In computing, the <code>print</code> command provides single-user print spooling capability in a number of operating systems. It is roughly similar to that provided by the UNIX System V lp and BSD lpr print spooler systems.
The command is available in the DEC RT-11, OS/8, RSX-11, TOPS-10, and TOPS-20 operating systems and also in DR FlexOS, DR DOS, TSL PC-MOS, Paragon Technology PTS-DOS, SISNE plus, IBM OS/2, eComStation, ArcaOS, Microsoft Windows, FreeDOS, Stratus OpenVOS, AROS, HP MPE/iX, and OpenVMS.
The FreeDOS version was developed by James Tabor and is licensed under the GPL.
The command was introduced in MS-DOS/IBM PC DOS 2.0. DR DOS 6.0 includes an implementation of the command.
In early versions of DOS, printing was accomplished using the <code>copy</code> command: the file to be printed was "copied" to the file representing the print device. Control returned to the user when the print job completed. Beginning with DOS 2.0, the <code>print</code> command was included to allow basic print spooling: the ability to continue to use the computer while printing occurred in the background, and the ability to create a queue of jobs to be printed.
The <code>print</code> command allowed specifying one of many possible local printer interfaces, and could make use of networked printers using the <code>net</code> command. A maximum number of files and a maximum buffer size could be specified, and further command-line options allowed adding and removing files from the queue. Margins, page lengths and number of copies could also be set, as well as a parameter to adjust between favoring printing speed versus computer responsiveness.
Users of the initial release of the <code>print</code> command commented on the slow print speed and high resource usage, as well as the lack of support for the newly introduced subdirectories. The command was among the first RAM-resident programs and was the first to achieve widespread use, with many users disassembling the binary in order to determine how RAM-resident programs should be written.