[thirdparty/cups.git] / doc / help / man-filter.html

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<h1 class="title">filter(7)</h1>
<h2 class="title"><a name="NAME">Name</a></h2>
filter - cups file conversion filter interface
<h2 class="title"><a name="SYNOPSIS">Synopsis</a></h2>
<b>filter</b>
job user title num-copies options [
<i>filename</i>
]
<h2 class="title"><a name="DESCRIPTION">Description</a></h2>
The CUPS filter interface provides a standard method for adding support for
new document types to CUPS. Each filter is capable of converting from one
or more input formats to another format that can either be printed directly
or piped into another filter to get it to a printable format.
<p>Filters <b>must</b> be capable of reading from a filename on the command-line
or from the standard input, copying the standard input to a temporary
file as required by the file format. All output <b>must</b> be sent to the
standard output.
<p>The command name (argv[0]) is set to the name of the destination printer but is
also available in the PRINTER environment variable.
<h2 class="title"><a name="WARNING">Warning</a></h2>
CUPS filters are not meant to be run directly by the user. Aside from the legacy
System V interface issues (argv[0] is the printer name), CUPS filters also
expect specific environment variables and file descriptors, and typically run in
a user session that (on OS X) has additional restrictions that affect how it
runs. Unless you are a developer and know what you are doing, please do not run
filters directly. Instead, use the <i>cupsfilter(8)</i> program to use the
appropriate filters to do the conversions you need.
<h2 class="title"><a name="OPTIONS">Options</a></h2>
Options passed on the command-line typically do not include the default choices
the printer's PPD file. In addition, some options may be specified in multiple
ways - "landscape" is a synonym for "orientation-requested=4", "media" is a
synonym for "PageSize", "PageRegion", "InputSlot", and "MediaType", and "sides"
is a synonym for the various "Duplex" options. Non-raster filters <b>must</b>
support both explicit and implicit specification of PPD options - use the
ppdMarkDefaults and cupsMarkOptions functions in the CUPS library to use the
correct mapping, and ppdFindMarkedChoice to get the user-selected choice.
<p>Raster filters should use option choices set through the raster page header, as
those reflect the options in effect for a given page. Options specified on the
command-line determine the default values for the entire job, which can be
overridden on a per-page basis.
<h2 class="title"><a name="LOG_MESSAGES">Log Messages</a></h2>
Messages sent to stderr are generally logged to
printer-state-message attribute and the current <i>ErrorLog</i>.
Each line begins with a standard prefix:
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">ALERT: message
<br>
<br>
Sets the printer-state-message attribute and adds the specified
message to the current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "alert" log level.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">ATTR: attribute=value [attribute=value]
<br>
<br>
Sets the named job or printer attribute(s). The following job attributes can be
set: "job-media-progress". The following printer attributes can be set:
"auth-info-required", "marker-colors", "marker-high-levels", "marker-levels",
"marker-low-levels", "marker-message", "marker-names", "marker-types",
"printer-alert", and "printer-alert-description".
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CRIT: message
<br>
<br>
Sets the printer-state-message attribute and adds the specified
message to the current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "critical" log level.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">DEBUG: message
<br>
<br>
Sets the printer-state-message attribute and adds the specified
message to the current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "debug" log level.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">DEBUG2: message
<br>
<br>
Sets the printer-state-message attribute and adds the specified
message to the current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "debug2" log level.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">EMERG: message
<br>
<br>
Sets the printer-state-message attribute and adds the specified
message to the current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "emergency" log level.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">ERROR: message
<br>
<br>
Sets the printer-state-message attribute and adds the specified
message to the current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "error" log level.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">INFO: message
<br>
<br>
Sets the printer-state-message attribute. If the current <i>LogLevel</i>
is set to "debug2", also adds the specified message to the
current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "info" log level.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">NOTICE: message
<br>
<br>
Sets the printer-state-message attribute and adds the specified
message to the current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "notice" log level.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">PAGE: page-number #-copies
<br>
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">PAGE: total #-pages
<br>
<br>
Adds an entry to the current <i>PageLog</i>. The first form adds
#-copies to the job-media-sheets-completed attribute. The second
form sets the job-media-sheets-completed attribute to #-pages.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">PPD: Keyword=Value ... KeywordN=Value
<br>
<br>
Sets the named keywords in the printer's PPD file. This is typically
used to update default option keywords such as DefaultPageSize and
the various installable options in the PPD file.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">STATE: printer-state-reason [printer-state-reason ...]
<br>
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">STATE: + printer-state-reason [printer-state-reason ...]
