Archive-name: Xprint/FAQ_OLD Version: 0.8 Last-Modified: 2003/08/04 15:20:19 Maintained-by: Roland Mainz NOTE: This version of the FAQ has been discontinued and was replaced by the DocBook-based version available under xc/doc/hardcopy/XPRINT/Xprint_FAQ.xml (available through http from ) The following is a list of questions that are frequently asked about Xprint. You can help make it an even better-quality FAQ by writing a short contribution or update and sending it BY EMAIL ONLY to me. A contribution should consist of a question and an answer, and increasing number of people sends me contributions of the form "I don't know the answer to this, but it must be a FAQ, please answer it for me". Please read the FAQ first and then feel free to ask me if it is not in the FAQ. Thanks! The latest Xprint FAQ and some other goodies can be obtained through http from Note that the FAQ has not been finished yet (nor is it half-finished...), many items marked with "XXX" as the answer have still to be written (or have to be copy&pasted from my item collection... :) 1. GENERAL - Q: What is "Xprint" ? A: In short, "Xprint" is an advanced printing system which enables X11 applications to use devices like printers, FAX or create documents in formats like PostScript or PDF. In long, "Xprint" is a very flexible, extensible, scaleable, client/server print system based on ISO 10175 (and some other specs) and the X11 rendering protocol. Using Xprint an application can search, query and use devices like printers, FAX machines or create documents in formats like PDF. In particular, an application can seek a printer, query supported attributes (like paper size, trays, fonts etc.), configure the printer device to match it's needs and print on it like on any other X device reusing parts of the code which is used for the video card Xserver... - Q: Where can I get Xprint/Xprt from ? A: Xprint is client-server based, therefore two answers: - The server side is available by default on Solaris[1] and HP-UX (Xfree86 ships a "Xprt" binary, but that is broken and the server config files are missing, too). For those platforms who do not have a (working) Xprt server the you can get source, binary tarballs and Linux RPMs from http://xprint.mozdev.org/ , Debian Linux has a package based on the same sources (see http://packages.qa.debian.org/x/xprint-xprintorg.html) - The client-side Xprint support library (libXp.so) is available on all X11 platforms >=R6.4, including Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX etc. if you do not have it you can build it from the sources available at http://xprint.mozdev.org/ [1]=(for Solaris >= 2.7 xprint.mozdev.org provides the "GISWxprintglue" and "GISWxprint" packages (available from http://xprint.mozdev.org/download.html) which provides a single-step drop-in way to configure and start Xprint at system startup and/or per-user for all applications and users (the package provides only startup scripts and some config data and uses the Xprt binary provided with Solaris (/usr/openwin/bin/Xprt)) - Q: What is "Xprt" ? A: Xprt is the server-side of Xprint. It's just like any other Xserver - it uses only an other kind of output device (printer instead of framebuffer) and implements an extra X11 extension ("XpExtension") to handle the special features/requirements of a "paged device"(=printer etc.). - Q: "Why do some people like Xprint ?" / "What are the advantages of Xprint ?" A: - Xprint allows an application to query what features (paper size, trays, orientation, resolutions, plexes, fonts and much more) a printer supports. For example it is avoidable that a user accidently prints DIN-A4 on a DIN-A0 poster printer (the print dialog would only offer DIN-A0 as paper size, e.g. offers only choices which are valid for this printer). - Server-side, localizeable configuration - changes to the server config apply to all users without the need to change/updating anything on the user side (the user may still start his/her own Xprt instance using his/her preferred configuration). - Small footprint - ideal for for mobile devices (client side does not need to process any fonts - that's the job of the server side) - API not restriced to PostScript (X11R6.5.1 comes with PCL and Raster implementations - and PDF/G3-FAX/SVG would be possible without problems) - Scaleable - Xprint can use as many Xprt servers as the user/admin wants - "Xprint is designed for the enterprise", e.g. Xprint was designed to match the needs of large company networks. - Automatic font handling - font download or the existence of printer-builtin fonts is automagically handled by Xprt - the application does not need to know/handle any details (but the application can optionally get information and control the usage of printer builtin fonts) - You can print anything what you can render on the framebuffer(=video card) Xserver - Existing code can be reused 1:1 for printing - which means reduced development costs - Easy support for I18N (internationalization) - you simply render any fonts in any language with Xprint - Network-transparent design - Client can use local or remote Xprt servers like any other Xserver - Uses the X11 protocol - easy adoption of existing code to implement printer support. And all the network goodies like firewall proxies, compressors etc. can be used for Xprint without modifications. - Security: Xprint can use all authentification schemes available in X11 (like Kerberos5, SecureRPC, MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE or host-based authentification). - Enhachements on the server side (Xprt) to not require the change of client-side code. - Optimized job output (like the PostScript created by the PostScript DDX) is usually a lot smaller than the PS code created by other PostScript engines. - Q: Why do some people dislike Xprint? A: There are a few common misconceptions about Xprint. Let's take a look some of these "myths", some background - and the facts: - Myth: "Xprint prints just a XWD dump of the Xserver bitmap" Fact: Whoever says Xprint simply does an "xwd"-like dump is wrong. In short, Xprint _currently_ (X11R6.5.1) supports *four* drivers: 1) X to native Postscript 2) X to native PCL5 3) X to native PCL3 4) X to a raster which is then feed to something like xpr to create PS or PCL5 wrapped rasters. In long, the original X Print Service ("XPS") was attempted during CDE 1.0, and they only got so far as the "raster" driver. As CDE 2.0 came around, Bob Schiefler and others at the X Consortium agreed that the X Consortium would work on a X to native PS Level 2 driver and HP would work on a X to native PCL5 driver. It was probably the CDE 1.0 effect that left many people with the impression that Xprint is all about xwd-like window dumps. NO! Xprint has native PostScrpt and PCL5 printing and more drivers (like a PDF DDX etc.) are in the development. - Myth: "Xprint cannot handle non-'ISO Latin 1' chars" - Fact: Xprint can print any chars incl. those required for MathML, Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese etc. etc. For example - the Xprint module for Mozilla5 is the only print module which can proprtly print MathML. - Myth: "Xprint uses a 1024x768 screen resolution to render the stuff on the paper - therefore it will never be able to do high-resolution stuff" Fact: Xprt uses the screen resolution requested by the application or the printers default resolution. For example a 300 DPI printer which supports paper sizes up to DIN-A4 will get a screen with 3300x3300 pixels (screen width and height are usually equal to support per-page changes in the orientation (potrait/landscape etc.), the window size would be 2400x3149 for "portrait" orientation) - and larger resolutions will result in larger screens. - Myth: "Xprint prints only graphics(=bitmap/gfx) fonts" - Fact: In short, Xprt supports printer-builtin fonts and can download fonts to the printer if they do not exist on the printer. In long, this myth seems to have it's root in a _feature_ of Xprt which can - if Xprt gets misconfigured - disable the use of printer-builtin fonts and the ability to download fonts. Xprt's PostScript and PCL DDX have the _unique_ feature to create font glyphs from bitmap fonts if they are not available as printer-builtin fonts nor as PostScipt Type1 fonts. However this is the fallback - the _last_ option used by Xprt. Used if everything else fails. But when someone does not pass any PS Type1 fonts with the font path nor configures a printer model-config (which contains a description of the features&fonts supported by the printer) Xprt will never have a chance to use them. And if everything else fails it has no other option than using what has been left - the bitmap fonts... - Myth: "Xprint does not support pages sizes larger than DIN-A4" Fact: There is no such limitation. The only limit is the 16bit coordinate system of the X11 protocol - which is large enougth that Xprint can support paper sizes _larger_ than DIN-A0 oversize papers. There is no problem with creating your own monster-size DIN-A0 posters using Xprint-based applications. - Myth: "Xprint does not support rotated text" Fact: Xprint and all it's drivers support the X11 matrix XLFD enhancement introduced in X11R6. Fonts can be rotated at any angle. Take a look at the "SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT" section in this FAQ for examples... - Q: Does Xprint support anti-aliased fonts ? A: Question back: When do we need anti-aliased fonts ? Anti-aliasing is a "hack" to work around the limitations caused by the low resolution of monitors - they usually operate between 72 DPI and 150 DPI. But Xprint operates on printers where the usual _minimum_ resolution is 300 DPI (today's normal office printers support resolutions ranging from 300 DPI up to 2400 DPI depending on the model; most common is 600 DPI). Anti-aliasing at those resolutions is not required anymore. Additionally many printers support their own font anti-aliasing at lower resolutions which is far better and faster than it could be "done" on the client side. - Q: How can I check if Xprint is working and should be used ? A: Check whether the ${XPSERVERLIST} env var is set or not. If ${XPSERVERLIST} is set then Xprint is available and should be used. - Q: How can I view PS(=PostScript) files ? A: - On Unix/Linux (general): - GhostScript ("gs") and GhostView ("gv") - Solaris: - /usr/dt/bin/sdtimage (DPS-based image viewer for CDE) - /usr/openwin/bin/pageview (DPS-based image viewer for OpenWindows) - Q: How can I view PCL files ? A: XXX - http://xprint.mozdev.