Download TreoPrint Manual

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TreoPrint
SOLTRUM NETWORKS
TreoPrint
http://soltrum.com/
TreoPrint
User Guide
TREO PRINT
TreoPrint User Guide
 Soltrum Networks
http://soltrum.com/
PO Box 3008
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-3008
Phone 734-546-6992 • Fax 509 355 9235
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Section
TreoPrint Overview
TreoPrint is a network server that routes incoming data into printable
documents.
T
reoPrint is a software utility that allows you to print email, notes and files from your Treo
communicator. TreoPrint came about because after looking on the Internet, I didn’t find
anyway to send print jobs over the Treo 300’s wireless data capability. I use a Treo 300
and use TreoPrint to print from anywhere Sprint’s 3G data network covers to one of
several computers I have running the TreoPrint software. It is a useful piece of software based on
my initial use.
TreoPrint software is a network server much like a mail server or a web server. When TreoPrint
is running, it opens a network port (the port number is configurable) on your Windows computer
and it listens for an incoming connection from your Treo. In the case of TreoPrint, that
incoming connection will contain data for a print job. TreoPrint then accepts (or denies) the data
from that incoming connection and, if accepted, prints the job using MS Word or MS Excel.
TreoPrint is written for Windows computers and has so far been tested on Windows 2000 and
Windows 98. TreoPrint could also be easily ported to Unix/Linux and probably also to
Macintosh.
The computer running TreoPrint needs to have a network connection and your Treo needs to be
a Treo 180/270/300. It is also possible to use a Treo90 if it is equipped with a card that can make
a network connection. More generally, any PDA, computer or other device that can make a
network connection and that can run a pop3 email client can most likely use TreoPrint to print
text and documents.
Requirements
To use TreoPrint you need:
1) A Windows computer running Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 or XP.
Only Windows 98 and 2000 have been beta tested as of Feb 3, 2003.
2) Internet access: Dial-up will work but a static IP address will make your life much easier
and that usually means a T1, cable internet, DSL or ISDN. A dynamic IP address on
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DSL or cable may be easy to work with as the address may not change very often. See
section on Charter Cable below for limitations specific to Charter.
3) MS Word installed.
4) A default printer that is turned on or that turns on automatically (I use an HP 6L and it
turns on when it gets a print job. I also use a HP D145 multi-function printer and it
needs to be turned on manually to work.).
5) A pop3 email client running on the remote device (i.e. Your Treo or other PDA). For the
Treo, this includes Eudora for Palm, SnapperMail and several others email clients. You
can also use TreoPrint to print from many other email clients including Outlook Express,
Outlook and Eudora.
Setting Up TreoPrint
Most of the work in getting TreoPrint setup involves getting TreoPrint up and running on your
Windows computer. Your Treo also requires a little setup work.
By default, TreoPrint runs on port 6100. This port is configurable in the ‘treoprint_config.txt’ file.
Other things that you can configure in the treoprintcfg.txt file are the ‘accept-from’ variable and a
range of other values (see ‘TreoPrint Configuration File’ section).
Setting up your Computer
To configure your computer for TreoPrint requires the following:
1) Download and unzip the TreoPrint.zip file into a directory on the target Windows
computer.
2) Determine the IP address of the Windows computer by opening up a command or dos
prompt and typing ‘ipconfig’ for newer versions of Windows or ‘winipcfg’ for earlier
versions of Windows.
a. If you are on a dial-up connection, the IP address for your computer will
probably change each time you dial in.
b. If you are on cable Internet or a DSL connection, this IP address will probably
change infrequently or not at all if you have a static IP.
c. If you are on a local area network (LAN), there are two IP addresses that are
important for using TreoPrint. The first is your local computer’s IP address and
to get this number run ‘ipconfig’ on the target Windows computer and note the
IP address for the network adapter you are currently using to access the network.
The other number is the public IP address that your network uses to access the
public internet.
To get this number, go to this web page
http://www.myIPnumber.com/ and note the IP address listed in the page – this
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is your public IP address. Note these public and private IP addresses. If you are
not sure if you are on a LAN, you can tell by comparing the IP address you get
from http://www.myIPnumber.com/ with the one you get from ipconfig. If the
two address are different, you are on a LAN. If they are the same, you are not on
a LAN. If you are printing from a Treo 180/270/300 and your target computer
is on a LAN, you will need to configure your router or gateway device to pass
through the port that TreoPrint runs on (default = port 6100) to the computer
running TreoPrint1.
