.TH PRINTCAP 5
.UC
.ad
.SH NAME
printcap \- printer capability data base
.SH SYNOPSIS
/etc/printcap
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Printcap
is a simplified version of the
.IR termcap (5)
data base
used to describe line printers.  The spooling system accesses the
.I printcap
file every time it is used, allowing dynamic
addition and deletion of printers.  Each entry in the data base
is used to describe one printer.  This data base may not be
substituted for, as is possible for 
.IR termcap ,
because it may allow accounting to be bypassed.
.PP
The default printer is normally 
.IR lp ,
though the environment variable PRINTER
may be used to override this.  Each spooling utility supports an option,
.BI \-P printer,
to allow explicit naming of a destination printer.
.SH CAPABILITIES
Refer to
.I termcap
for a description of the file layout.
.nf

.ta \w'k0-k9  'u +\w'Type  'u +\w'``/usr/spool/lpd\'\'  'u
\fBName	Type	Default	Description\fR
af	str	NULL	name of accounting file
br	num	none	if lp is a tty, set the baud rate (ioctl call)
fc	num	0	if lp is a tty, clear flag bits (sgtty.h)
ff	str	``\ef''	string to send for a form feed
fo	bool	false	print a form feed when device is opened
fs	num	0	like `fc' but set bits
lf	str	``/dev/console''	error logging file name
lo	str	``lock''	name of lock file
lp	str	``/dev/lp''	device name to open for output
mx	num	1000	maximum file size (in BUFSIZ blocks), zero = unlimited
of	str	NULL	name of output filtering program
pl	num	66	page length (in lines)
pw	num	132	page width (in characters)
rw	bool	false	open the printer device for reading and writing
sd	str	``/usr/spool/lpd''	spool directory
sf	bool	false	suppress form feeds
sh	bool	false	suppress printing of burst page header
tr	str	NULL	trailer string to print when queue empties
xc	num	0	if lp is a tty, clear local mode bits (tty (4))
xs	num	0	like `xc' but set bits
.fi
.PP
Error messages sent to the console have a carriage return and a line
feed appended to them, rather than just a line feed.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
lpq(1), lpr(1), lprm(1), termcap(5), lpd(8)