Annotation of researchv10no/cmd/post.src/postio/postio.1, revision 1.1

1.1     ! root        1: .TH POSTIO 1 "DWB 3.2"
        !             2: .SH NAME
        !             3: .B postio
        !             4: \- serial interface for PostScript printers
        !             5: .SH SYNOPSIS
        !             6: \*(mBpostio\f1
        !             7: .OP \-l line
        !             8: .OP "" options []
        !             9: .OP "" files []
        !            10: .SH DESCRIPTION
        !            11: .B postio
        !            12: sends
        !            13: .I files
        !            14: to the PostScript printer attached to
        !            15: .IR line .
        !            16: If no
        !            17: .I files
        !            18: are specified the standard input is sent.
        !            19: The first group of
        !            20: .I options
        !            21: should be sufficient for most applications:
        !            22: .TP 0.75i
        !            23: .OP \-b speed
        !            24: Transmit data over
        !            25: .I line
        !            26: at baud rate
        !            27: .I speed.
        !            28: Recognized baud rates are 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, and 19200.
        !            29: The default
        !            30: .I speed
        !            31: is 9600 baud.
        !            32: .TP
        !            33: .OP \-c
        !            34: Do not send
        !            35: .MR ^C s
        !            36: (interrupts) to the printer,
        !            37: which means
        !            38: .B postio
        !            39: does not force a busy printer into the idle state.
        !            40: .TP
        !            41: .OP \-l line
        !            42: Connect to printer attached to
        !            43: .IR line .
        !            44: In most cases there is no default and
        !            45: .B postio
        !            46: must be able to read and write
        !            47: .IR line .
        !            48: If
        !            49: .I line
        !            50: does not begin with
        !            51: .MW /
        !            52: it is treated as a Datakit destination.
        !            53: .TP
        !            54: .OP \-q
        !            55: Prevents status queries while
        !            56: .I files
        !            57: are being sent to the printer.
        !            58: When status queries are disabled a dummy message is appended
        !            59: to the log file before each block is transmitted.
        !            60: .TP
        !            61: .OP \-B num
        !            62: Set internal buffer size for reading and writing
        !            63: .I files
        !            64: to
        !            65: .I num
        !            66: bytes
        !            67: (default is 2048 bytes).
        !            68: .TP
        !            69: .OP \-D
        !            70: Enable debug mode.
        !            71: Guarantees that everything read on
        !            72: .I line
        !            73: will be added to the log file (standard error by default).
        !            74: .TP
        !            75: .OP \-L file
        !            76: Data received on
        !            77: .I line
        !            78: gets put in
        !            79: .IR file .
        !            80: The default log
        !            81: .I file
        !            82: is standard error.
        !            83: Printer or status messages that do not indicate a change in state
        !            84: are not normally written to
        !            85: .I file
        !            86: but can be forced out using the
        !            87: .OP \-D
        !            88: option.
        !            89: .TP
        !            90: .OP \-P string
        !            91: Send
        !            92: .I string
        !            93: to the printer before any of the input files.
        !            94: The default
        !            95: .I string
        !            96: is simple PostScript code that disables timeouts.
        !            97: .TP
        !            98: .OP \-R num
        !            99: Run
        !           100: .B postio
        !           101: as a single process if
        !           102: .I num
        !           103: is 1 or as separate read and write processes if
        !           104: .I num
        !           105: is 2.
        !           106: By default
        !           107: .B postio
        !           108: runs as a single process.
        !           109: .PP
        !           110: The next two
        !           111: .I options
        !           112: are provided for users who expect to run
        !           113: .B postio
        !           114: on their own.
        !           115: Neither is suitable for use in spooler interface
        !           116: programs:
        !           117: .TP 0.35i
        !           118: .OP \-i
        !           119: Run the program in interactive mode.
        !           120: Any
        !           121: .I files
        !           122: are sent first and followed by the standard input.
        !           123: Forces separate read and write processes
        !           124: and overrides many other options.
        !           125: To exit interactive mode use your interrupt or quit character.
        !           126: To get a friendly interactive connection with the printer type
        !           127: .MW executive
        !           128: on a line by itself.
        !           129: .TP
        !           130: .OP \-t
        !           131: Data received on
        !           132: .I line
        !           133: and not recognized as printer or status information is written to
        !           134: the standard output.
        !           135: Forces separate read and write processes.
        !           136: Convenient if you have a PostScript program that
        !           137: will be returning useful data to the host.
        !           138: .PP
        !           139: The last option is not generally recommended and should only
        !           140: be used if all else fails to provide a reliable connection:
        !           141: .TP 0.35i
        !           142: .OP \-S
        !           143: Slow the transmission of data to the printer.
        !           144: Severely limits throughput, runs as a single process,
        !           145: disables the
        !           146: .OP \-q
        !           147: option, limits the internal buffer size to 1024 bytes,
        !           148: can use an excessive amount of
        !           149: .SM CPU
        !           150: time, and does nothing in interactive mode.
        !           151: .PP
        !           152: Best performance is usually obtained by using
        !           153: a large internal buffer
        !           154: .OP -B "" ) (
        !           155: and by running the program as separate read and write processes
        !           156: .OP \-R2 "" ). (
        !           157: Inability to fork the additional process causes
        !           158: .B postio
        !           159: to continue as a single read/write process.
        !           160: When one process is used, only data sent to the printer is flow-controlled.
