ATPRINT(1)                                             ATPRINT(1)



NAME
       atprint  - transfer data to a printer using AppleTalk pro-
       tocols

SYNOPSIS
       atprint [ printer-name [: printer-type [@ zone ] ] ]

ARGUMENTS
       printer-name
               Specifies the name of the printer you want to use.

       printer-type
               Specifies the type of printer, such as LaserWriter
               or ImageWriter.  Use this option when you want  to
               allow  the network to select the printer, but only
               a printer of a  given  type.   If  you  omit  this
               option,  LaserWriter  is  the printer type used by
               default.

               For example, when the printer  name  is  specified
               with  wildcards.  (See atlookup(1) for an explana-
               tion of wildcards.)  The print device used is  the
               one  chosen  by  the network.  By supplying Laser-
               Writer as the printer type in a case such as this,
               you can restrict the network to choosing a printer
               that can handle PostScript instructions.

               The full range of possible replacement values  for
               printer-type  depends on the configuration of your
               network.  Each  different  type  of  print  device
               broadcasts its printer-type and printer-name iden-
               tification when it registers itself with the  net-
               work.  You  can  use  atlookup  to obtain a report
               showing this information  for  all  the  AppleTalk
               devices on your network (see atlookup(1)).

       zone    Specifies  the AppleTalk zone in which the printer
               resides.  If you omit this argument or specify  it
               as *, the local zone is used.

DESCRIPTION
       atprint uses a printing protocol to establish a connection
       to an AppleTalk device, where it sends  data  received  on
       its standard input until it reaches an end-of-file charac-
       ter.  When it detects an  end-of-file  character,  atprint
       closes  the  AppleTalk  session  with the device, enabling
       other users to gain access to the printer.

       You can select the destination  AppleTalk  device  through
       the  command-line  arguments  as  described in the ``Argu-
       ments'' section earlier in this manual page.   If  you  do
       not  specify  any  of  these  arguments,  atprint uses the
       printer that was last selected with the at_cho_prn command
       (see at_cho_prn(1)).

       Often  the  printer you access by way of an AppleTalk con-
       nection is a LaserWriter.   Many  LaserWriter  models  are
       PostScript  printers. If you are using such a LaserWriter,
       the data that you send it must already be translated  into
       the PostScript page-description language. For example, the
       enscript command translates the output from troff (invoked
       with the -Tpsc option) into PostScript:

               troff -Tpsc -mm file | enscript -p- | atprint

       The atprint command displays one or more messages indicat-
       ing the AppleTalk device with which  it  is  communicating
       and  possibly  many  device  status messages (such as when
       another print job is occupying the printer for a period of
       time).   In  the preceding example, the default printer is
       used.  (See the ``Arguments'' section earlier in this man-
       ual page.)

       (Note  that  the  atprint  command does not honor requests
       from a LaserWriter regarding  the  downloading  of  fonts.
       Likewise,  it  does not prepend a PostScript header to the
       data stream in the same manner as the printer  drivers  in
       the Macintosh Operating System.  In the preceding example,
       a PostScript header is  still  provided  because  enscript
       prepends  its own header as part of the PostScript conver-
       sion process.)

       In AppleTalk programming terms, the arguments  make  up  a
       network-visible entity (NVE), where

               printer-name[:printer-type[@zone]]

       corresponds to the AppleTalk object, type, and zone:

               object:type@zone


EXAMPLES
       This  command  line maps a plain text file into PostScript
       and then submits it to joe's printer:

               enscript -p- file | atprint "joe's printer"


WARNINGS
       The atprint command does not process the  input  files  as
       does  lpr.   To print ASCII files properly on a PostScript
       printer with atprint, you must preprocess the  files  with
       pstext  or  enscript.  Likewise, you must preprocess files
       produced by troff with enscript(1).


FILES
       /usr/bin/atprint Executable file


SEE ALSO
       at_cho_prn(1),  atlookup(1),   atstatus(1),   enscript(1),
       lpr(1)



                                                       ATPRINT(1)