DCPS Raw TCP/IP bidirectional protocol

[J.Lorenzi]

Hello
I need to get text files from the VMS/DCPS output for further processing on a Windows 2003 server.

I've a program on the windows side which listens to the 9100 port for any incoming data.
I'm searching some detailed specification of the bidirectional communication between DCPS and a postscript printer to mimic it with my program.

Here is my status:
When starting a print job from DCPS, my program gets from DCPS, replying with a %%[status : idle]%%. DCPS sends a packet of PS code, then expects some acknoledgement.
I'm stuck with this ack answer, so DCPS still shows a PRINTING status.

Any clues ?

Many thanks

[Hakan Zanderau ( Anders]

The latest versions of DCPS supports LPD....
wich means....bidirectional support is not necessary and you can catch the output from DCPS.

Hakan
AKA The Diplomead Printerguru

[Hakan Zanderau ( Anders]

You could try defining the logical
DCPS$queuename_NO_SYNC to prevent handshaking.

You can define the logical to anything 1, "TRUE"....

Hakan

[J.Lorenzi]

Thanks for your answer. Unfortunately, I cannot change the DCPS configuration. I have to cope with the current one. That's why I'm searching the communications internals between the server and the PS printer.

[Hakan Zanderau ( Anders]

> I cannot change the DCPS configuration.

Could you be more specific ?

Defining the logical will ONLY affect the queue
you are trying to catch the data from.

You could try to send Paul Anderson a mail.
He is in DCPS-engineering team.
paul.anderson@hp.com

Hakan

[J.Lorenzi]

Yes I can : I have no access to the vms, nor to the DCPS !

Many thank, I will try with Paul Anderson

[Hakan Zanderau ( Anders]

Sorry for sticking my noose where it doesn't belong.

You are trying to catch a printout from VMS,
but you have NO access to this VMS node.
Who will do the printing ?....and what ?

Is this a hobbysystem ?
If not, why don't ask VMS system management to
help ? The queue is targeting your 2003 server.
Someone must have configured the queue.....

Don't take it the wrong way, I just try show the simplest path.....

Hakan

[Paul Anderson_7]

If you use a DCPS Raw TCP queue, there are a number of questions for which DCPS waits for an answer. Information like the PostScript product name, versions of PostScript prologues loaded in the printer's memory and the number of pages printed are just some.

In addition, DCPS sends a PostScript end-of-job character (control-D) and waits for a response too.

As far as the PostScript status request (control-T) goes, that's been eliminated in DCPS V2.7, so there is no longer any need to define the NO_SYNC logical name.

As mentioned earlier in the thread, using a DCPS LPD queue will eliminate all questions and waits for them.

Paul

[Hoff]

If you (really) want to know how this stuff works, and you absolutely can't make changes to the OpenVMS host system or to the DCPS queues? If that's the case, then this discussion has little to do with OpenVMS and DCPS. You are looking for help building (emulating) part of a printer.

Detailed docs? Here you go:

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/postscript/

That's how Postscript works. You are here writing (part of) a Postscript printer emulation.

It would certainly be easier to get access into the OpenVMS box to make some changes to the application(s) or the queue(s) here (eg: switch to LPD, etc), but it appears you headed for "the hard way.". If so, you might want to scrounge around for any available open-source Postscript printer emulation software, too.

Put another way, this looks to be a question of printer emulation and available open-source or commercial code on Microsoft Windows 2003 server boxes. (Was this a Unix box, I'd look to see if CUPS had anything.)

[J.Lorenzi]

Thank you all for your help and sorry for the delay.

Shortly said : The VMS Administrator is panicked by the idea of changing a single comma on his beloved system, not to mention updating DCPS.... I have to cope with it, even if it's the hard way: I have 30 MFP waiting for it

Hoff: Before coming here I've already searched within the Adobe documentation but there are no clues about my issue. There is a brief description of the serial and parallel communications protocol but nothing about TCP/IP.

Paul: In my case, DCPS was happy with a single idle status ( no prologues or page information).
I see that postscript data sending stops after a MTU packed (1492 octets). I assume that DCPS waits for any kind of low level acknoledgement. Can you give me a clue about it ?

What would be the CTRL-D answer for DCPS?

I assume I'm pretty close of a basic working program but I know that answering to my issue may not be your main purpose.
Can you just send me a log record of a successful transmission between DCPS and any kind PS printer ?

Thank you