From: sid@vdhc.on.ca (Sid Van den Heede)
Subject: Re: spool question
Summary: Just use one .env, and use -PROC.
Organization: Van den Heede Computing, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 16:08:28 GMT

Jim Chivas at Vancouver Community College writes:
>Greetings:   I have a HP iiiSi postscript printer. This printer is
>capable of printing either single sided or duplex (double sided).
>I want to be able to setup the feature of having two prop environments
>for this printer. One .env would contain some commands to tell the
>printer to switch into duplex mode. The other .env file will
>contain the commands or codes to change the printer to single sided.
>I have looked in my manuals and also in the spool* directory to check
>the postscript setup files that are downloaded when I prop a postscript
>environment. It appears that the same files are downloaded for any .env
>that states postscript as its device. If this is the case I  can't
>put my specific commands into the postscript_init file as both my .env's
>would download the same setup commands. Does anyone have any thoughts
>on how I can have more than one .env file with a device of postscript and
>send different commands to the hp 111si laser. I am trying to do this
>without writing any code but if someone has already done this, I would
>be grateful. My users could then spool to different .env and my operator
>could then prop -start the appropriate queues.

First, it is true that any postscript device has all of the files named
in postscript_init downloaded.  Note that this is done for a printer
only once after that printer is powered up or reset.  The intention is
to make useful stuff available in the printer, not to set modes.  Useful
stuff includes procedures for printing normal text files in various
layouts (e.g., portrait, landscape, 2-up, 4-up) and any other things you
might have defined.  I had procedures for printing memos and fax headers,
so that I had to send only the recipient information and some notes for
the fax header page.

A long, long time ago, Prime supplied a file called primedict.ps, which
contained code to print normal text files as mentioned above.  The file
included procedures to select one of the formats, via "spool ... -PROC
procname".  (For example, to spool in portrait, "spool ... -PROC PORT".)
For some strange reason, they stopped shipping that file a few years ago,
or it was empty (same effect).  You should get a (non-empty) copy of that 
file.

In your case, you would want to define procedures that would select
duplex vs. one-sided printing, similar to -PROC PORT.  Then your users
could select how they want to print, and they wouldn't have to wait for
an operator to change printer modes.  I assume that all of this printing
doesn't require any physical action by the operator, such as changing
paper types.  If it does, try using the -FORM option of the spool command.
That would effective give control to the operator, when it is really
needed.
-- 
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Sid Van den Heede		Van den Heede Computing
sid@vdhc.on.ca			56 Margaret Ave South
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Newsgroups: comp.sys.prime