| Discussion:
X2 Print Accounting - Windows v1.2
===========================================
Contents
--------
1. What's New in version 1.2
2. Pre-Installation
3. Installation
4. Post-Installation and Setup
5. Known Limitations
5.1 Samba Shared Printers
5.2 Printing to Macintosh Printers
5.3 Network Connectivity
5.4 Permissions
5.5 Small Print Jobs
6. The Printer Blacklist
7. Version History
1. What's New in Version 1.2
----------------------------
-Fixed an issue on Small Business Server 2003 where the popup would never appear
-Fixed an issue on Windows XP where the popup would appear on the wrong session
if Fast User Switching was enabled
-Updated print job filtering for certain Active Directory situations
-Improved the way Billing IDs are handled by the Admin Tool and checkBox
allowing the use of over 20,000 IDs without any significant slowdown
2. Pre-Installation
-------------------
The system requirements are as follows:
300 MHz Pentium (or equivalent) or faster processor
128 MB memory
~3 MB free disk space
Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, or Server 2003
Internet connectivity
Administrative access to the target machine(s)
Microsoft .NET Framework v1.1 or greater (acquire from Windows Update or
http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/downloads/default.aspx)
Sun Java v1.5 or greater (acquire from http://www.java.com)
Note: If you are upgrading from an older version, ensure the previous version is
completely uninstalled before proceeding.
3. Installation
---------------
Installation must be performed by a user with administrative rights. Either
login with a user with access, or right-click on the setup file and select "Run
As...î. Then proceed to select Administrator (or another user with proper access
rights), enter the password and press OK. The remainder of the guide assumes
that administrative access has been granted.
Note: Using the "Run As" command to install the software will require a logoff /
logon after the installation as some components of the software will be running
under the wrong account.
The installation will copy the required files to the chosen installation folder,
launch the control panel applet, register and start the service, and then start
the frontend component. It also sets access rights for configuration files
required for operation.
Note: Prior to starting the software, the control panel application will be
launched. This will allow any required changes to the configuration to take
place before the program is started. The configuration application can be
accessed at any time via the Control Panel or by running it directly from the
installed directory. A restart is usually required for any changes to take
effect.
4. Post-Installation and Setup
------------------------------
Note: After making any of the following changes to the printer settings it is a
good idea to reboot the machine to properly allow the changes to take effect.
This section deals primarily with configuration of network printing privileges.
No known limitations exist with local printers.
In order for the software to properly track print jobs it must have correct
access to the print queues. Local printers (printers physically attached to a
local port, such as USB, or parallel) do not require any extra configuration.
Network printers will need to have their security settings changed before the
software will properly operate. Note that Workgroup Shared (or Samba) printers
are currently not supported (see section 4.1, below), only printers shared with
Active Directory.
Note: It is possible that configuring the printer settings will need to be done
from the computer the printer is physically attached to. In that case,
administrative access will be needed for all machines where printer setting
changes are required.
The security settings for all the effected printers must be changed to give the
"Everyone" group the "Manage Printers" and "Manage Documents" permissions. The
following steps outline the process required:
1. Access the security settings panel by right-clicking on the printer icon in
the "Printers and Faxes" folder and then selecting the "Security".
2. Select the "Everyone" group in the top segment and then check the "Manage
Printers" and "Manage Documents" check boxes.
3. Click the "Apply" button to confirm the changes and then the "OK" button to
close the window.
Note: On some machines, such as Windows XP, the security settings tab may not be
present. This is possibly due to the fact that "Simple File Sharing" is enabled.
To disable it, perform the following steps:
1. From the Desktop, double-click on the My Computer icon.
2. Select the "Tools" menu, and then click on "Folder Options".
3. From the "Folder Options" window, click the "View" tab at the top.
4. In the lower selection window, scroll to the bottom and uncheck "Use simple
file sharing".
Reboot or logout and login of all effected machines after all the changes have
been made to the required printers. Upon logging in again, verify that the
service is running by looking for "checkBoxBackendService.exe" in the Task
Manager. Also, ensure the Frontend component is running by looking for
"javaw.exe" or "java.exe" running under the current user account in the Task
Manager.
5. Known Limitations
--------------------
There are currently no known limitations when using the software with a locally
attached printer. Virtually all problems occur when using network printers and
are caused by either slow or limited network connectivity, or improper user
permissions.
5.1 Samba Shared Printers
-------------------------
In the current release of the software, workgroup shared (or samba) printers are
not supported. Printers shared via Active Directory are supported and work
properly provided proper permissions are set. A fix is forthcoming for Samba
shared printers.
