Specifications

2-25
Printing Administration
Commands and control sequences
This section includes the following topics:
• Terminfo database on page 2-25
• Adding support for nonsupported terminals on page 2-25
• Native, 8–port, 16–port, and third–party controllers on page 2-26
• 64–port controller on page 2-26
• 128–port controller on page 2-26
• Printer backend commands on page 2-26
Terminfo database
The terminfo database contains the capabilities and special features of a terminal device,
such as cursor positioning, initialization sequences, and key sequences that control specific
terminal operations. For supported terminals, the control sequence values are pre–defined
in the terminfo database. The control sequences that allow access to the AUX port are:
mc5
=Value
Instructs the terminal to send all data to the AUX port (Printer ON).
mc4
=Value
Restores output to the terminal (Printer OFF).
The control sequence values are terminal–specific. For example, the printer command
sequences for an IBM 3151 terminal are:
mc5=^P^R
mc4=^P^T
In this example, ^P^R refers to the Ctrl–P Ctrl–R key sequence.
Adding support for nonsupported terminals
The control sequences must be added to the terminfo database in the
/usr/share/lib/terminfo directory. To add the control sequence values for your terminal:
1. Edit the appropriate *.ti file.
2. Compile the file using the tic command. See the documentation supplied with your
terminal for more information about control sequence values.
The virtual printer database is a series of files that describe the way print requests should
be processed, such as the data stream to be delivered to the printer. User–configurable
attributes specific to terminal–attached printers are defined in the virtual printer database
and are based upon the asynchronous communications adapter being used.
The virtual printer attributes are defined when the virtual printer is configured. The naming
convention for attributes unique to terminal–attached printers is y N, where N is an integer
greater than or equal to 0. The value of y0 is reserved. It designates that the virtual printer
queue is configured for a terminal–attached printer and contains the hardware line discipline
for the terminal port. The sections that follow detail the adapter–specific virtual printer
attributes for terminal–attached printers.
To change the attribute values on an existing virtual printer, use the Web–based System
Manager Devices fast path. You can also use the smit ps_lsvirprt fast path
command.