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

Text File | 1980-01-01 | 20.5 KB | 550 lines

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             ▌                                       ▐
             ▌        D I S K   S P O O L   II       ▐
             ▌                                       ▐
             ▌              (c) Copyright            ▐
             ▌         Budget Software Company       ▐
             ▌             P. O. Box 12282           ▐
             ▌         12162 E. Mississippi Ave.     ▐
             ▌          Aurora, CO  80012-3499       ▐
             ▌                                       ▐
             ▌              [phone]           ▐
             ▌                                       ▐
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           W E L C O M E   T O   D I S K   S P O O L   II

Use the PageUp, PageDown, and the  keys to move about this display.
When you're ready to exit, press the ESC key.



Welcome to DISK SPOOL II.  There are several ways to get to know
DISK SPOOL II better.  First, every menu tier has a HELP selection.
By pressing the letter 'H', help text pertaining to this tier
will be displayed.  Second, you can view the User's Guide by taking
the 'L' (Learning) menu selection from the primary tier, and then
the 'U' (User's Guide) menu selection.  Lastly, a very good way to
get to know DISK SPOOL II is to go into the configuration program
(SP2CFG).  As you move the cursor over the various options, a
complete description of the option is shown at the bottom of the
display.


Please note that you may tailor the Help Text file (SP2.HLP) if
you want to include your own helpful hints and information.  To do
so, simply go into your text editor, locate the menu tier, and add
or change the text to suit your needs.  DISK SPOOL II uses the
first letter(s) of the menu keying sequence followed by a special
control character in order to find the appropriate help text.
Therefore, the only thing you need to worry about is not destroying
these control lines.


Here is a description of the menu options for this tier:


'S' (Spooling)
--------------
Allows you to control the Spooler; namely, to enable it or to
disable it.  When Spooling is enabled, then data sent to LPT1,
or to whichever port you designate (menu selections Values
Spoolport) will be intercepted and re-routed to the "current"
Spool File.  Note that the top part of the pop-up menu tells you
which file is the "current" Spool File.

When Spooling is disabled, then all data goes directly to the
output port, thus bypassing DISK SPOOL II altogether.

Regarding the Spooler, there is another feature of DISK SPOOL II
called Auto Spool File.  With this feature enabled, DISK SPOOL II
will automatically create a new spool file for each document.
It senses the end-of-document by means of a time delay, the length
of which you may designate using the configuration program SP2CFG.
The (F)iles (L)ist menu option will show you all of the files that
have been thus created.  From this display, you can view the
contents of a spooled file (or any other file, for that matter),
delete a file, or designate a file to be printed.  Auto Spool File
places the spool files in the same directory that you have
designated in configuration to be the default spool directory.
So, if you utilize this feature, it is wise to configure a
directory other than the root directory, since DOS places a
restriction on the number of files that the root directory
may contain.

Important Note:  Due to limitations in DOS, using a DOS command
to effect printing does not work along with DISK SPOOL II.  Do not,
for example, use the PRINT command.  Or, do not key in the command
TYPE filespec > LPT1 to print text files.  Use, rather, the command
supplied on your diskette called SP2PRT.  This will perform the
same functions as using a DOS command ... namely, it will effect
the printing of a text file.  In fact, you can use this command
whether or not spooling is enabled.  Here are some examples:

     SP2PRT filespec LPT1  -- prints a file to LPT1 (and if DISK
                              SPOOL II is spooling LPT1, it will
                              re-direct the output to disk.

     SP2PRT filespec COM2  -- prints a file to COM2.

     SP2PRT filespec       -- prints a file to LPT1.


'D' (Despooling)
----------------
Allows you to control the Despooler.  When the Despooler is enabled,
it works in the background printing data contained in the "current"
Despool File.  The data is sent to the port that you have designated
in the menu selection Values Despoolport.  When the Despooler is
disabled, then this does not take place.

'F' (Files)
-----------
Allows you to perform functions pertaining to the spooled files;
namely, to designate a different Spool File or Despool File; to
display the contents of the "current" Spool or Despool Files; and
to clear the data contained in either of these files.  Additionaly,
there is an option to List files.  This option displays a list of
files whose names meet a user definable selection criteria.  And
from this display, you can do things like selecting one or more of
the files for viewing; deleting one or more files; and attaching
the Spooler and/or the Despooler to one of the files.

