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 for a description of the file layout. 

 NameTypeDefault Description
sdstr“/usr/spool/lpd"spool directory
lostr“lock"name of lock file
ststr“status"status file name
dnstr“/usr/lib/lpd"spooling daemon’s path name
lfstr“/dev/console"error logging file name
lpstr“/dev/lp"device name to open for output
brnumnoneif lp is a tty, set the baud rate (ioctl call)
fcnum0if lp is a tty, clear flag bits (sgtty.h)
fsnum0like ‘fc’ but set bits
rmstrNULLmachine name for remote printer
rlstr“/usr/lib/rlpr"remote lpr started by local daemon
bdstr“/usr/ucb"bin directory of lpr, lpq, lprm
rpstrNULLremote printer name argument (lp by default)
mxnum1000maximum file size (in BUFSIZ blocks)
ofstrNULLname of output filtering program
afstrNULLname of accounting file
ffstr“\f"string to send for a form feed
trstrNULLtrailer. string to print when queue empties
pwnum132page width
plnum66page length
sbboolfalseshort banner (one line only)
shboolfalsesuppress printing of burst page header
sfboolfalsesuppress form feeds
dunum1daemon user ID
ifstrNULLname of input filtering program for plain text
tfstrNULLname of troff output filtering program
vfstrNULLname of vplot output filtering program
cfstrNULLname of cifplot output filtering program
rw boolfalseopen the printer for read/write instead of just write

Output is sent to the remote machine if line printer device is null.  For example, the following line would send output to the machine ‘ucbvax’. 

:lp=:rm=ucbvax:

The ‘br’, ‘fc’, and  ‘fs’ entries are used to change tty characteristics (see tty(4)). The ‘fc’ and ‘fs’ entries only set or clear the specified bits in the g_flags field; the rest are unchanged. 

Error messages sent to the console have a carriage return and a line feed appended to them, rather than just a line feed. 

If the local line printer driver supports indentation, the daemon must understand how to invoke it. 

BUGS

Sun System Release 0.3  —  17 April 1983