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<!--
- "$Id: api-filter.shtml 5138 2006-02-21 10:49:06Z mike $"
+ "$Id: api-filter.shtml 6649 2007-07-11 21:46:42Z mike $"
Filter and backend API introduction for the Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS).
- Copyright 1997-2006 by Easy Software Products.
+ Copyright 2007 by Apple Inc.
+ Copyright 1997-2006 by Easy Software Products, all rights reserved.
These coded instructions, statements, and computer programs are the
- property of Easy Software Products and are protected by Federal
- copyright law. Distribution and use rights are outlined in the file
- "LICENSE.txt" which should have been included with this file. If this
- file is missing or damaged please contact Easy Software Products
- at:
-
- Attn: CUPS Licensing Information
- Easy Software Products
- 44141 Airport View Drive, Suite 204
- Hollywood, Maryland 20636 USA
-
- Voice: (301) 373-9600
- EMail: cups-info@cups.org
- WWW: http://www.cups.org
+ property of Apple Inc. and are protected by Federal copyright
+ law. Distribution and use rights are outlined in the file "LICENSE.txt"
+ which should have been included with this file. If this file is
+ file is missing or damaged, see the license at "http://www.cups.org/".
-->
<h2 class='title'>Introduction</h2>
use the <tt>CUPS_BACKEND_</tt> constants and
<tt>cupsBackChannel</tt> functions, respectively.</p>
+<p>The <var><cups/sidechannel.h></var> header file must be
+included to use the <tt>CUPS_SC_</tt> constants and <tt>cupsSideChannel</tt> functions.</p>
+
<p>Programs using these functions must be linked to the CUPS
library: <var>libcups.a</var>, <var>libcups.so.2</var>,
<var>libcups.2.dylib</var>, <var>libcups_s.a</var>, or
<kbd>gcc -o myprogram myprogram.c -lcups</kbd>
</pre>
+
<h2 class='title'>Compatibility</h2>
-<p>All of these functions require CUPS 1.2 or higher.</p>
+<p>The <tt>cupsBackChannel</tt> functions require CUPS 1.2 or higher. The <tt>cupsSideChannel</tt> functions require CUPS 1.3 or higher.</p>
+
+
+<h2 class='title'>Using the cupsBackChannel APIs</h2>
+
+<p>The <tt>cupsBackChannel</tt> APIs allow your filters, drivers, and port monitors to read data back from a printer and your backends to send data from a printer to the filters, drivers, and port monitors associated with the current job. Back-channel data is normally sent by the printer in response to a command sent from your program to the printer via <tt>stdout</tt>.</p>
+
+<p>The <tt>cupsBackChannelRead()</tt> function reads data from the printer via the backend. You provide a timeout in seconds along with a buffer pointer and the size of that buffer. It returns the number of bytes or -1 if there was an error. The following code example shows how to poll for back-channel data in your program:</p>
+
+<pre class='command'>
+#include <cups/cups.h>
+
+char buffer[8192];
+ssize_t bytes;
+
+/* Use a timeout of 0.0 seconds to poll for back-channel data */
+bytes = cupsBackChannelRead(buffer, sizeof(buffer), 0.0);
+</pre>
+
+<p>If you are writing a backend, the <tt>cupsBackChannelWrite()</tt> function sends any back-channel data you have received from the printer to upstream filters in the print filter chain. We recommend using a timeout of 1.0 seconds:</p>
+
+<pre class='command'>
+#include <cups/cups.h>
+
+char buffer[8192];
+ssize_t bytes;
+
+/* Use a timeout of 1.0 seconds to give filters a chance to read */
+cupsBackChannelWrite(buffer, bytes, 1.0);
+</pre>
+
+
+<h2 class='title'>Using the cupsSideChannel APIs</h2>
+
+<p>The <tt>cupsSideChannel</tt> APIs allow your filters, drivers, port monitors, and backend to send and receive the following out-of-band commands:</p>
+
+<ul>
+
+ <li><tt>CUPS_SC_CMD_SOFT_RESET</tt> - Do a soft reset</li>
+ <li><tt>CUPS_SC_CMD_DRAIN_OUTPUT</tt> - Drain all pending output</li>
+ <li><tt>CUPS_SC_CMD_GET_BIDI</tt> - Return bidirectional capabilities</li>
+ <li><tt>CUPS_SC_CMD_GET_DEVICE_ID</tt> - Return the IEEE-1284 device ID</li>
+ <li><tt>CUPS_SC_CMD_GET_STATE</tt> - Return the device state</li>
+
+</ul>
+
+
+<h3>Sending Commands from a Filter, Driver, or Port Monitor</h3>
+
