Are My Peripherals Powered Up?

[howie]

QUESTION: Is there a generalized way of determining whether peripherals
	  are powered up?  Specifically terminals and printers.

We have a little program here that writes to a terminal.  The program works 
fine, but when the power is turned off we don't get a failed status.

Is the solution similar to that used by print spoolers?

I have a feeling this question will lead to hardware handshakes, 
DTR signals, etc., but what I want to know is if there is a high-level 
general way of inquiring and setting pin signals.


			            thanks,
-- 
				       howie              

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