<br>
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">STATE: - printer-state-reason [printer-state-reason ...]
<br>
<br>
Sets, adds, or removes printer-state-reason keywords to the
current queue. Typically this is used to indicate media, ink, and
toner conditions on a printer.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">WARNING: message
<br>
<br>
Sets the printer-state-message attribute and adds the specified
message to the current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "warning" log level.
<h2 class="title"><a name="ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLES">Environment Variables</a></h2>
The following environment variables are defined by the CUPS
server when executing the filter:
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CHARSET
<br>
<br>
The default text character set, typically utf-8.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CLASS
<br>
<br>
When a job is submitted to a printer class, contains the name of
the destination printer class. Otherwise this environment
variable will not be set.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CONTENT_TYPE
<br>
<br>
The MIME type associated with the file (e.g.
application/postscript).
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CUPS_CACHEDIR
<br>
<br>
The directory for semi-persistent cache files can be found.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CUPS_DATADIR
<br>
<br>
The directory where data files can be found.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CUPS_FILETYPE
<br>
<br>
The type of file being printed: "job-sheet" for a banner page and "document"
for a regular print file.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CUPS_MAX_MESSAGE
<br>
<br>
The maximum size of a message sent to stderr, including any leading prefix and
the trailing newline.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CUPS_SERVERROOT
<br>
<br>
The root directory of the server.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">DEVICE_URI
<br>
<br>
The device-uri associated with the printer.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">FINAL_CONTENT_TYPE
<br>
<br>
The MIME type associated with the printer (e.g.
application/vnd.cups-postscript).
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">LANG
<br>
<br>
The default language locale (typically C or en).
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">PATH
<br>
<br>
The standard execution path for external programs that may be run by
the filter.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">PPD
<br>
<br>
The full pathname of the PostScript Printer Description (PPD)
file for this printer.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">PRINTER
<br>
<br>
The name of the printer.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">RIP_CACHE
<br>
<br>
The recommended amount of memory to use for Raster Image
Processors (RIPs).
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">SOFTWARE
<br>
<br>
The name and version number of the server (typically CUPS/1.2).
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">TZ
<br>
<br>
The timezone of the server.
<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">USER
<br>
<br>
The user executing the filter, typically "lp" or "root"; consult the
<i>cupsd.conf(5)</i> file for the current setting.
<h2 class="title"><a name="COMPATIBILITY">Compatibility</a></h2>
While the filter interface is compatible with System V interface
scripts, it will only work with the System V interface script as the
only filter.  Typically the interface script will be provided via the
<i>lpadmin(8)</i> command using the <i>-i</i> option.
<h2 class="title"><a name="SEE_ALSO">See Also</a></h2>
<i>backend(7)</i>, <i>cupsd(8)</i>, <i>cupsfilter(8)</i>,
<br>
<a href="http://localhost:631/help">http://localhost:631/help</a>
<h2 class="title"><a name="COPYRIGHT">Copyright</a></h2>
Copyright 2007-2013 by Apple Inc.

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</html>
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c277f98c	1	<!DOCTYPE HTML>
94436c5a MS	2	<html>
	3	<!-- SECTION: Man Pages -->
	4	<head>
	5	<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../cups-printable.css">
	6	<title>filter(7)</title>
	7	</head>
	8	<body>
	9	<h1 class="title">filter(7)</h1>
	10	<h2 class="title"><a name="NAME">Name</a></h2>
	11	filter - cups file conversion filter interface
	12	<h2 class="title"><a name="SYNOPSIS">Synopsis</a></h2>
c277f98c MS	13	<b>filter</b>
	14	job user title num-copies options [
	15	<i>filename</i>
	16	]
94436c5a MS	17	<h2 class="title"><a name="DESCRIPTION">Description</a></h2>
	18	The CUPS filter interface provides a standard method for adding support for
	19	new document types to CUPS. Each filter is capable of converting from one
	20	or more input formats to another format that can either be printed directly
	21	or piped into another filter to get it to a printable format.
	22	<p>Filters <b>must</b> be capable of reading from a filename on the command-line
	23	or from the standard input, copying the standard input to a temporary
	24	file as required by the file format. All output <b>must</b> be sent to the
	25	standard output.
	26	<p>The command name (argv[0]) is set to the name of the destination printer but is
	27	also available in the PRINTER environment variable.
