Welcome to Budget Software's DISK SPOOL II. This program guides you in installing DISK SPOOL II on your system. The menu items are accessed by pressing Alt-x, where 'x' is the highlited letter of the menu. For example, the "Configure" menu is pulled down by Alt-C. Or, if you have a mouse, you can click on menu items to select them.
After filling out the items in the "Configure" menu, press Alt-I to bring down the "Go" menu option. Then press Enter. That's all you have to do, then you are ready to use DISK SPOOL II.
Please note that there are several advanced as well as "fine-tune" features that are not presented in this installation program. When you get time, be sure to read the SP2.DOC and the SP2NEW.DOC files (you can view them from within this install program by taking the "View" menu option); and also, take the time to run SP2CFG ... the program that allows you to make these additional configurations. To run SP2CFG, just key in SP2CFG SP2.COM. :
Applications
DISK SPOOL II is a useful utility in conjuction with virtually any application. Certain ones, such as Windows 3.x or AutoCad, require special configurations. Take the "Applications" menu option to obtain information about such applications. (
Lastly
Be sure to view the latest enhancements by taking the the "View
New DOC" menu sequence. &
Press ESC to close this help window.
THelpTopic
System
About
This menu option tells you which version of DISK SPOOL II you are installing.
THelpTopic
System
Exit
This option exits out of this install program.
THelpTopic
Configuration
Printers
This option provides you with displays for indicating which ports have printers attached.
THelpTopic
Configuration
Directories
This option provides you with a display for indicating where you wish DISK SPOOL II files to reside on your computer.
THelpTopic
Configuration
Options
This option provides you with a display for indicating various installation options.
THelpTopic
Install
Review
Taking this option allows you to review your installation options
THelpTopic
Install
Taking this option will initiate the installation process according to the way your selections in the Configuration menu.
Contrast this to the "Install
Everything" menu item, where all files are copied to your hard drive without regard to your Configuration selections. The "Install
Everything" is for advanced users who wish to tailor their programs using SP2CFG.
THelpTopic
Install
Everything
This option installs all of the program files onto your hard drive.
** CAUTION **
This option is for advanced users who wish to configure DISK SPOOL II using SP2CFG, according to the indications found in the User's Guide.
This options disregards all options you may have taken in the Configure menu with respect to printer ports, spool file directory, configuration options, etc. The only Configure option not ignored is the one indicating the program directory.
THelpTopic
View
Main DOC
Taking this option will provide you with a display of the main documentation file supplied on in your installation diskette. O
The information contained in this document is also found in the User's Guide.
THelpTopic
View
New DOC
This option displays a document describing new features not contained in View
Main DOC or the User's Manual. r
It is important that you read or print this document if you want to be able to take advantage of these features.
THelpTopic
Configure Printers
Indicate the ports where printers are attached. %
You may do so in any of three ways: "
- Use the arrow keys to position S
the cursor over the desired port,
and press the space bar to toggle
the 'X'.
- Press Alt along with the highlited )
letter of the port you wish to toggle.
- Click your mouse while the cursor
is in the desired location.
THelpTopic
Configure COM Protocol
Indicate the settings that match those of your printer/plotter.
Regarding the Handshaking selection: Most printers / plotters that are attached to a COM port can be configured to either hardware, or software (Xon/Xoff) handshaking. If you have the choice, choose the hardware method, since it is simpler and thus more reliable.
THelpTopic
Configure Directories
In this display you designate various directories that are of significance to DISK SPOOL II, the meanings of which are as follows:
Program Files F
This is the directory where the installation program will place the program files. Note that this is the directory where you will always initiate DISK SPOOL II. For example, if you wanted to initiate DISK SPOOL II from within your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, and assuming this directory was c:\ds2, then you would include the line:
c:\ds2\sp2
The files written to this directory are: )
SP2.COM -> main program-TSR version
or
SP2.DRV -> main program-DRV version '
SP2CFG.COM -> configuration program.
This program can be used to change any of the installation options after you have installed DISK SPOOL II. It can also be used to make various fine-tune adjustments. Refer to the User's Guide for a complete description of this program. <
SP2PRT.COM -> a lightning-fast DOS file printing program. -
SP2.HLP -> context-sensitive HELP file.
Spool Files ;
This is the directory where your spool files will reside.
The "Monitor" feature
If any of your applications are able to send their printed output to a disk file (as can Window 3.0, for instance), then you can take advantage of the "Monitor" feature of DISK SPOOL II. With this feature, you are able to indicate two directories that DISK SPOOL II will continuously monitor. Here is how it works: If any file appears in the directory, and if it matches the designated "skeleton", then it will be automatically enqueued for background printing.
