A    Attribute Reference

The print system provides attributes for changing the characteristics of each print job. This appendix provides summaries of several commonly used attributes organized into the following categories:

For a detailed directory of all attributes and their associated values, refer to the Advanced Printing Software Command Reference Guide.

A.1    Common Job and Document Attributes

The following job and document attributes are available for use with print commands. The attribute always applies to the file name and filenames entered on the command-line after the attribute. See the accompanying examples.

additional-production-instructions

Specifies lpd processing options that are not representable as attributes.

Intended for use only by inbound and outbound gateways.

copy-count

Requests a number of copies of the document. For example:

pdpr -x "copy-count=2" report.txt

default-input-tray

Requests that the document is to be printed on media drawn from the named input tray. Input tray names are defined in the printer's input-tray-supported attribute. For example:

pdpr -x "default-input-tray=bottom" report.txt

default-medium

Requests that the document is to be printed on the named media. Media names are defined in the printer's media-supported attribute. For example:

pdpr -x "default-medium=iso-a4-white" report.txt

document-sheets

Specifies whether to print auxiliary sheets at the beginning of each document in a job. If you specify doc-set-start-copies-separate, a separator sheet precedes each copy of the document. For example:

pdpr -x "document-sheets=doc-set-start-copies-separate" report.txt

job-comment

Specifies a text comment for a print job. If you use the job-sheets attribute to select job start sheets, then the job-comment is printed on them. For example:

pdpr -x "job-sheets=job-copy-start \
job-comment='final draft of secret report'" report.txt

job-copies

Requests a number of collated copies of all documents in the entire job. For example:

pdpr -x "job-copies=3" report.txt forecast.txt budget.txt

job-name

Supplies a name for a print job. The job name is printed on job start sheets and used in notification and logging messages. If you do not specify a job-name, it defaults to the file name in a one document job or to the name of the first file in a multi-document job. For example:

pdpr -x "job-name='copy for Pokey'" report.txt

job-print-after

Specifies the calendar date and time after which the job should be scheduled. Use the format dd:mm:yyyy:HH:MM:SS. When the specified date and time arrive, the job is scheduled for printing. For example:

pdpr -x "job-print-after=31:12:1999:23:59" report.txt

job-priority

Specifies a print job scheduling priority value. Jobs with higher priorities are scheduled to print before jobs with lower priorities. For example:

pdpr -x job-priority=20 new_job.txt

job-retention-period

Specifies the period of time following job completion that the system retains the job, its attributes, and data. Use the format [HH:]MM[:SS]. By setting this attribute, you can obtain status information after your job has printed. It also allows you to print the job again, possibly with modified attributes. For example:

pdpr -x "job-retention-period=01:00" report.txt

printer-setup-module

Specifies one or more files used to set up printer modes or functions prior to printing a document.

job-sheets

Specifies the auxiliary sheets that will print with a job. If you specify job-copy-start, a start sheet prints in front of every copy of the job. If you specify job-copy-wrap, a start and end sheet prints for every copy of the job. For example:

pdpr -x "job-sheets=job-copy-start" report.txt

number-up

Requests that the document is to be printed with multiple page images on one side of the sheet. This is done by reducing the size of the printed page. For example, number-up=2 reduces two pages so they print side by side on one sheet. Values are defined in the printer's numbers-up-supported attribute. A value of 0 is equivalent to no number-up processing. This feature is generally limited to the printing of text files on PostScript printers. For example:

pdpr -x "number-up=4" report.txt

output-bin

Requests that the job be deposited in the printer's specified output bin. Output bin names are defined in the printer's output-bins-supported attribute. For example:

pdpr -x "output-bin=side" report.txt

sides

Requests that the document is to be printed one-sided or two-sided. Values of 1 or 2 or both are defined in the printer's sides-supported attribute. For example:

pdpr -x "sides=2" report.txt

A.2    Text Document Attributes

The print system supports several attributes that are used primarily for documents that are free of formatting instructions, that is they contain only text. These attributes provide some control over the appearance and placement of text in the printed document. Some attributes are specific to document formats such as PCL or ESC/P and to printers that use those formats. Others apply only when using the text-to-PostScript translation filter supplied and Advanced Printing Software with a PostScript-capable printer.

