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/share/apsfilter/SETUP.

FILES

       /etc/printcap                       printer capability data base
       /usr/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.

Debian                                            Dec 19, 2001                                       APS2FILE(1)