ipp3dprinter(1)

💖 ipp3dprinter — bestie edition 💖

okay so like. this is the manual page for ipp3dprinter, and it lives in section 1 (the "commands you actually type" section, iykyk). it's from Apple Inc. and it is lowkey one of the most fun little tools in the whole CUPS-verse. sit down, grab a boba, we're doing this 💅

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✨ NAME ✨

ipp3dprinter — an ipp 3d printer application 🖨️✨

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

ipp3dprinter [ --help ] [ --no-web-forms ] [ --version ] [ -D device-uri
] [ -K keypath ] [ -M manufacturer ] [ -a filename.conf ] [ -c command ]
[ -d spool-directory ] [ -f type/subtype[,...]  ] [ -i iconfile.png ] [
-k ] [ -l location ] [ -m model ] [ -n hostname ] [ -p port ] [ -r
subtype[,subtype] ] [ -v[vvv] ] service-name

like. look at her. all those little bracketed options are giving ✨customizable✨ and then service-name is just there at the end, standing on business, no brackets, mandatory. periodt.

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

ipp3dprinter is a simple Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) server that conforms to the IPP 3D Printing Extensions (PWG 5100.21) specification. no cap, that's the whole vibe.

so what's she for?? two things, bestie:

• testing client software (yes, that's you, little IPP client, get in the test harness)
• acting as a very basic print server that runs a command for every job that is printed 🔥

that's it. that's the gig. she's simple, she's honest, she runs a command per job. iconic behaviour honestly.

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

the following options are recognized by ipp3dprinter — every single one, we're listing them ALL because we do not skip. 🙈

• --help — show program usage. she's telling you how to use her. communicate! 🫶
• --no-web-forms — disable the web interface forms that are used to update the media and supply levels. like, no forms, no touchy. hands off the supply levels bestie 😭
• --version — show the CUPS version. little flex. 💅
• -D device-uri — set the device URI for print output. the URI can be a filename, a directory, or a network socket URI shaped like "socket://ADDRESS[:PORT]" (and the default port number there is 9100, write that down). when you specify a directory, ipp3dprinter will create an output file using the job ID and name. cute naming scheme, obsessed. 💖
• -M manufacturer — set the manufacturer of the printer. the default is "Example". very placeholder of her, we love a neutral default. ✨
• -c command — run the specified command for each document that is printed. now listen closely because this one has ✨lore✨: if "command" is not an absolute path (/path/to/command), then ipp3dprinter goes looking for the command in the "command" subdirectory of the CUPS binary directory — typically /usr/lib/cups/command or /usr/libexec/cups/command. the cups-config(1) command can be used to discover the correct binary directory (cups-config --serverbin). also!! the CUPS_SERVERBIN environment variable can be used to override the default location of this directory — see the cups(1) man page for more details. so many ways to find your little command. she's resourceful. 🧚
• -d spool-directory — specifies the directory that will hold the print files. the default is a directory under the user's current temporary directory. it's giving "i made a folder somewhere, don't worry about it". 🌈
• -f type/subtype[,...] — specifies a list of MIME media types that the server will accept. the default depends on the type of printer created. mystery default, main character energy, we respect it. 👑
• -i iconfile.png — specifies the printer icon file for the server. the file must be a PNG format image, okay? PNG. not a jpeg, not a webp, bestie. the default is an internally-provided PNG image. 🎀
• -k — keeps the print documents in the spool directory rather than deleting them. she's a hoarder, but make it intentional. 🔥
• -l location — specifies the human-readable location string that is reported by the server. the default is the empty string. she lives nowhere. she is everywhere. 💀
• -m model — specifies the model name of the printer. the default is "Printer". naming her Printer. bold. iconic. no notes. ✨
• -n hostname — specifies the hostname that is reported by the server. the default is the name returned by the hostname(1) command. she's just asking the system who she is, relatable honestly 😭
• -p port — specifies the port number to listen on. the default is a user-specific number from 8000 to 8999. so like, she picks her own little corner of the port range. adorable. 🦋
• -r subtype[,subtype] — specifies the DNS-SD subtype(s) to advertise. separate multiple subtypes with a comma. the default is "_print". if you want to advertise more than one, comma-comma-comma, bestie. 🌸
• -v[vvv] — be (very) verbose when logging activity to standard error. add more v's for more chaos. -v is a lil chatty, -vvvv is her telling you EVERYTHING. 🙈