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=2261 has been filed for that issue. - Q: How does Xprt find fonts ? A: Lookup-rule for Xprt's PostScript DDX to find fonts: 1. Printer-builtin fonts (defined by the fonts/-dir in the model-config) 2. PostScript fonts (will be downloaded via generated print job) 3. GFX-fonts build from X11 scaleable fonts 4. GFX-fonts build from X11 bitmap fonts - Q: How can I print TrueType fonts with Xprint ? A: 1. Linux Xprt build from http://xprint.mozdev.org 's source supports TrueType fonts out-of-the-box (starting with the 008 development tree; xprint.mozdev.org's releases <= 007 do not support TrueType fonts) and and does not require any special actions. 2. Sun's Xprt on Solaris (/usr/openwin/bin/Xprt) has TrueType font support out-of-the-box and does not require any special actions 3. You can setup a TTF-aware X font server ("xfs", see xfs(1)) with the matching TrueType fonts and add the font server location to Xprt's font path. 4. Sourceforge has a TrueType to PostScript Type 1 converter project, see http://ttf2pt1.sourceforge.net/download.html You may convert the TTF files into PT1 files that Xprt can download them to the printer on demand... - Q: What does "DDX" mean ? A: DDX is a short term for "Device Dependent X" - the device-specific layer of a Xserver ("DIX"(="Device Independent X") is the counterpart). - Q: What does "DIX" mean ? A: DIX is a short term for "Device Independent X" - the non-device specific code of a Xserver ("DDX"(="Device Dependent X") is the counterpart). - Q: I have twenty printers installed on my system - but Xprt only shows two screens. Where are all the other printers ? A: A Xprt screen does not represent a single printer. A Xprt screen represents a single DDX (currently supported are PostScript, PCL3/5 color, PCL mono and "raster" output(=1bit deep bitmap). - Q: Which platforms support Xprint ? A: All platforms which support X11 >= R6.4 can use Xprint. The client side (libXp.so) is available on Linux/FreeBSD(=Xfree86), Solaris, HP-UX and AIX and the Xprt server side is available by default on Solaris and HP-HX (Xfree86 shipps with a Xprt binary - but that is broken and unuseable). The client-side extension library (libXp.so) can be compiled on any platform, the Xprt server needs minor adjustments for the specific platforms... If your platform does not have Xprint (client-side and/or server-side) you can get the sources from http://xprint.mozdev.org/ - Q: I have the broken Xfree86 Xprt binary on my system. Do I need a new version of "libXp.so" (the client side X11 extension library for Xprint), too ? A: No, the libXp.so shared library shipped with Xfree86 or build from Xfree86 sources is not broken, only the server side ("Xprt") is buggy. There is no need to replace the library. - Q: Which spelling is correct - "Xprint", "XPrint", "Xprinter" or Xprt" ? A: "Xprint" is the correct one - "XPrint" is just a typo, "Xprinter" is a complety different product not related to X11/Xprint and "Xprt" is only the "X11 print server"(=the server side of Xprint). - Q: Which applications support Xprint ? A: There are various applications which support Xprint: - Motif/LessTif (full framework incl. special widgets like XmPrintShell) - Common Desktop Environment (CDE) 2.x - Mozilla - Eclipse - KDE/Qt support is comming is planned for the end of Dec/2002 - StarOffice 5.x etc. - Q: Is "Xprint" "mozilla"-only (I saw that it's hosted by mozdev.org) ? A: No, Xprint is a general-purpose print API based on the X11 API used by many applications (mozdev.org is just hosting the development area, but this does not mean the project is limited to mozilla... :) - Q: Under which license is the source code from xprint.mozdev.org distributed under ? A: That's the plain "MIT" license, the same as used by Xfree86.org and X.org: -- snip -- Copyright (c) Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. -- snip -- 2. USAGE - Q: How do I configure Xprint on the client side ? A: There are two env vars which control Xprint on the client side: 1. The env variable ${XPSERVERLIST} contains a list of display identifiers (seperated by whitespace) to tell the application where it can find the Xprt servers. Usually ${XPSERVERLIST} is set by the profile startup scripts (e.g. /etc/profile or /etc/profile.d/xprint.sh) using the output of "/etc/init.d/xprint get_xpserverlist". Example: % export XPSERVERLIST="`/etc/init.d/xprint get_xpserverlist`" Alternativly ${XPSERVERLIST} can be set manually: Example: % export XPSERVERLIST="littlecat:80 bitdog:72" instructs an application to look at the displays 80 on the machine "littlecat" and display 72 on the machine bigdog to look for Xprt servers. 2. The env variable ${XPRINTER} defines the default printer used by print applications. The syntax is either or @ - Examples: 1. % export XPRINTER=ps003 tells an application to look for the first printer named "ps003" on all Xprt servers. 2. % export XPRINTER="hplaser19@littlecat:80" tells an application to look for the printer "hplaser19" on the Xprt display "littlecat:80". * If ${XPRINTER} is not set the applications will examine the values of the ${PDPRINTER}, ${LPDEST}, and ${PRINTER} env vars (in that order). - Q: How do I start Xprt ? A: 1. Linux RPM installations on Mandrake/RedHat/SuSE Linux: Binary RPM packages provided by xprint.mozdev.org (or based on the same source :) will install /etc/init.d/xprint and related glue (see [4]) automatically; after a reboot a Xprt instance will be started at system startup and ${XPSERVERLIST} should be populated for all users. Note that you can start/stop per-user instances using /etc/init.d/xprint (see [4]), too... 2. Debian Linux: Same as [1], however Debian does not support /etc/profile.d/ - you have to add the following line to /etc/profile (for sh/ksh/bash) to populate ${XPSERVERLIST}: -- snip -- export XPSERVERLIST="`/bin/sh /etc/init.d/xprint get_xpserverlist`" -- snip -- See http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=171174 ('"xprint-xprintorg" should automatically populate $XPSERVERLIST') for further details on this issue... 3a. Solaris using the "GISWxprintglue" package: http://xprint.mozdev.org/ provides a Solaris package called "GISWxprintglue" which contains all the neccesary configuration files and startup scripts to use Xprint; after a reboot a Xprt instance will be started at system startup and ${XPSERVERLIST} should be populated for all users. Note that you can start/stop per-user instances using /etc/init.d/xprint (see [4]), too... 3b. Solaris using the "GISWxprint" package: http://xprint.mozdev.org/ provides a Solaris package called "GISWxprint" which is technically identical to the "GISWxprintglue" (see [3a]) but provides a Xprt binary build from the xprint.mozdve.org sources ("GISWxprintglue" uses the /usr/openwin/bin/Xprt binary provided by Solaris). 