My reply to Fritz was rejected by the mail.com server, so I'm resending to freedos-devel:
> Hi Fritz! > > When we started FreeDOS in 1994, I looked at different FTP > sites with DOS freeware for programs that could replace the > MS-DOS commands. My ideal goal was programs that were "MS-DOS > compatible" but I decided that if we found a program that worked > better-but-different than the MS-DOS original - i.e. filled > the same role but with a slightly different command line - > that would be okay too. That's when I found SPOOL. > > SPOOL ran in the background and would send output to the dot > matrix printer without slowing down your DOS experience. As > a student, I would start printing a class paper to my dot > matrix printer, then I'd work on lab analysis in a spreadsheet > program. SPOOL would print in the "background" while I was > working in the spreadsheet. You know how a dot matrix printer > just runs the print head back and forth as it prints? SPOOL > would feed data to the printer during free cycles on the PC. For > example, if I wasn't doing anything in the spreadsheet program, > the printer would print my paper normally. But if I started > typing in the spreadsheet and doing a bunch of work there, > then SPOOL wouldn't have as many free cycles to work with, > so the printer would effectively "slow down" (there was a > longer pause between each pass of the print head). > > I haven't used SPOOL in a long time. It's really only useful > if you are printing from DOS, and I haven't printed directly > from DOS in years. But SPOOL is still part of FreeDOS in the > Device Drivers section. > > I don't remember exactly what BUFFERP did, but I think it > let you control the printer buffer (what jobs it was working > on). But I don't remember exactly anymore. I think if you ran > the BUFFERP program without arguments, it would tell you what > it could do. > > Jim Tabor later added a PRINT command that was more compatible > with the MS-DOS PRINT command, so that's why PRINT appears > in the "base" and SPOOL appears in the "Device Drivers" > section. (PRINT is in /freedos/files/dos/print and SPOOL is > located in /freedos/files/util/print/spool on the FreeDOS > Files Archive at Ibiblio.) > > PRINT was written in Microsoft ASM. I found the same comment > you found about Eric updating the PRINT command in 2007 to > improve its speed. > > But looking through the source I think I see handlers for the > command line options you have in the Help documentation. So > that part looks correct, at least at first glance. I'm not sure > why Eric's comment says people should use PRINTQ for printing > a file and clearing the queue. It looks like PRINT does all > that on its own. > > I looked at PRINTQ and we don't include it in the FreeDOS 1.3 > distribution (see "What's Included"). So I think it's safe to > remove any reference to PRINTQ from the documentation. Looking > at the source code and the note we have about it on Ibiblio, > I think PRINTQ was meant to interact with MS-DOS PRINT, but I'm > not sure. I only gave the code a quick look, but it's making > a lot of DOS internal calls and I think they are talking to > the MS-DOS PRINT driver. PRINTQ doesn't have any documentation > with it. > > I can't find a reference to PRINTER.SYS anywhere on > Ibiblio. (It's not in /freedos/files/dos/print and not in > /freedos/files/util/print and doing a Unix find for "print" > doesn't show it either.) So I think it's safe to remove > PRINTER.SYS from the documentation. > > Jim > > (BTW, why did you send this off-list, instead of asking on the > email list? I think there are other people on freedos-devel that > could answer this too. And it's good to have all discussions > in the open. Would you mind if I re-sent my reply to the > freedos-devel email list?) >On Mon, Jan 2, 2023 at 10:53 AM Fritz Mueller <[email protected]> wrote: >> I am still working on FD help and have problems with >> understanding the FreeDOS print command although I read a >> german MS-DOS 5 book about this theme which was very simple >> and said there is a print command including a queue with >> several options to manage all this. >> >> While writing on the latest FreeDOS help, I noticed that >> there are TWO FreeDOS help files in the older versions (1.0.5 >> from Robert Platt) where I have no idea where they come from: >> >> a) printer.htm (printer.sys) (in htmlhelp): >> >> According to help 1.0.5 this version was made by Aitor >> SANTAMARIA MERINO with copyright 2003. I overtook it from >> Rob Plat "as is". I did not find the files at Ibiblio. >> Question: Is it still in use - and where can I find it? Or >> can I forget it? >> >> b) print.htm (in htmlhelp): >> >> According to help 1.0.5 this version was made by Jim Hall, >> Copyright 1998 - 2003. I overtook the print.htm from Rob >> Plat "as is". I did not find the files at Ibiblio. MS also >> has a print.exe with the same options and 15.656 Bytes. Could >> it be that this htm file was a description for MS? >> >> At Ibiblio I can download the following files: >> >> c) print.com (1,779 Bytes) (some htmlhelp versions mix b) >> and c), sorry for that): >> >> It is the actual used version on the FreeDOS 1.3 files. It >> offers no /? and seems NOT to be identical with b). It is >> version 1.02 from James B. Tabor. The last person that worked >> on it was Eric Auer, but he could not help me. The file >> is available at Ibiblio, there is no documentation in the >> print file, the only thing I found is a text in print.asm: >> >> ; Purpose: To print in background. To load files from a queue to >> ; be printed out concurrently. Very basic in format. No >> ; big code breaking, just basic stuff. May be M$_Dos >> ; compatible with PRINT.XXX. >> ; >> ; Created: 4-SEP-1992 James B. Tabor >> ; >> ; >> ; Modified: 3-JUN-1999 James B. Tabor >> ; >> ; Bad command string operations. >> ; >> ; Modified 9/2007 Eric Auer: TIME_TOGO reduced from 18 to 2 to >> ; get 9x higher printing speed. Added comments about the MS PRINT >> ; options /S:ticks /M:ticks /U:ticks /Q:nn /B:size /D:dev ... >> ; >> ; This PRINT here only takes /1 /2 /3 as "/D:lpt1" etc equivalent >> ; options or a filename to print a file. Please use the free PRINTQ >> ; tool for "print file", "print /t" (clear queue incl current job), >> ; "print /c" (clear queue) and "print /p file" (add file to queue). >> >> (Comment: This explanation is NOT clear for me). >> >> d) printq: >> >> The printqueue is available at Ibiblio, I found no >> information about it except that it is mentioned at c), >> see "This PRINT here only..." As it turns out to me now, >> a) and b) are closer to MS print command but not in use. >> >> Questions: >> >> Is printer.sys a) still in use, where can I get it or can >> I remove it from help? >> >> Same with print b). >> >> Can someone give me more informations about print.com c) >> and is Erics instruction correct and complete? >> >> What about printq d)? How do they work together? If they do, >> should it be added to FD distribution? >> >> What do I have to do to print a document? What has to be >> started first? >> >> Is there a way to test it (e.g. by running via monitor, >> usb, network etc. instead of LPT1) >> >> Eric mixed printq and print in his text and I am not really >> sure what he wanted to say. >> >> e) What about spool? ( found it via: using-freedos-24.pdf) >> >> Manual says that: >> >> SPOOL.DEV: Device driver to be installed. >> >> BUFFERP.COM: Print spooler command control. >> >> are needed. The source at Ibiblio has an bufferp.asm but >> there is no bufferp.com file at spool22s and spool22x. >> >> So it would need to be compiled, but it seems it was >> never used??? >> >> f) And graphics seems to be for special printers that use >> other formats than .txt? So it seems to work another way >> - ok. >> >> I must admit that I am a little confused. Any explanation >> that helps me to write a usable help for all this is welcome. >> >> Thanks for response >> >> Willi _______________________________________________ Freedos-devel mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
