Examples of PH_PRINTER variable contents

[John MacLerran]

Thanks, Joe,
The Google search brought to light an example that gave me an idea that 
I was able to make work.

Here's what I did.

1.  Previously, I had a script named   'landljdt', which contained the 
following StarPage commands:
/home/starjet/starpage -c/home/starjet/forms/d1t143le.sp -d$ISU_RDEV $*
(Note, the /home directory stuff is where StarPage is installed. The 
d1t143le.sp file is the 'environment' file that prints landscape duplex, 
and $ISU_RDEV is an environment variable that will specify the print 
destination.)

2. In quiz, I could do the following:
set rep dev printer "landljdt"

That works, but, I didn't want to hard-code the printer target in each 
quiz, I wanted to be able to set the PH_PRINTER variable in order to 
make it more dynamic and more easily maintained.

3. What I finally did is create a PH_PRINTER variable with the following:
cat | landljdt

That pipes the Quiz output through my script file, which then invokes 
StarPage to print landscape duplex on the printer I had specified in my 
ISU_RDEV variable.  Now, in quiz, we can just say:   set rep dev printer 
noeject page    and use quiz's normal output handling via the PH_PRINTER 
variable.

And it works!  Now, we will be able to create our print environments in 
StarPage, create a script for each one similar to the 'landljdt' one, 
and be able to print from quiz without hard-coding the environment name 
in the quiz.

A side benefit is that we can set PH_PRINTER to be 'slave.txt' and be 
able to dynamically send the output to a slaved printer, without 
changing the quiz code (i.e. we can still say SET REP DEV PRINTER 
NOEJECTPAGE and use the slave printer just by changing the PH_PRINTER 
variable. cool!)

Thanks again!

Joe Boyle wrote:

>You could try typing the string below ( or variation ) at the Google search
>page, there are a number of possible solutions there,
>
>site:lists.sowder.com powerh-l PH_PRINTER
>
>Regards, Joe.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: powerh-l-bounces+atla38=dsl.pipex.com at lists.sowder.com
>[mailto:powerh-l-bounces+atla38=dsl.pipex.com at lists.sowder.com] On Behalf Of
>John MacLerran
>Sent: 12 December 2005 23:22
>To: powerh-l at lists.sowder.com
>Subject: Examples of PH_PRINTER variable contents
>
>Dear PowerHouse list,
>
>I'm trying to figure out how to use the PH_PRINTER environment 
>variable.  We are migrating from MPE to Unix, and have installed 
>PH843D1.  I find references to how PH_PRINTER can be used to specify 
>where to print the output, but I can't find a good example of what is to 
>be in that variable.  Is it just the printer name?  (BTW, HP-UX 11i, 
>Eloquence and C-ISAM, in addition to PH843).
>
>Also, we are planning to use a product named StarPage to print some of 
>our output -- StarPage can merge data and forms in a manner that 
>functions similarly to environment files on the HP3000.  Is anyone else 
>here using that product?  If so, can you share some tips for how to set 
>the PH_PRINTER variable when using StarPage?
>
>Thanks!
>
>  
>

-- 
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  John MacLerran
  IT Systems Analyst                       email:   macljohn at isu.edu
  Idaho State University                             V(208) 282-2954
  http://www.isu.edu/~macljohn                       F(208) 282-3673
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