PMDF System Manager's Guide
Previous Next Contents Index

28.6.2 Printer Channel Addresses

Printer channel addresses are straightforward but do take a few minutes to learn. PMDF-FAX users will find printer addresses quite familiar.

The general format of an address for a printer channel is: 


AVPL@printer-domain-name
where printer-domain-name is one of the printer domain names added to the configuration file as described in Section 28.6.1.1. The AVPL item is described in following subsections.

28.6.2.1 The Contents of the Attribute-value Pair List, AVPL

The left hand side of a printer channel address, (i.e., the AVPL in AVPL@printer-domain-name, is constructed in the linear attribute-value pair list (AVPL) format recommended by RFC 2156. The general form is: 


/attribute1=value1/attribute2=value2/.../
The trailing / at the end of the AVPL is here superfluous but nonetheless called for by the RFCs. PMDF does not require that it be supplied; however, future releases of PMDF can require its presence so it is best not to get into the habit of omitting it.

The attribute codes, for the most part, describe the intended recipient of the printer output. The available codes are similar to X.400 attribute codes, but they are not identical. They must be chosen from those shown in Table 28-5. Note that the P1 --- P8, SETUP, and USERNAME attributes are only supported on OpenVMS.

Table 28-5 Printer Channel Addressing Attributes
Attribute name Usage
AT Attention (usually a person's name)
MS Mail stop
O Organization or company
OU Organizational unit or department
P1 --- P8 Parameters to be passed through the print job; OpenVMS only
SETUP Setup module to be used by the print job; specify multiple modules in a comma separated list; OpenVMS only
TN Recipient's telephone number
USERNAME Username under which to submit print job; OpenVMS only
There are no mandatory attributes; however, the use of at least AT is recommended so that the printer operator can identify for whom the printer output is intended. Attributes can be specified in any order and can be specified multiple times. If more than one P1 attribute is specified, then only the rightmost one will be used. The same holds for the other parameter attributes, P2 through P8.

USERNAME attributes will be ignored unless the SET_USERNAME=1 option has been specified in the channel's option file. Use of this attribute allows specification of the username under which to submit each print job. This username, rather than that of the process running the printer channel, will then appear on any banner or trailer pages.

28.6.2.2 Quoting the AVPL

The attribute-value pair list (AVPL) can contain spaces and other special characters. If so, the entire list must be enclosed in double or single quotes.

The characters /, =, and $ are treated as list punctuation characters. If any of these characters appear in either attribute names or values, they must be prefixed with a dollar sign, $, to remove their special meaning. For instance, the "a/s" in the name "Example a/s" requires special quoting: 


IN%"'/at=Rex Sheds/O=Example a$/s/'@printer.example.com"

28.6.2.3 Examples of Printer Channel Addresses

Assume that the domain name printer.example.com is a legal printer domain name. Then, the following are examples of legal printer channel addresses as they would be specified to either VMS MAIL or DECwindows MAIL: 


IN%"'/AT=Ralph/TN=(714) 624-7907/'@printer.example.com" 
IN%"'/TN=(714) 621-8465/AT=John Doe/O=Example/'@printer.example.com" 
IN%"'/AT=Dan/O=Example/OU=MIS Dept./MS=XJ 614/'@printer.example.com" 
IN%"'/AT=Dan Doe/USERNAME=DAN/'@printer.example.com"
When using a user agent which accepts plain RFC 822 addresses (e.g., PMDF MAIL or Pine), use instead: 


"/AT=Ralph/TN=(714) 624-7907/"@printer.example.com 
"/TN=(714) 621-8465/AT=John Doe/O=Example/"@printer.example.com 
"/AT=Dan/O=Example/OU=MIS Dept./MS=XJ 614/"@printer.example.com 
"/AT=Dan Doe/USERNAME=DAN/"@printer.example.com

Previous Next Contents Index