+<p>The <tt>cupsSideChannelDoRequest()</tt> function is used by filters, drivers, and port monitors to send a command to the backend and read back a response:</p>
+
+<pre class='command'>
+cups_sc_status_t cupsSideChannelDoRequest(cups_sc_command_t command,
+ char *data, int *datalen,
+ double timeout);
+</pre>
+
+<p>The <tt>CUPS_SC_CMD_SOFT_RESET</tt> and <tt>CUPS_SC_CMD_DRAIN_OUTPUT</tt> commands do not return any data values, while the others return one or more bytes. The <tt>timeout</tt> parameter allows your program to poll or wait for the command to complete - use a timeout of 30 seconds for <tt>CUPS_SC_CMD_SOFT_RESET</tt> and <tt>CUPS_SC_CMD_DRAIN_OUTPUT</tt> and a timeout of 1 second for all other commands.</p>
+
+<p><tt>CUPS_SC_CMD_GET_BIDI</tt> returns a single <tt>char</tt> value that tells you whether the backend supports bidirectional communications:</p>
+
+<pre class='command'>
+#include <cups/sidechannel.h>
+
+char data;
+int datalen;
+cups_sc_bidi_t bidi;
+cups_sc_status_t status;
+
+/* Tell cupsSideChannelDoRequest() how big our buffer is... */
+datalen = 1;
+
+/* Get the bidirectional capabilities, waiting for up to 1 second */
+status = cupsSideChannelDoRequest(CUPS_SC_CMD_GET_BIDI, &data, &datalen, 1.0);
+
+/* Use the returned value if OK was returned and the length is still 1 */
+if (status == CUPS_SC_STATUS_OK && datalen == 1)
+ bidi = (cups_sc_bidi_t)data;
+else
+ bidi = CUPS_SC_BIDI_NOT_SUPPORTED;
+</pre>
+
+<p><tt>CUPS_SC_CMD_GET_DEVICE_ID</tt> returns a string of characters containing the IEEE-1284 device ID for the connected printer:</p>
+
+<pre class='command'>
+#include <cups/sidechannel.h>
+
+char data[2049];
+int datalen;
+cups_sc_status_t status;
+
+/* Tell cupsSideChannelDoRequest() how big our buffer is, less 1 byte for nul-termination... */
+datalen = sizeof(data) - 1;
+
+/* Get the IEEE-1284 device ID, waiting for up to 1 second */
+status = cupsSideChannelDoRequest(CUPS_SC_CMD_GET_DEVICE_ID, data, &datalen, 1.0);
+
+/* Use the returned value if OK was returned and the length is non-zero */
+if (status == CUPS_SC_STATUS_OK && datalen > 0)
+ data[datalen] = '\0';
+else
+ data[0] = '\0';
+</pre>
+
+<p><tt>CUPS_SC_CMD_GET_STATE</tt> returns a single <tt>char</tt> value that tells you the current device state:</p>
+
+<pre class='command'>
+#include <cups/sidechannel.h>
+
+char data;
+int datalen;
+cups_sc_state_t state;
+cups_sc_status_t status;
+
+/* Tell cupsSideChannelDoRequest() how big our buffer is... */
+datalen = 1;
+
+/* Get the bidirectional capabilities, waiting for up to 1 second */
+status = cupsSideChannelDoRequest(CUPS_SC_CMD_GET_STATE, &data, &datalen, 1.0);
+
+/* Use the returned value if OK was returned and the length is still 1 */
+if (status == CUPS_SC_STATUS_OK && datalen == 1)
+ state = (cups_sc_state_t)data;
+else
+ state = CUPS_SC_STATE_OFFLINE;
+</pre>
+
+
+<h3>Handling Commands in your Backend</h3>
+
+<p>The <tt>cupsSideChannelRead()</tt> function is used by backends to read a command from a filter, driver, or port monitor:</p>
+
+<pre class='command'>
+int cupsSideChannelRead(cups_sc_command_t &command,
+ cups_sc_status_t &status,
+ char *data, int *datalen, double timeout);
+</pre>
+
+<p>Backends can either poll for commands using a <tt>timeout</tt> of 0.0, wait indefinitely for commands using a <tt>timeout</tt> of -1.0 (probably in a separate thread for that purpose), or use <tt>select()</tt> or <tt>poll()</tt> on the <tt>CUPS_SC_FD</tt> file descriptor (4) to handle input and output on several file descriptors at the same time. Backends can pass <tt>NULL</tt> for the <tt>data</tt> and <tt>datalen</tt> parameters, since none of the commands sent by upstream filters contain any data at this time.</p>
+
+<p>Once a command is processed, the backend uses the <tt>cupsSideChannelWrite()</tt> function to send its response:</p>
+
+<pre class='command'>
+#include <cups/sidechannel.h>
+
+cups_sc_command_t command;
+cups_sc_status_t status;
+
+/* Poll for a command... */
+if (!cupsSideChannelRead(&command, &status, NULL, NULL, 0.0))
+{
+ char data[2048];
+ int datalen;
+
+ switch (command)
+ {
+ ... handle supported commands, file data/datalen/status with values as needed ...
