APS2FILE(1)

NAME
aps2file - printing to a file via apsfilter

SYNOPSIS
aps2file [-D] [-Pqueue] [-Zoptions] [-ooutput] [input]
aps2file [-h]

DESCRIPTION
With aps2file you can direct the printer data generated by apsfilter(1) into an arbitrary file without the use of a spooler.

OPTIONS
-h  show help screen
-D  enable debug mode
-Pqueue
    select a printer queue (different from the default one)
-Zoptions
    use apsfilter command line options (comma-separated list)
-ooutput
    direct data stream to output (default: stdout)
input
    read data from input (default: stdin)

Unlike printing with lpr(1), you can only use one input file at a time.

Using aps2file is also the recommended way to create a debugging log of a failed printing attempt. If you include the -D flag, the apsfilter shell script will log every command and print it to stderr. To save the output for inclusion into a bug report, you should therefore use a command of the sort
    aps2file -D -o /dev/null [-P...] [-Z...] [input] 2> log.txt

NOTES
aps2file only works correctly with entries in /etc/printcap that have been created by /usr/pkg/share/apsfilter/SETUP.

FILES
/etc/printcap
    printer capability data base
/usr/pkg/share/apsfilter/bin/apsfilter
    apsfilter script

SEE ALSO
apsfilter(1), apsfilter-bug(1), apspreview(1), apsfilterrc(5), printcap(5)

BUGS
See apsfilter software center - http://www.apsfilter.org/ - for new versions, bugfixes and known bugs.

Please use the new tool apsfilter-bug(1) to release bug- or problem reports. It automatically presents you a form in an editor window which asks you some standard questions. If you save and quit the editor session, then this report is sent automatically via e-mail to the proper apsfilter mailinglist.

If apsfilter fails to print something or prints it in a way you wouldn't expect and you want to report an apsfilter error then please save the debugging output of one print session using the new aps2file(1) utility by typing aps2file -D -Z options file > /dev/null 2> file.debug and including the debugging output in the file file.debug into the edit session of the apsfilter-bug utility, so that it is included into the mail to the apsfilter mailinglist.

Please note that you need to run /bin/sh (Bourne Shell), bash or a compatible shell, so that the above mentioned output redirection works. Under C-shell (/bin/csh) or tcsh it would't work. If you don't know, then simply make sure you use the Bournce shell by typing /bin/sh or bash, then you should have no problems with redirection of stdout and stderr (> /dev/null 2> file.debug).

DOCUMENTATION
See official apsfilter homepage
http://www.apsfilter.org/handbook.html
    Apsfilter Handbook including the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

USER FORUM
Please send questions to the official apsfilter help channel apsfilter-help@apsfilter.org. The above section BUGS and the file HOWTO-BUGREPORTS tells you how to report bugs. If you want to know how to troubleshoot your apsfilter installation, please read the manpage aps2file(1) and apsfilter-bug(1) as well as the Apsfilter Handbook carefully.

HISTORY
The aps2file manpage has been written by Michael Loßin <phallobst@web.de> and first appeared in apsfilter V 7.1.0.