	28	<h2 class="title"><a name="WARNING">Warning</a></h2>
	29	CUPS filters are not meant to be run directly by the user. Aside from the legacy
	30	System V interface issues (argv[0] is the printer name), CUPS filters also
	31	expect specific environment variables and file descriptors, and typically run in
	32	a user session that (on OS X) has additional restrictions that affect how it
	33	runs. Unless you are a developer and know what you are doing, please do not run
c277f98c	34	filters directly. Instead, use the <i>cupsfilter(8)</i> program to use the
94436c5a MS	35	appropriate filters to do the conversions you need.
	36	<h2 class="title"><a name="OPTIONS">Options</a></h2>
	37	Options passed on the command-line typically do not include the default choices
	38	the printer's PPD file. In addition, some options may be specified in multiple
	39	ways - "landscape" is a synonym for "orientation-requested=4", "media" is a
	40	synonym for "PageSize", "PageRegion", "InputSlot", and "MediaType", and "sides"
	41	is a synonym for the various "Duplex" options. Non-raster filters <b>must</b>
	42	support both explicit and implicit specification of PPD options - use the
	43	ppdMarkDefaults and cupsMarkOptions functions in the CUPS library to use the
	44	correct mapping, and ppdFindMarkedChoice to get the user-selected choice.
	45	<p>Raster filters should use option choices set through the raster page header, as
	46	those reflect the options in effect for a given page. Options specified on the
	47	command-line determine the default values for the entire job, which can be
	48	overridden on a per-page basis.
	49	<h2 class="title"><a name="LOG_MESSAGES">Log Messages</a></h2>
	50	Messages sent to stderr are generally logged to
	51	printer-state-message attribute and the current <i>ErrorLog</i>.
	52	Each line begins with a standard prefix:
c277f98c MS	53	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">ALERT: message
	54	<br>
	55	<br>
	56	Sets the printer-state-message attribute and adds the specified
94436c5a	57	message to the current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "alert" log level.
c277f98c MS	58	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">ATTR: attribute=value [attribute=value]
	59	<br>
	60	<br>
	61	Sets the named job or printer attribute(s). The following job attributes can be
94436c5a MS	62	set: "job-media-progress". The following printer attributes can be set:
	63	"auth-info-required", "marker-colors", "marker-high-levels", "marker-levels",
	64	"marker-low-levels", "marker-message", "marker-names", "marker-types",
	65	"printer-alert", and "printer-alert-description".
c277f98c MS	66	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CRIT: message
	67	<br>
	68	<br>
	69	Sets the printer-state-message attribute and adds the specified
94436c5a	70	message to the current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "critical" log level.
c277f98c MS	71	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">DEBUG: message
	72	<br>
	73	<br>
	74	Sets the printer-state-message attribute and adds the specified
94436c5a	75	message to the current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "debug" log level.
c277f98c MS	76	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">DEBUG2: message
	77	<br>
	78	<br>
	79	Sets the printer-state-message attribute and adds the specified
94436c5a	80	message to the current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "debug2" log level.
c277f98c MS	81	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">EMERG: message
	82	<br>
	83	<br>
	84	Sets the printer-state-message attribute and adds the specified
94436c5a	85	message to the current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "emergency" log level.
c277f98c MS	86	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">ERROR: message
	87	<br>
	88	<br>
	89	Sets the printer-state-message attribute and adds the specified
94436c5a	90	message to the current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "error" log level.
c277f98c MS	91	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">INFO: message
	92	<br>
	93	<br>
	94	Sets the printer-state-message attribute. If the current <i>LogLevel</i>
94436c5a MS	95	is set to "debug2", also adds the specified message to the
94436c5a MS	96	current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "info" log level.
c277f98c MS	97	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">NOTICE: message
	98	<br>
	99	<br>
	100	Sets the printer-state-message attribute and adds the specified
94436c5a	101	message to the current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "notice" log level.
c277f98c MS	102	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">PAGE: page-number #-copies
	103	<br>
	104	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">PAGE: total #-pages
	105	<br>
	106	<br>
	107	Adds an entry to the current <i>PageLog</i>. The first form adds
94436c5a MS	108	#-copies to the job-media-sheets-completed attribute. The second
94436c5a MS	109	form sets the job-media-sheets-completed attribute to #-pages.
c277f98c MS	110	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">PPD: Keyword=Value ... KeywordN=Value
	111	<br>
	112	<br>
	113	Sets the named keywords in the printer's PPD file. This is typically
94436c5a MS	114	used to update default option keywords such as DefaultPageSize and
94436c5a MS	115	the various installable options in the PPD file.
c277f98c MS	116	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">STATE: printer-state-reason [printer-state-reason ...]
