Output Devices
Each despooler has one output device assigned to it. There are four types of output device:
SYS System printer.
PTR Private printer (UNIX only), Reality port, or network printer.
TAPE Tape device.
FILE Reality file.
System Printer
A System Printer is a device which is configured in the host spooler system and shared by both system and Reality users. A SYS Despooler places print jobs in the system spooler queue. The print data is output to the system printer defined in the SYS Despooler definition item in the DESPOOLER.CONTROL file. Once a job is passed to the system spooler, it is shown as being at Print status until it is despooled.
System printers can be displayed from Reality using SP-STATUS option 11.
System Printers on UNIX
On UNIX, system printers can be displayed by entering lpstat -a at the UNIX shell.
System Printers on Windows
In Windows, any local printer that has been set up using the Control Panel Printers option can be used as a Reality system printer.
Note
If you want to be able to print to a Windows networked printer, create it as a local printer that prints to a network port (for example, a TCP/IP port).
Windows system printers can be used in two modes:
- Raw. The print data is passed directly to the printer, bypassing any processing by Windows. The despooler printer independence option can be used to generate printer control codes.
-
Winprinter. The print data is routed via the Windows GDI (Graphical Device Interface). This is a high level printer-independent interface that translates the print data into a graphical format that can be printed without further processing by the printer. Use this option with printers designed to work with the Windows GDI.
Note
If you use WinPrinter mode with a suitable printer you can print to a PDF file. Adobe Acrobat Standard and Professional include the Adobe PDF Converter device, and there are others available, many of them free.
You can specify the required mode by including it in the printer device name, set using DSM option 2. The default is set in the database configuration file.
UNIX onlyPrivate Printer
A Private Printer is a device which is despooled to directly by a PTR Despooler. The PTR device is specified in the DESPOOLER.CONTROL definition with a printer interface script, UNIX device path name and one or more optional parameters which, when supplied, are passed to the interface script in argument #5. The UNIX device path can be specified as /dev/null, in which case the interface script is left to deal with the output data. A number of printer interface scripts are provided: see Printer Interface Scripts. Alternatively, you can create them for network printers by using the Add Network Printer command in the UNIX-Connect netadmin utility. The scripts created are saved in $REALROOT/files/interfaces.
If the printer device is configured in the lp Spooler system then it must first be disabled from receiving UNIX system print jobs in order to operate as a private printer. Refer to Setting Up and Releasing Reality Private Printers for details on how to do this.
The UNIX device specified with the private interface script can in fact be any data file which can be written to. Hence, a regular UNIX file can be defined. This can then be saved to tape using the cpio utility and restored on another system. This provides a facility for transferring print data from one system to another. You can also use a network printer, as outlined below.
Reality Port
A Reality Port is a connection to a Reality database with a number allocated by Reality - see PLId to Port Mapping. The port is driven directly by a Reality PTR despooler process, and can connect to a printer or a terminal with or without a slave printer. A port device must be defined in NETDEVS, as follows:
| Item-id | Device name |
| 1 | * or null |
| 2 | Reality port number |
| 3 | RLTYXDSP |
Note
- Windows systems do not have physical ports to which Reality ports can be mapped, so Reality Port despoolers cannot strictly be used on Windows systems. However, they can be used for despooling by PORT-DESPOOL.
- The BUILD.DESPOOLERS command can be used to create Reality Port despoolers and NETDEVS entries, and associated form queues.
Network Printer
A network printer is a device which can be connected across a network and driven directly by a PTR Despooler. To enable this, the network printer must be defined in the NETDEVS file.
UNIX
On a UNIX host, a network printer will normally be connected via the Network Printing Utility (npu) program which enables the printer to be shared between multiple host systems. To allow this, the NETDEVS item should be of the form:
| Item-id | Device name |
| 1 | ROUTE-FILE entry |
| 2 | SHR |
| 3 | NETDSP |
For backward compatibility the NETDEVS entry can be setup as follows:
| Item-id | Device name |
| 1 | ROUTE-FILE entry |
| 2 | |
| 3 | NETDSP |
Note
If SHR (or NPU) is not shown in attribute 2, a permanent connection is established and printer sharing is not available.
It is recommended that on a UNIX system you configure a network printer with the npu so as to enable printer sharing. The npu supports both shared and non-shared printing.
Windows
On a Windows host, the NETDEVS item must be of the form:
| Item-id | Device name |
| 1 | Windows 'Hosts' registry entry |
| 2 | SHR (or null) |
| 3 | NETDSP |
Description of NETDEVS Structure
The preferred general NETDEVS item structure is as follows:
Item-id Device name specified in the DESPOOLER.CONTROL record for the PTR network Despooler.
Attribute 1 ROUTE-FILE entry for the remote system/printer to which the despooler is attached.
Attribute 2On UNIX, 'SHR' flags the printer as shareable. On Windows, these network printers are always shareable. A shareable printer is enabled for sharing, or made permanent, in the despooler DSM screen.
Attribute 3 NETDSP to specify a network Despooler.
For more details, refer to the topic Network Printing.
Tape Device
A tape device is a tape unit configured in the Reality environment with a tape device number allocated. It is driven directly by a Reality TAPE Despooler process.
Despooling to a File
An ordinary Reality file can be configured in the Spooler to receive despooled print data. It is driven directly by a Reality FILE Despooler process. The names of the account and file must be specified in the DESPOOLER.CONTROL definition item.