13-2 PrintraNet Internet Printing
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