cups-driverd(8)                   Apple Inc.                   cups-driverd(8)



NAME
       cups-driverd - cups driver daemon

SYNOPSIS
       cups-driverd cat ppd-name
       cups-driverd list request_id limit options

DESCRIPTION
       cups-driverd shows or lists PPD files. It is run in response to CUPS-
       Add-Modify-Printer or CUPS-Get-Devices requests.  The first form
       ("cups-driverd cat ppd-name") writes the named PPD file to stdout. The
       output format is an uncompressed PPD file.

       The second form lists the available manufacturers or PPD files to
       stdout as indicated by the options argument. The output format is an
       IPP response message. The request_id argument is the request ID from
       the original IPP request, typically 1. The limit argument is the limit
       value from the original IPP request - 0 means no limit. Finally, the
       options argument is a space-delimited list of attributes ("name=value
       name=value ...") that were passed in with the request. Currently cups-
       driverd looks for the ppd-make and requested-attributes attributes and
       tailors the output accordingly.

DRIVERS
       Drivers can be static PPD files under the /usr/local/share/cups/model
       directory or programs under the /usr/local/libexec/cups/driver
       directory. Static PPD files must conform to the Adobe PPD File Format
       Specification version 4.3 and may be compressed using the gzip(1)
       program. Driver programs must implement the command-line interface
       shown in the next section.

   DRIVER PROGRAMS
       Driver programs provide a  interface to dynamically-generated PPD
       files. The following arguments are currently defined:

       drivername list
            Lists the supported PPD files to stdout.

       drivername cat ppdname
            Writes the named PPD file to stdout.

       Driver programs MUST NOT query hardware or make other long-term
       operations that would delay the return of a driver list. See the NOTES
       section below for specific recommendations.

   LISTING FILES (drivername list)
       When run with the single argument "list", the program must list the
       available PPD files it can generate to stdout using the following
       format:
           "drivername:ppdname" language "make" "make and model"
           "drivername:ppdname" language "make" "make and model" "1284 device id"
           "drivername:ppdname" language "make" "make and model" "1284 device id" "(PPD product)"
           "drivername:ppdname" language "make" "make and model" "1284 device id" "(PPD product)" "PostScript version"
           "drivername:ppdname" language "make" "make and model" "1284 device id" "(PPD product)" "PostScript version" "type"

       Drivername is the name of the driver program. Ppdname is the name used
       to select the given driver. Language is the locale associated with the
       default language of the PPD file, typically "en". Make is the
       Manufacturer name from the PPD file. Make and model is the NickName
       name from the PPD file. 1284 device id is the 1284DeviceId from the PPD
       file, if any. (PPD product) is the Product string as it would appear in
       the PPD file or from a PostScript query. PostScript version is the
       PSVersion string as it would appear in the PPD file or from a
       PostScript query. Type is "postscript" for PostScript printers, "pdf"
       for PDF printers, "raster" for raster printers, or "fax" for facsimile
       devices.

   WRITING FILES (drivername cat ppdname)
       When the driver program is run with the "cat ppdname" arguments, it
       must write the named PPD file to stdout, uncompressed. If the named PPD
       file does not exist, the driver program must not write any output to
       stdout and report the error to stderr instead.

   DRIVER ERROR MESSAGES
       Error messages can be relayed back to cupsd by writing them to stderr.
       The following prefixes are recognized:

       DEBUG: [drivername]
            Debugging messages

       ERROR: [drivername]
            Error messages

       INFO: [drivername]
            Informational messages

NOTES
       Due to performance considerations, driver programs have been officially
       deprecated and should not be used for new development. Currently only
       the CUPS web interface and lpinfo(8) command will request lists from
       all driver programs.

SEE ALSO
       cupsd(8), cupsd.conf(5), cupstestppd(1), lpinfo(8),
       http://localhost:631/help

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright 2007-2011 by Apple Inc.



6 January 2011                       CUPS                      cups-driverd(8)
