PRINTERDB

Section: C Library Functions (3)
Updated: June 21, 1989
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NAME

prdb_set, prdb_get, prdb_getbyname, prdb_end - get printer database entry

SYNOPSIS

#include <printerdb.h>

void prdb_set(char *domain);

prdb_ent *prdb_get(void);

prdb_ent *prdb_getbyname(const char *name);

void prdb_end(void);

DESCRIPTION

These routines retrieve information from the printer entry database. prdb_getbyname is useful for looking up a single printer entry. The other routines are used for getting all of the printer entries. prdb_set initializes the library to point to the beginning of the printer entry list. prdb_get returns the next printer entry, or NULL for end of list. prdb_end is called to free up any resources that may have been allocated during lookups. The following example illustrates how these latter three routines are typically used:

prdb_ent *prdb;
prdb_set(NULL);
while (prdb = prdb_get()) {
        handle(prdb);
}
prdb_end();

The structure returned by prdb_getbyname and prdb_get is defined as follows:

typedef struct prdb_property {
        char *pp_key;
        char *pp_value;
} prdb_property;

typedef struct prdb_ent {
        char **pe_name;
        unsigned pe_nprops;
        prdb_property *pe_prop;
} prdb_ent;

pe_name the name of the printer entry. pe_nprops is the number of members of this printer entry. pe_props is an array of prdb_property structures, which each contain the name and value for various properties of the printer. See printcap(5) for a description of these values.

A call to any of the printerdb(3) routines invalidates the information returned from a previous call.

BUGS

The domain argument to prdb_set() is ignored. It should always be set to NULL for compatibility with future releases.