NAME
printcap
- printer capability data base
SYNOPSIS
printcap
DESCRIPTION
The
printcap
data base is a simplified version of the
termcap(5)
data base used to describe line printers.
The spooling system accesses the
printcap
file every time it is used, allowing dynamic
addition and deletion of printers.
Each entry in the data base is used to describe one printer.
This data base may not be substituted for, as is possible for
termcap(5),
because it may allow accounting to be bypassed.
The default printer is normally
lp,
though the environment variable
PRINTER
may be used to override this.
Each spooling utility supports an option,
-P printer,
to allow explicit naming of a destination printer.
Refer to the
for a complete discussion on how to set up the database for a given printer.
CAPABILITIES
Refer to
termcap(5)
for a description of the file layout.
Name Type Default Description
af str |
NULL name of accounting file
| br num none if lp is a tty, set the baud rate
(ioctl(2)
call)
| cf str |
NULL cifplot data filter
| df str |
NULL tex data filter
(DVI
format)
| fc num 0 if lp is a tty, clear flag bits
(
sgtty.h )
| ff str |
\f`.blm Pp string to send for a form feed '
| fo bool false print a form feed when device is opened
| fs num 0 like `fc' but set bits
| gf str |
NULL graph data filter
(plot(3)
format
| hl bool false print the burst header page last
| ic bool false driver supports (non standard) ioctl to indent printout
| if str |
NULL name of text filter which does accounting
| lf str |
/dev/console error logging file name
| lo str |
lock name of lock file
| lp str |
/dev/lp device name to open for output to local printer, or port@host for remote printer/printer on print server
| ms str |
NULL list of terminal modes to set or clear
| mx num 1000 maximum file size (in
BUFSIZ
blocks), zero = unlimited
| nd str |
NULL next directory for list of queues (unimplemented)
| nf str |
NULL ditroff data filter (device independent troff)
| of str |
NULL name of output filtering program
| pc num 200 price per foot or page in hundredths of cents
| pf str |
NULL filter for printing
PostScript
files
| pl num 66 page length (in lines)
| pw num 132 page width (in characters)
| px num 0 page width in pixels (horizontal)
| py num 0 page length in pixels (vertical)
| rf str |
NULL filter for printing
FORTRAN
style text files
| rg str |
NULL restricted group. Only members of group allowed access
| rm str |
NULL machine name for remote printer or port@host for a remote printer on a port other than the standard port.
NOTES
(also suppress the burst page, see)
| rp str ``lp'' remote printer name argument
| rs bool false restrict remote users to those with local accounts
| rw bool false open the printer device for reading and writing
| sb bool false short banner (one line only)
| sc bool false suppress multiple copies
| sd str |
/var/spool/output/lpd spool directory
| sf bool false suppress form feeds
| sh bool false suppress printing of burst page header
NOTES
(local only, see)
| st str |
status status file name
| tf str |
NULL troff data filter (cat phototypesetter)
| tr str |
NULL trailer string to print when queue empties
| vf str |
NULL raster image filter
| xc num 0 if lp is a tty, clear local mode bits
(tty(4))
| xs num 0 like `xc' but set bits
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
If the local line printer driver supports indentation, the daemon
must understand how to invoke it.
FILTERS
If a printer is specified via
lp
(either local or remote),
the
lpd(8)
daemon creates a pipeline of
filters
to process files for various printer types.
The pipeline is not set up for remote printers specified via
rm
unless the local host is the same as the remote printer host
given.
The filters selected depend on the flags passed to
lpr(1).
The pipeline set up is:
-
p pr | if regular text + pr(1)
none if regular text
c cf cifplot
d df DVI (tex)
g gf plot(3)
n nf ditroff
o pf PostScript
f rf Fortran
t tf troff
v vf raster image
The
if
filter is invoked with arguments:
-
if
[-c]
-wwidth
-llength
-iindent
-n login
[-j jobname]
-h host acct-file
The
-c
flag is passed only if the
-l
flag (pass control characters literally)
is specified to
lpr(1).
The
width
and
length
specify the page width and length
(from
pw
and
pl
respectively) in characters.
The
-n
and
-h
parameters specify the login name and host name of the owner
of the job respectively.
The
-j
parameter is optional and specifies the name of the print
job if available.
The
acct-file
option is passed from the
af
printcap
entry.
If no
if
is specified,
of
is used instead,
with the distinction that
of
is opened only once,
while
if
is opened for every individual job.
Thus,
if
is better suited to performing accounting.
The
of
is only given the
width
and
length
flags.
All other filters are called as:
-
filter
-xwidth
-ylength
-n login
[-j jobname]
-h host acct-file
where
width
and
length
are represented in pixels,
specified by the
px
and
py
entries respectively.
All filters take
stdin
as the file,
stdout
as the printer,
may log either to
stderr
or using
syslog(3),
and must not ignore
SIGINT
.
Filters can communicate errors to lpd by their exit code and by modifying
the mode of the spool lock file as follows:
- Exit code
-
Description
- 0
-
Success.
- 1
-
An attempt is made to reprint the job and mail is sent if it fails.
- 2
-
lpd(8)
silently discards the job.
- n
-
lpd(8)
discards the job and mail is sent.
- lock code
-
Description
- u+x
-
Stop printing and leave queue disabled (S_IXUSR).
- o+x
-
Rebuild the queue (S_IXOTH).
LOGGING
Error messages generated by the line printer programs themselves
(that is, the lp* programs) are logged by
syslog(3)
using the
LPR
facility.
Messages printed on
stderr
of one of the filters are sent to the corresponding
lf
file.
The filters may, of course, use
syslog(3)
themselves.
Error messages sent to the console have a carriage return and a line
feed appended to them, rather than just a line feed.
SEE ALSO
lpq(1),
lpr(1),
lprm(1),
termcap(5),
lpc(8),
lpd(8),
pac(8)
NOTES
The
sh
flag is a function of the spooler with the locally attached printer,
and so has no effect when used with
rm.
NetBSD
never adds a burst page when used as a remote spooler.
To suppress the burst page for other systems or dedicated devices,
refer to the documentation for those systems or devices.
HISTORY
The
printcap
file format appeared in
4.2BSD.