'V' (Values)
------------
From this menu selection you are able to set various DISK SPOOL II
configurations.  These include, the ports that are to be spooled,
the port to send despooled data to, and the "fine tune" values
used to fine tune your printing speed.

'L' (Learning)
--------------
Takes you to the menu tier from where you can display the User's
Guide.  Another selection from that tier, called TimingTests,
lets you perform informative timing tests that enable you to clearly
visualize the kind of time savings you receive by having a spooling
environment.

∙S
┌────────────┐
│ (S)pooling │
└────────────┘

Here is a description of the menu options for this tier:


'E' (Enable)
------------
Allows you to enable to spooling process.  Once spooling is enabled,
data sent to any of the ports that you have designated from the
Values Spoolport menu will be re-routed to the "current" Spool
File.  Note that the name of the "current" Spool File is displayed
at the top part of the pop-up menu.

If the Auto Spool File feature is enabled, then DISK SPOOL II will
create a new file for each document printed.

'D' (Disable)
-------------
Allows you to disable the spooling process.  Any data sent to an
LPT or a COM port will go directly to that port, thus bypassing
DISK SPOOL II altogether.  Note that the status of the spooling
function does not affect what is happening with the despooling
process.  In other words, even though spooling may be disabled,
you can still be despooling.  In fact, if you have two printing
devices, you could be despooling to one of them, while in the
foreground -- with spooling disabled -- be printing to the other.
In this manner, both printers will be active at the same time.

'A' (Autospool)
---------------
With Auto Spool enabled, the Spooler will create a different spool
file for every document that is printed.  Go into the (F)iles (L)ist
menu option to view a list of the files created.  Then you can
selectively take option 3 to attach the Despooler to any file
that you wish printed.

∙SA
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ (S)pooling  (A)utospool │
└─────────────────────────┘

Here is a description of the menu options for this tier:


'E' (Enable)
------------
With Auto Spool enabled, the Spooler will create a different file
for each document printed.  DISK SPOOL II determines when a document
is done by means of a time delay whose value you can configure
using SP2CFG.  To view a list of the files thus created, take the
(F)iles (L)ist menu selection.  From that display, you can select
files for viewing, for deleting, and for printing.

Note that DISK SPOOL II places the spool files into the "default
spool file directory" as designated in SP2CFG.  If you choose to
utilize the Auto Spool File feature, then it is wise to designate
a different directory than the root directory, since DOS places
a limit on the number of files that may reside in the root
directory.


'D' (Disable)
-------------
Disables the Auto Spool feature.  Spooling reverts back to the
file that was the current Spool File at the time the Auto Spool
feature was enabled.

∙D
┌──────────────┐
│ (D)espooling │
└──────────────┘

Here is a description of the menu options for this tier:


'E' (Enable)
------------
Allows you to enable the despooling process.  With despooling
enabled, data contained in the "current" Despool File is sent to
the port designated in the Values Despoolport menu selection.
With despooling disabled, this process does not take place.  Note
that the despooling status is not tied to the spooling status.  If,
for example, spooling were enabled and despooling disabled, then
data would be stored in the Spool File for printing at a later time,
or on a different machine.

One interesting note:  generally, data is sent directly to the port
designated at the Values Despoolport menu option.  However, you
may also direct the Despooler to send data to a disk file or to
a device driver.  One reason why you might want to despool to a disk
file would be to feed the spooled data into a work processor or into
a spread sheet.  You see, DISK SPOOL II comes pre-configured to
compress spooled data onto disk so that as little disk space as is
necessary is taken up. You could change this configuration using the
SP2CFG program, or you could simply despool to a disk file.

A reason for wanting to despool to a device driver might be, for
example, if instead of having spooled data be despooled directly to
a port, you wanted to feed it into another process.  A case where
this would be appropriate is where your system is hooked up to a
printer hardware sharing program, which program is expecting to
receive data being sent to LPT1.  If the despooler were sending
data directly to the port, then it would bypass that program.  So,
to get around this, you despool instead to device driver LPT1.

To despool to a disk file or to a device driver, you key in
SP2 @xxxxxxxx, where the 'x's represent the name of the file or of
the device driver.  You can reconfigure DISK SPOOL II in this manner
without having to take DISK SPOOL II out of memory.  You can cancel
this "redirecting of the Despooler" function by keying in SP2 @.


