1. Overview
The line printer system supports:
-
multiple printers,
-
multiple spooling queues,
-
both local and remote
printers, and
-
printers attached via serial lines that require
line initialization such as the baud rate.
Raster output devices
such as a Varian or Versatec, and laser printers such as an Imagen,
are also supported by the line printer system.
The line printer system consists mainly of the
following files and commands:
-
/etc/printcap printer configuration and capability data base
/usr/lib/lpd line printer daemon, does all the real work
/usr/ucb/lpr program to enter a job in a printer queue
/usr/ucb/lpq spooling queue examination program
/usr/ucb/lprm program to delete jobs from a queue
/etc/lpc program to administer printers and spooling queues
/dev/printer socket on which lpd listens
The file /etc/printcap is a master data base describing line
printers directly attached to a machine and, also, printers
accessible across a network. The manual page entry
printcap(5)
provides the authoritative definition of
the format of this data base, as well as
specifying default values for important items
such as the directory in which spooling is performed.
This document introduces some of the
information that may be placed
printcap.