Specifications

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Guide to Printers and Printing
for the formatter filter. The formatter filter processes the header page and writes the
result to standard output. Standard output for the formatter filter becomes standard
input for the device driver interface program that writes the filtered header page to the
printer device driver.
printer/plotter device
A special file in the /dev directory for the device. This file can be used by
redirection (for example, cat FileName> /dev/lp0 ). Settings for the
device driver can be displayed and changed using Web–based System
Manager (type wsm, and then select Devices ) or the lsdev and chdev
commands. Before printer commands can access a printer device, a print
queue must be created for the device, or the printer must be configured in
the printer backend in /etc/qconfig.
qdaemon
The qdaemon is a process that runs in the background and controls the
queues. It is usually started by the startsrc command when the system is
turned on.
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. This information is held in the /var/spool/lpd/stat directory and
can be accessed using the lpstat and enq –A commands.
If the qdaemon is stopped, it is restarted by the srcmstr process.
Note: Do not stop the srcmstr process; it controls other daemons running on your
system.
queue
The location to which you direct a print job. It is a stanza in the /etc/qconfig
file that matches the name of the queue. It points to the associated queue
device. For example:
Msa1:
device = lp0
Usually, queues are created through the Web–based System Manager.
queue device
The stanza in the /etc/qconfig file that usually follows the local queue
stanza. It specifies the /dev file (printer device) that should be printed to
and the backend that should be used. For example:
lp0:
file = /dev/lp0
header = never
trailer = never
access = both
backend = /usr/lpd/piobe
In the preceding example, lp0 is the device name, and the rest of the lines define
how the device is used.
Adding a printer through Web–based System Manager (type wsm, and then select
Devices ) creates a standard queue device entry to an existing queue.
Notes:
1. There can be more than one queue device associated with a single queue.
2. There is no file entry in the /etc/qconfig file when you are using a remote
printer. The queue directs the file to the server.