This specification describes the CUPS command file format (application/vnd.cups-command) which is used to send printer maintenance commands to a printer in a device-independent way. The current specification supports basic maintenance functions such as head cleaning and self-test pages.
Printer drivers advertise support for the CUPS command file
format by providing a filter for the
application/vnd.cups-command file type. Applications
can determine if a printer supports printing of CUPS command
files by checking the printer-type attribute for the
CUPS_PRINTER_COMMANDS capability bit.
CUPS command files are ASCII text files. The first line of a CUPS command file MUST contain:
#CUPS-COMMAND
After that, each line is either a command or a comment. Comments begin with the # character, e.g.:
# This is a comment
The printer commands are described below. Printer commands are case-insensitive, so "PRINTSELFTESTPAGE", "printselftestpage", and "PrintSelfTestPage" are equivalent. Commands that accept arguments have their arguments on the same line separated by whitespace.
Clean colorname
Does a standard print head cleaning. If a printer does not support cleaning of individual colors or cartridges, then all print heads are cleaned. Command filters MUST support the "all" colorname. Other standard color names include "black", "color", "photo", "cyan", "magenta", "yellow", "light-cyan", "light-magenta", "light-black", "light-gray", and "dark-gray".
Example:
#CUPS-COMMAND Clean all
PrintSelfTestPage
Print a self-test page on the printer. Typically this page shows if all jets on a print head are functioning properly.
Example:
#CUPS-COMMAND PrintSelfTestPage