4. General: Using /etc/init.d/xprint and related glue: There are startup/shutdown scripts in xc/programs/Xserver/Xprint/etc/ to start/stop/restart Xprt per-machine and/or per-user and to populate the ${XPSERVERLIST} env var: - "xc/programs/Xserver/Xprint/etc/init.d/xprint" is a script for SystemV and Linux to start/stop/restart Xprt. The script includes installation and usage details and can be used by both "root" (to start Xprt for all users) or by a single (non-priviledged, plain) user (to start Xprt instances only for his/her own use) - "xc/programs/Xserver/Xprint/etc/profile.d/xprint.csh" and "xc/programs/Xserver/Xprint/etc/profile.d/xprint.sh" are scripts for Linux (which support /etc/profile.d/ ; note that this does not include Debian) to populate the ${XPSERVERLIST} env var for each user. 5. Starting Xprt "manually" (without using /etc/init.d/xprint): Set the ${XPCONFIGDIR} env variable to the directory where Xprt can find it's configuration data. | WARNING: If Xprt cannot find it's configuration data it will not be | able to use printer-builtin fonts (which are defined by the | model-config in the configuration dir). Without printer-builtin fonts | Xprt _may_ fall back to generate font glyphs from bitmap fonts (this | resulted in the MYTH that "Xprt can only print gfx fonts". This is not | _TRUE_ - this only happens if Xprt is either misconfigured or no | matching builtin or PS Type1 font is available). You may want to make a copy of the default configuration directory and modify it to match your needs. Starting Xprt is just as easy as starting any other Xserver: % Xprt :12 will start Xprt on display 12 (e.g. set ${XPSERVERLIST} to ":12" or "myhostname:12". You may want to copy your framebuffer Xserver's font path to be able to print all fonts which can be displayed on that Xserver. % Xprt -fp $(xset q | awk "/Font Path:/ { i=1 ; next } i==1 { print \$0 ; i=0 }") :12 Notes: - The /etc/init.d/xprint has a more advanched filtering scheme based on regex patters to "accept" and/or "reject" font paths - 'xset q | awk "/Font Path:/ { i=1 ; next } i==1 { print \$0 ; i=0 }"' may be too simple-minded if your Xserver does not support TrueType fonts. The following statemement is better in this case since it filters the font path and removes all path elements which have TrueType fonts (*.ttf, *.TTF) or TrueType font collections (*.ttc, *.TTC) in "fonts.dir": -- snip -- % xset q | awk "/Font Path:/ { i=1 ; next } i==1 { print \$0 ; i=0 }" | tr "," "\n" | while read i ; do \ if [ "$(cat ${i}/fonts.dir | egrep -i "ttf|ttc" 2>/dev/null)" == "" ] \ ; then echo $i ; fi ; done | (fontpath="" ; fpdelim=""; while read i ; \ do fontpath=${fontpath}${fpdelim}${i} ; fpdelim="," ; done ; echo \ $fontpath) -- snip -- - It may be easier to just feed all available font paths to Xprt (BTW: mozilla 1.0 had a bug in that case which resulted in the problem that it used many many bitmap fonts in that case - this has been fixed for 1.0.1 and Netscape 7 (that's the reason why the quickguides for hebrew/cyrillic use the "Xp_dummyfonts" fonts instead of /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/misc/ - to avoid that Mozilla finds bitmap fonts for the same locale). The following "small" one-liner finds all fonts (except printer builtin fonts): -- snip -- % find /usr/openwin -name fonts.dir | while read i ; do echo ${i%/fonts.dir} ; done | fgrep -v "models/" -- snip -- Plug it into the filter above to remove the Truetype fonts and you are "done"... :) See TROUBLESHOOTING if you run into problems... - Q: How can I get a list of printers managed by Xprint ? A: The tool "xplsprinters" is designed for that purpose. It can deliver both list of printers and attributes supported for a specific list of printers. Use % xplsprinters -h # to obtain usage information. Example: - Get list of available printers: -- snip -- % xplsprinters printer: hplaserjet001@castor:19 printer: hpcolor001@castor:19 printer: laser1@jason:5 printer: david_dj01@jason:5 -- snip -- - Get information about the supported attrbites of printer "ps002": -- snip -- % xplsprinters -printer ps002 -l printer: ps002@castor:18 comment= model-identifier=HPDJ1600C default-medium=iso-a4 default-input-tray= medium-source-sizes-supported=iso-a4 false 6.35 203.65 6.35 290.65 medium-source-sizes-supported=na-letter false 6.35 209.55 6.35 273.05 default-printer-resolution=300 resolution=300 default_orientation= orientation=portrait orientation=landscape default_plex= plex=simplex -- snip -- - Q: How can I start Xprt at boot time ? A: "xc/programs/Xserver/Xprint/etc/init.d/xprint" is a script for SystemV and Linux to start/stop/restart Xprt at system startup (e.g. per-machine) or for a single user (e.g. per-user). The script includes installation and usage details. - Q: How can I start Xprt per-user ? A: "xc/programs/Xserver/Xprint/etc/init.d/xprint" is a script for SystemV and Linux to start/stop/restart Xprt at system startup (e.g. per-machine) or for a single user (e.g. per-user). The script includes installation and usage details. - Q: How can I start Xprt only for one application ? A: Create your own version/copy of /etc/init.d/xprint and modify it to fit your requirements and then make sure that you issue a "my_xprint_startscript start" before starting the application and a "my_xprint_startscript stop" after leaving the application. - Q: How can I filter the font path which should be passed to Xprt for certain fonts ? A: XXX - Q: How can I manage access control to the Xprt server ? A: Access control to Xprt is not differently as to any other Xserver and can be handled in various ways - like per-cookie (using MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 authentification), per-user (using SUN-DES-1 or MIT-KERBEROS-5 auth., see (see xhost(1))) and/or per-machine (using "xhost" (see xhost(1)) and/or /etc/X.hosts ( == display number, e.g. /etc/X0.hosts for display 0) (see Xserver(1))) Consult manual pages Xsecurity(7), xhost(1), Xserver(1) etc. for further details. - Q: How can I log access to the Xprt server ? A: Logging access to Xprt can be done using the standard Xserver auditing, see the Xserver(1) manual page, option "-audit" - Q: Does it require "root" permissions to use Xprt/Xprint ? A: No, both Xprint clients and Xprint server(s) do not require root rights to work. Xprint clients are handled like any other X11 application and the Xprt servers can run without any special requirements. Solaris is an exception here since it requires to start any Xserver (incl. Xprt) setgid "root" (set-group-id "root", this is _not_ set-user-id "root") since the sockets/pipe files in /tmp/.X11-pipe/ and /tmp/.X11-unix/ are only accessible for the group "root". The workaround is to start Xprt with the option "-pn"; therefore even Xprt server binaries which are not setgid "root" can run without problems). - Q: How can I see the attributes of a printer managed by Xprint ? A: "xplsprinters -printer myprinter004 -l" will do the job for printer "myprinter004". See xlsfonts(1) for futher usage and a description of the output. - Q: How can I list the font path used by a Xprt server ? A: Figure out the display id of the server which should be queried (we are using "foobar:98" in this example) and then try this: -- snip -- % (DISPLAY=foobar:98 xset q | awk "/Font Path:/ { i=1 ; next } i==1 { print \$0 ; i=0 }" | tr "," "[\n]") # Output may look like: PRINTER:/usr/openwin/server/etc/XpConfig/C/print/models/HPDJ1600C/fonts/ PRINTER:/usr/openwin/server/etc/XpConfig/C/print/models/SPSPARC2/fonts/ PRINTER:/usr/openwin/server/etc/XpConfig/C/print/models/HPLJ3Si-PS/fonts/ /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/F3/ /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/F3bitmaps/ /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/ /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/ /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/misc/ /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/ /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/ -- snip -- Note that the font path items which start with "PRINTER:" are _only_ be sourced _after_ the matching printer has been selected and configured (for developers: After |XpSetContext()| has been called). - Q: "xset q" lists all model-specific font dirs (like PRINTER:/myxpcfg/C/print/models/SPSPARC2/fonts/") - is that a bug ? A: No, this is normal. Xprt will add all fonts of all printer models to the font path - but font path items starting with "PRINTER:" are _only_ available for an application _after_ the matching printer has been selected and configured (for developers: After |XpSetContext()| has been called), _before_ that point fonts in these dirs are not available for an application. - Q: My application lists a printer called "spooldir_tmp_Xprintjobs" in the print dialog but I do not have such a print queue installed anywhere. What is that for a thing ?! A: "spooldir_tmp_Xprintjobs" is a special Xprint printer target which uses the "PSspooldir" printer model. This model config sends PostScript jobs to the /tmp/Xprintjobs/ directory instead to a physical printer (quite usefull for people who want to get the PostScript files as output instead of printed pages). 3. CONFIGURATION - Q: How do I change the defaults for double-sided/single-sided/etc. printing ? A: This is controlled via the "plex" attribute in the document attribute pool (${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/print/attributes/document and/or ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/document). Examples: 1. Adding/modifying the following line to/in ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/document sets the default plex for all printers to "duplex": -- snip -- *plex: duplex -- snip -- 2. Adding/modifying the following two lines to/in ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/document sets the default plex for all printers to "duplex" except for printer "ps003" which should default to "simplex": -- snip -- *plex: duplex ps003.plex: simplex -- snip -- Notes: - Not all printers support all plex modes. The model-config may restrict the available plex modes. - Setting a plex mode which is not supported by either the DDX(=driver) or not specified in the model-config will cause Xprt to not set a default plex. - The PostScript DDX supports plex modes "simplex", "duplex" and "tumble". - Verification: Use '% xplsprinters -l | egrep "^printer:|default_plex=|plex="' to view the plex settings for all printers. - Q: I am in America and I don't have any ISO A4 paper. How do I change the default paper size to 8.5 inch x 11 inch (US-Letter) ? A: This is controlled via the "default-medium" attribute in the document attribute pool (${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/print/attributes/document and/or ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/document). Examples: 1. Adding/modifying the following line to/in ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/document sets the default paper size for all printers to "na-letter": -- snip -- *default-medium: na-letter -- snip -- 2. Adding/modifying the following two lines to/in ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/document sets the default paper size for all printers to "na-letter" except for printer "ps003" which should default to "iso-a4": -- snip -- *default-medium: na-letter ps003.default-medium: iso-a4 -- snip -- Notes: - xprint.mozdev.org releases >= 007 provides a seperate "document" attribute pool for en_US(-like) locales (see ${XPCONFIGDIR}/en_US/print/attributes/document) which will override the default ISO-A4 with US-Letter (this feature assumes that ${LANG} is set to "en_US" (or a locale which has similar defaults as "en_US", those are currently linked to "en_US" in ${XPCONFIGDIR}/)) - Not all printers support all paper sizes. The model-config may restrict the available paper sizes. - Setting a paper size which is not supported by either the DDX(=driver) or not specified in the model-config will cause Xprt to not set a default paper size. - The PostScript DDX supports the following paper sizes: - X.org release 6.6 (X116.6): "iso-a4", "na-letter", "na-legal", "executive", "iso-designated-long", "na-number-10-envelope" - xprint.mozdev.org release >= 006: "na-letter", "na-legal", "executive", "folio", "invoice", "ledger", "quarto", "a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "na-6x9-envelope", "na-10x15-envelope", "monarch-envelope", "na-10x13-envelope", "na-9x12-envelope", "na-number-10-envelope", "na-7x9-envelope", "na-9x11-envelope", "na-10x14-envelope", "na-number-9-envelope", "iso-a0", "iso-a1", "iso-a2", "iso-a3", "iso-a4", "iso-a5", "iso-a6", "iso-a7", "iso-a8", "iso-a9", "iso-a10", "iso-b1", "iso-b2", "iso-b3", "iso-b4", "iso-b5", "iso-b6", "iso-b7", "iso-b8", "iso-b9", "iso-b10", "jis-b1", "jis-b2", "jis-b3", "jis-b4", "jis-b5", "jis-b6", "jis-b7", "jis-b8", "jis-b9", "jis-b10", "iso-c3", "iso-c4", "iso-c5", "iso-c6", "iso-designated-long" - Verification: Use 'xplsprinters -l | egrep "^printer:|default-medium=|medium-source-sizes-supported="' to view the medium settings for all printers. The 'medium-source-sizes-supported='-lines have the format XXX. - Q: How do I change the default printer resolution ? A: This is controlled via the "default-printer-resolution" attribute in the document attribute pool (${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/print/attributes/document and/or ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/document). Examples: 1. Adding/modifying the following line to/in ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/document sets the default resolution for all printers to 600 DPI: -- snip -- *default-printer-resolution: 600 -- snip -- 2. Adding/modifying the following two lines to/in ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/document sets the default resolution for all printers to 300 DPI except for printer "tekcolor_ps" which should default to 1200 DPI: -- snip -- *default-printer-resolution: 300 tekcolor_ps.default-printer-resolution: 1200 -- snip -- Notes: - Not all printers support all resolutions. The model-config may restrict the available resolutions. - Setting a resolution which is not supported by either the DDX(=driver) or not specified in the model-config will cause Xprt to not set a default resolution. - The PostScript DDX supports the following default resolutions - X.org release 6.6 (X116.6): 300, 600, 720, 940, 1200, 1440, 2400 - xprint.mozdev.org release >= 006: 75, 100, 120, 150, 180, 200, 240, 300, 360, 400, 600, 720, 940, 1200, 1440, 2400 - Verification: Use 'xplsprinters -l | egrep "^printer:|default-printer-resolution=|resolution="' to view the resolution settings for all printers. - Q: How do I change the default settings for "portrait"/"landscape"/"seascape" (=page orientation) ? A: This is controlled via the "content-orientation" attribute in the document attribute pool (${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/print/attributes/document and/or ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/document). Examples: 1. Adding/modifying the following line to/in ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/document sets the default orientation for all printers to "portrait": -- snip -- *content-orientation: portrait -- snip -- 2. Adding/modifying the following two lines to/in ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/document sets the default orientation for all printers to "portrait" except for printer "ps003" which should default to "landscape": -- snip -- *content-orientation: portrait ps003.content-orientation: landscape -- snip -- Notes: - Not all printers support all orientations. The model-config may restrict the available orientations. - Setting an orientation which is not supported by either the DDX(=driver) or not specified in the model-config will cause Xprt to not set a default orientation. - The PostScript DDX supports the following orientations: "portrait", "landscape", "reverse-portrait" and "reverse-landscape". - Verification: Use 'xplsprinters -l | egrep "^printer:|default_orientation=|orientation="' to view the orientation settings for all printers. - Q: How can I prevent Xprt from using any bitmap(=gfx) fonts ? A: Do not pass any bitmap fonts with the "-fp" (=font path) argument. However you have to provide a 'fixed' and a 'cursor' font, a Xserver can't start without having these fonts. Task list: 1. Create a new directory: % mkdir Xp_dummyfonts % cd Xp_dummyfonts 2. Create a fonts.alias file with the following content: -- snip -- ! alias for "fixed" font ! original from /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/misc/fonts.alias looks like this: ! fixed "-misc-fixed-medium-r-semicondensed--13-120-75-75-c-60-iso8859-1" fixed -*-r-*--*-*-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1 ! EOF. -- snip -- 3. Copy or link "6x13.pcf.Z" and "cursor.pcf.Z" and create fonts.dir % ln -s /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/misc/6x13.pcf.Z . % ln -s /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/misc/cursor.pcf.Z . % mkfontdir $PWD 4. Verify: The directory should now look like this: -- snip -- % ls -1 6x13.pcf.Z cursor.pcf.Z fonts.alias fonts.dir -- snip -- 5. Add the full path (e.g. /home/xp/Xp_dummyfonts) as last element of the font path when starting Xprt: % Xprt -fp /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/,/home/xp/Xp_dummyfonts :12 | I created a tarball from these instructions, get it from | http://puck.informatik.med.uni-giessen.de/people/gisburn/work/xprint/fonts/Xp_dummyfonts.tar.gz | Unpack it and add the new dir to your fontpath) - Q: I want only my manually added printers managed by Xprint. How can I prevent Xprt from looking-up the printer names automatically ? A: Add a line with "Augment_Printer_List %none%" to ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/Xprinters (or ${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/print/Xprinters) and add lines with "Printer " for each printer . Example: -- snip -- Augment_Printer_List %none% Printer ps001 Printer ps003 Printer hplaser6 -- snip -- will add only the printers "ps001", ps003" and "hplaser6". - Q: How can I specifc an own program/script to enumerate the printers on by system ? A: Add "Augment_Printer_List my_script" to ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/Xprinters (or ${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/print/Xprinters). The script must return the printer names - one per line, ASCII-only - to stdout. - Q: Which program is used by default by Xprt to enumerate the printers on my system ? A: This depends on the OS: - On Solaris (and most other OSes exclusing AIX and Linux): % lpstat -a | cut -d " " -f 1 - On Linux: - For Xprt build from X11R6.x X.org sources: % lpc status | grep -v '^\t' | sed -e /:/s/// # '\t' means TAB - For Xprt build from xprint.mozdev.org sources (both lines are executed to support both LPng and CUPS): % lpc status | awk '/:$/ && !/@/ { print $1 }' | sed -e /:/s/// ; lpc -a status | awk '/@/ && !