Print "logger" tool

  • Thread starter Thread starter NoWhereMan
  • Start date Start date
Is there a tool logging how many pages I've print since a date?
many thanx
Click to expand...

There are quiet a few. Unfortunately, all programs I know of are not
free. If you have a NT based system (NT 4.0 to WinXP) there is a
(somewhat dirty) workaround, though:

Open the 'Printers' folder (Start menu -> Properties). Select 'Server
Properties' from 'File' menu and tab to 'Advanced'. Select the 'Log
Spool information' and save the changes. Please note: The entries
may have slightly different names, because I translated them from my
system without cross-checking the proper MS naming conventions.

If you have done so, an event (= number 10) for all print jobs will be
logged, containing the printer name and the number of pages sent to
this printer. (If you cancel a print job, only the really sent pages
are logged.)

Now you can either save the data for all Event 10 entries from the
internal EventViewer or use SysInternals PSLogList:

http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/psloglist.shtml

Use this command line:

psloglist.exe -i 10 -s > printed.txt

You can add a -t switch to get the output file tab-delimited instead
of the standard comma-delimited way. To really retrieve the desired
information you have to reformat the output further. Use the editor,
spreadsheet, or the text pipe utilities of your choice.

BeAr
 
B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson said:
[...]
If you have done so, an event (= number 10) for all print jobs will be
logged, containing the printer name and the number of pages sent to
this printer. (If you cancel a print job, only the really sent pages
are logged.)
[...]
Use this command line:

psloglist.exe -i 10 -s > printed.txt

You can add a -t switch to get the output file tab-delimited instead
of the standard comma-delimited way. To really retrieve the desired
information you have to reformat the output further. Use the editor,
spreadsheet, or the text pipe utilities of your choice.
Click to expand...

Thank you! I'm checking it out.
(maybe I'll customize it myself with a GUI...)

bye
 
B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson said:
[Read event from EventLog]
(maybe I'll customize it myself with a GUI...)
Click to expand...

If you're a programmer, you'll maybe check this Platform SDK link:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/debug/base/reading_the_event_log.asp

Also worth reading are the first articles returned by this search:

http://search.microsoft.com/search/results.aspx?qu=Exploring+Event+Logs
Click to expand...

I'm not very experienced in Windows/c++ programming, but I'll anyway give it
a check.
Thank you!
 
There are quiet a few. Unfortunately, all programs I know of are not
free.
Click to expand...

Program: Karen's Print Logger
Author: (Karen Kenworthy)
Ware: (Freeware)
http://www.karenware.com/

http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptprnlog.asp
Print Logger v2.4.1
Updated Feb 25, 2004
Know what documents you print, when and where you print them. Karen's
Print Logger records each completed print job in a special log file. The
log file can be viewed, sorted, and imported into your favorite
spreadsheet or word processor.

http://www.karenware.com/progs/ptprnlog-setup.exe
1,118,072 bytes

Susan
 
Program: Karen's Print Logger
Click to expand...

Oh. Good to know. I haven't checked Karen's site for at least 2 years.
From the 'intellectual' POV Karen writes excellent programs. Some very
interesting ideas, indeed. But, unfortunately, all of them are such a
horrible bloatware that I never kept one after a first glance. What a
pity that she uses VB (incorporating bulky libraries, moreover) instead
of a decent ;-) programming language.

BeAr
 
B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson said:
Oh. Good to know. I haven't checked Karen's site for at least 2 years.
From the 'intellectual' POV Karen writes excellent programs. Some very
interesting ideas, indeed. But, unfortunately, all of them are such a
horrible bloatware that I never kept one after a first glance. What a
pity that she uses VB (incorporating bulky libraries, moreover) instead
of a decent ;-) programming language.
Click to expand...

Elitist Snob! ;)

I haven't reached your level of discrimination. Ignorance is bliss. I
use Karen's Directory Printer and like it a lot. :)

Susan
 
B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson said:
Oh. Good to know. I haven't checked Karen's site for at least 2 years.
From the 'intellectual' POV Karen writes excellent programs. Some very
interesting ideas, indeed. But, unfortunately, all of them are such a
horrible bloatware that I never kept one after a first glance. What a
pity that she uses VB (incorporating bulky libraries, moreover) instead
of a decent ;-) programming language.
Click to expand...

When she was employed by Winmag, that choice probably could have been
justified. At least by the suits. To do with the fact that her columns
were largely centered around explaining to aspiring programmers the steps
taken to make the programs. Now that the context is otherwise, and she
is independent, I too would like if she would move to a new platform for
her creative energies. KarenWare, The Next Gen...

.. . . .
she uses VB (incorporating bulky libraries, moreover) instead of a
decent ;-) programming language.
Click to expand...

