NAME

       cups-driverd - cups driver daemon

SYNOPSIS

       cups-driverd cat ppd-name
       cups-driverd list request_id limit options

DESCRIPTION

       cups-driverd shows or lists PPD files. It is run in response to CUPS-Add-Modify-Printer or
       CUPS-Get-Devices requests.  The first form ("cups-driverd cat ppd-name") writes the  named
       PPD file to stdout. The output format is an uncompressed PPD file.

       The  second  form lists the available manufacturers or PPD files to stdout as indicated by
       the options argument. The output  format  is  an  IPP  response  message.  The  request_id
       argument  is the request ID from the original IPP request, typically 1. The limit argument
       is the limit value from the original IPP request - 0 means no limit. Finally, the  options
       argument  is  a space-delimited list of attributes ("name=value name=value ...") that were
       passed in with the request. Currently cups-driverd looks for the ppd-make  and  requested-
       attributes attributes and tailors the output accordingly.

DRIVERS

       Drivers  can  be  static  PPD  files under the /usr/share/cups/model directory or programs
       under the /usr/lib/cups/driver or /usr/libexec/cups/driver (OS X) directories.  Static PPD
       files  must  conform  to  the  Adobe  PPD File Format Specification version 4.3 and may be
       compressed using the gzip(1) program. Driver  programs  must  implement  the  command-line
       interface shown in the next section.

   DRIVER PROGRAMS
       Driver  programs  provide  a   interface to dynamically-generated PPD files. The following
       arguments are currently defined:

       drivername list
            Lists the supported PPD files to stdout.

       drivername cat ppdname
            Writes the named PPD file to stdout.

       Driver programs MUST NOT query hardware or make  other  long-term  operations  that  would
       delay   the   return  of  a  driver  list.  See  the  NOTES  section  below  for  specific
       recommendations.

   LISTING FILES (drivername list)
       When run with the single argument "list", the program must list the available PPD files it
       can generate to stdout using the following format:
           "drivername:ppdname" language "make" "make and model"
           "drivername:ppdname" language "make" "make and model" "1284 device id"
           "drivername:ppdname" language "make" "make and model" "1284 device id" "(PPD product)"
           "drivername:ppdname" language "make" "make and model" "1284 device id" "(PPD product)" "PostScript version"
           "drivername:ppdname" language "make" "make and model" "1284 device id" "(PPD product)" "PostScript version" "type"

       Drivername is the name of the driver program. Ppdname is the name used to select the given
       driver. Language is the locale associated with the  default  language  of  the  PPD  file,
       typically  "en".  Make  is  the Manufacturer name from the PPD file. Make and model is the
       NickName name from the PPD file. 1284 device id is the 1284DeviceId from the PPD file,  if
       any.  (PPD  product)  is  the  Product string as it would appear in the PPD file or from a
       PostScript query. PostScript version is the PSVersion string as it would appear in the PPD
       file  or  from a PostScript query. Type is "postscript" for PostScript printers, "pdf" for
       PDF printers, "raster" for raster printers, or "fax" for facsimile devices.

   WRITING FILES (drivername cat ppdname)
       When the driver program is run with the "cat ppdname" arguments, it must write  the  named
       PPD file to stdout, uncompressed. If the named PPD file does not exist, the driver program
       must not write any output to stdout and report the error to stderr instead.

   DRIVER ERROR MESSAGES
       Error messages can be relayed back to cupsd by  writing  them  to  stderr.  The  following
       prefixes are recognized:

       DEBUG: [drivername]
            Debugging messages

       ERROR: [drivername]
            Error messages

       INFO: [drivername]
            Informational messages

NOTES

       Due  to  performance  considerations,  driver programs have been officially deprecated and
       should not be used for  new  development.  Currently  only  the  CUPS  web  interface  and
       lpinfo(8) command will request lists from all driver programs.

SEE ALSO

       cupsd(8), cupsd.conf(5), cupstestppd(1), lpinfo(8),
       http://localhost:631/help

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright 2007-2013 by Apple Inc.