/:/ { split( $1, name, \"@\" ); print name[1]; }' - On AIX v4: % lsallq | grep -v '^bsh$' * See xc/programs/Xserver/Xprint/Init.c for a complete list of commands used on the specific platforms to enumerate the printers. * Note that the output is always piped through "sort" to get an alphabetical order (the "default" printer is not chosen/defined here(=server side), the client side is responsible to choose a default printer. See FAQ item about the ${XPRINTER} env var how to set your default printer). - Q: Where can I get more PostScript Type1 fonts from ? A: Some sources: - Adobe: - Commercial fonts: http://www.adobe.com/type/main.html - Free Euro font: - Single-glyph (e.g. it contains _only_ the euro char) euro font: http://www.adobe.com/type/eurofont.html or ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/type/win/all/ ("eurofont.exe" can be unzipped using "unzip") - ISO8859-15: WANTED!! - Solaris shipps with various PS Type 1 fonts: - Arabic: /usr/openwin/lib/locale/ar/X11/fonts/Type1 ("fonts.dir" and "fonts.scale" missing, maybe they miss the presentation forms a&b, too [unconfirmed]) - ISO-8859-13 (Latin 8): /usr/openwin/lib/locale/iso_8859_13/X11/fonts/Type1 - ISO-8859-5 (Latin 5): /usr/openwin/lib/locale/iso_8859_9/X11/fonts/Type1 - ISO-8859-8/Hebrew: /usr/openwin/lib/locale/iso_8859_8/X11/fonts/Type1 (BROKEN, even "type1fix" cannot fix them. Use the hebrew fonts from http://puck.informatik.med.uni-giessen.de/people/gisburn/work/xprint/fonts/postscript_type_1/PS_Type1_iso8859-8.tar.gz) - ISO-8859-7/Modern greek: /usr/openwin/lib/locale/iso_8859_7/X11/fonts/Type1 - ISO-8859-5/Cryrillic: /usr/openwin/lib/locale/iso_8859_5/X11/fonts/Type1 - ISO-8859-4 (Latin 4): /usr/openwin/lib/locale/iso_8859_4/X11/fonts/Type1 - ISO-8859-2 (Latin 2): /usr/openwin/lib/locale/iso_8859_2/X11/fonts/Type1 - ISO-8859-1 (Latin 1) and Symbol fonts: /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/ - Some of my own collections: (see http://puck.informatik.med.uni-giessen.de/people/gisburn/work/xprint/fonts/postscript_type_1/): - KOI8-R: http://puck.informatik.med.uni-giessen.de/people/gisburn/work/xprint/fonts/postscript_type_1/PS_Type1_koi8-r.tar.gz - ISO-8859-8/Hebrew: http://puck.informatik.med.uni-giessen.de/people/gisburn/work/xprint/fonts/postscript_type_1/PS_Type1_iso8859-8.tar.gz - Q: What are PMF fonts (e.g. the *.pmf fonts in ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/models/%model_name%/fonts/ (or ${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/print/models/%model_name%/fonts/)) ? A: PMF "fonts" are "printer metric files" (.pmf) that describe the metrics of the fonts (which means they do not contain any data to render the fonts - they contain only the plain metrics of a font) which are built into the printer (ROM or via font catridge etc.). - Q: Can I use the fontserver ("xfs") with Xprt ? A: You can use Xprt with the font server ("xfs") like with any other Xserver - but it is not recommded since the font server protocol does not allow access to the native font format and therefore disables font download, e.g. both PS Type1 and TrueType fonts cannot be downloaded anymore and Xprt will fall-back to embed them as bitmap glyphs in the print job (e.g. the fonts will still appear correctly in the printout, but the quality may be reduced since downloaded fonts are always better than bitmap glyphs). (users of xprint.mozdev.org-release <= 006 may see http://xprint.mozdev.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=2092 if they use "xfs"; this has been fixed in the 007 release!) - Q: What is a "model-config" ? A: The term "model-config" refers to the subdirs in ${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/print/models/. There subdirs contain information about the attributes for a specific printer model or family/class of printer models. In particular there are two kinds of information: - "${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/print/models/${NAME_OF_MODEL}/model-config" this file defines a set of attributes supported by this specific printer (-family/-class/etc.) and - "${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/print/models/${NAME_OF_MODEL}/fonts/" - a directory which contains a set of PMF (printer metrics file) fonts builtin into the printer itself (actually the PMF "font" format contains only metrics information and no glyphs). These fonts are only available to the application _after_ the application has selected a printer and configured it (for developers: After |XpSetContext()| has been called). - Q: Where can I store the default values for printers ? A: XXX - Q: How can I create my own model-config ? A: XXX - Q: How can I create my own PMF "fonts" ? A: XXX - no solution yet, but http://xprint.mozdev.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=2430 ("RFE: Need tool to create PMF (printer metrics file) fonts") has been fixed to create a freeware tool to create such fonts. - Q: Where can I get more model-configs from ? A: If you miss a model-config for your printer please open a bug/RFE at http://xprint.mozdev.org/bugs/enter_bug.cgi?product=xprint&component=Server%3A+Config%3A+model-configs (e.g. ttp://xprint.mozdev.org/bugs/ , product "Xprint", component "Server Config: model-configs"). - Q: If I install Xprt&co. as "root" in the default location and don't need to set ${XPCONFIGDIR} - where are my configuration files located then ? A: This is platform-specific, based on the "XPrintDir" Imake variable set at build time. Default location for plain X11R6.x is "${XProjectRoot}/lib/X11/xserver" (set at build time), but some platforms modify "XPrintDir" to alternate locations: - Solaris sets ${XPCONFIGDIR} to /usr/openwin/server/etc/XpConfig/ - Linux (non-Debian) sets ${XPCONFIGDIR} to /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xserver/ or /etc/X11/xserver/ - Debian Linux sets ${XPCONFIGDIR} to /usr/share/Xprint/xserver * If you don't know where the default location for ${XPCONFIGDIR} is located try % strings -a /usr/openwin/bin/Xprt | grep XPRINTDIR # - it _may_ return some debug info from the binary containing the builtin XpConfig path. - Q: Are config files and/or the PMF fonts architecture dependent ? A: The PMF fonts are AFAIK a variant of the PCF font format, they are (like the PCF format) architecture-independent. These fonts must be kept together with the other model config data since they depend on the printer model (de facto ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/models/ (and/or ${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/print/models/) should be supplied by the printer vendors (but most people will create their own models on demand since I doubt that any vendor except HP, Sun and xprint.mozdev.org staff ever looked at that stuff)). Per definition they are read-only data supplied by the vendor, but modifying them may be usefull, too. I would say it is recommended to put treat all Xprint files in ${XPCONFIGDIR} as read-only vendor data; admins should create copies of this tree on demand (and/or (soft-)link some files) and set ${XPCONFIGDIR} to the modified config data. - Q: Can I localise my Xprint/Xprt configuration ? A: Yes, Xprt supports localisation ("l10n") by default. Default values for all locales are stored in ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/, locale-specific settings can be set in ${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/print/ Rules: - Attribute pools ("${XPCONFIGDIR}/*/print/attributes/document", "${XPCONFIGDIR}/*/print/attributes/job", "${XPCONFIGDIR}/*/print/attributes/printer" and "${XPCONFIGDIR}/*/print/models/*/model-config"): "document", "job" and "printer" attribute pools and printer model-configs are sourced first from the "${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/"-directory, then they are overridden by any attributes from the locale-specific pools (in "${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/print/"), e.g. any values set in "${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/*" and "${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/models/*/model-config" will automatically apply to all other locales unless they are overridden by locale-specific versions of these files ("${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/print/attributes/*", "${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/print/models/*/model-config") - "Xprinters" (list of printers): If there is a locale-specific ${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/Xprinters present it will be used instead of ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/Xprinters (e.g. values set in ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/Xprinters will be ignored and the values from ${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/Xprinters will be used instead). - Xprt will determinate the locale which should be used based on the ${LANG}-environment vaiable at startup time. If there is no such variable set at that time LANG="C" is assumed. * Notes: - Attribute values for paper names and orientation names refer to builtin strings in the DDX code (which are itself based on international standards), these cannot be changed to your own "inventions" (it does it make sense to try to "localize" paper names - "ISO-A4" is "ISO-A4" even in japanese/hebrew/german etc.). Locale-spefific attribute pools can set their own, different values - but only within the allowed range of values supported by the DDX and printers's model-config. - Q: Can I execute my own scripts to process the PostScript files generated by Xprt ? A: Yes, there are at least two possible solutions: 1. Create your own model-config which uses a custom "xp-spooler-command" value - the xprint.mozdev.org's "PSspooldir" model config (see "${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/models/PSspooldir/" and "${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/printer" and "${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/Xprinters") is a good example for that. 2. Use an existing "model-config" (which would normally send it's data to a printer using the default print spooler command) and provide a custom "xp-spooler-command". Example (using "SPSPARC2" as printer model and "myscriptprinter" as name of the printer): 1. Edit ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/printer and add these lines (Xprt will replace "%printer-name%" with the printer's name, "%copy-count%" with the number of job copies, "%job-name%" with the job's title and "%options%" with any custom spooler options): -- snip -- myscriptprinter.xp-model-identifier: SPSPARC2 myscriptprinter.xp-spooler-command: -printer %printer-name% -copies %copy-count% -title %job-name% -options "%options%" -- snip -- 2. Edit ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/Xprinters and append this line: -- snip -- Printer myscriptprinter -- snip -- - Q: How can I disable "spooldir_tmp_Xprintjobs" printer target ? A: Edit ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/Xprinters and remove or comment-out the line "Printer spooldir_tmp_Xprintjobs". Note that Xprt will _NOT_ start if this printer has been removed/disabled and no other print queue is available (e.g. if "spooldir_tmp_Xprintjobs" is the only printer target available). 