm
downloading it now but don't have the details yet)

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Isn't the windows machine handling those details?

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The new capability is:

/usr/vision/bin/visionfs print --install unixprintername
windowspcname sharename

There are some other new options related, see

/usr/vision/bin/visionfs print --help

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Tony Lawrence enscribed:
|
| > | The application vendors support personality also suggested I install
| > | VisionFS so that OSR5 can print to a shared Windoze printer on a PC.  Can
| > | it do that?  If so, that would bypass the transparent print problem.
| >
| > Yep, if they are not the braindead windoze only printers.
|
| Isn't the windows machine handling those details?

Not unless something changed in 3.1, previous versions have needed
internal fonts in the printer.

--
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==========================================================================    

Hmm. Guess I've been lucky so far- boy I hate those stupid
Windows-only printers..

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Tony Lawrence propounded (on Thu, Aug 03, 2000 at 03:33:38PM -0400):
| > Yes.  See http://aplawrence.com/Unixart/visprint.html, but
| > apparently VFS 3.1 has a new way to do printing (I'm
| > downloading it now but don't have the details yet)
|
| The new capability is:
|
| /usr/vision/bin/visionfs print --install unixprintername windowspcname sharename
|
| /usr/vision/bin/visionfs print --help

Easy enough to do, but look at the silly script it creates.
Plus if you wanted to uncomment the famous seven lins in an HP Laser
script to print 66 lines in 11", you haven't got that possibility.

--
JP

Ayup- the interface is the typical mess.  I'd still advise
people to use yours at
http://aplawrence.com/Unixart/jprdiff.html.  But- it is
quick for those completely lacking any computer savvy
whatsoever, and that's what Unix in general needs more of-
dumb tools for dumb users.  See
http://aplawrence.com/Opinion/ntvsunix.html for more ranting
on that :-)

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