Chapter 12 Printing in the Oracle Solaris Operating System (Reference)

This chapter provides the following reference information for the following features:

• Solaris Print Manager

• LP Print Service

• Support for the Use of PPD Files To Set Up Printers

• PPD File Management Utility

• How the PAPI Is Implemented in the Oracle Solaris OS

Solaris Print Manager

This sections provides additional reference information that applies to setting up and administering printers by using Solaris Print Manager.

Solaris Print Manager and Special Characters

Solaris Print Manager checks user input for the various text fields in the input screens. There are two types of checking: general illegal input and input that is illegal for specific fields.

Solaris Print Manager does not accept the following characters as input, except for the help screens:

• Shell metacharacters, such as “\$^&*(){}`'|;:?<>, except for the destination field on the network printer screen, which accepts colons (:)

• Multibyte characters

• Pound signs (#), spaces, or tabs, except the description field, which accepts tabs

Printer Definitions

The following sections describe each printer definition you can set with Solaris Print Manager:

Printer Name

When adding a printer to a system, you specify a printer name for the printer.

A printer name must adhere to these guidelines:

• The printer name must be unique among all printers within the bounds of an administrative domain.

• The printer name can have a maximum of 14 alphanumeric characters, which can include dashes and underscores.

  ---

  Note –

  Printer names can now include a dot (.) and be up to 255 characters in length.

  ---

• The printer name should be easy to remember and can identify the type of printer, its location, or the print server name.

Establish a naming convention that works for your site. For example, if you have different types of printers on the network, including the printer type as part of the printer name can help users choose an appropriate printer. For instance, you could identify PostScript printers with the letters PS. However, if all of the printers at your site are PostScript printers, you would not need to include the initials PS as part of the printer name.

Printer Server

The print server is the system that has a local printer connected to it and makes the printer available to other systems on the network.

Printer Description

You can assign a description to a printer by using the lpadmin -D command or by using Solaris Print Manager. The printer's description should contain information that helps users identify the printer. You might include the room number where the printer is located, the type of printer, the manufacturer, or the name of the person to call if printing problems occur.

Users can view a printer description by using the following command:

$ lpstat -D -p printer-name

Printer Port

When you initially install a printer, or later change its setup, you can specify the device, or the printer port, to which the printer is connected. You can use either Solaris Print Manager or the lpadmin -p printer-name -v device-name command to specify the device or printer port.

Most systems have two serial ports, plus a parallel port or USB ports. Unless you add ports, you cannot directly connect more than two serial printers and a parallel printer, or two USB printers, to one system.

You can select the following printer port types by using Solaris Print Manager. These options give you as much flexibility as using the lpadmin command.

The LP print service initializes the printer port by using the settings from the standard printer interface program. For more information about printer interface programs, see Administering Print Filters. If you have a parallel printer or a serial printer for which the default settings do not work, see Adjusting Printer Port Characteristics.

If you use multiple ports on an x86 based system, only the first port is enabled by default. The second port, and any subsequent ports, are disabled by default. To use more than one port, you must manually edit the device driver port configuration file for each additional asy (serial) port or ecpp (parallel) port. The path names for the x86 port configuration files are the following:

/kernel/drv/asy.conf

/kernel/drv/ecpp.conf

Printer Type

The printer type is a generic name for a type of printer. Printer type identifies the terminfo database entry that contains various control sequences for the printer. By convention, printer type is usually derived from the manufacturer's model name. For example, the printer type name for the DECwriter printer is decwriter. However, the common printer type PS does not follow this convention. PS is used as the printer type for many models of PostScript printers, such as the Apple LaserWriterI and Apple LaserWriterII printers. For more information about the terminfo database, see The terminfo Database.

You can specify the printer type by using the lpadmin -T command or Solaris Print Manager.

File Content Type

In this Oracle Solaris release, to assign the file content type printer definition by using Solaris Print Manager, first deselect the Use PPD files default attribute in the Print Manager drop-down menu in Solaris Print Manager. You cannot select a file content type if you use PPD files. The default file content type for printers that are associated with PPD files is PostScript. This file content type is automatically set by the tool. You can also specify file content type by using the lpadmin -I command.