3) Launch TreoPrint. If you have Zone Alarm or other firewall software running on your
target computer, you will need to enable the firewall to allow incoming connections on
the port you have TreoPrint running on (port 6100 is the default but you can change the
port by editing the ‘treoprint_config.txt’ file in the install directory). In Zone Alarm you
can do this by waiting for Zone Alarm to pop up when you launch TreoPrint and
approving the pop-up request. Zone Alarm will also probably pop an alert message when
your first print job arrives and you should allow this job through and check the box for
Zone Alarm to ‘remember’ this application. After the initial print job is allowed through
by Zone Alarm, subsequent print jobs should go through without additional user input.
FYI, it’s a good idea to restart TreoPrint after Zone Alarm flags it.
4) With TreoPrint launched and the IP address and port number noted (note the public and
private IP address if your computer is on a LAN), you are ready to configure your Treo.
To configure your Treo for TreoPrint, you will need to do several quick steps. There is currently
no Treo-based client software for TreoPrint. Instead, you can use mail applications such as
Eudora or SnapperMail to send your print jobs from your Treo to TreoPrint running on your
windows computer. SnapperMail has the advantage of allowing email attachments such as
Microsoft Word documents. If you attach a word document to an email from Snappermail,
TreoPrint will print out the document in its exact original form.
Setting up Eudora on Your Treo
(see below for SnapperMail)
SnapperMail is better to use with TreoPrint because SnapperMail allows you to attach files to your
outgoing email where Eudora does not. Eudora is just fine for sending plain text emails however
and it is probably more widely used.
The steps to configure Eudora on your Treo to print to your TreoPrint computer are these:
1) From the main Eudora Menu, select ‘Options -> New Account’.
I use a SMC 7004AWBR wireless router with printserver. I also use a router with wireless access and printserver
from Linksys in my home and business. In both, I am able to configure the router to the router to create a virtual server on
port 6100 and point it to the IP address on the target windows computer.
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2) In the “New Email Account” window, select “Use step by step wizard”.
3) Enter in any name. I use “TreoPrint”. Continue.
4) Enter in the following email address. TreoPrint, for security purposes, will only
accept email from [email protected] so use [email protected]. This
feature makes TreoPrint modestly secure –others will need to know the “from:” address,
IP number and port to send print jobs to your computer. Future versions will offer more
security options.
5) Enter any username. I use ‘TP’.
6) For the incoming server, this information is not used so enter anything.
111.222.333.444.
I use
7) For the outgoing server, this is where you need to enter the IP address of your computer
and the port number TreoPrint is running on. If your IP address is 60.154.123.87 and you
are running TreoPrint on port 6100 (the default), then your entry in this box should be:
60.154.123.87:6100
8) If your computer is on a LAN, you need to take addition steps outlined above in “Setting
up your Computer.”
9) For Account Name, use anything. I use ‘TreoPrint’.
10) Tap “Done” to save the new account you’ve set up.
11) Go back into the menu and select “Options -> Accounts”. For the new account you just
set up, there will be a check box on the right of the Account Name. Uncheck this box so
Eudora knows not to check your TreoPrint email account for incoming messages when
checking email. Continue to the next step before exiting.
12) Also, while in the Accounts view, tap on the TreoPrint email account and tap on the
“Send” tab. In the bottom of the page, check the “Send Immediate” box so Eudora
sends the print job when you hit the send button.
If you have TreoPrint set up on other computers or on a friend’s computers, you just need to add
additional accounts in Eudora to be able to print to those additional computers.
Sending Print Jobs VIA Eudora on your Treo
If you have TreoPrint running on the Windows computer, you are now ready to send a print job
wirelessly. To do so:
1) Create a new email in Eudora on your Treo, and tap on the “From:” in the mail header.
The TreoPrint account you just set up should be listed when you tap on the “From:” box.
Select “TreoPrint” from in the From box and author your email.
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2) Because Eudora will not send without an email address in the “To:” header, enter a To:
address of any type – I use: [email protected]. Actually, Eudora is happy as long as the “To:” is
not blank – a single char will work here. Because the email is being sent to the computer
running TreoPrint and then turned into a print job, the “To:” address does not end up
getting used.
