Simtel MSDOS 1992 June/SIMTEL_0692.cdr/msdos/printer/spoolrii.arc/SP2.DOC

Text File | 1980-01-01 | 20.7 KB | 422 lines

                                  DISK SPOOL II

                             by BUDGET SOFTWARE CO.
                                  P.O.Box 12282
                            12162 E. Mississippi Ave.
                             Aurora, Colorado  80012

                                 [phone]



     Sets up a print spooling environment where printed output is spooled to
     disk, rather than to memory.

 FEATURES:

     * Works in background to save you valuable computer time.

     * Works with virtually all DOS applications.

     * Pop-up menu obtainable from within almost any application, controls
       starting and stopping spooling, starting and stopping the printer,
       displaying the contents of the spool file, re-positioning the printer to
       start at any palce within the spool file, attaching the spooler and/or
       the de-spooler to different files, and much more.

     * Can be set up tp spool data being sent to COM1, COM2 LPT1 and /or LPT2,
       or to any combination.

     * Can print the contents of the spool file to COM1, COM2 LPT1, and/or LPT2;
       or you can have the program send the output to the same port from which
       it was spooled.

     * Can re-direct the printed output to a device driver, or to a disk file.

     * Fine tune for optimal printer speed.


 REQUIREMENTS:

     An IBM PC, XT, AT or PS/2; or any compatible; takes up about 30K of memory.

     DOS 2.0, or later.





  I. INTRODUCTION


     DISK SPOOL II is a program that fundamentally changes the manner in
     which printing takes place on your computer.  Without DISK SPOOL II,
     whenever an application prints information, it sends it directly to
     the printer.  If you don't have a printer attached to your computer,
     then you can't run the application.  If your printer halts for
     whatever reason, then the application halts.  More importantly,
     your application's execution speed is held back by the printer,
     regardless of how fast your computer is, or how well designed the
     application is.

     With DISK SPOOL II, your applications do not have to contend directly
     with the printer, since DISK SPOOL II sits in the background and
     intercepts your printer data, then re-routes it to a disk file.  Two
     benefits are immediately derived from this:  A disk file doesn't jam,
     and you don't have to worry about its ribbon, so you know that your
     application will run to completion.  Secondly, even the fastest
     printers cannot process data as quickly as a disk drive.  So, your
     applications finish sooner, and you are able to do more work in
     less time.

     But what good is the data out in a disk file?  Here is where the
     second main part of DISK SPOOL II comes into play.  With your data
     safely out on disk, and while you are busy doing other things on your
     computer, DISK SPOOL II works behind the scenes to send the data from
     the disk file to the printer.  How is it possible for the computer to
     be doing two things at the same time?  The answer is that your
     computer has a generous supply of excess processing cycles on its
     hands, and DISK SPOOL II merely puts these cycles to work. The
     computer isn't really doing two things at once, it just acts like it
     is.

     You may be asking yourself why the concepts described above have not
     been made part of your computer's operating system by the manufacturers,
     since the time savings is apparently so dramatic and so universal.
     The answer is that personal computers are following the same evolutionary
     path that mainframes did.  Just like mainframes, the first operating
     system (and the one we are still using today) was not designed to be able
     to handle multitasking easily.  It is a sure thing that the new operating
     system being developed for the PC, just like second generation mainframes,
     will have spooling environments built in.  In the meantime, DISK SPOOL II
     enables you to tap into this kind of operating power right now on your
     present PC.





 II. GETTING STARTED QUICKLY

     Getting DISK SPOOL II to start working for you is as simple as keying
     in the program name SP2, and pressing the Enter key.  DISK SPOOL II
     will begin spooling printed data to a file called SPO.SPL in the root
     directory of drive c:.  If you want your spool file to reside on a
     different drive, just key in the drive letter following the SP2.
     Example:  SP2 d.

     There's only one thing some people will have to do differently.  If
     you are in the habit of using DOS' command PRINT to print a file, use
     the command SP2PRT instead.  This command is found on your diskette.
     To use it, merely key in SP2PRT followed by the name of the file you
     wish to print.  Also, some users utilize the COPY command (e.g. COPY
     XXXXX LPT1) or the TYPE command (TYPE XXXXX > LPT1) in order to print
     files.  Again, use the SP2PRT command instead.   You may want to try
     DISK SPOOL out right now to see how well it works by printing this
     document.  Just load DISK SPOOL II by keying in SP2, and then key in:
     SP2PRT sp2.doc.

