Chapter 9 - VINES SETPRINT Program
This chapter describes how to use the SETPRINT program to control and manage print jobs when your print service is a native VINES print service. Chapter 10 describes BPRINT, a VINES program that let you send print jobs to a printer.
The SETPRINT program lets you manage your printing from your workstation. You assign the virtual printer ports (LPT1, LPT2, LPT3) on your workstation to VINES print services. This program lets you change port assignments and quickly access different printers appropriate to the type of printing you need.
SETPRINT also lets you view and control the status of your print jobs once they are sent to the print queue maintained by the print service. You can cancel or delay print jobs, or set a specific time for your job to print.
OS/2
You can use SETPRINT at your OS/2 workstation. SETPRINT applies globally to all sessions on your workstation. For this reason, you should wait until a print job completes before you use SETPRINT to change network printers. As soon as the complete print job is sent to a VINES print queue, you can use SETPRINT to select a new network printer.
To use SETPRINT, you either:
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Type setprint at the system prompt and press ENTER. or
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Select Printer Functions from the VINES Main Menu and press ENTER.
The Select Print Queue screen appears:
Press | To |
F5 | Display the Select Pathname menu |
F10 | Returm to the options at the top of the menu |
ESC | Return to the system prompt |
The Select Print Queue screen lists your printer ports and the print queues associated with them. These port assignments are specified in your user profile.
Select a printer by highlighting it and pressing ENTER. You also can select a printer port without an assigned queue.
Note: You cannot select a printer port that the PCPRINT program uses.
Once you make a selection, the system displays the Print Queue Function menu for the selected printer:
This menu displays the selected printer port and queue name at the top and lists these four options that you can perform on the print queue:
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List Jobs in the Current Print Queue ![]()
Assign a Different Print Queue ![]()
De-assign the Print Queue ![]()
Modify Job Profile
To select an option, either:
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Use UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW to select an option and press ENTER. ![]()
Type the number of the option and press ENTER.
These options are described in the following sections.
Controlling Your Print Job in the Current Queue
The List Jobs in the Current Print Queue option lets you look at the jobs in a print queue. For example, you may want to see if there are print jobs ahead of yours in the queue.
Select List Jobs in the Current Queue from the Print Queue Function menu and press ENTER. If your print service is on a native VINES server, the following Control Printer/Jobs menu appears:
Enter | For | To change file system to |
:D | :DOS argument | DOS and OS/2 (FAT) file system view |
:M | :Mac argument | Macintosh file system view |
The Control Printer/Jobs menu displays the jobs as they are currently ordered in the print queue and the status of each job. You can change the status of your print jobs, but not the status of other print jobs.
Jobs scheduled to print at a particular time appear at the end of the queue list. The jobs remain there until it is time for them to print. Jobs scheduled to print as soon as possible after they are sent are labeled "ASAP" in the Schedule field.
The entries under the Status field tell you what has happened to the print job. Table 9-1 shows the different states.
Control Printer/Jobs Screen Commands
You can control only your own print jobs, unless you have operator or administrator privileges.
When you select any of these commands, the cursor moves to the lower part of the Control Printer/Jobs menu, where you then select the job.
Table 9-2 briefly describes the different commands, which are discussed in greater detail later in the chapter.
To look at a listing of job status details:
1. Select SHOW details from the Control Printer/Jobs menu and press ENTER. The cursor moves to the print job list.
2. Select the print job and press ENTER.
The Job Status Details screen appears:
The Job Status Details screen provides print job and destination information. The StreetTalk name of the job's creator may not be completely visible in the Control Printer/Jobs menu; it appears in full in this screen.
The description of the destination printer appears in the Destination field and its current status appears in the Destination Status field. This status is a code number that indicates three possible conditions, shown in Table 9-3.
To exit this screen and return to the Control Printer/Jobs menu, press ESC.
The ON HOLD command lets you put a print job on hold. The job will remain on hold until you select REPRINT job, OFF HOLD, or CANCEL from the Control Printer/Jobs menu.