This feature is particularly powerful in that applications send their data to files much more quickly than they do to a printer port ... even faster than DISK SPOOL II can do when it intercepts the printer output and re-routes it to disk.
Furthermore, many graphics-oriented packages, such as AutoCad, send their printer/plotter output in such a manner as to make it impossible for a spooler product to intercept and re-route to disk. Using the Monitor feature, therefore, overcomes this situation. >
Monitor #1 directory, "skelton", and printout destination
Any file that appears in this directory, and that matches the "skeleton" will be automatically enqueued by DISK SPOOL II for background printing. <
For example, let's say that you are configured as follows: ]
Directory............ c:\c1
Skeleton............. *.plt
Printout destination. com1
Then, if your application created any file of the form *.plt into directory c:\c1 DISK SPOOL II would enqueue it for back- ground printing to com1.
Note that enabling this Monitor feature does not conflict with the normal spooling process. In other words, you can still print data in the usual manner, and DISK SPOOL II will spool it. It's just that if any file appears in one of the Monitor directories, it too will be spooled.
THelpTopic
Print
Main DOC
Use this option to print the main documentation file. Note that the information contained in this file can also be found in the User's Guide. #
Instead of printing this long document from within this install program, you ought to proceed with the installation, load DISK SPOOL II into memory, and then take advantage of it's main feature: the ability to print in the background so that you are free to continue work on your computer.
THelpTopic
Print
New DOC
This option prints the document describing new features not contained in View
Main DOC or in the User's Manual. r
It is important that you view or print this document if you want to be able to take advantage of these features.
THelpTopic
Configure Options
Each of the Configure Options is described in this HELP topic. Note: for more complete explanations, refer to the User's Guide, and to the SP2NEW.DOC file. t
To select an item either click on the item, or use the Tab key to highlite the item, and then press the space bar. E
The Pop-up Window
The Pop-up Window gives you the ability to perform many significant spooling functions from within a window that can be popped-up almost anytime. ~
You can view a list of spooled documents, start and stop printing, change ports, change the number of copies, and much more.
Note that even without the Pop-up Window, you still have some control over printing and spooling. Refer to the User's Guide for more details. K
The Monitor feature
With the Monitor feature active, DISK SPOOL II monitors two directories (that you designated in the Configuration dialog box) for the presence of files whose names fit a designated "skeleton". When such a file appears, it is automatically enqueued for background printing. 3
This feature is needed when your application program sends output directly to the printer port, rather than via conventional means. (If you have loaded DISK SPOOL II into memory, and then find that when your application prints it seems to bypass DISK SPOOL II and go directly to the printer, then this is a sure sign that this application sends output directly to the printer port.) All you have to do in this situation is to have your application send its output to a disk file instead of to a printer port. Just send it to the designated Monitor directory. j
You should consider using this method of spooling even if your application does send its output via conventional means ... particularly if you are dealing with any kind of graphical output. Applications generally can send their data to a disk file in a very efficient way. And this means that you will get control of your computer back all that more quickly. i
Deleting files after printing
This options gives you control over the disposition of your spool files after they have been printed.
One advantage to leaving them around is that you have an archive of documents printed. And you can always manually delete them, either by using the DOS DEL command, or by popping up DISK SPOOL II's window and keying a 9 by any file you wish to delete.
If you are designating a RAM drive as your spool file drive, or if you elect to spool to EMS memory (see the User's Guide about this option), then you should definitely have the spool files deleted after printing. Otherwise, you will fill up your memory in a hurry. ]
Expanded/Extended support
If you elect to use Extended (HMA) memory, DISK SPOOL II will attempt to load into the HMA. This is the area just above the 1 Meg boundary. If it succeeds, then virtually all of the code will be placed there, leaving only 3k in lower memory. If it fails, then the code will all be place in lower memory.
The main reason for failing to be able to load into the HMA is if something else resides there ... such as a RAM drive, or DOS 5.0.
If you elect to use Expanded (EMS) memory, then if your machine has such memory, DISK SPOOL II will load about one half of its code into this area. E
Drivers vs. TSR's
There is virtually no difference between the driver (.DRV) and the TSR (.COM) versions of DISK SPOOL II. Here are a few considerations, however:
If you experience problems with DISK SPOOL II, it is almost always because there is a conflict between it and another driver or TSR. A good deal of the time, such conflicts can be resolved by simply changing the order in which the two are loaded. So, for example, if you find that the offending program happens to be one of your drivers, then you would want to use the driver verion of DISK SPOOL II so that you could try loading it before the other driver. r
Sometimes, memory manager programs are more successful in dealing with drivers than they are dealing with TSR's.
If you use the device driver version, you will need to put a statement device=<filespec> into your CONFIG.SYS file ... where <filespec> would be c:\ds2\sp2.drv if you elected to install the program files to c:\ds2. s
The TSR version can be loaded from withing your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, or you can load it from a command line prompt. h
The TSR version can be removed from memory to free up memory. A driver cannot be removed from memory. ?
