Table of Contents

• 1. quit
  • 1.1. Syntax
  • 1.2. Stack Effects
  • 1.3. Description
  • 1.4. PostScript Level
  • 1.5. Examples
  • 1.6. Common Use Cases
    • 1.6.1. Script Termination
    • 1.6.2. Conditional Termination
  • 1.7. Common Pitfalls
  • 1.8. Error Conditions
  • 1.9. Implementation Notes
  • 1.10. Job Server Behavior
  • 1.11. See Also

1. quit

Terminates operation of the PostScript interpreter.

1.1. Syntax

– quit → –

1.2. Stack Effects

Table 1. Before/After

Level	Object
(none)	Interpreter terminates

1.3. Description

quit terminates operation of the PostScript interpreter. The precise action depends on the environment:

• May return control to operating system

• May halt or restart the machine

• In multi-context systems (DPS): terminates current context only

In job server environments, quit in userdict is usually redefined to mean stop (terminate job, not interpreter).

1.4. PostScript Level

Level 1 and later

1.5. Examples

Terminating interpreter

% After all processing
showpage
quit

In userdict (job server)

% userdict /quit is typically:
/quit { stop } def

quit  % Ends job, not interpreter

Accessing systemdict quit

systemdict /quit get exec  % True interpreter termination

1.6. Common Use Cases

1.6.1. Script Termination

% At end of standalone script
cleanup
quit

1.6.2. Conditional Termination

fatalError {
  (Fatal error - terminating) print
  quit
} if

1.7. Common Pitfalls

userdict Redefinition - In job server environments, userdict /quit is usually redefined.

quit  % Usually stops job, not interpreter
systemdict /quit get exec  % Actually quits

Immediate Termination - quit terminates immediately, no cleanup.

{
  openResources
  quit  % Resources not cleaned up!
} stopped {
  cleanup
} if

Use stop in Jobs - In encapsulated jobs, use stop instead of quit.

1.8. Error Conditions

Error	Condition
[invalidaccess]	In encapsulated job, accessing systemdict quit

1.9. Implementation Notes

• In DPS: terminates context immediately

• In job servers: userdict version usually shadows systemdict

• Standard quit in systemdict requires unencapsulated job

• Termination is immediate (no cleanup)

1.10. Job Server Behavior

In environments with job control:

% userdict typically contains:
userdict /quit { stop } put

% So:
quit              % Stops current job
systemdict begin
  quit            % Actually quits interpreter
end

1.11. See Also

• stop - Terminate stopped context

• exit - Exit loop

• stopped - Error catching