To put a print job on hold:
1. Select ON HOLD from the Control Printer/Jobs menu and press ENTER. The cursor moves to the print job list.
2. Select the job you want to put on hold and press ENTER.
The message "Job put on hold" confirms your action, and the selection bar returns to the menu commands at the top of the screen.
The OFF HOLD command lets you take the job off hold without having to reprint the job.
To take a print job off hold:
1. Select OFF HOLD from the Control Printer/Jobs menu and press ENTER. The cursor moves to the print job list.
2. Select the print job you want to take off hold and press ENTER.
The message "Job taken off hold" confirms your action, and the selection bar returns to the menu commands at the top of the screen.
The RESCHEDULE command lets you reschedule a job. To reschedule a job:
1. Select RESCHEDULE from the Control Printer/Jobs menu and press ENTER. The cursor moves to the print job list.
2. Select the print job you want to reschedule and press ENTER.
The Reschedule Job screen appears:
This screen displays information about the job and lets you enter a different time for the job to print. The cursor is located at the Enter a new time (HH:MM) field. The time the job is currently scheduled to print appears in this field. In the Reschedule Job screen above, the job is scheduled to print "ASAP" - as soon as possible.
To enter a new time, use the format hh:mm (hours:minutes) according to the 24-hour clock. For example, if you want the job to print at 8:30 in the evening, type 20:30.
When you press ENTER, the Control Printer/Job screen reappears, showing the time change. The message "Job rescheduled" appears at the bottom of the Control Printer/Jobs screen.
The CANCEL command lets you cancel a job that is printing, queued, or on hold. After you cancel a job, it will not print unless you select REPRINT job from the Control Printer/Jobs menu.
To cancel a print job:
1. Select CANCEL from the Control Printer/Jobs menu and press ENTER. The cursor moves to the print job list.
2. Use the arrow keys to select a print job and press ENTER. A status messages "Job is canceled" displays at the bottom of the Control Printer/Jobs menu.
Canceled jobs are deleted from the queue after a certain period of time, which is determined by your system administrator.
The REPRINT job command lets you reprint a completed print job and a job that you put on hold or canceled (if it still exists in the queue).
To reprint a print job:
1. Select REPRINT job from the Control Printer/Jobs menu and press ENTER.
2. Use the arrow keys to select the print job you want to reprint and press ENTER.
Printed jobs are deleted from the print queue after a certain period of time, which you determine in the Modify Job Profile menu. For more information, see "Modifying the Job Profile" later in this chapter.
Moving a Job to the Bottom of the Queue
The Move to BOTTOM of queue command lets you move a print job to the bottom of the queue.
To move a print job to the bottom of the queue:
1. Select Move to BOTTOM of queue from the Control Printer/Jobs menu and press ENTER. The cursor moves to the print job list.
2. Select the print job and press ENTER. The print job moves to the bottom, or end, of the queue.
To move a print job to the top of the queue, select Move to TOP of queue from the Control Printer/Jobs menu and press ENTER.
Moving a Job to a Different Queue
The Move to DIFFERENT queue command lets you remove a print job from the print queue and place it in another print queue.
To move a job to a different queue:
1. Select Move to DIFFERENT queue from the Control Printer/Jobs menu and press ENTER. The cursor moves to the list of print jobs.
2. Select the print job and press ENTER. The STDA Print Services window appears.
3. You can either:
- Choose a new print queue from STDA.
or
- Press ESC or F10 to display the Select Print Queue screen.
For details on using the commands in this screen, see "Changing the Print Queue Assigned to a Port" later in this chapter.
After you select another print queue, the print service removes the job from the current print queue and places it in the specified print queue. When the Control Printer/Jobs menu reappears, a status message at the bottom of the screen shows the new print queue and the number the job is assigned. The print job disappears from list currently displayed.
