[ic] lpr within a usertag

[Peter]

On 02/02/2008 02:49 PM, Peter wrote:
> On 02/02/2008 08:51 AM, Grant wrote:
>>>> I'm able to print from my remote IC machine to my local printer server
>>>> with 'lpr file.pdf' but I'm having trouble making it work within an IC
>>>> usertag.  I'm using the following to test it:
>>>>
>>>> Usertag print Order
>>>> Usertag print Routine <<EOR
>>>> sub {
>>>>         'lpr /catalogpath/file.pdf';
>>>> }
>>>> EOR
>>>>
>>>> I've also tried specifying just file.pdf without the absolute path but
>>>> neither works.  There is nothing in either error.log.  Does anyone see
>>>> what's wrong here?
>>> Not that this is a great way to do this, but try using backticks (`)
>>> instead of single quotes (').
>>>
>>> See Net::Printer
>>> <http://search.cpan.org/~cfuhrman/Net-Printer-1.04/lib/Net/Printer.pm>
>>> for a better solution.
>>
>> Why do you prefer Net::Printer over 'lpr file.pdf'?
> 
> Because IC doesn't have to launch an external program that way.  It's 
> nearly always better to use a perl module for any given task than it is 
> to use a system call for various reasons of portability, lower process 
> count, not having to fork, etc.

Mike pointed out to me that I may be incorrect in this case, he said:

> In this case, lpr may be superior, because it will send jobs to
> Samba and CUPS printers. Net::Printer will not unless you have put
> the LPD compatibility interface in....

So in this particular case it may be better to use lpr via a system 
call, especially if you plan on sending to a cups or samba printer in 
the future.

Peter