WebFOCUS Newsletter September 2005 - ReportCaster Printer Queue Support and E-mail Defaults

Release 5 of ReportCaster marked a change in printing architecture. Starting with this release, ReportCaster has supported network printing via the standard LPR network protocol.

LPR stands for Line Printer Remote. It is a printer protocol that uses TCP/IP to establish connections between printers and workstations on a network. The technology was developed originally for Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) Unix and has since become the de facto cross-platform printing protocol.

In essence, the ReportCaster printing architecture is recognized as the standard in network printing. Almost all network printers today support the LPR protocol.

New Queue Feature

In releases 5.2.8, 5.3.4 and 7.1.1 of ReportCaster printer queue support has been added to the printing architecture. Printer queues offer greater flexibility in print distribution and hardware allocation.

With previous releases of ReportCaster, users could only specify a standalone, networked printer as a destination. This meant that the printer was solely responsible for managing the print jobs sent to it.

Now with queue support, it is possible to not only specify a standalone, networked printer, but also any host with print queues. This means that print jobs can be directed to a server for print management. Unlike a standalone printer, a server can host multiple queues for a number of connected printers. Users can check printer queue depth and print status on the server. Administrators can manage various jobs and printers from one server to make administration easier.

Queue Printing Syntax

To support the new printer queue functionality, ReportCaster now supports an additional printer syntax for printer distribution. The syntax form is queue@host where queue is the defined printer queue for the given host.

Please note that all releases with queue support are fully backward-compatible with prior releases using the LPR architecture. The syntax for specifying a specific standalone printer remains unchanged.

Here are some printer syntax examples:

Standalone printer: myprinter.example.com
Printer queue on a host: bobprinter@server.example.com

Listed below are some useful commands for administering printer queues on the Unix platform:

lpr/lp allows printing from the host's shell; you should use this command to test your printer setup by providing a test text file and queue name as arguments
lpq/lpstat allows you to show the status of print jobs
lprm/cancel removes a print job from a queue

Note that the particular command for your platform depends on which Unix platform you are using. For comprehensiveness, both styles are listed.

E-mail Defaults

A little known feature of ReportCaster is its ability to provide a default name and address within e-mail distribution. In most scenarios, users should be filling out their name and e-mail address. However, what happens if you don't? ReportCaster will fill out the missing field with the value user@host where user is the currently logged-in user and host is the name of machine you are logged into.

For example, let's say I am logged in as vincent and my desktop is called winxp32. If I omit the From: and Reply Address: fields from the Distribution tab in ReportCaster, the schedule will still run correctly. Upon receiving this e-mail distribution in my e-mail program, the sender's name and address will show as vincent@winxp32.

In most cases, this e-mail address will not be useful because your desktop may not be set up to route incoming e-mail. Thus, replies to your distribution e-mail will never be received. However, if your organization does not intend to allow for e-mail responses to ReportCaster distributions, using the defaults will help you save time when managing schedules.

These tips should help your organization better take advantage ReportCaster's capabilities. I look forward to sharing more with you in future newsletters.