Readme for SLPR.PDR

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Overview:

Streaming Line PRinter (SLPR.PDR) is a streaming port driver used to
connect your computer to a printer or print server via a TCP/IP connection.
The driver uses Line Printer Daemon (LPD) Protocol as specified in RFC
1179. This protocol is an almost universal way to send print data to
printers and servers. It is meant to be used as a alternative to the
\PIPE\LPD0 (henceforth LPD0) port driver which is shipped with OS/2.
Some advantages of SLPR.PDR:

- Faster Thruput:
     Data can be sent to the printer almost as soon as it is generated as
     compared to the LPD0 driver which needs to wait until all the printer
     job is generated before it is sent.
- Simpler Setup:
     The LPD0 driver requires a separate program (LPD.EXE) be up and
     running before it will work. Since the LPD program is communicating
     with the printer directly it has the status - not the spooler.
- Better Error Handling:
     With LPD0 any problems are reported via LPD program and not the
     spooler. With SLPR there is a direct interaction with the spooler so
     error recovery is more intelligent.
- User Specified Time-outs:
     With LPD the default is to wait indefinitely so out of paper or
     printer jams are not noticed for a long time. With SLPR any waits
     longer than the user specified time-out generates an easy to see
     pop-up notification.
- More Ports:
     Currently lpd is limited to only one (1) port instance. SLPR can have
     up to 64.

Requirements:

Due to an incompatibly with older levels of the spooler it is highly recommended
that you upgrade to a spooler at or above the specified level as shown in the table
below:

      OS/2 Version              Minimum FixPak Level
      Warp 3                             44
      Warp 4                             16
      Warp server for E Business          3
      ACP1                                2
      MCP1                                2

You can find the upgrade at: http://service5.boulder.ibm.com/pspfixpk.nsf

If you do not want the entire FixPak then you will need to find and replace
the file PMSPL.DLL which resides in \OS2\DLL of the boot drive with the new
version from the proper FixPak. Since the file is normally locked you will
need to do the following:

  1. Shutdown and reboot the system
  2. When you see a white rectangle at the upper left corner of screen
     press the Alt and F1 keys at the same time. You will have to be quick
     about this.
  3. At the Recovery Choices screen select F2 if you are using Warp 4 or
     later to go to the command line. If you are using Warp3 then select C.
  4. When the system finishes booting change directory to \OS2\DLL and
     replace the old PMSPL.DLL with the new one.

Warning: IBM recommends only upgrading to the right FixPak. If you choose
to only upgrade PMSPL.DLL you do so at your own risk.

Installation:

The SLPR port driver package SLPR.EXE is a self extracting zip file
consisting of:

  1. SLPR.PDR - the port driver itself
  2. SLPR.HLP - the port driver help file
  3. SLPR.SYM - symbol file provided for customer support (hopefully not
     needed)
  4. README.HTM - information formatted for a browser
  5. README - information in plain text

If you are reading this you have successfully done the first few steps
which is to download SLPR.EXE and extract it to a scratch directory.

To Install SLPR:

  1. If you need to first install a printer see Installing a New Printer
  2. Open the Properties of the Print Object you are interested in.
  3. Select the Output Port tab of the Print Object Properties.
  4. Click on the Install new port button.
  5. Select the New port drivers radio button.
  6. In the Directory entry field fill in the location of where you
     extracted SLPR.PDR.
  7. Click on the Refresh button.
  8. Double click on the SLPR icon. If you get an error message at this
     step you will need to upgrade your system (or at least PMSPL.DLL). See
     Requirements for further information. Note: You may see two error pop
     ups - one informing you of the incompatibility with the Spooler and
     second warning you of a incorrect environment. The upgrade process
     will take care of both.

Installing a New Printer

  1. Select Printers folder in the Warp Center.
  2. Click on Printer to Create a printer.
  3. If you need assistance in filling in the panel click on the provided
     help button

Filling in the SLPR Properties Dialog:

Printer Destination is where you want the printer job or data to go to.
This can be either an actual printer with a network card or a print server
running LPD protocol. If your print server is an OS/2 machine you might
want to attach using the network printer - it can provide more feedback
from the server as well as allowing transmission of metafiles which are
smaller and faster to send. If your server is not OS/2 or Windows, or you
are going direct to a printer SLPR is the way to go.

     LPD Server is the actual host name URL or IP address of the
     destination printer or print server. This can be either URL
     format \\myprinter.mycompany.com or actual IP address 9.67.96.17

     LPD printer is the actual printer on the printer or queue if you
     going to a print server. If you are going direct to a printer and
     there is only one queue defined (typically the default) you can
     use RAW in this field. If there is more than one queue defined on
     the printer see your system Administrator for what to put in.

Port Name - this is actual name of of the port. It is in the format of
SLPRx where x starts at one (1)and increments with each port you add.

High Performance - This controls whether port driver can send the print
data as soon as it gets it from the application. Older printer network
cards or some LPD programs can not handle streaming data. They need to know
the actual size of all the print data for the job. Since the application or
spooler does not know the size of the data until all of the job is
generated, the entire print job must be stored on the computer before it can
be sent. With newer network cards, you can send the data as it is generated
then tell the card when you are done. This way the overhead of storing the
entire job is eliminated. This feature is very good for print servers since
they are getting and sending a lot of jobs constantly. The default is off
since sending steaming data to a destination that can not accept will
result in a missing print job.
One way to find out whether your destination can accept streaming data is
to leave the option off, and send a job to the target. This is to make sure
your destination is filled out and everything else is in working order. Once
that works, turn on High Performance and try again. If it works, you are set.
If it doesn't work, do not give up yet. Many printer network cards can be
upgraded to the latest levels which might support streaming. Check your
printer manufacturers web site to see if a downloadable upgrade is
available.

LPRPORTD Compatible - This allows the printer to emulate the LPRPORTD format.
If you are having problems with the print jobs being truncated, set the LPRPORTD
Compatible button.  This will ensure that the entire print job has been sent
to the printer before printing begins.

The default setting is for both High Performance and LPRPORTD Compatible to be 
unchecked or set to off.  The Default button will reset these radio buttons.

Print Timeout - When the port driver expects a response from the
destination it will wait this many seconds before alerting the user with a
pop-up. If for some reason you are getting to many pop-ups increase this
number. Remember if you are out of paper or there is a paper jam you will
have to wait the time-out amount.

Other Notes

In order to get the best performance Printer-specific format on Queue
options in the Print Object Properties dialog should not be checked on. Of
course if you had reason to turn on by all means leave it on. If you
destination supports streaming you can turn on Print while spooling on
Queue options in the Print Object Properties dialog. This allows the
spooler to start sending data before the whole job has spooled. If you turn
off High Performance then SLPR will turn off Print while spooling since it
must wait for the whole job anyway.

You can change the values of the port connection once installed by double
clicking on the port icon of interest.

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