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, be-
     cause 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 discus-
     sion on how to 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
     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
     ms    str   NULL           list of terminal modes to set or clear
     mx    num   1000           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/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              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 giv-
     en.  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 liter-
     ally) is specified to lpr. width and length specify the page width and
     length (from pw and pl, respectively) in characters.  The -n and -h pa-
     rameters specify the login name and host name of the owner of the job,
     respectively.  The acct-file function is passed from the af printcap en-
     try.

     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 facility.
     Messages printed on stderr of one of the filters are sent to the corre-
     sponding 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
     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 2.9                    December 11, 1993                             3
