NAME

printtool - OpenWindows tool for printing files

SYNOPSIS

printtool [ generic-tool-arguments ]

AVAILABILITY

Although this command is available with both the SunView and the OpenWindows Application Environment software installation options, its  appearance is not the same for both options.  The man page you are currently viewing refers to the printtool that is available with OpenWindows.  The primary difference between OpenWindows printtool and the one for SunView printtool is the user interface.  All OpenWindows standard tools use the OPEN LOOK Graphical User Interface (GUI).  For more information about the OPEN LOOK UI, refer to the OpenWindows User’s Guide .  For information about installing OpenWindows, refer to the OpenWindows Installation and Start-Up Guide . 

DESCRIPTION

printtool is a user interface to the lpr(1), lprm(1), and lpq(1) operating system printing functions. 

printtool is an OpenWindows based XView application that uses the lpr(1) command to print files.  By specifying a filename, printer name, number of copies to be printed and any optional filters, the user can print files, get status on files printed and remove files from a printer queue. 

OPTIONS

generic-tool-arguments
printtool accepts the generic tool arugments described in sunview(1). 

USAGE

printtool is part of the OpenWindows user environment.  For a description of the basic concepts of OpenWindows, see the OpenWindows User’s Guide . 

The user must specify a filename in the ‘File:’ text field, choose a printer from the printer options and specify the number of copies to print.  Filter specifications are optional.  Selecting ‘Print’ prints the file.  You can drag and drop a file from filemgr(1) onto an open printtool or icon, instead of typing a name in the ‘File:’ text field.  You can get the status of the printer queue with ‘Status’.  To remove a printing job, you can select a job in the status window and then select ‘Stop Printing -> Selected Printing Job’.  To remove all entries choose ‘Stop Printing -> All Print Jobs’. 

The printer names are derived from the /etc/printcap file.  By convention, the format of the first line for each printer entry in the /etc/printcap file is:

printer number|logical name|description:

For example:

3|laserbeam|printer near Fred’s office:

The logical name of the printer is used by printtool and should not contain blanks.  See printcap(5) for more information. 

You can specify the following filters:

None Default and provides no filter. 

Raster File contains a raster image, see rasterfile(5).  The printer must support an appropriate imaging model such as PostScript in order to print the image. 

TeX The files contain  data from tex (DVI format from Stanford). 

Plot The files contain standard plot data as produced by the plot(3X) routines (see also plot(1G) for the filters used by the printer spooler). 

CifPlot The files contain data produced by cifplot. 

troff The files contain troff(1) data. 

pr prints pages headed with the date, filename and page number. 

control Interprets the first character of each line as a standard FORTRAN carriage control character. 

other used for printing a file with another command line print method, including pipes. Will accept the following variables:

$FILE filename from drag and drop operation or name specified in ‘File:’ text field. 

$PRINTER printer specified in ‘Printer:’ text field. 

$COPIES number of copies specified in ‘Copies:’ text field

These filter options offer a standard user interface, and all options may not be available for, nor applicable to, all printers.  The troff filter is provided as part of the standard SunOS installation. 

RESOURCES

On startup, printtool uses the following resources:

Resource: deskset.printtool.checkinterval

Values: Status check interval (numeric)

Description This is the number of seconds between status checks on the printer.  The default value is 10 seconds. 

FILES

/etc/printcap printer capabilities data base

SEE ALSO

filemgr (1), lpg (1), lpr (1), lprm (1), troff(1), pr (1V), plot (3X), printcap (5), rasterfile (5)

DIAGNOSTICS

See lpr(1) diagnostics. 

printer: unknown printer:
Probably an incorrect entry in the /etc/printcap file. 

The /etc/printcap file must exist with valid printer entries for printtool to work. 

BUGS

See lpr(1) bugs. 
 

Sun Release 4.1  —  Last change: 1 September 1989