Good news. The problem is solved. First, what
I needed to do was enter a PRINTER=hp870rm and associated export statement
to make this the default printer. hp870rm is the name of the device
actually connected remotely via the rm and rp entries in printcap.
This allowed the proper connection to the nt4.0 lpd service by way of hp870rm
and 'lpq -Php870rm' responds normally. Any printing is still sent
to lp, the printer with the filter attached in printcap, then gets routed
through the remote printer. Lastly, using your short script, and
checking the man page for lpr, I added a '-l' to get
'/usr/sbin/dj550c-filter $* | lpr -l -Php870rm -U$5'.
Without the -l, an unusual character set gets printed
but with the -l the control codes are evidently passed to the printer
to do what they're supposed to do. Star Writer 3 now prints very
well.
I appreciate the help.
thanks
tony mollica
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
