HP-UX System Administrator's Guide: Overview HP-UX 11i v3 (B3921-90011, September 2010)

Printer model files are required in the following procedures:
• Adding a Local Printer to the LP Spooler — see HP-UX System Administrator’s Guide:
Configuration Management (Chapter 6: Configuring Printers)
• Adding a Remote Printer to the LP Spooler — see HP-UX System Administrator’s Guide:
Configuration Management (Chapter 6: Configuring Printers)
• Adding a Network-Based Printer — see HP-UX System Administrator’s Guide: Configuration
Management (Chapter 6: Configuring Printers)
The model scripts are ASCII files that you can read to find one that matches the printer's
capabilities. Protocols like the Printer Command Language (PCL) or PostScript are understood
by many non-HP printers as well. The printer's user guide may reveal details like the PCL
language level supported by the printer that are necessary to find the model script that allows
to make the best use of the printer's features.
Even model scripts written to support a specific printer type might not support all features
offered by it. Therefore, they might benefit from customizing. The scripts can be edited though
it is probably better practice to copy one to a file of a new name and edit the copy (in order to
prevent your customization from being overwritten should a new version of the original script
be delivered in a future update to HP-UX).
If there is no model file to match the protocol used by your printer, the one named "dumb" offers
some basic functionality and should work with most non-HP printers. There is also a "dumbplot"
model script for plotters.
The /usr/sbin/lpadmin command copies the identified model script to
/etc/lp/interface/printername. See lpadmin(1M) for information on the command options.
Printer Types
A local printer is physically connected to your system. To configure a local printer, see HP-UX
System Administrator’s Guide: Configuration Management (Chapter 6: Configuring Printers).
A remote printer may be physically connected or simply configured to a computer and accessed
over a network. To access the remote printer, your system sends requests over the network to
another system. To configure a remote printer into your local spooler, you must be able to access
the remote system via the network. To configure a remote printer, see HP-UX System
Administrator’s Guide: Configuration Management (Chapter 6: Configuring Printers).
A network-based printer differs from a remote printer in that it is connected directly to the network
rather than to a server. Network printers do not use device special files, but have their own IP
address and LANIC identification. To configure a network-based printer, see HP-UX System
Administrator’s Guide: Configuration Management (Chapter 6: Configuring Printers).
Printer Name
When you configure a printer into the spooler, you assign it a printer name, to which you direct
print requests. A printer name may have up to 256 alphanumeric characters, however for
maximum compatibility with other subsystems that interact with the spooler try to keep the
names to 14 characters. Printer names may include underscores. The following are sample valid
printer names: laser1, letterhead, invoices, check_printer. The printer names you
assign are listed in the directory /usr/spool/lp/interface. Each file in that directory is a
copy of the model file (printer interface script) that enables you to print to the named printer.
Printer Class
You can make efficient use of multiple printers by grouping them as though logically they were
a single printer. To do this, you create a printer class. A printer class is a collective name for a
group of printers. The printer class is retained in the directory/usr/spool/lp/class. For
example, the sample printers named laser1 and letterhead might be assigned a printer class
called “VIP”, while the printers named invoices and check_printer might be assigned a
68 Major Components of HP-UX