Category : Printer Utilities
Archive   : PRCONF13.ZIP
Filename : PRCONF.DOC

===============
P R C O N F
===============


Software by

American Systems and Technology Resource Associates, Inc.

(A*S*T*R*A)

7315 Wisconsin Avenue - Suite 935-N
Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 907-6980


PRCONF (c) Copyright 1989, 1990, is a software product registered with
the Office of Copyright. All rights to this software are property of
A*S*T*R*A, Inc.





Latest Version: v.1.3.c

Rev.: Feb 15 1990

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRCONF Documentation Page One
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


===================
L E G A L E S E
===================

This program is provided on an "as is" basis without warranty of any
kind, expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied
warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
The entire risk as to the quality and performance of this program
rests solely with the user. Should parts of this program prove
defective, the user will assume the entire cost of all necessary
repair, servicing, and correction. In no event will the authors,
their assignees or agents be liable for any damages, including any
lost profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential
damages arising out of the use or inability to use this program, even
if the same have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may have other
rights which may vary from state to state. By operating the above
program, you acknowledge that you have read this agreement,
understand it, and agree to be bound by its terms and conditions.
You further agree that it is the complete and exclusive statement of
the agreement, which supercedes any proposal or prior agreement, oral
or written, and any other communication.




================
REQUIREMENTS
================


PRCONF was designed to run under an MS-DOS version 3.2 or later
environment. Some of the menueing routines require a color graphics
adapter, even if it runs on a monochrome display. It has been known
to run on systems with Hercules boards, although we strongly
recommend the IBM-compatible graphics.

- IBM-PC, AT or True compatible

- 256K of available memory.

- 1 Floppy disk drive (2 recommended)

- Color Graphics Adapter and Monitor

- A programmable printer capable of accepting escape sequences
in decimal triplets (such as 027 040 ... ...) to select the
various printing options.

- DOS 2.1 or higher, DOS 3.0 or higher is recommended

Due to the wide variety of equipment in the market, we cannot assure
the software will perform in every configuration.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRCONF Documentation Page Two
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=======================
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
=======================

The many features available in modern printers provide a wealth of
options to the end user of magnificent machines such as laser print
devices with downloadable fonts, compressed print, portrait and
landscape orientation, etc., etc.; however, changing print options on
your printer has not been made easy. At best one has to walk over to
the printer, push a variety of buttons on the front of the device,
turn the equipment off and on, and, many times, hope for the best.

This operation is complicated by the fact that some of these
expensive devices are shared amongst several users in one location.
By the time one gets to manually set up the appropriate options
somebody else's print out begins to come out before ours has a chance
to get started. When it finally does, theirs was printed with the
wrong settings and ours was irretrievably lost, or started printing
half-way down someone's last page, etc.

All of this effort, aggravation and gymnastics can be eliminated (or
at least alleviated) by PRCONF if your printer will accept
programmable escape sequences.

PRCONF is a small program which comes to your assistance in managing
your need to reconfigure printers.

PRCONF will maintain a control file of up to 20 different escape
sequences which you can describe for your particular brand of printer
and will be able to use for printing of different reports or files.
If your needs change in the future, you can easily add, change or
delete some of the escape sequences.

Should you need to maintain several printing environments, PRCONF
will look for the control file in the default drive and partition, so
that if you call PRCONF from C:\SALES you will be using a different
control file than if you call it from C:\PAYROLL, for example. This
feature comes in handy if you are using different model printers for
different jobs, or require different settings for preprinted forms.

One thing you must remember is to initialize the print port you wish
to use. The print port is usually initialized in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
file with the command PRINT \d:LPTn, where n= 1, 2 or 3. If you do
not initialize your print port, PRCONF will ask you for an assignment
at the time the PRINT command is issued. However, once the LPTn port
is selected, PRCONF will continue to use that port until it is
reassigned.

Should you have printers hooked up to different ports, you could
create a couple of small BATch files to initialize the appropriate
port prior to calling PRCONF.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRCONF Documentation Page Three
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The control file PRCONF.CTL distributed with this program contains,
as a way of sample, 10 different escape sequences for the Hewlett
Packard LaserJet-II printer. You can continue to use these, delete
them, modify them, etc. to fit your particular printing requirements.
The escape sequences for the Hewlett Packard may not be compatible
with an OKIDATA or CANON or EPSON, or any other type of printer.
Each printer manufacturer publishes a description of the available
programmable escape sequences for their particular printer in the
printer's User's Manual.

You may be able to select several print options into one single
command string. For example, although you can select...

10 cpi pitch Bold Printing and 6 lines per inch

...individually, you could set up one of the options in PRCONF with
all three together, calling it, for example, QUARTERLY CATALOG, or
whatever name you wish. Selecting the one option number for
QUARTERLY CATALOG will automatically set up the three options for you
at once.



