Feature suggestion: Have the daemon only query the api during working hours

[kremke]

Hi,

When setting up the daemon it occured to me that it might be a good idea to define a time period when there is no need for the daemon to query the api for new print jobs. For the libraries I am configuring there is no need to check for new jobs every minute during the night and by pausing the api queries there would be more system resources on the Alma server to run other tasks.

Regards,

Helgi Steindal

[niemalsnever]

Hello,

I support this enhancement request, bonus points for making it possible to use the opening/working hours defined in Alma.

Best Regards,
Sven Pagel

[mgobat]

@niemalsnever, @kremke....if it were tied to working hours, what would be the best way to do that? Allow selection of one library, or would it need to be one library per printer queue?

[niemalsnever]

Since one Alma printer queue is usually (at least for us) mapped to a single physical printer, meaning a physical library site, through the Alma Print Daemon, in my book it would be the selection of one library per printer queue configured. My intention with this feature would be not having the Print Daemon retrieve and print jobs, if no one is there to actually pick up the printed letters, or intervene if something goes wrong.

[kremke]

I concur, I think it would be best to configure this per queue since different departments in a library can have different working hours, i.e. a circulation desk may need to listen for slips to be printed out at the desk in the evening, but the acquisitions department may stop working much earlier and don't need to check the printout queue until the next morning when the staff comes to work.

Regards,

Helgi

[mgobat]

@niemalsnever @kremke, thanks for your input. I figured that would be the most useful way to implement, but wanted to be sure I wasn't taking it too far. Would a simpler implementation, let's say with a single start/end time set within the application itself, be at all useful if it could be delivered sooner rather than later? Or would that be a waste? Thanks.

[niemalsnever]

@mgobat A simpler implementation with a single start/end time would be nice as a first step, as it makes running the software non-stop and not having to terminate it using for example a scheduled task easier. I'm fully aware that having the daemon pull and evaluate the working hours is a complex task that cannot be implemented quickly, so having a simple schedule with a single time window in which to pull and print print jobs would be appreciated in the meantime.

Also I agree with @kremke, time windows per print queue would allow for much more flexibility as to in what time frame to fetch which jobs.

Best Regards,

Sven Pagel

[mgobat]

@kremke, @niemalsnever, if you like, please check out version 2.2.0-beta-01 containing a simple implementation of this enhancement. You may specify "Active time" for when the Alma Print Daemon should be operational.

https://github.com/ExLibrisGroup/alma-print-daemon/releases/tag/v2.2.0-beta-01

[enettifee]

Our library would also find days of the week controls valuable - several of the smaller libraries don't pull holds over the weekend, so being able to just specify Monday - Friday would be helpful.