Printing from mvBase using Microsoft TCP/IP printing service and Network Terminal Servers (Digi Port Server II or Systech RSC4000)

It is possible to configure mvBase and NT so that printing may be carried out on a serial printer attached to a Network Terminal Server (NTS). An NTS can be deployed anywhere across the network (LAN,WAN) and provides one (or usually more) serial ports (RS232 interface). The following instructions refer specifically to the Digi Port Server II (PSII) and the Systech RSC4000- however the general scheme is applicable to any similar device.

Actual terminals attached to Network Terminal Servers connect to application servers using the Telnet protocol over TCP/IP. Each serial port on the NTS has a separate Telnet session to a Telnet server on the host system.

Serial printers may be attached to an NTS and handled in the same way as terminals. Since printers are output devices, they cannot instruct the NTS to establish a Telnet session to the host. Thus the NTS must initiate the Telnet connection when it is powered up, and re-establish the telnet session automatically if the connection is lost. Not all NTS's are capable of doing this. It is not possible for the host system, where the Telnet server is, to initiate a Telnet connection to the NTS, since the host system is a Telnet server, not a Telnet client.

A viable alternative is to use a feature known as TCP/IP Printing. The NTS runs a piece of software known as lpd (which originally comes from the Unix world and stands for Line Printer Demon). The Windows NT systems runs the associated facility known as lpr, but which is called the TCP/IP Printing Service by Microsoft.

This method requires a little configuration work to set up. The following four sets of steps will guide you through this process. You will need to know the NTS's IP address, the NTS port number(s) to which printer(s) are attached and how to logon to the NTS itself and get to the NTS command prompt.

A) Setup the Microsoft TCP/IP Printing Service

1. Right click on the Network Neighborhood desktop icon and select the Properties menu item.
2. Select the Services tab.
3. Click the Add button.
4. Select Microsoft TCP/IP Printing, and click OK.
5. Provide the system with the appropriate Windows NT4.0 CDROM when prompted. Setup will copy some Windows NT files.
6. When this is finished, click Close. (NT will re configure its bindings at this point)
7. Remove the CDROM.
8. Restart the entire Windows NT system when prompted.

B) Defining printers on the NTS

Digi Portserver II

Logon to the PSII itself from an attached terminal or a telnet session. At the PSII prompt (#>) do the following:

1. #> set ports range=<port#> dev=prn       repeat for all printers on the PSII
2. #> boot action=reset

Systech RCS4000

Logon to the RCS4000 itself from an attached terminal or a telnet session

1. Login to the admin user.
2. Ensure that the port that the printer is attached to does not have any profiles set on it.
3. show port x (where x is the port that has the printer attached)
4. If any profiles are showing, then
   > delete default x       to remove the default profile
   > delete Cn x              to delete a Custom profile (where Cn is the Custom profile number)

C) Adding printers at the NT level

The next step is to define a new printer to NT and specify that it uses the TCP/IP Printing Services.

1. Click Start/Settings/Printers and select the Add Printer wizard.
2. Choose My Computer, then click Next.
3. Click the Add Port button.
4. Select LPR Port.
5. Click the New Port button.
6. In the Name or address of server providing lpd field enter the IP address of the NTS.
7. In the Name of printer or print queue on that server field enter

   Digi Portserver II:

   ascii_<port#>    where port# is the serial port no. on the PSII which the printer is attached to. (E.g. For a printer on port 8 enter ascii_8)
   

   Systech RCS4000:

   port<port#>    where port# is the serial port no. on the RCS4000 which the printer is attached to. (E.g. for a printer on port 8 enter port8)
8. Click the OK button.
9. Click the Close button back at the Printer Ports dialog box.
10. Click the Next button
11. Select the Printer Manufacturer and then the Printer from the drop down list boxes.
12. Click the Next button.
13. You may wish to alter the name of the printer from the supplied default.
14. Select the No radio button to not make this printer the default Windows printer.
15. Click the Next button
16. Select the Not Shared radio button.
17. Click the Next button
18. Select the No radio button for Print test page?
19. Click Finish
20. Repeat for any other printers attached to ports on the NTS.

See Microsoft documentation and/or online help for more details on setting up printers in general and TCP/IP printing specifically.

D) Adding printers to mvBase

Finally, define the Windows printer(s) from step B) to the mvBase Workstation.

1. Click Start/Programs/mvBase/Administration Utility.
2. Select the Workstation tab.
3. Stop the Workstation service (if necessary).
4. Select the Printers tab.
5. Click the Configure button.
6. Click the Add button.
7. Select the printer (which was setup in part B above) from the Printer Name drop down box.
8. Enter the mvBase server name.
9. Assign an mvBase line# on that server for exclusive use by the printer
10. Select RAW from Options box.
11. Click OK.
12. Repeat from step 6 for each printer added in steps B) and C) above.
13. Start the mvBase workstation.
14. Logon to mvBase and use the STARTPTR verb to start the mvBase 'despooler' processes, one for each printer/line defined above.