:: http://tinyapps.org/faq.html
::
:: To qualify for TinyApps, a program must:
[...]
:: 4. Not require the VB/MFC/.NET runtimes. [...]

I've many times seen programmers make disparaging reference to MFC,
and assert bragging rights when they do not use it. On that one, I
haven't had the least thought of my own. Instead, the awareness that
so many of my favorite programs are based in it...

.. . . .
To move my post into an area where I do have a couple of words to say.
I regularly use a command on my context-menu for executables, which
gives a quick popup info on what it identifies as their language, or
what kind of compression was used, if they are packed executables.
The program behind that is PETools.

http://www.uinc.ru/files/neox/PE_Tools.shtml
http://www.uinc.ru/files/neox/PE_Tools.zip (216k)

That contextual command is "petools /pesniffer %1". Forgotten for sure,
but it's probably the case that it puts that in automatically, when
requested to do so via options in the main GUI after a direct launch.

This program is very good for this use. Just that there is one particular
area of weakness: it seems to have problems when it comes to Delphi. It
most often responds to those with a "Dunno."

I've collected several other programs for identifying lang this way,
but they seemed to be far less capable. That said, it's a pursuit where
I could probably do with spending time upgrading my investigations. And
I'd be interested if anyone has experience with using anything similar
to PETools, which they consider to exhibit a fuller scope of recognition.
 
B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson said:
Oh. Good to know. I haven't checked Karen's site for at least 2 years.
From the 'intellectual' POV Karen writes excellent programs. Some very
interesting ideas, indeed. But, unfortunately, all of them are such a
horrible bloatware that I never kept one after a first glance. What a
pity that she uses VB (incorporating bulky libraries, moreover) instead
of a decent ;-) programming language.
Click to expand...

I wanted to make a tangential note. For those installing KarenWare progs,
and who can recognize when they already have the VB runtimes used. Due
to how she packages her distributions, the whole install hassle can be
bypassed. I just drag-drop things via my PowerArch extension, until I
at last end at the contents of the extracted cab.

Then I delete all the superfluous items (the VB libraries and the setup
related things), leaving the executable and the documentation behind.
All of her programs have successful run out of the box for me this way.

And if I am in any doubt about whether I have an equal or higher version
in my path of one of the VB runtimes in the CAB package, then I launch
this extremely useful little tool:

FileVer, by Anders Svensson
http://www.nodesoft.com/Filever/

FileVer has become one of the most useful tools I've incorporated into
my habits all year...

(Oops: It is a VB-based app. Still like it, of course. That programmer
even had another program available, an SR utility, which features that
rare capability of a range search function, which was so tempting, it
made me almost get swayed into taking the step into installation of
the .Net runtimes.)
 
I wanted to make a tangential note. For those installing KarenWare progs,
and who can recognize when they already have the VB runtimes used. Due
to how she packages her distributions, the whole install hassle can be
bypassed. I just drag-drop things via my PowerArch extension, until I
at last end at the contents of the extracted cab.
Click to expand...

Yes. I do it likewise, browsing most archives directly like directories
within <OT> my favorite file manager </OT>. (Getting new/updated versions
Then I delete all the superfluous items (the VB libraries and the setup
related things), leaving the executable and the documentation behind.
All of her programs have successful run out of the box for me this way.
Click to expand...

That's only one point. Even for VB software her programs are 'fat'. She
does a lot of 'housekeeping', which gets necessary because of the ways
she has done other 'housekeeping' beforehand. And - coming back to the
Print logger software - she for instance *polls* for changes instead of
*hooking* the related function calls. That way she sure avoids the need
of Administrator Privilegs. But for the cost of an immense increase of
system resource usage. :-(
And if I am in any doubt about whether I have an equal or higher version
in my path of one of the VB runtimes in the CAB package, then I launch
this extremely useful little tool:

FileVer, by Anders Svensson [Snip]
(Oops: It is a VB-based app. Still like it, of course.
Click to expand...

;-)

Although I have a whole bunch of utilities for this task on hands I
nearly always use Steve Millers Dependency viewer.
That programmer even had another program available, an SR utility, which
features that rare capability of a range search function, which was so
tempting, it made me almost get swayed into taking the step into
installation of the .Net runtimes.)
Click to expand...

I still use BKReplaceEm:

http://www.orbit.org/replace

BeAr
 
B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson said:
FileVer, by Anders Svensson
Click to expand...
[Snip]
Click to expand...

Hey, what's this, call-to-arms for a boycott?
;-)
Click to expand...

Ahem.

How bout we compromise? Only suppress those programs with multiple OCXs.
(I'm on record for how I feel on that matter.)
Although I have a whole bunch of utilities for this task on hands I
nearly always use Steve Millers Dependency viewer.
Click to expand...

