Printing

The most common way to print documents from the SunLab is to use the CIS distribution window located in the CIT atrium. All print requests from the Lab will be routed here by default. You may print text documents, including your Java source, from Emacs using the "Print Buffer" command in the File menu or the "Print" button on the toolbar. A more flexible, customizable technique is to use the command prompt. These are some of the more useful printing-related shell commands:

  • lpr <options> <filename> - lpr is the main command for printing text or postscript documents. (For a complete list of options, type "man lpr" in a shell).

  • lpq - This command displays the current document queue for the CIS printer. You can use lpq to see hpw many documents are ahead of yours in the queue, or to get an idea of how long the wait will be before printing (typical turnaround time is around 20 minutes; can be much higher if the labs are very busy).

  • lprm <request-id> - This command will remove the specified print job from the queue. Use lpq to determine your job's request ID. Use this command if you accidentally send a job to the queue that you didn't intend to print (an easy thing to do with the "print" button in the Emacs toolbar).

There may be times when you want to print a document but don't want to use the CIS distribution window -- if its closed, for instance, or if their is an unusually lengthy job queue. For these cases, we are providing some suggested alternatives:

Alternative 1: Email

  1. Using pine or an email utility of your choice, attach the file(s) you want to print to an email sent to your Brown email account.

  2. Walk across the lobby to the Rm. 169 cluster.

  3. Check your mail. Surprise, there's a message from you!

  4. Open up the file(s) you want to print in Word/Notepad/etc and print away.

Alternative 2: FTP (better for larger numbers of documents)

Note: This procedure requires that you already be setup for remote login.

  1. Walk across the lobby to the cluster and sit down in front of a PC.

  2. Open up WinKey.

  3. Open up WS_FTP and connect to in.cs.brown.edu, leaving the password blank:

    Screenshot

  4. The s/key challenge will appear in the status bar. Use WinKey to turn this challenge into your one-time password, and enter this when prompted:

    Screenshot

  5. Congratulations! You now have the equivalent of Windows Explorer for your UNIX account. (CAUTION: It is now very easy for you to mess up your account by deleting files that should not be deleted. Be careful!)

    Screenshot

  6. Open up the file(s) you want to print in Word/Notepad/etc and print away.