        !           161: .PP
        !           162: The options are not all mutually exclusive.
        !           163: The
        !           164: .OP \-i
        !           165: option always wins, selecting its own settings for whatever is
        !           166: needed to run interactive mode, independent of anything else
        !           167: found on the command line.
        !           168: Interactive mode runs as separate read and write processes
        !           169: and few of the other
        !           170: .I options
        !           171: accomplish anything in the presence of the
        !           172: .OP \-i
        !           173: option.
        !           174: The
        !           175: .OP \-t
        !           176: option needs a reliable two way connection to the printer and
        !           177: therefore tries to force separate read and write processes.
        !           178: The
        !           179: .OP \-S
        !           180: option relies on the status query mechanism, so
        !           181: .OP \-q
        !           182: is disabled and the program runs as a single process.
        !           183: .PP
        !           184: In most cases
        !           185: .B postio
        !           186: starts by making a connection to
        !           187: .I line
        !           188: and then attempts to force the printer into the
        !           189: .SM IDLE
        !           190: state by sending an appropriate sequence of
        !           191: .MW ^T
        !           192: (status query), 
        !           193: .MW ^C
        !           194: (interrupt), and
        !           195: .MW ^D
        !           196: (end of job) characters.
        !           197: When the printer goes
        !           198: .SM IDLE
        !           199: .I files
        !           200: are transmitted along with an occasional
        !           201: .MW ^T
        !           202: (unless the
        !           203: .OP \-q
        !           204: option was used).
        !           205: After all the
        !           206: .I files
        !           207: are sent the program waits until it is reasonably sure the
        !           208: job is complete.
        !           209: Printer generated error messages received at any time
        !           210: except while establishing the initial connection
        !           211: (or when running interactive mode) cause
        !           212: .B postio
        !           213: to exit with a non-zero status.
        !           214: In addition to being added to the log file, printer error messages
        !           215: are also echoed to standard error.
        !           216: .SH EXAMPLES
        !           217: Run as a single process at 9600 baud and send
        !           218: .I file1
        !           219: and
        !           220: .I file2
        !           221: to the printer attached to
        !           222: .MR /dev/tty01 :
        !           223: .EX
        !           224: postio -l /dev/tty01  \f2file1  file2
        !           225: .EE
        !           226: Same as above except two processes are used,
        !           227: the internal buffer is set to 4096 bytes,
        !           228: and data returned by the printer gets put in file
        !           229: .MR log :
        !           230: .EX
        !           231: postio -R2 -B4096 -l/dev/tty01 -Llog  \f2file1  file2
        !           232: .EE
        !           233: Establish an interactive connection with the printer at Datakit
        !           234: destination
        !           235: .MR my/printer :
        !           236: .EX
        !           237: postio -i -l my/printer
        !           238: .EE
        !           239: Send file
        !           240: .MW program
        !           241: to the printer connected to
        !           242: .MR /dev/tty22 ,
        !           243: recover any data in file
        !           244: .MR results ,
        !           245: and put log messages in file
        !           246: .MR log :
        !           247: .EX
        !           248: postio -t -l /dev/tty22 -L log program >results
        !           249: .EE
        !           250: .SH DIAGNOSTICS
        !           251: A 0 exit status is returned if the files ran successfully.
        !           252: System errors (e.g., ``can't open the line'') set the low order
        !           253: bit in the exit status, while PostScript errors set bit 1.
        !           254: An exit status of 2 usually means the printer
        !           255: detected a PostScript error in the input
        !           256: .IR files .
        !           257: .SH WARNINGS
        !           258: .PP
        !           259: The input
        !           260: .I files
        !           261: are handled as a single PostScript job.
        !           262: Sending several different jobs, each with their own internal
        !           263: end of job mark
        !           264: .RM ( ^D )
        !           265: is not guaranteed to work properly.
        !           266: .B postio
        !           267: may quit before all the jobs have completed and could be restarted
        !           268: before the last one finishes.
        !           269: .PP
        !           270: All the capabilities described above may not be available on every
        !           271: machine or even across the different versions of
        !           272: .SM UNIX
        !           273: that are currently supported by the program.
        !           274: For example, the code needed to connect to a Datakit destination may only
        !           275: work on System\ V and may require that the
        !           276: .SM DKHOST
        !           277: software package be available at compile time.
        !           278: .PP
        !           279: There may be no default
        !           280: .I line
        !           281: so using
        !           282: .OP \-l
        !           283: option is strongly recommended.
        !           284: If omitted
        !           285: .B postio
        !           286: may attempt to connect to the printer using the standard output.
        !           287: If Datakit is involved the
        !           288: .OP \-b
        !           289: may be ineffective and attempts by
        !           290: .B postio
        !           291: to flow control data in both directions may not work.
        !           292: The
        !           293: .OP \-q
        !           294: option can help if the printer is connected to \s-1RADIAN\s+1.
        !           295: The
        !           296: .OP \-S
        !           297: option is not generally recommended and should only be used if
        !           298: all else fails to establish a reliable connection.
        !           299: .SH SEE ALSO
        !           300: .BR buildtables (1),
        !           301: .BR dpost (1),
        !           302: .BR postdaisy (1),
        !           303: .BR postdmd (1),
        !           304: .BR postmd (1),
        !           305: .BR postprint (1),
        !           306: .BR postreverse (1),
        !           307: .BR posttek (1),
        !           308: .BR printfont (1)

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