Notices

Maybe take a look at gtklp. With the version I packaged there is no
fileopen dialog. You have to use gtklp <filename>. The newer version
offers such a dialog, but I did not get it packaged for Maemo.
But all this makes no sense, if no application offers a printing function.

Thanks for all you have done, mase,
will have a run at gtklp.

I am printing pdfs which I need quite often as they end up in emails
which I often get when in differing places.

I am beginning to see there are only a handful of us who
have any interest in printing from the n900,
but it is an awesome thing to be able to do if you travel.

Even with few applications that support printing, being able to print files from the command line (or from a dedicated file-printing application) will be very useful.

After
apt-get install gtklp

I ran it and it works but the permissions I have set up
are everywhere bogged wrongly, not sure how I got there but
I reckon I will reflash and do it all again.
<yes, i did run openssl and install certs>
<yes, i did edit cupsd.conf down to a wide open permissions level, no joy>

repeat:
After
apt-get install gtklp

I am able in xterm, as user or as root
select a file and successfully send it to the cups server ,
where it sits quietly 'pending' because I somehow screwed up
permissions somehow.
I think this goes back to the Bash-libpam issue - I will check further
when I finish some other work I am currently busy with.

Note - GtkLp also has some sort of permissions issues,
because when you run it as user you get coal-black background,
but when run as root it has the proper colors.
Just a cosmetic observation, but it may indicate other underlying
permissions issues.

So far I see printing dialogues in leafpad and evince,
but by far the sexiest print dialogue is in claws-mail
which i find particularly exciting.

Triumph of a sorts

Ok after getting caught up on some other things back to gtklp

I had forgotten to give admin permissions to root and localhost
when I got this right I could then run gtklp with no more problems,

First - gtklp has a desktop shortcut.
Using this shortcut eliminates the ability to choose a file
> This is the thing I would like to fix next <

second - if you launch gtklp in xterm as user
(remembering I have installed bash and use it instead of sh or ash,
- not yet sure if these are necessary but suspect they are atm)
the select file dialogue works just fine,
and prints as expected
(so far successfully printed .pdf, txt, jpg from cli
using just -> gtklp and then browsing the file selector to choose file)

if you ever launch gtklp as root (why?) you will need to go back
and change the permissions back to 666 on all files
in the /.gtklp folder in your home folder.

Still a hairy mess to install but right now I can print to any printer
I can get into the cups server.
And without exhausting all my printer ink I expect gtklp
can print many filetypes you might want to print,
but there needs a lot more testing to be sure.

Like I said, I have successfully printed the following so far:

.txt (simple text files)
.jpg (just picked a jpg and printed it - did not even check what it was
formatted to be, may not work for just any jpg ?)
.png (just hacked a quick sketch in mypaint oand saved as pic.png)
.pdf
.ps

Trying to print spreadsheets through gtklp = no joy,
these need to be run through the native app but they are not ready yet
although with something like gnumeric you can save as pdf
and maybe that is good enough for the moment
.gnumeric does not work
.xlsx does not work
.ods does not work

===================================
If you use claws-mail you can print by setting:
in menu find configuration -> actions
and add something like this:

Menu name:
Command:
the '|' pipes the output from claws into gtklp
'%f' sends the compliant file
and the '&' <important> closes the claws dialogue
and allows gtklp to open its dialogue for your command

This makes my day,
as I have no fixed office and no desk I can count on
in all the offices I visit,
but it will permit me to print whatever I can set up whenever I want
as the ultimate roadwarrior hack - printing emails from the handphone

Ok fixed that, here is how:

edit in:
/usr/share/applications/gtklp.desktop
/usr/share/applications/hildon/gtklp.desktop

Change the line that says
to
(I am sure this is some simple way of dealing with the
sort of reticulated convolutions and backflip-handstands
required for Hildon/osso-mime-type/ or whatever it is so
deeply hidden in the documentation I have not yet found it setting)

voila - the gtklp desktop icon will now launch with the file selection
menu intact, ready for your printing pleasure.


Other news,
downloaded the latest bleeding edge Fennec (firefox)
and see the print dialogue is available only on websites which
have a print button,
but it has the Firefox "save to pdf" feature which means printing
webpages is just a couple of clicks of detour. (MicroB does not)


Ditto for gnumeric - just save to pdf I guess,
but not sure yet how you can ensure the page format is correctly
arrived at...

My next task is to get the default print dialogue working
that already exists in evince, leafpad, etc.

printcap checked
gtk-print-backend checked
what next?

gtklp works and those others do not - what is the difference
in the way gtklp calls up the printcap info
as compared to these others?
I think it must be something simple, but who knows...

I do not have that file in /usr/share/applications after installing gtklp.

hmmmm,

how did you install it?

I think I did apt-get install gtklp ? or another way ?

Let me look I will post it

my mistake, too blur:
it is in /usr/share/applications/hildon/

Thank you, but I am now getting a connection refused when I try to reach http://localhost:631/

I removed then re-installed cups & edited the cupsd.conf file, but still can't bring it up. Any ideas?

Thanks for figuring this out guys.

After installing cups/cups-client/cups-pdf/gtklp how much rootfs space are you left with?


Regards