Q Server V1.06b (c) Copyright 1989 Pat Carter This is a demo version of QServer. This program and documentation is to be used for evaluation purposes ONLY. The following documentation describes the commercial version of QS, with the following differences/limitations: * This demo use 45K of memory. * It is not possible to disable notification messages. * It is not possible to disable printing of banner pages. You may leave questions, comments, or suggestions about Qserver by leaving E-Mail for Bill Carter on Compuserv (ID 75470,2463). To order a copy of Qserver, send a check or money order to : Pat Carter 126 W. Ritchie Marceline, Mo. 64658 Please send me QServer. ============================================================= Name: ________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________ City/St/Zip: ________________________________________________ Phone: ________________________________________________ Comments: ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ___ Enclosed is $99.95 for each copy of QServer. ___ Add $3.00 for Shipping and Handling. ___ I need 3 1/2 Inch Media. ============================================================= 1.1 Overview Q Server is designed to allow the sharing of local printers using Novell's NetWare. Features -------- * Low memory usage...less than 5k on workstation acting as a print server. QS may be unloaded to free up this memory when not needed. No TSR is required for stations submitting a print job. * Compatible with NetWare utilities...NPRINT, CAPTURE, PRINTCON, PCONSOLE, PRINTDEF. * Login or logout doesn't interrupt or disturb a print job that is in progress. * Doesn't require a user to be logged in at the workstation connected to the local printer. * Easy setup and administration. * Allows normal use of parallel printers by local user. Serial printers require that they be dedicated to QS. (Serial port is released if QS is un-installed). * Capable of servicing multiple print queues at once. (Two for each copy of QS installed.) * Notification when a job has finished printing. Requires no additional memory, integrates with the NetWare message broadcasting facility already present in your network shell. * Supports Parallel printers LPT1-LPT4, serial printers COM1-COM4. * Allows multiple copies to be run on the same workstation (ten maximum). Each copy can service different printers and/or queues. NOTE: This gives the ability to service up to 20 queues and 8 different printers on one workstation, and would require about 45K of memory. 1.2 Quick Start The following instructions provide the easiest and quickest way to configure QServer. 1. Log in to your net as SUPERVISOR, or as a user with supervisory privileges. 2. Place the QS disk in drive A: 3. Copy QS.EXE and QSETUP.EXE to SYS:PUBLIC. 4. Login as SUPERVISOR and run QSETUP. For each workstation that will be sharing a printer. 5. Run QS on each workstation that is sharing a printer. Note: No user is required to be logged in, but the network shell (IPX/NET3), must be loaded. 1.3 Reference Q Server command line options: To use: QS /Q /Q2 /<1,2,3,4> /Cx /N /U /Sx Options are: /Q.......................Primary print queue to service. If none is given tries to service queue with the same name as the logged in username. Ex /QACCTPRT will service a print queue called ACCPRT. /Q2......................Alternate queue to service If none is given only one queue is serviced. /<1,2,3,4>...............Printer port to print to. If none is given LPT1 is assumed. Ex /2, will use LPT2 /Cx......................Copy to be run. QS will allow you run multiple copies. If none given it is assumed you mean the first copy (0). x can be 1-9. NOTE: /C0 is invalid, if you want the first copy don't use the /Cx option. Copies do not have to be run in order. Ex. you could start copy 9 then copy 4. /N.......................No notification. QS normally sends a notification that it is done printing to the connection that submitted a print job. /N disables this notification. NOTE: If you want to disable this feature you must use /N everytime you run QS. /U.......................Un-installs QS. If multiple copies have been run you must un-install them in the reverse order that you installed them. /Sx......................Use Serial Port x. x can be 1-4. Allows the use of serial printers on COM1-COM4. /Oxxx.....................Optimize. xxx can be 128-65536. Default is 256. If you would like to give printing a higher priority adjust this value upwards. A higher number will give more priority to the printer. This value should always be in the range 128 <= xxx <= 2048. Notes: All options except for /U are valid for the initial invocation of a copy of QS. Once a copy of QS is running you can not change the printer it will service. (You can however install another copy that services a different printer.) Examples -------- 1. You are user SHARON and you want to service the print queue