PROGRAM OPTIONS
---------------

When you call PRCONF initially, a horizontal menu will be displayed
with the different program options, the PRCONF.CTL file will be read
and the 20 print selections displayed in a window. The horizontal
menu will contain the following options:


SELECT FORMFEED PRINT ADD CHANGE DELETE EXIT QUIT


The cursor will be pointing to the SELECT entry, which is the most
commonly used entry. You can move the cursor using the traditional
cursor keys, (East arrow, West arrow, North Arrow, South Arrow),
or by typing in the first letter of the option. In order to pick an
option, move the cursor to the option desired and press the ENTER
key. You can select QUIT or press the ESC key in order to abort the
program. To terminate in an orderly fashion and come out to
system level select EXIT from the menu.

The individual options are discussed below:

SELECT
------
This option will allow you to utilize any of the 20 printer
selections. You can only select an option which has been previously
defined. Once the option is selected the program will confirm that
that option is in effect.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRCONF Documentation Page Four
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


After you select the SELECT option, you can enter the number of any of
the 20 printer selections in the window you wish to select. Once you
have selected a valid option number, the program will confirm the
particular option is in effect, and return you to the menu.

FORMFEED
--------
Many times you need to page eject, to assure there is nothing pending
in the printer buffer, or that your report will start at the
beginning of a new page or form. Select this option as needed, once
for every page you wish to eject.

PRINT
-----
This option will allow you to specify a filename to print. You will
be requested for the file name. You can enter the complete filename
including path if necessary, otherwise PRCONF will look for the file
in the default drive.

Do NOT use masking characters (i.e. A:*.* will produce a FILE NOT
FOUND error condition).

Once a file has been queued up for print, it will remain in the
print queue but will not start printing until you exit PRCONF.

ADD
---
This option will allow you to name and define a new escape sequence
string. You will first be prompted for the option number, then for
the name of this string. Then you will need to enter the escape
sequence in decimal triplets separated by spaces, such as:

027 038 108 049 079

(The above escape sequence sorresponds to a Landscape Print option
for the Hewlett Packard LaserJet-II printer.)

Please notice the formatting restrictions. Any other formatting,
such as 027,038,108,049,079 -or- 27 38 108 49 79 are NOT acceptable
to PRCONF.

CHANGE
------
This will allow you to change an already existing print option.
First you will be prompted for the number of the string to change.
If this is an existing string, you will be given the opportunity to
change the name, and, finally, you will be given the opportunity to
change the escape string itself.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRCONF Documentation Page Five
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In changing the string the following keys can be used to help your
editing tasks: (FOR VERSIONS PRIOR TO 1.2.c) SEE NOTES FOR VERSION 1.2
IN THE FOLLOWING PAGES.

Home - Positions you at beginning of string
End - Positions you at End of string
Arrows - Slide cursor left / right
Del - Deletes character at cursor
Ins - Insert Toggle, indicated by cursor shape
F5 - Restores string to its original state prior to changes
Enter/Return - Terminates the editing session

DELETE
------
This will allow you to delete an existing print option.

EXIT
----
Returns to DOS, updating any changes made to the control strings.

QUIT
----
Returns to DOS without updating any changes made to control strings.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRCONF Documentation Page Six
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------
CHANGES MADE IN VERSION 1.2.c
-------------------------------
Release Date of Version 1.2.c - Feb. 2, 1990
Release Date of Version 1.3.c - Feb. 15, 1990

(VERSION 1.2.c was released with a compiler bug fixed in V.1.3.c )

Two major areas of improvement - LONGER COMMAND STRINGS and
RUN FROM COMMAND LINE WITH SWITCH SETTINGS.

LONGER COMMAND STRINGS - The ADD and CHANGE options now allow for
control strings of up to 180 characters to be entered. This is an
improvement over the previous maximum length of 54 characters.

In order to allow for greater ease in the input and editing tasks,
an Edit Window is displayed over the Main Menu area either blank, in
the case of the ADD function, or with the contents of the previous
string in the case of a CHANGE function.

The editing rules and positioning keys used by the Edit Window routine
are pretty much the same as the normal string editing routines, with
the following exceptions: ESC key terminates the Edit Window routine
and the F5 key to restore the string to its original state is disabled
in the Edit Window.


RUN FROM COMMAND LINE WITH SWITCH SETTINGS - This facility has been
implemented for those users who are already familiar with their
printer control options and wish to use the program without going
through the menu selection and display.

This option also comes in handy for running the program from batch
files and gives the user the ability to change the printer
configuration during unattended print periods.

COMMAND LINE OPTIONS:

PRCONF /Sn /F /Pfilename.ext

Where: /S = SELECTION SWITCH - Selects Printer Option #n
(values of n = 1 to 20)
/F = FORMFEED SWITCH - Issues a Form Feed

/P = PRINT FILE SWITCH - Queues up filename.ext for Print

Any other options/formats are ignored.

All commands are executed in the order specified.

If an error is encountered during execution, program is aborted at
that point and no further processing is attempted.