     Finally, a quick word about printer speed.  If you notice that your
     printer speed is slower than usual, or that your computer appears to
     be less responsive, then read the section of this document entitled
     "Fine Tuning DISK SPOOL II".

     That's all there is to it, except that there's a lot more.  However,
     every effort has been made to make DISK SPOOL II easy to learn and to
     use; so you are likely to find that you can pick most of it up by
     simply getting started.  Then use the rest of this manual as a
     reference guide.




III. THE MENU

     DISK SPOOL II is a memory resident program whose facilities are
     controlled by means of a pop-up menu.  This means that you can be in
     the middle of any application and access DISK SPOOL II's menu by
     simply pressing the two "hot keys".  DISK SPOOL II comes
     pre-configured with the Alt and Left Uppershift keys as the "hot
     keys".  You can, however, configure the "hot-keys" to be anything you
     wish.  The menu style is the popular Lotus-style "single tier" menu.
     The top row of the menu displays several keywords, each of which
     represents a menu selection.  And at the onset, the leftmost keyword
     is shown in reverse image.  The second line of the menu gives a
     description of the menu item that is currently in reverse image.  There
     are two ways to make a menu selection.  You either position the reverse
     image "bar" using the left and right arrow keys so that the keyword you
     wish to select is highlighted, and then press the Enter key; or, you
     simply tap the first letter of the keyword you wish to take.  Often, one
     menu selection leads to another menu tier.  If you don't want to take any
     selection from a given tier, tap the Esc key to go back a tier.  As
     you become familiar with DISK SPOOL II, you will quickly learn the
     letter sequences needed to perform a given task.  Learning these
     sequences is made all the more easy since the letter you key in is
     always the first letter of the function you wish to perform.  For
     example the keywords to enable the Despooler at the beginning of the
     file are: Despooler, then Enable, then Beginning.  You will quickly
     learn to key in DEB to perform this function.




 IV. THE SPOOLER AND DESPOOLER

     Disk Spool II has two main components:  the Spooler, whose job it is
     to intercept printer data and re-direct it to a disk file; and the
     Despooler, whose job it is to work in the background sending the
     contents of the disk file to the printer.  By means of the pop-up
     menu, you have the ability to enable and/or disable both components.
     When the Spooler is enabled, it does its job of spooling printer data
     out to disk.  When it's disabled, printer output goes directly to the
     printer, just as if DISK SPOOL II were not in memory at all.  When the
     Despooler is active, it is busy sending the contents of the disk file
     out to the printer.  When it is disabled, then no such background
     printing takes place.  Having the ability to control when printer
     output actually gets printed is one of the most attractive features of
     DISK SPOOL II.

     One of attributes of the Spooler is which port or ports it is
     spooling.  Most computer applications are designed to send printer
     output to LPT1; and as such, DISK SPOOL II is pre-configured to only
     intercept printer output that is being sent to LPT1.  However, DISK
     SPOOL II can be configured so that it will intercept output being sent
     to any of the four standard ports: LPT1, LPT2, COM1, and COM2.   And
     you may specify any multiple combination.  Also, you can make it so data
     being sent from external source to your COM port (COM1 ir COM2) is
     intercepted and spooled to disk....all in the background. (When DISK
     SPOOL II intercepts data being sent to COM1 and/or COM2 from an external
     source, it is placed in a file called MONCOM1 or MONCOM2 in the same
     directory and with the same file extenstion as was designated as the
     default Spool File directory and file extension.  You man specify
     any multiple combination of these ports.  You may also change this
     attribute "on the fly" from within the pop-up menu.

     The Despooler has a corresponding attribute; namely, the port to which
     spooled data is "despooled".  Again, DISK SPOOL II can be configured to
     despool to any of the four standard ports; and this designation can
     also be changed "on the fly" from within the pop-up menu.  You may
     also designate that the Despooler send its output to the same port
     "from which it came".  If you have more than one output device
     attached to your computer, this setting can come in handy.  (Note:
     with DISK SPOOL II you can actually be printing two things at the same
     time.  You could have the Despooler configured to despool to one
     printer, and then with the Spooler disabled, output data to the other
     printer.)




