Circle Software Company P.O. Box 7954 Department G Clearwater, FL 34618-7954 This software spooler is designed to provide maximum utility at minimum cost. Your contribution will help me continue to provide quality products for MS-DOS computers. The following rate schedule lists several options available to you. 1. Registration $10.00 Includes product registration, notice of updates, and list of other quality software products. 2. Spooler Program $15.00 Includes the above plus a disk with the spooler program and documentation file. 3. Source Code $25.00 Includes all the above plus well-documented assembly language source code, theory of operation, and suggestions on how to modify or customize the program. 1 Spooler Program Description This is a RAM-based spooler program that will free your computer for other tasks while your printer is working. Program output that ordinarily goes to the printer is sent instead to a RAM buffer in a fraction of the time required for the printer to complete its task. The data is then doled out to the printer in the "background" while you are free to do other things on your computer. You can set the buffer size to any value up to 64 kbytes. The program requires one kilobyte of RAM plus the buffer size you choose. The spooler works with any parallel printer connected to any port, but will not work with serial printers. Two controls are provided to increase the program's utility. These may be executed at any time, even when your computer is running some other program. Both are executed by pressing the Control Key and one other key. Control-P will clear the buffer if you decide you don't want to print the contents after all. Control-D will resend the contents to the printer to make another copy. Command line options are available to change the buffer size and the control keys described above. Default values are 64 kbytes buffer size and Control-P and Control-D as described above. Loading The Program The spooler is a memory resident program. Once it is loaded you can forget it for as long as your computer is powered. It is probably best that you put the spooler command in your Autoexec.bat file. The program should coexist safely with other memory resident programs. It doesn't care if it is loaded first or last. Try different orders if you have a problem. The command syntax is as follows: SPOOL BBBB DDDD PPPP BBBB is a hex number representing the size of the buffer. For example: FFFF = 64 kbytes default 7FFF = 32 kbytes 3FFF = 16 kbytes 1FFF = 8 kbytes You can also use in-between values. To get a 40 kbyte buffer enter 9C40. 2 DDDD and PPPP are the codes for the key combinations you wish to use to duplicate the output and clear the buffer, respectively. Use values from the following table: Alt-A 1E1E Alt-J 2424 Alt-S 1F1F Alt-B 3030 Alt-K 2525 Alt-T 1414 Alt-C 2E2E Alt-L 2626 Alt-U 1616 Alt-D 2020 Alt-M 3232 Alt-V 2F2F Alt-E 1212 Alt-N 3131 Alt-W 1111 Alt-F 2121 Alt-O 1818 Alt-X 2D2D Alt-G 2222 Alt-P 1919 Alt-Y 1515 Alt-H 2323 Alt-Q 1010 Alt-Z 2C2C Alt-I 1717 Alt-R 1313 CTRL-A 1E01 CTRL-J 240A Ctrl-S 1F13 CTRL-B 3002 CTRL-K 250B Ctrl-T 1414 CTRL-C 2E03 CTRL-L 260C Ctrl-U 1615 CTRL-D 2004 * CTRL-M 320D Ctrl-V 2F16 CTRL-E 1205 CTRL-N 310E Ctrl-W 1117 CTRL-F 2106 CTRL-O 180F Ctrl-X 2D18 CTRL-G 2207 CTRL-P 1910 * Ctrl-Y 1519 CTRL-H 2308 CTRL-Q 1011 Ctrl-Z 2C1A CTRL-I 1709 CTRL-R 1312 To accept the default values (*), simply enter SPOOL. If you only want to change the buffer size, it is not necessary to enter the control key codes. However, if you want to change the control key codes, you must also enter the buffer size. Using The Spooler The operation of the spooler is completely automatic except for clearing the buffer and printing duplicate copy. The spooler will accept program output, even if the printer is off-line, until the buffer is full. Make sure the printer is turned on though. Sometimes the output port can't distinguish between a ready signal and a dead line. When the buffer fills up, your program will have to wait. The spooler will accept new input at the same rate that the printer empties the buffer. You can clear the buffer any time you need to. Of course, if your printer has a built-in buffer, you will have to clear it too. If you want to print another copy of what ever is in the buffer, wait until the first copy is completely printed, then press Control-D. If you have printed several different jobs, clear the buffer before printing the one you wish to print duplicate copies of. Also, the duplicate function only works if the document smaller than the buffer. 3 If for some reason you want to restart a printing job (paper jam), take the printer off-line. Clear the problem, press Control-D, then put the printer on-line. 4