Selectable Character Sets

The selectable character sets supported by a printer are listed in the terminfo entry for that printer. For example, the entry for the ln03 printer is /usr/share/lib/terminfo/l/ln03. You can find the names of selectable character sets for any printer type in the terminfo database by using the tput command. The syntax for the tput command is as follows:

tput -T printer-type csn

The csn option is an abbreviation for character set number. The number starts with 0, which is always the default character set number after the printer is initialized. To display the names of the other character sets, you can repeat the command by using -1, -2, -3, and so on, in place of the -0. For each selectable character set, a terminfo name, for example, usascii, english, finnish, and so forth, is returned.

In general, the terminfo character set names should closely match the character set names that are used in the manufacturer's documentation for the printer. Because all manufacturers do not use the same character set names, the terminfo character set names can differ from one printer type to the next printer type.

You do not have to register the selectable character set names with the LP print service. However, you can give them more meaningful names or aliases.

If you do not specify the selectable character sets that can be used with a printer, the LP print service assumes that the printer can accept any character set name, such as cs0, cs1, or cs2, or the terminfo name known for the printer.

Character sets for PostScript printers are not listed when you use the lpstat -p -l command. The PostScript fonts are controlled by PostScript filters, not by entries in the terminfo database. For information about how to administer PostScript fonts, see Administering Fonts.

Users can use the lpstat -p -l command to display the names of the selectable character sets that you have defined for each printer on a print server.