Add a Printer Pool Destination

See Printer Pools for more information.

To add a printer pool:

  1. Click Destinations on the main menu, select Add a destination from the menu options and select Destination pool from the sub-menu options

The Add Destination Pool window opens.

  1. Enter information in the appropriate fields. Refer to the table for guidance.

Add a Printer Pool

Field

Description

Number

Destination (printer) number, prefaced by the letters lp. EasySpooler displays the first available destination number. You may change it to any number from 0 through 2,147,483,647, as long as it does not already belong to an existing printer or violate your security settings. The printer number is the printer's primary address in the EasySpooler database.

Printer name

Name by which the EasySpooler database knows the destination. May be up to 50 characters in length and include any character, but must include at least one alphabetic character. We do not recommend using spaces or shell metacharacters; for example, a back slash (\), dollar sign ($), asterisk (*), period (.), exclamation point (!), or question mark (?).

You may use this name instead of the printer number whenever you spool a job or want to change its options. You may leave this field blank and the printer number (lpn) will also function as the printer name.

Location

Comments about the destination, usually describing the physical location of the destination. May be up to 50 characters in length. You may leave this field blank, but we recommend filling it in because your entry is displayed when you move your cursor over the destination icon on the Destination Map.

Pool priority

Determines the way in which EasySpooler uses the printers in the pool. With the first three options, if a printer is busy, detached, or does not meet the document requirements, EasySpooler goes to the next printer. Options are

Presentation — Starts with the first printer added to the pool (printer A).

Round robin — Starts with the printer that follows the last printer used (e.g., if printer B was the last printer used, starts with printer C).

Least recently used —  Starts with the printer that has been idle the longest.

All destinations —  Prints the entire document on each of the pool members.

Failover —  Starts with the first printer (printer A). Only if the printer's status is detached or not ready, does EasySpooler go to the next printer.

Fence

Sets the priority levels at which a document will not be processed by this destination. The Fence is a whole number that is either between 1 and 255, inclusive, with a default value of 255, or between 14 and 1, inclusive, with a default value of 1. The fence value range is dependent on the lpspriority setting in the global tuning parameters. To change lpspriority, see Global Tuning Parameters.

If lpspriority is set to default, the priority range and the fence value range are from 1-255, with 1 being the highest priority and 255 being the lowest priority. Then, if the Fence is 100, for example, the destination will not process any documents with a priority of 100 or more.

If lpspriority is set to mpe, the priority range is from 14-1, with 14 being the highest priority and 1 being the lowest priority. Then, if the Fence is 10, for example, the destination will not process any documents with a priority of 10 or less.

 

Before you can add printers as members of a pool, the printers must already exist. See Add a Destination. To add members to the pool destination:

  1. Click +Add pool members. The Select Destinations window opens.

  2. In the Available Destinations section of the page, click the name of the destination that you want to add to the printer pool. The printers are then displayed in the Selected Destinations section of the page. To remove a destination from the Selected Destinations section, click the delete icon next to the destination name.

NOTE: If you know the name of the destination that you want to add, you can type in all or part of the name in the Search field. The Available Destinations list changes to include only destinations that match what you enter. If you want to search your preferred destinations only, select Preferred Only. See the Preferences page.

  1. After you have selected all members of the pool, click OK on the Select Destinations window.

The Add Destination Pool window opens again and the destination are listed in the Members section of the page.

  1. To add more pool members go to step 3 above.

NOTE: To change the order of the members, hover the mouse over the move icon to the left of the member you want to move. Drag the member up or down in the Members list section. To delete a member, click the delete icon on the appropriate row.

  1. When finished click OK on the Add Destination Pool window.