<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html> <!-- SECTION: Specifications --> <head> <title>CUPS Command File Format</title> <meta name='keywords' content='Programming, CUPS Command File Format'> <link rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' href='../cups.css'> </head> <body> <!-- "$Id$" CUPS command file format specification for the Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS). Copyright 1997-2006 by Easy Software Products. These coded instructions, statements, and computer programs are the property of Easy Software Products and are protected by Federal copyright law. Distribution and use rights are outlined in the file "LICENSE.txt" which should have been included with this file. If this file is missing or damaged please contact Easy Software Products at: Attn: CUPS Licensing Information Easy Software Products 44141 Airport View Drive, Suite 204 Hollywood, Maryland 20636 USA Voice: (301) 373-9600 EMail: cups-info@cups.org WWW: http://www.cups.org --> <h2 class='title'><a name='INTRODUCTION'>Introduction</a></h2> <p>This specification describes the CUPS command file format (application/vnd.cups-command) which is used to send printer maintenance commands to a printer in a device-independent way. The current specification supports basic maintenance functions such as head cleaning and self-test pages.</p> <p>Printer drivers advertise support for the CUPS command file format by providing a filter for the <var>application/vnd.cups-command</var> file type. Applications can determine if a printer supports printing of CUPS command files by checking the <code>printer-type</code> attribute for the <code>CUPS_PRINTER_COMMANDS</code> capability bit.</p> <h2 class='title'><a name='SYNTAX'>File Syntax</a></h2> <p>CUPS command files are ASCII text files. The first line of a CUPS command file MUST contain:</p> <pre class='command'> #CUPS-COMMAND </pre> <p>After that, each line is either a command or a comment. Comments begin with the # character, e.g.:</p> <pre class='command'> # This is a comment </pre> <p>The printer commands are described below. Printer commands are case-insensitive, so "PRINTSELFTESTPAGE", "printselftestpage", and "PrintSelfTestPage" are equivalent. Commands that accept arguments have their arguments on the same line separated by whitespace.</p> <h2 class='title'><a name='COMMANDS'>Commands</a></h2> <h3>Clean</h3> <p class='summary'>Clean colorname</p> <p>Does a standard print head cleaning. If a printer does not support cleaning of individual colors or cartridges, then all print heads are cleaned. Command filters MUST support the "all" colorname. Other standard color names include "black", "color", "photo", "cyan", "magenta", "yellow", "light-cyan", "light-magenta", "light-black", "light-gray", and "dark-gray".</p> <p>Example:</p> <pre class='command'> #CUPS-COMMAND Clean all </pre> <h3>PrintSelfTestPage</h3> <p class='summary'>PrintSelfTestPage</p> <p>Print a self-test page on the printer. Typically this page shows if all jets on a print head are functioning properly.</p> <p>Example:</p> <pre class='command'> #CUPS-COMMAND PrintSelfTestPage </pre> </body> </html>