Overview of the Oracle Solaris Printing Architecture

At the core of the print system is a UNIX System V (R4) based spooler. In addition to the spooler are client applications that are used to make requests of and manage the spooler. filters that perform document translation, back end processing software that performs final document transformation , and device (printer) communication. To utilize the complete functionality of the print system, all these resources are required.

Printing in the Oracle Solaris OS consists of the software to support the following:

• Print commands

• Print spooler

• Over-the-wire protocol

• Underlying technologies that move a print request from the client to the server, and, or the printer

The following figure is a high level diagram that represents the print system components.

Recent changes in Oracle Solaris printing include the integration of IPP client-side support, implemented through the PAPI. The Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) and System V (SysV) commands, as well as some applications, are layered on top of the PAPI interface. See Implementation of the Open Standard Print API.

Available Printing Tools and Services

The following tools can be used to set up and manage printers in the Oracle Solaris 10 OS:

• Solaris Print Manager – Is a graphical user interface (GUI) that enables you to manage printing configuration on a local system or in a naming service.

• LP print service commands – Is a command-line interface (CLI) that is used to set up and manage printers on a local system or in a naming service. These commands also provide functionality that extend beyond the other print management tools.

The following interfaces, protocols, and technologies are supported in the Oracle Solaris release:

• Internet Printing Protocol (IPP)

• Server Message Block (SMB) protocol, through Samba

• Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) protocol