tskAAA.NNN print files

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tskAAA.NNN print files #1530 04 Dec 10 05:09 PM
A Anonymous Unregistered
Anonymous Unregistered A	I thought I once saw a method for instructing ashell to not delete the tskAAA.NNN files that it creates during the printing process, but I can't find any reference to such an option. Is there such a think. I want to examine the file when testing printing to a printer I don't actually have on my system, so I can see if it has the proper PCL commands.

Re: tskAAA.NNN print files #1531 05 Dec 10 12:58 PM
Joined: Jun 2001 Posts: 11,645 Woodland Hills, CA J Jack McGregor Member
Jack McGregor Member J Joined: Jun 2001 Posts: 11,645 Woodland Hills, CA	I could have sworn I answered this yesterday, but must have failed to click the submit button. Anyway, what I meant to say was that I can't remember (or find) any simple switch designed specifically for the purpose of avoiding the temporary file deletions, although there are a few simple workarounds (I think). One would be to print your test file to an alternate printer whose init file contained some form of DEVICE = DISK: (which just copies the output to a disk file rather than a printer.) Or, create a Linux print queue whose output device is a file rather than a printing device. Or, change your DEVICE statement to point to a non-existent print queue. (In that case the lpr command should just throw an error and leave the printfile alone.) Note that the opr:spool.log file will contain the the Linux command line used to submit the file to the print queue, as well as any stdout/stderr that gets emitted by that command line executing. (The exception to this rule is if you use SET TRACE LP ON, in which case you'll get lots of messages on the screen, but not in the spool.log.)

Re: tskAAA.NNN print files #1532 05 Dec 10 05:52 PM
A Anonymous Unregistered
Anonymous Unregistered A	DEVICE=DISK doesn't work if the destination directory isn't specified, but it does if a directory other than $MIAME is specified. Am I correct in saying that EZSPL still works as it always did if the printer name field is 6 vice 64? Trace shows me the value I stuffed in PREFIX in the argument table (w/6 character printer name table), but it is not showing up at the top of the print file. (It seems to be working fine when it reads from a pfx file.) Am I doing something stupid or am I spinning my wheels on a real problem?

Re: tskAAA.NNN print files #1533 06 Dec 10 01:23 PM

Joined: Jun 2001

Posts: 11,645

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Jack McGregor Online Content

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Jack McGregor

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Joined: Jun 2001

Posts: 11,645

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Sorry the delay on this, but I've now set up a test to try to duplicate the issue. From your question about EZSPL and the 6 vs 64 byte filename option, I'm assuming you're using the EZSPL New Format .

Here are my two test files:

.TYPE TEST.PRT
[THIS IS TEST.PRT]

.TYPE TEST.PFX
[THIS IS TEST.PFX]

My printer init file:

.TYPE ASHCFG:TEST.PQI
;DEVICE = AUXLOC:
DEVICE = DISK:/vm/miame/dsk0/001002

(I used the AUXLOC: option as one way to test the output, but then commented it out in favor of the DEVICE = DISK: scheme.)

My test program:

