.TH PRINTCAP 5 "25 February 1983" .UC 4 .ad .SH NAME printcap \- printer capability data base .SH SYNOPSIS /etc/printcap .SH DESCRIPTION .I printcap is a simplified version of the .IR termcap (5) data base used to describe line printers. The spooling system accesses the .I printcap file every time it is used, allowing dynamic addition and deletion of printers. Each entry in the data base is used to describe one printer. This data base may not be substituted for, as is possible for .IR termcap , because it may allow accounting to be bypassed. .PP The default printer is normally .IR lp , though the environment variable .I PRINTER may be used to override this. Each spooling utility supports an option, .BI \-P printer, to allow explicit naming of a destination printer. .SH CAPABILITIES Refer to .I termcap for a description of the file layout. .nf .ta \w'k0-k9 'u +\w'Type 'u +\w'``/usr/spool/lpd" 'u \fBName Type Default Description\fR sd str ``/usr/spool/lpd" spool directory lo str ``lock" name of lock file st str ``status" status file name dn str ``/usr/lib/lpd" spooling daemon's path name lf str ``/dev/console" error logging file name lp str ``/dev/lp" device name to open for output br num none if lp is a tty, set the baud rate (ioctl call) fc num 0 if lp is a tty, clear flag bits (sgtty.h) fs num 0 like `fc' but set bits rm str NULL machine name for remote printer rl str ``/usr/lib/rlpr" remote lpr started by local daemon bd str ``/usr/ucb" bin directory of lpr, lpq, lprm rp str NULL remote printer name argument (lp by default) mx num 1000 maximum file size (in BUFSIZ blocks) of str NULL name of output filtering program af str NULL name of accounting file ff str ``\ef" string to send for a form feed tr str NULL trailer. string to print when queue empties pw num 132 page width pl num 66 page length sb bool false short banner (one line only) sh bool false suppress printing of burst page header sf bool false suppress form feeds ic bool false driver supports (non standard) ioctl call for indenting printout .fi .PP Output is sent to the remote machine if line printer device is null. For expamble, the following line would send output to the machine `ucbvax'. .PP .ti +0.5i :lp=:rm=ucbvax: .PP The `br', `fc', and `fs' entries are used to change tty characteristics (see .IR tty (4)). The `fc' and `fs' entries only set or clear the specified bits in the .I g_flags field; the rest are unchanged. .PP Error messages sent to the console have a carriage return and a line feed appended to them, rather than just a line feed. .PP If the local line printer driver supports indentation, the daemon must understand how to invoke it. .SH BUGS