3) Once you are done with the message, you can hit the ‘send’ button.
Within a minute, the message should start printing on the printer set as the default printer on the
Windows computer running TreoPrint. Large files will take longer because they have to be fully
received and then spooled or paged to the printer.
Setting Up SnapperMail on Your Treo
Snappermail is actually the preferred client today for TreoPrint because SnapperMail can deal with
large files and attachments to email. If you really want to read, edit, and print MS Word files from
your Treo, you’ll need one of the several MS Word apps for the Palm OS, SnapperMail, and
TreoPrint.
Setting up SnapperMail is easy. I used SnapperMail v1.5.0b for these directions. Your steps may
vary slightly:
1) From the main SnapperMail view tap on the top bar to bring up the SnapperMail Menu,
then select ‘Options -> Edit Accounts’.
2) If you are running a demo, select the account listed on the “Edit Accounts” tab and then
select “Edit”. If not running a demo, you can create a new account now.
3) In the “Info” tab enter in any name for “Your Name”. I use “TreoPrint”. For the
“Email Address” enter ‘[email protected]’. Tap “OK” when done. For security
purposes, TreoPrint will deny any print job unless it is sent with the from address
equal to ‘[email protected]’. Users will need your “From:” address, IP
number, and port number to send print jobs to your computer. This makes TreoPrint
modestly secure. Future versions will offer more security options.
4) In the “Server” tab enter any Pop3 Server, any Username, and any Password you want
since you will not be downloading email with this account. Alternatively you can set these
up with real account information but check the “leave email on server” box. For the
Outgoing Mail section, you should enter the IP address you got from
http://www.myIPnumber.com/. Under SMTP Server leave the Username and
Password blank.
5) While still under the “Server” tab, tap on the “More” button at the bottom. There, enter
the TreoPrint port number under the “SMTP Settings:” section. If you have not edited
the treoprint_config.txt file, the port number should be 6100. Click “OK”.
6) You should now be ready to print from SnapperMail.
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7) To print, create a new message, type text or attach a file to it and when done composing,
hit “send”. SnapperMail should send an email message to your computer running the
TreoPrint software. When the email is received, TreoPrint will format and print the
message to your default printer.
Sending Print Jobs VIA SnapperMail on your Treo
If you have TreoPrint running on the Windows computer, you are now ready to send a print job
wirelessly. To do so:
1) Create a new email in SnapperMail on your Treo, and tap on the “From:” in the mail
header if you have more than one account set up in SnapperMail. The TreoPrint account
you just set up should be listed when you tap on the “From:” box. Select “TreoPrint”
from in the From box and author your email.
2) Because SnapperMail will not send without an email address in the “To:” header, enter a
To: address of any type – I use: [email protected]. SnapperMail is not happy without an email
address that seems real so put an ‘@’ in there and a domain name even though they are
fake and will not be used by TreoPrint. Because the email is being sent to the SMPT
server and that computer is running TreoPrint, the “To:” address does not end up getting
used.
3) Once you are done with the message, you can hit the ‘send’ button.
Once you see the SnapperMail update window complete, the message should start printing on the
printer set as the default printer on the Windows computer running TreoPrint. Large files will
take longer because they have to be fully received and then spooled or paged to the printer.
Setting up Outlook Express or Outlook to use TreoPrint
Both Outlook Express and Outlook can send email to TreoPrint and TreoPrint will print those
emails or the attached files. Eudora will also work.
Configuration of these email clients is not covered here.
Support
Soltrum Networks does not have the staff to provide direct support for TreoPrint. It is expected
that there will be a forum at http://treocentral.com and possibly an email list. Tips and questions
will be answered there by the developer.
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Your Print Jobs and TreoPrint limitations
TreoPrint can print email messages (plain text or html) and TreoPrint can separate email
attachments such as word documents and print those attached files. TreoPrint beta can only print
word documents. Excel files and other documents will come on subsequent releases.
Word Documents sent to TreoPrint should not have more than one period in the file name. A
file name “this is _my file to print.doc” is fine but a file named “print this.1.0.doc” will fail.
