*****************
 What is flpr???
*****************

`flpr' is a Perl script that unifies the usage of several other
programs used for printing. It automates the usage of utilities such as
`dvips', `up', `psselect', `a2ps', etc. in one main program. Hence, you
only have to remember the command line options of one program instead
of all the options and features of a lot of different programs. At our
department, `flpr' is (almost) used as replacement for `lpr', it
provides everything you typically need from `lpr' and adds a lot of
features from other programs.

  `flpr' automatically detects the type of each file that shall be
printed; it recognizes

   * DVI
   * PostScript
   * plain text
   * compressed or gzipped versions of the above

  First the file is converted according to its format, e.g., using
`dvips' for DVI files and `a2ps' for plain text. So it is possible to
do things like

	flpr file1.dvi file2.ps.gz file3

where `file1.dvi' is TeX-output, `file2.ps.gz' is gzipped PostScript
and `file3' is ASCII text. All conversions are done for you.

  The basic concept is to convert any input files to PostScript format
and spool the PostScript code to the printer. If the printer does not
understand PostScript, `ghostscript' is run automatically to generate
code for your printer.  This may sound a little bit complicated, but
allows for a transparent handling of multiple file types and multiple
printers.

  `flpr' also provides a unified framework for selecting page ranges,
printing 2 or 4 pages per sheet or printing pages in reverse order. It
automatically runs a pipe of commands you otherwise would have to type
by hand.

  The `flprlog' utility provides a very simple printer accounting
mechanism; user, host computer, time, pages, title and an optional
subject of each printed document are logged. Printer accounting
information can be summarized using `flprstat'.


**********************************
 On which Platforms can I use it?
 Which other programs do I need?
**********************************


  `flpr' depends heavily on a couple of other programs, the following
programs must be installed and in your path:

  1. `perl': flpr needs Perl 5 or above, it will not work with Perl 4.

  2. `file': file type detection

  3. `cat', `zcat': print (compressed) files on the standard output.
     `zcat' comes with `gzip'.

  4. `lpr': print command

  5. `dvips': DVI to PostScript conversion

  6. `a2ps': ASCII to PostScript conversion

  7. `pstops': Select and rearrange pages in a PostScript file,
     this is part of the psutils package.

  8. `ghostscript': only if your printer is not PostScript


  `flpr' has been developed for Linux systems, all programs mentioned
above are available for Linux and part of most distributions. I have not
tried it on another Unix platforms, but there should be no problems
using `flpr' on other flavors of Unix.


**************
 Installation
**************

  Installation of `flpr' should be no problem:

  1. Unpack the archive and change to the `flpr' directory.

  2. Edit the first line of `flpr', `flprlog' and `flprstat' for the
     correct location of your `perl' binary (default is the standard
     `/usr/bin/perl').

  3. (Optional) Edit the target directories in the `Makefile' according
     to your needs. Note that `flpr' searches for configuration files
     only in the directories `/usr/local/etc' and `/etc', if you want
     to use any other directory, you must edit the `flpr' script itself.

  4. Take a look at the default settings in `flpr.conf'.

  5. Type `make install'.

  6. Update the contents of your info directory, e.g., using
     `install-info'.

  7. If you have a PostScript printer, you should be ready to use
     `flpr' by now. If you printer does not understand PostScript and
     you have not setup filter yet, read the manual for how to do
     that. 

***************
 Who wrote it?
***************

flpr was written by Friedrich Leisch, please send any bug reports,
questions, comments or virtual beer to

     Friedrich.Leisch@ci.tuwien.ac.at

********************
 Where do I get it?
********************


The latest version of `flpr' can be downloaded from 

     http://www.ci.tuwien.ac.at/~leisch
     ftp://ftp.ci.tuwien.ac.at/pub/apps

It is available as gzipped Unix tar archive. I'm also planning to
provide a GNU Debian Linux package.


