MP(1)MP(1)NAMEmp - POSTSCRIPT pretty printer
SYNOPSISmp [ -a4 ] [ -addhdr type ] [ -article ] [ -chars # ] [ -columns # ] [
-content ] [ -digest ] [ -elm ] [ -filofax ] [ -folder ] [ -franklin ]
[ -from ] [ -help ] [ -landscape ] [ -linelength # ] [ -modtime ] [
-nobanner ] [ -number ] [ -pagelength # ] [ -postscript ] [ -printer
name ] [ -prologue name ] [ -remhdr type ] [ -subject text ] [ -tab # ]
[ -text ] [ -timeman ] [ -timesys ] [ -us ] [ -version ] [ -words # ] [
-wrap ] [ -F ] [ filename ... ]
digestp [ options] file ...
filep [ options] file ...
filofaxp [ options] file ...
franklinp [ options] file ...
mailp [ options] file ...
newsp [ options] file ...
timemanp [ options] file ...
timesysp [ options] file ...
DESCRIPTION
The mp program reads each filename in sequence and generates a pretti‐
fied version of the contents in POSTSCRIPT format. By default the out‐
put is sent to standard output. If you use one of the different names,
output is sent direct to the printer.
mailp will print out mail messages.
newsp will print out USENET news articles.
digestp will print out USENET digest files.
filep will print out ordinary ASCII files.
filofaxp will print out in Filofax personal organiser format.
franklinp will print out in Franklin Planner personal organiser format.
timemanp will print out in Time Manager personal organiser format.
timesysp will print out in Time/System International personal organiser
format.
These programs will use the PRINTER or LPDEST environment variables to
determine which printer the output is sent to.
If no filename argument is provided, mp reads the standard input. If
the standard input is a terminal, input is terminated by an EOF signal,
usually Ctrl-D.
Mail items, news articles, ordinary ASCII files, complete mail folders,
and digests are all acceptable input formats for mp. The output format
includes grayscale lozenges containing banner information at the top
and bottom of every page.
The program is conveniently used in conjunction with the print button
of the SunView/xnews(1)mailtool(1) programs, or the pipe command pro‐
vided by mail(1). Add the following two lines to your .mailrc file:
set printmail='mp -printer'
set cmd="mp -printer &"
Source the .mailrc file, and you are ready to use mp. For printing
ordinary ASCII files, the following alias (to be placed in your .cshrc
file) may also prove useful:
alias print 'mp -o -printer -s "\!*" <\!*'
OPTIONS-a4 Use A4 paper size (8.5 x 11.4 inches).
-addhdr type
Add type to the list of mail or news headers to be printed.
-article
Format the file as a news article. The top banner contains the
text: "Article from newsgroup ", where newsgroup is the first
news group found on the Newsgroups: line.
-chars #
The maximum number of characters to extract from the gecos field
of the users /etc/passwd entry. The default is 18.
-columns #
Number of columns of output per page. This value will override
the default value in the prologue file.
-content
Instead of using "\nFrom" to denote the start of new mail mes‐
sages, mp will look for (and use) the value of the Content-
Length: mail header. If the Content-Length doesn't take you to
the next "\nFrom", then it's wrong, and mp falls back to looking
for the next "\nFrom" in the mail folder.
-digest
Format the file as a digest.
-elm Assume the ELM mail frontend intermediate file format. Used when
printing messages from within ELM (using the "p" command), espe‐
cially for printing tagged messages. This option must be speci‐
fied in your ELM option setup.
-filofax
Format the file for use with a Filofax personal organiser.
-folder
Format the file as a mail folder, printing multiple messages.
-franklin
Format the file for use with a Franklin Planner personal organ‐
iser.
-from Instead of printing who the mail article is for, the top header
will contain who the mail article is from. A useful option for
people with their own personal printer.
-F Synonym for -from for backwards compatiblity with earier ver‐
sions.
-help Print the usage message for mp-landscape
Format output in landscape mode. Two pages of text will be
printed per sheet of paper.
-linelength #
Maximum number of characters on each line of output. This value
will override the default value in the prologue file.
-modtime
Use the files last modification time (rather than the current
time) in the mp banner. Note that this only works when the files
are supplied on the command line (as opposed to standard input).
-nobanner
If the output is destined for a printer, than banner printing is
disabled. Most of the information that typically appears on the
banner sheet is output in the mp banners.
-number
Print the line number on each line output.
-pagelength #
Maximum number of lines on each page of output. This value will
override the default value in the prologue file.
