Chapter 4 - Printing with a Windows 3.1 Client
A VINES network lets you share different types of printers with many users. This chapter explains how VINES network printing works in a Windows environment and introduces you to some of the concepts involved in printing in a network environment.
A printer used in the network is called a network printer. One network printer is shared by many users and one user can access different network printers.
To maintain the order and flow of all this printing, the VINES print service keeps track of all print requests for each network printer by maintaining a print queue. The print queue handles all print requests on a first in, first out basis.
Your system administrator sets up VINES print services, and gives each service a unique StreetTalk name. To give you access to a network printer, the system administrator specifies the print service name in your user profile.
How a VINES Print Service Communicates
To determine which printer a particular print job goes to, the VINES print service assigns three virtual printer connections to your workstation. These connections are called virtual because they are simply names that identify workstation printer ports, not the physical port connections.
The virtual connections are named after the three physical workstation printer ports:
![]()
LPT1 (or PRN) ![]()
LPT2 ![]()
LPT3
For each print service included in your user profile, your system administrator may assign a virtual connection. LPT1 is usually set to the print service you use most. This is because LPT1 is the default (first choice) recognized by most applications.
Figure 4-1 shows the route of a print request, from workstation to printer.
The print request follows this route:
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).
When you issue a print command from your application, your print job is sent from your workstation to a VINES server running the print service specified in your user profile.
This process occurs when you print to a network printer, whether you print from a Windows application or from a non-Windows application.
The print service then places your print job, and print jobs belonging to other users, in a network queue. The network queue is a list of print jobs maintained by the print service, usually in the order in which the print jobs are received.
The print service then spools or sends each print job to the printer. If you run Windows, a message pop-up window appears to notify you that your job is spooled.
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.
The rest of this section discusses printing from both Windows and non-Windows applications.
Printing from Windows Applications
To print documents from a Windows application, follow the printing procedure described in the application's documentation.
The application sends your print job first to Print Manager. Print Manager handles local and network printing in Windows. With VINES, Print Manager sends your print job directly to the network printer specified in your user profile.
Though Print Manager's spooling capabilities are bypassed in favor of the VINES print service's spooler, you can still use Print Manager to view print jobs sent to your network printer. Using Print Manager to view print jobs is described in "Using Print Manager" later in this chapter.
Printing from Non-Windows Applications
Non-Windows applications do not use Print Manager. Though you can configure DOS applications to run in a window or in a full screen, these applications use their own procedures to send your print job to the printer.
However, you can use Print Manager to look at print jobs sent to your network printer, whether they are sent from a Windows application or a DOS application.
The Windows built-in print spooler, Print Manager, serves two functions:
![]()
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.
Using Print Manager with VINES is optional, but useful if you wish to keep track of your print jobs and those of others.
For more control of your print jobs, such as reprinting your job, use the VINES SETPRINT command. If you have any questions about using the SETPRINT command in Windows, ask your system administrator for assistance.
You activate or deactivate Print Manager through the Control Panel. To open the Printers dialog box, double-click the Printers icon in the Control Panel window. The Printers dialog box appears.
To activate or deactivate Print Manager, click the Use Print Manager check box in the lower left corner of the Printers dialog box. An "X" in the check box means Print Manager is active. An empty check box means Print Manager is inactive.
Print Manager allows you to view those print jobs spooled to your network printer. This is described in the next section.
You can view the status of your print jobs though the Print Manager application.
To open Print Manager, double-click the Print Manager icon, located in the Main group window in Program Manager. The Print Manager window appears.
Below the menu bar are the Pause, Resume, and Delete command buttons and the message box. The message box contains information on the item selected in the work area of the window. The work area displays the network printer specified in your user profile and the print jobs that are waiting to be sent to your network printer.
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.
You can use the command buttons Pause, Resume, or Delete to control your print jobs as long as they appear in the work area of the Print Manager window. However, once Print Manager sends the print jobs to the network printer, these buttons are dimmed.
To control a print job, select the print job with the mouse and click the command button of your choice.
To delete one of your 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.
Note that you can only control your own print jobs, which appear in the Print Manager window. Though you view print jobs spooled by other users, you cannot interrupt or delete them.
The Selected Net Queue command lets you see all print jobs sent to your network printer.
To view the entire network print queue, choose the Selected Net Queue command from the View menu. Print Manager displays the entire queue.
When you finish viewing the network queue, close the dialog box to return to the Print Manager window.
To view the queue for a network printer that is assigned to one of your other printer ports, follow these steps:
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
If your printer port LPT2 was assigned to the network printer LaserJet@Sales@WTCUS, enter lpt2 or the StreetTalk name of the print queue in the Network Queue text box.
Windows commands and dialog boxes use the term "network printer" to refer to what the VINES User's Guide for DOS and OS/2 calls a "print service." For the purpose of this guide, the term network printer refers to print services on a VINES server.
Connecting to Network Printers
There are two ways to connect to available VINES print services not specified in your user profile:
![]()
Click Connect in the Control Panel's Printers dialog box. ![]()
Choose the Network Connections command in Print Manager.
The Printers icon in the Control Panel lets you install and configure printers, and is described in the Microsoft Windows User's Guide. Because both methods display the same dialog boxes, this section describes using the Network Connections command in Print Manager.
Any connections made to network printers during a particular login session are valid only for that session. Once you exit Windows and log out, these connections are not saved.
Connecting to a network printer involves these steps:
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.
The rest of this section describes these steps in more detail.
Choosing the Network Connections Command
From the Print Manager, choose the Network Connections command from the Options menu. The Network Connections dialog box appears.
The network printers specified in your user profile appear in the Connections text box. The Network Connections dialog box lets you:
![]()
Add network connections to network printers not specified in your user profile. ![]()
Remove network connections.
This section describes the quickest way to connect to a network printer. Later sections describe the different options available for connecting to network drives.
To add a connection, follow these steps:
1. Click Add to connect to a network printer. The Add Printer Connection dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 4-4.
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.
The next few sections describe some of the ways you can customize connecting to network printers in more detail, such as:
![]()
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
When you choose the Add command and the Add Printer Connection dialog box appears, the Print Service text box displays *@*@* by default. You can either type in the print service name if you know it or search the list of print service names.
To search for print service names, follow these steps:
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
You can create smaller lists of print services that match a StreetTalk pattern, such as *@sales@WCTUS. In this example, all print service names whose StreetTalk group and organization names match "sales" and "WCTUS" appear in the list area of the Add Printer Connection dialog box.
To create a subset pattern, follow the steps outlined in "Creating a Subset List of File Services" in Chapter 3.
By default, Windows prints files directly to the network printer, bypassing Print Manager. If you prefer to use Print Manager, follow these steps:
1. Choose the Network command from the Options menu in Print Manager. The Network Options dialog box appears.
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.
Enabling the Print Net Jobs Direct option lets you bypass Print Manager.
To turn off automatic updating of the network queue status, de-select the Update Network Display option, and click OK. If you do not need to view the status of the network queue, this lessens network traffic.
If you have trouble printing when running Windows for the first time, there are a few things you can check. In all cases, first refer to your Microsoft or application documentation, or ask your system administrator for assistance. Make sure that:
![]()
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.