This chapter explains
how to define and use a logical printer, examine printer properties and settings,
and set up printer attribute files.
A logical printer is a software representation
created by the system administrator for one or more physical printers.
For
example, one logical printer might represent three diverse printers: one that
prints on standard paper, one that prints with highlight colors and stapling,
and another that prints on large media.
You send a print request to a logical
printer whose characteristics fit your needs and the server determines if
and how it can print that job.
2.1 Defining the Name Service
If your print system uses LDAP as a name service, you need to edit or
create the
/var/pd/config/apx.conf
file.
The content
of this file should be obtained from the print system administrator.
The
/var/pd/config/apx.conf
file contains information
on name services you use and contains information about the host system that
is running the LDAP directory services.
The following example shows the contents
of a
/var/pd/config/apx.conf
file:
name-services = file nis ldap LDAP_hosts = system.abc.xyz.com LDAP_path = ou=organizational unit,o=organization
name-services
describes the name services
the print system uses and the order in which they are used.
In this example,
local file, NIS, and LDAP are used.
Lookups for print objects are done in
the local file (/etc/printers.conf
), in the
printers.conf.byname
NIS map, and lastly in the LDAP directory server.
The default name
services are file and nis.
LDAP_hosts
lists up to three hosts that
the LDAP directory services is running on.
Multiple hosts are listed when
they are providing replication services.
When you list multiple hosts, they
must be separated by colons.
If the LDAP server is on a system running TruCluster
Version 5.0 or later software, you can use the cluster alias as the host name.
The standard LDAP services port number is 389.
However, LDAP services
can be provided on a nonstandard port number.
You specify the LDAP port number
by appending the port number to the host name within parenthesses as in the
following example:LDAP_hosts = myhost.xyz.com(8182)
LDAP_path
lists a directory search path.
To access an LDAP-based database, you must supply a distinguished name path.
Printing clients and servers use this path to create and search for entries
in the directory.
With Netscape Directory Server, you start by naming your
organization, and then you create organizational units under the organization.
The distinguished name path you need to specify for Advanced Printing includes
the organization and organizational unit in distinguished name syntax.
For
example, if your top-level organization is named XYZ Corp, and you define
an organizational unit AdvPrint, the distinguished name path would be:
ou=AdvPrint,o=XYZ Corp
You can specify up to three entries in the
LDAP_path
expression.
Separate multiple entries with a colon (:) character.
For example,
if in XYZ Corp, you create a secondary organizational unit called Test Environment,
your
LDAP_path
should be specified as follows:
ou=AdvPrint,o=XYZ Corp:ou=Test Environment,o=XYZ Corp
When accessing entries listed in the
LDAP_path
expression,
a search continues through the entries until a matching entry is found.
When
creating or deleting entries, only the first path entry is used; the second
and third entries listed in the
LDAP_path
expression are
read-only.
2.2 Defining Your Default Logical Printer
If you submit all or most of your jobs to the same logical printer, you can define it to be your default printer. This also reduces the need to specify a logical printer in many print system commands.
Consider the following scenario:
Printer same_old prints jobs in black and white.
Because you print most often in black and white on regular-sized paper, you can specify this as your default logical printer.
Printer flashy prints in highlight colors and can staple documents.
Occasionally, you need to print using highlight colors, so you can override the default setting and specify this logical printer.
Printer jumbo prints in black and white on oversized paper.
Sometimes you need to print on oversized paper in black and white. If so, you can override the default setting and specify this logical printer.
The
PDPRINTER environment variable, which you can define in your shell or in
your
.profile
or
.login
file, determines
your default logical printer.
To set or change the default logical printer, use one of the following procedures, substituting the name of your default printer for PrinterName.