This is for a different function. I drag some files into FileVer, then
tell it to show provide a comparative list of matched names from another
directory (usually for my use it's my system directory). It provides an
output report, showing exact matches, and then name matches only, with
versions (+date +size). All in a quick popup window. The display is
colored according to types of matches, and the clipboard picks that up
RTF format, if I need to save. It also has a command to do something
regarding synchronizing the files, but I haven't used it that way.
I still use BKReplaceEm:
Click to expand...

This is a vital program on which I depend (one particular use is for
mass clean-up of downloaded websites. Removing tables, scripts, etc).
After two years of steady usage with it, I even -finally- developed
a working relationship with its interface, the file sets, etc.

My single real complaint with it is the context-menu not taking
the copy-paste function. Yes, sometimes I am willing to act like a
"real" computer user, and use keyboard. But the context-action for
copy and paste, it stays very deeply ingrained in my habits, so I
get a lot of frustrating false fires when using ReplaceEm.

My main point here, it'd concern the situation that locating any
programs with the range replace feature, it's a such rare event..

Other than ReplaceEm, and then the program above (which cannot fully
confirm, as have not used), there are only a couple of other instances
where I recall finding it.

One utility which does do range replace, it's called MFRSR ("MicroGenius
Multiple-File Recursive Search and Replace"), vintage 1999. Significant
limitation: no recursion. There was also some other weaknesses in the
back of my memory. I think maybe that it was significantly slow to
do the processing.

Then there was a pair of text editors, by ClassicmanPro, which had
the ability. Labeled there "boundary replace." These weren't around
very long. I downloaded them in 2003. They were taken down sometime
this year, although the site is still there, with other projects. At
the state they were left in, they were, unfortunately, pretty beta.

So that might exhaust my whole known list. For programs that do the
range search...
 
B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson said:
That's only one point. Even for VB software her programs are 'fat'. She
does a lot of 'housekeeping', which gets necessary because of the ways
she has done other 'housekeeping' beforehand. And - coming back to the
Print logger software - she for instance *polls* for changes instead of
*hooking* the related function calls. That way she sure avoids the need
of Administrator Privilegs. But for the cost of an immense increase of
system resource usage. :-(
Click to expand...

Not an attractive portrait!! :)

I don't avoid fat programs entirely. Yet for those which I want to run
quite often, daily, I look for what is tight, and light on my system.

And too, preferably what it respectful of my environment. (Not be forceful
in making vanity regkeys in HKCR, nor dump its settings in various places
around my drive.)
 
I regularly use a command on my context-menu for executables, which
gives a quick popup info on what it identifies as their language, or
what kind of compression was used, if they are packed executables.
The program behind that is PETools.
Click to expand...

Out of old habit I mostly still use FS by SMT/SMF. Or look directly
inside the hex display of the file. I have a couple of other tools
available for identification, but seldom need to use them. In such
rare cases there is sometimes one, sometimes another better.
This program is very good for this use. Just that there is one particular
area of weakness: it seems to have problems when it comes to Delphi. It
most often responds to those with a "Dunno."
Click to expand...

Nobody can tell you more about Delphi programs than DaFixers DeDe:

http://dede.zadnik.org/IndexDF.html

But it will be an overkill regarding your supposed needs...

BeAr
 
B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson said:
FileVer, by Anders Svensson
Click to expand...
[Snip]
Click to expand...

Hey, what's this, call-to-arms for a boycott?
Click to expand...

Oh. No! I just thought it enough to have the links within your post.
How bout we compromise? Only suppress those programs with multiple OCXs.
(I'm on record for how I feel on that matter.)
Click to expand...

I even use programs depending on *.ocx extensions sometimes. It's of
no avail to decline usage of a program as long as nothing better is
available and a task has to be done... Only hindrance would be some
kind of endangerment to the system (a possible Trojan, severe bugs,
and so on). Installation logging and a quick de-installation are
indispensable in such cases.

You seem to think likewise. ;-)
This is for a different function. I drag some files into FileVer, then
tell it to show provide a comparative list of matched names from another
directory (usually for my use it's my system directory). It provides an
output report, showing exact matches, and then name matches only, with
versions (+date +size). All in a quick popup window. The display is
colored according to types of matches, and the clipboard picks that up
RTF format, if I need to save. It also has a command to do something
regarding synchronizing the files, but I haven't used it that way.
Click to expand...

I thought so. But I handle things a bit different. I always have the
newest version *needed* within my system directory or within another
directory of my search path. Programs which depend on *older* versions
of these shared libraries get them within their directory. If a new
program is not at all satisfied with the existing libraries (as checked
with DepView) I either copy the files contained within the installation
package of the program to the Sys-Directory or install the new library
set as a whole. I don't think about saving the old versions because I
always store a full installation set for every program downloaded. So
if a program complains after I updated some libraries I simply extract
the accompanied libraries from there.

