Copyright: Copyright (c) 2004 All Rights Reserved
Citation: Karen's Print Logger - http://www.karenware.com


Welcome
Welcome to Karen's Print Logger!

This Power Tool monitors any or all of the printers connected to your computer, or computers shared across a network. Information about every spooled document sent to a monitored printer is recorded in the program's Print Log file.

At any time, you can view the Print Log, or save a copy for later analysis. Print Logs are normal text files, and can be printed, imported into a database or spreadsheet, or even loaded into a word processor.

Several issues of Karen's Power Tools newsletter discuss the Print Logger program. Links to those back issues can be found on Karen's Print Logger's home page. You can also get your own free subscription to the newsletter by visiting her subscription web page..

Karen's Print Logger, and all associated documentation, are:

Copyright © 1999, 2002-2004 Karen Kenworthy, All Rights Reserved.

"Karen's Print Logger" and "Karen's Power Tools" are trademarks of Karen Kenworthy.


Karen's Power Tools

Karen's Power Tools is a large collection of "utilities", programs that solve problems, and make computers easier to use and understand. It includes programs that can print the contents of a folder or disk drive, display and delete "web browser cookies", automatically make backup copies of important files, reveal hundreds of facts about your computer, and many more!

For more information, visit Karen's Power Tools web site.


License

This program may be used on your home computer, for personal and educational purposes, free of charge.

However, commercial use (any use at a business or on your job) requires an inexpensive license. To obtain a license to use all of Karen's Power Tools, visit http://www.karenware.com/cd.asp.

To purchase multiple licenses for the same location or business visit Karen's Site License web page.

Note: The source code may be freely used and modified for personal and educational use. But incorporating all, or a substantial part, of the code into a commercial product, that is redistributed or sold, is prohibited without permission of the author.


Help

Display this help file.


Main
Print Logger's Main Window

This is the window you'll see immediately after the Print Logger starts. It displays a list of all printers available to be monitored, buttons that allow you to view and work with the program's Print Log, and more.

Click an area of the window for details.


MainList
Monitoring These Printers

This list contains all the printers found on your local computer, or shared computers found on your network. For each printer you can see this information:

Computer

Printer

Port

Jobs/Pages Pending

Jobs/Pages Completed


MainEnable
Monitor This Printer

Place a check mark here, and the printer will be monitored -- all documents spooled for this printer will be logged. Clear this check box, and this printer will be ignored.


MainComputer
Computer

The computer where this printer is attached.


MainPrinter
Printer

The name of the printer.


MainPort
Port

The port through which this Printer is connected to the Computer


MainPending
Jobs/Pages Pending

The number of printer jobs (documents), and the total number of pages, waiting in the spooler's queue for this printer.


MainCompleted
Jobs/Pages Completed

The number of printer jobs (documents), and the total number of pages in those jobs, that have been printed by this printer while the Print Logger has been running.

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MainLogInfo
Log Info

This section contains information about the Print Log file (the disk file where the Printer Logger's information is stored). It also has these four buttons:

•	Select - Choose a new location or name for the Print Logger's file.

•	Copy - Make a copy of the Print Log file. You can print this copy, import it into a database, spreadsheet, word processor, etc.

•	Erase - Removes all entries in the Print Log file.

•	View - displays the log file's current contents (one line for each document printed or queued).


MainRefresh
Refresh

This button causes the Print Logger to refresh its list of available printers. Normally this isn't necessary. But it can be helpful it a new printer is added while the Print Logger is running.


MainSettings
Settings

Click this button and the Print Logger displays its Settings window. There you can select which printers will be displayed on the main window. You can also choose to have the Print Logger display a small icon in your computer's System Tray (the lower-right corner of your desktop) when the logger's main window is minimized.


MainAbout
About

Click this button and the Print Logger will display an "About" window, containing some additional information about this program.


MainExit
Exit

Clicking this button causes the Print Logger to stop. It will close all its on-screen windows, and stop monitoring your printers.


MainSelect
Select (Printer Log File Name/Location)

This button lets you choose the name and location of the Printer Log file. By default, the log is kept in a file named PrnLog.txt, stored in the same folder where the Print Logger program is installed.

Note: You do not normally need to rename or move the Printer Log file. See Copy (Printer Log File) for an alternative.


MainCopy
Copy (Printer Log File)

This button allows you to make a copy of the Printer Log file. You'll be asked for the name and location of the copy.

Once made, your copy of the file can be printed, imported into a database or spreadsheet, or loaded into a word processor or other program.


MainErase
Erase (Printer Log File)

Click this button to Delete all entries from the Printer Log file.

Note: If the Printer Log contains information you'd like to save, click the "Copy" button on the program's main window before erasing the Printer Log.


MainView
View (Printer Log File)

Click this button and you'll see the current contents of the entire Printer Log. The information is displayed in a new window.


