Radio Shack TRS-80 Model II Reference Manual page 102

Model II TRSDOS
The purpose of a spooler is to increase the efficiency of the system (i. e. , reduce the
CPU idle time), and to allow you to use the system while a print operation is in
progress. The TRSDOS spooler can perform two functions:
1. It saves or "captures" the data that would normally go to the printer. This
captured data may be thrown away, or it may be saved in a capture-file for later
use.
2. It prints data from a disk file while other operations are in progress. That is, you
can be using the Model II system - everything except for the printer - while
the file is being printed.
The two functions may be used one at a time or simultaneously. In the latter case,
the spool-file is printed and real-time printer output is captured for later use.
Sample Uses
I. (Capture-File) You are going to run a program that outputs to the printer.
Instead of waiting while the printing is done, you would like to capture it in a
disk file, and print it all out later. We'll call the capture-file SPOOL
I.
Type:
SPOOL ON
SPOOL N, F
=
SPOOL1
Now all printer output will be saved in SPOOL
I.
To stop capturing the printer output in SPOOL!, type:
SPOOL OFF
Now SPOOL
I
is a text file which may be LISTed or PRINTed normally.
2. (Print-file)
You need to print a file created by the spooler, but you want to use the
system at the same time. Suppose the file is named SPOOL
I,
from the previous
example. The spooler is off. Type:
SPOOL ON
SPOOL P, F
=
SPOOL1
TRSDOS will begin printing the file as a "background task" , meaning that
printing is performed only when the system is not busy with some
higher-priority operation like interpreting and executing your keyboard
commands. Since we did not include the
K
orC
=
copies option, TRSDOS will
delete SPOOLI after it is printed, and will print only one copy.
Spooler does not turn itself off after completing a print-file. To turn it off, type:
SPOOL OFF
3. (Simultaneous Capture-File and Print-File) You want to save real-time
printer output at the same time as the spooler is printing a file. In some
applications, this will be common.
For this purpose, you need one capture-file and one print-file. We'll use the
names SPOOL I and SPOOL2.
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