BARR/SPOOL operation includes operating not only the print spool, but also the operation of two BARR/SPOOL features — the DOS session and the Operation session. The DOS session enables you to work in DOS without exiting BARR/SPOOL. You also can run small programs that use standard DOS functions. The Operation session enables you to perform operations tasks, such as manually sending files to a device or changing the assignment of devices. The Operation session and the DOS session, together with the Print Spool session, make up the three sessions of BARR/SPOOL.
When you start BARR/SPOOL, you begin from the session selected in the Installation Description. (Refer to Chapter 9, Tuning Data, for more information about selecting the initial session.) From there, you can easily move from session to session using hot-keys. The keys which enable you to toggle from session to session are:
|
CTRL+ALT+SPACEBAR |
Move to the next session. |
|
CTRL+ALT+X |
Move to the last active session. |
|
CTRL+ALT+O |
Operation Session. |
|
CTRL+ALT+D |
DOS Session. |
|
CTRL+ALT+P |
Print Spool Session. |
Hot-keys can be changed during BARR/SPOOL configuration. Refer to section 9.3, Additional Parameters for more information.
To move between sessions using a menu, use the Advanced screen explained in the section 13.1, Operation Session.
The Operation screen displays in the Operation session. It provides information about the status of devices and program operation. This screen is divided into three parts:
1 Status Line
2 Console
3 Command Menu
The second line of the Operation screen is the Status Line. It displays the status of devices and the time of day. Device status information includes the number of lines received, number of lines sent, parallel printer status, and serial printer status. A vertical line separates the device fields.
23 16
23
16
LPT1 10 normal
LPT1
10
normal
normal
busy
off
error
paper
The parallel printer status is more precisely defined by the electrical signals found on the printer cable. Table 13-1 shows the electrical signals that correspond to the printer status.
Table 13-1. Parallel Printer Status
|
Status Displayed |
Error |
Busy |
Paper |
|
normal |
0 |
0 |
0 or 1 |
|
busy |
0 |
1 |
0 or 1 |
|
off |
1 |
0 |
0 or 1 |
|
error |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
paper |
1 |
1 |
1 |
COM1 0 CTS=0
COM1
0
CTS=0
normal
CTS=0
DSR=0
XOFF
The console appears on lines 3 - 20 of the Operation screen. It displays status and diagnostic messages. A log file of console messages also can be saved in a file on disk. Refer to Chapter 6 for more information about recording console messages in a disk file.
Initially the console displays the Startup Screen Notes entered in the BARR/SPOOL configuration. The name and phone numbers shown in the screen example (i.e., John Smith) are replaced by the name and phone numbers of your contacts. Refer to Chapter 8 for more information about Startup Screen Notes.
The command menu of the Operation screen enables you to perform operations tasks:
Quit
Exit BARR/SPOOL.
Send Files
Transfer PC files to another device. Two commands allow you to transfer files — Send Files to SCREEN and Send Files to COM1.
Advanced
Move between BARR/SPOOL sessions or assign devices.
Two commands, Send Files to SCREEN and Send Files to COM1, allow you to transfer files from your PC to another device. These commands display the destinations to which files are sent. Files are sent to the destinations assigned to SEND1 and SEND2 in Assign Devices. The default destination for SEND1 and SEND2 is SCREEN. However, you can change the destination to any other device (as described in section 6.3.)
For example, from the Assign Devices screen, you can change the SEND1 and SEND2 destinations to LPT1 and COM1:
BARR/SPOOL updates the commands on the Operation screen to reflect the new Destinations:
The first Send Files command will send files to LPT1.
The second Send Files command will send files to COM1.
To send a file from your PC to another device, first assign the SEND1 or SEND2 device to the desired destination. Refer to Chapter 6 for more information about Assign Devices.
Then, select the Send Files command with the desired destination:
Select Send Files to LPT1 to send files to the parallel printer LPT1.
Or, select Send Files to COM1 to send files to the serial printer COM1.
Type the name(s) of the file(s) to be transferred.
When sending multiple, individual files, separate file names with spaces.
When sending files to a host, you can concatenate multiple files by connecting the file names with a plus sign.
Use the * and ? characters according to the DOS wildcard convention.
To send two separate files named JOB1 and JOB2:
To send to a host the files TEXT, DATA1, DATA2, and TRAILER joined together into one file:
To send all files which end with the extension .JOB:
To send to a host the file INTRO and all files with the name DATA (and any extension), joined together into one file:
If you need to send to a host multiple files from multiple software disks as one file, place a plus (+) sign after each file. The plus sign indicates to BARR/SPOOL that more files will be sent. BARR/SPOOL delays sending the end of the file so that you can exchange disks and continue sending files.