Print filters convert the content type of a file to a content type that is acceptable to the destination printer. The file content type tells the LP print service the type of file contents that can be printed directly, without any filtering. To print without filtering, the necessary fonts must also be available in the printer. You must set up and use filtering for other types of files.

Most printers can print directly the following types of files:

• The same type as the printer type. For example, PS for a PostScript printer.

• The simple type. For example, an ASCII text file.

When submitting a file for printing, the user can indicate the content type of the file by using the lp -T content-type command. If no file content type is supplied when the request is submitted, the LP print service checks the first file in the request to determine the content type. If the file begins with ^D%! or %!, the request is considered to contain PostScript data. Otherwise, the request is assumed to contain simple (ASCII) text. The LP print service uses the file content type to determine which filters to use to convert the file contents into a type the printer can handle.

When you are not specifying PPD files, Solaris Print Manager provides a list of file content types from which you can choose when you install or modify an attached or network-attached printer. The choices are translated to the names that the LP print service uses. The following table describes the file content types that you can choose with Solaris Print Manager.

Choose the file content type that best matches the printer's capabilities. PostScript is the default choice in Solaris Print Manager and is probably correct most of the time. PostScript means that filtering is not needed for PostScript files.

Printer Make

When you set up a printer with PPD files, the printer make is the name of the manufacturer of the printer. The printer make is found on the printer itself, and on the packaging materials and documentation that is shipped with the printer.

The following are examples of printer makes that are available in this release:

• Lexmark

• Epson

• Canon

• QMS

• Xerox

Printer Model

The printer manufacturers produce several types and models of printers. When you set up a printer with PPD files, the printer model defines the printer precisely. The model is usually stamped on the front or top of the printer. This information is also displayed on the packaging materials and documentation that is shipped with the printer.

The following are examples of printer models that are available in this release:

• Lexmark Optra E312

• Lexmark Z32

• Lexmark 1000

Printer Driver

The printer driver is determined when you select the PPD file for the specified printer make and printer model.

Printer Destination

This printer definition specifies the host name, IP address, or URI of the target printer. This definition applies to network-attached printers only.

Printer URIs can be specified by using the following formats:

• lpd://{printer-name or ip}/printers/print-queue

• ipp://{printer-name or ip}/printers/print-queue

• socket://{printer-name or ip}:{port}

• smb://{windows-host}/{printer}

Network Protocol

This printer definition specifies the protocol to be used between the print server and the printer. The current choices are the BSD, TCP and URI network protocols. This printer definition applies to network-attached printers only.

Fault Notification

This printer definition is used to specify whether a notification is sent when a printer fault is detected, and how the notification should be sent.

Default Printer

The default printer is the printer that the print system commands use when a printer is not specified on the command line or in by using a printing tool. For more information about using LP print commands to set up a default printer destination, see Setting Up a Default Printer Destination by Using LP Print Commands.

Banner Page

The banner page is the first sheet that is printed when on a print job is requested. The banner page can be set to always print, optionally print, or never print. For more information about using LP print commands to specify banner page options, see Printing Banner Pages by Using LP Print Commands.

User Access List

The user access list specifies a list of users are allowed to print from the specified print server. For more information about using LP print commands to limit user access to a printer, see Limiting User Access to a Printer by Using LP Print Commands.

Printer Class

A printer class is a collection of printers. Print requests that go to a class of printers are handled by the first available printer in that class. For more information about using LP print command to define printer classes, see Setting Up Printer Classes by Using LP Print Commands.

Fault Recovery

You can find out about printing faults so that you can correct the problem. Fault recovery options are defined by using the lpadmin command with the -F option. For more information about using LP print commands to set up fault recovery, see Setting Up Printer Fault Recovery by Using LP Print Commands.

LP Print Service

This section describes the directory structure, files, and logs of the LP print service.

LP Print Service Commands

The LP Print Service client commands have been modified to be a consumer of the FSG OpenPrinting Open Standard Print API (PAPI). These print commands are layered on top of the PAPI. See How the PAPI Is Implemented in the Oracle Solaris OS for more information.

