To: mikebw{at}bilow.bilow.uu.ids.net

Hello Mike!

Replying to a message of Mike Bilow to Erik Huelsmann:

 MB> There is nothing actually special about the numbers. 
"LPT1" is just a
 MB> device name under OS/2, and you could call your port "PRINTER_A" if
 MB> you wanted.  The DOS system of reserved names, which limits you to
 MB> three LPT ports, is a BIOS limitation that has its origins in CP/M.
Ok, I know that then. (By the way lpt4 is the max dos can handle, without
special drivers.
(the bios can administrate 4 ports in the bios ram at a time.)

 EH>> The driver should not _really_ drive an lpt4, but virtualize
 EH>> one so it can redirect its output to FxPrint. (Don't know if
 EH>> this is possible...?) 

 MB> You don't need a driver at all.  What you need to do is manipulate the
 MB> printer objects in the Workplace Shell.  Open the
"Templates" folder
 MB> and drag a Printer object onto some convenient place, such as the
 MB> Desktop. 

Ok, this is similar to opening the settings notebook of my
FxPrint-printer-object (the fax), then going to the output-port page and
setting the port to lpt4.

 MB> It will let you choose which default printer driver is to
 MB> be associated with the object (choose the one from FaxWorks, probably
 MB> FAXWORKD) and choose the output port (choose LPT4 or some other one
 MB> of the new ones).

I did select lpt4 indeed.

 MB>  Then select "Create."  You will have a new printer
 MB> object that makes the association on the system between some LPT4 and
 MB> the FaxWorks daemon.
 MB> This fake port will be visible from within all OS/2 sessions.  It will
 MB> be visible from within Win-OS/2 sessions as long as you
"connect" the
 MB> fake printer to LPT4.OS2 rather than direct.  It will be visible from
 MB> within DOS sessions for any programs which go through DOS to print,
 MB> instead of using the BIOS or going directly to the hardware.

Only this last step is not available. Whenever I open an OS/2 commandline
session, I type the following command:

copy config.sys lpt4

the result is:
  1 file(s) copied

but the result is a file "LPT4" in my root directory, instead of
my config.sys file being sent to the fax.

Hope you know something to this problem..

Bye, Erik!


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