Printing to a file in AIX

smaybo · Jul 25, 2000

I have a client that uses a proprietary database system on a RS/6000 AIX system that has no exporting functions, but does have printing capabilities.  I would like to use the system to run a report to a printer, but capture the output to a file. I have some UNIX experience (although I have never needed to print to a file), but have never worked with AIX. 1. I don't even know what version of AIX they have.  Is there a command to run to get this info (ie, something like the old dos 'ver' command) ?? 2. How do I go about capturing the files sent to the printer?  I understand that they probably go into a queue which the printer uses to get jobs and that if I turn the printer off the jobs will probably stay there.  How can I find out where the queue directory is?  Is each print job stored as a single file? 3. Once I find the file, what is the command to copy a file to the floppy drive.  Their system has no internet access or NTFS access from a windows box so I am assuming that the only way I can get the file is to copy it to a disk.  It should be small enough to fit on a single disk.  Also...how does one format a floppy disk for use on AIX? Thanks for any help you can provide... STEVE

Guest_imported · Jul 25, 2000

Ok, to get the version of AIX you type "oslevel" it should return something like "4.3.2". To see what their print queue is type "lpstat" you will see a table with "Queue, Dev, Status, job, Files, User, PP, %, Blks, Cp, Rnk" for Queue, device, jobstatus, job#, file name, user id, pages, percent complete, # of blocks, # of copies, and Rank in queue.  The word under "queue" will be the queue name and it belongs to the device (i.e., <A HREF="mailto:queuename@device.com">queuename@device.com</A>).  To run your report and save it in a file and print it try: {command for report} > filename.out ¦cat filename.out ¦lp -d queuename  That should do it. To copy the file to the floppy drive make sure the floppy is mounted "mount /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy" and then just do "cp filename.out /mnt/floppy". If the file is too big for the floppy try doing "tar cvfz filename.out.tar filename.out". Jon Zimmer <a href=mailto:b0rg@pcgeek.net>b0rg@pcgeek.net</a> <a href=

http://www.aetea.com>

Aetea Information Technology</a> The software required `Windows 95 or better', so I installed Linux.

smaybo · Jul 25, 2000

Thanks for the note Jon. This helps.  One other question... The report I am running is from within the database app they are using so I won't be running it from the command prompt.  The program does allows me to select the printer/queue. So lpstat tells me where that queue resides on the disk (like /var/spool/...) and what the print job's filename is (like job1234.out) ?? Thanks again...sorry to bug you. STEVE

Guest_imported · Jul 27, 2000

Steve,   Well you got me on that one, if the outfile doesn't exist in /var/spool/... after the printjob is done I don't know where/how to get it.  Have you looked for the file in /var/spool/?  or maybe you could do a find like "find /var -name {filename.out} -print" will search for that file in /var.  If you put "/" instead of "/var" it will look from the root directory down (if you're not root it will fail in some directories).  Try that and tell me how it goes. Jon Zimmer <a href=mailto:b0rg@pcgeek.net>b0rg@pcgeek.net</a> <a href=

http://www.aetea.com>

Aetea Information Technology</a> The software required `Windows 95 or better', so I installed Linux.

MikeLacey · Jul 27, 2000

hi smaybo, did this a while ago (trying to remember exactly how) create a print queue - and (using smit) when it asks you for a device - put a filename there instead -- that's the easy way slightly harder, needs some scripting skills.... make a named pipe (mkfifo) and specify that as the device - (easy so far) write a shell script (in perl maybe, or just ksh) that will listen to the fifo and put the output somewhere you want. The shell script could be as simple as 'cat < /u/myfifo >/u/myoutputfile' Mike <a href=mailto:michael.j.lacey@ntlworld.com>michael.j.lacey@ntlworld.com</a> <a href=

http://www.cargill.com/>

Cargill's Corporate Web Site</a>

Guest_imported · Jul 30, 2000

Hi, Ok the best way as they told you is to create a queue to a file. This is done by using smit and creating a new print queue it will then ask you for a queue type, you select print to a file. The application will not be able to tell the difference between a normal printer and a file. I am assuming the application prompts you for the queue, then you can specify the file queue device once to print to that file, and a printer Q device to print to that printer. the directory is /var/spool/lpd/<QUEUE_NAME>/ but in order to capture those files you need a script to keep running and monitoring this directory. Not a smart way of doing this. As for writing on a floppy, you can do it in two ways: 1- If your destination System is Win9x/Win2000/ OS/2, then you can use a utility in AIX called Dos utilitys It comes with the AIX OS CD but is not installed by default. To use it stick in the floppy and type: #doswrite <file_name> it will automatically assume that you want to write it on floppy. Not sure if it requires the floppy to be formatted in Dos, but do it just in case. if the target is Unix based use: cd to the directory where the file is(for better results) #tar -cvf /dev/fd0 <file_name> this will copy the file in tar format onto your floppy and this doesn't require any formating. to untar it or extract it: #tar -xvf /dev/fd0 <file_name> this will copy the file to the current directory Note that the doswritten files can also dosread, onto an AIX machine with the dos utilities installed. using : stick the floppy in, #dosread <file_name> N.B. to know if Dos utils is installed use: #lslpp -l ¦ grep dos

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Printing to a file in AIX

smaybo

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smaybo

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MikeLacey

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