The following table lists frequently used LP print service commands.

For information about print commands that have been modified for use with the PAPI, see How the PAPI Is Implemented in the Oracle Solaris OS.

Functions of the LP Print Service

The LP print service performs the following functions:

• Administers files and schedules local print requests

• Receives and schedules network requests

• Filters files, if necessary, so they print properly

• Starts programs that interface with the printers

• Tracks the status of print jobs

• Tracks forms that are mounted on the printer

• Tracks print wheels that are currently mounted

• Delivers alerts to mount new forms or different print wheels

• Delivers alerts about printing problems

Daemons and LP Internal Files

The /usr/lib/lp directory contains daemons and files used by the LP print service, as described in the following table.

LP Print Service Directories

The files of the LP print service are distributed among the directories that are shown in the following table.

LP Print Service Configuration Files

The lpsched daemon stores configuration information in the /etc/lp directory, as described in the following table.

The configuration files listed in this table are private interfaces. These files are subject to change in future releases. You should not build software that relies on these files being in their current locations or that relies on the data being in the format currently used.

These configuration files serve a function similar to the /etc/printcap file on LPD-based print servers.

You can check the contents of the configuration files, but you should not edit these files directly. Instead, use the lpadmin command to make configuration changes. Your changes are written to the configuration files in the /etc/lp directory. The lpsched daemon administers and updates the configuration files.

The /etc/lp/printers directory has a subdirectory for each local printer that is known to the system. The following example shows the /etc/lp/printers subdirectories of printers sparc1 and luna.

$ ls -l /etc/lp/printers
drwxrwxr-x 2 lp lp 512 Jan 23 23:53 luna
drwxrwxr-x 2 lp lp 512 Jan 11 17:50 sparc1

The following table describes the files within each printer-specific directory.

The configuration file for the printer luna, /etc/lp/printers/luna/configuration, would typically appear as follows:

Banner: on: Always
Content types: PS
Device: /dev/term/b
Interface: /usr/lib/lp/model/standard
Printer type: PS
Modules: default

The terminfo Database

The /usr/share/lib directory contains the terminfo database directory. This directory contains definitions for many types of terminals and printers. The LP print service uses information in the terminfo database to perform the following tasks:

• Initializes a printer

• Establishes a selected page size, character pitch, line pitch, and character set

• Communicates the sequence of codes to a printer

Each printer is identified in the terminfo database with a short name. If necessary, you can add entries to the terminfo database, but doing so is tedious and time-consuming. For more information, see Adding a terminfo Entry for an Unsupported Printer.

Printer Names in the terminfo Database

Information about each printer type is stored in the terminfo database (/usr/share/lib/terminfo). This information includes the printer capabilities and initialization control data. The printer you install must correspond to an entry in the terminfo database.

$ pwd
/usr/share/lib/terminfo
$ ls
1  3  5  7  9  B  H  P  a  c  e  g  i  k  m  o  q  s  u  w  y
2  4  6  8  A  G  M  S  b  d  f  h  j  l  n  p  r  t  v  x  z
$ 

Each subdirectory contains compiled database entries for terminals or printers. The entries are organized by the first letter of the printer or terminal type. For example, if you have an Epson printer, look in the /usr/share/lib/terminfo/e directory to find your particular model of Epson printer.

$ cd /usr/share/lib/terminfo/e
$ ls
emots           ep2500+high   ep48            ergo4000      exidy2500
env230          ep2500+low    epson2500       esprit
envision230     ep40          epson2500-80    ethernet
ep2500+basic    ep4000        epson2500-hi    ex3000
ep2500+color    ep4080        epson2500-hi80  exidy
$ 

The entries for Epson printers begin with epson.

If you have an NEC printer, look in the /usr/share/lib/terminfo/n directory for your NEC printer model.

$ cd /usr/share/lib/terminfo/n
$ ls
ncr7900        ncr7900iv      netronics      network        nuc
ncr7900-na     ncr7901        netty          netx           nucterm
ncr7900i       nec            netty-Tabs     newhp
ncr7900i-na    net            netty-vi       newhpkeyboard
$ 

The nec entry in this directory is for the NEC printer.

