PAPSTATUS(8) System Manager's Manual PAPSTATUS(8)NAME
papstatus - get the status of an AppleTalk-connected printer
SYNOPSIS
/usr/sbin/papstatus [ -d ] [ -p printer ] [ retrytime ]
DESCRIPTION
papstatus is used to obtain the current status message from an AppleTalk connected printer. It uses the Printer Access Protocol (PAP) to
obtain the status information.
If no printer is specified on the command line, papstatus looks for a file called .paprc in the current directory and reads it to obtain
the name of a printer. The .paprc file should contain a single line of the form object:type@zone where each of object, :type, and @zone
are optional. type and zone must be proceeded by `:' and `@' respectively. Blank lines and lines the begin with a `#' are ignored. type
and zone default to LaserWriter and the zone of the local host, respectively.
OPTIONS -d Turns on a debugging mode that prints some extra information to standard error.
-p printer
Get status from printer (do not consult any .paprc files to find a printer name). The syntax for printer is the same as discussed
above for the .paprc file.
retrytime
Normally, papstatus only gets the status from the printer once. If retrytime is specified, the status is obtained repeatedly, with
a sleep of retrytime seconds between inquiring the printer.
FILES
.paprc file that contains printer name
SEE ALSO nbp(1), pap(8)
17 Dec 1991 PAPSTATUS(8)
Check Out this Related Man Page
PSF(8) System Manager's Manual PSF(8)NAME
psf - PostScript filter
SYNOPSIS
psf [ -n name ] [ -h host ] [ -w width ] [ -l length ] [ -i indent ] [ -c ]
DESCRIPTION
psf is an lpd filter for PostScript printing. psf interprets the name it was called with to determine what filters to invoke. First, if
the string ``pap'' appears anywhere in the name, psf invokes pap to talk to a printer via AppleTalk. Next, if the string ``rev'' appears,
psf invokes psorder to reverse the pages of the job. Finally, if psf was called with a filter's name as the leading string, it invokes that
filter. If there is no filter to run, psf examines the magic number of the input, and if the input is not PostScript, converts it to Post-
Script.
KLUDGE
In the default configuration, psf supports two kludges. The first causes psf to check its name for the letter `m'. If this letter is
found and accounting is turned on, psf calls pap twice, once to get an initial page count and to print the job, and another time to get a
final page count. This is a work-around for bugs in a variety of PAP implementions that cause printers to never properly close the PAP
output file. A notable example is any printer by Hewlett-Packard.
The second kludge causes psf to examine its name for the letter `w'. If this letter is found and accounting is turned on, psf calls pap
with the -w flag. This flag causes pap to wait until the printer's status contains the string `idle'. Once this string is found, the job
is printed as normal. This kludge is a work-around for printers, notably Hewlett-Packard's LaserJet IV, which will report a page count
while a previous jobs is still printing.
EXAMPLE
The sample printcap entry below invokes psf to print text files, PostScript files, troff's C/A/T output, and TeX's DVI output, to an
AppleTalk connected LaserWriter Plus. Since the LaserWriter Plus stacks pages in descending order, we reverse the pages and print the burst
page last.
laser|lp|LaserWriter Plus on AppleTalk:
:sd=/usr/spool/lpd/laser:
:lp=/usr/spool/lpd/laser/null:
:lf=/var/adm/lpd-errs:pw#80:hl:
:of=/usr/lib/filters/ofpap:
:if=/usr/lib/filters/ifpaprev:
:tf=/usr/lib/filters/tfpaprev:
:df=/usr/lib/filters/dfpaprev:
Note that if the host in question spools to more than one AppleTalk printer, /dev/null should not be used for the lp capability. Instead, a
null device should be created with mknod for each printer, as has been done above.
Finally, there is a file in the spool directory, /var/spool/lpd/laser, called .paprc, which pap reads for the AppleTalk name of the
printer.
SEE ALSO psorder(1), printcap(5), lpd(8), mknod(8), pap(8).
netatalk 1.2 17 Dec 1991 PSF(8)