The Log feature
With the Log feature active, DISK SPOOL II will maintain a log file of all despooling activity. This file includes start and stop time, the name of the file printed, the printer port, and a client name, billable flag, and rate.
THelpTopic
Error creating direcories
Make sure that your directories are indicated in this form:
c:\dir1\dir2\dir3
Things to consider: %
- Did you include a drive, followed
by a colon?
- Are you using the \ between directories? +
- Are the directory names 8 characters or
less?
- Do the directory names start with a
character or a digit?
THelpTopic
Error copying programs
I can't think of a reason why you'd get this error, unless it's because your disk drive is full. So, you better call Budget Software at (303) 695-9095.
THelpTopic
Applications
Windows
This option will describe configuration strategy for using DISK SPOOL II in a Windows 3.x (or similar) environment.
THelpTopic
Applications
AutoCad
This option will describe configuration strategy for using DISK SPOOL II in an AutoCad (or similar) environment.
THelpTopic
Application
Windows
DISK SPOOL II works well with Windows 3.x; both when printing from non-Windows app's as well as from Windows app's. #
The basic strategy is as follows: /
1. Load DISK SPOOL II before loading Windows. *
2. With non-Windows app's, DISK SPOOL II
will behave as just as you would expect:
it will spool printed data, and
de-spool (print) in the background.
This background printing will occur even
if you switch to another window.
3. If you use Windows app's, then here's what
to do:
- When configuring DISK SPOOL II, select
the Monitor feature. For purposes of the
rest of this discussion, let's assume that
you have indicated one of the directories
DISK SPOOL II is to monitor as C:\L1.
- Edit your WIN.INI file, adding the following
line in the area entitled [ports]:
C:\L1\WINFILE.PRN=
This part of your WIN.INI file will look
something like this:
[ports]
LPT1:=
LPT2:=
LPT3:=
COM1:=9600,n,8,1
COM2:=9600,n,8,1
COM3:=9600,n,8,1
COM4:=9600,n,8,1
EPT:=
FILE:=
LPT1.OS2=
LPT2.OS2=
C:\L1\WINFILE.PRN=
- Go back into Windows, and configure
your printer to output to this new
location. (You'll see C:\L1\WINFILE.PRN
as a new item underneath LPT2.OS2.)
The basic steps for doing this are:
- Double click the Control Panel
(from Main).
- Double click the Printers icon.
- Select your printer, and click
on the Configure... option.
- Scroll the Ports list box until
C:\L1\WINFILE.PRN is highlighted.
- Turn off Print Manager
The end result of this will be that now when you choose to print something from a Windows app, it will automatically be directed by Windows to the file WINFILE.PRN in directory C:\L1. And then DISK SPOOL II Monitor will automatically enqueue the file for background printing. Don't worry about the fact that your next print job will also be writing to WINFILE.PRN. The Monitor will have already renamed the first file for you. N
And finally, you may obtain DISK SPOOL II's popup window in one of two ways: +
- Window to a DOS window, and tap the hot
keys.
- A program called POPUP.COM will be
installed in your DISK SPOOL II directory.
When run, this program causes the popup
window to appear. The most efficient
way to utilize POPUP.COM is to create a
group entitled Non-Windows app's (by
taking the New option from the File
menu in Main), and then to add POPUP.COM
to this group. In this manner, you will
have an icon that you can double-click
in order to obtain the popup window.
THelpTopic
Application
AutoCad
DISK SPOOL II works very well with AutoCad.
The strategy is to configure DISK SPOOL II's Monitor feature to be active. This causes DISK SPOOL II to monitor in the background for the presence of a file in a designated directory; and if a file appears there, to automatically enqueue it for background printing.
And now, you simply instruct to AutoCad to plot (or print) to a file instead of to a port; and when prompted to key in the file name, you key the drive and directory that the Monitor is watching.
You can automate things somewhat by configuring AutoCad so that it always sends its files to one of your Monitor directories. Here's how it works:
Say DISK SPOOL II is monitoring directory c:\c1 for plot files. You indicate to AutoCad that you want plot files to go to that directory automatically by doing the following: +
1) Get into AutoCad's main menu, and take "
option 5 to configure AutoCad.
2) Take option 8 to Configure Operating
Parms.
3) Take option 4 to indicate Plot Spooler
Directory.
4) Key in c:\c1. 9
Note: you should also configure AutoCad to create the file with the same name as the document being plotted. This way, when you view your queued print files, you'll be able to tell which drawings are involved. You do this by taking option 3 from AutoCad's Operating Parms menu, and then entering a period (.).
(.txt)