+
+ default :
+ status = CUPS_SC_STATUS_NOT_IMPLEMENTED;
+ datalen = 0;
+ break;
+ }
+
+ /* Send a response... */
+ cupsSideChannelWrite(command, status, data, datalen, 1.0);
+}
+</pre>
<h2 class='title'>Contents</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href='#FUNCTIONS'>Functions</a></li>
<ul>
<li><a href='#cupsBackChannelRead'><tt>cupsBackChannelRead()</tt></a> <span class='info'> CUPS 1.2 </span></li>
<li><a href='#cupsBackChannelWrite'><tt>cupsBackChannelWrite()</tt></a> <span class='info'> CUPS 1.2 </span></li>
+ <li><a href='#cupsSideChannelDoRequest'><tt>cupsSideChannelDoRequest()</tt></a> <span class='info'> CUPS 1.3 </span></li>
+ <li><a href='#cupsSideChannelRead'><tt>cupsSideChannelRead()</tt></a> <span class='info'> CUPS 1.3 </span></li>
+ <li><a href='#cupsSideChannelWrite'><tt>cupsSideChannelWrite()</tt></a> <span class='info'> CUPS 1.3 </span></li>
</ul>
<!-- NEW PAGE -->
<h3 class='title'><span class='info'> CUPS 1.2 </span><a name='cupsBackChannelRead'>cupsBackChannelRead()</a></h3>
<h4>Description</h4>
<p>Read data from the backchannel.
-
-Reads up to "bytes" bytes from the backchannel. The "timeout"
+<p>Reads up to "bytes" bytes from the backchannel. The "timeout"
parameter controls how many seconds to wait for the data - use
0.0 to return immediately if there is no data, -1.0 to wait
for data indefinitely.
-</p>
+
<h4>Syntax</h4>
-<pre>
-ssize_t
+<p><tt>
+ssize_t<br>
cupsBackChannelRead(
char * buffer,
size_t bytes,
double timeout);
-</pre>
+</tt></p>
<h4>Arguments</h4>
-<div class='table'><table align='center' border='1' width='80%' cellpadding='5' cellspacing='0'>
+<div class='table'><table align='center' border='1' width='80%' cellpadding='5' cellspacing='0' summary='Arguments'>
<thead><tr><th>Name</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td><tt>buffer</tt></td><td>Buffer to read</td></tr>
<h3 class='title'><span class='info'> CUPS 1.2 </span><a name='cupsBackChannelWrite'>cupsBackChannelWrite()</a></h3>
<h4>Description</h4>
<p>Write data to the backchannel.
-
-Writes "bytes" bytes to the backchannel. The "timeout" parameter
+<p>Writes "bytes" bytes to the backchannel. The "timeout" parameter
controls how many seconds to wait for the data to be written - use
0.0 to return immediately if the data cannot be written, -1.0 to wait
indefinitely.
-</p>
+
<h4>Syntax</h4>
-<pre>
-ssize_t
+<p><tt>
+ssize_t<br>
cupsBackChannelWrite(
const char * buffer,
size_t bytes,
double timeout);
-</pre>
+</tt></p>
<h4>Arguments</h4>
-<div class='table'><table align='center' border='1' width='80%' cellpadding='5' cellspacing='0'>
+<div class='table'><table align='center' border='1' width='80%' cellpadding='5' cellspacing='0' summary='Arguments'>
<thead><tr><th>Name</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td><tt>buffer</tt></td><td>Buffer to write</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>
<h4>Returns</h4>
<p>Bytes written or -1 on error</p>
+<!-- NEW PAGE -->
+<h3 class='title'><span class='info'> CUPS 1.3 </span><a name='cupsSideChannelDoRequest'>cupsSideChannelDoRequest()</a></h3>
+<h4>Description</h4>
+<p>Send a side-channel command to a backend and wait for a response.
