Specifications

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System V Printer Configuration
contains only one type: simple.) If you are adding a remote printer, list the content types
that have been established for it by the administrator of the system on which it resides.
The content–type–list is a list of names separated by commas or spaces. If you use
spaces to separate the names, enclose the entire list (except for the –I) in quotes.
Common Types
Content type names might look like printer type names, but you are free to choose names
that are meaningful to you and the people using the printer. The names must contain no
more than 14 characters and may include only letters, digits, and underscores. The
following table lists and describes some accepted content types.
Note: The names simple and any are recognized as having particular meanings by the
print service; be sure to use them consistently. The name terminfo is also reserved, as a
reference to all types of printers.
Commonly Used Content Types
Types Description
cif Output of BSD cifpbt
daisy Print files intended for a Diablo 630 (daisy–wheel) printer
dmd Print the contents of a bit–mapped display from a terminal
fortran ASA carriage control format
otroff CAT typesetter instructions generated by BSD or pre–System V troff (old troff)
pcl HP LaserJet native output format
plot Plotting instructions for Tektronix displays and devices
postscr
ipt
PostScript language
raster Raster bitmap format for Varian raster devices
simple ASCII file
tek4014 Print files formatted for a Tektronix 4014 device
tex DVI format files
troff Device–independent output from troff
When a file is submitted to the print service for printing with the printer specified by the –d
any option of the lp command, the print service searches for a printer capable of handling
the job. The print service can identify an appropriate printer through either the content type
name or the printer type name. Therefore, you may specify either name (or no name) when
submitting a file for printing. If the same content type is printable by several different types of
printers, use the same content type names when you add those printers. This makes it
easier for the people using the printers because they can use the same name to identify the
type of file they want printed, regardless of the printing destination.
Most manufacturers produce printers that accept simple ASCII files. While these printers are
different types (and thus have different initialization control sequences), they may all be
capable of handling the same type of file, which we call simple. Several manufacturers may
produce printers that accept ANSI X3.64 defined escape sequences. However, the printers
may not support all the ANSI capabilities; they may support different sets of capabilities. You
may want to differentiate them by assigning different content type names for these printers.