This document contains the user guide, installation and administration information for LANprint.

Authors: D. & S. Briggs

Revision/Update Information: This document supersedes the LANprint for PATHWORKS User Manual, version 1.1.

Software Version: LANprint version 1.2 or higher.

Copyright ©1993, 1996 BTVC & Vector Networks Limited

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by Vector Networks Limited. Vector Networks Limited assumes no responsibility for errors in this document.

The software described in this document is supplied under a licence and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such licence.

The following trademarks are used in this document:

ARCNET is a registered trademark of Datapoint Corporation.
Bookreader, DECnet, DECwindows, and DECterm are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.
Ethernet is a trademark of Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel Corporation, and Xerox Corporation.
IBM, IBM-PC, OS/2, PC-DOS, XT, NetBIOS, and Token Ring are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.
LAN Manager, Microsoft, MS-DOS, Windows and NT are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Motif is a trademark of the Open Software Foundation, Inc.
NetWare is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc.
PathWay and PathWay Client Plus for DOS are trademarks of The Wollongong Group Inc.
PATHWORKS is a trademark of Digital Equipment Corporation.
PC Tools is a trademark of Central Point Software Inc.
PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc.
POWERfusion and POWERLan are trademarks of Performance Technology, Inc.
QEMM-386 is a trademark of Quarterdeck Office Systems.
UNIX is a registered trademark of UNIX System Laboratories, Inc.
VAX, VAXcluster, VMScluster, OpenVMS, VAX/VMS, VMS, Alpha AXP, Ultrix, and VT are registered trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.
VINES is a trademark of Banyan, Inc.
WordPerfect is a trademark of WordPerfect Corporation.

VIA, Versatile Integration Architecture, the VIA logo, LANutil32, LANutil for PATHWORKS, LANview for PATHWORKS, LANprint/PC and LANprint are trademarks of Vector Networks Limited.

Contents

Index

This document contains the user guide, installation and administration information for the VIA LANprint package. This is a multi-threaded Print Symbiont which provides spooling of VMS print queues onto remote systems which support the Microsoft/IBM LAN Manager ("SMB") protocols. Compatible systems include PCs running Microsoft's Windows NT (Workstation and Server), Windows 95, and Windows for Workgroups, OS/2 systems running LAN Manager, VMS and Unix systems running the PATHWORKS File Server, PCs running Performance Technology's POWERLan, Wollongong's PathWay Client Plus, Unix systems running Performance Technology's POWERfusion, and Wollongong's PathWay Server or Syntax Systems' TotalNET SMBserver. Many other packages/platforms provide LAN Manager protocol print support and should operate with this package, given a compatible network transport in each case.

This package includes support for DECnet and TCP/IP¹ transports, and it will also operate over any LANlink NetBIOS. Suitable LANlink implementations include Vector's LANlink for ARCNET and LANlink for Ethernet NetBIOSs. It is possible to setup print queues using a mixture of network transports.

LANprint supports VAX and Alpha AXP systems running VMS or OpenVMS operating systems. Throughout this document the terms VMS and OpenVMS should be considered synonymous.

This package also includes LANprint/PC which allows an MS-DOS PC to act as a print gateway into non-SMB protocol environments such as Novell NetWare, Banyan VINES, or NFS on TCP/IP. LANprint/PC allows a VMS LANprint queue to send output to a printer attached to a NetWare server, or indeed to potentially any system that supports printer redirection (or 'capture') and that will allow a LANprint-compatible NetBIOS to be loaded in the gateway PC.

1.1 Design Overview

The LANprint Symbiont is a User-Modified Print Symbiont. It allows VMS Print Queue(s) to be re-directed over a NetBIOS network to printer(s) on remote SMB/LAN Manager Server system(s). These systems could be running VMS, Unix, MS-DOS, OS/2, or any operating system which supports the SMB/LAN Manager protocols on a NetBIOS network.

A local database file provides the information required to associate VMS Print Queue(s) with remote printer resources. The Print Symbiont is capable of supporting sixteen print queues simultaneously. (More than sixteen queues can be supported by multiple Symbiont processes, and this is managed automatically by the VMS Job Controller.) These queues may be directed to the same remote network printer, or to several different printers. Remote printers can be distributed across numerous remote servers, including when they are part of a wide area network environment. Each print queue requires a NetBIOS session at the local system and the remote system while printing is under way.

