When this option is chosen, another sub-menu appears:
Printer output is generated following the GKS concept of workstations. The workstation type, hence printer type, is determined by the value of PRTTYPE in the device parameters for a particular platform. If there are everal printer types defined, the first in the list is used as the default. Printer output is written to a file with the default name "gksplot". Both the printer type and the output filename can be changed by selecting SETUP, then selecting the item to be modified. Selecting any of the printers or plotters will make it the default. Selecting the filename creates a request for an optional filename.
PC NOTE: There is only one printer or one plotter device available at a time (2 total). The device is defined as PRINTER or PLOTTER in the file KERNEL.SYS, and the driver name is specified in CGI.CFG. The file KERNEL.SYS will never need to be modified. The file CGI.CFG can be edited to change the printer and/or plotter driver name.
The first step in generating printer output is to open the printer workstation by picking OPENPRINTER in the menu. This opens and activates the workstation. Anything plotted from this point on will appear in the hardcopy output. To prevent hardcopy output, the printer workstation is disabled by choosing PRINTOFF. After this, printer output is created from the time the PRINTON option is selected until the PRINTOFF option is selected.
There is a general method to follow if printer output is desired. After experimenting with plotting, a particular plot is configured in the CONFIG sub-menus. Then the workstation is opened and activated by choosing OPENPRINTER in the menu and the plot is repeated so that it is captured in the output. After this, the workstation is deactived by choosing PRINTOFF in the menu. At this time there is the option of creating another plot and overlaying this plot on the first plot using the same procedure; ie, activate printer using PRINTON, draw the plot, and deactivate printer using PRINTOFF. When the plot is complete, the printer is closed by choosing CLOSEPRINTER in the menu. At this time the plotfile is automatically closed. After the plots are created, the appropriate file must be copied to the printer or plotter.
Also, note that the printer driver for the PC must be loaded as discussed in the introduction.