1.\" Copyright (c) 1983, 1991, 1993 2.\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. 3.\" 4.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without 5.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions 6.\" are met: 7.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright 8.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. 9.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright 10.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the 11.\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. 12.\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors 13.\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software 14.\" without specific prior written permission. 15.\" 16.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND 17.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE 18.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE 19.\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE 20.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL 21.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS 22.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) 23.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT 24.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY 25.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF 26.\" SUCH DAMAGE. 27.\" 28.\" @(#)printcap.5 8.2 (Berkeley) 12/11/93 29.\" $FreeBSD$ 30.\" 31.Dd October 11, 2000 32.Dt PRINTCAP 5 33.Os 34.Sh NAME 35.Nm printcap 36.Nd printer capability data base 37.Sh SYNOPSIS 38.Nm 39.Sh DESCRIPTION 40The 41.Nm Printcap 42function 43is a simplified version of the 44.Xr termcap 5 45data base 46used to describe line printers. 47The spooling system accesses the 48.Nm 49file every time it is used, allowing dynamic 50addition and deletion of printers. 51Each entry in the data base 52is used to describe one printer. 53This data base may not be 54substituted for, as is possible for 55.Xr termcap 5 , 56because it may allow accounting to be bypassed. 57.Pp 58The default printer is normally 59.Em lp , 60though the environment variable 61.Ev PRINTER 62may be used to override this. 63Each spooling utility supports an option, 64.Fl P Ar printer , 65to allow explicit naming of a destination printer. 66.Pp 67Refer to the 68.%T "4.3 BSD Line Printer Spooler Manual" 69for a complete discussion on how to setup the database for a given printer. 70.Sh CAPABILITIES 71Refer to 72.Xr termcap 5 73for a description of the file layout. 74.Bl -column Namexxx Typexx "/var/spool/lpdxxxxx" 75.Sy "Name Type Default Description" 76.It "af str" Ta Dv NULL Ta No "name of accounting file" 77.It "br num none if lp is a tty, set the baud rate" 78.Xr ( ioctl 2 79call) 80.It "cf str" Ta Dv NULL Ta No "cifplot data filter" 81.It "ct num 120 TCP connection timeout in seconds" 82.It "df str" Ta Dv NULL Ta No "tex data filter" 83.Tn ( DVI 84format) 85.It "du num 1 UID to run daemon as" 86.It "ff str" Ta So Li \ef Sc Ta No "string to send for a form feed" 87.It "fo bool false print a form feed when device is opened" 88.It "gf str" Ta Dv NULL Ta No "graph data filter" 89.Xr ( plot 3 90format 91.It "hl bool false print the burst header page last" 92.It "ic bool false driver supports (non standard) ioctl to indent printout" 93.It "if str" Ta Dv NULL Ta No "name of text filter which does accounting" 94.It "lf str" Ta Pa /dev/console Ta No "error logging file name" 95.It "lo str" Ta Pa lock Ta No "name of lock file" 96.It "lp str" Ta Pa /dev/lp Ta No "device name to open for output, or" Em port Ns @ Ns Em machine No "to open a TCP socket" 97.It "mc num 0 maximum number of copies which can be requested on" 98.Xr lpr 1 , 99zero = unlimited 100.It "ms str" Ta Dv NULL Ta No "if lp is a tty, a comma-separated," 101.Xr stty 1 Ns -like 102list describing the tty modes 103.It "mx num 0 maximum file size (in" 104.Dv BUFSIZ 105blocks), zero = unlimited 106.It "nd str" Ta Dv NULL Ta No "next directory for list of queues (unimplemented)" 107.It "nf str" Ta Dv NULL Ta No "ditroff data filter (device independent troff)" 108.It "of str" Ta Dv NULL Ta No "name of output filtering program" 109.It "pc num 200 price per foot or page in hundredths of cents" 110.It "pl num 