named SHARON on LPT1. QS 2. Same as above except on LPT2. QS /2 3. Same as the above except you wish to service the print queue BOB also. QS /2 /Q2BOB 4. Now you would like to service the queue FRANK & DON with LPT3. (You'll need to start a second copy of QS). QS /C1 /QFRANK /Q2DON /3 5. Ooops you meant DONALD instead, there is no need to un-install copy 1, just: QS /C1 /Q2DONALD With this option you simply changed the name of queue on the fly. 1.4 Considerations QSetup allows you to configure your network in a manner that makes sharing local printers a snap. The following is a very general discussion of the considerations involved in configuring QS on a net. Printing with no User logged in. -------------------------------- Q Server can allow you to share your printer even if you are not currently logged in as a user. To enable this option a print server must be added to your bindery. QSetup will automatically create this server for you. NOTE: You can not create a usable server with PCONSOLE. QSERVER is an object of type PRINT_SERVER, with ROS rights to LOGIN directory, and (for accounting purposes) granted unlimited credit. Print Queues ------------ There are variety of options here. An option that seems to work well is...creating a print queue for each user who is sharing their printer. Then, naming these queues with same name as their user name. For example: if user SHARON is sharing her printer, creating a print queue named SHARON makes a lot of sense. Someone directing a print job to SHARON'S printer issues a command like: NPRINT file /QSHARON or CAPTURE /QSHARON. SHARON meanwhile enables Q Server by simply typing QS. QS by default searches for a queue with the same name as the user name who starts it running. An alternative approach is to create a queue for each type of printer available on the net. For example, if you would like to share multiple HP LaserJet printers, it might seem to be a good idea to create one queue called HPLJ, and have each workstation with a HP Laser Jet, service the same queue. This works, but it does have one drawback. QS has the capability to print through a logout or login, without any disruption of the print job...but this is guaranteed to work only if there is only one print server servicing this queue at a time. A brief example is probably in order here. We'll assume our user, SHARON, is in the middle of a print job, and another user PEGGY is also servicing the same queue. At this point SHARON decides to logout and go home. When she logs out, QS notices that she did, and attempts to login as QSERVER to continue printing....if QS running on PEGGY attempts to service the queue before QS on SHARON gets logged back in, PEGGY will get the job. At this point QS running on PEGGY will have no method of determining that another station had been previously servicing this job, and will restart it at the beginning. QS when not printing tries to service the queue roughly once every 15 seconds. So although this scenario might be unlikely to happen....it is possible. To use QS with this type of configuration QS must be started with the /Q. (For our example it would be QS /QHPLJ). Queue Servers ------------- The simplest option here is to allow every user to be a queue server for every queue in the net. 1.5 QSetup QSetup V1.0 ----------------- QSetup is the easiest manner in which you can configure a network to facilitate the sharing of local printers. The following discusses the actions taken by QSetup along with the advantages and disadvantages of these actions. Actions: Gives each user on the net, the rights of a queue server for each print queue on the net. This enables every user on the net to be a print server. Creates a print server called QSERVER. QSERVER has ROS rights to the LOGIN directory, is considered a print server for every print queue on the net, and has an account balance that allows unlimited credit. The creation of this account allows to QS to continue servicing print jobs even if no user is logged in at this workstation. 1.6 NCast NCast V1.0 ----------------- NCast is a small utility that takes over the reception of broadcast messages. If you want to receive your broadcast messages, but you don't like having you machine locked up waiting for you to press CTRL-ENTER, NCast will solve your problem. The default mode for NCast will display a message for 10 seconds, then, if you haven't acknowledged it, it erases the message from your screen, frees your machine, then wait a minute before re-displaying your message. You can set (via a command line option), the duration of the display on your screen, and the time between message display activations. Command Line Options -------------------- /Dxxx.....................Where xxx is number of seconds to display message on screen. /Rxxx......................Where xxx is number of seconds to wait before re-activation /U.........................Uninstall's NCast.