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<!--
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PPD API introduction for CUPS.
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Copyright © 2007-2019 by Apple Inc.
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Copyright © 1997-2006 by Easy Software Products, all rights reserved.
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Licensed under Apache License v2.0. See the file "LICENSE" for more
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information.
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-->
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<h2 class='title'><a name='OVERVIEW'>Overview</a></h2>
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<blockquote><b>Note:</b>
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<p>The PPD API was deprecated in CUPS 1.6/macOS 10.8. Please use the new Job Ticket APIs in the <a href="cupspm.html">CUPS Programming Manual</a> documentation. These functions will be removed in a future release of CUPS.</p>
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</blockquote>
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<p>The CUPS PPD API provides read-only access the data in PostScript Printer
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Description ("PPD") files which are used for all printers with a driver. With
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it you can obtain the data necessary to display printer options to users, mark
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option choices and check for conflicting choices, and output marked choices in
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PostScript output. The <a href="#ppd_file_t"><code>ppd_file_t</code></a>
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structure contains all of the information in a PPD file.</p>
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<blockquote><b>Note:</b>
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<p>The CUPS PPD API uses the terms "option" and "choice" instead of the Adobe
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terms "MainKeyword" and "OptionKeyword" to refer to specific printer options and
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features. CUPS also treats option ("MainKeyword") and choice ("OptionKeyword")
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values as case-insensitive strings, so option "InputSlot" and choice "Upper"
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are equivalent to "inputslot" and "upper", respectively.</p>
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</blockquote>
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<h3><a name="LOADING">Loading a PPD File</a></h3>
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<p>The <a href="#ppdOpenFile"><code>ppdOpenFile</code></a> function "opens" a
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PPD file and loads it into memory. For example, the following code opens the
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current printer's PPD file in a CUPS filter:</p>
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<pre class="example">
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#include <cups/ppd.h>
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<a href="#ppd_file_t">ppd_file_t</a> *ppd = <a href="#ppdOpenFile">ppdOpenFile</a>(getenv("PPD"));
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</pre>
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<p>The return value is a pointer to a new
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<a href="#ppd_file_t"><code>ppd_file_t</code></a> structure or <code>NULL</code>
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if the PPD file does not exist or cannot be loaded. The
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<a href="#ppdClose"><code>ppdClose</code></a> function frees the memory used
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by the structure:</p>
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<pre class="example">
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#include <cups/ppd.h>
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<a href="#ppd_file_t">ppd_file_t</a> *ppd;
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<a href="#ppdClose">ppdClose</a>(ppd);
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</pre>
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<p>Once closed, pointers to the <a href="#ppd_file_t"><code>ppd_file_t</code></a>
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structure and any data in it will no longer be valid.</p>
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<h3><a name="OPTIONS_AND_GROUPS">Options and Groups</a></h3>
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<p>PPD files support multiple options, which are stored in arrays of
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<a href="#ppd_option_t"><code>ppd_option_t</code></a> and
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<a href="#ppd_choice_t"><code>ppd_choice_t</code></a> structures.</p>
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<p>Each option in turn is associated with a group stored in a
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<a href="#ppd_group_t"><code>ppd_group_t</code></a> structure. Groups can be
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specified in the PPD file; if an option is not associated with a group
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then it is put in an automatically-generated "General" group. Groups can also
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have sub-groups, however CUPS currently ignores sub-groups because of past
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abuses of this functionality.</p>
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<p>Option choices are selected by marking them using one of three functions. The
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first is <a href="#ppdMarkDefaults"><code>ppdMarkDefaults</code></a> which
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selects all of the default options in the PPD file:</p>
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<pre class="example">
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#include <cups/ppd.h>
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<a href="#ppd_file_t">ppd_file_t</a> *ppd;
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<a href="#ppdMarkDefaults">ppdMarkDefaults</a>(ppd);
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</pre>
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<p>The second is <a href="#ppdMarkOption"><code>ppdMarkOption</code></a>
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which selects a single option choice in the PPD file. For example, the following
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code selects the upper paper tray:</p>
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<pre class="example">
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#include <cups/ppd.h>
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<a href="#ppd_file_t">ppd_file_t</a> *ppd;
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<a href="#ppdMarkOption">ppdMarkOption</a>(ppd, "InputSlot", "Upper");
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</pre>
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<p>The last function is
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<a href="#cupsMarkOptions"><code>cupsMarkOptions</code></a> which selects
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multiple option choices in the PPD file from an array of CUPS options, mapping
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IPP attributes like "media" and "sides" to their corresponding PPD options. You
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typically use this function in a print filter with
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<code>cupsParseOptions</code> and
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<a href="#ppdMarkDefaults"><code>ppdMarkDefaults</code></a> to select all of
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the option choices needed for the job, for example:</p>
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<pre class="example">
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#include <cups/ppd.h>
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<a href="#ppd_file_t">ppd_file_t</a> *ppd = <a href="#ppdOpenFile">ppdOpenFile</a>(getenv("PPD"));
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cups_option_t *options = NULL;
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int num_options = cupsParseOptions(argv[5], 0, &options);