To view the status of your print job in the other print queue:
1. Press ESC twice from the Control Printer/Jobs menu to exit to the Select Print Queue screen.
2. To select the other print queue for viewing, either:
- Select the other print queue if it is assigned to one of your printer ports (such as LPT2 or LPT3).
or
- Assign the other print queue to one of your printer ports before you can select it for viewing.
If the paper format selected for the print job is not available in the other print queue, the message "Paper format NA" displays in the Status field of the print job. The print job remains in the queue until you (or the operator or administrator) change the paper format either for the print job or the destination printer.
Verify that the paper format is available in the other print queue before moving the print job. If the paper format is not available, change the paper format before moving the print job. Changing the paper format is described in the next section.
The CHANGE format command lets you change the job's paper format while the print job is still in the print queue. This command is particularly useful when the system cannot match the job's paper format to any of the currently available destination formats for the service.
When you select CHANGE format from the Control Printer/Jobs menu and press ENTER, the Choose a Paper Format screen appears:
Note: Only the paper formats of destinations currently available on that particular print queue appear in the above example. To see all the paper formats defined for the print service, select the Modify Job Profile option from the Print Queue Function menu. This option is described in "Modifying the Job Profile" later in this chapter.
To select a new paper format, use the arrow keys to select a new format and press ENTER.
After you select a paper format, the Control Printer/Jobs menu reappears, reflecting the change in the format column. The message "Job assigned new paper format" displays at the bottom of the screen.
To return to the Print Queue Function menu, press ESC.
Changing the Print Queue Assigned to a Port
If you need access to a printer that is not assigned to you, you can assign the queue for that printer to one of your virtual printer ports. If the port is assigned to another print queue, you replace it by assigning the new print queue to that same port.
Follow these steps to change the print queue assigned to a port:
1. Select Assign a Different Print Queue from the Print Queue Function menu. The Select Print Queue screen appears.
2. If you know the name of the print queue, type the print queue name and press ENTER.
The Print Queue Function menu appears, with the new print queue name in the Print Queue field.
If you want to search for other print queue names:
- Press F2 to access STDA. The STDA screen appears, displaying the print services in its database.
- Select a new print queue from STDA and press F10.
- The print queue appears in the Select Print Queue name field. Press ENTER.
The Print Queue Function menu re-appears, with the new print queue name in the Print Queue field.
If you no longer want a particular print queue assigned to a virtual printer port, you can de-assign it:
1. Select the print queue that you want to de-assign.
2. Select De-assign a Current Print Queue from the Print Queue Function menu and press ENTER.
The print queue is de-assigned. Confirmation of the new setting displays. The printer port is now available for a new print queue assignment.
To return to the Print Queue Function menu, press ESC.
The Modify Job Profile screen lets you define settings required for all your print jobs or for one particular job.
Note: If you make temporary changes for a particular job, you must manually change the settings back to their original state after you complete the job.
Any changes that you make are limited by the configuration of the print service. For example, if the service configuration does not allow the banner page to be printed, you can change "No" to "Yes" on the Modify Job Profile screen, but the banner page will not print.
When you select Modify Job Profile from the Print Queue Function menu, the Modify Job Profile screen appears:
Table 9-4 describes the fields in the Modify Job Profile screen.
Note: The Delete from queue after printing (min.) field specifies the number of minutes that will elapse between the time that a job is printed and the time that it is deleted from the print queue. The valid time range for this value is 1 to 1440 minutes (24 hours). Values outside this range are rejected by SETPRINT with an appropriate error message. On an OS/2 workstation, a value of 1440 is accepted by SETPRINT, but is treated as the value zero (0).
After you make all necessary changes in the Modify Job Profile screen, press F10 to save the new values. If you want to leave the screen and retain the original values, press ESC.
To return to the Print Queue Function menu, press ESC.
Entering SETPRINT at the DOS prompt without any switches displays the interfaces described in this chapter so far. The Command Reference describes command switches that you include to specify some of the options described in earlier sections.
Refer to the Command Reference for information on using the command switches available with SETPRINT.