Fwd: Printwizard & PDF

[Bob Rasmussen]

On Mon, 5 Mar 2007, Richard Hane wrote:

> I am forwarding this email to the list because I believe Bob's web site 
> and resulting email are down.

We're back up. But I'll answer here in case anyone else is interested.

>    
>   Thank you,
>   Rick Hane
>   
> 
> Richard Hane <yoresoft at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>   Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2007 06:53:15 -0800 (PST)
> From: Richard Hane <yoresoft at sbcglobal.net>
> Subject: Printwizard & PDF
> To: Bob Rasmussen <ras at anzio.com>
> 
>   Hi Bob,
>    
>   It's been a while since we talked.
>    As you saw last week I had started a thread on the fo list about 
>   printing HTML from filePro and the need to be able to define page 
>   breaks.  Although I have a specific need for this for one set of apps, 
>   I have another situation here at work that Printwizard may solve.
>
>    We have a 20 workstation (4 server) Win2000/2003 network.  I am using 
>   fpODBC 5.x.
>
>   The problem is that we have a lot (8) laser printers. All are HP but 
>   many different models. So whenever a user changes stations or we get a 
>   new workstation or printer I have to change the printer=xxxx command.  
>   This is a pain.  If their respective outputs could be made in to a PDF 
>   then as long as they can print to their printer through Windows there 
>   would be no need to set up fp.

>    My question..... I have a program called PDF995 which works fine 
>   except the user still has to answer some questions each time they 
>   print.  Is printing a PDF from filePro then printing the PDF to the 
>   printer seamless?  Do the forms have to be set up in Printwizard or 
>   does the output print from fp to the printer all be it as a PDF file?  
>   Lastly, how do you have to set up the printer definition in filePro?

Last thing first. Print Wizard can be made to run with no user 
intervention.

I am not clear on whether you are running a) filePro on each machine, 
sharing a database; or b) terminal emulation on each machine, connected to 
a filePro server.

If a) you can use PFPOSTPRINT on each PC to cause it to put the print job 
into a file and then launch a program, which in this case would be Print 
Wizard Personal Edition.

If b) you can do any of the following:

   b.1) Run AnzioWin, use PFPT to do passthrough print from filePro, and 
use AnzioWin's built-in Print Wizard. This means you do not need to define 
each printer to the server.

   b.2) Cross-mount a directory, such as with Samba, and configure fP to 
drop your print files there. Run Print Wizard Server Edition (PWSE) on 
each PC to run in despooler mode, in which it watches a directory and 
prints whatever shows up there.

   b.3) Define each printer as a remove LPD printer. Run PWSE's LPD to 
receive the print jobs and print them.

   b.4) Use the JetDirect protocol to send data from the server to PWSE 
running in "listen" (JetDirect) mode on each PC.

So that's the plumbing options. Now let's talk about the contents.

It is true that you can create PDFs, allowing the user to view, archive, 
print, and email the files. However, that is not the only way to get 
device independence. Here are two other ways:

1. Output in PCL (user one of the Asman printer definitions in filePro), 
and tell PW (however you run it) to TRANSLATEPCL. PW will read and 
understand the PCL codes, and render the output consistently on any 
printer that Windows supports, even non-PCL and Windows-only printers. It 
can also render to PDF or fax.

2. Install and use our Print Wizard printer definition file for fP. This 
makes fP output PWML (Print Wizard Markup Language), which PW then 
interprets. Compared to PCL, this can make it easier to include graphics, 
form overlays, rotated text, barcodes, and some other things.

As always, I'm willing to help.

Regards,
....Bob Rasmussen,   President,   Rasmussen Software, Inc.

personal e-mail: ras at anzio.com
 company e-mail: rsi at anzio.com
          voice: (US) 503-624-0360 (9:00-6:00 Pacific Time)
            fax: (US) 503-624-0760
            web: http://www.anzio.com