Selecting a File Content Type

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 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.)

You can specify the file content type for a printer by using the lpadmin -I command or Solaris Print Manager. With Solaris Print Manager, you can select a file content type from a menu. Not all available file content types are listed on the menu. You must use the lpadmin command to specify file content types that are not included on the Solaris Print Manager menu.

Most printers can print the following types of files directly:

• The same type as the printer type (for example, PS for a PostScript printer)

• The type simple (an ASCII text file)

When submitting a file for printing, the user can indicate the content type of the file (lp -T content-type). If no file content type is supplied when the request is submitted, the LP server looks at 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^TM 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.

Solaris Print Manager provides a list of file content types from which you can choose when you install or modify a local printer. The choices are translated to the names that the LP print service uses. The following table describes the file content types you can choose with Solaris Print Manager.

Table 3–2 Choosing File Content Type With Solaris Print Manager

File Contents Choice	LP Print Service Name	Description
PostScript	postscript	PostScript files do not require filtering.
ASCII	simple	ASCII files do not require filtering.
Both PostScript and ASCII	simple, postscript	PostScript files and ASCII files do not require filtering.
None	""	All files require filtering, except those matching the printer's type.
Any	any	No filtering required. If the printer cannot handle a file content type directly, the file will not be printed.

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

Frequently Used Printers

This section provides the printer type and file content type for the printers most commonly used with Solaris software. Although not shown, many of these printers can also directly print files with simple content type.

If you have a PostScript printer, use a printer type of PS or PSR and a content type of postscript. PSR reverses the pagination and prints the banner page last.

The following table lists additional non-PostScript printers and shows the printer type to use for configuring each printer. For all these printers, the file content type is simple.

---

Note –

Sun Microsystems does not supply filtering software for the printers listed in the following table, among others. However, you can use unsupported printers if you supply filtering or if the printer can directly print the file content type. If you have questions about any printer for which Sun Microsystems does not supply filters, contact the printer manufacturer.

---

Table 3–3 Some Non-PostScript Printers for Which Sun Does Not Supply Filters

Printer	Printer Type
Daisy	daisy
Datagraphix	datagraphix
DEC LA100	la100
DEC LN03	ln03
DECwriter	decwriter
Diablo	diablo
	diablo-m8
Epson 2500 variations	epson2500
	epson2500-80
	epson2500-hi
	epson2500-hi80
Hewlett-Packard HPCL printer	hplaser
IBM Proprinter	ibmproprinter

If you want to set up a printer that is not in the terminfo database, see How to Add a terminfo Entry for an Unsupported Printer.