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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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