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Reflection LPR: Status and Alternatives
Technical Note 1554
Last Reviewed 09-May-2005
Applies To
Reflection for UNIX and OpenVMS version 10.x
Reflection for IBM version 10.x
Reflection X version 10.x
Reflection NFS Client version 10.x
Summary
Technical Note 1554
Last Reviewed 09-May-2005
Applies To
Reflection for UNIX and OpenVMS version 10.x
Reflection for IBM version 10.x
Reflection X version 10.x
Reflection NFS Client version 10.x
Summary
In response to reduced demand, the Reflection LPR utility is no longer being enhanced or developed by Attachmate. This note describes the support status of Reflection LPR, and provides alternative LPR options.
Note the following:
- This note does not apply to Reflection LPD. Reflection LPD continues to be available and is included in Reflection version 12.0 and higher.
- For full information regarding Attachmate’s product lifecycle policy and terminology, see the Product Support Lifecycle at http://support.attachmate.com/programs/lifecycle/. Current Reflection LPR status is located at http://support.attachmate.com/programs/lifecycle/version-status.html?reflection.
Support Status
Attachmate Technical Support continues to provide support for Reflection LPR issues, pursuant to Attachmate’s product support lifecycle policies. Note: Under no circumstances will Attachmate be supplying any new releases, patches, or other fixes for any problems associated with using Reflection LPR.
Attachmate is in the process of evolving its products as the market evolves. As a result, several of the TCP/IP utilities (formerly known as Reflection NetApps) are being phased out for the following reasons:
- Since the components are designed to optimally run on older versions of the Windows operating system, many of them are not compatible with Windows 2000 management and security technology. It would require a significant amount of development and testing to make these relatively small, discrete utilities available for general distribution on future Microsoft operating system releases.
- Much of the functionality provided in these utilities is readily available with the Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows NT operating systems, Microsoft Services for UNIX, or in the public domain.
Note: Beginning with Reflection version 13.0, Window NT is no longer supported.
- Overall demand for these utilities has greatly decreased over the past several years. This is most likely due to the wide availability of other free solutions in circulation.
Alternative Options
Some alternative options for Reflection LPR are listed below. This is not an all-inclusive list and is only provided as a resource for users requiring alternative options for Reflection LPR/LPD. Note: Attachmate does not certify or endorse any third-party product.
Microsoft Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows NT 4.0
Microsoft Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows NT 4.0 can all be configured for LPR.
Note the following:
- Beginning with Reflection version 13.0, Window NT is no longer supported.
- If you have an LPR printer queue on a Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Windows NT computer, the LPR printer queue can be made available to other clients using Microsoft Networking. Simply configure the LPR printer queue as a shared resource in the Printer Properties dialog box. In this case, you do not have to install LPR software on individual workstations.
- If you have UNIX clients on the network that need to print to a printer connected to a Windows NT computer, you must run the Lpdsvc service. For more information, see Microsoft Windows NT Help topic Lpdsvc.
For details on installing and configuring Windows LPR, see Microsoft article 324078 at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B324078#2.
Further instructions can be found by searching the Microsoft Support site, http://support.microsoft.com.
Samba
Another alternative to Reflection LPR/LPD is Samba, an open source software suite. Samba allows you to use your UNIX or Linux host as a file and print server for Microsoft Networking. Once properly configured, clients can print to a printer attached to a Samba server, or Samba can access printers connected to clients running Windows 2000, Windows NT 4.0, or Windows 95/98. For more information about Samba, see Using Samba at http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/samba/chapter/book/index.html or visit the Samba web site at http://us3.samba.org/samba/.