  V. THE SPOOL FILE

     DISK SPOOL II comes pre-configured so that when it is first loaded
     into memory, it will look for a file called SPO.SPL in a directory on
     the c: drive.  If it does not find such a file, then it creates one.
     It then attaches the Spooler and Despooler to this file.  You may
     configure DISK SPOOL II to use any file, directory, or disk drive you
     wish.  You can even specify separate files for the Spooler and the
     Despooler. And as always, these designations can be changed "on the fly"
     from within the pop-up menu.  (One interesting setting is to leave the
     drive and path designations blank.  Then, as you change directories, and
     when data is spooled, DISK SPOOL II will create a new spool file in the
     current directory.  This is useful if you wish to segregate different
     types of printouts into different spool files.)

     When the spool file is empty, it only takes up 33 bytes on your disk
     or diskette.  It continues to grow as data is spooled into it.  There
     are three ways in which data is purged from the spool file:

     1) Clearing it manually.

        If the file you wish to clear is the one currently attached to the
        Spooler, then you can take the Files Clear Spooler menu sequence.
        Similarly, if the file is currently attached to the Despooler, then
        you can take the Files Clear Despooler menu sequence.  Also, if you
        take the Files List menu sequence you are presented with a list of
        files, and you can delete any one you choose.  (You can also simply
        delete the file using DOS' DELETE or ERASE commands.  Don't worry
        about deleting the current Spool file, as DISK SPOOL II will
        automatically re-create the file if it needs to.)

     2) Letting DISK SPOOL II clean up after you.

        DISK SPOOL II may be configured so that each time it is loaded
        into memory it checks the default Spool file to see if it has
        been printed out completely; and if so, it clears it.  Then it does
        the same with the default Despool file.  This is the way DISK
        SPOOL II comes configured to you.

     3) Having DISK SPOOL II Resize the default Despool file dynamically.

        If you anticipate running low on disk space, perhaps because you
        are going to do quite a bit of printing before the next reboot;
        and if you don't want to have to concern yourself with manually
        clearing or deleting files, then you can set DISK SPOOL II up so
        that it shrinks the file as it is despooling dynamically.  That is to
        say, each time the Despooler reaches the end of the file, it
        clears it.




 VI. CONTROLLING THE DESPOOLER

     As described above, you decide when printing is to take place by being
     able to enable and disable the Despooler.  You also have control over
     where the Despooler is to begin processing the disk file.  When you
     enable the Despooler, you have three methods to choose from:

     1) At the beginning of the file

     2) After the last fully printed document.

        To understand this method you must first know what is meant by a
        "document".  If after a certain amount of time, the Spooler does
        not receive any more characters, it presumes that the document is
        complete, and outputs a special control code to the spool file.
        DISK SPOOL II can be configured for a wide range of lapse times,
        and it comes pre-configured to you as 8 seconds.  When the
        Despooler encounters such a control code, it updates the location
        of the next character in the header area of the file.  In this way,
        it knows where to reposition itself if you elect to enable it using
        this method.  Note that if your system fails in the middle of
        despooling, then you are able to restart despooling at just the
        right place by using this method.

     3) At the end of the file.

        This method of enabling the Despooler means that the Despooler will
        begin at the point where it last left off when last it was
        disabled.  If for whatever reason you disabled the Despooler, you
        can pick up right where you left off by using this method.

        In addition to being able to enable the Despooler in any of the
        three methods described above, you can reposition the Despooler so
        that it begins printing at any line you choose.  You simply display
        the despool file, position the starting line to the top of the
        display using the arrow and Pg keys, and then press the 'P' key.




VII. FINE TUNING DISK SPOOL II.

     Note: before going through the Fine Tune procedures, try setting
     the Turbo Despool option in SP2CFG.  With this option set, DISK SPOOL
     II will despool at the very fastest speed possible, and it will take
     up the least reasources of your machine.  However, some hardware
     does not support this option, in which case, it is appropriate to
     go through the Fine Tune process.

