Specifications

6-14
Guide to Printers and Printing
pitch, and character sets, and you might have trouble keeping the printer set to the correct
modes for each print request or using printer forms with the printer. In this case, you can
either add an entry to terminfo ( Adding a Printer Entry to the terminfo Database on page
6-14) for your printer or create a customized interface program ( Creating Printer Interface
Scripts on page 6-11) to use with the printer.
You can define hundreds of items for each terminal or printer in the terminfo database.
However, the print service uses fewer than 50 of these, and most printers need even less
than that. You can check items defined for a specific terminfo entry by entering the following
command:
infocmp terminfo_name
Adding a Printer Entry to the terminfo Database
To create a terminfo entry for your printer, do the following:
1. Identify an entry in the /usr/lib/terminfo/terminfo.lp file that uses the same commands
as the printer you are adding and copy that information to filename, where filename is
the file containing the terminfo entry you created for the printer.
2. Use the information in the manual for your printer, the terminfo Entry Definitions for
Printers on page 6-14, and terminfo to modify the entry in filename.
3. After you create the new entry, compile it into the database, as follows:
tic filename
After adding or deleting terminfo entries or changing values that govern pitch settings, page
width and length, or character sets, stop and restart the print service.
terminfo Entry Definitions for Printers
Following are the print service terminfo entries and their definitions:
terminfo entry Description
Booleans:
daisy Printer needs operator to change character set
Numbers:
bufsz Number of bytes buffered before printing
* cols Number of columns in a line
* it Tabs initially every # spaces
* lines Number of lines on a page
orc Horizontal resolution in units per character
orhi Horizontal resolution in units per inch
orl Vertical resolution in units per line
orvi Vertical resolution in units per inch
cps Average print rate in characters per second
Strings:
* cr Carriage return
cpi Change number of characters per inch
lpi Change number of lines per inch
chr Change horizontal resolution
cvr Change vertical resolution
csnm List of character set names
mgc Clear all margins (top, bottom, and sides)