Hi All, Trust an engineer to be using a 24-pin dot Matrix and then complain about problems... perhaps the 'fix' in this sense is a little more 'global' ;-)
Seriously though, have a look at the logs in the printers spool directory to identify the problem (usually /var/spool/lpd/<printer>), saying it simply doesn't work is not actually very helpful. However, an important point has been raised here, one which I had also been thinking about. I do agree with James that the ifhp.conf file is getting to an unmanageable state. Aside from the structure and interpretation difficulties, personal modifications and staying current with the latest version is not as trivial as it should be. A possible solution to this would be to take a leaf out of the book that the clever Debian folk read, specifically the page on the modules.conf file and update-modules script. For the benefit of the non-debian users, the update-modules script simply reads all the text files in the /etc/modutils directory and its sub-directories. The text is then all concatenated together, mixed with a dash of platform specific code and comments, and out comes the modules.conf file. Simple. By doing this to the ifhp situation: no modifications need to be made to the IFHP program code, personal additions are not overwritten, you can edit the configurations and save without modifying the running config... etc. Thoughts anyone? Cheers, sam On Fri, 2003-11-28 at 21:50, James Richard Tyrer wrote: > I would like to introduce myself. > > I am the (somewhat unofficial) maintainer for LPRng support in KDE. > > I am a professional engineer. And, please note that this is not self > aggrandizement, it > is a WARNING. :-) Engineers are trained to find things that are wrong with > something > (find the fault) and come up with ways to fix it. We are sometimes blunt about this > and > we like to argue. In short. We (engineers) can be somewhat irritating people. > But, our > intentions are good -- to improve the product. > > I could really use a little help getting my old Epson 24-pin dot Matrix printer to > work > with IFHP. If not, I will have to use FooMatic. > > I have added this to: "ihfp.conf": > > # PRINTER gs_epson24 - Epson LQ1000 > [ gs_epson24 ] > tc=ghostscript > gs_device=epson > gs_options=-r360x180 > > and the necessary entry in: "printerdb" (which works OK). It appears to configure > correctly with: "lprngtool", the files appear in the 'var' directory, but it does > not print. > > So, this is the first "fault" that I find with IHFS. The: "ihfp.conf" file is > simply too > long. I would suggest that it have its own directory containing: > > general.conf > pjl.conf > pcl.conf > ps.conf > gs.conf > text.conf > <driver-name>.printer > > Where all files with the extension "printer" would be concatenated to make the > "printer.conf" file. To avoid the huge configuration file for printers, I would > suggest > individual printer files for each driver name (e.g. "gs_epson24.printer"). If that > were > the case there is no need for concatenation since the filter could simply read the > file it > needed. > > But, in any case, a 5K+ configuration file is simply unmanageable. > > And, I didn't figure it out. > > I note that this is always a weakness of any print spooler/filter system. They > always > rely on a 'magic file' that contains the information needed to make a specific > printer > work. Simplifying the configuration file that a user might need to edit is always a > good idea. > > -- > JRT > > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- > YOU MUST BE A LIST MEMBER IN ORDER TO POST TO THE LPRNG MAILING LIST > The address you post from MUST be your subscription address > > If you need help, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] (or lprng-requests > or lprng-digest-requests) with the word 'help' in the body. For the impatient, > to subscribe to a list with name LIST, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with: | example: > subscribe LIST <mailaddr> | subscribe lprng-digest [EMAIL PROTECTED] > unsubscribe LIST <mailaddr> | unsubscribe lprng [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > If you have major problems, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word > LPRNGLIST in the SUBJECT line. > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- YOU MUST BE A LIST MEMBER IN ORDER TO POST TO THE LPRNG MAILING LIST The address you post from MUST be your subscription address If you need help, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] (or lprng-requests or lprng-digest-requests) with the word 'help' in the body. For the impatient, to subscribe to a list with name LIST, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with: | example: subscribe LIST <mailaddr> | subscribe lprng-digest [EMAIL PROTECTED] unsubscribe LIST <mailaddr> | unsubscribe lprng [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you have major problems, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word LPRNGLIST in the SUBJECT line. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
