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Chapter 4 - Printing with a Windows 3.1 Client

Overview of Network Printing

How a VINES Print Service Communicates

LPT1 (or PRN)
LPT2
LPT3

How Network Printing Works

Figure 4-1 Network Printing

1. From an application, you issue the request to print a job.

2. Your print job is sent from your workstation to the VINES print service on the server. The print service takes all jobs submitted to it and places them in a queue in the order they are received.

3. When your job reaches the top of the queue, the print service matches the job's paper format to those on the available printers. If a printer is available, the job is sent to that printer. If a printer is not available, the print job remains in the queue until one is available.

4. A message appears on your workstation informing you that your print job is being spooled (sent) to the printer for printing. The network printer prints each job in order.

5. When your print job completes printing, a status message appears telling you where the job is printed (the printer name).

Note: This message pop-up window provides the same information that the 25th line network message provides when you print a document from a DOS application.

Printing from Windows Applications

Printing from Non-Windows Applications

Using Print Manager

With VINES, Print Manager directs the print job directly to the network printer specified in your user profile.
Print Manager lets you view the status of your print jobs and the print jobs of others on your network, much like the VINES SETPRINT program.

Figure 4-2 Printers Screen

Viewing Print Jobs

Note: Because the VINES print service does not record the time and date your print job is sent to the network printer, Windows displays the current date and time if you enabled the Time/Date Sent option in the View menu. You prevent the time and date from appearing by choosing this command again to disable the option.

Controlling Print Jobs

1. Select the job with the mouse.

2. Click the Delete command button. A dialog box appears, prompting you to confirm your decision.

3. Click the OK button.

Viewing the Network Queue

Figure 4-3 Network Queue Screen

Viewing Other Network Queues

1. Choose the Other Net Queue command from the View menu. The Other Net Queue dialog box appears.

2. At the Network Queue text box, enter the printer port assigned to the queue.

3. Click the View button. Print Manager displays the status of print jobs in the queue.

Example Viewing Another Queue

Connecting to Network Printers

Click Connect in the Control Panel's Printers dialog box.
Choose the Network Connections command in Print Manager.

1. Choose the Network Connections command from the Print Manager's Options menu.

2. Add a connection to a network printer.

3. Enter the StreetTalk name of the VINES print service in the Print Service text box.

4. Choose a printer port from the Port list box or type a printer port in the Port box.

5. Confirm your network printer connection.

Choosing the Network Connections Command

Add network connections to network printers not specified in your user profile.
Remove network connections.

Adding a Network Connection

1. Click Add to connect to a network printer. The Add Printer Connection dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 4-4.

Figure 4-4 Add Printer Connection Dialog Box

2. Type the StreetTalk name of the print service (network printer), or press TAB to browse for print service names. If you press TAB to browse for print service names, the first print service name in the list box is selected. Type the first few letters of the print service you want to connect to. The list moves to the first match.

3. Click the Port drop-down list box to display all available printer ports. Choose a printer port by double-clicking on it. This printer port becomes the port associated with your network printer.

4. The Persistent option box is enabled by default. Click to disable the option. If the option is enabled, the network printer connects the next time you start Windows.

5. Click OK to confirm your network connection. The Print Manager window appears with the new network printer.

Note: If you do not have the proper access rights to the network printer you selected, an error message appears. Ask your system administrator for assistance.

Using the STDA search list to search for print service names
Creating a subset list of print services to use to connect to a network printer
Marking network connections "persistent"

Searching for Print Service Names

1. Press TAB. The first print service name from the list appears in the Print Service text box.

2. To move through the list, either:

- Use the scroll bar, arrow keys, or paging keys.

- Type the first letters of the print service name. The letters appear above the Print Service text box and the first available match appears at the top of the list.

Typing the first letters of the print service name is the quickest way to locate print services to connect to as network printers.

3. To choose the print service name, either:

- Double-click the name.

- Select the name and click OK.

Creating a Subset List of Print Services

Bypassing Print Manager

1. Choose the Network command from the Options menu in Print Manager. The Network Options dialog box appears.

Figure 4-5 Network Options Screen

2. De-select the Print Net Jobs Direct option to use Print Manager by clicking the option box. Click OK. Any print jobs sent to the network printer are first sent to Print Manager.

Troubleshooting Tips

The printer you've selected is "active." Check this by choosing the Printers icon in the Control Panel.
The correct printer is selected as the default printer.
The correct port (LPT1, LPT2, and so on) is set for your selected printer.
The printer buffer is clear if you deleted a graphics file that was spooled to the printer. Reset the printer to clear the buffer.
You are connected to a printer through the Printers dialog box. Double-click the Printers icon in the Control Panel. You only need to do this once, usually during the installation procedure.
The printer setup of each application is consistent across the applications. For example, one application's printer setup might specify the network printer as having only 512 KB while another application might specify 2 MB.
You are not printing to the same queue from two Windows or DOS applications concurrently if Print Manager is disabled. The print jobs will be mixed and the VINES print service connection might disconnect. If you do need to print from concurrent applications, enable Print Manager. By spooling the print jobs first to Print Manager, you avoid this problem.

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