4. TROUBLESHOOTING - Q: Xprt refuses to start with the message "sh: lpc: command not found" on my Linux machine. What does that mean ? A: Xprt looks up printers using "lpc" on Linux. In this case "lpc" cannot be found for some reason. Solution: Find the place where "lpc" is installed on your machine (some distributions put it into /usr/sbin, some into /usr/bin) and check whether your PATH env var includes this directory. Example (if "lpc" is located in /usr/sbin): % which lpc /usr/sbin/lpc % export PATH=$PATH:/usr/sbin # Start Xprt ... % Xprt - Q: When the application (=client side) tries to connect to the Xprt (Xserver) side it fails with a -- snip -- Xlib: connection to "meridian:52.0" refused by server Xlib: Client is not authorized to connect to Server -- snip -- What does that mean ? A: X11 implements access control. You can have host-based, cookie-based (a "cookie" is used like a passport) or user-based (SecureRPC or Kerberos5) authentification. Xsecurity(7) has most of the details. a. No access control: If you do not want to use access control for Xprt then you can start it with the option "-ac" (see XSERVER(1)) to disable the access control. Example: % Xprt -ac -audit 4 :12 will start Xprt with access control disabled and with auditing enabled (e.g. the "-audit 4" option). WARNING: Disabling the access control will enable _everyone_ who can access Xprt to print on your printers (that's why the above example shows how to use auditing, too - that you can see who does something with Xprt...) !! b. Host-based access control: Host-based access control can be archived using /etc/X.hosts ( == display number, e.g. /etc/X0.hosts for display 0 (see Xserver(1) manual page for further details)). Example: 1. Add the following line to `/etc/X12.hosts' (assuming you want that the hosts 'merkur' and 'mars' should be able to access the Xprt server running as display 12 on your host 'neptun'): -- snip -- INET:merkur INET:mars -- snip -- 2. Start Xprt 3. Verify that Xprt is correctly configured: -- snip -- % export DISPLAY=neptun:12 % xhost access control enabled, only authorized clients can connect INET:localhost LOCAL: INET:merkur INET:mars -- snip -- - Q: Xprt refuses to start with the message "failed to set default font path '...' Fatal server error: could not open default font 'fixed'". What does that mean ? A: This means one or more components in the font path (set via the option "-fp") are either... - ... not valid - ... contain fonts not supported by this Xserver (e.g. support has not be compiled "in" (usually happens for TrueType or F3 fonts (Sunsoft/F3 fonts are Solaris-specific and _not_ supported by other vendors (AFAIK)) when support for these fonts was not enabled at build time)) - ... no font or font alias in the font path matches the name "fixed" - Q: Just copying my fonts into a directory and adding the path to my Xprt command line didn't work - I always get "Fatal server error: could not open default font 'fixed'". What am I doing wrong ? A: Every Xserver needs an index file called "fonts.dir" to tell it which fonts are available in this directory and which properties these fonts have. If you are lucky there may be already a "fonts.scale" file which can be used by "mkfontdir" to create the "fonts.dir" file. If there is no "fonts.scale" then you have to create your own fonts.dir/fonts.scale either by hand or via a tool like "type1inst" (see http://packages.debian.org/stable/utils/type1inst.html) for PS Type1 fonts and "ttmkfdir" (see http://packages.debian.org/stable/x11/ttmkfdir.html) for TrueType fonts. - Q: Xprt refuses to start with the message "Fatal server error: Cannot establish any listening sockets - Make sure an X server isn't already running". What does that mean ? A: There is already a Xserver running at the display ID you have specified to start Xprt (for example your framebuffer Xserver runs at ":0" then Xprt can't run at the same display display). - Q: Xprt refuses to start with the message "Fatal server error: Failed to establish all listening sockets". What does that mean ? A: This means that the Xserver could not open one of it's sockets. Check the permission of /tmp/.X11-pipe and /tmp/.X11-unix (on Solaris a Xserver must run set-gid "root" to access these directories). Either fix the permission or start Xprt with the option "-pn". Using this option requires to access the server _always_ with : (see Xserver(1) manual page for the side-effects of this option). - Q: Xprt refuses to start with the message "Fatal server error: could not open default font 'fixed'" or "Fatal server error: could not open default cursor font 'cursor'". A: All Xservers at least two fonts as the minimum: One fixed-width font ("fixed") and one font for the cursor ("cursor"). Be sure that the font path contains these fonts. I created a tarball which contains only these two fonts, get it from http://puck.informatik.med.uni-giessen.de/people/gisburn/work/xprint/fonts/Xp_dummyfonts.tar.gz - Q: Xprt refuses to start with the message "Fatal server error: no screens found". What does that mean ? A: This means that Xprt could not find any printers. Either there are no printers installed, "lpstat"/"lpc" could not find any printers or the configuration does not contain any manual printer configurations (see Q/A item "Which program is used by default by Xprt to enumerate the printers on my system" for further details...). Two solutions: 1. Using "PSspooldir" model: Xprt releases from http://xprint.mozdev.org/ provide the "PSspooldir" model config for such cases. Just edit the "Xprinters" and add this line: -- snip -- Printer spooldir_tmp_Xprintjobs -- snip -- this will add the pre-configured (see ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/printer) "spooldir_tmp_Xprintjobs" printer which will send jobs to the directory "/tmp/Xprintjobs/" instead to a printer queue. (This feature was added in the xprint.mozdev.org release 007, see http://xprint.mozdev.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=2475 ("RFE: Need model-config which spools print jobs in a predefined directory")) 2. Manual setup: Step 1: Provide a simple "Xprinters" spec file which contains a dummy queue. Example: # Create "Xprinters_onlydummy" file which turns autolookup of printers # OFF (using "Augment_Printer_List %none%") and provides one dummy # queue called "ps_myscript" instead (using "Printer ps_myscript") % echo "Augment_Printer_List %none%" >Xprinters_onlydummy % echo "Printer ps_myscript" >>Xprinters_onlydummy Step 2: Edit ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/printer and add these two lines: -- snip -- ps_myscript.xp-model-identifier: PSdefault ps_myscript.xp-spooler-command: /home/sanja/xprint_test/my_xprt_cat_script.sh -- snip -- This means that the printer "ps_myscript" now uses the "PSdefault" printer model and it will feed the jobs to the script "/home/sanja/xprint_test/my_xprt_cat_script.sh" (via stdin). Note that the absolute path is required for "*xp-spooler-command". Step 3: Start Xprt on display 18, passing the "Xprinters_onlydummy" using the "-XpFile" option: % Xprt -XpFile ./Xprinters_onlydummy -pn -ac -audit 4 :18 - Q: "Printing itself works but the printout covers only 1/4 of the paper - what am I doing wrong ?" A: This is usually an indicator for a wrong DPI setting. The default "PSdefault" model config uses 300 DPI but some printers only support 600 DPI. - Workaround: Edit ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/document and replace the line "*default-printer-resolution: 300" with "*default-printer-resolution: 600" (Note that locale-specific settings in ${XPCONFIGDIR}/${LANG}/print/attributes/document always override values set in ${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/attributes/document.) - Solution: Create a model-config for your printer which only contains attributes supported by your printer ("printer-resolutions-supported" is the attribute in the "model-config" which holds the space-seperated list of DPI values which are supported by the printer). - Q: "Printing works but I get large borders/margins..." / "[Top] margin is too small" / "Margins are wrong" / etc. A: Two possible causes: - Usually same issue as "Printing itself works but the printout covers only 1/4 of the page"-issue: Wrong DPI. Solution: Check the DPI value and adjust it as described in the FAQ item above. Common DPI values for the PostScript DDX are 240, 300, 360, 400 and 600 DPI. - You are trying to print "US-letter" on a "DIN-A4" paper or "DIN-A4" on "US-letter". Solution: Check your paper settings Note that the default papersize for Xprt depends on the locale (e.g. on the env var ${LANG}) Xprt is running in - "en_US"&co. get US-letter, all others use DIN-A4 (incl. german/austrian