Files are queued to be printed by the DCL PRINT command, by an application making a print request to the VMS Job Controller, or by copying them to a spooled device. For each print job, the Print Symbiont sets up a connection to the remote system, transfers the file(s), and disconnects from the remote system. Network usage is optimised to prevent sessions from being left open when there is no print activity, while attempting to eliminate the overhead associated with closing and re-opening sessions while there are more files ready for printing.

Each print file is transferred across the network as an indivisible block of text. This prevents files from becoming fragmented at the remote printer. However, when a print job comprises multiple files, then each file is transferred separately, and the files may be printed in a different order, or interspersed with other files, as determined by the remote print queue configuration. This allows the remote server to start printing the files at the earliest opportunity, rather than waiting for the whole job to be transferred. Data destined for the remote printer is assembled into large blocks before being sent across the network. This minimises the impact of print traffic on the network.

The remote server will not start printing a file until the transfer has completed. This results in a delay after the print job starts, and printing does not actually start until the file has left the VMS print queue and has apparently been printed as far as VMS is concerned. The LANprint Symbiont makes every attempt, within the VMS Symbiont mechanism, to ensure that files have been transferred successfully before it returns a successful completion code to VMS (which might then delete the input file).

Files can be transferred across the network much faster than the typical printer can print them. This could produce a flow control problem, with the print server node running out of storage. Where the remote server reports a lack of storage capacity, printing will be suspended temporarily.

1.1.1 VMS Print Symbiont Architecture

This is described more fully in the VMS Documentation Set. Briefly, the VMS Print Symbiont is a process which is run by the VMS Job Controller to handle print requests. The standard Symbiont handles printing on terminals and printers attached to the local system. It is capable of handling several print queues 'simultaneously', as shown in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1 VMS Symbiont Architecture

In this architecture, the VMS Print Symbiont communicates directly with the local printer device driver. The status of the printer can be tested, and data queued to it can be held up if the printer is actually turned off.

The VMS Print Symbiont provides a mechanism whereby various input, formatting, and output routines can be replaced. This allows the standard Symbiont to be customised, while the main logic and VMS Job Controller interface is retained.

1.1.2 LANprint Symbiont Architecture

In comparison with the standard VMS Symbiont shown above, the LANprint Symbiont is not connected directly to the printer device driver. Instead, the standard Symbiont is modified so that a cross-network connection is used to transfer print data into a print queue on a remote server node. Each VMS Print Queue can be connected to a different remote system, or to one of several printers on the same remote network node.

The information which relates print queues to remote network nodes and resource names is held in a local database. The information relating to a particular print queue is accessed using the print device name as an index key.

The overall architecture is shown in Figure 1-2. Components supplied by the LANprint package are shown shaded.

Figure 1-2 LANprint Symbiont Architecture

LANprint/PC acts like a LAN Manager print server that is able to 'share' resources which can themselves be redirected across a network. It places no unusual requirements on the outgoing network stack, and simply outputs raw print data to LPT1:, LPT2:, and LPT3: as if it was an ordinary MS-DOS application. This means that it can operate as a print gateway between LAN Manager and other environments, such as NetWare, or Banyan VINES, or indeed any network that provides print redirection and that is able to co-exist with a LANprint-compatible NetBIOS.

It is capable of handling up to three print devices simultaneously, as shown in Figure 1-3, where it is providing a gateway to a Novell NetWare environment. The print data could be coming from VMS applications, with the LANprint Symbiont believing that it is connected to a 'real' LAN Manager print server.

Figure 1-3 LANprint/PC Architecture

Although it is primarily aimed at allowing VMS LANprint Symbionts to access non-LAN Manager printers, it can be used to re-route print output from PCs on PATHWORKS (or any other NetBIOS-based network).

As well as providing a gateway to 'foreign' network environments, it is also able to provide access to networks running on other hardware. For instance, it can gateway between one LAN Manager network running on Ethernet, and another running on Token Ring.

LANprint/PC does not spool, or buffer, incoming print data on the hard disk; data is immediately written out to the redirected device. The redirected device is opened for exclusive write access, to prevent print jobs becoming intermixed between users. This has the disadvantage that each 'shared' resource can only be written by one user at a time. Write requests from further clients will be rejected with a sharing violation - the gateway is busy. This is not a problem for the LANprint Symbiont since it will retry a write attempt after a configurable delay. Some LAN Manager redirectors will also retry automatically. If it is necessary to support multiple simultaneous writers that do not provide such retry support, it is possible to redirect LPT1:, LPT2:, and LPT3: on the gateway to the same print server/resource combination. This allows the genuine print server to arbitrate the simultaneous access, but cannot be extended beyond three simultaneous writers.

