aporter@pilot.njin.net (Al Porter) (06/13/91)
I'm using ftp's PC/TCP version 2.05. Is there a way to make PC/TCP and/or Interdrive talk directly to a network printer as in PC-NFS? lpr works just fine, but I want to set up applications for users (i.e. Microsoft Word, Lotus) to print directly to network PostScript printers instead of printing to a file, shelling out or exiting the program, and using lpr. ftp sent me a fax describing a "hack" to accomplish this, but I couldn't get it to work. Please help! I want our site to switch to this TCP/IP package from PC-NFS, but this is a necessary feature. (Of course, it would also be nice if InterDrive was incorporated into the kernel or they at least found a way to use less memory for InterDrive. This is another advantage PC-NFS still holds.) (Please don't respond to this borrowed account.) -Adam (adam@research.nj.nec.com) ===================================================================== Adam Porter:Assistant SysAdmin, NEC Research Institute (609) 951-2568 4 Independence Way Princeton,NJ 08540 adam@research.nj.nec.com
tkevans@fallst.UUCP (Tim Evans) (06/14/91)
In <Jun.13.11.16.01.1991.8545@pilot.njin.net> aporter@pilot.njin.net (Al Porter) writes: >Is there a way to make PC/TCP and/or Interdrive talk directly to a >network printer as in PC-NFS? Did you read the PC/TCP Manual? See "printer redirection." -- UUCP: {rutgers|ames|uunet}!mimsy!woodb!fallst!tkevans INTERNET: tkevans%fallst@wb3ffv.ampr.org Tim Evans 2201 Brookhaven Ct, Fallston, MD 21047
mrf@FTP.COM (Margaret Forsythe) (06/15/91)
Dear Adam; >Is there a way to make PC/TCP and/or Interdrive talk directly to a >network printer as in PC-NFS? We have a print redirector that is capable of redirecting printer output to a remote printer. Unlike PC/NFS, our print redirector (PREDIR) is not confined to using NFS print capabilities on a suitably equipped server. You can use NFS printing, LPR, other network printing programs (i.e. Novell's), or any other commands that can be used at the DOS command line to accomplish remote printing. This allows our product to have greater flexibility than Sun's PC/NFS, but it also means that our print redirector is much harder to configure correctly. We are aware of this problem, and we are working on better documentation and a configuration utility to make it easier. In the meantime, PREDIR is harder to configure than PC/NFS, but once configured, should be just as easy to use. >lpr works just fine, but I want to set >up applications for users (i.e. Microsoft Word, Lotus) to print >directly to network PostScript printers instead of printing to a file, >shelling out or exiting the program, and using lpr. If LPR works fine for you, we should be able to configure PREDIR so that it will use LPR to print your files correctly (using hot-key printing, print on exit, or print on timeout). There are some problems that other customers have seen with our PREDIR product that you may be experiencing. DOS 3.2 -- if you are using DOS 3.2, our print redirector will not function reliably (lost bytes in files that may also cause printer hangs on a PostScript printer) if it is used to redirect lpt1. This problem can be eliminated by redirecting lpt2 instead, and making your applications print to lpt2. PostScript printers -- we have had many customers report problems printing to PostScript printers using LPR.EXE. Most of these problems are due to the fact that LPD adds a header page which is not in PostScript format. To avoid this problem, it is necessary to use the -h option to suppress printing of the header page. If you use the PREDIR PROG parameter and set it to LPR.EXE, that command will not accept arguments. Instead, you must create a batch file for PREDIR to execute with the following line: c:\<full-path>\LPR.EXE -h %1 Include on this line any other lpr options that you use at the DOS prompt for successful printing. Then, set the PREDIR PROG parameter to the path and name of this batch file. This should result in a properly printed file. >Please help! I want our site to switch to this TCP/IP package from >PC-NFS, but this is a necessary feature. We would be happy to help you configure and use PREDIR. If you have actually encountered a bug in our software, we will try to fix it and/or help you work around it. Please give us a call at (617) 246-2920, or e-mail us at support@ftp.com with your full configuration information, and what types of problems you have encountered trying to print. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Margaret Forsythe Technical Support Manager FTP Software, Inc. (617) 246-2920 FAX: (617) 245-7943 E-mail: mrf@ftp.com