Required terminfo Items For a Printer

The following three tables list the terminfo items that are required for a printer.

LP Print Service Log Files

The LP print service maintains two sets of log files that are described in the following table.

Print Queue Logs

The scheduler for each system keeps a log of print requests in the /var/spool/lp/tmp/system and /var/spool/lp/requests/system directories. Each print request has two files, one file in each directory, that contain information about the request. The information in the /var/spool/lp/requests/system directory can be accessed only by superuser or lp. The information in the /var/spool/lp/tmp/system directory can be accessed only by the user who submitted the request, superuser, or lp.

The following example shows the contents of the /var/spool/lp/tmp/starbug directory:

$ ls /var/spool/lp/tmp/starbug
5     5-0
# cat 5-0
C 1
D print1
F /etc/profile
P 20
T /etc/profile
t simple
U root
s 0000
v 2

These files remain in their directories only as long as the print request is in the queue. Once the print request is finished, the information in the files is combined and appended to the /var/lp/logs/requests file. This file is described in the next section.

Use the information in the /var/spool/lp/logs directory if you need to track the status of a print request that is currently in the queue.

History Log Files

The LP print service records a history of printing services in two log files, lpsched and requests. These log files are located in the /var/lp/logs directory. You can use the information in these log files to diagnose and troubleshoot printing problems. An example of the contents of the /var/lp/logs directory is as follows:

# cd /var/lp/logs
# ls
lpsched.1    requests    requests.2
lpsched      lpsched.2   requests.1
# 

The two most important log files for troubleshooting are the following:

• The lpsched log file — Contains information about local printing requests.

• The requests log file — Contains information about print requests that are completed and no longer in the print queue.

The requests log file has a simple structure so that you can extract data using common UNIX shell commands. Requests are listed in the order they are printed. They are also separated by lines showing their request IDs. Each line below the separator line, the line that starts with =, is marked with a single letter that identifies the kind of information contained in that line. Each letter is separated from the data by a single space.

The following example shows the contents of a requests log file:

# pwd
/var/lp/logs
# tail requests.2
= print1-3, uid 0, gid 1, size 206662, Wed Mar 14 08:56:30 MST 2003
z print1
C 1
D print1
F /usr/dict/words
P 20
T /usr/dict/words
t simple
U root
s 0x0014
v 2
#

The following table shows the letter codes and the content of their corresponding lines in the requests log file.

The following table shows the outcome codes in the LP requests log file and their descriptions.

Spooling Directories

Files queued for printing are stored in the /var/spool/lp directory until they are printed, which might be only seconds. The following table shows the contents of the /var/spool/lp directory.

Filtering Print Files

Print filters are programs on the print server that convert the content of a queued file from one format to another format.

A print filter can be as simple or as complex as needed. The Oracle Solaris OS provides print filters in the /usr/lib/lp/postscript directory that cover most situations where the destination printer requires the data to be in PostScript format. If you need filters for nonPostScript printers, you have to create the filters and add them to the systems that need filters.

A set of print filter descriptor files are provided in the /etc/lp/fd directory. These descriptor files describe the characteristics of the filter (for example, fast or slow filter). These description files point to the filter program (for example, to /usr/lib/lp/postscript/postdaisy).

How the Printer Interface Program Works

The LP print service interacts with other parts of the Oracle Solaris OS. The print service uses a standard printer interface program to do the following:

• Initialize the printer port, if necessary. The standard printer interface program uses the stty command to initialize the printer port.

• Initialize the printer. The standard printer interface program uses the terminfo database and the TERM shell variable to find the appropriate control sequences.

• Print a banner page, if necessary.

• Print the correct number of copies specified by the print request.

The LP print service uses the standard interface program, found in the /usr/lib/lp/model directory, unless you specify a different program. You can create custom interface programs. However, you must make sure that the custom program does not terminate the connection to the printer or interfere with proper printer initialization.

