Printing to LPTx.yyy or COMx.yyy From Windows 3.0
ID: Q66070
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The information in this article applies to:
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Microsoft Windows versions 3.0, 3.0a
SUMMARY
When you print to LPTx.yyy, COMx.yyy (where "yyy" is any extension),
or print to a file and subsequently copy the file to a port, the print
job may be truncated.
This problem occurs primarily when you are printing graphics. To work
around this problem, you must either print to a port without an
extension or copy the file to the port with the /b (binary) parameter
when you print to a file.
NOTE: This information does not apply to later versions of Windows.
MORE INFORMATION
When you print to a port with an extension, Windows writes the output to a
file called LPTx.yyy or COMx.yyy. Since LPT and COM are reserved words for
Microsoft MS-DOS, when Windows writes to a file called LPTx.yyy or
COMx.yyy, MS-DOS redirects the output to the LPTx or COMx port.
You can achieve the same functionality manually by printing to a file
(that is, a port called FILE) and then copying the file to LPTx or
COMx.
The truncation problem occurs when one of the characters in the
document formatting code or a graphic contains the ^Z (CTRL+Z)
character. Because this character is the end-of-file marker for text
files, the print job ends when the ^Z character is encountered.
You can workaround this problem by copying the file to the port with
the /b parameter as in the following example:
COPY FILENAME.PRN LPT1: /b
The /b option lets the COPY command know the file is a binary file.
The LPTx.yyy port option in Windows does not invoke the /b parameter.
Printing graphics using this parameter may cause the print job to be
truncated.
To print graphics when you have a hardware problem that Windows is
detecting, print to a file, then copy the file to the printer using
MS-DOS with the /b switch. The steps below outline this procedure.
- In the Control Panel window, choose the Printers icon. Choose the
Configuration button, and select FILE: as the printer port.
- Choose the print option within the Windows application from which
you are trying to print.
- When you are prompted for a filename, name the file using standard
MS-DOS conventions. The file is then placed in the current WINDOWS
directory. You can also include a full path before the filename to
save the file to a path of your choice.
- Exit Windows or run choose the MS-DOS Prompt icon.
- Change to the WINDOWS directory, or the path specified in step 3,
and type the following:
copy /b <filename> <portx>:
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows versions 3.0
and 3.0a. This problem was corrected and does not occur in later versions.
Additional query words:
msdos 3.00 3.00a win30
Keywords :
Version : WINDOWS:3.0,3.0a
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type :