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PRINTCAP(5) | File Formats Manual | PRINTCAP(5) |
NAME¶
printcap
—
printer capability database
SYNOPSIS¶
printcap |
DESCRIPTION¶
Theprintcap
file is a simplified version of
the termcap(5) database 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 database
is used to describe one printer. This database 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 4.3 BSD Line Printer Spooler Manual 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 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 ’ |
string to send for a form feed |
fo | bool | false | print a form feed when device is opened |
fs | num | 0 | if lp is a tty, set flag bits (⟨sgtty.h⟩) |
gf | str | NULL |
graph data filter (plot(3) format) |
hl | bool | false | print the burst header page last |
ic | bool | false | 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 | local printer device, or port@host for remote |
ms | str | NULL |
list of terminal modes to set or clear |
mx | num | 1000 | max file size (in BUFSIZ blocks);
0=unlimited |
nd | str | NULL |
next directory for queues list (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 |
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 group members can access |
rm | str | NULL |
machine name for remote printer |
rp | str | ``lp'' | remote printer name argument |
rs | bool | false | remote users must have a local account |
rw | bool | false | open printer device for reading and writing |
sb | bool | false | short banner (one line only) |
sc | bool | false | suppress multiple copies |
sd | str | /var/spool/lpd | spool directory |
sf | bool | false | suppress form feeds |
sh | bool | false | suppress printing of burst page header |
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 | if lp is a tty, set local mode bits (tty(4)) |
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 f rf Fortran t tf troff v vf raster image
if
[]
The -c
-w
width
-l
length
-i
indent
-n
login
-h
host
acct-file-c
flag is passed only if the
-l
flag (pass control characters literally)
is specified to lpr(1).
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
acct-file function 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
-x
width
-y
length
-n
login
-h
host
acct-fileSIGINT
.
LOGGING¶
Error messages generated by the line printer programs themselves are logged by syslog(3) using theLPR
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) 4.3 BSD Line Printer Spooler Manual.HISTORY¶
Theprintcap
file format appeared in
4.2BSD.December 11, 1993 | Debian |