66 page length (in lines)" 111.It "pw num 132 page width (in characters)" 112.It "px num 0 page width in pixels (horizontal)" 113.It "py num 0 page length in pixels (vertical)" 114.It "rc bool false when sending to a remote host, resend copies (see below)" 115.It "rf str" Ta Dv NULL Ta No "filter for printing" 116.Tn FORTRAN 117style text files 118.It "rg str" Ta Dv NULL Ta No "restricted group. Only members of group allowed access" 119.It "rm str" Ta Dv NULL Ta No "machine name for remote printer" 120.It "rp str" Ta Pa lp Ta No "remote printer name argument" 121.It "rs bool false restrict remote users to those with local accounts" 122.It "rw bool false open the printer device for reading and writing" 123.It "sb bool false short banner (one line only)" 124.It "sc bool false suppress multiple copies" 125.It "sd str" Ta Pa /var/spool/lpd Ta No "spool directory" 126.It "sf bool false suppress form feeds" 127.It "sh bool false suppress printing of burst page header" 128.It "sr str" Ta Dv NULL Ta No "file name to hold statistics of each datafile as it is received" 129.It "ss str" Ta Dv NULL Ta No "file name to hold statistics of each datafile as it is sent" 130.It "st str" Ta Pa status Ta No "status file name" 131.It "tf str" Ta Dv NULL Ta No "troff data filter (cat phototypesetter)" 132.It "tr str" Ta Dv NULL Ta No "trailer string to print when queue empties" 133.It "vf str" Ta Dv NULL Ta No "raster image filter" 134.El 135.Pp 136Each two-letter capability has a human-readable alternate name. 137.Bl -column "Short form" "Long form" 138.Sy "Short form Long form" 139.It "af acct.file" 140.It "br tty.rate" 141.It "cf filt.cifplot" 142.It "ct remote.timeout" 143.It "df filt.dvi" 144.It "du daemon.user" 145.It "ff job.formfeed" 146.It "fo job.topofform" 147.It "gf filt.plot" 148.It "hl banner.last" 149.It "if filt.input" 150.It "lf spool.log" 151.It "lo spool.lock" 152.It "lp tty.device" 153.It "mc max.copies" 154.It "ms tty.mode" 155.It "mx max.blocks" 156.It "nf filt.ditroff" 157.It "of filt.output" 158.It "pc acct.price" 159.It "pl page.length" 160.It "pw page.width" 161.It "px page.pwidth" 162.It "py page.plength" 163.It "rc remote.resend_copies" 164.It "rf filt.fortran" 165.It "rg daemon.restrictgrp" 166.It "rm remote.host" 167.It "rp remote.queue" 168.It "rs daemon.restricted" 169.It "rw tty.rw" 170.It "sb banner.short" 171.It "sc job.no_copies" 172.It "sd spool.dir" 173.It "sf job.no_formfeed" 174.It "sh banner.disable" 175.It "sr stat.recv" 176.It "ss stat.send" 177.It "st spool.status" 178.It "tf filt.troff" 179.It "tr job.trailer" 180.It "vf filt.raster" 181.El 182.Pp 183If the local line printer driver supports indentation, the daemon 184must understand how to invoke it. 185.Sh FILTERS 186The 187.Xr lpd 8 188daemon creates a pipeline of 189.Em filters 190to process files for various printer types. 191The filters selected depend on the flags passed to 192.Xr lpr 1 . 193The pipeline set up is: 194.Bd -literal -offset indent 195p pr | if regular text + pr(1) 196none if regular text 197c cf cifplot 198d df DVI (tex) 199g gf plot(3) 200n nf ditroff 201f rf Fortran 202t tf troff 203v vf raster image 204.Ed 205.Pp 206The 207.Sy if 208filter is invoked with arguments: 209.Bd -ragged -offset indent 210.Cm if 211.Op Fl c 212.Fl w Ns Ar width 213.Fl l Ns Ar length 214.Fl i Ns Ar indent 215.Fl n Ar login 216.Fl h Ar host acct-file 217.Ed 218.Pp 219The 220.Fl c 221flag is passed only if the 222.Fl l 223flag (pass control characters literally) 224is specified to 225.Xr lpr 1 . 226The 227.Ar Width 228function 229and 230.Ar length 231specify the page width and length 232(from 233.Cm pw 234and 235.Cm pl 236respectively) in characters. 237The 238.Fl n 239and 240.Fl h 241parameters specify the login name and host name of the owner 242of the job respectively. 243The 244.Ar Acct-file 245function 246is passed from the 247.Cm af 248.Nm 249entry. 250.Pp 251If no 252.Cm if 253is specified, 254.Cm of 255is used instead, 256with the distinction that 257.Cm of 258is opened only once, 259while 260.Cm if 261is opened for every individual job. 262Thus, 263.Cm if 264is better suited to performing accounting. 