Procedure for Setting Up Printers

The following outlines recommended procedures for setting up Reality printers on Windows and UNIX.

Using Printers

Before you can use a printer you have set up, you must do two things:

• Start the despooler using START-DESPOOLER or SP-STATUS Action Code 9. Once started, the despooler will run until either it is stopped again, or the Reality database daemon (UNIX) or service (Windows) is shut down - when the database restarts, you will need to restart the despoolers; you can do this by placing the necessary commands in a DataBase Start-up Proc.

• Assign the form queue to a print report using SP-ASSIGN - for printing from TCL, English or Proc, this will be Print Report 0 (applications may use different Print Report numbers - consult the documentation supplied with your application for details). Each user can have a User Logon Program that performs this assignment when they log on.

  By default, Print Report 0 is assigned to the formqueue called STANDARD. If most of your users normally print to a particular printer, once you have set up your printers, you can assign the appropriate despooler to the STANDARD formqueue using the FQM command. This printer will then always be available when they log on. A user can change to a different printer when required by selecting a different formqueue with SP-ASSIGN.

Windows

Windows provides easy-to-use utilities for setting up local and network printers. It is therefore recommended that you set up your printers in Windows and then create system (SYS) despoolers to make them available to Reality. You can do this by running the BUILD.PRINTERS TCL command from the SYSMAN account - a despooler and formqueue will be created for each printer that has been set up on Windows. To list the despoolers created, run the DSM command and enter a question mark (?) at the prompt.

You can then use START-DESPOOLER to start the despoolers that have been created and SP-ASSIGN to assign the required formqueue to the appropriate Print Report - see Using Printers.

In BUILD.PRINTERS, despooler and form queue names are limited to 40 characters in length. As a result, printers with names longer than this (for example, those that are made available when logging on to a domain) cannot be set up using BUILD.PRINTERS. For printers with names longer than this, use the following procedure:

1. Use DSM to create a despooler:

   • Give the despooler a suitable name. This cannot be longer than 50 characters.
   • Set option 1, Device Type, to SYS.

   • Set option 2, Device Name, to the name of the Windows printer (as listed in the Printers and Faxes section of the Control Panel). For printers accessed via a remote host, the device name must have the form \\hostName\printerName.

     The device name can also include options such as the printer mode and the font to use; see DSM option 2 for details.

   • Set the other options as required. In most cases you can accept the default values.

2. Use FQM to create or edit the formqueue you require:

   • Set option 16, Assigned Despoolers, to the name of the despooler created in step 1.
   • Set the other options as required. In most cases you can accept the default values.

You can then use START-DESPOOLER to start the despooler and SP-ASSIGN to assign the formqueue to the required Print Report - see Using Printers.

Network Printers (Windows)

The following is an alternative way of setting up printers on Windows:

1. Create a destination routing entry using netadmin. Accept the default values except as follows:

   • Destination host name  - enter a suitable name.
   • Protocol  - 1, Telnet.
   • Port number - 9100
   • IP Address or domain name - enter the IP address of the printer.

2. Create an item in the Reality NETDEVS file as follows:

   item-id
   001 printerName
   002 SHR
   003 NETDSP

   where item-id can be any suitable name and printerName is the name of the routing entry created in step 1.

3. Use DSM to create a despooler:

   • Set option 1, Device Type, to PTR.
   • Set option 2, Device Name, to the item-id of the item created in the NETDEVS file.
   • Set option 9, Permanent or Shared, to S  (shared) to allow other network users to use the printer.

4. Use FQM to create or edit the formqueue you require:

   • Set option 16, Assigned Despoolers, to the name of the despooler created in step 3.
   • Set the other options as required.

You can then use START-DESPOOLER to start the despooler and SP-ASSIGN to assign the formqueue to the required Print Report - see Using Printers.

UNIX

On UNIX, there are three ways in which you can set up your printers:

• Create SYS despoolers by using the BUILD.PRINTERS TCL command or the procedure described above for Windows. The printers concerned must have first been set up on the host.
• Create network printers. This method is preferred if you have a large number of small print jobs.
• Create Reality private printers. This method is preferred if the printer is shared with other systems and you have a small number of large print jobs.

Network Printers (UNIX)

1. Create a destination routing entry using the netadmin ROUTE-FILE Maintenance Utility. Accept the default values except as follows:

   • Give the entry a suitable name.
   • Set the network type to TCP.
   • When prompted, Is it a character mode entry, answer y.
   • Set the port number to 9100.
   • Set the host name to the IP address of the printer.
   • When asked if the destination is used by NPU, answer y.

2. Create an item in the Reality NETDEVS file as follows:

   item-id
   001 printerName
   002 SHR
   003 NETDSP

   where item-id can be any suitable name and printerName is the name of the routing entry created in step 1.

