Printcap rerouted filter

[Kent West <kent.west@infotech.acu.edu>]

I've posted this before, but I'll try again.

> I've got a printcap entry like this:
> 
> beeper:\
>         :if=/etc/magicfilter/beeper-filter:\
>         :lp=/dev/null:\
>         :sd=/var/spool/lpd/beeper:\
> 
> I've got a filter named beeper-filter that looks like this:
> #!/usr/bin/perl
> print "\ntest\n\n";
> 
> When I do a test print, such as
> ls -l | lpr -Pbeeper
> 
> nothing happens that I can tell. The word "test" never shows up
> anywhere.
> 
> Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

>From the /etc/magicfilter I can type 
./beeper-filter
and I get the expect output of "test". But if I try to send something to
the printer, it acts like the if filter (which as you can see is a perl
script) is never called. My spool directory then shows 4 files: beeper,
control.beeper, status.beeper, and unspooler.beeper. Shouldn't the
"lp=/dev/null" cause the spooler to "print" to la-la land? Shouldn't the
if script be printing "test"? Shouldn't the spool directory then empty
itself since the job has been "printed" to null?

What I'm trying to do is capture a printjob to an email message. I've
gotten several replies to this before, but none specific enough to a
dewbie such as myself. However, for now, I'd be content just to get the
print job to print "test", and worry about the mail message later.

Thanks!