printcap man page on OpenBSD

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PRINTCAP(5)		  OpenBSD Programmer's Manual		   PRINTCAP(5)

NAME
     printcap - printer capability database

SYNOPSIS
     printcap

DESCRIPTION
     The printcap 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, -Pprinter, 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
     mc	   num	 0		maximum number of copies allowed; 0=unlimited
     ms	   str	 NULL		list of terminal modes to set or clear
     mx	   num	 0		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/output
				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))

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

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

     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(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 -xwidth -ylength -n login -h host acct-file

     where 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, may log either to stderr or using syslog(3), and must not
     ignore SIGINT.

LOGGING
     Error messages generated by the line printer programs themselves are
     logged by syslog(3) using the LPR facility.  Messages printed on stderr
     by 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
     The printcap file format appeared in 4.2BSD.

OpenBSD 4.9			January 3, 2010			   OpenBSD 4.9
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