The npadmin is a tool that allows network printers to be easily administered via the command line. It is a convenient way to manage and configure your printing infrastructure, providing seamless control over print jobs and administration tasks.
One of the coolest things about npadmin is that it can gather a lot of information about printers. This includes model and vendor, location and contact information, network configuration, memory and disk usage, engine speed, and even the max and min papersize. Additionally, npadmin can return information about the duplexers installed, the printer status, printer languages, marker technology, page count, minimum margins, size and capacity of paper trays, toner levels, alert conditions, resolution, display information, and cover pages on/off status.
Another big advantage of using npadmin is that it supports a wide range of printers. The program was created to heavily utilize RFC 1759, the common printer MIB. This means that it should work on almost any printer that supports this MIB. Some special hooks have also been implemented to provide additional features even on HP printers that don't support the common printer MIB, although the user will find that functionality is severely curtailed.
Here are some of the printers that are known to work well with npadmin: HP LaserJet 5 series, HP LaserJet 4000 series, HP LaserJet 5000 series, HP LaserJet 8000 series, HP Color LaserJet 4500, Lexmark Optra N, Lexmark Optra R+, Lexmark Optra RN, Lexmark Optra SC 1275, Lexmark Optra S series, Tektronix Phaser 340, Tektronix Phaser 350, Tektronix Phaser 360, Tektronix Phaser 380, Tektronix Phaser 550, Tektronix Phaser 560, Tektronix Phaser 740, Tektronix Phaser 840, and Xerox Docucenter 230.
On the other hand, support for some printers may be limited. For example, the HP LaserJet 4 series, HP Color LaserJet 5, HP Color LaserJet, HP JetDirect External, HP LaserJet 3 series, HP DeskJet 1200C, HP DeskJet 1600C(M), and HP DeskJet 2000C are known to have limited support.
All in all, npadmin is a powerful tool that offers fine-grained control over network printers. If you're looking for a scriptable solution that can work on a wide range of printers, npadmin is definitely a program worth checking out.
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