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.