ROUTEPRINT(1) Printing Tools ROUTEPRINT(1)NAME
routeprint, fileconvert - convert file to printer or to specified
filetype
SYNOPSISrouteprint [-c filetypeDatabasePath ] [-g] [ [-p printer] | [-d
destination-type] ] [-t source-type] files
DESCRIPTIONrouteprint is a utility accessible from the IRIX command line to request
a Bourne Shell command line which will convert the given file to the
requested format. routeprint may also be used to convert files of
various types to print on one of a set of desired printers. routeprint
uses file types specified on the command line to look up print conversion
rules for each file to be printed. The conversion rules are located in
compiled .otr files in /usr/lib/filetype. The older ftr(1) database
format, .ctr files are not supported anymore. The source .ftr files can
be found in the local, install, system, and default subdirectories under
/usr/lib/filetype. If no file types are specified on the command line,
routeprint looks up the appropriate type for each file. routeprint uses
the print conversion rules to process the files into the form requested
or a form printable by the target printer.
printer is the name of a printer to which the output may be sent.
destination-type is the name of a destination filetype to which the
output should be converted.
source-type is a file-type name.
files is one or more file names, separated by spaces.
-g The -g option should be used when routeprint is defined as part
of a file typing rule. This option puts error messages in a
notifier window (instead of sending them to stdout) and
suppresses warnings.
-c filetypeDatabasePath The -c option allows users to specify an
alternate file typing rules database, .otr file to use. This
option should be used to override the default FTR database search
path, which is /usr/lib/filetype/desktop.otr. In older versions,
routeprint used to also search in the user's HOME directory,
before looking under, /usr/lib/filetype directory. This is not
supported anymore, but the users can still give their own FTR
database using the -c flag. Also, note that the old FTR database
file format, .ctr, is not supported anymore, it is replaced by
the new .otr file format. By default, if an invalid database is
given, routeprint automatically rejects that database, and loads
the default desktop.otr database.
Page 1
ROUTEPRINT(1) Printing Tools ROUTEPRINT(1)-d destination-type is specified as the target filetype for the
conversion. Routeprint will determine whether a conversion path
exists between the input file's type and the specified
destination-type. If no conversion path exists, routeprint will
return an exit code other than 0 and an empty string. If a
conversion path exists, routeprint will return an exit code of 0
and a string representing the commands necessary to execute in
order to convert the file from the source type to the destination
type. This string may in turn be executed as a Bourne Shell
program or as the argument to system to produce the destination
filetype on stdout.
The -p and -d options are mutually exclusive, and the -d option may
appear only once on the command line. The -p or -t options may appear
multiple times on the command line, and are used in the following way:
-p printer is added to the collection of printers on which the
output may appear. Each instance of the -p option on the command
line adds one printer to this collection. If more than one
printer is specified, routeprint uses the print conversion rules
to determine the best printer to use. If no printer names are
given via the -p flag, the destination printer is the system
default printer. Using the -p option overrules the system
default printer.
-t source-type sets the filetype for the files that follow it on the
command line until another type is specified. If no type is
given via the -t flag, or files appear on the command line before
the first -t, the files are typed by routeprint. routeprint
examines all of the specified files' types. If they are
identical, a single print job will be initiated. If the types
are varied, routeprint generates an error message.
The system default printer is the printer or printer class on which a
print job appears if no printer is specified with the -p option. The
system default printer is normally specified using the Printer Manager in
the System menu on the toolchest(1).
USAGE
A typical call from the command line might look like the following:
routeprint-p myprinter file1 file2 file3
A typical call requesting a file conversion command line might look like
the following:
routeprint-d PostScriptFile file1
Page 2
ROUTEPRINT(1) Printing Tools ROUTEPRINT(1)JOB ORDERING
The ordering of files specified on routeprint's command line determines
the ordering of files within the resultant print job.
PRINT CONVERSION RULES
The .ftr file used by routeprint contains both file type rules and print
conversion rules.
The following is a typical set of print conversion rules:
CONVERT TroffFile PostScriptFile
COST 50
FILTER psroff -t $file
CONVERT PostScriptFile myLaserPrinterType
COST 50
FILTER lp -d $CURRENTPRINTER
The CONVERT item specifies the file type of the input file followed by
the file type of the converted file.
The COST item specifies an arbitrary number between 0 and 1000
(inclusive) that represents the image degradation and processing cost
inherent in the conversion. The higher the COST value, the more
routeprint will try to avoid printing by that specific conversion method,
if it is given a choice.
The conventions for determining what COST to assign a given conversion
are as follows:
COST REASON
0 Equivalent filetypes, or a SETVAR rule.
50 Default conversion cost.
125 Trivial data loss, or conversion is expensive.
200 Minor data loss AND conversion is not expensive.
300 Noticeable data loss AND conversion is expensive.
500 Obvious data loss. (E.g., Color to Monochrome.)
The FILTER item contains the shell command that performs the conversion.
Given the conversion rules above, the command:
routeprint-p myLaserPrinterType -t TroffFile myfile.troff
would cause the file mytroff.t to be printed on the printer named
``mylaserprinter'' via the psroff and lp commands. Note that more than
one conversion rule may be used to actually get the files into a
printable form.
Page 3
ROUTEPRINT(1) Printing Tools ROUTEPRINT(1)FILES
/usr/lib/filetype/local/*.ftr
/usr/lib/filetype/install/*.ftr
/usr/lib/filetype/system/*.ftr
/usr/lib/filetype/default/*.ftr
/usr/lib/filetype/desktop.otr
KNOWN BUGS
The maximum length of strings returned are currently harcoded. The
command string returned by routeprint cannot exceed 4096 characters,
including terminating NULL, or routeprint's behavior will be undefined.
routeprint does not currently support the use of multiple filetypes.
SEE ALSO
IRIX Interactive Desktop Integration Guide , routeprint(1), ftr(1), sh(1)
Page 4
