[cups.general] Printing ps files in fixed order via lpr frontend

[Helge Blischke]

Jan Hubený wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> consider following situation:
> 
> we run CUPS on server with following configuration: redhat linux  5.3.
> cups 1.3.7, gs 8.70.  We have one folder with technical drawings in
> postscript format on this server.
> Let's say that the forder is
> 
>   /data
> 
>   and contains several postscript files
> Name              Size
> 1.ps              20KB
> 2.ps              1.5MB
> 3.ps              20KB
> 4.ps              5MB
> 5.ps              300KB
> 
> 
> We want to print this postscript files in a specified order (1.ps 2.ps
> 3.ps 4.ps 5.ps).
> The application which prints this files prints them by invoking
> following commands:
> 
> lpr -POCEtds600 /data/1.ps
> lpr -POCEtds600 /data/2.ps
> lpr -POCEtds600 /data/3.ps
> lpr -POCEtds600 /data/4.ps
> lpr -POCEtds600 /data/5.ps
> 
> The application waits until each command finishes before invoking next
> lpr command. Therefore,  we can see the following queue
> 
> root at users #lpq -POCEtds600
> 
> OCEtds600 is ready
> Rank    Owner   Job     File(s)                         Total  Size
> 1st     user    1326407 1.ps 20     KB
> 2st     user    1326408 2.ps 1.5    MB
> 3rd     user    1326409 3.ps 20     KB
> 4th     user    1326410 4.ps 5      MB
> 5th     user    1326411 5.ps 300    KB
> 
> The CUPS then process the OCEtds600 queue and prints the drawings.
> However, the drawings are printed in different order for example:
> 
> the output paper sheets on the physical printer are in this order
> 
> 1.ps
> 3.ps
> 2.ps
> 5.ps
> 4.ps
> 
> It seems that the larger files are processed longer than smaller files
> and the smaller files are printed earlier and skips over the longer files.
> 
> My question is following: Is there a way to ensure  that the files will
> be printed in the specified fixed order (i.e. 1.ps 2.ps 3.ps 4.ps 5.ps
> in our example) on a particular printer?
> 
> With regards,
> 
> Jan Hubeny
> 
> 

To be on the safe side (independent of the used backend), you should combine 
the jobs to a single PostScript file, bracketing the single PS files by
appropriate save and restore statements.

Drop me an e-mail if you need further details.

Helge