APRINT(1)

NAME
aprint - Annex remote print command

SYNOPSIS
aprint -Aannex [ -Lline ] | [ -pport ] [ -fD ] [ -Fstring ] [ files... ]
aprint [ -Pprinter ] [ -f ] [ -Fstring ] [ files... ]

ARGUMENTS

-A annex
    The host name string or Internet address (in standard Internet dot-separated notation) of the Annex on which to print.

-L line
    The serial port line number to use for printing on the Annex specified by -A. If neither this option nor the -p option are specified, or if a value of 0 is given as the line number, then the parallel port is used. A value greater than zero specifies a serial port. This option cannot be used at the same time as the -p option.

-p port
    The parallel port line number to use for printing on the Annex specified by -A. This option cannot be used with the -L option.

-f  Prevent aprint from supplying extra form-feeds.

-D  Specifies that debug output should be sent to standard output. This option may be repeated for more detailed information. Level 1: Connect acknowledge and per file messages. Level 2: Connect setup details.

-F string
    Use string to produce a form-feed instead of the default string of a single ^L. This will override an ff= capability read from /etc/printcap. No form-feeds are produced if the -f flag has been given.

files...
    The file(s) to print; if none are specified, then the standard input is used.

-P printer
    Use printer as the printer name to look up in /etc/printcap. (OBSOLETE)

DESCRIPTION
The aprint utility is intended for sites that either do not have or cannot modify the Berkeley printer spooler. It sends files directly to a printer attached to an Annex, without the use of a spooling mechanism. Aprint supports printers connected to either a parallel port or any of an Annex's serial ports. The name of the Annex and port to be printed on are specified by the -A and -L arguments, respectively. To be backward-compatible with old versions of aprint, it also supports a -P argument specifying a printer name to be looked up in the /etc/printcap file. The -A and -P arguments are mutually exclusive. If neither is given, aprint will look up in /etc/printcap the printer named by either the value of the PRINTER environment variable or, if that is not set, the default printer named lp.

By default, aprint will print a form-feed at the start of every file and at the end of all specified files. Versions of the Annex operational code previous to R3.0 produced these form-feeds without a means of disabling them. Since this function should now be produced by host resident software, aprint will provide them for backward compatibility. The -f flag will prevent aprint from generating these form-feeds.

FILES
/etc/printcap    printer capabilities data-base

SEE ALSO
Annex Network Administrator's Guide

DIAGNOSTICS
Most messages are self-explanatory, if not overly verbose.

RESTRICTIONS
Some ports of the Berkeley networking software to System V systems do not support out-of-band data (MSG_OOB) on sockets. Since OOB is used in the close handshake of the Annex LPD protocol, this handshake will not be used on such hosts. The implication of this is that with two back-to-back invocations of aprint , the second can fail because the Annex port will still be busy from the first print job. This should not be a problem if aprint is invoked from within a spooling system (such as System V lp or Berkeley LPD).

Revision R7.0 and later of aprint cannot be used with Annex operational code before revision R3.0, because the later Annex operational code revisions use a more elaborate Annex LPD protocol that provides for acknowledgements from the Annex to the host (indicating that the Annex is ready to receive data) and from the host to the Annex (marking EOF, among other things). This makes it possible for aprint to determine that the Annex has opened the requested serial or parallel line sucessfully.