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⭐ EXIT STATUS ⭐

ipp3dprinter returns 1 if she's unable to process the command-line arguments or register the IPP service. basically if something goes wrong at the door, she's out. 🚪

otherwise?? ipp3dprinter will run continuously until terminated. she's not leaving. she lives here now. you have to kill her yourself. main character energy fr fr. 💀👑

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🌈 CONFORMING TO 🌈

ipp3dprinter is unique to CUPS and conforms to the IPP 3D Printing Extensions (PWG 5100.21) specification. one of a kind, does not copy anyone's homework, but does follow the spec. periodt. ✨

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💜 ENVIRONMENT 💜

okay this section is lowkey the coolest part, stay with me:

ipp3dprinter adds environment variables starting with "IPP_" for all IPP Job attributes in the print request. for example!! when executing a command for an IPP Job containing the "materials-col" Job Template attribute, the "IPP_MATERIALS_COL" environment variable will be set to the value of that attribute. so the job info just... walks into your environment. she's handing your command little notes. 🫶

in addition, all IPP "xxx-default" and "pwg-xxx" Printer Description attributes are added to the environment. for example, the "IPP_MATERIALS_COL_DEFAULT" environment variable will be set to the default value for the "materials-col" Job Template attribute. defaults get their own variable. as they should. 💅

enumerated values are converted to their keyword equivalents. for example, a "print-quality" Job Template attribute with a enum value of 3 will become the "IPP_PRINT_QUALITY" environment variable with a value of "draft". so 3 becomes "draft" — glow up of the century honestly. this string conversion only happens for standard Job Template attributes, currently "finishings" and "print-quality". just those two. no others. don't come for her. 😭

finally, the "CONTENT_TYPE" environment variable contains the MIME media type of the document being printed, and the "DEVICE_URI" environment variable contains the device URI as specified with the -D option. yes, that -D from earlier. they're connected. it's a whole ecosystem. 🌸

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🖨️ COMMAND OUTPUT 🖨️

unless they communicate directly with a printer, print commands send printer-ready data to the standard output. that's the flow. stdout is for the goods. ✨

print commands can also send messages back to ipp3dprinter on the standard error, and they do it with one of these prefixes — learn them, they're the whole vocabulary:

• ATTR: attribute=value[ attribute=value] — sets the named attribute(s) to the given values. currently only the "printer-alert" and "printer-alert-description" Printer Status attributes can be set. that's the list. that's the whole list. 🎀
• DEBUG: Debugging message — logs a debugging message if at least two -v's have been specified. so one v isn't enough for debug. you need the double v. 🫶
• ERROR: Error message — logs an error message and copies the message to the "job-state-message" attribute. she's telling you AND writing it down. receipts. 💀
• INFO: Informational message — logs an informational/progress message if -v has been specified and copies the message to the "job-state-message" attribute unless an error has been reported. if an error already happened, the info message doesn't get copied. error wins. as it should. 👑
• STATE: keyword[,keyword,...] — sets the printer's "printer-state-reasons" attribute to the listed keywords. full replace, bestie. 🔥
• STATE: -keyword[,keyword,...] — removes the listed keywords from the printer's "printer-state-reasons" attribute. the little minus sign is doing so much work here. 🙈
• STATE: +keyword[,keyword,...] — adds the listed keywords to the printer's "printer-state-reasons" attribute. and the plus adds. symmetrical. beautiful. 💖

note the difference bestie: no sign = set (replace everything), - = remove, + = add. three little moods. 🦋

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🧚 EXAMPLES 🧚

run ipp3dprinter with a service name of My Cool Printer:

ipp3dprinter "My Cool Printer"

run the file(1) command whenever a job is sent to the server:

ipp3dprinter -c /usr/bin/file "My Cool Printer"

see how she just... runs file on every job? that's the whole serve-a-command-per-job fantasy, live and in colour. 🌈

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

PWG Internet Printing Protocol Workgroup (http://www.pwg.org/ipp)

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💖 COPYRIGHT 💖

Copyright © 2007-2019 by Apple Inc.

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so yeah!! that's ipp3dprinter, your tiny little IPP 3D printing bestie. this edition of the manual page is from 26 September 2019, and it ships with CUPS. go forth, spin up a server, run a command per job, and stay hydrated. mwah 💅✨🫶