Important Notice

The pages on this site contain documentation for very old MS-DOS software, purely for historical purposes. If you're looking for up-to-date documentation, particularly for programming, you should not rely on the information found here, as it will be woefully out of date.

◄Notes►  ◄Examples►
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                                   PRINT
 
Prints a text file while you are using other MS-DOS commands.
 
This command can print in the background if you have an output device
connected to one of your system's serial or parallel ports.
 
Syntax
 
    PRINT [/D:device] [/B:size] [/U:ticks1] [/M:ticks2] [/S:ticks3]
    [/Q:qsize] [/T] [[drive:][path]filename[ ...]] [/C] [/P]
 
To install PRINT with the default parameters or to display the contents of
the print queue on your screen without affecting the queue, use the
following syntax:
 
    PRINT
 
Parameter
 
[drive:][path]filename
    Specifies the location and name of a file or set of files you want to
    print. You can include multiple files (usually as many as 10) on one
    command line.
 
Switches
 
/D:device
    Specifies the name of the print device. Valid values for parallel ports
    are LPT1, LPT2, and LPT3. Valid values for serial ports are COM1, COM2,
    COM3, and COM4. The default value is LPT1, which is also called PRN. The
    /D switch must precede any filename used on the command line.
 
/B:size
    Sets the size (in bytes) of the internal buffer, which is used to store
    data before it is sent to the printer. The minimum and default value for
    size is 512; the maximum value is 16384. Increasing this value decreases
    the amount of memory available for other purposes but may speed up the
    PRINT command.
 
/U:ticks1
    Specifies the maximum number of clock ticks PRINT is to wait for a
    printer to be available (clock ticks occur about 18 times per second).
    If the printer is not available within the time specified, the job does
    not print. Values for ticks1 must be in the range 1 through 255. The
    default value is 1.
 
/M:ticks2
    Specifies the maximum number of clock ticks PRINT can take to print a
    character on the printer. Values for ticks2 must be in the range 1
    through 255. The default value is 2. If a character is printed too
    slowly, MS-DOS displays an error message.
 
/S:ticks3
    Specifies the number of clock ticks the MS-DOS scheduler allocates for
    background printing. Values for ticks3 must be in the range 1 through
    255. The default value is 8. Increasing this value can speed up printing
    while slowing down other programs.
 
/Q:qsize
    Specifies the maximum number of files allowed in the print queue. Values
    for qsize must be in the range 4 through 32. The default value is 10.
 
/T
    Removes all files from the print queue.
 
/C
    Removes files from the print queue. You can use the /C and /P switches
    on the same command line.
 
    When the /C switch precedes the list of filenames on the command line,
    it applies to all files whose names follow the /C switch, until PRINT
    encounters a /P switch, in which case the /P switch applies to the file
    whose name precedes the /P switch.
 
    When the /C switch follows a filename, it applies to the file whose name
    precedes the /C switch and all files whose names follow the /C switch,
    until PRINT encounters a /P switch, in which case the /P switch applies
    to the file whose name precedes the /P switch.
 
/P
    Adds files to the print queue. You can use the /C and /P switches on the
    same command line.
 
    When the /P switch precedes the list of filenames on the command line,
    it applies to all files whose names follow the /P switch, until PRINT
    encounters a /C switch, in which case the /C switch applies to the file
    whose name precedes the /C switch.
 
    When the /P switch follows a filename, it applies to the file whose name
    precedes the /P switch and all files whose names follow the /P switch,
    until PRINT encounters a /C switch, in which case the /C switch applies
    to the file whose name precedes the /C switch.
 
Related Commands
 
For information about configuring a printer connected to a parallel port,
see the <MODE (configure printer)> command.
 
For information about displaying the status of a printer, see the
<MODE (display device status)> command.
 
For information about configuring a printer connected to a serial port, see
the <MODE (redirect printing)> command.
 
For information about preparing printers for character-set switching,
see the <MODE (set device code pages)> command.
 
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