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Managing printers and print jobs

Adding a new printer manually

The print service relies on the standard interface script and the terminfo database to initialize each printer and set up a selected page size, character pitch, line pitch, and character set. Thus, it is usually sufficient to have the correct entry in the terminfo database (/usr/lib/terminfo/terminfo.lp) to add a new printer to the print service.

The terminfo database identifies each printer by a short name, identical to the kind of name used to set the TERM shell variable. For example, the name in the terminfo database for the AT&T model 455 printer is ``455''.

To specify the terminfo type for your printer, in the Printer Manager select Advanced from the Settings menu, then select Terminfo Type. By default, the terminfo database includes entries for several popular printers. Select the terminfo type from the list that corresponds to your printer.

If terminfo does not include an entry for your printer, you might still be able to use the printer with the print service. However, you will not be able to use automatic selection of page size, pitch, and character sets, and you might have trouble keeping the printer set to the correct modes for each print request or using printer forms with the printer. In this case, you can either add an entry to terminfo for your printer or create a customized interface program to use with the printer.

See also:

Adding a printer entry to the terminfo database

To create a terminfo entry for your printer:

  1. Identify an entry in the /usr/lib/terminfo/terminfo.lp file that uses the same or similar commands as the printer you are adding and copy that information to filename, where filename is the file containing the terminfo entry you created for the printer.

  2. Use the information in the manual for your printer, ``terminfo entry definitions for printers'', and the terminfo(M) manual page to modify the entry in filename.

  3. Once you create the new entry, compile it into the database:

    tic filename

After adding or deleting terminfo entries or changing values that govern pitch settings, page width and length, or character sets, stop and restart the print service.

terminfo entry definitions for printers

terminfo entry Description
Booleans:  
daisy printer needs operator to change character set
Numbers:  
bufsz number of bytes buffered before printing
cols number of columns in a line
it tabs initially every # spaces
lines number of lines on a page
orc horizontal resolution in units per character
orhi horizontal resolution in units per inch
orl vertical resolution in units per line
orvi vertical resolution in units per inch
cps average print rate in characters per second
Strings:  
cr carriage return
cpi change number of characters per inch
lpi change number of lines per inch
chr change horizontal resolution
cvr change vertical resolution
csnm list of character set names
mgc clear all margins (top, bottom, and sides)
hpa horizontal position absolute
cud1 down one line
cuf1 carriage right
swidm enable double-wide printing
rwidm disable double-wide printing
ff page eject
is1 printer initialization string
is2 printer initialization string
is3 printer initialization string
if name of initialization file
iprog pathname of initializing program
cud move carriage down # lines
cuf move carriage right # columns
rep repeat a character # times
vpa absolute vertical position
scs select character set
smgb set bottom margin at current line
smgbp set bottom margin
smgl set left margin at current column
smglp set left margin
smgr set right margin at current column
smgrp set right margin
smgt set top margin at current line
smgtp set top margin
scsd start definition of a character set
ht tab to next 8-space tab stop

See terminfo(M) for the terminfo file structure and for information on how to construct a terminfo database entry for a new printer.

See also:


Next topic: Creating and using printer forms
Previous topic: Setting up printer interface scripts

© 2003 Caldera International, Inc. All rights reserved.
SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.7 -- 11 February 2003