     As described in the Introduction, DISK SPOOL II is able to despool in
     the background by making use of excess computer cycles.  Depending on
     the speed of your processor the number of cycles available varies
     from one computer to another.  Also, the speed at which a printer can
     accept characters varies from one make and model to another.  DISK
     SPOOL II has two parameters which enable you to fine tune it to best
     fit your hardware installation.  These are called the Outbytes and the
     Retry parameters.  You can change their values from within the pop-up
     menu, and you can configure DISK SPOOL II so that the settings you
     choose are in effect at the time the program is started up.

     Here is the way to fine tune these values for your hardware:

     1. Enable the Spooler and disable the Despooler.

     2. Spool out a document that is sufficiently large that it is going
        take several minutes to print out once the Despooler is enabled.

     3. Using the pop-up menu, set the Outbytes value to 32 and the Retry
        value to 1.

     4. Enable the Despooler.

     5. Wait about 30 seconds and then begin increasing the Retry value
        by holding your finger down on the up arrow key.  At a certain
        point, you are going to notice a dramatic increase in printer
        speed.  You have now found the threshold value for the Retry
        parameter.  Go up just a little higher and use this value to
        configure DISK SPOOL II.

     6. Now increase the Outbytes value.  You may not perceive any
        further increase in printer speed in which case the printer should
        already be pretty much at full speed.  If you don't see any
        increase, then reset Outbytes to 32 and use this value to
        configure DISK SPOOL II.  If you do perceive an increase in speed,
        it will probably be fairly gradual.  The Outbytes value is not
        quite as critical.  The rule of thumb is to set it high enough so
        that you do not perceive any slowing down in your computer's response
        time.




VIII. HOW TO CONFIGURE DISK SPOOL II

      Your diskette comes with a program called SP2CFG.COM which is used to
      configure DISK SPOOL II.  Any settings made will take affect starting
      when DISK SPOOL II is next loaded into memory.  To run SP2CFG, place
      it and SP2.COM in the same directory, make this the default
      directory, and then key in SP2CFG.  This program is fairly self
      descriptive.  You simply position the reverse image bar over the
      selection you wish to change using the four arrow keys, and hit the
      Enter key.  To exit, simply position the reverse image bar over the
      Quit option.




  IX. OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES OF DISK SPOOL II

      1. DISK SPOOL II may be taken out of memory (thus freeing up the
         memory for other applications) by keying in SP2 t.

      2. You may redirect the Despooler's output to a device driver or to
         a disk file.  To do this, key in SP2 @XXXXXXXX where the X's
         represent the name of the device driver or the disk file (8
         characters maximum).  Here is a good reason for redirecting the
         Despooler's output to a disk file:  DISK SPOOL II can be
         configured to utilize a compress algorithm as it is spooling data
         out to disk, and in fact DISK SPOOL II comes to you with this
         configuration.  However, with a compressed spool file, you can't
         port the file directly to a word processor.  But, if you redirect
         the Despooler's output to a disk file, then the result is a file
         that is an exact image of the printed document.

         To cancel redirection and revert back to normal processing, key
         in SP2 @.

      3. Several other command line arguments exist and can be included at
         the time SP2 is keyed in.  These command line arguments override
         the default configurations and are useful when you are not sure
         how DISK SPOOL II is presently configured.  You may key in as
         many arguments as you wish; the only requirement being that you
         leave a space between the SP2 and the first argument.  Note also
         that you can key SP2 along with parameters even if you've already
         initiated DISK SPOOL II into memory.  The desired changes will take
         place immediately.  The arguments are as follows (upper or lower case
         letters allowed):

         K - spool and despool using a COM port
         P - spool and despool using an LPT port
         1 - COM/LPT 1
         2 - COM/LPT 2
         # - disable the Spooler and the Despooler
         $ - enable the Spooler and the Despooler
         % - enable the Spooler
         & - enable the Despooler
         * - disable the Despooler
         + - disable the Spooler
         x - clear the default spool file
         a-j - place the spool file on this drive
         k - enable the "dynamic resize of despool file" feature (this is
             where the despool file is cleared as soon as the Despooler is
             reached the end of the file.)

      4. You may display the contents of the spool file or the despool
         file.  You may also display the contents of any DISK SPOOL II
         file by choosing from the Files List menu sequence.


                    ... NOW ENJOY SPOOLING AND DESPOOLING ...