Spooler Programmer's Guide
Using the Spooler Print Procedures, Print 
Processes, and Perusal Processes
Spooler Programmer’s Guide—522287-002
3-2
How the Print Process Handles a Job
Procedure Calls. Refer to Print Procedure Errors on page C-10 for a list of print 
procedure error codes.
How the Print Process Handles a Job 
The following sequence of events occurs when the print process prints a job:
1. The spooler supervisor starts the print process associated with the device (unless it 
is already running) and sends it a startup message.
2. The print process opens a file to the supervisor and calls PRINTINIT.
3. When the supervisor tries to send a message to the print process, the print 
process calls PRINTCOMPLETE to obtain the message.
4. The message from the supervisor is interpreted by PRINTREADCOMMAND. If it 
is a start job message, the print process opens the data file and the device 
specified in the message.
5. The print process passes the file number of the data file to PRINTSTART.
Table 3-1. Summary of Print Procedures
Procedure Function
PRINTCOMPLETE Obtains a message from the spooler.
PRINTCOMPLETE2 Obtains a message from the spooler. This procedure includes 
batch enhancements to PRINTCOMPLETE.
PRINTINFO Obtains information regarding a job being printed by the print 
process.
PRINTINIT Initializes the print control buffer.
PRINTINIT2 Initializes the print control buffer. This procedure includes 
batch enhancements to PRINTINIT.
PRINTREAD Obtains a line of spooled data.
PRINTREADCOMMAND Interprets a message from the spooler supervisor.
PRINTSTART Initializes a job buffer for a new job.
PRINTSTART2 Initializes a job buffer for a new job. This procedure includes 
batch enhancements to PRINTSTART.
PRINTSTATUS Sends a message to the supervisor.
PRINTSTATUS2 Sends a message to the supervisor. This procedure includes 
batch enhancements to PRINTSTATUS.