'D' (Disable)
-------------
Allows you to disable the despooling process.  With despooling
disabled, background processing of the Despool File does not take
place.

Note that you can disable the despooler, and then pick up exactly
where you left off by taking the Despooling Enable End menu option.
This might be useful if you just wanted to quiet the printer while
you did your work.  Also, you can disable the Despooler, and then
start it back up so that it begins printing at the beginning of
the document that was currently printing.  This is useful if you
get a paper jam.

Note that sometimes when you take the Disable option, a little
time passes before the Despooler is actually stopped.  This is
so that it can finish what is currently in the despooler buffer.
If you truly want to be able to instantaneously stop the Despooler,
then go into the configuration program (SP2CFG) and disable the
Compress feature.


∙DE
┌───────────────────────┐
│ (D)espooling (E)nable │
└───────────────────────┘

Here is a description of the menu options for this tier:


'B' (Beginning)
---------------
Tells the Despooler to start printing at the beginning of the
"current" Despool File.

'D' (Document)
--------------
Tells the Despooler to start printing at the beginning of the
"current" document of the "current" Despool File.  To understand
what this means, you must first understand a little about how
DISK SPOOL II functions.  If after spooling data, a certain amount
of time elapses before another character is spooled, DISK SPOOL II
places a special control character out in the Spool File.  The
Despooler keeps track of where it encountered such a control
character, thus enabling it to know where to start printing when
you take this menu option.  You can configure the length of the
elapse time by using SP2CFG.

This menu option is particularly useful when your printer jams.


'E' (End)
---------
Tells the Despooler to pick up exactly where it last left off.  You
may, for instance, want to disable despooling in order to quiet the
printer, or to change the ribbon.  Then you can pick right up
where you left off by taking this menu selection.


Note that there is another very useful way of designating where the
Despooler is to begin printing.  You can start the Despooler at any
spot you wish within the Despool File by taking the Files Display
Despooler menu selection, positioning the display to where you
want to begin printing, and then pressing the 'P' key.


∙F
┌─────────┐
│ (F)iles │
└─────────┘

Here is a description of the menu options for this tier:


'A' (Attach)
------------
The "current" Spool and/or Despool Files may be changed by taking
this menu selection.

'L' (List)
----------
A list of files out on disk may be displayed by taking this menu
selection.  From this list, files may be attached to the Spooler
and/or the Despooler, files may be deleted, and files may be
viewed.  By default, when this list first is first displayed,
only those files on the current drive and in the current directory
are shown.  By pressing F6, you may designate different scan
criteria.

An extremely useful feature of DISK SPOOL II is that if it should
happen that your disk drive fills up while spooling is taking place,
then DISK SPOOL II automatically takes you to this display, thus
enabling you to make more room on the drive by deleting one or
more files; or enabling you to designate a different drive to
continue spooling on.

'D' (Display)
-------------
Allows you to display the contents of the "current" Spool or
Despool file.

'C' (Clear)
-----------
Allows you to clear the "current" Spool or Despool file.  Note that
DISK SPOOL II really does shrink the file down to 33 bytes.  Thus
your valuable disk space is not taken up.

There are other ways that your Spool and/or Despool files can be
cleared:

 -- You can always use DOS' DEL command.  Don't worry if you delete
    the "current" Spool File.  DISK SPOOL II will create a new one
    if it needs to.

 -- You can configure DISK SPOOL II to clear the "current" Spool
    and Despool files if, upon loading the program into memory,
    it senses that these files have been completely despooled.
    This is the way DISK SPOOL II comes configured.

 -- You can configure DISK SPOOL II to dynamically resize the
    "current" Despool File as it get despooled.  This is the option
    to take if you do a heavy amount of printing, or if you are
    limited to disk space.

∙FA
┌──────────────────┐
│ (F)iles (A)ttach │
└──────────────────┘

Here is a description of the menu options for this tier:


'D' (Despooler)
---------------
Enables you to designate which file to despool from.

'S' (Spooler)
-------------

Enables you to designate the name of the file to spool to.  An
interesting designation is to leave out the drive id and/or the
path.  In this manner DISK SPOOL II will create a spool file in
whichever drive/directory it currently finds itself.  This is
a good way to keep spooled files segregated.


∙FC
┌─────────────────┐
│ (F)iles (C)lear │
└─────────────────┘

Here is a description of the menu options for this tier:


'D' (Despooler)
---------------
Enables you to clear the "current" Despool File.

