Hardcopy to non-postscript printers

Mike Fitzpatrick wrote on Nov 24, 1998

> People around here tell me that IRAF talks only to postscript printers.
> Is that right?  I assume that some files will have to be modified to tell
> IRAF where to find the printer.  Does IRAF documentation explain exactly
> what to do in this matter?  If not, could you advise?

        IRAF talks mostly to Postscript printers since that's what people
have, but there are also kernels for HPGL devices like a HP 7550A plotter,
and HP PCL devices like the LaserJet series printers.  What I've done for
my home printer which doesn't accept postscript is to configure a graphcap
entry that produces Postscript but uses a host 'gs' (ghostscript) command
to translate that to something the printer does understand.  For example,

lpr|      :tc=ulpr:

ulpr|HP ColorJet printer using postscript translations:`
        :xs#0.269:ys#0.210:ar#0.781:\
        :DD=apl,tmp$sgkxxx,!{ sgidispatch sgi2uapl $F -l$(XO) -w$(XW) \
        -b$(YO) -h$(YW) -p$(PW) | \
        gs -dNOPAUSE -q -dBATCH -sDEVICE cdeskjet -sDEVICE - | \
        lpr -h -Pomega1; rm $F; }&:tc=sgi_apl:

The host 'gs' program must be installed and in your path as defined in the
.cshrc file, on Linux systems it's preconfigured for many different devices
so you can usually work up something to get output to a device even if it's
not supported directly by IRAF.  The IRAF Insallation and Site Manager's
Guides will lead you through the installation as well as post-install
configuration of printers and such.  The FAQ (from /iraf/FAQ or on our web
page) also contains some useful tips.

-Mike

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Last post on Nov 24, 1998