etc. locales)). Exception from this rule: If the selected printer does not support the default paper size it will set no default paper size for this printer (then the application side has to make an explicit choice). - Q: Xprt prints a warning like "Xp Extension: could not find config dir /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/C/print" - what does that mean ? A: This is actually the worst case what can happen. The message indicates that Xprt was unable to find it's configuration data. Solution: - Install configuration data at the requested location OR - Set the ${XPCONFIGDIR} env var to the location of the Xprt configuration directory. - Q: Xprt crashes with "Fatal server error: Beziers this big not yet supported" What does that mean ? A: This is a known issue in the X11R6.5.1 code. In rare cases some PostScript Type1 fonts can trigger this. See "My PS Type1 font does not work with my Xserver" ... - Q: "My PS Type1 font does not work with my Xserver - how can I fix this ?" A: Some PS Type1 do not work out-of-the-box with all PS Type1 font engines - some will work with the Adobe font engine (used in Solaris Xsun) but not with the X.org font engine (or the other way round) or the fonts are simply broken. The following procedure will try to fix this problem: Get the "type1fix" perl script the TeXTrace package (http://www.inf.bme.hu/~pts/textrace-latest.tar.gz) and run it over the fonts. Example 1 (filter fonts): # Broken PFA fonts are in broken_fonts/ % mkdir fixed_fonts ; cd fixed_fonts % for i in ../broken_fonts/*.pfa ; do echo " ------- $i" ; type1fix.pl --ofmt=pfa --infile=$i --outfile=$(basename ${i}) ; done Example 2 (filter fonts and convert them to PFB on-the-fly; do not forget to update "fonts.scale" and run "mkfontdir" (to update "fonts.dir") ; systems which use the Adobe font engine (like Solaris/Xsun) may require to run "makepsres", too): # Broken PFA fonts are in broken_fonts/ % mkdir fixed_fonts ; cd fixed_fonts % for i in ../broken_fonts/*.pfa ; do echo " ------- $i" ; type1fix.pl --ofmt=pfb --infile=$i --outfile=$(basename ${i%.pfa}.pfb) ; done - Q: I can't get it working. I have set ${DISPLAY} correctly to point to the Xprt display and... ... What is going wrong ? A: Do not set ${DISPLAY} to the Xprt server. You still need your normal Xserver for your video card - Xprt is only for your printer(s). Applications look up Xprt servers via the ${XPSERVERLIST} env var, _NOT_ via the ${DISPLAY} env var. - Q: When I try to print via Xprint I get the message "Fatal server error: unable to exec '/usr/bin/lp'". What is going wrong here ? A: It usually means that the spooler application "/usr/bin/lp" would not be launched. This is usually the result when /usr/bin/lp does not exist or cannot be executed (for example, shell scripts without the +x flag etc.). - Q: The Solaris Xprt prints some error messages about PostScript fonts like "FOOBAR not found, using Courier. CMEX0123 not found, using Courier." etc. and uses "Courier" instead of these fonts... A: The Solaris (Adobe-based) PostScript font engine requires a "PostScript resource database" file named "PSres.upr" to use the PostScript fonts correctly. * Solution: Steps to create the missing file: 1. Go to the location where the matching fonts are installed (we're using /home/sanja/mathml_fonts/tex_cmps/Type1/ in this example): % cd /home/sanja/mathml_fonts/tex_cmps/Type1/ 2. Create "PSres.upr" using the "makepsres" resource file % makepsres 3. Validation: Make sure the file has been created: % ls -l PSres.upr 4. Restart Xprt server(s): % /etc/init.d/xprint restart 5. Restart application which uses these fonts The makepsres(1) manual page has some additional details about this subject... - Q: "Xprt refused to start, complaining about a missing dir (/etc/X11/xserver/C/print directory)... I created it by hand (empty) and started Xprt but it still does not work properly..." A: Xprt expects some config data in this directory. Just making it an existing but empty dir will work around the error message but will not result in a properly working Xprt since it has no (usefull) builtins which would make it possible to run the binary without the config data. Your X11 binary distribution should always come with the config data (for example /usr/openwin/server/etc/XpConfig/ on Solaris) or you won't be able to use Xprint (however it is possible to copy the config data from another system :) BTW: Source for the configs can be found under xc/programs/Xserver/XpConfig - Q: My Linux system already shipps with a '/usr/X11R6/bin/Xprt'-binary. Do I need the binary distribution from http://xprint.mozdev.org/ ? A: This depends on what is shipped with your Linux distribution. Please check the "vendor" string of the Xprt server: % Xprt :10 & % xdpyinfo -display :10 | grep -i "vendor string" If this outputs a line like "vendor string: The XFree86 Project, Inc" then you have the Xprt binary build from Xfree86 sources - which are broken - even the newest version [I'll update this as soon as Xfree86 shipps with a working version]. Xprt from Solaris, HP-UX and my own builds (which identifies itself as "vendor string: xprint.mozdev.org" for releases >= 007, older releases (e.g. <= 006) identify itself as as "vendor string: The X.Org Group") are known to work proprtly. - Q: I am getting the error message "error opening security policy file /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xserver/SecurityPolicy". What does that mean ? A: The policy file for the SECURITY extension cannot be found. This is not serious unless you want to make use of features of the SECURITY extensions (like treating clients as "untrusted", e.g. restrict their access to certain Xserver resources). Normally the missing policy file is a problem with your Unix/Linux X11 distribution; consult your vendor where to get the missing file from. Alternatively you can get the plain X11R6.6 security policy file from ftp://ftp.x.org/pub/R6.6/xc/programs/Xserver/Xext/SecurityPolicy (copy it to the matching location - but be sure that you do not overwrite any existing security policy file). - Q: I have modified the "HPLJ4family" [or "HPDJ1600C" etc.] printer model to work with my PostScript printer, but when I print I get empty places where some text should be - what am I doing wrong here ? A: The "HPLJ4family" and "HPDJ1600C" models are PCL-only, check the model-config spec (${XPCONFIGDIR}/C/print/models/${MODEL_NAME}/model-config) - if the "xp-ddx-identifier" attribute says something with "PCL" (like "XP-PCL-MONO" etc.) in the value string then this model-config is for the PCL-DDX _only_ (e.g. their PMF fonts do not supply the neccesary information (e.g. the "_ADOBE_POSTSCRIPT_FONTNAME" chunk is missing; they only provide the "PCL_FONT_NAME" chunk) nor are these fonts accessible via the PostScript-support in these printers. A solution is to use the "PSdefault" model instead (and/or create your customized own version of this model) - or look if there is a model-config beginning with the same name and ending with "PS" (e.g. "HPLJ4family-PS"). - Q: Xprt outputs warning messages like: -- snip -- Xp Extension: Can't load driver XP-PCL-MONO init function missing Xp Extension: Can't load driver XP-RASTER init function missing -- snip -- What does that mean ? A: Two possible problems: 1. The requested driver is not supported by that version of Xprt. For example Solaris 2.7 Xprt does not support XP-PCL-MONO nor the XP-RASTER driver. Valid values for the "xp-ddx-identifier" attribute in ${XPCONFIGDIR}/*/print/attributes/printers and/or ${XPCONFIGDIR}/*/print/models/*/model-config are - Solaris 2.7: XP-POSTSCRIPT and XP-PCL-COLOR - Solaris >=2.8: XP-POSTSCRIPT, XP-PCL-COLOR, XP-PCL-MONO and XP-RASTER - HP-UX: XP-POSTSCRIPT, XP-PCL-COLOR, XP-PCL-MONO, XP-PCL-LJ3, XP-PCL-DJ1200 and XP-RASTER - xprint.mozdev.org release 007: XP-POSTSCRIPT and XP-RASTER - xprint.mozdev.org release 008: XP-POSTSCRIPT, XP-PCL-COLOR, XP-PCL-MONO, XP-PCL-LJ3 and XP-RASTER - xprint.mozdev.org release >=1.0 (planned): XP-POSTSCRIPT, XP-PCL-COLOR, XP-PCL-MONO, XP-PCL-LJ3, XP-RASTER and XP-PDF 2. There may be too many drivers loaded into one Xprt instance. By default a single Xserver instance can only handle three screens - and since one Xprint DDX maps to one Xserver screen this limit applies to the number of loaded Xprt drivers, too. Starting with xprint.mozdev.org release 008 the per-Xserver screen limit was increased from "3" to "8" to avoid this issue... Workaround: Start a 2nd instance of Xprt which handles the other drivers which do not fit into the first instance. - Q: Printing on Solaris with Mozilla/Eclipse [or any other Xprint client] removes spaces between words. What is going wrong ? A: This is a bug in the Solaris Xprint server binary (/usr/openwin/bin/Xprt). Various bug reports have been filed, see - http://xprint.mozdev.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=3353 ("Solaris Xprt looses space when rendering with '-monotype-arial-*'-fonts") - http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=199957 ("Solaris 8 Mozilla removes spaces for text within ...") Known workarounds: - Remove the '-monotype-arial-*' fonts from the font path - Use an alternate Xprint server like available in the "GISWxprint" package (this package is identical to the "GISWxprintglue" package except that it uses a Xprint server build from xprint.mozdev.org sources and not the /usr/openwin/bin/Xprt binary from Solaris) - Mozilla-only: Adding -- snip -- user_pref("print.xprint.font.rejectfontpattern", "fname=-dt-.