Spool & Print: Service and Management in Distributed Environment

Abstract

This paper presents an attempt to approach in a new way the problem of spool & print service and management in distributed environments. Thanks to an object-oriented model, high consistency is brought between the user and administrator functions. New concepts are introduced, such as the Printer Capability List object, describing in a flexible and affordable fashion the characteristics of a printer type. Filters customising the functionality can be inserted at different places in the data flow. Features such as the location transparency and the single point administration capability make the administrator’s life easier. The resulted SPOOL V4/Xprint system is running successfully on multiple UNIX platforms, supporting all usual types of printers, emulations and attachments. Further advanced extensions are under the way.