Support for the Use of PPD Files To Set Up Printers

Support for setting up and administering printers with PPD files has been incorporated into the Oracle Solaris print subsystem. Two interface scripts, standard_foomatic, and netstandard_foomatic, are available. These interface scripts provide the generic interface between the Solaris spooler and the back-end process of the print server.

The following are examples of the types of printers that are supported:

• Lexmark Optra E312

• Epson Stylus Photo 1280

• Canon BJC-55

• QMS magicolor 2+

Raster Image Processor Support

The raster image support in the Oracle Solaris OS (RIP) enables you to print to printers that do not have resident PostScript processing capabilities. Theprinting software provides the print server RIP and supporting technologies. The RIP occurs behind the scenes. However, to use the appropriate driver you need to configure each printer by using either Solaris Print Manager or the lpadmin -n command. For step-by-step instructions on using the lpadmin -n command, see How to Add a New Directly Attached Printer by Using LP Print Commands.

Support for PostScript Printer Description Files

The lpadmin and lpstat commands, as well as the Solaris Print Manager printer definition screens, support the use of PPD files.

The following new software packages are associated with this feature:

• SUNWa2psr

• SUNWa2psu

• SUNWespgs

• SUNWffiltersr

• SUNWffiltersu

• SUNWfppd

• SUNWgimpprint

• SUNWhpijs

• SUNWimagick

• SUNWpsutils

Where to Find Information About Supported Printers and Available PPD Files

The location where the PPD files and the ppdcache file is stored are private, as is the contents of the ppdcache file. The placement of these files and the contents of the ppdcache are subject to change. Do not build software that relies on these files being in their current location or that relies on the data being in the format that is currently used.

If the file required by your printer is not available, you can add your own PPD file. If you use the lpadmin -n command to create a new print queue, you can store your own PPD files anywhere that you choose. If you are running the Oracle Solaris 10 OS, and you use Solaris Print Manager to create the print queue, the PPD file must have an entry in the ppdcache file.

If you are running a supported Oracle Solaris release, PPD files are located in any of following four repositories on the system:

/usr/share/ppd

Specifies the system repository.

/usr/local/share/ppd

Specifies the admin repository.

/opt/share/ppd

Specifies the vendor repository.

/var/lp/ppd

Specifies the user repository.

Copies of PPD files that are specified by using the lpadmin command with the -n option, or by using the -a option with the ppdmgr command are stored in the user repository under the same PPD file name.

If you use the ppdmgr utility with the -a and the -R options, a copy of the specified PPD file can be stored in the admin repository.

If you create a print queue with Solaris Print Manager, and no entry exists for the PPD file in the ppdcache file, you can use the ppdmgr utility to add the file to the system. The cache of PPD file information that Solaris Print Manager uses is then updated to reflect any changes you make by using either of these two methods.

In later Oracle Solaris releases, PPD files are located in the /usr/lib/lp/model/ppd/system directory or any alternate directory that you specify.

The output of the ls command lists all the PPD files for a particular printer manufacturer.

For additional task-related information, see Administering Printers That Are Associated With PPD Files (Task Map).

PPD File Management Utility

This section contains reference information for managing PPD files.

When the ppdmgr utility is used to add a PPD file to the system, a compressed (gzipped) copy of the specified PPD file is stored on the system. The purpose is to maintain a current cache of PPD file information from all known PPD files on the system.

The full path of the PPD file that is copied to the system follows:

repository/label/manufacturer/ppd-file-name

repository

Is the specified repository. If no repository is specified by using the -R option, the default repository is the user repository, /var/lp/ppd/.

label

Is the specified label. If no label is specified by using the -L option, the default label is user, within the user repository.

manufacturer

Is the manufacturer's name that is contained within the PPD file. This name might be modified according to the manufacturer aliases that are defined in the /var/lp/ppd/manufaliases file. See Manufacturer Aliases File.

ppd-file-name

Is the same as the original PPD file name that is specified with the ppdmgr utility. This file can also contain the .gz extension if the PPD file is compressed.

The following figures show the layout of a typical PPD file repository and the ppdmgr utility directory layout, which contains all relevant ppdmgr delivered and generated files, including the PPD user file repository.

