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Windows Print-to-File

Code: 
D:\My Documents\Newsletter>net view \\192.168.1.66
Shared resources at \\192.168.1.66

Epson Printer

Share name  Type  Used as  Comment

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FAXRECV     Disk           EPSON
The command completed successfully.
 
Code: 
D:\My Documents\Newsletter>copy /b Newsletter.prn \\EPSON78163A\FAXRECV
The device is not ready.
        0 file(s) copied.

D:\My Documents\Newsletter>lpr -S \\EPSON78163A\FAXRECV -P raw Newsletter.prn
Error: host \\EPSON78163A\FAXRECV is unknown.

What is it I don't understand?
 
Black Hole said:
FAXRECV Disk EPSON
Click to expand...
I'd have expected to see a type of "Printer" there rather than "Disk".
D:\My Documents\Newsletter>copy /b Newsletter.prn \\EPSON78163A\FAXRECV
The device is not ready.
Click to expand...
One wonders what the point is of making it look like a block device which then doesn't accept files. I expect you'd have to ask Epson. :roflmao:
Perhaps the clue is in the FAXRECV bit? Perhaps it's read only. I don't know. I give up!
D:\My Documents\Newsletter>lpr -S \\EPSON78163A\FAXRECV -P raw Newsletter.prn
Click to expand...
lpr is a TCP/IP program. It deals with IP addresses or host names, not SMB style UNC names.
I think you've probably found the correct solution already.
 
The main difficulty now is to find the IP address of the printer if it is likely to change.
What do you get if you open a command window and type "ping -a 192.168.1.66" ?
If you get "Pinging somename [192.168.1.66]..." as the reply you might be able to use somename in place of the IP address in the lpr command in future.
 
Mike0001 said:
Does drag and drop printing still work in windoze?
Click to expand...
In general you mean? Yes, but I still can't drop the .prn file into the queue for that printer, even after marking it as default - it seems .prn is associated with CorelDRAW and the drag&drop process goes to the CorelDRAW API which baulks at it.
 
Black Hole said:
In general you mean? Yes, but I still can't drop the .prn file into the queue for that printer, even after marking it as default - it seems .prn is associated with CorelDRAW and the drag&drop process goes to the CorelDRAW API which baulks at it.
Click to expand...
Remove the association then, and set it back to its default.
 
I agree - it was not a problem while using the normal print service, the system is somehow able to find it, but I'll have no trouble giving it a fixed IP address. Still curious to know what Epson have to say.

Mike0001 said:
Remove the association then, and set it back to its default.
Click to expand...
Doesn't matter - my script is better than a drag&drop solution.
 
Generally, scripts are better than GUI operations for all but the simplest operations.

The problem with drag and drop printing is that in some cases there are two ways to print a file. Take a PostScript file: do you want to print it as text source or execute it?
 
As BH has already printed the newsletter to a file, any processing required has been done. The file needs to be presented to the printer in a raw or binary form with no extra processing. Putting it through the print queue again by drag-and-drop is likely to cause a problem...
Mike0001 said:
... do you want to print it as text source or execute it?
Click to expand...
Execute?
 
EEPhil said:
Execute?
Click to expand...
Postscript is a language. Printers run the postscript program to generate the printed page. Sometimes you might want to see the raw postscript program.
I'm sure most of us will have seen some raw postscript come out of a printer at some stage instead of the expected output (or maybe just PCL these days)
 
af123 said:
Postscript is a language. Printers run the postscript program to generate the printed page. Sometimes you might want to see the raw postscript program.
I'm sure most of us will have seen some raw postscript come out of a printer at some stage instead of the expected output (or maybe just PCL these days)
Click to expand...
Yes, I know, I have written postscript programs in the past. My point was that printing a file can have multiple meanings.

Anyway, with a postscript printer, the file sent to the printer is the text file, no processing required.
 
af123 said:
I know you know, I was explaining it to EEPhil!
Click to expand...
I set up a Postscript/PCL printer attached to a VAXCluster and a PC many years ago - so I do know. (Well, I did know at the time).
And yes, I did manage to get the Postscript and PCL settings mixed up and get the wrong output.
The point I was trying to make is that BH has already printed to a file - maybe that file is Postscript. You wouldn't want to send it through the Postscript generation phase again and then send it to the printer - you send it directly to the printer. So wouldn't you bypass the printer program/driver on your PC and dump the raw Postscript file to the printer?
EEPhil said:
Execute?
Click to expand...
Late New Year's Resolution: Don't try to be ironic, people don't understand it!
 
Please be aware I wasn't criticising the use of the term execute. My "Execute?" was a combination of saying I thought (but wasn't 100% sure) the printer should be executing and trying to be ironic and suggest the printer should be executed. Clearly, it wasn't clear. In fact it was so opaque that even I don't understand it now.:confused:
 
Last edited:
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