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SimplePrint  »   How do I populate the 'driver' field?

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    • CommentAuthorArmagon
    • CommentTimeOct 16th 2007
     
    I'm wondering how to populate the driver field of the .csv file.

    In the example, they are all .gz files. Are they simply ppd files from /etc/cups/ppd that have been gzipped?

    Incidentally, is the ppd file all that is really needed to print to a machine? (I ask because the first printer I tried to set up uses a VISE X installer (sigh).)

    Thank you,
    Armagon
    • CommentAuthorCBarraford
    • CommentTimeOct 16th 2007
     
    Hey Armagon,
    Good questions.
    The gz is just a ppd file gzipped. I prefer to use gz files, I find they work more reliably during the install process and is smaller in size. So you could put a .ppd file in the drivers field.
    Some printers only require the ppd file, but some require filter files, PDE files, etc to work. What you can do is run the VISE X installer on your machine, the goto Macintosh HD/Library/Printers/nameofmanufacturer/. In there you will find the filter, PDE files, etc. Then you can create your own package(s) using Apple PackageMaker (its an app in their developer tools).

    I've actaully been thinking about making an EXTREMELY easy to use package making tool as another app from Barraford Software to help admins with this problem exactly.

    Hope this helps
    • CommentAuthorArmagon
    • CommentTimeOct 16th 2007
     
    Thank you. I hope to try that out tomorrow.

    It is interesting that you mention package making. AFP has an article on an image creation revolution:
    http://www.afp548.com/article.php?story=ImageCreationRevolution .
    It amounts to making a whole bunch of packages for use in cleanly imaging your machine, and lists three tools to that make packages: PackageManager, Iceberg, and Composer.

    I tried Iceberg (which is under a BSD licence), and it seems really nice for making a package. How did they put it? It is to PackageManager what an IDE is to a makefile. Something like that.†

    Composer (which is $50 or $100) sounds really nice because it will make a package based on the difference between two snapshots of your computer. That would be handy indeed -- snap, install, snap, compose, and bam, you've taken a non-standard installer and turned it into a .pkg.
    • CommentAuthorCBarraford
    • CommentTimeOct 16th 2007
     
    I use Packagemaker myself. Its pretty nice, kind of confusing in the beginnging, but got it after a while. Let me know if you need any help.

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