Using the Spool Message Feature

This tip provides information about using the spool message feature in the MTB language and in The Reporter. The spool message feature allows you to add a text message to jobs that are written to the Comet Print Spooler. The message may be up to 50 characters long, and can be seen when you run the QSPOOL program. This provides a convenient way to identify jobs in the spooler.

There are two ways to use the spool message feature:

1. In the MTB language, use the (spool message) mnemonic. For example:

     OPEN (1) "SP1"
     PRINT (1) (Spool message="This is a sample spool message")
     .
     .
     .
     CLOSE (1)
   

   Note: This feature was added in Comet 504.208 and requires an up-to-date copy of the MTB50 file (in the REL directory) in order to process the (spool message) mnemonic.

2. In the Reporter, use the (spool message) mnemonic as part of the PRINTER statement. For example:

     PRINTER LP1,(Spool message="SPOOL MESSAGE FROM REPORTER")
   

   Note: Starting in Version 97.07 of the Reporter, you can add MTB mnemonics and control codes to the PRINTER statement.

When a spool job is written, the spool message is attached to the spool file. Starting with Version 98.04 of QSPOOL (released as part of the REL directory Version 98.10), spool messages are displayed on the right-hand side of the opening display, as shown in this example.

Note: As of this writing, the opening display is always placed in 132-column mode, even if there are no spool messages present. If you are running Comet98 in full-screen mode, the display font tends to be distorted. Running Comet98 in a window fixes this problem. In a forthcoming version of QSPOOL, you will have the option of setting the display mode on a terminal by terminal basis (the default will be 80-column mode).

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