Possible to insert PCL code in print job?

[Bill S.]

I have an application that runs on Windows 2000/XP in a
telnet window, and prints to a printer configured as a
local - or network based - printer on the PC.

The problem is that I need to insert the PCL code to
print in either compressed or condensed mode into the
print job.

This is about equivalent to pressing Ctrl-P or selecting
'Print' from the 'File' menu in the menu bar in Internet
Explorer, and then selecting the printer.

Is there a way to modify printer settings - possibly through
a registry key or ? - to prepend something on the data sent
to the printer?

Ideally, I wouald like to add a second printer configuration
for things that need to be printed this way, and just let
the users pick that printer when needed. The data is coming
out of a vendor application which I cannot modify or insert
PCL code into.

tia,
Bill

 

[Davide Guolo]

Bill,

I have an application that runs on Windows 2000/XP in a
telnet window, and prints to a printer configured as a
local - or network based - printer on the PC.

The problem is that I need to insert the PCL code to
print in either compressed or condensed mode into the
print job.

have a look at Printfil, maybe it can help you.
If you need help on configuring it to work with your host application, do
not hesitate to contact me at my private e-mail address.

Kind regards,
Davide Guolo
--------------------------------------------------------------
Printfil - Windows Printing System for Applications
http://www.guolo.com/printfil
Odbc4All - Connection to ODBC Data Sources for any Application
http://www.guolo.com/odbc4all
--------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Alan]

I have an application that runs on Windows 2000/XP in a
telnet window, and prints to a printer configured as a
local - or network based - printer on the PC.

The problem is that I need to insert the PCL code to
print in either compressed or condensed mode into the
print job.

This is about equivalent to pressing Ctrl-P or selecting
'Print' from the 'File' menu in the menu bar in Internet
Explorer, and then selecting the printer.

Is there a way to modify printer settings - possibly through
a registry key or ? - to prepend something on the data sent
to the printer?

Ideally, I wouald like to add a second printer configuration
for things that need to be printed this way, and just let
the users pick that printer when needed. The data is coming
out of a vendor application which I cannot modify or insert
PCL code into.

I think you could do this with PrintFile,
<http://www.lerup.com/printfile> (which is a different app than
another poster has mentioned). You would print to file in a directory,
Printfile will then activate, run specified commands on the file, (eg,
insert your commands in the file) and send it to the printer.

Also there is a more complex app, Redmon,
<http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/redmon/>. This can intercept data sent
to a printer port and process it similarly.