Messages are displayed as the program executes each command in order
to provide the user some sort of audit trail.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRCONF Documentation Page Seven
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


For example, the following command string:

PRCONF /S1 /F /Pc:\1stqrtr.rpt /S5 /Pc:\two\2ndqrtr.rpt


would produce the following audit trail:


*** PRCONF *** vers. v.1.2c activated on 02-05-1990 at 14:02:43
Selection 1 - RESET PRINTER Now In Effect.
FormFeed Processed.
File: C:\1STQRTR.RPT is now in print queue.
Selection 5 - COMPRESSED PRINT - 16 CPI Now In Effect.
File: C:\TWO\2NDQRTR.RPT is now in print queue.
*** PRCONF *** stop run on 02-05-1990 at 14:02:51



If you wished to capture the audit trail in a memory file for
auditing purposes, you could just as easily redirect the screen
output to a file, such as:

PRCONF /S1 /F /Pc:\1stqrtr.rpt /S5 /Pc:\two\2ndqrtr.rpt > PRINTJOB.OUT

(Then next morning you can see the results of your print run)

TYPE PRINTJOB.OUT
*** PRCONF *** vers. v.1.2c activated on 02-05-1990 at 14:06:43
Selection 1 - RESET PRINTER Now In Effect.
FormFeed Processed.
File: C:\1STQRTR.RPT is now in print queue.
Selection 5 - COMPRESSED PRINT - 16 CPI Now In Effect.
File: C:\TWO\2NDQRTR.RPT is now in print queue.
*** PRCONF *** stop run on 02-05-1990 at 14:06:48


PLEASE NOTE: PRCONF will process each command in order,
as it is encountered. Should a command be
found in error the program will abort at that point,
after having processed previous commands correctly.
Since this facility was designed to run from a BAT file
environment, no attempt is made to recover from an error
bypassing the error condition and proceeding with the
rest of the commands, as this may render overall results
useless.

ONE MORE NOTE: Versions prior to 2.1 would tend to hang up the
system if one or more configuration commands were issued
while the system was busy printing. This was caused by
the configuration commands, the FormFeeds etc. being
issued from the program directly to the printer thus
bypassing DOS's PRINT queue program. Version 2.1 now

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRCONF Documentation Page Eight
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


creates a little ASCII file with the contents of each
command string selected, and this file gets queued up for
print just prior to the data file being printed. In this
fashion we also assure that the proper print controls will
get to the printer just prior to the data file. Thus, the data
file will be printed with the printer properly configured.

The control files cannot be erased after queueing up, as
they are not processed until the print queue is free.
You may notice these little control files showing up
in your default drive with the filenames PRCONFnn.TMP.
(nn corresponds to the Option Number [01-20] in your
control file, or the letters FF which stand for Form
Feed.) As these files are re-created each time you issue
a printer selection or formfeed, you may safely erase them
once your print jobs are finished, if they bother you.

ON ACCOUNT OF THIS, YOU MAY WISH TO INCREASE THE LIMIT ON
THE NUMBER OF FILES WHICH THE PRINT COMMAND WILL ALLOW YOU
TO HOLD IN THE QUEUE (DEFAULT IS 10) BY ISSUING THE COMMAND...

PRINT /q:32

...in your AUTOEXEC.BAT. The above command
will allow you to queue up to 32 files for printing.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
===================
REGISTRATION FORM
===================

The following Registration Form will allow us to maintain your name
and address readily on file to notify you of any future revisions
and software releases.

This is a service available only to registered users. We urge you to
fill the registration form and mail it in to us as quickly as possible.
Should you require future assistance with this software product we will
need to have your registration form on file prior to helping you.

Price per single copy of PRCONF is $15.00. Please inquire about
multiple copy price and multi-site licensing by filling out the
form below and mailing it to our address:

ASTRA, Inc.
7315 Wisconsin Avenue - Suite 935-N
Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 907-6980

You will receive by mail a registered copy of the latest version of
PRCONF commercial version (without the random number software lock.)
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING SHAREWARE !!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRCONF Registration Form
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

American Systems and Technology
Resource Associates, Inc.
7315 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 935-N
Bethesda, MD 20814
Date: ________________
Dear Sirs:

Please register the following copy of PRCONF under the following name:

Name: _________________________________________________________

Company: _________________________________________________________

Address: _________________________________________________________

City: _________________________________________________________

State: __________________________ Zip Code _____________________

Computer: _____________________________________DOS Version_________

Printer(s): ______________________________________________________

The number of my current copy is: ___________________ (This number
is stamped on the PRCONF diskette label. OR provide us with the BBS
name and number or the software distributor where you obtained your
copy from:_________________________________________________________)

PLEASE CHECK ALL THAT APPLY:

[__] Single Copy Price of $15.00 is enclosed.

[__] Please quote me special price on ________ single copies.

[__] I would like information on site licensing. (Please describe).

[__] I think I have found a bug. (Explain below, specify the exact
problem, send a Screen Print of the error if possible.)

[__] __________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Comments or Suggestions:

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________