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- From: dan@innosoft.com (Daniel C. Newman)
- Newsgroups: vmsnet.mail.pmdf
- Subject: RE: Using PMDF to deliver printer files
- Message-ID: <01GOCF8RTG8Y9TCN1O@INNOSOFT.COM>
- Date: 3 Sep 92 03:35:31 GMT
- Organization: The Internet
- Lines: 49
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- Resent-Date: 03 Sep 1992 10:35:31 -0700 (PDT)
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-
- > We have a number of small satellite VAX/VMS systems all over the
- > USA that we remotely support via dialup logins and PMDF e-mail.
- >
- > We are investigating the possibility of setting up a home grown
- > implementation of something that acts like DQS, but uses PMDF
- > (dialup PhoneNet) and DELIVER instead of a DECNet connection to
- > transfer print files. We are facing the fact that even a modest
- > file (without any graphics--just line printer ASCII of 200-1000
- > blocks) will take many minutes to transfer so we must consider a
- > data compression utility as well.
- >
- > Has anyone "pushed the envelope" with PMDF and associated
- > utilities to deliver files to remote printer queues? Any
- > suggestions for implementation (or pit falls)?
-
- Actually several people have done things like this using PMDF and DELIVER. For
- instance, Ned had a mechanism set up which would allow him to typeset a theatre
- program and then have it printed on a printer back in Oklahoma where members of
- the community theatre he worked with could then pick it up.
-
- Probably the best way to do this with DELIVER is:
-
- (1) Set up a command procedure which does the following:
- (a) LZW compress the file and then
- (b) mail it to an account running DELIVER on the remote system
- (2) PhoneNet delivers it to the remote system
- (3) MAIL.DELIVERY for the account on the remote system then executes a
- command procedure which does the following:
- (a) decompress the message body and then
- (b) print the resulting file
-
- You can embed printing information into the message body or you can try using
- a Comment: header and use a 1, 2, or 3 DELIVER action to extract that header.
- Using the comment header is risky though. While PMDF doesn't strip Comment:
- headers other mailers sometimes do. Also, another Comment: header my get
- added along the way.
-
- If the files may be large, then you can consider using the message
- fragmentation support so as to break the message into smaller units. By doing
- this you avoid the problem whereby a phone line glitch kills the message half
- way through its transmission and you then PhoneNet has to start sending the
- message again from scratch. The /MAXBLOCKS qualifier to PMDF SEND may be used
- or you can use a maxblocks keyword on the PhoneNet channel itself.
-
- It is unfortunate that MIME does not have a compression scheme since that would
- have simplified your life greatly. However, the working group did not come to
- closure in time on a compression scheme.
-
- Dan
-