5.2 Printing to Macintosh Printers
----------------------------------
Due to the differences in how the print spooler works on Windows and Macintosh
computers, printing to Macintosh shared printers (via SMB) is currently not
supported. However, it is possible to print to a Macintosh printer provided the
LPR protocol is used. Doing so requires the "Print Service for Unix" component
to be added via the "Add or Remove Programs" window under the "Add/Remove
Windows Components" section. The Macintosh printer will need to be shared using
the LPD protocol in order for proper operation to occur.
5.3 Network Connectivity
------------------------
Because the software monitors all attached printers it usually has to
communicate with one or more printers over a network. Care was taken to ensure
that the minimum amount of data is sent over the network; however some
situations require more frequent or very large data transmissions. If the
network connection between the local computer and the printer is very slow, then
the software may behave in an unpredictable fashion. Some of the exhibited
symptoms are as follows:
1. The popup window may take a long time to appear after a print job is issued.
2. The print job may not be paused or the print job may start printing before
the job is paused.
3. Users may be able to "step print" a few pages at a time by continuously
un-pausing a print job.
5.4 Permissions
---------------
If there appears to be no print job tracking occurring for a particular network
printer it may be a result of improper user permissions. Currently, the printer
must allow the "Everyone" group full access to the printer in order for proper
tracking to occur. Check that the proper permissions have been applied to the
printer in question and that all machines affected have been rebooted (if
possible) or logged out and logged in again.
Note: During development it was noted that changes to printing permissions did
not always "stick" and sometimes the printer had to be removed and then added
again for proper operation to commence. Also, it may be possible to operate with
tighter printing restrictions, but this is left as an exercise for the network
administrator.
Note: In general, when any changes are made to permission settings or when a
printer is added or removed it is a good idea to reboot all machines affected to
ensure the changes are propagated.
Another common indicator of a permission problem is when the popup dialog
appears but the print job is not paused, and thus continues printing before
authorization. In some cases, this can be solved by rebooting the effected
machines if the proper permissions are reapplied.
5.5 Small Print Jobs
--------------------
Very small print jobs (on the order of a few hundred bytes or just a few words
of text) may not be trapped by the software and may print without any popup
dialog appearing. This is a limitation in how the software operates as there is
a finite delay before the software can respond to a new print job. For very
small jobs this delay may be longer then the time it takes to print the job.
In other rare cases, the popup dialog will appear and the job will still print.
The exact size limit before this behavior sets in is determined by the network
speed and / or the printer speed.
6. The Printer Blacklist
------------------------
Note: As of version 1.1, an automated method of adjusting the blacklist is now
available in the logSheet Control Panel.
The backend service tracks all printers except those specified in the printer
blacklist file ("checkBoxPrinterBlacklist.txt"). This file is placed in the
Windows System folder (e.g. C:\Windows\System32) at the time of installation and
by default blocks tracking of the following printers:
1. Acrobat Distiller
2. Microsoft Office Document Image Writer
3. Acrobat PDFWriter
4. Adobe PDF
These printers are all "virtual printers" that write their output to files.
However, it is possible to blacklist any printer should the need arise. Simply
add the full name (the name is case sensitive, so spelling must be exact) of the
printer to a new line in the blacklist file. In order to have the changes take
effect, the service must be restarted and the user must logout and login again.
In general, it is easier to reboot the system to effect these changes.
Note: Changes to the blacklist file require administrator privileges as a
security precaution.
Note: Adding a network printer to the blacklist will require the UNC name of the
printer (e.g. ìMyPrinter on serverî would be ì\\server\MyPrinterî).
7. Version History
------------------
Version 1.0
-Initial Release
Version 1.1
-The checkBox Admin tool now supports a "Yes to all" while importing billing IDs
-Added the ability to dismiss update notices for all clients including the
server Admin Tool
-Added the ability to dismiss the Buy Now / Trial window and allow un-accounted
printing
-Updated the logSheet Control Panel to support blacklisting. A new tab is now
available that allows simple checking / unchecking of printers to update the
blacklist. A restart is required to effect changes.
Version 1.2
-Fixed an issue on Small Business Server 2003 where the popup would never appear
-Fixed an issue on Windows XP where the popup would appear on the wrong session
if Fast User Switching was enabled
-Updated print job filtering for certain Active Directory situations
-Improved the way Billing IDs are handled by the Admin Tool and checkBox
allowing the use of over 20,000 IDs without any significant slowdown
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