Also, TreoPrint is written with the Treo in mind. As such it is not designed to print large files or
to accept many print jobs at once. You should send no more than one print job per minute to
TreoPrint.
TreoPrint uses MS Word to print .doc files and plain email messages. If MS Word is not installed,
TreoPrint cannot print.
TreoPrint does not have many features currently and it is single threaded meaning it can only take
in one email and print it at a time. If demand warrants it, future releases of TreoPrint will be
more robust (multi threaded, etc.), allow more types of print jobs, will allow commands to be sent
with the print job, and will offer username and password security.
A future version of TreoPrint can even be written in such a way that it will work through any
firewall, through network address translation (NAT), and with any type of frequently changing
dynamic IP number. This version of TreoPrint would not require any network configuration.
This solution would require an external server on the Internet however, and therefore will be
developed only if there is demand for it. With this capability however, you would be able to print
from your Treo anywhere you can make any type of connection to the Internet with your
Windows computer (i.e. from your hotel room while on the road or a client’s office). It would
work behind any combination of network address translation (NAT), firewalls (as long as the
firewall passes some traffic through), and dynamic IP numbers including the Charter
Communications limitation mentioned below.
Let me know what kinds of features you would like to see in TreoPrint. Also, let me know what
kinds of documents you need TreoPrint to be able to support. Send suggestions to:
[email protected]
TreoPrint’s Two Printing Methods
If you send a plain text email from Eudora, TreoPrint will print the entire message text including
the email headers.
If you send a multipart MIME email message (a message with a file attached or a html message)
from SnapperMail, Outlook Express or other email client, TreoPrint will unpack the email into
separate files and print the body of the email message and then each attached file. When sending
such an email, TreoPrint will not print any email headers out.
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Therefore, if you want to send text in an email and not have the email headers print, you should
send a html or non-plain text email to TreoPrint.
The Default Printer is the Target Printer
TreoPrint prints only to the default printer as defined by Windows. This may be a configurable
option in the future. To determine your default printer on your Windows machine, go to “Start > Settings -> Control Panel” and once there select “Printers”. Your default printer is the one
with a check mark over the printer Icon. This printer must be turned on or have auto-on features
to print.
The “treoprint-config.txt” File
For this beta test, only the port number is listed in the configuration file. You can open the file
with a text editor (the file will be located in the same dir as “Treoprint.exe”), change the port
number and on the next launch of TreoPrint, it will use the new port number.
In future versions of the software, you will be able to enter usernames and passwords, “from:”
names, turn on SSL, and other security features.
A Treo-based Client for TreoPrint
If you’ve started the installation, you can see that TreoPrint is a Windows software product and
that there is currently no Treo-based or PDA-based client software for TreoPrint.
A Treo-based client (actually, the client would run on all Palm OS devices) for TreoPrint will
come if there is sufficient demand for the software. A Treo-based client would allow for easier
setup and better integration with printing from the various applications such as Datebook,
PhoneBook, MemoPad, and 3rd party apps available for the Palm OS. Such software would also
be more secure.
Charter Communications “Pipeline” Limitations
TreoPrint will not work on a residential Charter Communications cable modem. Charter states in
their Pipeline FAQ that they do not allow incoming connections, only outgoing. This firewalling
policy effectively prohibits a service like TreoPrint from being visible to the public internet.
If you are on a Charter Pipeline cable modem, TreoPrint will only work for computers connected
to your LAN (local area network) if TreoPrint is also running on a computer on your LAN. If
you have no LAN, you will not be able to access TreoPrint even though the software is running
correctly.
Future versions of TreoPrint will resolve this issue if there is sufficient interest in this capability.
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Warranties, Limitations, and License
TreoPrint is provided "AS-IS" without any warranties, express or implied, including but not
limited to warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Soltrum Networks and its owners, agents,
information providers and licensors (each an "Indemnified Party" and a third party beneficiary of
this Agreement) for, from and against any and all claims, liability, losses, costs and expenses
(including attorneys' fees) incurred in connection with any use or alleged use of TreoPrint.
The license on the beta of TreoPrint is freeware. The software can be freely copied and
distributed. Note however that the TreoPrint beta software will expire after a limited time and
will not run after the expiration date. No support will be provided for the beta software.
Once beta testing is complete, a production version of TreoPrint will likely be made available.
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