PRINTCAP(5) DG/UX 4.30 PRINTCAP(5)
NAME
printcap - printer capability data base
SYNOPSIS
/etc/printcap
DESCRIPTION
Printcap 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,
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, -Pprinter, to allow
explicit naming of a destination 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 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 like "fc" but set bits
gf str NULL graph data filter (plot (3X) format)
hl bool false print the burst header page last
ic bool false driver supports nonstandard 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
mx num 1000 maximum file size (in BUFSIZ blocks), 0 = 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
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
Licensed material--property of copyright holder(s) Page 1
PRINTCAP(5) DG/UX 4.30 PRINTCAP(5)
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 "/usr/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 like "xc" but set bits
If the local line printer driver supports indentation, the
daemon must understand how to invoke it.
FILTERS
The lpd(8) daemon creates a pipeline of filters to process
files for various printer types. 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
The if filter is invoked with arguments:
if [ -c ] -wwidth -llength -iindent -n login -h host
acct-file
The -c flag is passed only if the -l flag (pass control
characters literally) is specified to lpr. 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. Acct-file 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 -h host acct-file
where width and length are represented in pixels, specified
by the px and py entries respectively.
Licensed material--property of copyright holder(s) Page 2
PRINTCAP(5) DG/UX 4.30 PRINTCAP(5)
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.
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 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
termcap(5), lpc(8), lpd(8), lpr(1), lpq(1), lprm(1)
Licensed material--property of copyright holder(s) Page 3