Output time printed on page

OL Connect Professional
1

Is there anyway to output the time a file is printed. This would be the time that the pages come out of the printer and not the server time?

2

Hi @UomoDelGhiaccio ,

This depends on what you mean by “to output” – Would you for example like to parse it as a value in a Workflow process – and what you mean by “the time a file is printed” – Would you for example like to know the time when a file is send to a (Windows) printer queue or would you like to know the time when a file is actually printed via a phycical printer? In case it is the latest then I assume that you will have to contact your printer supplier for this.

3

I currently have the time stamp being set by Workflow. They would prefer the time from the printer and not the server.

I didn’t see anything in postscript and they have a variety of different printer makes and models. It’s probably not practical to use printer specific commands.

My initial response is that the time would be the server time, but wanted to verify.

If I send to a Windows queue and jobs are piled up, is it possible to use the time the file leaves the Windows queue? I’m assuming no, but checking.

4

You are right, there is no PostScript operator that returns the current date and time. Even if there were, it would be hazardous to gamble that the clock on the printer is properly set. Probably why the operator doesn’t exist to begin with.

In theory, one could develop a Windows printer port driver that writes the time at which it effectively sends the job to the printer. This would have to be PDL-dependent (i.e. explicitly support PostScript, PCL, etc.). Needless to say, this is not possible with Connect at the moment. :wink:

Some more specialized spooling and queueing systems may have that feature, but I am not aware of any that do.

Speaking of specialized, this might be possible if you’re printing using AFP. But chances are that you’re not.

So yeah, you best option at the moment is to use the date and time at which the job was generated and hope that the delay between generation and actual printing is minimal.