Holding Jobs With QView Pro

Problem: When configuring QView Pro to place a hold on all print jobs in the queue, some jobs are not held and print anyway. Often, this is a computer lab situation where the lab operator should manually approve and release each print job to be printed.

Issue: Setting the pause incoming job feature will cause QView Pro to place a hold on jobs as they arrive in the queue. This will prevent any job QView has paused from printing. The problem with this is that QView Pro is scanning the queue for jobs. If a job is sent to the queue and begins printing before QView Pro can scan it, the job will not be paused, or processed by QView Pro's features such as duplicate scanning or holding.

If you have a fast printer such as an LaserJet with an internal JetDirect card, the printer will constantly poll the queue for new print jobs. It is possible for a user to print a small print job and have the JetDirect card find and start printing prior to QView Pro discovering and holding the job.

Solution 1: A simple solution involves changing the speed at which systems poll the print queue. Configure the JetDirect card to poll the print queue once every 10 seconds, and configure QView Pro so that it will poll the queues once every 1 second. This will increase the likelihood that QView Pro will scan and discover the print job prior to the JetDirect card, allowing it to place a hold on the job. This solution however is not perfect and may still let some print jobs through unheld.

Solution 2: A more reliable solution is a 2 print queue solution. First, set up a "holding tank" print queue. Allow all users to print to this holding queue, but do not configure a printer for this queue. Jobs printed to this queue will not be held, however they will not be printed either. Second, setup a queue with the printer attached, but only allow the operator access to this queue. The operator can then use QView Pro to move print jobs from the holding queue to the printer queue when the job is ready to be printed.

With this configuration, you can also configure QView Pro to delete overage print jobs from the holding queue.

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