265The 266.Cm of 267is only given the 268.Ar width 269and 270.Ar length 271flags. 272.Pp 273All other filters are called as: 274.Bd -ragged -offset indent 275.Nm filter 276.Fl x Ns Ar width 277.Fl y Ns Ar length 278.Fl n Ar login 279.Fl h Ar host acct-file 280.Ed 281.Pp 282where 283.Ar width 284and 285.Ar length 286are represented in pixels, 287specified by the 288.Cm px 289and 290.Cm py 291entries respectively. 292.Pp 293All filters take 294.Em stdin 295as the file, 296.Em stdout 297as the printer, 298may log either to 299.Em stderr 300or using 301.Xr syslog 3 , 302and must not ignore 303.Dv SIGINT . 304.Sh REMOTE PRINTING 305When printing to a remote printer using 306.Cm rm , 307it is possible to use either 308.Cm if 309or 310.Cm of . 311If both are specified, 312.Cm of 313is ignored. 314Both filters behave the same except that they are passed 315different arguments as above. 316Specifically, the output filter is 317terminated and restarted for each file transmitted. 318This is necessary 319in order to pass the resulting size to the remote 320.Xr lpd 8 . 321.Pp 322If the 323.Fl p 324flag was passed to 325.Xr lpr 1 , 326.Xr pr 1 327is not executed locally, but is requested of the remote 328.Xr lpd 8 . 329Any input filtering via 330.Cm if 331will therefore happen before 332.Xr pr 1 333is executed rather than afterwards. 334.Pp 335There are some models of network printers which accept jobs from 336.Xr lpd 8 , 337but they ignore the control file for a job and simply print 338each data file as it arrives at the printer. 339One side-effect of this behavior is that the printer will ignore any request 340for multiple copies as given with the 341.Fl # 342flag on the 343.Xr lpr 1 344command. 345The 346.Cm rc 347entry will cause 348.Xr lpd 8 349to resend each data file for each copy that the user 350originally requested. 351Note that the 352.Cm rc 353entry should only be specified on hosts which send jobs directly to 354the printer. 355.Pp 356If 357.Cm lp 358is specified as 359.Em port Ns @ Ns Em machine 360(and 361.Cm rm 362is not in use), print data will be sent directly to the given 363.Em port 364on the given 365.Em machine . 366.Sh TRANSFER STATISTICS 367When a print job is transferred to a remote machine (which might be 368another unix box, or may be a network printer), it may be useful 369to keep statistics on each transfer. 370The 371.Cm sr 372and 373.Cm ss 374options indicate filenames that lpd should use to store such 375statistics. 376A statistics line is written for each datafile of a 377job as the file is successfully transferred. 378The format of the 379line is the same for both the sending and receiving side of a 380transfer. 381.Pp 382Statistics on datafiles being received would be used on a print 383server, if you are interested in network performance between a 384variety of machines which are sending jobs to that print server. 385The print server could collect statistics on the speed of each 386print job as it arrived on the server. 387.Pp 388Statistics on datafiles being sent might be used as a minimal 389accounting record, when you want to know who sent which jobs to a 390remote printer, when they were sent, and how large (in bytes) the 391files were. 392This will not give include any idea of how many pages 393were printed, because there is no standard way to get that information 394back from a remote (network) printer in this case. 395.Sh LOGGING 396Error messages generated by the line printer programs themselves 397(that is, the 398.Xr lpd 8 399and related programs) 400are logged by 401.Xr syslog 3 402using the 403.Dv LPR 404facility. 405Messages printed on 406.Em stderr 407of one of the filters 408are sent to the corresponding 409.Cm lf 410file. 411The filters may, of course, use 412.Xr syslogd 8 413themselves. 414.Pp 415Error messages sent to the console have a carriage return and a line 416feed appended to them, rather than just a line feed. 417.Sh SEE ALSO 418.Xr lpq 1 , 419.Xr lpr 1 , 420.Xr lprm 1 , 421.Xr hosts.lpd 5 , 422.Xr termcap 5 , 423.Xr chkprintcap 8 , 424.Xr lpc 8 , 425.Xr lpd 8 , 426.Xr pac 8 427.Rs 428.%T "4.3 BSD Line Printer Spooler Manual" 429.Re 430.Sh HISTORY 431The 432.Nm 433file format appeared in 434.Bx 4.2 . 435