PAP(1)

✨ PAP(1) — the Netatalk AFP Fileserver Manual, but make it cute ✨

okay bestie, pull up a chair because today we're talking about pap, from the Netatalk AFP Fileserver Manual. it's the client interface to remote printers using the Printer Access Protocol. yes, printers. yes, AppleTalk. yes, we're doing retro networking and it's iconic. 🖨️💖

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🌸 NAME 🌸

pap — client interface to remote printers using Printer Access Protocol

like, that's the whole vibe. you talk to a printer, but make it AppleTalk. 🍎

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

pap [-A address] [-c] [-d] [-e] [-E] [-p nbpname] [-s statusfile] [-w]
[-W] [files]

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so here's the tea. pap is what you use to connect to an AppleTalk-connected printer and send files to it, using the Apple Printer Access Protocol (that's the PAP, iykyk). the moment pap starts running, it tries to open a session with the printer using PAP, and then it downloads the files to the printer. slay, straightforward, no notes. ✨

if you don't hand it any files on the command line? no worries, it just starts reading from standard input. lowkey generous of it. 📥

if you don't specify a printer on the command line, pap goes looking for a file called .paprc in the current working directory and reads it to get the nbpname of a printer. blank lines get ignored, and so do lines that begin with a # (comments, we love her). and the defaults? type and zone default to LaserWriter and the zone of the local host, respectively. 🫶

heads up bestie: pap is designed to be useful as a communication filter for sending lpd(8) spooled print jobs to AppleTalk connected printers. if that's your plan, go peek at psf(8) for hints on how to use it that way. 👑

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

• -A address — connect to the printer with Appletalk address address and do not go consulting the .paprc file to find a printer name. for the syntax of address, check atalk_aton(3). no .paprc, no problem. 🚫📄
• -c — take cuts. the PAP protocol specified a simple queuing procedure, where clients tell the printer how long they've been waiting to print. this option makes pap lie about how long it has been waiting. 💀 not me cutting the line at the printer. the audacity. periodt.
• -d — enable debug output. let her yap. 🗣️
• -e — send any message from the printer to stderr instead of stdout. fun fact: psf(8) invokes pap with this option. ✨
• -E — don't wait for EOF from the printer. this one is for the printers that don't implement PAP correctly. in a correct implementation, the client side should wait for the printer to return EOF before closing the connection. but some clients don't wait, and hence some printers have related bugs in their implementation. so basically this flag exists because the printer world is messy and we're being forgiving about it. 😭🫶
• -p nbpname — connect to the printer named nbpname and do not consult the .paprc file to find a printer name. syntax of nbpname lives in nbp_name(3). 🎯
• -s statusfile — update the file called statusfile so it contains the most recent status message from the printer. pap grabs the status from the printer while it's waiting for the printer to process input. the statusfile will contain a single line terminated with a newline. this is genuinely useful when pap is invoked by psf(8) inside lpd's spool directory. 📝✨
• -w — wait for the printer status to contain the word “waiting” before sending the job. this is to defeat printer-side spool available on HP IV and V printers. we wait. patiently. 💅
• -W — wait for the printer status to contain the word “idle” before sending the job. this too is to defeat printer-side spool available on HP IV and V printers. same energy, different word. 🔥

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🍓 FILES 🍓

• .paprc — file read to obtain printer name if not specified on command line

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🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

nbp_name(3), atalk_aton(3), lpd(8), psf(8)

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Contributors to the Netatalk Project (https://netatalk.io/contributors)

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! 🎀 this little legend shipped as part of Netatalk 4.5.1 — thank you for coming to my TED talk about making printers talk AppleTalk. stay hydrated, read your manpages, and may your spool always be ready 💖✨🦋