Adam McEvoy

Ignoring the Print Queue

2011-02-26T18:03:00.002Z

So now I am ignoring the print queue all together. I am just using:
#GET THE DEFAULT PRINTER DETAILS
$m = get-wmiobject win32_printer | %{if ($_.default) {$_}}
#EXIT IF PRINTER IS NOT IDLE
if ($m.printerstatus -ne 3) {EXIT}
So that sees if the printer is ready, not paused et cetera. Which is nicer. Still need to sort duplicates.

Thanks to Mark Fisher for the help.

Dropbox Print Update

2011-02-24T22:14:00.002Z

Just found the check print queue checks all queues. Bugger Win32_Printer should help me find the correct printer and narrow it down.

Handy http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394363(v=vs.85).aspx

Print via Dropbox

2011-02-24T21:09:00.001Z

Ok so I have been working on something that is very rough and ready at the moment. Also to note, all this will work on the default printer and you can substitute c: for your dropbox folder location.

The idea works as follows:

We have a folder structure…

c:\Print
c:\Print\Print
c:\Print\Printing
c:\Print\Printed

If you place a file in C:\Print\Print then every minute the folder is read on a remote machine connected to a printer (anywhere in the world), using scheduled tasks to run a powershell script. The idea is this file gets sent to the print queue. But then what, delete the file? What if the printer is not available? I just want to print the pdf I received on my phone.

This is why the folder structure. Firstly we check the print queue. Is it empty? – no. We wait – exit the script – give it a minute. You really won’t care at this point as you hopefully will be ordering a starbucks or getting the kids on the school bus.

If the is nothing in the queue we send the file to print. But if it is massive then we may need to leave the document in that folder so it can spool properly. Ok so lets move the file first into C:\Print\Printing. Now lets send it to print, we know once it has finished printing as we are checking the queue.

Right so it’s printed and we have a new file to print. I need to move my file into the C:\Print\Printing and send it to print. Ah, I got a file there from earlier. I need to move it first, lets send it to C:\Print\Printed.

Cool. I now have a process. It has to work back to front script wise. I have to handle the most processed files first. So:
We got anything printing?
Yes – EXIT | No – Continue
C:\Print\Printing –> C:\Print\Printed
C:\Print\Print –> C:\Print\Printing
Print all the stuff in C:\Print\Printing

Nice one all that should be cool. Ah but now I am printing stuff with the same file name and when it’s going to be moved to Printed it’s pulling up an error. I need to handle that. I can force the file to overwrite the existing file. That rubbish as it’s a nice backup method too and it’s good that people can see what is being printed. I need to check for duplicate file names and also append a suffix to them. This will have to be ran until we have no duplicates so i can either do while or use recursion.

My other concern is the state of the printer – if it is offline or paused or in error. It’s not major as something won’t go past C:\Print\Printing if there is a problem, but feedback would be nice. Which makes me think of a way we could have a code (like, 97648 with a password) and we could go on a website and see our print queue live.

Birdy?

2011-02-02T07:26:00.000Z

Just had a lovely song about a Birdy - anyways got to get a shift on!

Need fuel yet too..

So Why?

2011-02-01T21:09:00.000Z

Are websites of newspapers so cluttered? In other news today my daughter decided to dive into a table and nearly take her head off. So after having 2 new tyres (Thanks National for zipping me through after I got the bad call) I paid a visit to Blackburn Hospital. Who were surprisingly great!

Worked from home and caught up on meeting notes, planning and emails. Which was nice. Need to keep on top of it better now. Also moved a few projects forward and one is nearly done! Yay!

Time to Get the Car Fixed

2011-02-01T07:57:00.000Z

After the tyre went pop.

Olivia decide to get up last night and sleep with us for an hour. She is a very cheeky baby. Of course this meant I was surfing Ikea at like.. 2am. Phhh. But I love her so much I kind of enjoyed the experience. It's not a regular thing now. Getting up early like this morning, that is, she is back in bed with Mum now - having a snuggle.

Interviewing and New Times

2011-01-31T21:46:00.001Z

Right now I am so busy, but I hope I am sorting some free time. Basically I have moved from an out and out tech role into a manager position and it turns out that it really is a full time job! I need to have much more time free to get out and meet schools, manage the time people are spending out on-site, do the marketing and make sure the schools know what we are doing!

We are currently looking for another tech as we are growing at a very nice and sustainable rate. We have interviewed quite a number of people and had some good results. We are doing a 2nd round on Friday. Which means I still have to do the emails of "Sorry you ..." :-(

The best thing at the moment is that we are also freeing up more time to get Chris Barford out into schools to do some support work with teachers and show off some new tech, prove there is nothing to be scared off and get the confidence in teachers rocketing.