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(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 4.3BSD Line Printer Spooler Manual (see MachTen System
& Network Administration manual) for a complete discussion on how
setup 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
at str NULL AppleTalk node name for output
br num none if lp is a tty, set the 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 " 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
hl bool false print the burst header page last
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),
zero = 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 members of group
allowed access
rm str NULL machine name for remote printer
rp str "lp" remote printer name argument
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
-c cf cifplot
-d df DVI (tex)
-g gf plot
-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. 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.

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(1) facility. Messages printed on stderr of one of 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
termcap(5), lpc(8), lpd(8), pac(8), lpr(1), lpq(1), lprm(1)
4.3BSD Line Printer Spooler Manual (see MachTen System & Network
Administration manual)