[cups.general] win98 to cups-raw has different output...

[Helge Blischke]

Andre Robitaille wrote:
> 
> I've been working half the night trying to get a CUPS server to
> exactly mirror the output of a Win98 print server.  Right now the
> setup is:
> 
> Windows client with HP Laserjet 4050 PCL driver ->
> samba ->
> cups with raw driver ->
> parallel HP Laserjet 4050
> 
> For normal Windows applications, everything seems fine, but the
> problem is that we have a legacy DOS app called Tradeworks.  Most of
> what Tradeworks prints is simple ASCII.  I was able to catch
> something in the spool and see that uses the occasional HPPCL code
> (one particular one used '2S' on every page to set the font pitch to
> 16.66).
> 
> With some things, like an invoice, Tradeworks prints a line border
> with unusual text header, and then puts ASCII in the middle of it.
> With CUPS, when I try to print something after an invoice, the
> invoice graphics are still on the new page when they shouldn't be.
> This did not happen in Windows.
> 
> If someone knows the full answer, that's great, but for now I'm just
> trying to find out if there's an easy way to dump print jobs to a
> file (or many files) so I can see exactly what Tradeworks is or is
> not doing.  I figure the end solution will be to set some sort of
> HPPCL reset to the printer before any job.
> 
> Thanks,
> Andre


Andre, 

to catch the print job sent to the CUPS server berfore it gets processed is easy:

1) set the queue in hold, i.e. stop the printer
2) print a job, and look for the job ID
3) copy the data file, dxxxx-001, where xxxx is the mentioned job ID, to some other place
4) delete the job (by command or web interface), and release the printer.

Perhaps you could post (an URL to) a file created by your Tradeworks application.

Helge

-- 
Helge Blischke
Softwareentwicklung
SRZ Berlin | Firmengruppe besscom
http://www.srz.de