Printing in AIX 4.1

Contents

This document provides an overview of printing in AIX 4.1.

"AIX Version 4.1 System Management Guide" from IBM (SC23-2525-00)

The printing command places the file, plus any print flags, onto the Queue. When the printer is ready, the qdaemon passes the file and flags to the printer backend, which formats the output for the specific printer. The data is then passed to the Printer Device driver which communicates with the actual device and prints the file (see the figure below).

   enq --> Queue--> Backend 
                      | 
                      | 
                    piobe ------->  Device Driver  ----+  
                      |                                | 
                      |                             Printer 
                      |                                | 
                     cat  ------->  User Defined   ----+  

It is also possible to bypass the Queue and backend by redirecting the file to the device (for example, with the cat command).

                                       Device Driver 
                                              | 
                                              | 
    cat --------------> User Defined -----> Printer 
                                              | 
                                              | 
                                              splp 

• Printer/Plotter Device

  This is the special file in the /dev/ directory for the device. It can only be used by redirection (for example, cat filename > /dev/lp0) and may be manipulated with splp. Printer commands will not be able to access a Printer Device unless a Print Queue has been created or a change made to the printer backend in /etc/qconfig.

• Print Queue

  The Print Queue is really a combination of a specific Queue and Queue Device in the /etc/qconfig file. Also, depending on the backend that you select when adding the queue, the associated files will determine the function of that queue. Here is a list in smit of the possible choices for a Print Queue backend. (NOTE: You may or may not have all of these options, depending on what you've installed.)

     Add a Print Queue 
     Move cursor to desired item and press Enter. Use arrow 
     keys to scroll. 
     # ATTACHMENT TYPE      DESCRIPTION 
       local                Printer Attached to Local Host 
       remote               Printer Attached to Remote Host 
       xstation             Printer Attached to Xstation 
       ascii                Printer Attached to ASCII Terminal 
       hpJetDirect          Network Printer (HP JetDirect) 
       file                 File (in /dev directory) 
       other                User Defined Backend 
   F1=Help                 F2=Refresh              F3=Cancel 
   F8=Image                F10=Exit                Enter=Do 
   /=Find                  n=Find Next 
  

  The Print Queue, when added through smit, will automatically create the Queue, Queue Device, and any control files needed.

  To create a Queue and Queue Device for a printer that will use the standard piobe backend, choose local.

  To add a second Queue Device to an existing Queue, to allow load sharing, select Add an Additional Printer to an Existing Print Queue.

• Queue

  The Queue is where the user directs a print job. It is a stanza in the /etc/qconfig file whose name is the name of the Queue and which points to the associated Queue Device.

     lp0: 
     device = lp0 
  

• Queue Device

  The Queue Device is the stanza in the /etc/qconfig file that normally follows the local Queue stanza. It specifies the actual /dev/ file (Printer Device) to which printing should be done and the "backend" that should be used.

     lp0: 
     file = /dev/lp0 
     header = never 
     trailer = never 
     access = both 
     backend = /usr/lpd/piobe 
  

  There may be more than one Queue Device associated with a single Queue. The Print Queue can handle this as it associated itself with a "Queue:Queue Device" pair.

  NOTE: With a remote printer, there will be no file entry in the Queue Device stanza in the /etc/qconfig file, as the Queue directs the file to the server.

There are now four commands which use the piobe that can be used to print the files. The four commands are enq, lp, lpr, and qprt. These commands bypass some of the splp settings, since they use the settings that are contained in the local Print Queue. Local Print Queue settings can be configured using smit, under the Programming tools menu.

The commands lp, lpr, and qprt are actually just a front end to the enq command. Therefore the first thing that happens to a printed file is that it is passed to the enq program. The enq program simply places the information about the file, along with the flags, in the Queue for the qdaemon to use. The Queue is actually the /var/spool/lpd/qdir directory.

If the job is not a file (for example, pipe output of a command to enq), then a real file is created in /var/spool/qdaemon which contains the data to be printed. The information in the /var/spool/lpd/qdir file then points to the file in /var/spool/qdaemon.

The qdaemon is a process that runs in the background. It is generally started with the startsrc command when the system is powered on. startsrc is a command to the srcmstr daemon which is started from /etc/inittab.

The qdaemon keeps track of the print requests in the /var/spool/lpd/qdir directory and ensures that the jobs are sent to the proper printer at the proper time. It also keeps track of the status of the printers and stores printer usage data for system accounting purposes (for example, lpstat and enq -a commands). This information is held in the /var/spool/lpd/stat directory.

If the qdaemon is killed it will be restarted by the srcmstr.

NOTE: Never kill the srcmstr process because it controls other daemons that will be running on the system.

To stop the qdaemon, issue enq -G or stopsrc -cs qdaemon (if there are no jobs queued).

To start the qdaemon again, use startsrc -s qdaemon.