Copyright: © Axis Communications AB, 1994


Introduction
Axis Print Utility Help

For Help on Help, Press F1

Introduction

The Axis Print Utility is a dual purpose application for network printing in a Windows environment. The functions performed by Axis Print Utility are:

1.	Install and maintain NPS printer ports as Windows printer ports.

2.	Capture and monitor print jobs directed to NPS print servers.

Axis Print Utility can run in both Peer-to-Peer and Client-Server mode.

Important: Your network printers are only available when Axis Print Utility is running. Copy the Axis Print Utility icon into your Startup group if you want access to your printers at all times.

The Main Screen	Instructions on how to install and maintain NPS print server ports.


Peer-to-Peer

Peer-to-peer mode means that each user who wants access to the network printer installs the Axis Print Utility software on their workstation. Each user then adds the network printer to their system, and uses the printer as if it were their own.

We recommend that you use peer-to-peer mode for the following reasons:

•	You can monitor the printer status at all times, and you will be notified when your print job is completed.

•	You dont have to rely on a server.

The drawback is that you must have sufficient disk space available for spooling your print jobs.


Client-Server

Client-Server mode means that one user installs the Axis Print Utility software and adds the printer to his or her workstation (the Server). The user then shares the printer using Windows Print Manager. Other users (Clients) connect to the printer through the Server using Print Manager.

The client-server mode provides a way of maintaining queue ordering and job priority, but at a price:

•	You can not receive printer status or print job notification.

•	The workstation set up as server must be available at all times, and must have the capacity to handle the print jobs that may pass through it.

Note:	When using the client-server mode, other users may still intall the Axis Print Utility software to print directly to the network printer, and receive printer status.


The Main Screen

The main screen contains a menu bar and a list currently installed Windows ports. The Windows port list is initially empty the first time you start Axis Print Utility.

The Menu bar

The menu bar contains the following topics:

Port	A drop-down menu with items to add, remove, show details about, and connect a Windows port.
Options	A drop-down menu with printing related options.
Refresh	Updates the Windows port list and the status information.
Help	A drop-down menu with items to launch this help file, search for help topics, and show information about Axis Print Utility.
The Windows Port List

The Windows port list shows the currently installed Windows ports and their current status. The list is automatically updated every 15 seconds, but you can also update it at any time by clicking Refresh in the menu bar.


Status Messages

The following status messages can be displayed in the main screen:

Ok	The printer connected to this port is ready.
Busy	The printer connected to this port is busy. Your job will be printed as soon as the current job is completed.
Offline	The printer connected to this port is offline. Set the printer online to resume printing.
Occupied	The port is currently used by another protocol. Your job will be printed as soon as the current job is completed.
Out of paper	The printer connected to this port is out of paper. Refill the paper tray to resume printing.
Error Messages

No response	The NPS print server is not responding. Restart the NPS print server. If the error continues, contact your network administator.
Internal error	An internal error in the NPS print server has occured. Contact your dealer for service.


The Port Menu

The Port drop-down menu contains the following entries:

Add	Installs an NPS Print Server port to be used as a Windows port.
Remove	Removes the selected Windows port from the list of available Windows ports.
Details	Shows details about the selected Windows port.
Connect	Connect your network printer to a Windows printer driver using the Control panel.


Add a new Windows port

The Add command makes an NPS Print Server port available as a Windows port. Once the Windows port has been set up, you can make it available to your Windows applications by connecting it to a printer driver. You can optionally use the Description field to enter comments on the printer, its location or primary users.

Do the following to add a new Windows port:

1.	Click the down-arrow in the NPS Port combo box to see the available NPS ports.

2.	Choose the NPS port you want to use. The Windows port name appears in the Windows port field. You may change the name if you dont like the default suggestion.

3.	Enter any comments in the Description field. You can edit this field at any time in the Details screen.

4.	Click <OK> to add the Windows port.

Repeat these steps for each NPS port you want to set up as a Windows port.

When the NPS port has been set up as a Windows port, it will no longer show in the NPS port list.


NPS Ports

The port names appearing in this list are all NPS Print Server ports that are currently available on your network.


Windows Ports

The Windows port name suggestion equals the NPS port name given that the NPS port name is a valid MS-DOS file name. If its not, the name is truncated to fit the MS-DOS 8+3 characters specification. In either case, you may change the Windows port name to any valid file name (see your MS-DOS manual on file name restrictions).

If you want to change the name of an existing Windows port, do the following:

1.	Select the port and remove it (Port:Remove).

2.	Add the port again with the new name.


The Options Menu

The Options drop-down menu contains the following entries:

Notify	A toggle switch for enabling and disabling notification on each completed print job. The default setting is Notify 0n.


