counting printed copyes

[Ivan Altaparmakov]

Hi

does anybody know way to count printed copies
on HPLaserJet printers . (MV4 & 2100)
I need to count number of pages printed by each
account in NT domain , but i don't want to use
WINdows event log , but separate file only for printed pages.
Is it possible to do this from HP-UX 10.20
using samba server, or from Linux ?
Is there any windows programs that can do this
but log printed pages in its own log file , not in windows event log ?

Thanks

[Craig Rants]

Ivan,
HPUX keeps track of how many print jobs are sent to a specific printer. When you use lp you get an output that looks like this:

request id is is5simx-45 (1 file)

The 45 represents how many jobs have gone to that printer since it was created.

Hope this leads you down the right path.

[Bill Hassell]

I think what you want is a page count for each job, but that is not possible. In the old days, you could count the number of lines in a simple ASCII print file and divide by 66 (typically, 66 lines per page). However, the advent of high resolution laser printers makes that task impossible without writing a complete print language interpreter. Some of the lines will be actual text but will have proportional spacing codes inserted, while other lines are actually downloaded fonts (no pages to print) and other lines are bit mapped images where thousands of lines correspond to one page of graohics.

Newer printers do have the ability to communicate a page count back to the computer but this is complicated by use of print servers (you mentioned NT) or one-directional interfaces. For HP JetDirect cards installed in HP LaserJet printers that support PJL, it might be possible to write a custom program thart can query the printer within the lp spooler model script. You would need a PJL reference book and some JetDirect and scripting skills.

[Ivan Altaparmakov]

Hi , thanks??.
actually windows NT automatically logs printed pages in windows event log??
but i need program that will??
log printer activity??
in separate file .
Most important is relation
"windous NT Domain account" ->
"number of printed pages" .

Does HP have such program ???
Or someone else ???

I had heard that such counting?? of printed pages??
could be done on UNIX/Linux using Samba Server 2.2 and Winbind .??
Do You have any information about this???

thanks again.

[Herve BRANGIER]

Hi

CUPS project may be a way to use filters for
pages number accounting.

Have a look to these links :

http://www.cups.org
http://www.cups.org/sam.html#7_6_3

HTH

Herv??

[Wodisch]

Hello,

from the UN*X lp spooler "interface" script that would be relatively easy, using one of at least two approaches to get the page count:
1) using SNMP to get the "Printed Pages" number from the printer itself
2) using some sort of printing language understanding software from within the interface script.
Ad 1) This does need an SNMP agent running on the printer (true for JetDirect interfaces), the knowledge of the "community string" (.i.e. SNMP password) and the "MIB Variable" containing the number you want.
Ad 2) For PostScript there is a package named "GhostScript" which could do this for you.

In both cases your "interface script" would do the "reporting" to your external database or logfile.

HTH,
Wodisch