CHAPTER 1 UNIX PRINTING
1-5
An example of a typical printcap file:
laser1|Printer on Floor 1:\
:lp=:\
:rm=BRN_310107:\
:rp=TEXT_P1:\
:sd=/usr/spool/lpd/laser1:
Make sure this information is added to the end of the printcap file. Also make sure
that the last character in the printcap file is a colon ":"
This will create a queue named laser1 on the host computer that communicates to a
Brother print server with a node name (rm) of BRN_310107 and a service name (rp)
of TEXT_P1 printing text files to a Brother printer through spool directory
/usr/spool/lpd/laser1
. If you are printing binary graphics files, you would
use the service BINARY_P1 instead of TEXT_P1.
The rm and rp options are not available on some UNIX systems, so if necessary
check your documentation (or man pages) to determine the equivalent options.
Users of Berkeley-compatible UNIX systems can use the lpc command to obtain the
printer status:
%lpc status
laser1:
queuing is enabled
printing is enabled
no entries
no daemon present
Users of AT&T-compatible UNIX systems can generally use the lpstat or rlpstat
commands to obtain similar status information. Because this procedure varies from
system to system, refer to your system documentation for the exact usage.
4.
Skip this section if you have completed Step 3, unless you have an SCO
UNIX system.
If you have an HP/UX system, IBM RS/6000 AIX computer, or Sun Solaris
2.xx, there is no printcap file. This is also true for some other AT&T-based
UNIX systems, as well as many VMS-based TCP/IP software packages (for
example, UCX, TGV Multinet, etc.). On SCO systems, there is a printcap file,
but it is automatically configured by the rlpconf command. Most of these
systems generally use a printer setup program to define the service name (remote
printer), the print server name (remote machine) or IP address, and the local
queue name (spool directory). Refer to the appropriate section depending on
your version of Unix.
