printcap(4) CLIX printcap(4)
NAME
printcap - Printer capability database
DESCRIPTION
The printcap file is a printer capability 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 describes one printer.
The environment variable PRINTER may be used to specify a printer. Each
spooling utility supports a flag, -P printer, to allow explicit naming of
a destination printer.
Capabilities
Name Type Default Description
____ ____ ______________ _____________________________________________
af str NULL Name of accounting file
br num None If lp is tty, set baud rate (ioctl() call)
cf str NULL cifplot data filter
df str NULL TeXTM data filter (DVI format)
ff str \f String to send for formfeed
fo bool False Print formfeed when device is opened
gf str NULL Graph data filter (plot() format)
hl bool False Print burst header page last
ic bool False For (nonstandard) ioctl() to indent printout
if str NULL Name of accounting text filter
lf str /dev/console Error logging filename
lo str Lock Name of lock file
lp str /dev/lp Device name to open for output
mx num 1000 Max file size (BUFSIZ blocks), 0 = unlimited
nd str NULL Next directory for queue list (unimplemented)
nf str NULL ditroff filter (device-independent troff)
of str NULL Name of output filtering program
pc num 200 Price per foot, page in hundredths of cents
pl num 66 Page length (lines; printer-dependent)
pw num 132 Page width (characters)
px num 0 Page width (pixels)
py num 0 Page length (pixels; printer-dependent)
rf str NULL Filter for printing FORTRAN-style text files
rg str NULL Restricted group, only members allowed access
rm str NULL Machine name for remote printer
rp str lp Remote printer name argument
rs bool False Restrict remote users (with local accounts)
rw bool False Open printer device for reading and writing
sb bool False Short banner (one line only)
sc bool False Suppress multiple copies
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printcap(4) CLIX printcap(4)
sd str /usr/spool/lpd Spool directory
sf bool False Suppress formfeeds
sh bool False Suppress printing of burst page header
st str Status Status filename
tf str NULL troff data filter (cat phototypesetter)
tr str NULL Trailer string to print when queue empties
vf str NULL Raster image filter
Cc num 0 Clear control modes (termio)
Cs num 0 Set control modes (termio)
Ic num 0 Clear input modes (termio)
Is num 0 Set input modes (termio)
Lc num 0 Clear local modes (termio)
Ls num 0 Set local modes (termio)
Oc num 0 Clear output modes (termio)
Os num 0 Set output modes (termio)
If the local line printer driver supports indentation, the daemon must
understand how to invoke it.
The following is a sample entry from a printcap file.
lp | local line printer:
:lp=/dev/lp:sd=/usr/spool/lpd:lf=/usr/adm/lpd-errs:
Entries may continue on to multiple lines by giving a ``\'' as the last
character of a line, and empty fields may be included for readability
(here between the last field on a line and the first field on the next).
Comments may be included on lines beginning with ``#''.
Filters
The lpd daemon creates a pipeline of filters to process files for various
printer types. The filters selected depend on the flags passed to lpr.
The pipeline setup is as follows:
-p pr | If regular text + pr
none if Regular text
-c cf cifplot
-d df DVI (TeX)
-g gf plot
-n nf ditroff
-f rf FORTRAN
-t tf troff
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printcap(4) CLIX printcap(4)
-v vf Raster image
The if filter is invoked with the following arguments:
if [-c] -wwidth -llength -iindent -nlogin -hhost acct-file
The -c flag is passed only if the -l flag (pass control characters
literally) is specified to lpr. The width and length specify the page
width and length (from pw and pl respectively) in characters. The -n and
-h flags specify the login name and hostname of the owner of the job,
respectively. The acct-file is passed from the af printcap entry.
If no if is specified, of is used instead. However, of is opened only
once, while if is opened for every job. Thus, if is better suited for
performing accounting. The of is only given the width and length flags.
All other filters are called as follows:
filter -xwidth -ylength -n
login -hhost acct-file
The 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, will log to
stderr, and must not ignore SIGINT.
NOTES
The use of the pl option is printer-dependent. Some printers may not
accept the page length specified by the pl option.
RELATED INFORMATION
Commands: lpr(1), lpq(1), lprm(1), lpc(8), lpd(8), pac(8)
CLIX Programming Guide
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