[BKReplaceEm]
My single real complaint with it is the context-menu not taking
the copy-paste function. Yes, sometimes I am willing to act like a
"real" computer user, and use keyboard. But the context-action for
copy and paste, it stays very deeply ingrained in my habits, so I
get a lot of frustrating false fires when using ReplaceEm.
Click to expand...

Never tripped about this. I very seldom use the mouse for such
actions. ;-) If you would commit the codes used within ReplaceEm
to your memory you could work directly within the main window.
(Instead of the 'Advanced Edit' section.) - Since the copy/paste
function using the mouse *is* enabled in the main window. ;-)
My main point here, it'd concern the situation that locating any
programs with the range replace feature, it's a such rare event..
Click to expand...

Sure. And you're *very* right to mention it here. Even if it (maybe?)
didn't sound so: I'm very interested in hearing about it.

[Some other programs with Range replace]
So that might exhaust my whole known list. For programs that do the
range search...
Click to expand...

I don't know other programs, either.

BeAr
 
B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson said:
[BKReplaceEm]
My single real complaint with it is the context-menu not taking
the copy-paste function. Yes, sometimes I am willing to act like a
"real" computer user, and use keyboard. But the context-action for
copy and paste, it stays very deeply ingrained in my habits, so I
get a lot of frustrating false fires when using ReplaceEm.
Click to expand...

Never tripped about this. I very seldom use the mouse for such
actions. ;-) If you would commit the codes used within ReplaceEm
to your memory you could work directly within the main window.
(Instead of the 'Advanced Edit' section.) - Since the copy/paste
function using the mouse *is* enabled in the main window. ;-)
Click to expand...

IOW,
direct edit from here
http://www.redshift.com/~omega/clips/bkr/prob/mainwindow.png
instead of from here
http://www.redshift.com/~omega/clips/bkr/prob/editdialog.png

Thanks for the suggestion. But...I adore the main advanced edit dialog.
I use it in wysiwyg mode. Letting BRK insert the codes. Call me a
squish, if you will. ;)

<the following tangent is ignoring whichever license issues, so consider
it strictly theoretical>

One thing I checked on today. It was whether ResHacker would let me
edit the menus for the prog. I have done that kind of thing on occasion
when it was reasonably easy to approach. For instance, Win32pad, when
the context-object is an URL, its menu is all crippled; and ResHacker
allows repair of that.

On BKR, I took a look, and that was about it.
http://www.redshift.com/~omega/clips/bkr/prob/resdialog.png
http://www.redshift.com/~omega/clips/bkr/prob/resmenu.png
I saw no obvious thing to try, within my simple range. So I abandoned
this approach.

I very seldom use the mouse for such actions. ;-)
Click to expand...

Part of my mouse orientation there has to do with history of having animals
who require physical attention during leisure computing time, and who get
mad if both hands are taken away full-time for keyboard use.

The one strategy I have tried for workaround on BKR not having the context
copy-paste commands in that primary edit dialog, it was to assign one of my
mouse buttons to have a paste operation within BKR.

This has undesirable side-effect for me, however. Both from when I tried
assigning the normal context-menu ("right click") button. And then when
tried assigning one of my three extra buttons. All of which already have
global assignments that I use all the time (Enter; Alt-Esc; F5). That
side-effect, occurring during periods of frequent BKR use, it was that
my reflexes were inappropriately altered. To start expecting the paste
operation from the particular assigned button, outside of BKR use.

Ok, I suppose this issue might get called a neurological rerouting problem.
;) Still, it's too bad that the problem wasn't solved at the level of the
development of the program, for it to have already included the standard
copy-paste command for context menu within the edit dialog.

Other than that one tangle, BKReplacem makes me very happy. Such a powerful
program. One whose full set of abilities can be found nowhere else....
 
B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson said:
Yes. I do it likewise, browsing most archives directly like directories
within <OT> my favorite file manager </OT>. (Getting new/updated versions
for my unpackers and incorporating them in <see above> is a vitally task
for me.)
Click to expand...

Re your OT darling, you might enjoy this review:

http://www.cublea.net/software/effess/tc.html

Confession: one part of cause for my pointing you to that URL, it rises
from the realm of Ulterior Motives. For the chance that it might lead
you to browse the site a bit, possibly finding projects from Cub Lea that
you find interesting. They're Delphi, and released with source [*].

__________
* Re the source code. I should concurrently mention that re-use might be
restricted (?). I'm only an end-user type, and didn't investigate that.
 
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