Attachment files provide a simple interface for developers of printer attachments to create System Management Interface Tool (SMIT) screens that support new printer attachments. To learn more about attachment files, see:
Each new attachment type is defined in an attachment file. The attachment file contains the name of SMIT object IDs used to perform various printing tasks. The name of an attachment type is limited to 10 characters.
Attachment files direct the branching from SMIT menus to SMIT object IDs. Every attachment file controls the branching from some or all of these SMIT menu options:
For example, when the Add a Print Queue menu option is selected from a SMIT dialog screen, the first information required from the user is which attachment type is being used. The user selects the desired attachment type, and SMIT searches the attachment type file to discover which SMIT object ID file to branch to.
SMIT selectors and dialogs for new printer attachments must create dialogs that add, change, and remove a print queue for the new attachment type. The names of the new SMIT dialogs are placed in the attachment file. The dialog names in the file are automatically branched to when creating, changing, or removing queues for the new attachment type.
Attachment files must be named according to the following naming convention:
Attachment_type.attach
The Attachment_type string must contain a unique string that
identifies the attachment. All attachment files must be located in the
/usr/lib/lpd/pio/etc directory. The following attachment
files are supplied:
| local.attach | Contains the local system attached printers file. |
| ascii.attach | Contains ASCII-terminal attached printers file. |
| file.attach | Contains the output-to-file attachment file. |
| remote.attach | Contains the remote print queues attachment file. |
Attachment files are ASCII files. Each line in an attachment file defines a field using the following format:
FieldName = Value
The following field names have special meanings in the attachment file:
The following field names define SMIT selector IDs. The Value variable must contain a SMIT selector ID. The selector ID value of each field specifies the target of the branch. The SMIT fields are:
Every attachment file should contain the description, add_queue, and remove_queue fields. All other fields are optional. Fields with a null value are treated as if the field were missing. There is no restriction on the other contents of an attachment file.
The following example attachment file is named term_serv.attach:
description = term_serv.cat,1,3; Printer Attached to Terminal Server seq_num = 2 submit_job = term_serv_start_job add_queue = term_serv_add add_printer = term_serv_printer remove_queue = term_serv_remove printer_conn = term_serv_printer_conn change_queue = term_serv_change change_filters = term_serv_change_filters unsupported = ibm6252,ibm6262
The following field definitions detail the attachment type fields, formats
for the field values, and practical examples of field values.
| description | Specifies the description string that appears on the SMIT Attachment type
menu. The SMIT Attachment type menu lists all supported attachment
types on the system. This field is required in order for the attachment
type to appear on any list of supported types.
The format of the description field value is:
Message_catalog,Set,Message_#; DefaultTextString Values for Message_catalog, Set, and Message_# are not required. For example, the two following example entries create the same menu item in SMIT. The first example uses the term_serv.cat message catalog, set number 1, and message number 3. If the message cannot be found, SMIT uses the default text in quotes. In the second example, no message catalog is designated, and the quoted message is used in the menu automatically:
description = term_serv.cat,1,3; Printer Attached to Terminal Server description = Printer Attached to Terminal Server |
| seq_num | Specifies the order in which a particular attachment type is displayed in
the SMIT Attachment Type Selector menu. If this field is missing, the
attachments are displayed in no particular order. For example, to
display the attachment in the second position on the menu, type:
seq_num = 2 |
| supported/unsupported | Define a list of printer types that are either supported or not supported
by the attachment. The supported field value is used to
generate the list of printers supported by the attachment type on the SMIT
dialog screen. The two fields are mutually exclusive.
The format of the value for the supported and unsupported fields is a comma-separated list of printer types. For example, to exclude the ibm6252, ibm6262, and ibm4029 printers from the list of supported printers, enter:
unsupported = ibm6252, ibm6262, ibm4029 To show the hplj-3, hplj-3-si, and hplj-2 printers on the list of available printer types, type:
supported = hplj-3, hplj-3-si, hplj-2 |
| submit_job | Specifies the name of the SMIT selector ID to branch to in order to start
a print job. If this field is missing, the enq dialog value
is used. For example, to branch to the term_ser_start_job
selector from the Start a Print Job menu option if the queue selected is of
the term_serv attachment type, type:
submit_job = term_serv_start_job |
| add_queue | Specifies the name of the SMIT selector ID to branch to in order to add a
print queue. For example, to branch to the term_serv_add
selector ID from the Add a Print Queue menu option, type:
add_queue = term_serv_add |
| add_printer | Specifies the name of the SMIT selector ID to branch to in order to add a
printer to an existing queue. Functionally, this adds an additional
queue device to an existing queue. To branch to the
term_serv_printer selector ID from the SMIT Existing Print Queue
menu option, type:
add_printer = term_serv_printer |
| remove_queue | Specifies the name of the SMIT selector ID to branch to in order to
remove a print queue. The Remove dialog screen removes any other
queues, queue devices, virtual printers, and printer devices that were created
at the time the print queue was created. To branch from the Remove a
Print Queue menu option to the term_serv_remove selector ID,
type:
remove_queue = term_serv_remove |
| printer_conn | Specifies the name of the SMIT selector ID to branch to in order to
change the printer connection characteristics of a print queue. The
port communication characteristics would typically be baud rate, parity, stop
bits, and so on. To branch to the term_serv_printer_conn
selector ID from the SMIT Printer Port Communication Characteristics menu
option, type:
printer_conn = term_serv_printer_conn |
| change_queue | Specifies the name of the SMIT selector ID to branch to in order to
change the characteristics of a printer queue. To branch to the
term_serv_change selector ID from the SMIT Change/Show Print Queue
Characteristics menu option, type:
change_queue = term_serv_change |
| change_filters | Specifies the name of the SMIT selector ID to branch to in order to
change the pre-processing filters defined for a print queue. To branch
to the term_serv_change_filters selector ID from the SMIT
Change/Show Pre-Processing Filters menu option, enter:
change_filters = term_serv_change_filters |