View Print Log
View Printer Log

This window displays the current contents of the Print Log.

To display this window, click the View button on the program's main window.

Click an area of the window for details.


ViewLog
Printer Log

When you click the "View" button on the program's main window, the Print Logger displays information about all documents sent to monitored printers while the Print Logger program is running.

The information is arranged in a table, where each row contains information about a single document. Here are the columns, each containing one fact about a particular document:

•	Job ID

•	Date Submitted

•	Computer

•	Printer

•	User

•	Document

•	Status

•	Pages

•	Bytes

•	Time

•	Priority

•	Max Position

•	Type


Job ID

A unique number, assigned by Windows, when a document is spooled. Programs use this number when asking Windows for information about a spooled document.


Date Submitted

The date and time a user printed this document, and it was added to the queue of jobs to be printed.


Computer

The Computer where this print job was created.

Note: This is not necessarily the computer where the document will be printed (the computer where the printer is attached). It is the computer where the program that created the document ran when a user asked the program to print the document.


Printer

The Printer where the document will be, or was, printed.


User

The User/Login ID of person who requested the printing of the document.


Document

The title or name of document (often the title bar text of the window where the document was last viewed or edited).


Status

The current status of this document or print job.

Possible values include:

•	Spooling - document is being added to printer queue

•	Waiting - document is in printer queue, but hasn't begun to print

•	Printed - document has finished printing

•	Printing - document is currently being printed

•	Driver cannot print job - problem reported by printer's driver

•	Complete - job has been completely sent to printer, but printing may not have finished

•	Deleted - job has been deleted without being printed

•	Being deleted - job is being deleted without having printed

•	Error - Unknown error has occurred

•	Printer offline - printer is offline or powered off

•	Out of paper - printer is out of paper

•	Paused - printer has temporarily stopped printing the document

•	Restarted - document printing has restarted

•	Requires user intervention - printer needs attention


Pages

The number of pages in this document. In some cases, this may not be known, depending on the type of document or the printer's driver.


Bytes

The total number of bytes sent to the printer to render this document.


Time

The time taken by the printer to print this document. If document has not yet been printed, this will be zero.


Priority

The Priority (a number between 1 and 99) assigned to this document. Documents with higher priorities are printed before documents with lower priorities.


Max Position

The highest position within the printer's queue, occupied by this job. For example, if Max Position is 5, at one time this document was fifth in line to be printed.


Type

The Type of data used to represent document while stored in the printer's queue.

Possible values include:

•	RAW - raw data understood by the printer itself (but not necessarily understood by Windows).

•	EMF - Enhanced MetaFile, a document description language understood by Windows and most printer drivers.


ViewErase
Erase Printer Log File

Click this button to Delete all entries from the Printer Log file.

Note: If the Printer Log contains information you'd like to save, click the "Copy" button on the program's main window before erasing the Printer Log.


ViewClose
Close

Closes the "View Print Log" window, returning you to the Print Logger's main window.


ViewLogInfo
Print Log Statistics

This area displays the size (in bytes), number of documents/entries, and location of the Printer Log file.


Settings

This window appears when you click the Settings button on the program's main window. It allows you to select the printers that will appear on the programs main window, and which printers will be monitored and logged.

For more information, click an area of the window:


SetLocal
Show Local Printers only

Select this option, and only printers appearing in this computer's Printers and Faxes folders will be shown.

Note: This may include some shared network printers, if you've added them to your Printers and Faxes folder.


SetNet
Show Selected Network Printers

Select this option, and you'll see a list of network printer providers. Click the + sign next to a provider, and you'll see additional detail (either a list of the provider's printers, or another level in the print provider's hierarchy).


SetList
Available Printers

Here you'll see the list of printers available on you computer, or shared across your network. To monitor a printer, just place a check mark beside its name.

Placing a check mark beside any other entry (for example, a Print Provider) will ensure the printers it contains will appear on the program's main window. However, a printer won't be monitored unless a check mark is placed beside the printer's name.

Note: The misspelling of "Windows NT Local Print Providor" is Windows', not mine. :)


SetSysTray
Display icon in System Tray when Minimized

Place a check mark here, and the program will display a small icon in your System Tray (the area in the lower-right corner of your desktop) whenever the main window is minimized.


SetCancel
Cancel

This button closes the Settings window, and discards any changes you've made to the program's settings.  When  the main window reappears, your settings will be the same as when you clicked the Settings button..


SetSave
Save

Click this button and the settings you've selected will be saved. The program's main window will appear, with your current settings active.


Jobs
Glossary: Job

This is Windows' name for a document that a program has sent to the print spooler. Each document will eventually be printed. But while it's waiting, it's called a "job".


Printer Log
Glossary: Printer Log

The file where Karen's Print Logger stores its information, or the information itself.