Procedure for C shell users:
Insert or modify the following line in the
.login
file in your home directory and save the file:
$ setenv PDPRINTER PrinterName
Apply the changes to the
.login
file
by entering the following command:
$ source .login
Display the name of the logical printer by entering this command:
$ echo $PDPRINTER
Procedure for Korn shell users:
Insert or modify this line in the
.profile
file in your home directory and save the file:
$ export PDPRINTER=PrinterName
Apply the changes to the
.profile
file
by entering this command:
$ . ./.profile
Display the name of the logical printer by entering this command:
$ echo $PDPRINTER
After you set the PDPRINTER environment variable, any print job you
submit without designating a printer is inserted into the default logical
printer's queue.
In addition, the spooler server associated with your default
logical printer becomes your default server.
When you issue certain commands
without specifying an operand, the system uses the default server value to
provide a useful result in the context of that server.
2.2.1 Defining a Default Logical Printer for the CDE Mail Tool
If you have not specified a value for PDPRINTER environment variable
in your
.dtprofile
file, and you print from the CDE mail
tool, a dialog box is displayed stating that you have not specified a default
printer.
Printing succeeds if you specify a working logical printer.
To set the default logical printer, insert the following line in your
.dtprofile
in your home directory:
export PDPRINTER=<printer name>
Save the file.
2.3 Accessing the Default Logical Printer
To specify
a default logical printer, use the
pdpr
command to submit
a print job.
For example, to submit the file
budget99.txt
to the default logical printer, enter:
$ pdpr budget99.txt
You can use the
pdq
command to return a list of your jobs on the default printer.
To display such a list, enter:
$ pdq
2.4 Accessing a Specific Logical Printer
To specify a logical printer, use the
-p
printer_name
option with the
pdpr
command.
For example, to submit the file
budget99.txt
to the highlight
color printer named
flashy, enter:
$ pdpr -p flashy budget99.txt
Use the-
p
option with the
pdq
command
to return a list of jobs you have submitted to a specific logical printer.
For example, to display a list of jobs you have submitted to logical printer
flashy, enter:
$ pdq -p flashy
To find the names of all available logical printers, use the
pdls
command as follows:
$ pdls -c printer
2.5 Listing Logical Printer Attribute Properties
You may
have a variety of printers available to you in your networked environment.
To determine which printer best meets your needs, use the
pdls
command to list printer properties, including:
The printer name
Whether the printer can accept print requests
Supported features such as input trays, output bins, media, and native document formats
How many jobs are pending in the print queue for the printer
You can request a list of all available logical printers supported by your default server by entering the following command:
$ pdls -c printer
To request information about all printers on a particular spooler, specify the server name followed by a colon. For example, to find out which printers are supported by the spooler doggone_spl, issue the following command:
$ pdls -c printer doggone_spl:
The following example requests basic information about the printer bulldog:
$ pdls -c printer bulldog
To request an expanded list of attributes that includes
the associated server and printers, use the
-r
verbose
option:
$ pdls -c printer -r verbose bulldog
To request a complete list of all attributes including printer features, use the -r all option and the -s line option. The latter option indicates that you want the output displayed one attribute per line instead of wrapping to the width of your window, which is harder to read.
$ pdls -c printer -r all -s line bulldog
2.5.1 Requesting Specific Printer Attributes
You can request specific printer attributes by including the
-r
option with the
pdls
command.
For example, the
printer-name
attribute stores the names of logical printers associated
with a server and the
printer-associated-printers
attribute
stores the names of physical printers associated with a logical printer.
The
following example shows how to determine the logical and physical printers
available on server bulldog_spl.
$ pdls -c printer -r \ "printer-name printer-associated-printers" bulldog_spl: printer-name printer-associated-printers ------------ --------------------------- fetch bone_pp stick_pp slipper_pp two_sidedPS ln1701_pp ln1702_pp biglab office_pp hallway_pp javaroom_pp closet_pp
2.6 Setting Default Logical Printer Attributes
When you issue print requests,
you probably use certain attributes frequently, such as specifying job start
sheets.
Rather than repeating the same attributes with every print request,
you can apply default settings by using
initial-value-job
and
initial-value-document
objects.