For example, to send files from two disks as one job:
Wait until the disk drive is free (i.e., the last line of the transmission says CLOSE: A:FILE1 and the disk drive light is off).
Remove the first disk and insert the second disk.
Select Send Files. Enter the names of files to be sent.
Do NOT enter a plus (+) sign after the last file name.
Automatically Delete Files After Sending
For example, to send the file DATA and delete it from disk after sending, you would enter:
Cancel a Send Files Command
To do so, enter a second Send Files command. If the previous Send Files command has not been completed, the following screen appears:
Cancel previous command?
No
Yes
Use the Advanced option to assign devices or to move between sessions.
To access the Advanced menu, from the Operation screen:
Select Advanced.
Each option of the Advanced screen is described in this section.
This option allows you to change the assignment of source devices to destination devices. You can use this option at any time during BARR/SPOOL operation. Changes to device assignment remain in effect until you exit BARR/SPOOL. To permanently change device assignment, change your Installation Description parameters.
Refer to Chapter 6 for more information about assigning devices.
To use a menu for moving from session to session, from the Advanced menu:
Select Sessions.
Press any key to display session choices.
Select a session.
The Print Spool screen displays in the Print Spool session. This screen lists the files in the print spool, displays information about those files, and provides information about printers assigned to the spool. Most importantly, it gives you the power to control the printing of files.
The Printer column lists the printers assigned to the print spool.
The File column lists the files to be printed.
The remaining columns display file and printer attributes.
Files are displayed in the same order that they are printed.
The spooling commands appear on the bottom two lines of the screen.
When a printer is available, a file is selected by its attributes. A file is eligible for selection if its:
State is Ready.
Form is on the printer.
Class matches the printer Class.
When these conditions have been met, the file with the highest priority is selected. A file that has already been received is selected before a file that is still being received.
After a file is selected, printing automatically begins. When a file is printing, the file name is displayed at the top of the screen next to the printer on which it prints.
To change file and printer attributes, use the spooling commands at the bottom of the Print Spool screen:
Printers
Change printer attributes.
Files
Change file attributes.
Sort
Control the display order and print order of files.
Check Spool
Update the print spool display with files added using a DOS command or the PRT utility.
Assign Devices
Change the assignment of source devices to destination devices. You can use this option at any time during BARR/SPOOL operation. Changes to device assignment remain in effect until you exit BARR/SPOOL. Refer to Chapter 6 for more information about assigning devices.
Restore
Reprint a file from the Retain directory.
Step-by-step instructions for using each spooling command follow.
To make changes to printer attributes, select P for the Printers command:
You can change the State, Form, and Class of printers.
Select a printer using the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW keys. The current printer is indicated by a blinking arrow.
If more than one printer is listed, press ENTER before making changes.
Move between printer attributes using the LEFT ARROW, RIGHT ARROW, or TAB key.
Make any necessary changes to the printer attributes.
Press ENTER after changes are made.
To make changes to file attributes, select F for the Files command:
Select V to view a file.
Select H to view the header of a file. Refer to section 1.2 for more information about the file header.
Select a file using the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW keys. The current file is indicated by a blinking arrow.
Move between file attributes using the LEFT ARROW, RIGHT ARROW, or TAB key.
Make any necessary changes to the file attributes.
Press ENTER after changes are made.
Select the file using the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW keys. The current file is indicated by a blinking arrow.
Press SPACEBAR to mark the files.
Change the attributes of one of the files.
Press ENTER.
Respond Yes to the Apply changes to all marked files? prompt.
Files are automatically deleted from the print spool directory after printing. However, you can delete a file before it is printed. First, mark the file, then delete it:
Select the file using the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW keys. The current file is indicated by a blinking arrow.
Press SPACEBAR to mark the file. A marked file is indicated by a checkmark.
Press DELETE to delete the file.
Specify whether the Marked or Unmarked files are to be deleted.
You also can mark more than one file, and delete the files.
The Sort command enables you to control the print order of files. When you change the sort of files, the Print Spool screen is updated. Additionally, to help you better maintain PC disk space, the Sort command gives you a different view of files in the print spool. It displays the number of files in the print spool directory, the amount of space used by those files, and the amount of available space.
Four sort variables set the order in which files are displayed and printed. Files are sorted by the first variable, then subsorted by the remaining three variables. By default, files are sorted by the sort criteria specified in the Print Spool Description parameters.
Sort variables are described in detail in Chapter 5. Sort variables include Prty, Class, File, Size, Form, Date, and Time.
One application for this feature is printing all short files before longer files by specifying ascending size (Size >) as the first criteria of the sort order. To specify descending size, you would select Size <.
