The default PaperCut NG installation stores data in an internal database. For the interested person, the database is Apache Derby - an open source database written by IBM and based on their DB2 Cloudscape Database. The internal database is very robust, ACID compliant and scales well. PaperCut NG also has the option to use an external database such as Microsoft's SQL Server. Running on an external database offers some advantages, one of which is the ability to access the data using 3rd party reporting tools such as Crystal Reports. For more information see Chapter 16, Deployment on an External RDBMS.
Note: Future versions of PaperCut NG will include direct ODBC connections to the internal database. Currently this is disabled due to potential security issues. Please contact support if you're interested in this option.
The PaperCut NG data structure is relatively simple and people with Crystal Report or SQL experience should have no problems extracting data or written custom reports. Report developers should keep in mind:
Only access the data in a read-only mode. Modifying data directly underneath the application may cause unpredictable behavior
Always test any custom reports after an upgrade as the underlying data format may have changed. PaperCut Software developers try to minimize data structure changes but they are expected to occur in major upgrades.
In addition to storing print log information in the database, a real-time, plain text log is also written into the directory:
[appdir]/server/logs
The log file is in a tab delimited format and a new log is created for each day. Files are named with
the format printlog_yyyy_mm_dd.log and files are archived for 30-days. The tab
delimited file can easily be imported into programs such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access or
other database.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Field 1 |
Date in format |
Field 2 | Server Name |
Field 3 | Printer Name |
Field 4 | User who printed the document |
Field 5 | Account charged (usually the user's personal account but could be a shared account) |
Field 6 | Client/Workstation Name |
Field 7 | Document name |
Field 8 | Total number of pages |
Field 9 | Total number of color pages |
Field 10 | Number of copies (this has already been used to calculate the total pages). |
Field 11 | Cost |
Field 12 | Duplex status |
Field 13 | Grayscale status (Color mode) |
Field 14 | Paper Size (e.g. Letter, A4) |
Field 15 | Paper Height in Millimetres (divide by 24.5 for inches) |
Field 16 | Paper Width in Millimetres (divide by 24.5 for inches) |
Field 17 | Print job size in KB |
Field 18 | Printer Language |
Table 14.3. Text print log file format
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