'S' (Spooler)
-------------
Enables you to clear the "current" Spool File.

∙FD
┌───────────────────┐
│ (F)iles (D)isplay │
└───────────────────┘

Here is a description of the menu options for this tier:


'D' (Despooler)
---------------
Enables you to display the contents of the "current" Despool File.
From that display, you can instruct the Despooler to begin printing
at any location in the file by first positioning the top line of
the display to where you wish to begin printing, and then pressing
the 'P' key.


'S' (Spooler)
-------------
Enables you to display the contents of the "current" Spool File.

∙L
┌────────────┐
│ (L)earning │
└────────────┘

Here is a description of the menu options for this tier:


'U' (UserGuide)
---------------
Display the User's Guide (found in file SP2.DOC).

'T' (TimingTests)
-----------------
This is a very interesting and powerful means of demonstrating
the effectiveness of a spooling environment.  By enabling the
timing tests, you can easily visualize the time savings involved
with a spooling environment.  DISK SPOOL II will show you the
amount of time it took to print something without spooling and the
amount of time it took with spooling.

∙LT
┌──────────────────────────┐
│ (L)earning (T)imingtests │
└──────────────────────────┘

Here is a description of the menu options for this tier:


'E' (Enable)
------------
By taking this menu selection, you are instructing DISK SPOOL II
to maintain spooling vs. non-spooling statistics.  You can view
these statistics by taking the 'O' (Open) menu selection.

'D' (Disable)
-------------
This menu selection instructs DISK SPOOL II to suspend the
statistics.  The values obtained thus far are not erased.

'O' (Open)
----------
Open the timing tests statistics window.  This window will be
maintained and shown on the display even when you exit the pop-up
menu.

'C' (Close)
-----------
Close the timing tests statistics window.  If the timing tests
statistics are Enabled, then they will still be maintainted, even
though the window is not open.

'S' (SpoReset)
---------------
Resets the "Spooling mode" statistics back to 0.

'N' (NonspoReset)
-----------------
Resets the "Non-spooling mode" statistics back to 0.


∙V
┌──────────┐
│ (V)alues │
└──────────┘

Here is a description of the menu options for this tier:

Please note:  The Outbytes and the Retry values are used for
fine tuning DISK SPOOL II for your system.  Refer to the User's
Guide for exact instructions on how to determine the appropriate
settings for you.  Note, however, that you can configure DISK SPOOL
II to perform "Turbo Despool".  This configuration results in the
very fastest and efficient despooling possible.  It just so happens,
however, that certain LPT hardware does not support this kind of
despooling.  If, upon configuring DISK SPOOL II to "Turbo Despool,
you encounter extremely slow printing, then you should use the
fine-tuning method.

'O' (Outbytes)
--------------
This value is used in fine tuning your system in order to obtain
optimal despooling speed.  Note that the very best despooling
performance is achieved by configuring DISK SPOOL II for
"Turbo Despool" (see SP2CFG program).  However, in some situations,
this is not effective.  And at that point, fine-tuning is required.
The Outbytes value determines how many bytes of information DISK
SPOOL II attempts to send at each timer tick (which occurs
approximately 18 times per second).

'R' (Retry)
-----------
This value is used along with the Outbytes value described above
in order to fine tune your system.  As with the Outbytes value,
this value is meaningful only if Turbo Despool does not work for
you.  This value represents an amount of time that DISK SPOOL II
will wait before sending each subsequent byte after the first
during a timer interrupt.

'S' (Spoolport)
---------------
This selection enables you to designate one or many ports that
DISK SPOOL II is to spool.  When a port is so designated, then
any data sent to that port is re-routed to the Spool File.

The COM1 Input and the COM2 Input designations allow you to
intercept and reroute data coming in from an external source.
DISK SPOOL II will route this data to a seperate file from the
Spool File; namely, if the data came from COM1 the file name
used is MONCOM1 and it is placed in the same directory and with
the same file extension as the defaults of the Spool File.  In a
similar manner, if the data came from COM2, it is placed in
MONCOM2.

'D' (Despoolport)
-----------------
This selection enables you to designate the port that the Despooler
is to send data out to.  The "Despool to whichever port was spooled"
option instructs the Despooler to sent the data to the same port
from which it was intercepted by the Spooler.


∙zzzzz