For the following attributes, only content-orientation applies to both formats. See the accompanying examples.

bottom-margin

Specifies the distance in lines between the bottom edge of the logical page and the bottom edge of the text area when held in the intended reading orientation. For example:

pdpr -x "bottom-margin=3" report.txt

content-orientation

Specifies the most significant orientation of the document. Choices include:portraitlandscapereverse-portraitreverse-landscape

For example:

pdpr -x "content-orientation=landscape" report.txt

header-text

Specifies the text that is to be printed on the first line of each printed page. The header-text could be the title of the document. For example:

pdpr -x "header-text='Favorite Pumpkin Recipes'" report.txt

left-margin

Specifies the distance as the number of characters between the left edge of the logical page and the left edge of the text area when held in the intended reading position. For example:

pdpr -x "left-margin=8" report.txt

length

Specifies the page length of the text area as a number of lines. For example:

pdpr -x "length=60" report.txt

number-pages

Indicates whether to print page numbers on the document pages. The value may be yes or no. For example:

pdpr -x "number-pages=yes header-text='Final Draft'" report.txt

number-up

Requests that the document is to be printed with multiple page images on one side of the sheet. This is done by reducing the size of the printed page. For example, number-up=2 reduces two pages so they print side by side on one sheet. Choices include 0, 1, 2, and 4. The value 0 is equivalent to no number-up processing. For example:

pdpr -x "number-up=4" report.txt

right-margin

Specifies the distance as the number of characters between the right edge of the logical page and the right edge of the text area when held in the intended reading position. For example:

pdpr -x "left-margin=6 right-margin=6" report.txt

top-margin

Specifies the distance in lines between the top edge of the logical page and the top edge of the text area when held in the intended reading orientation. For example:

pdpr -x "top-margin=5 bottom-margin=6" report.txt

width

Specifies the width of the text area as the number of characters. This is the maximum line width before text wrapping occurs. For example:

pdpr -x "length=56 width=132 content-orientation=landscape" report.txt

A.3    Commonly Used Logical Printer Attributes

Logical printers reside in and are controlled by spooler processes. As an end user, you normally cannot change logical printer attributes, but you can query them. Use the pdls command and specify the logical printer name as the command operand.

When you use the pdls command to display properties of a logical printer, you can request attributes associated with the printer. For example, requesting the value of the printer-state attribute lets you know if the printer is idle, printing, needs attention, or is in some other state.

You can use the following logical printer attributes with the pdls command. For example, the following command requests a list of the input trays that are supported for a logical printer named printer_1:

$ pdls -c printer -r "input-trays-supported" printer_1

availability

Indicates the general availability of an object. It is set to none if the object is disabled and normal if the object is enabled.

character-sets-supported

Identifies the character set encodings supported by the printer.

On job submission, the spooler checks the character set specified for a document against the logical printer's character-sets-supported attribute. If there is no match, the spooler rejects the print request. Refer to the Advanced Printing Software Command Reference Guide for a list of values.

content-orientations-supported

Specifies the document content orientations supported by the printer. This attribute's values must include any content orientation for a document directed to the printer. Valid values are portrait, landscape, reverse-portrait, and reverse-landscape.

document-formats-supported

Specifies the document formats supported by the printer. This attribute must contain a value corresponding to the value of the document-format attribute of a document submitted to this printer. Refer to the Advanced Printing Software Command Reference Guide for a list of values.

document-sheets-supported

Specifies the auxiliary sheets supported by this printer.This attribute must contain a value corresponding to the value of the document-sheets attribute of a job submitted to this printer. Valid values are none and doc-set-start-copies-separate.

enabled

Indicates whether the specified object is enabled to accept print requests (value=yes). This attribute is set with pdenable or pddisable. When an object is created, it is disabled by default (value=no).

For a server to accept print requests, the server's, the associated queue's, and the specified printer's enabled attributes must be set to yes.

finishings-supported

Identifies the per-document finishings supported on the printer. This attribute must contain a value corresponding to the value of the finishing attribute of a document submitted to this printer.

Refer to the Advanced Printing Software Command Reference Guide for a list of values.

fonts-supported

Identifies the font resources supported by the printer.