3. Use DSM to create a despooler:

   • Set option 1, Device Type, to PTR.
   • Set option 2, Device Name, to the item-id of the item created in the NETDEVS file.
   • Set option 9, Permanent or Shared, to S  (shared) to allow other network users to use the printer.

4. Use FQM to create or edit the formqueue you require:

   • Set option 16, Assigned Despoolers, to the name of the despooler created in step 3.
   • Set the other options as required.

You can then use START-DESPOOLER to start the despooler and SP-ASSIGN to assign the formqueue to the required Print Report - see Using Printers.

Private Printers

1. Create a destination routing entry using the netadmin ROUTE-FILE Maintenance Utility. Use the settings given for network printers.

2. Add your network printer using the netadmin Print Management Utility. Give the following answers to the prompts:

   • Is this a Reality private (PTR) printer [y/n] ? y.
   • The printer will be installed in £REALROOT/files/interfaces.
   • You will need to specify this directory when you define the Reality Despooler that uses this printer.
   • REALROOT currently set to: /usr/realman/15.0
   • Network printer name : LASERD
   • Printing destination name (as defined in /etc/ROUTE-FILE): pol.laser
   • Is this printer shared by other hosts or applications [y/n]:
   • Do you wish to limit the number of connect retries  ? n.
   • Retry interval / end-of-job delay - accept the default value.

3. Use DSM to create a despooler.

   • Set option 1, Device Type, to PTR.

   • Set option 2, Device Name, to point to the network printer created in step 2, as follows:

     %PrinterName /dev/null

     where PrinterName is the name of the printer created in step 2.

   Notes:

   • The printer name must be preceded by a percentage sign (%).
   • The netadmin print management utility creates an interface script for the new printer. If you enter just the printer name as shown above, this script is assumed to be in the directory $REALROOT/files/interfaces. If, for any reason, your script is in a different directory, you must specify the full path name.
   • Specifying the device /dev/null, ensures that the interface script will handle the output data.

4. Use FQM to create or edit the formqueue you require:

   • Set option 16, Assigned Despoolers, to the name of the despooler created in step 3.
   • Set the other options as required.

You can then use START-DESPOOLER to start the despooler and SP-ASSIGN to assign the formqueue to the required Print Report - see Using Printers.

Examples

Windows

The following example shows how to use BUILD.PRINTERS to set up printers on Windows.

Assume that you have set up two printers on Windows called Laser and InkJet.

1. Log on to the SYSMAN account and enter:

   BUILD.PRINTERS

   To list the printers that were found, run DSM and enter a question mark at the prompt.

2. Start the new despoolers by running:

   START-DESPOOLER Laser
   START-DESPOOLER InkJet

3. Then to make Laser available for printing from TCL, enter:

   SP-ASSIGN =Laser

   For example, if you enter

   LISTFILES (P

   the result will be printed on Laser. To change to using InkJet, enter

   SP-ASSIGN =InkJet

4. To make Laser the default printer, use FQM to edit the STANDARD formqueue and change option 16, Assigned Despoolers, to use the Laser despooler.

UNIX

The following example shows how to set up a printer on a network as a Reality private printer.

Assume that you have a laser printer on your network with IP address 192.168.37.15.

1. Log on to the host as root and run the command

   /usr/RCS/bin/netadmin

2. Select option 2, routefile  and add a destination routing entry, accepting the default values except as follows:

   • System name - enter Laser.

   • Network Type - TCP.

   • When prompted, Is it a character mode entry, answer y.

   • Port Number - 9100.

   • Host Name - enter the IP address of the printer: 192.168.37.15.

   • When asked if the destination is used by NPU, answer y.

3. From the main netadmin menu, select option 1, print  and then option 1, netprint. Add your printer, giving the following answers to the prompts:

   • Is this a Reality private (PTR) printer [y/n]  ?y.

   • The printer will be installed in £REALROOT/files/interfaces.

   • You will need to specify this directory when you define the Reality Despooler that uses this printer.

   • REALROOT currently set to: /usr/realman/15.0

   • >Network printer name : LASERD

   • Printing destination name (as defined in /etc/ROUTE-FILE): pol.laser

   • Is this printer shared by other hosts or applications [y/n]:

4. Log on to the Reality SYSMAN account and use the DSM command to create a despooler called Laser:

   • Set option 1, Device Type, to PTR.

   • Set option 2, Device Name, to the following:

     %Laser /dev/null

5. Use FQM to create a formqueue called Laser:

   • Set option 16, Assigned Despoolers, to the name of the appropriate despooler created in step 4: Laser.

   • Set the other options as required.

6. Start the new despooler by running:

   START-DESPOOLER Laser

7. Then to make Laser available for printing from TCL, enter:

   SP-ASSIGN =Laser

   For example, if you enter

   LISTFILES (P

   the result will be printed on Laser.

8. To make Laser the default printer, use FQM to edit the STANDARD formqueue and change option 16, Assigned Despoolers, to use the Laser despooler.