Using Enscript under Solaris

Purdue Engineering Computer Network

The former command:

   enscript -2rGh -Pki3 

would use the options:

   2 = 2 pages per side
   r = rotate (landscape)
   G = print in gaudy mode
   h = suppress header page
   P = printer name

The newer Solaris "enscript" has options like:

   enscript [ -1BcGglmoqRr2 ] [ -vcolumns ]  [ -Llines ]  [ -ffont ]
   [ -Fhfont ] [ -bheader ] [ -pout ] [ -ssize ] [ -Sfeature=value ]
   [ -Tcharacters ] [ -dprinter ] [ spoolopts ] [ files ]

Note that lpr commands won't work with lp printers on Solaris, so don't use the -h option. Also note that -dprinter causes the output to be sent to the named printer.

The old enscript command above should now be written:

    enscript -2rG -d ki3 FILE

It is also a good idea to check if you have defaults set for the enscript command. If you type

   echo $ENSCRIPT

at the command line and it reports information back that is not consistent with Solaris (like the -h option or -P option is set),

   unset ENSCRIPT

will unset these default enscript options.

If you get the warning message

  enscript: warning: couldn't open ppd file for printer ki3.
  Using built-in defaults.

don't be alarmed. This warning message is normal and should not cause any problems.

For more information on enscript, type:

   man enscript