[Request] Spooler in PrinterPrefs and Notification support

[Raziel]

Hello devs,

i'm not sure if this is technically feasible or even possible, but what i miss in PrinterPrefs is an option to spool the data before it is being sent to the device/printer.

I know of PrintManager from Stephan but it does funny things when using lpr.device.
(I have a HP Laserjet 5L with a Centronics to WLAN adapter [yes, they exist ] set up in my Network and use lpr.device to send the RAW data to the printer...works like a charm and i don't need special printer drivers)

The reason i'm asking is that it would make a great addition.
e.g. when the printer acts up while printing and one has to send the whole work again.
It would make life much easier to send the backuped data created from the spooler in the spool directory again instead of going through the whole process of opening AmiPDF, Multiview, Notepad, whatever...load the file...print the file...yeah...i'm lazy

If possible add an extra TAB to PrinterPrefs [SPOOL] where one can turn it ON/OFF and set a path to a spool dir.
Then capture anything that is being sent to the device/printer and save it to that path before relaying it to the printer/device.
After everything has been sent delete the data from the spooler (maybe wait for a OK from the printer/device?)

The other thing i'd like to see is Notification support for the Printer
Something like..."Name of the Document" sent to "Printer Name"...
or Printing "Name of Document" on "Printer Name"...

Thanks a lot for this great OS

[Raziel]

hmm, can i get a "Noted"?

...or a "Get lost, we've better things to do" would also suffice

[Slayer]

Perhaps configuring the actual printer not to delete jobs in memory until new jobs need the space is an option? This way you could even beef up the memory in your printer and have this very solution with even more room

Please contact HP with this idea if not currently supported in there firmware, and hey, you might even get a reward which of course you'll need to share with me

[Raziel]

Please contact HP with this idea if not currently supported in there firmware, and hey, you might even get a reward which of course you'll need to share with me

Heh, great idea...and that was their answer

"Get lost, we've better things to do!"



Seriously that printer is too old to have gimmicks like "store the print jobs in printer mem".
It does surprisingly has a "sleep mode"...strange for such an old printer from times where power had to be wasted to get less pricey
That beast is only one thing if you feed it...a printer!

[Raziel]

Now that i have your attention...no wait

Just a little teeny weeny bit of comment...please?

I promise to not ask any questions again this year

See? I even brought a cake! :dog eye roll:

[tonyw]

As you have noticed, there is no direct spooling support in AmigaOS. I seem to remember back in the Classic days (last century), I had a spooler working. AFAIR it was a simple script that did an "If exists xxx" and if it did, sent it to LPT: then deleted it and waited for 5 sec before testing again. All you had to do was drop a print file into a drawer called "PrintSpoolFiles" or something like that.

Have you looked on OS4Depot and Aminet?

[abalaban]

Tony,

Stephan Rupprecht had a Print Manager that worked quite nicely under OS 4.0 at least, since then I didn't test it again, but Raziel seems to imply it's not working correctly with lpr.device.

I think Raziel knows that AmigaOS doesn't have spooling support and I think it's the reason he tagged his thread with "[Request]"... he's expressing a feature request

I'm not sure there will be work on the current printing system as it was publicly deemed "obsolete" by different insiders (Steven, HJ Frieden, etc.), rather it was stated a new printing system would be created at some point (and at that time the spooling need would certainly be looked at).

[Raziel]

As you have noticed, there is no direct spooling support in AmigaOS. I seem to remember back in the Classic days (last century), I had a spooler working. AFAIR it was a simple script that did an "If exists xxx" and if it did, sent it to LPT: then deleted it and waited for 5 sec before testing again. All you had to do was drop a print file into a drawer called "PrintSpoolFiles" or something like that.

Have you looked on OS4Depot and Aminet?

Yup i did...there is (as Alexandre pointed out and myself in the OP ) Stephan's wonderful PrintManager which does work on OS4 but unfortunately not with lpr.device (i *think* because PrintManager needs some feedback from the printer which isn't possible to stem back from lpr.device)

I'm not sure there will be work on the current printing system as it was publicly deemed "obsolete" by different insiders (Steven, HJ Frieden, etc.), rather it was stated a new printing system would be created at some point (and at that time the spooling need would certainly be looked at).

I see...hmm, didn't know that.
OK then it will be best to keep my feet still and wait for things to come
(Of course i can still print right now without problems [without spooler ])

Here...a piece of cake for both of you and thanks very much for the info