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If I generate a PCL file and print it with "lpr", it gets sent to the printer without the PJL wrapper setting such things as print density, economy mode, etc. In contrast, if I print a text file which is converted to postscript automatically, the PJL for the printer driver settings I've specified are correctly sent to the printer. I haven't tried what happens if I print a PostScript file. I'm using a laserjet 1100 with the ljet4 driver. I've got cups-1.1.15-12 and foomatic-2.0.2-1. The bug here is that PCL files should be correctly wrapped in PJL; only a file already containing PJL should be left completely unmodified.
I think this is by design, since PCL is autotyped as cups-raw mime.types: application/vnd.cups-raw (string(0,<1B>E) + !string(2,<1B>%0B)) \ ... <ESC>E is PCL reset so it's sent to the printer as is, raw. The PCL file might include other settings (using PCL escapes) for density, economy, ... so adding PJL could produce unpredictable results, I think.
If it's by design, then I think the design is wrong. If the PCL contains settings, then they'll override the PJL settings. That's not unpredictable, it's correct behavior. Note, furthermore, that since I believe CUPS actually saves the PJL parameters that it sends with each job (i.e., I believe it writes the parameters at the start of the job into the printers persistent configuration rather than making them for just that job), the *current* behavior is unpredictable -- the exact format (economy mode, density, etc.) in which a PCL job prints depends on the format of the last job sent to the printer (i.e., the settings used to print the last job).
For the design issue you can try asking cups developer, who is usually very responsive: http://www.cups.org/newsgroups.php For the PJL, I tried looking at the PJL produced by cups own drivers, but could not find quickly a driver that does it. Foomatic PJL seems fine, since it does (ie for a hl1250): @PJL SET ECONOMODE=OFF ... and not @PJL DEFAULT ECONOMODE=OFF ...
So are there any drivers that do the wrong thing?
'Red Hat Raw Hide' refers to the development tree for Red Hat Linux. Red Hat Linux is no longer supported by Red Hat, Inc. If you are still running Red Hat Linux, you are strongly advised to upgrade to a current Fedora Core release or Red Hat Enterprise Linux or comparable. Some information on which option may be right for you is available at http://www.redhat.com/rhel/migrate/redhatlinux/. Red Hat apologizes that these issues were not resolved in a more timely manner. However, we do want to make sure that important don't slip through the cracks. If these issues are still present in a current release, such as Fedora Core 5, please move these bugs to that product and version. Note that any remaining Red Hat Raw Hide bugs will be closed as 'CANTFIX' on September 30, 2006. Thanks again for your help.
Red Hat Linux is no longer supported by Red Hat, Inc. If you are still running Red Hat Linux, you are strongly advised to upgrade to a current Fedora Core release or Red Hat Enterprise Linux or comparable. Some information on which option may be right for you is available at http://www.redhat.com/rhel/migrate/redhatlinux/. Closing as CANTFIX.
This is still a problem in Fedora Core.
Reassigning bug to product "Fedora" to keep tracking it.
Based on the date this bug was created, it appears to have been reported against rawhide during the development of a Fedora release that is no longer maintained. In order to refocus our efforts as a project we are flagging all of the open bugs for releases which are no longer maintained. If this bug remains in NEEDINFO thirty (30) days from now, we will automatically close it. If you can reproduce this bug in a maintained Fedora version (7, 8, or rawhide), please change this bug to the respective version and change the status to ASSIGNED. (If you're unable to change the bug's version or status, add a comment to the bug and someone will change it for you.) Thanks for your help, and we apologize again that we haven't handled these issues to this point. The process we're following is outlined here: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers/F9CleanUp We will be following the process here: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers/HouseKeeping to ensure this doesn't happen again.
This bug has been in NEEDINFO for more than 30 days since feedback was first requested. As a result we are closing it. If you can reproduce this bug in the future against a maintained Fedora version please feel free to reopen it against that version. The process we're following is outlined here: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers/F9CleanUp