Figure 12–1 PPD File Repository Layout

PPD File Repositories

The following table describes the PPD file repositories that are located on a system.

The location of the PPD files and the ppdcache file is private and is therefore subject to change. Do not build software that relies on these files being in their current location or the data being in its current format.

PPD File Labels

On a system that is running the Oracle Solaris software, PPD files can be stored default label directories. You can also specify a label of your own choosing to organize PPD files, as long as the label is not reserved by the system.

The following label names are reserved:

• caches

• ppdcache

• manufaliases

• all

With the exception of the all label name, these label names cannot be specified by using either the -L or -R options of the ppdmgr utility. However, you can specify the all label name with the -L or the -R option when using the -r and -u options. Any label name that begins with SUNW is reserved for use by Oracle, but is not prohibited.

If you add a PPD file to a system and specify a label that does not exist, a directory with that label name is created in the specified repository. By default, if no PPD file repository is specified, this directory is /var/lp/ppd/label. For more information about specifying labels when you add PPD files to a system, see Description of the Command-Line Options for the ppdmgr Utility.

Description of the Printer Driver Field in Solaris Print Manager

The Printer Driver field in Solaris Print Manager is displayed when you select the Add New Printer (attached or network) or Modify Printer Attributes (attached or network) menu options. This field contains printer driver descriptions from the PPD cache file, based on the printer model that you select. To distinguish between duplicate printer driver descriptions that have different labels within the PPD file repositories, the label and abbreviation of the PPD file repository name is also displayed.

The format that is used for the printer driver description is as follows:

label(repository-letter): driver-description

For example, the following PPD file is located in the PHOTOS label within the user PPD file repository:

/var/lp/ppd/PHOTOS/HP/HP-PhotoSmart_P1100-hpijs.ppd.gz

This PPD file would appear in Solaris Print Manager's Printer Driver field selection list as follows:

PHOTOS(U): Foomatic/hpijs (recommended)

In the following example, the following PPD file is located in the SUNWfoomatic label within the system PPD file repository:

This PPD file would appear in Solaris Print Manager's Printer Driver field selection list as follows:

SUNWfoomatic(S): Foomatic/hpijs (recommended)

The following table describes the PPD file repository letters, the repositories they represent and the location of the repositories a the system.

Manufacturer Aliases File

Manufacturer directories, one for each manufacturer, are located in the PPD repositories on a system. When PPD files are added to a system, the manufacturer name that is contained in the PPD file is used to determine which manufacturer directory to copy the PPD file to. A private file, /var/lp/ppd/manufaliases, contains aliases for all the manufacturer entries in a PPD file. The manufaliases file is referenced to determine which manufacturer directory to copy the PPD file to. This process ensures that there is one directory per manufacturer, rather than one directory per manufacturer alias. For example, if a PPD file contains the manufacturer name, Hewlett-Packard, and an HP alias for Hewlett-Packard is listed in the manufaliases file, the PPD file is stored in the HP directory. This strategy applies to all PPD files that are added to a system by using the ppdmgr utility and the lpadmin -n command.

The manufaliases file is a private file. Do not edit this file. Do not build software that relies on the file being in its current location or the data being in its current format.

PPD File Caches

Private PPD file caches are maintained in the /var/lp/ppd/caches/ directory, one for each label within each repository.

The format of the cache file name that is used follows:

PPD-repository: label

The information about PPD files that is in the PPD cache files is maintained by using the ppdmgr utility. Do not edit the PPD cache files manually. Note that the cache files in the /var/lp/ppd/caches directory are used to generate the private PPD cache file, /var/lp/ppd/ppdcache. This file is used by the printmgr utility. For more information, see the printmgr(1M) man page.

The location of the ppdcache and it's contents is private. Do not build software that relies on this file being in its current location or on the data being in its current format. This information applies to any private files that are generated or delivered for use by the ppdmgr utility.

Description of the Command-Line Options for the ppdmgr Utility

In this section, the command-line options for the ppdmgr utility are described. Additional information about processes, guidelines, and restrictions for administering PPD files by using the ppdmgr utility are also described.