Remove the selected Windows port

The Remove command removes the selected Windows port from the list of available Windows ports. When a Windows port is removed, the corresponding NPS port will show in the NPS port list.

Note: The Windows port name and its description will be lost when a Windows port is removed.


Show port details

The Details command brings up a screen showing information about the selected Windows port. You can edit the Description field by clicking the <Edit> button.

The following information is shown:

NPS Port	The NPS port name

Windows Port	The Windows port name

Description	This field can be used for your comments on the printer, its location or primary users

Status	The current printer port status

Product	The NPS Print Server model

Software version	The software version of the NPS Print Server

Software date	The release date of the software


Connect

Use the Connect command to connect your network printer to a Windows printer driver. This will bring up the Printers entry in the Control Panel. The installation follows the standard procedures for installing a locally attached printer. The only difference is that you connect to a Windows port rather than a local port (e.g. LPT1).

Note that you must install your NPS ports using the Add command before you can connect them.

See the Control Panel Help on how to install and configure printers.


Refresh

Use the Refresh command to immediately update the Windows port list. This list shows the currently installed Windows ports and their current status. The list is automatically updated every 15 seconds, but you can also use Refresh to update it at any time.


Help

The Help drop-down menu contains the following entries:

Contents	Launches this help file.
Search	Search for help topics in this help file (same as clicking the Search button above).
Help on Help	General information on how to use Windows help.
About...	Shows information about the Axis Print Utility program.


Glossary

Client-Server

NPS print server port

Peer-to-Peer

Spooling

Spool directory

Status

Uninstall

WIN.INI

Windows port


Spooling

A job printed through Axis Print Utility is teporarily stored as a print file in the spool directory. The print file is then queued by the Print Manager, and tranferred to the NPS print server as soon as it is ready to receive the job. The print file is removed from the spool directory when the printout is completed.


Spool directory

The spool directory is where print files are temporarily stored prior to printing. It is located at C:\~\ unless you specified otherwise during the Axis Print Utility installation. The tilde character (~) is chosen to indicate that this is a special purpose directory that must not be removed.

If the spool directory is accidentally deleted:

Axis Print Utility will not be able to print if the spool directory doesnt exist. If the spool directory has been deleted, follow these steps to recreate it:

1.	Use Notepad to open WIN.INI.

2.	Locate the SPOOLPATH entry in the [NPS] section, and note the directory name.

3.	Use the Create Directory command in Program Manager to create the spool directory.

4.	Restart Windows.

If you need to move the spool directory:

If you have more than one hard disk, you might find that the disk used for spooling doesnt have sufficient free space when you print large jobs. You must then free up more space, or move the spool directory to another disk. To move the spool directory from C: to D:, proceed as follows:

1.	Delete your current spool directory (e.g. C:\~\).

2.	Create your new spool directory (e.g. D:\~\).

3.	Use Notepad to open WIN.INI.

4.	Replace all occurencies of C:\~\ with D:\~\ in the [ports] and [NPS] sections.

5.	Restart Windows.


Uninstall

To uninstall Axis Print Utility from your workstation (e.g. if you decide to print through a server instead of peer-to-peer), proceed as follows:

1.	Remove all installed Windows ports from Axis Print Utility.

2.	Delete the Axis Print Utility program group, the Axis Print Utility directory, and the spool directory.

3.	Remove the Axis Print Utility reference from the LOAD entry, and the [NPS] section from WIN.INI.

4.	Restart Windows.


WIN.INI

When Axis Print Utility is installed, a new section [NPS] is added to the Windows initialization file (WIN.INI). The [NPS] section contains the following lines:

   [NPS]

   SPOOLPATH=C:\~\

   notify=1

When NPS printer ports are installed (using the Add command), they are added to the [NPS] section using the format: <Windows port name>=<NPS portname> <description>. The Windows port names are also added to the [Ports] section as: <spool directory><Windows port name>=.

This is a WIN.INI extract as it might look like when three ports are added:

   [ports]

   LPT1:=

   LPT2:=

   LPT3:=

   ;the following entries are added by Axis Print Utility

   C:\~\LISA=

   C:\~\SALES_1=

   C:\~\SALES_2=

   [NPS]

   ;this section is added by Axis Print Utility

   SPOOLPATH=\C:~\

   notify=1

   AX1146B8.LP1=LISA NPS 530/HP4P in Lisas room

   AX105C33.LP1=SALES_1 NPS 550 port1/HP4Si at Sales Dept

   AX105C33.LP2=SALES_2 NPS 550 port2/ColorJet at Sales Dept