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How can I print to my network printer?

There's a printer in your lab which is networked, but you don't know how to get your GCG (graphics or text) files to print on it. One way is to download the GCG output file from helix to your desktop machine, using Fetch or FTP, and then print it from your desktop machine. A more efficient way is to print directly from helix to your printer, as described below:

First, check if the printer is already registered on helix by typing

helix% more /etc/printcap

This file (/etc/printcap) has a list of all printers that are registered on helix, and you may find yours listed there. (or you may see another printer in your building that you can use). If your printer isn't on the list, call the helix staff (4-DCRT) or send a ptr (type 'ptr' at the helix prompt and follow instructions) to get it registered on helix. You will need to know the printer type, IP address or AppleTalk name.

Once you know the helix-registered name, you can now set your printer to be the default printer for your helix session by typing:


helix% setenv PRINTER printer_name

at the beginning of your session. (If you want it always to be your default printer, you can put this line in your .cshrc file.) To print a file, you can now type

helix% lpr filename

If you don't have the PRINTER environment variable set, or if you want to use a different printer, you can type:


helix% lpr -Pprintername filename

If it's GCG graphics that you want to print, see How do I print GCG graphics to my postscript printer?