Art,
I don't know if I qualify as a 'SysAdmin Guru', but I think that defining a
new device number and class for every printer and printing mode will
quickly become ungainly and may run into limits on device numbers and/or
classes. Consider, if you have a bunch of offices with several printers
and a lot of print modes, any time you add a new printer you're going to
have to configure a <lot> of devices; any time you add a new print mode,
you're going to have to configure a <bunch> * <several> new devices.
I don't know if this will work in your situation, but here are my thoughts:
If everything you need to control about a print mode can be configured in
an environment file, I would configure a single device for each printer; if
you also need to control banner printing, I'd configure two devices.
Either way, I'd just use the default device class. Use a numbering system
that makes it easy to associate a printer with an office.
I suggest that the name referenced in your application be a file formal
designator rather than a device class and I'd try to have a logon udc XEQ a
command file that issues an appropriate set of file equations. The command
file should be able to identify the user's office, if not by their
session,user.account name, then by their logon IP address. If you can,
limit users to printing in their own office; that will let you eliminate
the office from the naming convention and use a smaller number of file
equations. (If you have to allow a user in office A to print on a printer
in office B, the problem gets messier). Your program's naming convention
only has to identify the printer within the office and the printing mode.
You could probably use a single letter to identify the printer (within the
office) and two alpha-numerics for the mode. (You've still got one
character left!)
Create a series of environment files with names corresponding to your
naming convention: ST=standard, GB=greenbar, CO=compressed, ...
DU=duplexed.
Have the program prefix the printer selection with *P to back reference a
file equation beginning with a letter.
Let's say that the login command file determines that I'm in office 01
which, from a table and numbering convention, has laser printers A and B
corresponing to devices 3001 and 3002. It creates file equations for
standard, greenbar, ... duplexed, etc:
FILE PAST;DEV=3001;ENV=ST.HPENV.SYS
FILE PAGB;DEV=3001;ENV=GB.HPENV.SYS
FILE PADU;DEV=3001;ENV=DU.HPENV.SYS
FILE PBST;DEV=3002;ENV=ST.HPENV.SYS
< you get the idea >
I think this will keep your configuration reasonably constrained and let
you manage your printers with one command file and a flat file relating IPs
to offices and printers.
HTH
Thomas M. Root
Desert Schools Federal Credit Union
[log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask]
On Tue, 23 Oct 2001 13:50:41 -0700, Art Bahrs <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Hi All :)
> We are in the Scoping Stage of a project to convert almost all of our
>serial printers (65+) to network printers for use with our 979-200...Yes,
>this is related to all those network printing questions I posted a few
weeks
>ago... the answers to which I am extremely grateful for!! :)
>
> So, the first question is how to allocate logical device numbers to
these
>printers. As of right now, we are going to have at least 5 different
>printing modes for these printers: Standard, Greenbar (landscape
>PCLLP.HPENV.SYS), "Schedule" (17 pitch 8 lpi), Compressed (LP88.HPENV.SYS)
>and Portrait (PCLELITE.HPENV.SYS. I can see us needing more later...
>
> What have others done at their shop to make maintenance easy? Our
>printers are in our dental offices so we will be giving them device class
>names so that the users can tell them apart, and what mode the output will
>come out in! This is because the user's regularly must input what printer
>they want their output to come out on. We have a constraint of 4
characters
>max for a device class name, since some of the software we use is based on
>that limit.
>
> e.g. : Office #1 will have the following Printers:
> O01 -> Standard Printer
> O01L -> Greenbar Printer
> O01P -> Portrait Printer
> O01S -> Schedule Printer
> O01C -> Compressed Portrait Printer
>
> Now, each of these printers will actually be a logical device that is
>created with IOCONFIG and thus will be a LDEV number that I assign... I
want
>to set up a numbering system so that each office has their printers lumped
>together... and I want to have room for growth... so I thot (I know
>dangerous act!! hehe) I would plan on 20 printer LDEV's per office and that
>would allow for growth.
>
>But, I don't know what the down side of this would be... we start our
>virtual terminal LDEVs at 2000... so I had thot to start my printer LDEVs
at
>3000... but with almost 70 printers at 20 ldevs per printer I would quickly
>have LDEV numbers up around 4400! Not all would be used ... but the space
>would be there...
>
>So what do you think, all you SysAdmin Gurus??
>
>Thanks,
>Art "hmmm.... what have I missed this time? hehe" Bahrs
>
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