On job submission, the spooler checks the font specified for a document against the logical printer's fonts-supported attribute. If there is no match, the spooler rejects the print request.

highlight-colours-supported

Indicates the values of highlight colors supported on this printer.

This attribute must contain a value corresponding to the value of the highlight-colour attribute of a document submitted to this printer. Valid values are red, blue, green, cyan, magenta, yellow, cardinal, royalblue, ruby, violet, black, or name.

input-trays-supported

Identifies the input trays supported on this printer.

This attribute must contain a value corresponding to the value of the default-input-tray attribute of a document submitted to this printer. Valid values are top, middle, bottom, envelope, manual, large-capacity, main, side, or 1, 2, 3, and 4.

job-finishings-supported

Identifies the job-level finishing supported by this printer.

On job submission, the spooler checks the finishing specified for a job against the logical printer's job-finishings-supported attribute. If there is no match, the spooler rejects the print request. Refer to the Advanced Printing Software Command Reference Guide for a list of valid values.

job-sheets-supported

Specifies the auxiliary sheets supported by this printer. This attribute must contain a value corresponding to the value of the job-sheets attribute of a job submitted to this printer. Values are none, job-copy-start, and job-copy-wrap.

jobs-pending

Specifies the number of outstanding jobs in the queue. Outstanding jobs are jobs with a current-job-state value of pending, held, or paused.

maximum-copies-supported

Indicates the maximum number of copies of a document that can be printed on this printer. This includes document copies specified via the attributes copy-count and job-copies. A value of zero (0) or empty indicates no limit.

media-supported

Identifies the media supported by the printer.

On job submission, the spooler checks the medium specified for a document against the logical printer's media-supported attribute. If there is no match, the spooler rejects the print request. Refer to the Advanced Printing Software Command Reference Guide for a list of valid values.

message

Supplies a human-readable string intended to indicate to users something about an object's state. This attribute can be used to indicate to users why an object is unavailable or when it is expected to be ready.

The -m option can also be used to attach a human readable message to a job. Users can retrieve the message with the pdls command.

numbers-up-supported

Indicates valid values for the document attribute number-up. Values are 0, 1, 2, and 4.

output-bins-supported

Identifies the output bins supported on this printer. The value of this attribute can be an OID, a name, or a number.

This attribute must contain a value corresponding to the value of the output-bin attribute of a job submitted to this printer. Refer to the Advanced Printing Software Command Reference Guide for a list of values.

page-select-supported

Indicates the types of page identifiers supported by this printer. Numeric or alphanumeric page identifiers are used to specify one or more sequences of pages to be printed.

The values for page-select-supported must include the value of page-select used by a document submitted to this printer.

print-colour-types-supported

Identifies the colors that are supported on this printer. Values are black-and-white, highlight-colour, and full color.

On job submission, the spooler checks the print color types specified for a job against the logical printer's print-colour-types-supported attribute. If there is no match, the spooler rejects the print request.

printer-associated-printers

Identifies the physical printers associated with this logical printer. This attribute is updated when the printer's associated-queue attribute is modified. It is checked for end-to-end consistency when the printer is enabled.

printer-initial-value-document

Identifies an initial-value-document on the server for use on this logical printer. This attribute is used if the document does not specify an initial-value-document object.

printer-initial-value-job

Identifies an initial-value-job on the server for use on this logical printer. The attribute is used if the job does not specify an initial-value-job object.

printer-locations

Identifies the location of the printer.

printer-name

Specifies a unique name for a printer.

printer-problem-message

Some printers produce a text message describing a problem. In these cases, the supervisor places the message in the printer-problem-message attribute.

printer-realization

Identifies if the printer is logical or physical. A printer created on a spooler is logical. A printer created on a supervisor is physical.

printer-state

Identifies the current state of the printer. Values are unknown, idle, printing, needs-attention, paused, shutdown, timed-out, connecting-to-printer, and needs-key-operator.

printers-ready

Identifies the physical printers ready to be used with the specified logical printer.

sides-supported

Indicates the values of sides supported by this printer. This attribute must contain a value (1 or 2) corresponding to the value of the sides attribute of a document submitted to the specified printer.