1.2 Associated Documentation

This document is also available online through the DECwindows Bookreader application, if you have a workstation or X-Windows terminal.

The VMS software installation also provides for the optional installation of PostScript versions of this manual.

DECnet configuration on a VMS host, VMS Print Symbionts and Print Queue management commands are described in the Digital VMS Documentation Set.

The installation and operation of Digital and third party TCP/IP stacks, and of any external LANlink transports are described in the documentation supplied with the appropriate package.

The LAN Manager (SMB) Protocol is an IBM/Microsoft file server protocol. Similarly, the NetBIOS Application Programming Interface (API) is an IBM/Microsoft definition. Documentation is available from the X/Open Company Ltd.

1.3 Package Licensing

LANprint is normally licensed for a single VMS or VMScluster Host. Each package licence allows any number of LANprint print queues on the Host to be redirected to remote systems running compatible transports. Licences can also be purchased to permit operation on additional Host systems or for additional PCs, including those on remote networks accessed over wide area links.

LANprint is shipped as an Evaluation Kit. This kit will function correctly for a limited period. When the expiry date has passed, LANprint will display an 'Evaluation Period has Expired' message, it will run down any activity in an orderly manner, and will then exit.

In order to convert an Evaluation Kit into a fully functional package, it is necessary to obtain a Product Licence Key from your supplier. This Key is then used to upgrade the package. The upgrade process is described in Section 3.8.

1.4 Package Contents

LANprint contains software for VMS and MS-DOS. These software items are usually provided on separate media for loading on the appropriate systems. Table 1-1 lists the files involved and summarises their functions.

Table 1-1 Package Contents

Core files provided by the installation on VMS
LPPSYMBIONT.EXE	Print Symbiont Program Image
LPPDATABASE.EXE	Printer Database Builder Program
LPPDATABASE.DAT	Printer Database Template File
LPPDATABASE.BIN	Printer Database File
LPPQUERY.EXE	Printer Database Query Program
LPPPRINT.EXE	Printer Database Test Print Program
NCPDEF.COM	Maintains DECnet Databases
NPDRIVER.EXE	Transparent Spooling Driver
VIALPPDEF.COM	DCL Foreign Command Definition Command Procedure
VIALPPSTARTUP.COM	Package Startup Command Procedure
VIALPPSHUTDOWN.COM	Package Shutdown Command Procedure
VIALPPREMOVE.COM	Removes this Package
VIAREMOVE.COM	Removes VIA Package(s)
VIALPP012.RELEASE_NOTES	Package Release Notes
VNLDNBSHR.EXE, .STB	DECnet Transport Support Shareable Image
VNLTNBSHR.EXE, .STB	TCP/IP Transport Support Shareable Image
The following files are used during the Product Upgrade process:
VIALICENCE.COM	Command Procedure to License the Package
INSCODE.EXE	Reports Installation Code
INSNODE.EXE	Sets Licensed Node Name
INSPATCH.EXE	Updates Package Files
VIALPPLIC.DAT	Controls File Updates
The following files are installed if Bookreader support is requested:
LIBRARY.DECW$BOOKSHELF	Bookreader Library File
VIALPP.DECW$BOOK	LANlink Bookreader Documentation
The following files are installed if PostScript Documentation is requested:
VIALPP_A4.PS	This Manual in PostScript, for A4 paper
VIALPP_LTR.PS	This Manual in PostScript, for US LTR paper
The following files are provided by the installation on MS-DOS:
LANPRINT.EXE	MS-DOS Print Redirection Program
LANPRINT.GRP	MS-Windows LANprint/PC Group File
LANPRINT.ICO	MS-Windows LANprint/PC Icon
LANPRINT.PIF	MS-Windows Program Information File
INSTALL.BAT	MS-DOS Installation Procedure
INSTALL.TXT	Summary Start-Up Instructions
STARTPRT.BAT	Sample LANprint/PC Start-up File
STARTPRT.END	Component of LANprint/PC Start-up File

The MS-DOS files can also be installed onto the VMS system's disk if requested.

The Printer Database template file provides an example which should be edited to suit the user's requirements. When this has been done, the Printer Database itself is rebuilt with the builder program.

A description of the template file syntax can be found in Section 4.1. Instructions on how to check the database contents can be found in Section 5.2, and on rebuilding the Printer Database itself in Section 5.1.

Example startup and shutdown command procedures are also provided. These will need to be edited before they can be used on the target system. They are described in more detail in Section 3.3.3 and Section 3.11

The installation process is described in Chapter 3 and in Appendix A. For information on package removal, please refer to Appendix A.