ppd(1M)

NAME
     ppd - Impressario PPD driver for use with PostScript capable printers.

DESCRIPTION
     PostScript Printer Description (PPD) files are human readable text files
     that describe the features of a specific PostScript capable printer.  A
     PPD file describes printer features in such a way that a Graphical User
     Interface (GUI) can be built to present the user with a list of printer
     features to choose from.  Examples of printer features include paper
     size, supported fonts, paper handling, etc.  A PPD file also contains
     PostScript and Job Control Language (JCL) commands to be used to invoke
     the selected features.

     The Impressario PPD software parses a PPD file and uses the PPD file
     information to:

      - Build a list of supported printers (Printer Manager Add function)

      - Build a GUI for controlling the printer (glp Options panels)

      - Send the correct PostScript and JCL commands to the printer (the
     Impressario PPD printer driver)

     For more information on PPD files see the Adobe document: "PostScript
     Printer Description File Format Specification" available from Adobe
     Systems Incorporated.  Version 4.2 of the document was used as the basis
     of the Impressario PPD driver.

     SGI supplies a number of PPD files in the directory
     /var/spool/lp/PPD_model.  PPD files in this directory have been tested
     with the Impressario PPD driver and the printers that these PPD files
     support will be listed in the Printer Manager.

     Additional PPD files can be found at printer vendor web sites and FTP
     sites.  Many vendors have a large collection in a single directory that
     can be downloaded.  One notable exception is HP.  HP PPDs are not
     available in a single location -- they are incorporated into HP supplied
     printer drivers.  For this reason you may have to contact HP to get a PPD
     file for a particular printer.

     To make the PPD available to the Printer Manager it has to be copied to
     the directory that contains tested PPD files (/var/spool/lp/PPD_model).
     See the file /var/spool/lp/PPD_model/README for details.  Note that if
     the Printer Manager is running and a new PPD file is added to
     /var/spool/lp/PPD_model then the Printer Manager should be restarted to
     insure the new PPD file is seen.

     A large collection of PPDs for multiple vendors are available from
     Adobe's FTP site at ftp.adobe.com.  Most of these files are already
     available on the SGI system and can be found in the directory
     /var/spool/lp/PPD_untested.  /var/spool/lp/PPD_untested contains PPD
     files that SGI has not tested with the Impressario PPD driver.  They may
     or may not work with the Impressario PPD driver.  These files are
     supplied in the impr_print.sw.ppd_unsupported subsystem and are provided
     as a convenience for users who would otherwise have to get them from an
     FTP site.  Printers supported by the PPD files in the
     /var/spool/lp/PPD_untested directory are not listed by the Printer
     Manager (see the README file in the /var/spool/lp/PPD_untested directory
     for more information).

     For more information on the Impressario PPD driver see "Appendix I:
     Impressario  PPD Driver Implementation" in the Impressario developers
     Guide.


TRADEMARKS
     PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc.

FILES
     /var/spool/lp/PPD_model/README
          Instructions for adding a PPD file to the system.
     /var/spool/lp/PPD_model
          Directory containing supported PPD files.
     /var/spool/lp/PPD_untested
          Directory containing unsupported PPD files.
     /var/spool/lp/PPD_model/impressario_ppd_common.ppd
     /var/spool/lp/PPD_model/impressario_ppd_common_3color.ppd
     /var/spool/lp/PPD_model/impressario_ppd_common_4color.ppd
          These three files implement a common section of the GUI options
          menu.
     /var/spool/lp/model/impressario_ppd_model
          The default lp spooler model file used by the PPD driver.
     /usr/lib/X11/$LANG/app-defaults/ppd
          Directory containing resource files for PPD files.
     /var/spool/lp/gui_model/ELF/impressario_ppd_model.gui
          This is the GUI binary for the PPD driver.
     /usr/lib/print/ppd_driver
          PPD device driver.
     /usr/lib/print/genppdtemplate
          Used to generate an X resource file from a PPD file.
     /usr/lib/print/ppdtopod
          Used to convert a PPD file to an Impressario POD format.
     /usr/lib/print/packppdfiles
          Used to pack several files into a single file.

SEE ALSO
     The Impressario developers Guide (available as an on-line book when the
     Impressario Developer sub-system software is installed).

     ppdtopod(1), impressario_ppd_model(1), packppdfiles(1), genppdtemplate(1)