ptal-connect(8)
NAME
hpoj reference: "ptal-connect" and "ptal-print"
SYNOPSIS
ptal-connect [devname] action [options...] ptal-print [devname] [options...]
DESCRIPTION
The "ptal-connect" command-line utility provides access to the various
stream services on the device. "ptal-print" is a symlink alias for
"ptal-connect" that defaults to connecting to the print service. They
are similar to a "telnet" client, in that once connected to the service
on the device, data on standard input is sent to the device over the
open channel as "forward" data, and any "reverse" data received from
the device over the open channel is sent to standard output.
OPTIONS
· "devname" is the optional PTAL device name
- · "action" specifies the remote service and is one of:
- · "-print" -- the print service (the default for "ptal-print")
- · "-scan" -- the scan service
- · "-socket socketID" -- a particular remote socket ID
- · "-service serviceName" -- a particular remote service name
- · "options..." is zero or more of:
· "-eoftimeout seconds" -- Idle timeout before exiting after anend-of-file condition is encountered on standard input- · "-fwdlen maxForwardDatalen" -- Forward data packet size
requested to be negotiated with the device
- · "-revlen maxReverseDatalen" -- Reverse data packet size
requested to be negotiated with the device
- · "-retrycount seconds" -- Maximum number of times to retry a
failed connection (default is 10)
- · "-noretry" -- Disables retries of failed connections (same as
""-retrycount 0"")
- · "-infretry" -- Retries failed connections forever (same as
""-retrycount -1"")
- · "-retrydelay seconds" -- Delay between each retry (default is
1)
- · "-quiet" -- Disables "connecting" message
- · "-uel", "-nouel" -- Enables/disables print job boundary escape
sequences (default is disabled)
- · "-dump" -- Dumps data structures (for debugging)
NOTES
Service name lookup is part of the 1284.4 protocol, and is simulated by
"ptal-mlcd" and by the JetDirect firmware for MLC mode. Therefore, you
should usually be able to specify the service name for well-known
services. For other services, you may need to specify both "-service"
for 1284.4 mode and "-socket" for MLC mode. "-print" is used by
"ptal-cups" (the PTAL CUPS backend) to pass printer-ready data to the
device. ""-service ECHO"" is useful for verifying basic device
connectivity, because text you send in the forward direction is echoed
in the reverse direction. (However, this service may not work properly
on the OfficeJet LX and 300 series.) "-scan" only connects to the scan
service on the device and doesn't in an of itself start a scan
operation; use "libsane-hpoj" for that. It is not recommended to call
""ptal-connect -scan"" directly, because in certain cases it may make
the scan service unusable for subsequent actual scans (due to improper
negotiated packet sizes) until the device is power-cycled or
"ptal-mlcd" is restarted. "ptal-mlcd" supports several "virtual"
services which do not involve the device in any way. Most if not all
devices have a limit of one connection to each service at any given
time. Subsequent connections will fail. The "datalen" parameters to
"-fwdlen" and "-revlen" do not include the 6-byte header inherent in
the MLC and 1284.4 protocols. The requested sizes are not guaranteed
to be honored, because the device is permitted to reduce either or both
sizes. For MLC mode, the negotiated packet sizes for a given service
are fixed after the first negotiation, and subsequent requests are
ignored. For 1284.4 mode, different sizes may be honored each time.
Some combinations of sizes may have erroneous results on some models.
Specifying "-infretry" causes failed connection attempts to be retried
indefinitely, even in situations where the connection would never be
successful. Other (non-negative) retry options may cause fewer retries
than expected, depending on the nature of the connection failure. If
you're connecting through an HP JetDirect print server (i.e. with a
PTAL device name prefix of "hpjd:"), then the following limitations
apply:
- · "-scan", "-socket", and "-service" require a JetDirect model with
- multi-function peripheral support:
- · Parallel-port JetDirects: 70X, 170X, 300X, or 500X only
- · USB JetDirects: 175X and probably later models
- · "-scan" requires firmware x.07.xx or later.
- · "-socket" and "-service" require firmware x.08.xx or later.
- · For parallel-port JetDirects, "-socket" and "-service" are only
- supported for devices running in 1284.4 (not MLC) mode. For USB
JetDirects, they are supported in both modes. - · A limited number of clients may have "-socket" and "-service"
- connections to the same device at any given time, even if they are to different services.
- · "-fwdlen" and "-revlen" requests are ignored.