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<a href="#ppdMarkDefaults">ppdMarkDefaults</a>(ppd);
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<a href="#cupsMarkOptions">cupsMarkOptions</a>(ppd, num_options, options);
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cupsFreeOptions(num_options, options);
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</pre>
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<h3><a name="CONSTRAINTS">Constraints</a></h3>
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<p>PPD files support specification of conflict conditions, called
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constraints, between different options. Constraints are stored in an array of
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<a href="#ppd_const_t"><code>ppd_const_t</code></a> structures which specify
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the options and choices that conflict with each other. The
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<a href="#ppdConflicts"><code>ppdConflicts</code></a> function tells you
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how many of the selected options are incompatible. Since constraints are
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normally specified in pairs, the returned value is typically an even number.</p>
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<h3><a name="PAGE_SIZES">Page Sizes</a></h3>
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<p>Page sizes are special options which have physical dimensions and margins
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associated with them. The size information is stored in
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<a href="#ppd_size_t"><code>ppd_size_t</code></a> structures and is available
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by looking up the named size with the
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<a href="#ppdPageSize"><code>ppdPageSize</code></a> function. The page size and
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margins are returned in units called points; there are 72 points per inch. If
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you pass <code>NULL</code> for the size, the currently selected size is
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returned:</p>
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<pre class="example">
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#include <cups/ppd.h>
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<a href="#ppd_file_t">ppd_file_t</a> *ppd;
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<a href="#ppd_size_t">ppd_size_t</a> *size = <a href="#ppdPageSize">ppdPageSize</a>(ppd, NULL);
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</pre>
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<p>Besides the standard page sizes listed in a PPD file, some printers
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support variable or custom page sizes. Custom page sizes are supported if the
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<code>variables_sizes</code> member of the
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<a href="#ppd_file_t"><code>ppd_file_t</code></a> structure is non-zero.
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The <code>custom_min</code>, <code>custom_max</code>, and
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<code>custom_margins</code> members of the
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<a href="#ppd_file_t"><code>ppd_file_t</code></a> structure define the limits
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of the printable area. To get the resulting media size, use a page size string
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of the form "Custom.<I>width</I>x<I>length</I>", where "width" and "length" are
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in points. Custom page size names can also be specified in inches
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("Custom.<i>width</i>x<i>height</i>in"), centimeters
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("Custom.<i>width</i>x<i>height</i>cm"), or millimeters
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("Custom.<i>width</i>x<i>height</i>mm"):</p>
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<pre class="example">
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#include <cups/ppd.h>
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<a href="#ppd_file_t">ppd_file_t</a> *ppd;
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/* Get an 576x720 point custom page size */
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<a href="#ppd_size_t">ppd_size_t</a> *size = <a href="#ppdPageSize">ppdPageSize</a>(ppd, "Custom.576x720");
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/* Get an 8x10 inch custom page size */
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<a href="#ppd_size_t">ppd_size_t</a> *size = <a href="#ppdPageSize">ppdPageSize</a>(ppd, "Custom.8x10in");
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/* Get a 100x200 millimeter custom page size */
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<a href="#ppd_size_t">ppd_size_t</a> *size = <a href="#ppdPageSize">ppdPageSize</a>(ppd, "Custom.100x200mm");
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/* Get a 12.7x34.5 centimeter custom page size */
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<a href="#ppd_size_t">ppd_size_t</a> *size = <a href="#ppdPageSize">ppdPageSize</a>(ppd, "Custom.12.7x34.5cm");
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</pre>
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<p>If the PPD does not support variable page sizes, the
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<a href="#ppdPageSize"><code>ppdPageSize</code></a> function will return
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<code>NULL</code>.</p>
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<h3><a name="ATTRIBUTES">Attributes</a></h3>
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<p>Every PPD file is composed of one or more attributes. Most of these
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attributes are used to define groups, options, choices, and page sizes,
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however several informational attributes may be present which you can access
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in your program or filter. Attributes normally look like one of the following
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examples in a PPD file:</p>
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<pre class="example">
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*name: "value"
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*name spec: "value"
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*name spec/text: "value"
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</pre>
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<p>The <a href="#ppdFindAttr"><code>ppdFindAttr</code></a> and
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<a href="#ppdFindNextAttr"><code>ppdFindNextAttr</code></a> functions find the
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first and next instances, respectively, of the named attribute with the given
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"spec" string and return a <a href="#ppd_attr_t"><code>ppd_attr_t</code></a>
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structure. If you provide a NULL specifier string, all attributes with the
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given name will be returned. For example, the following code lists all of the
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<code>Product</code> attributes in a PPD file:</p>
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<pre class="example">
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#include <cups/ppd.h>
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<a href="#ppd_file_t">ppd_file_t</a> *ppd;
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<a href="#ppd_attr_t">ppd_attr_t</a> *attr;
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for (attr = <a href="#ppdFindAttr">ppdFindAttr</a>(ppd, "Product", NULL);
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attr != NULL;
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attr = <a href="#ppdFindNextAttr">ppdFindNextAttr</a>(ppd, "Product", NULL))
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puts(attr->value);
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</pre>
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