NOTE: If your network is set up properly, all of WireReady's software will run. However, 
WireReady has found that the best networks are Lantastic and Novell. WireReady does not 
recommend using a Windows for Workgroups network.

Some customers, using a Windows For Workgroups networking system, report that, when 
printing a story, there is a 60 sec. delay before the printer actually starts printing. 
Or, in some cases, the printing does not occur until they exit WireReady's software. 
They report that it prints right away when they print through DOS and Windows 
applications.

In all of these cases, it was found that the WireReady print queue was empty, even if 
the printer never outputted the job. Thus, WireReady had already sent the job to the 
server; the server just had not processed the job.

This problem is caused by a misconfiguration of the Windows for Workgroups network.

Printing on a Network

When applications print, they either send an invisible 'End of File' marker, or not. 
Even if this end of file marker is not sent, the network will want to know to end a 
print job at some point. Networks such as Lantastic, Novell, and  WFW, have a setting 
called TIMEOUT.  In Lantastic it's  NET LPT TIMEOUT x, where x is the number of seconds 
the network waits for the workstation to stop printing, before it actually prints it. 
The network assumes that if the application has not sent any print information after 
this timeout period, the application is done printing. If this setting is not configured 
properly, the network will wait forever to print, unless an end of file marker is sent, 
or the application is closed.

Microsoft's Explanation of WFW Printing

When an MS-DOS based application writes data to a printer port connected to a network 
printer,, the network redirector intercepts the data and sends it across the network. 
The server writes the data into a spool file on disk as the data is received. Because 
MS-DOS applications do not generally close the port they print to, the redirector on the 
client machine decides when the job is finished based on the amount of time the 
application has allowed to lapse without printing. In Windows for Workgroups 3.1, if the 
application does not print any data for the number of seconds specified by the 
PRINTBUFTIME= entry in the [Network] section of SYSTEM.INI (45 seconds by default), then 
the redirector assumes the print job is done. (Note that in Windows for Workgroups 3.11, 
the PRINTBUFTIME= entry is in both the [network] section and the [ifsmgr] section of 
SYSTEM.INI file on the client machine.) When the print job is done, the network 
redirector tells the server to begin closing it. At this point, the server can close the 
spool file and begin sending its contents directly to the printer hardware.

In addition, the following must be true:

    1) Print Manager enabled.
    2) Send Documents Directly to Network box checked.
    3) In WFW 3.1, Background Printing box checked.
    4) In WFW 3.1, Printing to a Windows for Workgroups server with a shared printer 
resource is enabled.


What You Need to Know

In any Windows for Workgroups system, the PRINTBUFTIME= entry must be set in the 
[network] section of SYSTEM.INI on ALL COMPUTERS ON THE NETWORK. This includes the 
capture station and the server.

If the WFW version is 3.11, then the PRINTBUFTIME= entry must also be set in the 
[ifsmgr] section of SYSTEM.INI of all computers on the network.

This value should be set to the same value everywhere on the network. That is, on all 
workstations, the capture station, and the server.

Enable the Print Manager. Check the box for Send Documents Directly to Network Printer.

If you are running Windows for Workgroups 3.1, check the Background Printing box. Enable 
printing to server with a shared printer.

If you do not know how to edit the SYSTEM.INI file, or configure the printer in Windows 
for Workgroups, consult Microsoft's or your printer manufacturer's manuals.