SUMMARY I - "Master" printcap/Tek 4693 DX printcap

From: Randy Taylor (rtaylor@ait.nrl.navy.mil)
Date: Wed Sep 01 1993 - 00:45:48 CDT


Esteemed managers !

Thanks to all for the assist. The summary is longer than
the listserver mailer can handle, though, and will be divided into
three parts:

PART 1: Summary of problem with solutions.
PART 2: "master printcap" file
PART 3: "Printcap City" file.

I apologize in advance for the length of the summary. The culprits
are the "master printcap" file and "Printcap City". I did not
have these files prior to my original posting, so it's a safe bet
that at least several other managers won't have them either. By
posting them here, all managers who want the files will have them.

<<< BEGIN PART 1 >>>

Tektronix 4693 DX printcap entry:
--------------------------------

This was really two problems.
(1) What does a parallel port printcap entry look like ?
(2) Why won't the printer work once a good printcap has been secured ?

The answer to (1) is straightforward. A parallel printcap entry really
only differs from a serial printcap entry in the "lp" section of the
printcap entry. Instead of a serial "/dev/tty.." entry, "/dev/bpp.."
is used (where .. is some device number).
The rest of the printcap entry is standard fare.

However, in our case...

If the parallel printer fails once the printcap entry is established, (2)
above, chances are *really* good that a driver and/or filters are needed.
In the case of the Tektronix 4693DX, filters are need to convert to Tek's
native "Grf" format. The package to do this is called "tcpr" and is not
(to my knowledge) public domain. If you have tcpr, the printcap should
look like this:

color|TekColor|paint|:\
        :lp=/dev/bpp0:\
        :qu#300:\
        :af=/usr/spool/tcpr/acct-log:\
        :lf=/var/adm/lpd-errs:\
        :sd=/usr/spool/lpd/color:\
        :cf=/usr/local/tcpr/tekcif.p:\
        :df=/usr/local/tcpr/tekdvi.p:\
        :gf=/usr/local/tcpr/tekgraph.p:\
        :nf=/usr/local/tcpr/tekimp.p:\
        :rf=/usr/local/tcpr/tekfort.p:\
        :tf=/usr/local/tcpr/tekcat.p:\
        :vf=/usr/local/tcpr/teksuntogrf.p:\
        :ff=\00:\
        :lo=lock:\
        :ms=-opost:\

Of course, printer names, location of spool dir, and location of filters, etc.
are up to you.

We do not have tcpr, and are hosed until we can get it.

"Master printcap":
----------------

The long and the short of it is that there is no "master" printcap. There
*are* pretenders to the title, but none are authoritative. These pretenders
can be of some help though - perhaps soemthing could be compiled and stored
at ra.mcs.anl.gov in the same location as the "master" format.dat file ?
Feedback is welcome on this !

At any rate, many folks posted me the "pretenders" and I will post them here -
at least they can be a starting point for a potential "master" printcap.

The first is "Master Printcap Listing - Volume IV", which is dated 8/13/90,
so it's contents are valid, but currency ??? See SUMMARY II for this file.

The second is "Printcap City", Volume 6, dated 5/28/93 and it carries
a disclaimer from Sun - the entire file is included in SUMMARY III.

<<< END PART 1 >>>

Humble thanks to all who responded !

E. John Benjamins -- <johnb@blas.cis.mcmaster.ca>
Jeffrey Marans <jeff@erie.irc.nrc.ca>
Dave Sansom david@camscan.co.uk
Frank Henderson hendefd@mail.auburn.edu
Douglas C. Hahn hahn@plh.af.mil
Catherine Fulmer cfulmer@pnc-pimc.com
Dan Stromberg - OAC-DCS <strombrg@hydra.acs.uci.edu>
Mark S. Anderson manderso@mitre.org
Tim Brown tmb@tba.com
Jeff Martin jeff@auratek.com
Richard Kurtz rmk@snowhit.att.com
Guy Boudreault Guy.Boudreault@LMC.Ericsson.SE
Roy Hallquist <rhallqui@rigel.uark.edu>
Ron Hall <thorn@cc.mcgill.ca>
Waqar Malik waqar@rocky.fimi.com
Misha Pavlov <mike_+a_WTL_+lmike+_p+r%Trans_Ocean_Express@mcimail.com>
Patrick Connor pc@pyramid.com
Cynthia Sedlak SEDLAK@tawc1.eglin.af.mil

Regards,

Randy Taylor
rtaylor@ait.nrl.navy.mil

----
There is a theory which states that if anyone ever discovers what the universe
is for and why it is here, it will immediately disappear and be replaced by
something even more bizarre and inexplicable.  There is another theory which
states that this has already happened.  - Douglas Adams       
                                                                             



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