PicLan - Networking for Pick

(C) Copyright 1990-1998 Modular Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

Version 2.0.0.17 - February 28, 1998

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9: DOS Services Gateway Functions

The PicLan DOS Services Gateway is an optional component (on some platforms) of the PicLan package that provides additional connectivity services between the Pick and DOS/NetWare environments. The DOS Services Gateway is used to provide additional file-transfer and printer sharing functions between Pick and DOS/Windows.

The PicLan DOS Services Gateway consists of a dedicated DOS workstation executing either the PicLan PL-TERM.EXE terminal emulator or the PL-DSG.EXE stand-alone DSG program. You can also execute the PL-DSGW.EXE Windows version of the DSG

The PicLan DOS Services Gateway consists of a dedicated DOS workstation executing the PicLan PL-TERM terminal emulator program or the stand-alone PL-DSG DOS Services Gateway program with additional configuration entries made into the PL-CFG.INI terminal emulator configuration file. If you do not need to use the DOS Services Gateway system as a Pick terminal concurrently with DSG functions, use the PL-DSG program and not PL-TERM. If you are using PL-ASSIGN q=dsg!EXEC ... type remote print job submission, you should only use the PL-DSG program.

The DOS Services Gateway is licensed from the viewpoint of the Pick host system: either the Pick host is able to access DOS Services Gateway functions, or it isn't. Users are free to operate as many DOS Services Gateways as they need. (A single DOS Services Gateway system can support multiple concurrent requests from one or more Pick host systems. Because of this, it usually isn't necessary to operate more than one.) The DOS Services Gateway can even be operated when the Pick host isn't licensed for it - the only function which could be used in this case would be redirecting DOS printer output to print queues on the Gateway. Configuring a DOS Services Gateway can also be helpful if you are trying to debug installation problems. Remember that the DOS Services Gateway is an advertising PicLan server and will show up in router and server lists in the same manner as a Pick host will.

9.1: Configuration

The PL-TERM.EXE, PL-DSG.EXE, PL-DSGW.EXE, and PL-DSG32.EXE programs becomes a DOS Services Gateway by placing additional entries in the PL-CFG.INI. If you are running from Windows, the PL_SETUP PicLan Setup program will setup the PL-CFG.INI file for you. This is a portion of an example PL-CFG.INI file.

    [General]
    User=DSG1
    PicLan=yes
    DOSServicesGateway=yes
    
    [DOSServicesGateway]
    ExportFiles=yes
    PLCB=10
    Buf=60
    PrintJobDir=
    PrintQueue=toshiba epson
    toshibaIn=modular1\toshiba:0
    toshibaOut=msc!2
    epsonIn=modular1\epson:0
    epsonOut=lpt1:
    
        ...
This example configuration file defines a PicLan DOS Services Gateway named DSG1. (Just as for Pick hosts, DOS Services Gateways must have a name, and the name must be unique amongst all of the names of Pick hosts and DOS Services Gateways on the network.) In this example, MODULAR1 is a NetWare file server and "MSC" is a Pick host.

Apart from naming the Gateway, PicLan functions must be enabled by the PicLan entry, and Gateway functions must be enabled by the DOSServicesGateway entry. Specific DOS Services Gateway configuration options are then placed in the [DOSServicesGateway] section to control how the Gateway operates.

The PLCB and Buf entries control resource use by the Gateway. The value for PLCB should be at least three higher than the largest number of concurrent Gateway operations which are expected to happen - a default value of 10 is probably appropriate for most sites. The value for Buf should be at least four times the value of the PLCB entry.

9.1.1: File DIR, IMPORT, and EXPORT

The DOS Services Gateway can be used to allow Pick applications to import and export data to and from the DOS file system. These import and export functions are different from the DOS PL-COPY function in that the transfer is originated under Pick by a Pick application and can be executed by any logged-on Pick user, even users that are not network users (such as async terminal users). DOS Services Gateway file directory, import, and export functions are initiated using the Pick PLDOS-DIR, PLDOS-IMPORT, and PLDOS-EXPORT verbs. In order for these Pick verbs to execute, you must configure a DOS Services Gateway with:

    [DOSServicesGateway]
    ExportFiles=yes
This command in the PL-CFG.INI file for the DOS Services Gateway causes the PL-TERM program to make visible to Pick host systems DOS file systems (drive letters) that are available to the gateway. This means that Pick users can access DOS Services Gateway floppy disks, local hard disks, network drives, and other available DOS drive letters such as CD-ROM drives etc.

When you set up a DOS Services Gateway to export files, you should be aware that any DOS file accessible to the gateway will become accessible to Pick users. For this reason, you should set up a separate DOS Services Gateway NetWare account so that you can restrict network drive file access appropriately. Also, Pick users cannot execute the NetWare MAP command to map new drive letters, so you should pre-MAP NetWare drives prior to executing the PL-TERM.EXE program.

9.1.2: Printing

The DOS Services Gateway may be used to service a number of printing. A full description of PicLan printing functions is included in the next chapter.

This chapter described aspects of DSG printing that are not included in the general PicLan Printing chapter.

Printing NetWare to a Local Printer

The PicLan DOS Services Gateway can also act as a NetWare print server and print NetWare jobs locally. This configuration is very similar to setting up the DOS Services Gateway as a NetWare to Pick print server. An example of a PL-CFG.INI configuration for this type of setup would be:

    PrintQueue=toshiba epson canon
    toshibaIn=modular1\toshiba:0
    toshibaOut=LPT1:
    epsonIn=modular1\epson:0
    epsonOut=COM2:
This example will setup the DOS Services Gateway to print jobs from the modular1\toshiba queue on LPT1: and from the modular1\epson queue on COM1:. If you are printing to serial printers, you need to configure the baud rate, parity, data bits, and stop bits for the serial port in the PL-CFG.INI file as well.

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