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System Management Concepts: Operating System and Devices


Printers for BSD 4.3 System Managers

In AIX 5.1 and later, the operating system supports two printing subsystems: 4.3 BSD and System V. The System V style of printing subsystem uses System V Release 4 commands, queues, and files and is administered the same way. The following paragraphs describe what you need to know to manage the 4.3 BSD style of printing subsystem. You control which subsystem is made active through SMIT. Only one subsystem can be active at a time.

Printing is managed by programs and configurations in the /usr/lpd directory. The design, configuration, queueing mechanism, and daemon processes of the 4.3 BSD and printer subsystems for this operating system are different. However, they both use the lpd protocol for remote printing. Both systems use /etc/hosts.lpd, if it exists, or /etc/host.equiv otherwise. The printer subsystem for this operating system offers a gateway to 4.3 BSD printer subsystems, so systems using this operating system can submit print jobs to 4.3 BSD systems and accept print jobs submitted by 4.3 BSD systems.

The /etc/printcap file of 4.3 BSD does not exist in this operating system. This file is a combination of spooler configuration and printer capability data base. Users need to understand the format and keywords of the printcap file to set up a printer correctly.

The /etc/qconfig file of this operating system contains only the spooler configuration information. The printer capability is defined in the ODM predefined/customized data base. You can use the mkvirprt (make virtual printer) command to define to the system the capabilities of a particular printer.

To make printer lp0 available to print on the remote host viking, put the following in a 4.3 BSD system /etc/printcap file:

lp0|Print on remote printer attached to
viking:Z
:lp=:rm=viking:rp=lp:st=/usr/spool/lp0d

To do the same on this operating system, put the following in the /etc/qconfig file:

lp0:
        device = dlp0
        host = viking
        rq = lp
dlp0:
        backend = /usr/lib/lpd/rembak

For more information about the printer subsystem, see the Printer Overview for System Management.

This operating system supports the following printer commands and library functions:

cancel (1) Cancels requests to a line printer
chquedev (1) Changes the printer or plotter queue device names
chvirprt (1) Changes the attribute values of a virtual printer
disable (1) Disables a printer queue
enable(1) Enables a printer queue
hplj(1) Postprocesses troff output for HP LaserJetII with the K cartridge
ibm3812 (1) Postprocesses troff output for IBM 3812 Mod 2 Pageprinter
ibm3816 (1) Postprocesses troff output for IBM 3816 Pageprinter
ibm5587G (1) Postprocesses troff output for IBM 5587G with 32x32/24x24 cartridge
lp(1) Sends requests to a line printer
lpr(1) Enqueues print jobs
lprm(1) Removes jobs from the line printer spooling queue
lpstat (1) Displays line printer status information
lptest(1) Generates the line printer ripple pattern
lsallqdev (1) Lists all configured printer queue device names within a queue
lsvirprt (1) Displays the attribute values of a virtual printer
mkque(1) Adds a printer queue to the system
mkquedev (1) Adds a printer queue device to the system
mkvirprt (1) Makes a virtual printer
pac(1) Prepares printer/plotter accounting records
piobe(1) Print Job Manager for the printer backend
pioburst (1) Generates burst pages (header and trailer pages) for printer output
piocmdout (3) Subroutine that outputs an attribute string for a printer formatter
piodigest (1) Digests attribute values for a virtual printer definition and stores
pioexit (3) Subroutine that exits from a printer formatter
pioformat (1) Drives a printer formatter
piofquote (1) Converts certain control characters destined for PostScript printers
piogetstr (3) Subroutine that retrieves an attribute string for a printer formatter
piogetvals(3)
Subroutine that initializes Printer Attribute database variables for printer formatter
piomsgout (3) Subroutine that sends a message from a printer formatter
pioout(1) Printer backend's device driver interface program
piopredef (1) Creates a predefined printer data stream definition
proff(1) Formats text for printers with personal printer data streams
qadm(1) Performs system administration for the printer spooling system
qconfig (4) Configures a printer queueing system.
qstatus(1) Provides printer status for the print spooling system
restore (3) Restores the printer to its default state
rmque(1) Removes a printer queue from the system
rmquedev (1) Removes a printer or plotter queue device from the system
rmvirprt (1) Removes a virtual printer
splp(1) Changes or displays printer driver settings
xpr(1) Formats a window dump file for output to a printer.


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