LPT1

I have a program that writes to LPT1. We are buying new computers and
the company wants to save the money and not re-buy our label printers
that are parallel only. I bought a USB to Parallel converter but I
cannot figure out how to write to the port. Does anybody have any
ideas. I'm using CA Realia (Windows version 3.3).

On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 16:54:05 -0800 (PST), thepla@attglobal.net wrote:

>I have a program that writes to LPT1. We are buying new computers and
>the company wants to save the money and not re-buy our label printers
>that are parallel only. I bought a USB to Parallel converter but I
>cannot figure out how to write to the port. Does anybody have any
>ideas. I'm using CA Realia (Windows version 3.3).

Make it a shared printer.
Get to a command prompt by running cmd.
Issue this command: net use LPT1 \\computer_name\printer_name /persistent:ye
s
Go to the printer on Control Panel, Properties, Advanced, Print Processor.
Change it from raw to text.

If that doesn't work, setup the printer twice: on LPT1 and USB.
Go to the printer's Properties/Ports.
Select Enable Printer Pooling and both printers.

<thepla@attglobal.net> wrote:
>I have a program that writes to LPT1. We are buying new computers and
> the company wants to save the money and not re-buy our label printers
> that are parallel only. I bought a USB to Parallel converter but I
> cannot figure out how to write to the port. Does anybody have any
> ideas. I'm using CA Realia (Windows version 3.3).

If your new PCs have LPT ports - connect label printers and continue as befo
re.

If not - purchase 3rd party PCI LPT cards for $20 ea. connect label printers
 and continue as before.
--
Judson McClendon      judmc@sunvaley0.com (remove zero)
Sun Valley Systems     http://sunvaley.com
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

thepla@attglobal.net wrote:
> I have a program that writes to LPT1. We are buying new computers and
> the company wants to save the money and not re-buy our label printers
> that are parallel only. I bought a USB to Parallel converter but I
> cannot figure out how to write to the port. Does anybody have any
> ideas. I'm using CA Realia (Windows version 3.3).

1. It gets easier if you can jigger the program to send its output to a
file. There are several programs that, when started, continually poll the
hard drive looking for a file to send to whatever printer on whatever port
you selected.

2. As has been stated, for small money, you can add a parallel port to a
computer without one. Unless the computer is a laptop...

3. Here's a web site with a technique we've used with some success:

http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/printfromdos.htm

The author shows how to "pool" the "port"  or  create a "share" and map the
printer to an emulated port.

I found the following. For $103.00 it seems you cannot go wrong.
They provide excellent support via email.  The company is in Italy.

http://www.printfil.com/english.htm

You can print to any type of printer via a disk file. You can also
email the files, etc.

Works very well in my experience.

tony dilworth

On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 05:49:08 -0800 (PST), foodman123@gmail.com wrote:

>I found the following. For $103.00 it seems you cannot go wrong.
>They provide excellent support via email.  The company is in Italy.
>
>http://www.printfil.com/english.htm
>
>You can print to any type of printer via a disk file. You can also
>email the files, etc.

You can assign a printer (named LPT1) to the FILE port using Windows, withou
t an add-on.
The file can be printed by dragging and dropping it on the printer icon. Or 
from the
command prompt, COPY the file to the printer name.

On Nov 19, 1:54 pm, the...@attglobal.net wrote:
> I have a program that writes to LPT1. We are buying new computers and
> the company wants to save the money and not re-buy our label printers
> that are parallel only. I bought a USB to Parallel converter but I
> cannot figure out how to write to the port. Does anybody have any
> ideas. I'm using CA Realia (Windows version 3.3).

see:

http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/printfromdos.htm

or many similar pages by serach google for 'capture port'.

Thanks for the replies. Iwill try a few.

I did not explain one thing.

The printer is used for printing labels around 6000 per day and when the
user scans a barcode the printer automatically prints This goes on all day
in stores and I cannot have any delay that would slow the process down. Now
I write directly to LPT1; if I create a windows printer and go through the
spooler will the process slow down?

Steve
<thepla@attglobal.net> wrote in message
news:62f0bbce-617a-4905-aa16-e0706ea532b5@l1g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
>I have a program that writes to LPT1. We are buying new computers and
> the company wants to save the money and not re-buy our label printers
> that are parallel only. I bought a USB to Parallel converter but I
> cannot figure out how to write to the port. Does anybody have any
> ideas. I'm using CA Realia (Windows version 3.3).
>

Richard wrote:
> On Nov 19, 1:54 pm, the...@attglobal.net wrote: 
>
> see:
>
> http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/printfromdos.htm
>
> or many similar pages by serach google for 'capture port'.

There is no "capture port" in XP or Vista.

Stephen Plotnick wrote:
> Thanks for the replies. Iwill try a few.
>
> I did not explain one thing.
>
> The printer is used for printing labels around 6000 per day and when
> the user scans a barcode the printer automatically prints This goes
> on all day in stores and I cannot have any delay that would slow the
> process down. Now I write directly to LPT1; if I create a windows
> printer and go through the spooler will the process slow down?
>

Um, depends on what you mean by "slow down."

You lose a few seconds on each label, but you make it up in volume. (old
joke)

That is, you can scan and process faster, but there's some hesitation in
producing the labels.