PRINT (command) explained

In computing, the print commandprovides single-user print spooling capability in a number of operating systems. It is roughly similar to that provided by the UNIX System V lp and BSD lpr print spooler systems.

Implementations

The command is available in the DEC RT-11,^[1] OS/8,^[2] RSX-11,^[3] TOPS-10,^[4] and TOPS-20^[5] operating systems and also in DR FlexOS,^[6] DR DOS, TSL PC-MOS,^[7] Paragon Technology PTS-DOS,^[8] SISNE plus,^[9] IBM OS/2,^[10] eComStation, ArcaOS, Microsoft Windows, FreeDOS,^[11] Stratus OpenVOS,^[12] AROS,^[13] HP MPE/iX,^[14] and OpenVMS.^[15]

The FreeDOS version was developed by James Tabor and is licensed under the GPL.^[16]

DOS, OS/2, Windows

Background

The command was introduced in MS-DOS/IBM PC DOS 2.0. DR DOS 6.0 includes an implementation of the command.^[17]

In early versions of DOS, printing was accomplished using the [[copy (command)|copy]] command: the file to be printed was "copied" to the file representing the print device. Control returned to the user when the print job completed. Beginning with DOS 2.0, the print command was included to allow basic print spooling: the ability to continue to use the computer while printing occurred in the background, and the ability to create a queue of jobs to be printed.

Description

The print command allowed specifying one of many possible local printer interfaces, and could make use of networked printers using the [[net (command)|net]] command. A maximum number of files and a maximum buffer size could be specified, and further command-line options allowed adding and removing files from the queue. Margins, page lengths and number of copies could also be set, as well as a parameter to adjust between favoring printing speed versus computer responsiveness.

Retrospect

Users of the initial release of the print command commented on the slow print speed and high resource usage, as well as the lack of support for the newly introduced subdirectories. The command was among the first RAM-resident programs and was the first to achieve widespread use, with many users disassembling the binary in order to determine how RAM-resident programs should be written.

See also

• List of DOS commands
• List of Unix commands

Further reading

• Book: Cooper. Jim. Special Edition Using MS-DOS 6.22, Third Edition. 2001. Que Publishing. 978-0789725738.
• Book: Kathy Ivens. Brian Proffit. 1993. OS/2 Inside & Out. Osborne McGraw-Hill. 978-0078818714.
• Book: John Paul Mueller. 2007. Windows Administration at the Command Line for Windows Vista, Windows 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000. John Wiley & Sons. 978-0470165799.

External links

• print | Microsoft Docs
• Open source PRINT implementation that comes with MS-DOS v2.0

Notes and References

1. Web site: RT-11 HELP FILE. paleoferrosaurus.com. 16 July 2018. 17 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180717041552/http://paleoferrosaurus.com/beta/documents/rt11help.html#PRINT. dead.
2. "Concise Command Language" (CCL).Web site: OS/8 Handbook . April 1974 . 28 November 2017.
3. Book: RSX A Guide for Users . 1987 . John F. Pieper . Digital Equipment Corporation . 0-932376-90-8 . 2020-09-19.
4. Book: TOPS-10 Operating System Commands Manual . August 1980 . Digital Equipment Corporation . 2019-02-17 . 9 August 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200809145058/http://scandocs.trailing-edge.com/tops10-aa-0916d-tb.pdf . dead .
5. Web site: TOPS-20 Command manual. 18 July 2018. 9 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200809103116/http://www.textfiles.com/bitsavers/pdf/dec/pdp10/TOPS20/V6.1/AA-FP65A-TM_tops20CmdsRef.pdf. dead.
6. Web site: FlexOS User's Guide . 1986 . www.bitsavers.org . 2020-09-19 . 25 September 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190925131719/http://bitsavers.org/pdf/digitalResearch/flexos/1073-2003_FlexOS_Users_Guide_V1.3_Nov86.pdf . dead .
7. Web site: roelandjansen/pcmos386v501. GitHub. 2 January 2022.
8. Web site: PTS-DOS 2000 Pro User Manual . . Buggingen, Germany . 1999 . 2018-05-12 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20180512094512/http://download.paragon-software.com/doc/manual_dos_eng.pdf . 2018-05-12.
9. Web site: SISNE plus - Referência Sumária. 14 May 2015. Datassette.
10. Web site: JaTomes Help - OS/2 Commands . 6 July 2019 . 14 April 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190414130029/http://www.jatomes.com/Help/Os2Cmd.php#PRINT . dead .
11. Web site: ibiblio.org FreeDOS Group -- FreeDOS Base. www.ibiblio.org.
12. Web site: Manual . stratadoc.stratus.com . 2020-09-19.
13. Web site: AROS Research Operating System. aros.sourceforge.io.
14. Web site: MPE/iX Command Reference Manual . 21 October 2018 . 21 October 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181021232213/http://www.teamnaconsulting.com/compresources/pdfs/c01687363.pdf . dead .
15. Web site: OpenVMS User's Manual. www.itec.suny.edu.
16. Web site: ibiblio.org FreeDOS Package -- print (FreeDOS Base). www.ibiblio.org.
17. Web site: DR DOS 6.0 User Guide Optimisation and Configuration Tips . 12 August 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190930135943/http://www.4corn.co.uk/archive/docs/DR%20DOS%206.0%20User%20Guide-opt.pdf . 30 September 2019 . dead .