The Printer Control System provides a simple solution to the complex problem of sharing printers in a multi-user and/or multi-location environment. However, many of the features are also of benefit to the single user environment.

For example, overall system performance is increased as reports are generated at the maximum speed of the computer rather than the physical speed of the destination printer. It is even possible to generate reports requiring special forms, such as statements, even though the forms are not loaded on your printer.

Stamina maintains a definition for every printer connected to your system, which includes the current form loaded on the printer. If you need to change paper forms, you simply stop the printer, load the forms, then tell Stamina to restart the printer with the new form loaded.

Every Stamina process that normally generates printed output also has a form associated with it, such as normal blank paper or pre-printed statement forms. When a report is generated by that process, it is flagged as requiring that form, and may also specify how many copies of the report are to be physically printed.

The report is actually stored on the computers high speed disk, rather than being sent directly to the printer. This allows many people to generate reports at the same time, as they are not contending for the same physical resource, and means that the process generating the report can finish long before it is actually printed.

A special process knows as a SPOOLER constantly monitors these generated reports, and the printers, sending your report to a printer that has the required form loaded and is currently inactive.

Other considerations also come into play in a multi-location environment. For example, if your report needs to be printed on blank paper, it is no good sending it to a printer in a remote location that may be 1,000 kilometres away just because it happens to be idle and has the right form loaded!

Of course, if that is what you want to happen, you can direct that your report is sent to any nominated printer, regardless of its’ location, or even of the form that is currently loaded.

To aid in distribution for larger companies, reports that do not require special forms carry the name of the person requesting the report on each page, which also acts as an effective audit trail.

This mechanism of spooling rather than direct printer output also allows you to re-print reports rather than regenerating them, and you can be selective in this process. For example, if your printer jammed with a paper mis-feed after 122 pages of a 200 page report, you can fix the paper jam and re-start the report from page 123, saving time and money.

Management facilities within the Printer Control System allow you to remove unwanted reports, freeing disk storage, as you require. It is even possible to produce a permanent, machine readable image of a report on disk or tape, reducing filing and storage requirements if needed.

Click for Printer Control System Flow Chart