*;scalable=.*;outline_scaled=false;xdisplay=.*;xdpy=.*;ydpy=.*;xdevice=.*|" + "fname=-monotype-arial.*;scalable=.*;outline_scaled=.*;xdisplay=.*;xdpy=.*;ydpy=.*;xdevice=.*"); -- snip -- to prefs.js works around the problem (see http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=199957#c6 , too). 5. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT - Q: How can I get the printable area (e.g. the portion of the page on which the printer is physically capable of placing ink) of the paper after I have chosen a paper ? A: XpGetPageDimensions() returns the printable area and other information about the page geometry. - Q: Do "offscreen" pixmaps work on Xprt ? A: Yes, "offscreen" pixmaps are working on Xprt. - Q: How can I get the DPI value for the current Xprt server ? Can I use the values from "xdpyinfo" ? A: The Xprt screen resolution defines only the maximum resolution configured for the matching DDX, the printers real DPI is obtained via an another API (XprintUtil has a bunch of functions to get/set the document/page resolution, see XpuGetResolutionList(), XpuFreeResolutionList(), XpuGetResolution(), XpuSetPageResolution(), XpuSetDocResolution() and XpuFindResolution()). - Q: Does Xprint/Xprt support font rotation ? A: Yes - Xprint/Xprt supports font rotation at any angle via the matrix XLFD enhancement (this even works for printer-builtin fonts !!). For details see the paper "New Font Technology for X11R6" by Nathan Meyers . Short: The transformation-matrix for rotation can be calculated like this: +-- --+ | cos(angle) sin(angle)| | | |-sin(angle) cos(angle)| +-- --+ Examples: 1. the following code fragment obtains a 180 degree rotated font (matrix [-1 0 0 -1]): -- snip -- ... = XLoadQueryFont(..., "-adobe-courier-bold-r-normal--*-[~24 0 0 ~24]-0-0-m-*-iso8859-1"); -- snip -- 2. the following code fragment obtains a 90 degree rotated font (matrix [0 1 -1 0]): -- snip -- ... = XLoadQueryFont(..., "-adobe-courier-bold-r-normal--*-[0 24 ~24 0]-0-0-m-*-iso8859-1"); -- snip -- - Q: When I render something on my window and call XpStartPage() all the rendered stuff is gone, I only get a white, empty paper. What is going wrong here ? A: Remember the rule that "only those drawings are printed on the paper which were rendered between XpStartPage() and XpEndPage()". XpStartPage() clears the window you passed as argument, e.g. it creates a new, blank sheet of paper where you can do your rendering stuff on. XpEndpage() then pushes the "paper sheet" to the stash of papers from the document in process. Solution - if you want to render something once for multiple or all pages: Render on a offscreen pixmap and copy (with XCopyArea()) the content to the "paper" drawable (after calling XpStartPage()) - XpStartpage() only affects the window passed as parameter. - Q: What is XpStartDoc() for ? A: ISO 10175 and some advanced printing systems by IBM and HP had set forth the standard that a "Job" is made up of one or more "Documents", and each document is made up of one or more "Pages". Xprint was designed that in a true ISO 10175 environment/implementation (lp(1) on steroids, and with an API), Xprt can actually learn about all printers and their capabilities though API's into the printer subsystem (vs. using config files), map Job/Doc/Page directly into ISO 10175 equivalents, and use APIs to view job status and kill jobs (vs. cancel(1), lpcancel(1), lpstatus(1)). Because most applications of the day are only printing one document per job, XpStartPage() was designed that it generates a "synthetic" XpStartDoc() if it has not been called yet. - Q: How does the XLFD for printer-builtin fonts look like ? A: XXX - Q: How can I scale images using the Xprint API ? A: XXX - Q: How do I use the XprintUtil library ? A: XXX - Q: Why does XGetImage() not work for Xprt ? A: There are at least two reasons why XGetImage() does not work for Xprt: 1. Most of the Xprt DDX implementations do not render itself on any bitmaps like the framebuffer(=video) DDX do, they translate the rendering commands into the matching commands of the printer language (it is technically possible to implement such support for XGetImage() even for those drivers - but there is reason [2]:) 2. Xprt usually operates at high resolutions which results in very large dimensions. If a client would request the 24bit TrueColor _bitmap_ data for a _whole_ DIN-A4 page at 2400 DPI a data chunk of ~173 megabytes would be the response. This would be more or less a DOS(=Denial of Service) for either the client, the network and/or the server. - Q: How to print with Xt/Athena widgets ? A: XXX - Q: How to print with Xt/Motif widgets ? A: XXX - Q: What are the differences between normal display and Xprint display ? A: XXX - Q: How can I find/identify printer-builtin fonts ? A: XXX - Q: How do I scale images ? A: XXX - Q: libXp Image scaling vs. max. request size ? A: XXX - Q: How can I use XprintUtils ? A: XXX - Q: How do I calculate the DPI values for Xprt DDX screens ? A: XXX - Q: How do I find scaleable fonts ? A: XXX - Q. How do I find printer-builtin fonts ? A: XXX - Q: The XLFD for printer-builtin fonts look like bitmap fonts - is that bad ? A: XXX - Q: When can I use printer-buildin fonts ? A: XXX - Q: Where can I find examples fir adding Xprint support to my Xt/Athena application ? A: XXX - Q: Where can I find examples fir adding Xprint support to my Xt/Motif application (without the need for CDE's DtPrint library) ? A: XXX - Q: Where can I find examples fir adding Xprint support to my Qt application ? A: XXX 6. KNOWN BUGS: ('P'=Problem, 'S'=Solution) - P: Xprt build from Xfree86 sources is completely broken and unuseable. S: Build Xprt from the CVS tree at http://xprint.mozdev.org/ or the X.org X11R6.5.1 sources (note that the client side Xprint extension library ("libXp.so") from Xfree86 is not broken and do not need to be replaced). - P: The code which matches XLFD names to PS Type1 font names is case-sensitive in Xprts build from X.org X11R6.5.1/X11R6.6 and the current Solaris Xprt. This may cause that the PS DDX refuses to download PS Type1 fonts. S: Patch available, I am looking for a way to get the patch into the X11 and Solaris source trees... - P: Xprt build from X11R6.5.1/X11R6.6 sources and Solaris's version of Xprt can only download PFA (PS ASCII font) fonts which ends of the ending "*.pfa". S: Either convert PFB (PS Type 1 binary font) to PFA format and adjust the fonts.dir and fonts.scale file or get a patch for the sources. I am looking for a way to get the patch into the X11 and Solaris source trees (the fixed version can download both PFA/PFB fonts in PFA format and even handles non-standard file extensions). - P: There is an issue how the Linux and Solaris Xprt handles the "copy-count" of a print job. The result may be that a job with n copies of a document end-up in n jobs with n copies (usually equals to n^2 copies). S: Xprt build from xprint.mozdev.org sources has been fixed in release 007, see http://xprint.mozdev.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=1378 ("PS DDX creates n^2 copies of a job instead of n copies") and http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=140030 ("Setting number of copies causes too many copies to print") for details. Solaris 2.7 Xprt still suffers from this issue... ;-( XXX XXX XXX 7. UNANSWERED QUESTIONS (My small ToDo list what I will write soon; 379 items missing... =:-) Email me if you want one of these answered "now" and/or to contribute an answer... :) - Q: How do I create a model-config for my printer ? - Q: How can I customize a model-config for my site/machine ? - Q: Which attributes/values can be set in a model-config ? - Q: Why can't I set default values (for my {paper size, resolution, ...}) in the model-config ? - Q: Should I add the fonts in the model-config dir to the Xserver's font path ? - Q: What are the fonts in the model-config dir for ? - Q: Can I use a font server for all fonts instead of passing then directly to the Xprint server ? - Q: Does the Xprint PostScript driver do full rasterisation of the print job ? - Q: Is it possible to prepare a printer config entry so that the PS output is piped to "ps2pdf" and will produce directly a PDF file? It would be nice to have mozilla directly producing PDF files when printing. - Q: Problem: I have changed the Xprt config - but "xplsprinters -l" (or any other Xprint application) does not show the change. Any idea what I am doing wrong ? - Q: How can I add a font path to Xprt ? - Q: Why does "xset +fp path_to_font" not work in some cases ? - Q: How can I get a "core"-dump when Xprt crashes ? - Q: How can I debug Xprt (hint: use "-audit 4") ? - Q: How can I debug Xprt with Sun Workshop (hint: "check -access") ? - Q: How can I check whether Xprint is "active" ? / How can I verify that a Xprint is working ? XXXX XXXX XXXX 8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We'd like like to express their gratitude to the whole community for providing insightful answers to innumerable questions. In particular, the following people (listed alphabetically) have contributed to this FAQ (apologies, in advance, if anyone has been forgotten): Alan Coopersmith Thomas Gilg Jay Hobson Masaki Katakai Simon Montagu Drew Parsons (and many many others) # EOF.