Re: Printing settings, again

[Yevgen Muntyan <muntyan tamu edu>]

Alexander Larsson wrote:

> I'm not really well versed in how lpr works though. There are files
> like /etc/printcap that are used by the lpr system, so maybe there is
> already some place to save lpr default options?
>  
From lpr manpage:

ENVIRONMENT
   If the following environment variable exists, it is used by lpr:

   PRINTER  Specifies an alternate default printer.

FILES
   /etc/passwd              Personal identification.
   /etc/printcap            Printer capabilities data base.
   /usr/sbin/lpd            Line printer daemons.
   /var/spool/output/*      Directories used for spooling.
   /var/spool/output/*/cf*  Daemon control files.
   /var/spool/output/*/df*  Data files specified in "cf" files.
   /var/spool/output/*/tf*  Temporary copies of "cf" files.

So, there seems to be no way for user to set his printers, except
PRINTER variable, but PRINTER is for one default printer. E.g. in
our department setup we have two public printers - APrinter and
APrinter-ss (same printer with double-side and sinlgle-side printing).
And backends option issue remains open even if lpr is managed elsewhere.

> Introducing read-write printing settings in gtk+ is a bit problematic,
> as there is currently no support for such settings in gtk+.
>  
Federico must know how to do it ;)

Best regards,
Yevgen