print spooler

[Pete Gregory]

Hi, netters...

We want to replace, for a specific application, our print spooler.  Our
application, with 60 operators on data entry screens (Informix 4GL), writes
a three-line audit record to the printer (no form feeds, just continuous
output, and yes, it MUST go to the printer) via the print spooler.

The print spooler introduces way too much overhead, and we'd like to
circumvent it by somehow writing directly to the device.

I've tried writing directly to the printer (cat file >> /dev/ttyxx), but
tests indicate that records can get scrambled - two records hitting at the
same time can get mixed up.

I thought about piping the audit record to a C program that writes to
a message queue, and have a daemon read the message queue and write to the
printer directly.

BTW, this is a Unisys 6000/70 (Sequent S27) running Dynix, with AT&T and UCB
spooler packages available.  We're using the AT&T spooler now, and we'll 
continue to for "regular" print files.

Certainly someone else has been in this situation, and has solved it.  I'd
as soon not reinvent the wheel.
 
Pete Gregory, UNIX SA  |  pete at wvus.wciu.edu                  |
World Vision USA/ISD   |  wciu!wvus!pete                   ___|___
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