How to start using CUPS?

Helge Blischke h.blischke at acm.org
Fri Oct 23 03:45:26 PDT 2009


Elly K wrote:

> Hello list,
> I am a mainframe programmer and we've got CUPS installed on the Linux side
> of the mainframe.  I know some Java and my boss wants me to create an
> application to print PDF documents using the CUPS software.  So I would
> like to know a few things and I would appreciate if you could help me with
> it.
> 
> 1) Is there a manual or something where I can start reading on how to use
> cups?
There is quite a good howto ab www.openprinting.org which I'd recommend to 
read. Your mainframe Linux should behave much like an "ordinary" Linux.
> 2) I have a windows PC.  If I want to test my application locally, do I
> need a Linux box? 
Though it is possible to build CUPS on a Windows PC under cygwin, I'd 
recommend to install a Linux under a virtual machine. Look at vmware.com for 
a desktop version of their virtual machine.
> 3) If the printer is jammed or runs out of paper or gets
> disconnected from the network, will CUPS notify my application of the
> error?
That depends on how the printer is connected with the system. If the backend 
program (that is the part of the CUPS system that maintains the physical 
connection to the real printer) and the printer itself both offer a 
bidirectional interface, and the printer does report such events, CUPS 
provides various methods to notify users or sysadmins accordingly.
> 
> Thanks for your time,
> EK

Helge





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