--- name: "faxcover" section: "1" platform: "linux" package: "hylafax-client" version: "3:6.0.7-11.1" release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/faxcover" --- # faxcover(1) generate a POSTSCRIPT cover page for an outgoing facsimile ## NAME faxcover - generate a POSTSCRIPT cover page for an outgoing facsimile ## SYNOPSIS **faxcover** \[ *options* \] **-f** *from-name* **-n** *fax-number* ## DESCRIPTION *faxcover* generates a POSTSCRIPT® cover page document on the standard output. The cover page fills the entire area of a default page and is created according to the information supplied on the command line and a *cover sheet template* file. *faxcover* is normally invoked by the [*sendfax*(1)](/sendfax/1.md) program to generate a cover page for each outgoing facsimile. *faxcover* works by creating a POSTSCRIPT dictionary that contains definitions for the variable information that is to be placed on the facsimile cover page. Specifically, a dictionary with the following symbols are defined: ``` Symbol Description Symbol Description to destination person from sending person to-company destination company from-company sender's company to-location destination geographic location from-location sender geographic location to-voice-number person's voice phone number from-voice-number sender's voice phone number to-fax-number destination fax phone number from-fax-number sender's fax phone number from-mail-address sender's e-mail address comments unbroken comment string commentsX X'th line of comments regarding Re: subject CommentX similar to commentsX pageWidth page width in millimeters page-count # pages other than cover page pageLength page length in millimeters todays-date current date and time ``` If the *comments* string is longer than *maxlencomments* characters, it is broken, on word boundaries or instances of \`\`\\n´´, into multiple POSTSCRIPT strings *commentsX* where *X* is the line number; e.g. *comments2* for the second line of comments. Long substrings without whitespace which exceed *maxlencomments* are also broken. By default *faxcover* will generate 20 *commentsX* strings, emitting null string values for empty lines. This number can be changed with the **-m** option; see below. *maxlencomments* is changed with the **-z** option; see below. Note that use of *commentsX* with non-fixed-width fonts can lead to spatial problems where characters run off the edge of the generated cover page. In such cases, use of *BreakIntoLines* (see below) may be a more suitable approach. *CommentX* is similar to *commentsX* except that its values are created only by breaking *comments* on instances of \`\`\\n´´ and not otherwise. *maxlines* does not affect *CommentX* *faxcover* also emits a POSTSCRIPT procedure for breaking comment strings into multiple lines using the POSTSCRIPT font metric information. This procedure is named *BreakIntoLines* and has the following usage convention: %\ \ \ \ \ BreakIntoLines - eg ``` /rule (_____________________________________________) def /lw rule stringwidth pop def /lh 30 def /y 191.4 def /x 0 def y -30 0 { x exch moveto rule show } for lw lh x y comments BreakIntoLines ``` where the width of the rule controls the length of each line of comments (note that it is made slightly shorter here for the purpose of presentation), *x* and *y* are initialized to coordinate locations on the page where the comment string should be imaged, and the number 30 is the inter-line spacing appropriate for the font used to image the comment lines. If information is unavailable for an item, the associated POSTSCRIPT symbol is defined to be a null string. Following the definition prologue, a cover sheet template file is copied. This file is expected to be a POSTSCRIPT program that uses the generated strings to create a cover page. The template must include a **showpage** operator to cause the page to be imaged. The above symbols will be defined in the *current dictionary*. A trailing **end** operator is supplied by *faxcover*, so any manipulation of the dictionary stack should leave the current dictionary on the top of the stack on completion. ## OPTIONS - **-c** *comments* Use *comments* for the comment string. You may use '\\n' to break it into several lines on generated the cover page. - **-C** *file* Use *file* as the template file. The default template file is named *faxcover.ps*. The template file can also be specified by setting the FAXCOVER environment variable. If the template filename is not an absolute pathname, then *faxcover* looks first for this file in the home directory of the sender. If no such file is present, then it looks in the library directory where the *HylaFAX* client application data are installed. If no template file is located, *faxcover* will terminate without generating a cover page. - **-D** *format* Use *format* as the formatting specification passed to [*strftime*(3)](/strftime/3.md) when generating the time and date placed on the cover page. - **-f** *name* Use *name* for the sender's identity. - **-l** *location* Use *location* for the geographic location of the destination company. - **-L** *location* Use *location* for the geographic location of the sender's company. - **-m** *maxlines* indicates the maximum number of *commentsX* lines to generate. - **-M** *address* Use *address* for the sender's e-mail address. - **-n** *number* Use *number* for the destination fax machine number. - **-N** *number* Use *number* for the sender's fax machine number. - **-p** *count* Use *count* for the count of pages to follow the cover page. - **-r** *regarding* Use *regarding* for the \`\`Re:'' field. - **-s** *size* Set the page size to use for the transmitted facsimile. Facsimile are normally imaged with a system-default page size (usually letter-size pages, 8.5" by 11", for sites in North America). Alternate page sizes are specified symbolically using either the name or abbreviation of an entry in the [*pagesizes*(5)](/pagesizes/5.md) database; e.g. *a3* (ISO A3), *a4* (ISO A4), *a5* (ISO A5), *a6* (ISO A6), *b4* (ISO B4), *na-let* (North American Letter), *us-leg* (American Legal), *us-led* (American Ledger), *us-exe* (American Executive), *jp-let* (Japanese Letter), and *jp-leg* (Japanese Legal). Comparisons are case-insensitive and any match of a substring of the full page-size name is sufficient; e.g. \`\`legal'' would match \`\`American Legal''. - Note that it may not be permissible to image into the full page area; the guaranteed reproducible area for a page is typically inset. Also, note that while arbitrary page sizes can be specified through the page size database, only a limited set of page dimensions are supported by the Group 3 facsimile protocol. Thus if an odd-size facsimile is submitted for transmission it may not be possible to determine if it can be sent until the fax server establishes communication with the remote facsimile machine. - **-t** *name* Use *name* for the receiver's identity. - **-v** *number* Use *number* for the receiver's voice phone number. - **-V** *number* Use *number* for the sender's voice phone number. - **-x** *company* Use *company* for the destination company name. - **-X** *company* Use *company* for the sender's company name. - **-z** *maxlencomments* indicates the maximum length in number of characters allowed in a *commentsX* string. ## DIAGNOSTICS Complaints about not being able to locate a template file. ## FILES \~/.faxdb personal fax number database\ \~/.hylarc per-user configuration file\ /etc/hylafax/hyla.conf system-wide configuration file\ /etc/hylafax/faxcover.ps default cover page template\ /etc/hylafax/pagesizes page size database ## BUGS *faxcover* should be able to determine the appropriate length of *commentsX* strings by using font metric information. ## SEE ALSO [*hylafax-client*(1)](/hylafax-client/1.md), [*sendfax*(1)](/sendfax/1.md) [*edit-faxcover*(1)](/edit-faxcover/1.md)