majumdar-aloke@CS.Yale.Edu (aloke majumdar) (06/17/91)
We want to set up some way of keeping track of the number of pages actually printed by a user who submits a PostScript job. Is there any software (commercial/shareware/PD) that facilitates printer accounting in the presence of PostScript? The target system is a Sparcstation running SunOs. I'm aware that "pac" already offers some form of accounting but according to the man page, this is just a guesstimate. Surely there must be software that simply queries the laserprinter at the end of a job to find out how many pages actually got printed? It seems like too important a utility to be non-existent. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Please send mail to me and I'll summarize for the group. Thanks Aloke Majumdar
majumdar-aloke@CS.Yale.Edu (aloke majumdar) (06/19/91)
Here are the replies I received to my query on how to get accounting information (number of pages printed) for PostScript jobs. I am including all the replies I received, I have not as yet tried out any of the suggestions, although it seems that Adobe Transcript should be sufficient for our needs. If transcript is not available, then the modified print spooler mentioned in the first message should work, although as the third message points out, it may not work with all printers. Thanks to all who replied. Aloke Majumdar -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: mongo%helios.UCSC.EDU@ucscc.ucsc.edu (Lick Mongo Development) You need to be running a print spooler which does just as you say, ask the printer how many pages have been printed. We have our own home-grown print spooler if you want to look at it. use anonymous ftp helios.ucsc.edu:/u/ftp/pub/printps.tar.Z -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Terry Jones <tj@utcs.utoronto.ca> Adobe transcript does this. tj -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: vidiot!brown%astroatc.UUCP@cs.wisc.edu (Michael L. Brown) You don't say which printer you have attached to the SPARCstation. If it is the SPARCprinter, at this point in time you can't find out how many pages have been printed. I have been informed by Sun that this problem is being looked into. They may have something for the next release. If you have other types of PostScript printers, you have to consult the printer manual, but most PostScript compatible printers have a way to ask it the number of pages that it has printed. You can ask for that value before and after the job is printed and you can then determine how many pages were printed for that job. If the printer is a HP LaserJet type of printer, they don't have the means to report the number of pages printed. MB --------------------------------------------------------------------------------