The PPD Manager (ppdmgr) utility is located in /usr/sbin/ppdmgr.

To add a PPD file to a system, you would use the following syntax:

ppdmgr -a ppd-file-path

The -a option copies the PPD file that is specified in ppd-file-path to the PPD repository, then updates the PPD cache file to reflect the change. If you do not specify a PPD file repository by using the -R option, the PPD file is stored in the user PPD file repository. If you do not specify a label by using the -L option, the PPD file is stored in the user label directory.

The following verifications are performed when you use the -a option with the ppdmgr utility:

• Label verification – A label name must not be a reserved label name.

  The following label names are reserved:

  • caches

  • ppdcache

  • manufaliases

  • all

• PPD File Path verification – The specified ppd-file-path must be accessible and must contain either the .pdd or ppd.gz extension.

• PPD file verification – The PPD file that is specified in ppd-file-path must be a valid PPD file.

If you provide information that does not pass the various verification checks, or if any of the actions that are performed by the ppdmgr utility are unsuccessful, an error message is displayed, and the utility exits.

Additional Actions Performed:

• If needed, parent directories of the destination path are created.

• If a version of the PPD file with a .gz extension already exists in the PPD file repository, and the gzipped versions are not duplicates, an error message is displayed.

• The ppd-file-path is copied to the destination path.

• To reflect the change in the ppdcache file, the update action is then applied.

To specify PPD file repository, you would use the following syntax:

ppdmgr -R repository

The -R option with repository is used to identify one of the supported PPD file repositories. When the -R option is not specified, the default repository is user. When the -R option is specified with the -a option, the valid repository names are user and admin. See PPD File Repositories for more information about all of the supported repository names and their locations.

To specify a label, you would use the following syntax:

ppdmgr -L label-name

The -L option with the label-name is used to identify a grouping of PPD files within a PPD file repository. The label is also the name of the directory that is located in the PPD file repository. The label can be comprised of any characters from the portable character set. However, the label cannot contain a semicolon (;).

When the -L option is not specified, the following are the defaults that are used for specifying a label name.

To request an update of the PPD cache file, you would use the following syntax:

ppdmgr -u

This option updates the cache file to reflect modifications within PPD file repositories. The PPD cache file is updated only if modifications are detected.

When the -a option is specified, an update of the PPD cache file occurs automatically to reflect the change in the label directory within the repository where the PPD file was copied.

When the -R or -L option is not specified, the PPD cache file is updated to reflect modifications in the all label directory within the user repository.

To request a rebuild of PPD cache file, you would use the following syntax:

ppdmgr -r

The -r option rebuilds the cache by removing and regenerating any intermediary cache files that are associated with the specified label within the specified PPD file repository. This action results in an update of the PPD cache file, /var/lp/ppd/ppdcache, if any intermediary cache files are removed. Because a regeneration of the specified label within the specified PPD file repository is required, the regeneration of the PPD cache information can be very time-consuming. The time that it takes to rebuild the PPD cache file depends upon the number of PPD files that are affected, Therefore, the -r option should only be used when PPD cache file corruption is suspected.

When the - R or - L option is not specified, intermediary cache files that are associated with all of the labels within the user PPD file repository are removed. These modifications are then reflected in the PPD cache file.

To display the full path of PPD File in the repository, you would use the following syntax:

ppdmgr -a ppd-file-path -w

The -w option must be specified with the -a option, and the PPD file is added to the system successfully, the full destination path of the PPD file is displayed on stdout. Otherwise, this option is ignored.

How the PAPI Is Implemented in the Oracle Solaris OS

This section contains additional background information about the FSG OpenPrinting Open Standard Print Application Programming Interface (PAPI), a print service-independent interface for accessing printing support on a local host or a network.

The PAPI contains a set of printing related objects or data structures and a set of operations or functions to manipulate the objects.

The following are supported tasks:

• Querying the print service

• Submitting print jobs

• Modifying print jobs

• Canceling print jobs

Modified Print Commands

Table Table 12–13 describes the print commands that have been modified for use with the PAPI.