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magicfilter(8)         DragonFly System Manager's Manual        magicfilter(8)


NAME

       magicfilter - automatic configurable printer filter


SYNOPSIS

       magicfilter config-file [-c] [-n user] [-h host] [other-options]


DESCRIPTION

       magicfilter is an extensible and customizable automatic printer filter.
       It selects an appropriate conversion technique for the input data by
       seeking for magic numbers, and then utilizing the appropriate
       conversion utility.

       magicfilter is primarily intended for use as the ``input filter'' by
       the lpd print spooler.  The options accepted by magicfilter are exactly
       the ones passed to the input filter by lpd.

   OPTIONS
       Typically magicfilter will be invoked by lpd and hence provided the
       right options automatically.  This list is included for reference only.

       -c     Copy the input to the output without any conversion whatsoever
              (used by lpd whenever the -l option is passed to the lpr
              program).

       -nuser The login name of the user who submitted the job.  Available to
              subfilters as $LPUSER.  If the user has an associated GECOS
              entry it will be available as $LPUSERNAME.

       -hhost The host on which the job was submitted.  Available to
              subfilters as $LPHOST.

       -iindent
              A numeric option passed by lpd; can be set by the user by the -i
              option to lpr.  Although nominally used for the amount of
              indentation requested, magicfilter makes it available to
              subfilters for any useful purpose as $LPINDENT.

       --debug
              Write debugging output to stdout.  Every --debug increases the
              quantity of debugging output.

       --version
              Tell what version of magicfilter this is.

       --help Prints out a synopsis of the command-line switches supported.

       other options
              Any other options, such as the -w, -l, -x, and -y options
              typically passed by lpd are ignored.

   USING LPD
       To run magicfilter from lpd it should be entered as one of the filters
       in the /etc/printcap file.  Typically, it will be the input filter
       (if).  Since most version of lpd do not accept arguments entered as
       part of the filter name, typically the filter name entered into the
       /etc/printcap file will simply be the name of the configuration file,
       which is set executable and starts with the line:

       #! /usr/local/bin/magicfilter

       Most UNIX kernels will then be able to treat the configuration file
       itself as if it was the actual program.

       For systems which do not support the ``#!-hack'', the filter set in the
       if entry should point to magicfilter directly, and the accounting file
       (af) entry should point to the configuration file.  This, however, is a
       less general, and hence less desirable solution.


BUGS

       Magicfilter has been extensively modified for the 2.0 release, and has
       very little in common with the old 1.2 magicfilter.  The config-file
       format has changed pretty drastically, and old config files will not
       work anymore.

       Currently, there is no protection against the pipe or fpipe facilities
       going into an infinite loop.


AUTHOR

       H. Peter Anvin <hpa@zytor.com>, David Parsons <orc@pell.chi.il.us>


SEE ALSO

       printcap(5), lpr(8), dvips(1), grog(1), gs(1), gzip(1), troff(1).

2002/09/05                       Version 2.3.h                  magicfilter(8)

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