PRINTCAP(5) - File Formats Manual #

PRINTCAP(5) - File Formats Manual

NAME #

printcap - printer capability database

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)  
ff      str     '`\f`'                   string to send for a form feed  
fo      bool    false                    print a form feed when device is opened  
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`                   if lp is a tty, a comma-separated,
stty(1)-like
list describing the tty modes  
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/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 (C/A/T phototypesetter)  
tr      str     `NULL`                   trailer string to print when queue empties  
vf      str     `NULL`                   raster image filter

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.

FILES #

/etc/printcap

Default location of the database file.

/etc/examples/printcap

Example database file.

HISTORY #

The printcap file format appeared in 4.2BSD.

OpenBSD 7.5 - September 1, 2022