flexfax: Printing to HylaFax as to a network printer (proposal)

[Constantin Teodorescu <teo@flex.ro>]

This message is in the same thread as "How to set HylaFax to act as a
network printer?"
but I renamed it because I think that sending faxes could be improved
!!!

Glenn Burkhardt wrote:
> 
> > Constantin Teodorescu <teo@flex.ro> :
> > I would like to configure HylaFax also as a fax-server for the entire
> > network, but using printer spooling mechanism, allowing client to print
> > to a shared 'fax' printer when they want to fax it, or normally printing
> > to a shared 'laser' network printer, from both Linux and W95
> > workstations. For example I am using Applixware on Linux and MS Office
> > on W95.
> 
> This would be a great idea if someone would do it.

I think that it could be easily make it!

> For personal systems (as opposed to servers), the right answer to sending a fax is for applications to
> print to a fax printer. The problem in Unix, of course, is how to get the phone number (or other information needed for the cover page). 
> Forcing the users to put some string into the file to provide the phone number is a kludge, error prone, and a nuisance for the users (they have to remember to do it, they have to remember how to get it just right).

I agree with you, thought everyone could set a "fax template" for that
job. Inserting fax number information into the document isn't  the
smartest ideea.

> Yes, of course we all know how to use tkhylafax or sfax, but the fact of the matter is, to compete in the desktop arena, the many operation approach is a loser.  Instead of printing postscript to a file, invoking another program,
> telling the program which file to send, the user ought to be able to select 'FAX' as the output device, and just do it.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I'm using a RedHat Linux Pentium machine.
I have defined a new printer (with printtool) , named it "fax" and set
up the input filter a tiny "C" program called hyla-pop. For the moment,
that program is doing only :

        f = fopen("/tmp/hyla.out","w");
        while ((car=getchar())!=-1) {
                putc(car,f);
        }
        close(f);

Then I started Applixware and print a document to my new "fax" driver.
As I supposed, I found the file /tmp/hyla.out that could be probably
translated and rendered as a fax if we would know the number.
I am not a guru in writting X windows "C" programs, but I think that the
tiny filter "hyla-pop.c" could pop up a simple dialog window and ask for
the fax-number you will want to send to it! Am I wrong ? I'm not
familiar with printer filter and how they run (inputs, outputs) but I
think that it would be possible. Knowing the fax-number and catching the
printer output in that /tmp/hyla.out file, it would be probably very
simple to render it to a fax image and send it.

I understood (correct me if I'm wrong) that for the moment , if you want
to send a fax from a Unix box, you must print the document from your
application as a Postscript file and then leave the application, call
tkhylafax in order to specify the output file, the fax-number as so on.

> But it's deficiencies like this that make folks turn to Win95 from Unix.

This one, should definitely be avoided :-)

-- 
Constantin Teodorescu
FLEX Consulting Braila, ROMANIA