IT Departments debate over Server-based and IP-based direct printing. I use IP-based printing as a way to lower WAN traffic, negate at least two points of failure, and speedup user response/print time. Microsoft has developed some fine printer scripts they introduced in Windows XP. They further polished these scripts in Windows 7 and placed them into their own printing_admin_scripts subfolder. I'm sharing my sample script and giving a quick explanation of each command. For more details about the Microsoft VB script switches, visit Microsoft's TechNet site or use Notepad to read the syntax notes placed inside each VBS file.
REMARK --- Start of Script ---
REMARK Added a script title so I know what printer I'm installing
echo *** Installing Canon iPF720 Plotter ***
REMARK Remove old printer presence via PowerShell registry search
PowerShell "if (test-path 'hklm:\software\microsoft\windows NT\currentversion\Print\Printers\HP DesignJet 1050C Plotter'){cscript c:\windows\system32\printing_admin_scripts\en-us\prnmngr.vbs -d -p 'HP DesignJet 1050C Plotter'}"
REMARK Checking for processor type then installing appropriate driver
REMARK AMD64 works with all typical Windows useable 64-bit processors
if %processor_architecture% equ AMD64 (cscript c:\windows\system32\printing_admin_scripts\en-us\prndrvr.vbs -a -m "Canon iPF720" -h "\\server\share\Printers\Drivers\Canon iPF720\64-bit\Driver" -i "\\server\share\Printers\Drivers\Canon iPF720\64-bit\Driver\6WJF02M.INF") else (cscript c:\windows\system32\printing_admin_scripts\en-us\prndrvr.vbs -a -m "Canon iPF720" -h "\\server\share\printers\Drivers\Canon iPF720\Driver" -i "\\server\share\printers\Drivers\Canon iPF720\Driver\2WJF02M.INF")
REMARK Adding the IP port the new printer will use
cscript c:\windows\system32\printing_admin_scripts\en-us\prnport.vbs -a -r "CanoniPF720" -h 192.168.1.100 -o raw -n 9100
REMARK Putting the Friendly name, driver, and port together
cscript c:\windows\system32\printing_admin_scripts\en-us\prnmngr.vbs -a -p "Canon iPF720 Plotter" -m "Canon iPF720" -r "CanoniPF720"
REMARK Added a 10 second pause so I can chain install scripts together yet still monitor each installation progress
timeout /t 10
REMARK --- End of Script ---
I also thought about adding an audible prompt when things go right or wrong. This would lessen the need to physically watch the install but rather allow multitasking by listening out for the correct sounds after each install while performing other duties.
I learned how to insert Headers into an Inoke-RestMethod request in order to pull music information from an online database. Afterwards, I can insert the received objects into MP3 ID3 tags using methods mentioned in my previous posts (including album covers). I recently started using Decibel for grabbing music information (even though indications are that they're going to a pay-only API). As of now, they have a free version and two paid versions which allow more information about each query. When you create a free account, you'll be requested to make an application. I called my application "PowerShell." The system generated an Application ID & Key. New to me was having to pass this Application ID, Application Key, and Date/Time via a header request when making my PowerShell queries. After many web searches and trying different script methods, I'm sharing my successful script:
#Replace the x's with your Applications information
#Using an artist like "Fine Young Cannibals" will search for artists
#that have any or all of those three words
$DAppID = "xxxxxxxx"
$DAppKey = "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
[string]$DTimeStamp = get-date -format "yyyyMMdd HH:mm:ss"
$Artist = "Metallica"
#Decibel documention
#I requested all albums that have Metallica in the artists name field
$query = invoke-restmethod http://api.decibel.net/v1/albums?artist=$Artist `
-headers @{"DecibelAppID"=$DAppID;"DecibelAppKey"=$DAppKey;"DecibelTimestamp"=$DTimeStamp;} `
-method get
$result = $query.AlbumQueryResult.ResultSet.album
# I filtered for only Metallica album names
foreach ($r in $result){$r.Name|where-object{$r.Artists -eq $Artist}}
