Cancelling Print Jobs

There are different ways to stop a print job, depending on what stage of the spooling or printing process it is in. Before you can stop a print job, you need to determine:

Determine the type of printer (Windows or MultiValue) that is processing the print job.
If the print job is on a Windows printer, the print job may have already been despooled to the Windows print spooler, in which case the print job must be cancelled from within the Windows Printers utility.
If the printer is a MultiValue printer, the print job remains in the MultiValue environment until completed.
Determine the status of the print job.
If you want to delete the print job or save it as a hold file.

NOTE	This topic documents the use of MultiValue commands that are effective in relation to the MultiValue print despooler. See your Windows documentation for additional information about cancelling print jobs from within the Windows Printers utility.

The SP-KILL command has many uses, some of which should be limited to the administrator. Use the SP-KILL command is highly dependent upon the status of the print job in its processing. If the print job has already been despooled to the Windows print Spooler, SP-KILL is not going to be effective in cancelling the print job. The SP-KILL command cancels print jobs in various stages of completion while the MultiValue print despooler still has control.

Some uses of the SP-KILL command should be limited to the administrator. Use SP-KILL to stop a current print job from printing or to turn print files into hold files. As mentioned in another topic, Removing a Printer from the System with the SP-KILL Command, SP-KILL is also used to remove a printer from the system.

Cancelling an Active Print Job

Use SP-KILL with a printer number to cancel a print job that is currently being printed. You must specify the number of the printer on which the print job is printing.

NOTE

When it is necessary to cancel a print job being queued in the print spooler, Rocket highly recommends that you first cancel the print job from TCL (SP-KILL command), and only then cancel the print job from the Windows Printers utility. This cancels the print job with respect to its original source (the MultiValue environment).
All mvBase print jobs originate within the MultiValue environment. This includes mvBase print jobs queued on Windows printers and for which Windows printer drivers are required.

Format

SP-KILL [options]

Parameter(s)

options	Can be any of the following:
	A	Cancels only those print files that were created on the account you are logged on to.
	B	Cancels all print files on the Spooler. You must have SYS2 privileges to cancel print files created on other accounts.
	Dn	Removes printer n from the system.
	Fn [-m]	Removes the specified print files from the queue and makes them into hold files. Files that are currently being printed are not removed from the queue.
	N	Suppresses the ABORT! message on cancelled print jobs currently being printed.
	n	Specifies a printer number.
	n-m	Specifies a range of printers.
	O	Removes the file that is currently being printed from the queue and makes it a hold file.

Options need not be enclosed in parentheses and can be entered in any order. They need not be separated by spaces or commas.

As soon as the buffer clears, the printer stops printing the current job and begins to print the next job in queue. The cancelled print file is deleted from the Spooler.

If the N option is not used, the ABORT! message is printed on the next line after the point where the report was cancelled. If the A option is used, all print files that were created on the account you are logged on to and that are currently being printed are cancelled. If the B option is used, all print files currently being printed are cancelled. The O option can be used only if the print job was spooled to the printer from an existing hold file. If the O option is used, the job currently being printed is cancelled but continues to be retained as a hold file.

Example(s)

The following example cancels the print job going to Printer 3. The message ABORT! will be printed on the page at the point where the cancellation takes effect:

>SP-KILL 3

The next example cancels print jobs going to Printers 3, 4, and 5:

>SP-KILL 3-5

Exactly when an active print job stops depends on how large a buffer the printer has and how much data the system was able to send it before it received the abort message. Killing a print job does not stop the printer; it simply tells the system to stop sending data from that print file to the printer. As soon as the printer buffer empties, the printer will stop printing the current job and begin to print the next job in its queue. The cancelled print file is deleted from the print queue if it is not a hold file.

Cancelling an Active Print Job and Retaining it as a Hold File

It is not possible to cancel a print job that is currently printing and to make it a hold file unless the job was spooled to the printer from an existing hold file with the SP-EDIT command.

If you want to cancel a print job that is currently printing and retain it as a hold file, you must use the O option with the F option described in the previous section.

Format

SP-KILL Fentry O

The print job stops and the print file is retained as a hold file. See Manipulating Hold Files for additional information about manipulating hold files.

Removing a Print Job from the Form Queue

If the print job you want to cancel is still waiting in the form queue, use the F option of SP-KILL to remove the job from the queue.

Format

SP-KILL Fentry

Parameter(s)

entry

Number of the entry in the form queue.

If you can’t remember the entry number of the print job, use the LISTPEQS command to list all print job entries.

When you use the F option of SP-KILL, the print file you specify is removed from the queue. It is not deleted from the Spooler, however, but is saved as a hold file. You can now either edit the file, send it to another form queue for printing, or delete the file. These are all functions of the SP-EDIT command.

Retaining Print Files as Hold Files

Use SP-KILL with the F option to remove print files from the queue and turn them into hold files:

Format

SP-KILL Fn [-m] [A] [B] [O]

Parameter(s)

n-m	Number or range of numbers of entries in the form queue.

You must specify at least one print file number with the F option. If you can’t remember the entry number of the print job, use the LISTPEQS command to list all print job entries. When a print file is removed from the queue, it becomes a hold file, which is then available for further processing by the SP-EDIT command.

NOTE	The F option will not remove a print file from the queue and retain it as a hold file if the file is currently being printed. It will do so, however, if the active print job was spooled to the printer from an existing hold file.

If the A option is used, all print files that were created on the account you are logged on to are removed from the queue. If the B option is used, all print files are removed from the queue. The following example changes the status of print file 5, making it a hold file:

>SP-KILL F5

The next example removes any print files from 5 through 9 that were generated from the account you are currently logged on to and makes them hold files:

>SP-KILL F5-9A

If you want to cancel an active print job that was spooled from an existing hold file, you must use the O option with the F option.

>SP-KILL An O

The print job will be stopped but will be retained as a hold file. For example, the following command removes print file 5, which is currently being printed, and makes it a hold file:

>SP-KILL F5O