K-Spool software allows users of Apple Macintosh computers and UNIX systems to share PostScript printers. It is a UNIX application which functions as a print server and PostScript filter for UNIX and Macintosh users, allowing them flexibility in the printers they use.
UNIX users can use a variety of ways to select a LaserWriter -- even one on a LocalTalk network. Mac users see all printers -- even those serially connected to the UNIX host -- through the familiar "Chooser." For Mac users, K-Spool is a quick and easy spooler which frees up the Mac immediately for further use. Instead of waiting for a printer to become idle, print jobs may be sent to the spooler, which dispatches jobs as the printer becomes available and frees the user to begin a new application almost immediately. Mac users can also check printer queues before selecting printers, monitor the progress of their jobs, and remove their own jobs from queues.
For UNIX system users, K-Spool allows printing of both ASCII files and PostScript format files to PostScript printers. K-Spool also includes tpscript, a ditroff-to-PostScript translator that accommodates files from AT&T's device-independent troff package. K-Spool also offers accurate page accounting for monitoring printer use.
K-Spool is versatile. Printers can be on a LocalTalk network, directly connected to Ethernet, or serially connected to the host. Macintoshes can be directly connected to the Ethernet or reside on a LocalTalk network joined to the Ethernet by an AppleTalk router.
Multiple PostScript dictionary caching simplifies installation for networks which include both Mac OS 6 and System 7. K-Spool automatically loads the correct dictionary version.
K-Spool includes Xinet's K-Talk system, which adds AppleTalk protocols to the UNIX operating system. For its spooling function, K-Spool utilizes the standard UNIX spooling mechanism, adding a filter program that communicates with LaserWriters on LocalTalk networks. This filter prints ditroff and ASCII text files by formatting the data into PostScript, as well as sending files that are already in PostScript format to the printer.
The spooling of Macintosh documents is accomplished with a UNIX program called papserver. This program imitates an Apple LaserWriter, so the spooler appears as a LaserWriter option when using the Chooser desk accessory. Since the daemon behaves as a virtual LaserWriter, any device that can normally print directly to a LaserWriter will be able to use the spooler. Users see no difference between the Spooler and a direct connection to a LaserWriter.