An
initial-value-job
object is a set of attributes
and values stored on the server.
The set of attributes is applied to a job
all at once, when you specify the object while submitting a job, or automatically
whenever a job is directed to a particular logical printer.
An
initial-value-document
object is a similar set
of attributes and values, except that it applies to documents rather than
jobs.
Because every print system configuration is unique, you should check
with your administrator for details on the use of such objects.
If you know
the name of the spooler server that manages your logical printers, you can
use the
pdls
command to ask the system for its initial
value objects.
For example, the following command lists all
initial-value-job
objects on server doggone_spl:
$ pdls -c initial-value-job doggone_spl:
If the result of the preceding example included an object named bulldog_IVJ_DEFAULT, you can list the details of that object by using the following command:
$ pdls -c initial-value-job -r all -s line \ doggone_spl:bulldog_IVJ_DEFAULT
The result lists those attributes that are applied to a job whenever
that
initial-value-job
object is either specified with
a job or associated with the printer.
2.6.1 Setting Default Print Job Attributes
Your print system administrator can apply
default settings to all jobs submitted to a printer by associating an
initial-value-job
object with a logical printer's
printer-initial-value-job
attribute.
The print system uses this attribute to apply attribute
values to all jobs submitted to the printer.
For example, a printer's
initial-value-job
object
can include the
job-sheets=job-copy-start
attribute.
All
jobs you submit to that logical printer include, by default, job start sheets.
You can also specify
initial-value-job
objects when
you submit a print job.
2.6.2 Setting Default Print Document Attributes
Your administrator can apply default attribute
values to every document submitted to a printer.
In this case, an
initial-value-document
object is associated with a logical printer's
printer-initial-value-document
attribute.
For example, a printer's
initial-value-document
object
might include the
copy-count=2
attribute.
As a result,
the printer makes two copies of every document in every job.
When you submit a print jo, you can also specify
initial-value-document
objects, such as one that specifies a different number of copies.
2.6.3 Checking a Logical Printer for Initial-Value Objects
To determine the name of the
initial-value-job
and
initial-value-document
objects associated
with the printer bulldog, use the following command:
$ pdls -c printer -r \ "printer-name printer-initial-value-job printer-init-val-doc" \ bulldog
Then, assuming that the initial-value objects are
bulldog_IVJ_DEFAULT
and
bulldog_IVD_DEFAULT
respectively, and that
the spooler name is doggone_spl, display the attributes and values represented
by the initial-value objects using the following commands:
$ pdls -c initial-value-job -r all \ -s line doggone_spl:bulldog_IVJ_DEFAULT % pdls -c initial-value-document \ -r all -s line doggone_spl:bulldog_IVD_DEFAULT
The resulting output lists attributes that are defined by the initial-value
objects.
For example, the command to list
initial-value-job
information may produce the following:
bulldog_IVJ_DEFAULT: object-class = initial-value-job bulldog_IVJ_DEFAULT: initial-value-job-identifier = bulldog_IVJ_DEFAULT bulldog_IVJ_DEFAULT: job-hold = no bulldog_IVJ_DEFAULT: job-retention-period = 2:00 bulldog_IVJ_DEFAULT: associated-server = dogear_spl bulldog_IVJ_DEFAULT: job-sheets = job-copy-start
You can predefine specific attributes in text files called attribute files. You can then include them with a printer command by using the -X option to specify an attribute file. Refer to the Advanced Printing Software Command Reference Guide for more information.
In the following example, an attribute file called
budget_format.attr
, located in your current working directory, contains a set of
attributes for printing PostScript documents two-sided with no document sheets.
# Attribute file budget_format.attr # Use this for printing 2-sided PostScript documents document-format=PostScript document-sheets=none sides=2
The following example uses that attribute file to print the document budget99.ps as a PostScript file, double-sided, and without document sheets:
$ pdpr -X "budget_format.attr" budget99.ps