95/98/NT Print Manager to create a printer that uses this port along with a standard Windows 95/98/NT-compatible printer driver (for example, the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 5 or Lexmark Optra drivers). Any Windows 95/98/NT applica- tions program can therefore print to this printer (and hence to the virtual port) without modification or change in opera- tional procedure.
When a job is printed to the PrintraNet virtual port, it is actually MIME-encoded, converted to a standard Internet E-mail mes- sage, and sent out to a TROY XCD print server at the remote location using either the Messaging API (MAPI) or WINSOCK. This means that PrintraNet is compatible with most common E- mail software packages, and there is no requirement to install a TCP/IP stack on the PC. The only requirement is that the E-mail server be capable of sending E-mail messages over the Internet.
In more detail, the procedure is as follows:
•If you are connected to a Local Area Network, the E-mail message gets passed to the E-mail server, which in turn sends it out over the Internet using the SMTP protocol (Simple Mail Transport Protocol) to the remote TROY XCD print server.
•If you are connecting via a modem directly to an Internet Service Provider (ISP), the ISP handles the routing of the E- mail to the remote TROY XCD print server.
At the remote site, an E-mail server receives the E-mail message. The remote print server, which has its own E-mail address, uses the POP3 protocol (Post Office Protocol 3) to download the E- mail message from the E-mail server. It then decodes the
13-2 PrintraNet Internet Printing
