[REBOL] Re: How to print a document
From: gjones05:mail:orion at: 12-Jun-2001 6:11
From: "Thorsten Moeller"
...
> I was *NOT* able to get the %//prn stuff to work for me as
> i don't have an local attached printer. I only have
> network-printer at my service, but they didn't care about any
> printing command from my W2K box at all. So what can i do?
Good point! I am trying to think of the *common* ways that printers are
networked.
1) In Windows environments, I suspect that NetBios is still the most common.
The easiest way that I know to print to a Windows networked printer is to
reinstall the printer driver and be sure to select the print from ms-dos based
programs. Then you will likely need to do "Capture" the printer port. If you
have no parallel devices connected to your box, it is easiest to map the ms-dos
output to LPT1. Then in REBOL, you can write:
write %//lpt1 "Hello, World (or at least, Hello, networked printer)!"
Works on my in-home network (ascii or postscript through a venerable HP LaserJet
II).
2) I guess that Netware is still very common in places that have been networked
for awhile (Wow, how the fortunes of a company can change). I know nothing
about Netware, but I do know that it existed in the world when text-based
programs abounded, so it must use some sort of port mapping (like lpt1 through
IPX/SPX for the original Netware protocol). Any Netware knowledgeable people
out there?
3) For true networked printers (meaning directly connected through ethernet with
their own IP), I assume that if the printer accepts standard ascii (side bar
alert: including the old control sequences that are becoming a distant memory
for me --- anyone else remember writing custom print jobs with the control
codes??? Things have sure gotten easy...), the IP:port should be directly
writeable, or maybe a user:pass needs to be added, depending. If the printer
only accepts preformatted code (seemingly most modern printers), then what I
would do is what I have done in Windows networked printers. Install a printer
driver locally. When printing, direct the output to a file, then write the file
to the networked printer. I've done this successfully with HP 722 inkjet in the
past.
Am I all wet here? I know it is not transparent printer support, but it works
for many circumstances, right? Feel free to set me straight on this matter
(<humor> but leave my mother and her army boots out of the argument </humor>).
--Scott Jones