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Under DR-DOS, however, the SCRIPT command can be loaded to run in the background in order to intercept and convert printer output from applications into PostScript to support PS-capable printers also by applications not supporting them directly. If the optional character device driver PRINTER.SYS is loaded, DOS provides its code page switching support also for the associated printers-different types of dot matrix and ink jet printers are supported by default.īeyond this, there are no system-wide printer-specific drivers for use at application level under MS-DOS/PC DOS.
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Therefore, this method of printing is either for files already stored in the corresponding printer's language or for generic text files without more than simple line-oriented formatting.ĭOS also provides a dynamically loadable print spooler named PRINT as well as optional support to support screen captures also in graphics mode through GRAPHICS. The contents is transferred to the printer without any interpretation. Users can use commands like, for example, " COPY file1 LPT1:" to print the content of a file to a printer. Similarly, serial printers can be used with AUX:, COM1:, COM2:, COM3: and COM4. On startup, each backend is asked for a list of devices it supports, and any information that is available.ĭOS supports predefined character devices PRN:, LPT1:, LPT2: and LPT3: associated with parallel printers supported in the system. They are usually named the front end of the printing system, while the printer spoolers constitute the back end.īackends are also used to determine the available devices. Printer drivers are typically implemented as filters. A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs from client computers, process them, and send them to the appropriate printer. Unix and other Unix-like systems such as Linux and OS X use CUPS (short for Common Unix Printing System), a modular printing system for Unix-like computer operating systems, which allows a computer to act as a print server.
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Printer drivers in different operating systems Unix and Unix-like Printer drivers should not be confused with print spoolers, which queue print jobs and send them successively to a printer. The purpose of printer drivers is to allow applications to do printing without being aware of the technical details of each printer model. In computers, a printer driver or a print processor is a piece of software on a computer that converts the data to be printed to a format that a printer can understand. ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) JSTOR ( July 2009) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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