	117	<br>
	118	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">STATE: + printer-state-reason [printer-state-reason ...]
	119	<br>
	120	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">STATE: - printer-state-reason [printer-state-reason ...]
	121	<br>
	122	<br>
	123	Sets, adds, or removes printer-state-reason keywords to the
94436c5a MS	124	current queue. Typically this is used to indicate media, ink, and
94436c5a MS	125	toner conditions on a printer.
c277f98c MS	126	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">WARNING: message
	127	<br>
	128	<br>
	129	Sets the printer-state-message attribute and adds the specified
94436c5a	130	message to the current <i>ErrorLog</i> using the "warning" log level.
94436c5a MS	131	<h2 class="title"><a name="ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLES">Environment Variables</a></h2>
	132	The following environment variables are defined by the CUPS
	133	server when executing the filter:
c277f98c MS	134	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CHARSET
	135	<br>
	136	<br>
	137	The default text character set, typically utf-8.
	138	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CLASS
	139	<br>
	140	<br>
	141	When a job is submitted to a printer class, contains the name of
94436c5a MS	142	the destination printer class. Otherwise this environment
94436c5a MS	143	variable will not be set.
c277f98c MS	144	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CONTENT_TYPE
	145	<br>
	146	<br>
	147	The MIME type associated with the file (e.g.
94436c5a	148	application/postscript).
c277f98c MS	149	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CUPS_CACHEDIR
	150	<br>
	151	<br>
	152	The directory for semi-persistent cache files can be found.
	153	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CUPS_DATADIR
	154	<br>
	155	<br>
	156	The directory where data files can be found.
	157	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CUPS_FILETYPE
	158	<br>
	159	<br>
	160	The type of file being printed: "job-sheet" for a banner page and "document"
94436c5a	161	for a regular print file.
c277f98c MS	162	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CUPS_MAX_MESSAGE
	163	<br>
	164	<br>
	165	The maximum size of a message sent to stderr, including any leading prefix and
94436c5a	166	the trailing newline.
c277f98c MS	167	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">CUPS_SERVERROOT
	168	<br>
	169	<br>
	170	The root directory of the server.
	171	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">DEVICE_URI
	172	<br>
	173	<br>
	174	The device-uri associated with the printer.
	175	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">FINAL_CONTENT_TYPE
	176	<br>
	177	<br>
	178	The MIME type associated with the printer (e.g.
94436c5a	179	application/vnd.cups-postscript).
c277f98c MS	180	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">LANG
	181	<br>
	182	<br>
	183	The default language locale (typically C or en).
	184	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">PATH
	185	<br>
	186	<br>
	187	The standard execution path for external programs that may be run by
94436c5a	188	the filter.
c277f98c MS	189	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">PPD
	190	<br>
	191	<br>
	192	The full pathname of the PostScript Printer Description (PPD)
94436c5a	193	file for this printer.
c277f98c MS	194	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">PRINTER
	195	<br>
	196	<br>
	197	The name of the printer.
	198	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">RIP_CACHE
	199	<br>
	200	<br>
	201	The recommended amount of memory to use for Raster Image
94436c5a	202	Processors (RIPs).
c277f98c MS	203	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">SOFTWARE
	204	<br>
	205	<br>
	206	The name and version number of the server (typically CUPS/1.2).
	207	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">TZ
	208	<br>
	209	<br>
	210	The timezone of the server.
	211	<p style="margin-left: 5.0em; text-indent: -5.0em">USER
	212	<br>
	213	<br>
	214	The user executing the filter, typically "lp" or "root"; consult the
	215	<i>cupsd.conf(5)</i> file for the current setting.
94436c5a MS	216	<h2 class="title"><a name="COMPATIBILITY">Compatibility</a></h2>
	217	While the filter interface is compatible with System V interface
	218	scripts, it will only work with the System V interface script as the
	219	only filter. Typically the interface script will be provided via the
c277f98c	220	<i>lpadmin(8)</i> command using the <i>-i</i> option.
94436c5a	221	<h2 class="title"><a name="SEE_ALSO">See Also</a></h2>
c277f98c	222	<i>backend(7)</i>, <i>cupsd(8)</i>, <i>cupsfilter(8)</i>,
94436c5a	223	<br>
c277f98c	224	<a href="http://localhost:631/help">http://localhost:631/help</a>
94436c5a MS	225	<h2 class="title"><a name="COPYRIGHT">Copyright</a></h2>
	226	Copyright 2007-2013 by Apple Inc.
	227
	228	</body>
	229	</html>