Printing via AUX-port of terminal to printer, how is this done?

[Adri Verhoef]

  What I'm looking for is a program that can be used for printing
to the AUX-port of a terminal.

  Normally you put your print requests via lp(1) in a queue, a daemon
will come along then and handle your request.  With a printer interface
you can "drive" the printer.

  The program that I'm looking for can't really be a daemon.
The user, who has a printer connected to the AUX-port of the terminal,
will invoke the program, that will determine which initialization string
to send to the printer (according to the type of the printer and the print
options) and "drive" the file through the AUX-port to the printer, where
it will be printed.  This means that the terminal is put into Printer
Controller Mode, where all characters received by the terminal are sent
directly to the printer.

  There could of course be a load of options, such as:
- form size (e.g. 12x8 inch)
- top, bottom, left, and right margin
- line density (lines/inch)
- char density (chars/inch)
- landscape mode
- cut line at right margin

  Furthermore:
- support for underlining / bold
- input is either standard input, or one or more files


  I would be very grateful if I could get any hints leading to sources.
Or maybe you can tell me how it was done at your site.
--
Adri Verhoef (uunet!rivm!a3 || a3 at rivm.uucp), site administrator of the
National Institute for Public Health and Environmental Protection (RIVM).