Accessing Ranger Print Manager (RPM) information from a client pc

Question

Can I view or modify RPM user details from a client workstation?

Symptoms

N/A

Cause

You need to gain access to Ranger Print Manager information without using a remote session to the server or you need to provide staff access to the database so they can view or change users print credits during lessons.

You may also need to provide an alternative way for a restricted user to open the print client for example in the event that you have disabled the users from accessing the system tray.

Resolution

By default the RPMClient is started as a scheduled job when a user logs on. The program is used to display user information such as group membership, used credits and the amount of credits left.

In the event the system tray has been disabled the user is unable to get to this information. To resolve this issue you can start a second copy of the RPMClient. Programs like RPMClient and gpcharge can be configured to startup in different ways depending on the parameters passed to them. For example the programs can be configured to load with specific user details or to load multiple copies i.e. have one copy loaded in the system tray and one copy is loaded as a new window.

Instructions

Problem 1 - Running GPCharge from a client.

• First create a shortcut to point to the server's gpcharge program
• You then need to add a parameter to the end of the target to tell the program where to get its data from
  parameter: datadata

Problem 2 - Starting multiple copies of RPMClient

• First you need to create a shortcut pointing to the servers RPMClient.exe which is located in the data folder within the ranger print manager folder on your server
• You then need to add some parameters to the end of the target to tell the program where to gets its data from and how it should be loaded
  Parameter: datadata /details /multi

Example Target path:

"GPCharge.exe" datadata

The parameters Explained:

data specifies where the database is in order for the program to load with the correct information.

/details This configures the program to load up with all the users details instead of just loading in the system tray with no user details.

/multi This allows more than one instance of the RPMClient program to be run.

Testing

Run the shortcuts from a client machine and make sure the information is correct.