To use the Sort command, from the Print Spool screen:
Select Sort.
Move between sort variables using the RIGHT ARROW key.
Select a variable using the PLUS or MINUS key.
Set any unused criteria to blank.
Press ENTER when finished.
The Check Spool directory command allows you to update the print spool display with files copied in from DOS or a LAN. BARR/SPOOL automatically checks the print spool directory for new files every 300 seconds (or the time limit you specify in the Print Spool Description parameters). So, it is necessary to manually update the print spool display only when you cannot wait for the automatic update. Refer to Chapter 5 for more information about Print Spool Description parameters.
Select C for the Check Spool command.
BARR/SPOOL checks for any files copied into the print spool.
BARR/SPOOL updates the print spool with any files copied into the print spool directory.
The DOS session takes you to a DOS prompt where you can work in DOS without exiting BARR/SPOOL.
Most programs that use standard DOS functions work in the DOS session. However, programs that turn off interrupts for extended periods of time and programs that use the same interrupts as BARR/SPOOL may interfere with operation. Also, large programs may fail to load due to a lack of available memory. To exit the DOS session, hot-key to another session or type exit at the DOS prompt.
This session is available only with DOS 3.0 and later versions. The PRT utility is too large to run interactively in the DOS session. Instead, use the batch mode of PRT.
Maintained with each file in the print spool are attributes that describe the file and specify how it is to be printed. You can alter the State, Form, Disposition, Class, Prty, and Copies attributes. Changes are written to the file header so, if necessary, you can exit the software before your files have printed. The only exception is the Disposition attribute. Changes to Disposition are not saved. Note, also, that attribute values from the File Attribute Table are written to a file only if the State of the file is altered on the Print Spool screen.
When changing the Form attribute, there are several considerations. Modifying the form attribute only changes the form name in the header. However, form information included at the time a file is received from a host consists of more than just the form name. Thus, if a file is received from a host with an incorrect form, it must be received again with the correct form to ensure that all the form information is correct. There are, however, two cases when changing the Form attribute on the Print Spool screen is helpful:
When using form overlay files, the form name is used to trigger the overlay file. If you need only an overlay file and not a form definition, changing the Form attribute has the desired results.
If form information is stored in the printer and the Form attribute in the file is used to trigger the form name in the printer, changing the Form attribute on the Print Spool screen results in the use of the correct form definition from the printer. An example of this situation is the use of Xerox laser printers which store forms in the printer.
An explanation of each file attribute follows:
State
Current status of the file.
Ready
Hold
Delete
Error
Disposition
Indicates disposition, deleted or retained, of file after printing. If the file is to be deleted, a hyphen (-) character appears to the right of the file State. If the file is to be retained, no character appears to the right of the State. Files are retained in the directory specified in the Print Spool Description parameters or, if no directory was specified, in the root directory. You can preset Disposition using the File Attribute Table.
Form
An 8-character form name. This often indicates pre-printed paper forms that must be mounted on the printer.
Class
A one-character, alphanumeric printer class useful for controlling which printer is selected. Files received from a host initially are assigned a class from Assign Devices or the File Attribute Table. Files without spool headers copied into the Print Spool directory from DOS are initially assigned Class Z.
Prty
Indicates the priority in which files are selected. Values range from 0-9, with 9 as the highest priority.
Copies
Number of copies to be printed.
When printing multiple copies, the Copies field decreases by 1 as each copy is printed. For example, if you are printing 5 copies, the Copies field will display 4 after the first copy has printed.
Size
Length of the file in bytes. When printing a file, the Size field decreases as the file is printed.
Date
Time
Date and time the PC file was created.
Printer attributes maintain the status of the printer and determine which files are selected for printing. You can alter the printer attributes of State, Form, and Class.
State
Current status of the printer.
Ready
Printing
Draining
Disabled
Reprint
Form
The 8-character name of the form mounted on the printer. When specifying a form, you can use the DOS wildcard characters * and ?. A ? in a file name allows any character to occupy that position. For example, FORM=JUN??9? matches any characters in the ? positions. An * in a file name allows any character to occupy that position and all remaining positions in the name or extension. For example, FORM=MAY* matches all form names starting with MAY. For more information about wildcard characters, see Global File Name Characters in your DOS manual.
An asterisk (*) in the Form attribute allows all files to print regardless of Form.
Class
A one-character, alphanumeric printer class useful for controlling the selection of files. Up to 5 classes can be entered for each printer (each of the 5 characters represents a separate class). If no printer class is given, Class is not used in the selection of files.
Units
Cumulative total number of lines/pages printed. The choice to display the number of lines versus the number of pages is entered on the Miscellaneous Printer Options screen.
Status
Physical printer status.