Why DOSPRN? Nowadays, many laser and inkjet printers have powerful features but cannot print simple text accurately. Besides, some inexpensive printers (the so-called win-printers) can not print in text mode (dos print or dosprinter mode) at all.
DOSPRN helps to extend the life of old DOS programs. This program allows you to print reports from a good old DOS program into new printers irrespective of their types (Yes, USB and network printers, print-servers, and PDF-printers too!)
Takes standard printer output produced by a DOS application, and forwards it to a default Windows printer. Converts code page, strips empty pages, supports BOX DRAWINGS chars. Works on all Windows platforms.
First run dosprint and dosprintui as administrator, after then double click on the dosprintui tray icon, you can get the list of availble ports to map, then double click on lpt1 or in set button and choose your desired printer to map on it and click on ok. BINGO now you can print to the LPT1 port and your usb printer will print that for you.
The 16-bit DOS program we need to work with resides on a 32-bit Windows 2003 server that will soon be removed. Until then, a share to the program is mapped on two 32-bit client machines from the primary domain with Group Policy. A shortcut to the .cmd file that fires up the program is placed manually on the clients, also on the primary domain. The program runs well on Windows 8.1. A bit of a compromise to be sure, but the machines will be upgraded to 64-bit Windows 8.1 when the DOS program, which runs from the secondary domain, is retired.
Printing from the program presents the biggest challenge. Two different parallel printers are used with this program, but the program prints to a single port only and there is no option to change this behavior. Need to print a check to the laser printer? It needs to be attached to port LPT1. Need to print a data dump to the dot matrix printer? It needs to be attached to port LPT1 as well. Two people work with this program daily, so we'll use their computers, one for each printer. Let's install the first printer:
A Cables-to-Go model 16899 USB to DB25 parallel printer adapter is used to connect the printer to the computer. The adapter installs automatically and is not recognized as a parallel device or LPT port.
Now open Devices and Printers. Click Add printer and select The printer I want is not listed. At the next dialogue choose Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings and, at the next dialogue, Use an existing port. Select a virtual printer port for USB, either USB001 or USB002, from the list and not the LPT port options.
The first printer is a Panasonic KX-P1191 Multi-mode dot matrix printer. The printer is not listed in the dialogue box that asks for a driver and updating the list by clicking Windows Update doesn't help. A check of Panasonic's support site indicates the printer is completely unsupported at this point, but a Panasonic technical support specialist helped puzzle out the trail that led to the Epson FX Series 1(80) driver included with Windows 8.1. It works perfectly.
Now the printer is installed. But it is on port USB001 and the program will only print to port LPT1. The solution is relatively straightforward and can be integrated right into the batch file that is used to start the program. Let's get old school and play a trick on our printer: we'll share it and print to LPT1 that way.
Right-click the printer and choosing Properties. Share the printer, do not list it in the directory, create a short share name just for good measure, and then ensure the user of the client machine is listed in the Group or user name area under the Security tab.
The two people who will be printing to these printers create my paycheck, so I gave them Domain Admin rights. That may have been unnecessary. Both are users on the primary domain but not the secondary, and I didn't want to spend time troubleshooting the permissions issue.
Where COMPUTER is the name of the computer and PRINTER is the share name of the printer. The procedure worked equally well on a second computer for the HP LaserJet 1100 printer using the "HP LaserJet 1100 (MS)" driver supplied with Windows 8.1.
Check your syntax. You probably misspelled the name of the computer,the printer, or maybe missed the colon? Only one colon is needed, perthe Microsoft documentation. Will adding an unnecessary colon tolpt1[:] cause failure?
You haven't said what hardware you're using, but assuming it's a Wintel PC, you should be able to buy a generic parallel port card for it for next to nothing. Aside from that, you can redirect it using NET USE, as suggested by harrymc.
I was in the same position with custom designed business Clipper based software. Looked at some parallel emulation software to to print to a usb printer which worked somewhat but had their own problems. Overcoming the 64 Bit win10 no dos problems was a real challenge.
I found Harbour HMG which, after changing a few lines of code recompiled the app software to 32 bit. I also have my apps write data to temp files which I grab with Microsoft Access to put out some awesome formatted reports. Oh, BTW. Now the apps work in 64 Bit windows 10 with major improvements in memory and speed. Also, I have the reports sent to usb line printers or ink jets or whatever I choose.
Por qu DOSPRN? Hoy en da, muchas impresoras lser y de inyeccin de tinta tienen caractersticas de gran alcance, pero no pueden imprimir texto simple con precisin. Adems, algunas impresoras baratas (las llamadas Win-printers) no pueden imprimir en modo texto (modo dos print o dosprinter) en absoluto.
DOSPRN ayuda a extender la vida de los viejos programas de DOS. Este programa le permite imprimir informes desde un buen programa antiguo de DOS en impresoras nuevas independientemente de sus tipos (S, USB e impresoras de red, servidores de impresin e impresoras PDF tambin).
c80f0f1006