-printer name
Send output to the named printer. Otherwise send output to the
printer named in the PRINTER or LPDEST environment variables.
-ps If the mail or digest message just has PostScript as the text of
the message, then this is normally just passed straight through.
Specifying this option, causes PostScript to be printed as text.
-prologue name
Employ the file name as the POSTSCRIPT prologue file, overriding
any previously defined file names.
-remhdr type
Add type to the list of mail or news headers which will not be
printed.
-subject text
Use text as the new subject for the printout. If you are print‐
ing ordinary ASCII files which have been specified on the com‐
mand line, the the subject will default to the name of each of
these files.
-tab # The number of spaces to output when encountering a tab charac‐
ter.
-text Format the file as an ordinary ASCII text file.
-timeman
Format the file for use with the Time Manager personal organ‐
iser.
-timesys
format the file for use with the Time/System International per‐
sonal organiser.
-us Use US paper size (8.5 x 11 inches).
-version
Print the version number of this release of mp.
-words #
The maximum number of words to extract from the gecos field of
the users /etc/passwd entry. The default is 3.
-wrap Wrap words onto the next line of output.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The default output printer is determined by looking at the PRINTER
environment variable for BSD systems or the LPDEST environment variable
for System V systems.
The mp prologue file is determined by first looking for the environment
variable MP_PROLOGUE, which specifies the directory where mp prologue
files are to be found. If MP_PROLOGUE is not found, then the default
directory is assumed (/usr/local/share/mp/mp.pro.ps).
SUPPLIED PROLOGUE FILES
The following prologue files are provided:
mp.pro.ps
Used by default
mp.pro.l.ps
Used by the -l landscape mode option
mp.pro.ff.ps
Used if the -ff option is in effect
mp.pro.fp.ps
Used if the -fp option is in effect
mp.pro.tm.ps
Used if the -tm option is in effect
mp.pro.ts.ps
Used if the -ts option is in effect
mp.pro.alt.ps
An alternative modification of the default prologue file
which outputs the page number in the right corner of the
bottom banner.
mp.pro.altl.ps
An alternative landscape option mode prologue file.
FILES
.cshrc initialization file for csh(1)
.mailrc
initialization file for mail(1)
/usr/local/bin/mp
executable
/usr/local/share/mp/mp.pro.ps
POSTSCRIPT prologue for mail printing
/usr/local/share/mp/mp.pro.l.ps
POSTSCRIPT prologue for landscape format
/usr/local/share/mp/mp.pro.alt.ps
alternative "default" POSTSCRIPT prologue, inserts page numbers
in the bottom right corner of each page
/usr/local/share/mp/mp.pro.altl.ps
alternative "landscape" POSTSCRIPT prologue.
/usr/local/share/mp/mp.pro.ff.ps
POSTSCRIPT prologue for Filofax format
/usr/local/share/mp/mp.pro.fp.ps
POSTSCRIPT prologue for Franklin Planner format.
/usr/local/share/mp/mp.pro.tm.ps
POSTSCRIPT prologue for Time Manager format
/usr/local/share/mp/mp.pro.ts.ps
POSTSCRIPT prologue for Time/System International format.
SEE ALSOmail(1), mailtool(1), xnews(1)AUTHORS
Original version by Steve Holden.
Converted to C then C++, modified and maintained by Rich Burridge, Sun‐
Soft Inc.
Original modified to handle net news articles and MH mail by Bruno Pil‐
lard, Chorus Systemes, France.
Handling of mail digests added by Dave Glowacki of Public Works Com‐
puter Services, St Paul, MN.
Original manual page revised by Rick Rodgers, UCSF School of Pharmacy,
San Francicso.
Support for Personal Organiser printing style added by Douglas
Buchanan, Sun Microsystems Europe.
Substantial modifications to header parsing by Jeremy Webber, Computer
Science Department, University of Adelaide, Australia.
Support for printing multiple files and subject line filename print for
ordinary ASCII files added by Sam Manoharan, Edinburgh University.
Support for landscape mode written by Michael Tuchiarone.
Revision of the POSTSCRIPT structuring and the way that the prologue
files are handled was included by Johan Vromans.
New style POSTSCRIPT prologue files by John Macdonald.
Support for the ISO8859 character set by Bertrand DeCouty.
Rich Burridge. PHONE: (USA) (415) 336 6261 MAIL: richb@Eng.Sun.COM
2 August 1993 MP(1)
