KB#00068-Alias to print to a file and printer simultaneously

Title:

Alias to print to a file and printer simultaneously

Description:

Method 1: 

It'll take 2 different aliases. 
The first is pretty standard: 
alias P1 /dev/lp1 "Std Printer" cr,lock=/tmp/lp1.lck 
The second: 
alias P2 ">tee $FILE >/dev/lp1" "Std/split Printer" cr,lock=/tmp/lp1.lck,FILE=/tmp/default 

In the second case the same lockfile is used to manage the printer access, and the output is saved in the file named in the MODE= in the open, or in the default file /tmp/default. To use this alias use: 

OPEN(7,MODE="FILE=/tmp/myfile")"P2" 


This method can also be done using only one ALIAS line 
alias PDS "> tee -a DR/rlf_MyDiskFile$$ | lp -dlp0 > /dev/null 2>&1" 


Method 2: 
Under UNIX piping the data to a shell script may give more control and is done like this: 

Setup your alias like: 
alias LPF "|ptr_file" "Dual print & save in file" CR ...,lock=/tmp/LPF.lck 

Then the script would be similar to the one below (a # means it's a comment line in the script): 
# ptr_file - sample shell script to print to a file and printer pjw/ubb 5/7/96 
# 
# get PID of this task - use to name unique files. Use another method if you reboot often and # need to have # the files preserved long term. 
PID=$$ 

# Dir to use to store files 
DIR=/usr/bbx/ubb/ 
# printer id (use $1 if you want to pass a specific ptr) 
LP=/dev/lp0 
# file name 
FILE="${DIR}printfile.${PID}" 

# the below simply grabs any data piped to this script & writes it to the file. 
cat >$FILE 
# assumes locking is handled in config.bbx 
cat $FILE>$LP 
# end 

Output to the printer won't start until you have closed the channel. 

Last Modified: 06/08/2006 Product: PRO/5 Operating System: All platforms

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