Code

MAP1 FILE,S,64
MAP1 TABLE
    MAP2 PRINTER,S,64             ! spooler name (was 6 under AMOS)
    MAP2 CPU,F,6                  !*CPU id
    MAP2 SWITCHES,F,6             ! option switches
    MAP2 COPIES,F,6               ! copies to spool
    MAP2 BANNER,S,50              !*banner
    MAP2 LPP,F,6                  !*lines per page
    MAP2 WIDTH,F,6                !*columns per page
    MAP2 FORMS,S,6                ! printer form
    MAP2 PRI,F,6                  !*priority
    MAP2 ADATE,B,4                !*spool after date
    MAP2 ATIME,B,4                !*spool after time
    MAP2 RESTART,F,6              !*restart
    MAP2 START,F,6                !*start page
    MAP2 FINISH,F,6               !*finish page
    MAP2 LIMIT,F,6                !*limit form feeds
    MAP2 OPTIONS,F,6              ! (EZ-SPOOL) options
    MAP2 SEQNO,F,6                !*(EZ-SPOOL) sequence #
    MAP2 COUNT,F,6                !*(EZ-SPOOL) # blocks queued
    MAP2 ITCERR,F,6               !*(EZ-SPOOL) ITC error
    MAP2 NONITC,F,6               !*(EZ-SPOOL) spooler
    MAP2 FILERR,F,6               !*(EZ-SPOOL) file error code
    MAP2 EXTOPT,F,6               ! (EZ-SPOOL) extended options
    MAP2 PREFIX,S,28              ! (A-Shell) prefix file
    MAP2 SUFFIX,S,28              ! (A-Shell) suffix file
    MAP2 HOSTROWS,F,6             ! (A-Shell) number of rows reserved for host
    MAP2 EZCOLORS                 ! User-defined color scheme
       MAP3 EZFG'TXT,B,1          ! text colors
       MAP3 EZBG'TXT,B,1          !
       MAP3 EZFG'BDR,B,1          ! border colors
       MAP3 EZBG'BDR,B,1          !
       MAP3 EZFG'CMD,B,1          !
       MAP3 EZBG'CMD,B,1          ! command colors
       MAP3 EZFG'STS,B,1          !
       MAP3 EZBG'STS,B,1          ! status colors
       MAP3 EZFG'HLP,B,1          !
       MAP3 EZBG'HLP,B,1          ! help colors
       MAP3 EZFG'HLT,B,1          !
       MAP3 EZBG'HLT,B,1          ! highlight colors
       MAP3 EZFG'MNU,B,1          !
       MAP3 EZBG'MNU,B,1          ! menu colors
       MAP3 EZFG'BRF,B,1          !
       MAP3 EZBG'BRF,B,1          ! brief colors
    MAP2 OVERLAY,S,28             ! overlay file (added in build 943, Sept 200
    MAP2 TOTPAGES,F,6             ! total pages (added in build 943, Sept 2005

    FILE = "TEST.PRT"
    PRINTER = "TEST"
    PREFIX = "TEST.PFX"
    XCALL EZSPL,FILE,TABLE
    END

So I run the program and then check OPR:SPOOL.LOG to see if there are any error messages, which there are not:

Code

.RUN EZTEST
.TAIL OPR:SPOOL.LOG
...
06-Dec-10 11:16:34 J=TSKAAA P=EZTEST U=root T=pts/2:5405 F=tskaaa.002 Q=TEST C=0
 S=262144 O=/vm/miame/dsk0/150277/test.prt

Then I check the OPR: directory for any new output files (since that is where the TEST printer DISK: specification points):

Code

.dir opr:/udate/utime/sudate
...
TSKAAA 002 1       6-Dec-10 11:16
SPOOL  LOG 247     6-Dec-10 11:16
Total of 35 files in 5190 blocks

That TSKAAA.002 must be the one I just created...

Code

.type opr:tskaaa.002
[THIS IS TEST.PFX]
[THIS IS TEST.PRT]
.

I also got the same results when outputting it to the AUXLOC: driver.

So specifying a prefix file via the EZSPL parameter table seems like it works here, but there are of course many possible options and other configuration differences between our two systems that might account for the problem you are seeing.

I suggest starting with the test scenario above. If it works, then try to figure out what is different between it and your program. If it doesn't work, then tell me some more details about your version, environment, etc. so I can figure out what might be different between your situation and mine.

Re: tskAAA.NNN print files #1534 06 Dec 10 01:50 PM
A Anonymous Unregistered
Anonymous Unregistered A	My bad again. I haven't been working with this stuff enough lately. I was under the mistaken notion that I could plug the actual printer commands in the prefix field of the argument table, as opposed to plugging the file spec for the PFX file that contains the commands.

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