Re: idt & printer

From: NCAR G Talk (ncargt AT unknown)
Date: Thu Sep 12 1996 - 08:26:23 MDT


>
> Hello, NCAR Graphhics has been installed on our SGI cluster recently. I want
> to know how I can setup printer(s) for idt. We have one HP Deskjet color
> printer
> and an Apple LaserWrite Slect connecting to the SGI Indigo2 workstations.
>
> Your help would be appreciated.
>
> Wanli Wu
> wanli AT unknown

Dear Wanli Wu,

First of all, you need to be sure that NCAR Graphics supports the type
of printers you listed. If either one of them supports PostScript,
then you should be able to set up "idt" to send output to either one
of these printers. If your printers do not support PostScript, then
you'll need to consult the NCAR Graphics "graphcap" man page to see if
any of the other graphcaps support the kind of printers you have.

Once you've determined which graphcaps you can use with your printers,
you are now ready to set up "idt" to send metafiles to them. "Idt"
depends on a file called "ncarv_spool" to set up the printer
information. According to the man page for "ncarv_spool":

  The ncarv_spool file contains definitions for spooled devices to be
  used by idt/ictrans. Each definition describes a rule used for sending a
  set of metafile frames to a spooled device.

  Each entry consists of a line of the form:

       alias_name : translator_args : filter_chain

So, for example, if your HP DeskJet supports PostScript and you print
to it with the command "lpr -Phpdeskjet", then one line in your
"ncarv_spool" file might look like this:

    HPDeskJet : -d ps.color -simulatebg : | lpr -Phpdeskjet

The first entry "HPDeskJet" is just your own alias name that you
choose. This is the name you will see when you click on the "Print"
button in "idt". The commands between the colons specify that you
want to convert your metafile to color PostScript and that you want to
keep the same background color as the metafile. The last part of the
line just sends the output to your printer.

You can have several lines in your "ncarv_spool" file, each one
specifying where you want the metafile output to go (it can be a
printer or a file). The "ncarv_spool" file can either go in the
directory "$NCARG_ROOT/lib/ncarg" so that all users of "idt" will be
able to use its entries, or you can rename the file ".ncarv_spool" and
put it in your home directory where only you will have access to the
entries in it.

For more information, see the man pages for "idt", "ncarv_spool", and
"ictrans". Please don't hestitate to ask if you have further
questions.

Sincerely,

--NCARG Talk



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