Next: , Previous:   [Contents][Index]

4 Configuration Files

a2ps reads several files before the command line options. In order, they are:

  1. the system configuration file (typically /usr/local/etc/a2ps.cfg) unless you have defined the environment variable ‘A2PS_CONFIG’, in which case a2ps reads the file it points to;
  2. the user’s home configuration file ($HOME/.a2ps/a2psrc)
  3. the local file (./.a2psrc)

Because a2ps needs architecture dependent information (such as the local lpr command) and architecture independent information (such as the type of your printers), users have found useful that a2ps.cfg be dedicated to architecture dependent information. A sub configuration file, a2ps-site.cfg (see Including Configuration Files) is included from a2ps.cfg.

The file a2ps.cfg is updated when you update a2ps, while a2ps-site.cfg is not, to preserve local definitions.

In the configuration files, empty lines and lines starting with ‘#’ are comments.

The other lines have all the following form: 

Topic: Arguments

where Topic: is a keyword related to what you are customizing, and Arguments the customization. Arguments may be spread on several lines, provided that the last character of a line to continue is a ‘\’.

In the following sections, each Topic: is detailed.