+<p>This function is normally only called by filters, drivers, or port
+monitors in order to communicate with the backend used by the current
+printer. Programs must be prepared to handle timeout or "not
+implemented" status codes, which indicate that the backend or device
+do not support the specified side-channel command.
+<p>The "datalen" parameter must be initialized to the size of the buffer
+pointed to by the "data" parameter. cupsSideChannelDoRequest() will
+update the value to contain the number of data bytes in the buffer.
+
+
+<h4>Syntax</h4>
+<p><tt>
+<a href='#cups_sc_status_t'>cups_sc_status_t</a><br>
+cupsSideChannelDoRequest(
+ cups_sc_command_t command,
+ char * data,
+ int * datalen,
+ double timeout);
+</tt></p>
+<h4>Arguments</h4>
+<div class='table'><table align='center' border='1' width='80%' cellpadding='5' cellspacing='0' summary='Arguments'>
+<thead><tr><th>Name</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead>
+<tbody>
+<tr><td><tt>command</tt></td><td>Command to send</td></tr>
+<tr><td><tt>data</tt></td><td>Response data buffer pointer</td></tr>
+<tr><td><tt>datalen</tt></td><td>Size of data buffer on entry, number of bytes in buffer on return</td></tr>
+<tr><td><tt>timeout</tt></td><td>Timeout in seconds</td></tr>
+</tbody></table></div>
+<h4>Returns</h4>
+<p>Status of command</p>
+<!-- NEW PAGE -->
+<h3 class='title'><span class='info'> CUPS 1.3 </span><a name='cupsSideChannelRead'>cupsSideChannelRead()</a></h3>
+<h4>Description</h4>
+<p>Read a side-channel message.
+<p>This function is normally only called by backend programs to read
+commands from a filter, driver, or port monitor program. The
+caller must be prepared to handle incomplete or invalid messages
+and return the corresponding status codes.
+<p>The "datalen" parameter must be initialized to the size of the buffer
+pointed to by the "data" parameter. cupsSideChannelDoRequest() will
+update the value to contain the number of data bytes in the buffer.
+
+
+<h4>Syntax</h4>
+<p><tt>
+int<br>
+cupsSideChannelRead(
+ cups_sc_command_t * command,
+ <a href='#cups_sc_status_t'>cups_sc_status_t</a> * status,
+ char * data,
+ int * datalen,
+ double timeout);
+</tt></p>
+<h4>Arguments</h4>
+<div class='table'><table align='center' border='1' width='80%' cellpadding='5' cellspacing='0' summary='Arguments'>
+<thead><tr><th>Name</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead>
+<tbody>
+<tr><td><tt>command</tt></td><td>Command code</td></tr>
+<tr><td><tt>status</tt></td><td>Status code</td></tr>
+<tr><td><tt>data</tt></td><td>Data buffer pointer</td></tr>
+<tr><td><tt>datalen</tt></td><td>Size of data buffer on entry, number of bytes in buffer on return</td></tr>
+<tr><td><tt>timeout</tt></td><td>Timeout in seconds</td></tr>
+</tbody></table></div>
+<h4>Returns</h4>
+<p>0 on success, -1 on error</p>
+<!-- NEW PAGE -->
+<h3 class='title'><span class='info'> CUPS 1.3 </span><a name='cupsSideChannelWrite'>cupsSideChannelWrite()</a></h3>
+<h4>Description</h4>
+<p>Write a side-channel message.
+<p>This function is normally only called by backend programs to send
+responses to a filter, driver, or port monitor program.
+
+
+<h4>Syntax</h4>
+<p><tt>
+int<br>
+cupsSideChannelWrite(
+ cups_sc_command_t command,
+ <a href='#cups_sc_status_t'>cups_sc_status_t</a> status,
+ const char * data,
+ int datalen,
+ double timeout);
+</tt></p>
+<h4>Arguments</h4>
+<div class='table'><table align='center' border='1' width='80%' cellpadding='5' cellspacing='0' summary='Arguments'>
+<thead><tr><th>Name</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead>
+<tbody>
+<tr><td><tt>command</tt></td><td>Command code</td></tr>
+<tr><td><tt>status</tt></td><td>Status code</td></tr>
+<tr><td><tt>data</tt></td><td>Data buffer pointer</td></tr>
+<tr><td><tt>datalen</tt></td><td>Number of bytes of data</td></tr>
+<tr><td><tt>timeout</tt></td><td>Timeout in seconds</td></tr>
+</tbody></table></div>
+<h4>Returns</h4>
+<p>0 on success, -1 on error</p>
</body>
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