[ale] remote printer in printcap, help needed (fwd)

[Greg Hankins]

I am trying to use a networked printer for which I will want an 'if' run.
The Printing HOWTO suggests two-stage spooling to achieve this, but I
can't seem to get it right.  My attempt is given below.

in /etc/printcap:

[..]
#
netjet|sdlj5:\
       :lp=/dev/null:\
       :sd=/usr/spool/lpsdlrm:\
       :if=/usr/local/lib/netjetfilter:
net_printer:\
       :lp=/dev/null:sh:rm=<our remote's name>:rp=raw:\
       :sd=/usr/spool/lpsdlrm-raw:
#
[..]

for the moment, /usr/local/lib/netjetfilter is a dummy:
#!/bin/sh
touch /tmp/netfilter
lpr -Pnet_printer -

The filter is executable, and the spool directories were created.

When I print to the remote, I have no filtering (the infamous staircase,
for example), but I hit the printer with my job:
% lpr -Pnet_printer <file>

When I print to the dummy, I seem to spool some files, but don't send them
to the filter.  (For example, '/tmp/netfilter' is not created.)

If I direct the filter output to my default local printer, I get the same
results: the filter is not activated, nor is anything sent to the printer.
I conclude that I am not successfully spooling out my work.

TIA --jmm--

John M. Mills, Senior Research Engineer   --   john.m.mills at gtri.gatech.edu
   Georgia Tech Research Institute, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA 30332-0853
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