Routing Network print jobs via rlp daemon...??

[Rita C Workman]

A little history ..
To print to a remote printer is easy enough.. Enable rlpdaemon; set up remote printer via SAM; and use lp command to send print jobs to the remote printer.
BUT here's my 'thing'
..we presently set up jobs using the np command (see npadmin). This sets jobs to a queue that can then be controlled and printed to our Xerox printers via a spooler system that will translate it and send to port 9100 for printing.
Now the remote print goes via port 515. Which actually isn't a printer but the Xerox system that controls the print jobs and this system does have an IP address. That's the remote printer defined in /etc/hosts.
...So here's the issue....I was wondering is anyone aware of an interface or a command whereby I could invoke the rlpdaemon to send the network print jobs sitting in these queues (Openspool) to port 515. I know I can simply do a lp command and move the actual file from the queue directory...but I'm trying to make this seemless..so when the operator releases the job..it would then bypass this additional spooler and not go to port 9100, but go to port 515.
I hope I explained this for you...I'm open to any suggestions......otherwise I may need to write my own interface, and I haven't had the time to finish that disk mapping script yet...

[Darrel Louis · Accepted solution]

Rita,

There are still Openspool people in the world?
I?ve used and supported Openspool in the past.
This is a long time so I will try it.

Is the lp-emulation enabled on the Openspool Server?
Because within openspool you can modify the Networkif interface files and specify how the print jobs should be send to the printer.

I had a OCE printer on which we had to ftp to it.

Openspool will out of support soon, so what are you planning to use??

Regards

Darrel

[Tim Malnati]

I don't have a lot of time to do any research at the moment, but I have a thought. Jetadmin uses both 515 and 9100 port interfaces if I remember correctly. My thought is you might be able to be creative with a combination of lp and jetadmin's hpnp (probably via a model script) to reroute it through a different port.

[Rita C Workman]

I got it...

Darrell you were on the right track...I found in Openspool at /opt/openspool/runtime-sw/networkif/etc are the (for lack of the proper terminology) the queue direction instructions. I found host= and printer= and changed it to the remote printer name I assigned when I set up the IP address in /etc/hosts. Voila....guess where it goes. Am I a happy camper..and so are the programmers who otherwise would have had to change tons of programs lp instructions...whew !!
Tim, I agree that is probably another avenue I could have taken, but since the computer operators who do this huge (you know govt and paper) printing. Openspool was the control vehicle they were used to..and the way the print instructions had been coded.

Thanks for the ideas...but if this keeps up, I may get 'gutsy' and give myself a star as an Openspool expert..ha ha

/rcw

[Darrel Louis]

Rita,


You get a star from me, you're the Openspool expert.
I new you could change the interface files, but forgot how to.

Have Fun