Printing scripts Generated by the Geneva/Irvine
Synchronous Editor

  Printing a script created by the script editor can be done in either
  of 2 ways:
  - use "print-script"
  - use "PS-convert" and print the resulting file
  
 print-script:
 
 "print-script" is the easier way, as it can be done with few parameters
 and in a single command.  It can be used on any Sun system, but not yet
 on "ics" or "bonnie".  The command is:
 
 print-script [-P<printer-name>] [{-2,-4,-8}] [-<parameter>]* <script-file-name>"

  This runs "PS-convert" on the script file name given to create a 
  PostScript-language form of the script, which it then sends to a PostScript
  printer.  Each page is given as a header:
  
  - the (column row) coordinates at which that page would be laid if 
    the whole script were spread out on a large flat surface;
	
  - the name of the script file -- especially useful when a project 
    consists of a large number of individual scripts;
	
  - and the date of the last modification of the script.
  
  See below, under PS-convert, about activity during the printing of the
  script.
  
  "print-script" leaves a new file in the script's directory, with the name
  ","<script-file-name>".PS.reduced" (e.g. ",mod1.needs-help.e.PS.reduced").
  This is the actual PostScript file that got sent to the printer.  
  (Because of the way the printing system works, print-script must not 
  delete the file for itself at the time of printing.)  The
  leading "," causes the UNIX file system to delete this file automatically
  after (usually) 24 hours.  This is to avoid leaving PostScript forms of
  scripts that will probably soon be modified, outdating the PostScript 
  file; however, if there is some reason to keep the file, simply deleting
  the leading "," will achieve this.
  
  
  Required parameter:
  * <script-file-name>  (e.g. mod1.needs-help, newton-in-space)
  
    This is the basic name of the script (as opposed to the name of its
    message file, which for English-language scripts has ".e" appended
    to the basic name).
    
    Since this is the only required parameter, a print-script command
    can be as simple as 
    
      print-script mod2.exc.n-desu
      print-script friendly-mailer.novice
    
  Optional parameters:
  
  * -P<printer-name>  (e.g. -Pps2000, -P430)
  
    Lets you specify the printer on which to print the script.  This must
    be one of the department's PostScript printers.  The older set of printers
    called "Imagens" will not work for printing scripts.
    
    The recommended printer, especially if you're working in the ICS
    building, is the ps2000, in the mail room on the 4th floor.  It is a 
    fast, high-volume printer, better suited to the large number of pages
    typically needed for a script printout.
    
    (Printers such as the 2308b in the ETC trailer, or the 8300c in the
    counselling trailer, are Imagens, so they *cannot* be used for script
    printing.)
    
    To be consistent with other local UNIX printing programs, print-script
    will check the environment variable PRINTER (not LPRINTER) if the -P
    parameter is not given.  Consult "man ipr" for more information about 
    PRINTER.
    
  * -{2,4,8}  (e.g. -2, -8)
  
    The number of pages of script to print per side of an
    actual sheet of paper.  The script pages are reduced in size and turned
    side to side to do this.  "-2" is recommended, not only to save paper,
    but to let more nodes of the script show at once.  More than -2 may be
    difficult to read, as the lines become finer, but is nevertheless 
    available.
    
    "print-script" uses the program "mpage" to apply this option to 
    PS-convert's output; for up to date information on what it allows,
    type "man mpage".
    
  * more parameters
  
    If you know that the printer you're going to use accepts other 
    parameters beyond the ones print-script recognises, you can add them 
    in here, and they will be forwarded to the printer.  They must of course
    each begin with "-", like almost all UNIX parameters -- otherwise 
    "print-script" will think your parameter is a script file.
    
    Typically there is no need to do this, but for users interested in doing
    so, these are the actual programs that "print-script" uses to run the
    printers. You can enter "man <program-name>" for each one to see what
    parameters it takes.
        for the ps2000 : "qpr"
        for the 430 (ps430, ps430-qrm) : "lpr"
        for the "sparc2" (in IERF): "lpr"
        for any other: "ipr"  
        
  
 REQUIREMENTS:
 
  To run print-script or PS-convert, the name "Times-Roman.AFM"
  must be in your current directory. If it is not there, creating it is
  straightforward, and is described below; or else you can "cd" to a directory
  that does contain it.
  
  "print-script" is found in ~usj/bin, available on the sun3's and sun4's.
  To use it, make sure "~usj/bin" appears in the command that creates your
  "path" variable, usually either in your .login file or your .cshrc file.
    
    
Using PS-convert:
  
   PS-convert (for "PostScript-convert") does not itself print anything; but
   it creates a rendition of your script in the PostScript page-setting 
   language, in a file which can then be sent to a PostScript printer.
   
   When using it directly, rather than from print-script, the command is
   
 "PS-convert <script-file-name> <message-file-name> <output-file-name>
            <font-name> <a heading-for-each-page>"
            
   - <message-file-name> is the name of the file containing the script's
     message text.  The script editor mandates that this be the 
     <script-file-name>, with a language indication letter appended -- in
     our case, ".e".
     
   - <output-file-name> is the name of the PostScript file PS-convert will
     create.  Simply appending ".PS" to the <message-file-name> is recommended.
     It is also wise to start the name with a comma "," so that the UNIX 
     file system will delete it after 24 hours, preventing an accumulation
     of printouts whose fidelity to the current script will be unknown.
     
   - <font-name> gives the font that PS-convert will use for the text of
     the script.  It will use this name to find the file "Times-Roman.AFM",
     which lets it measure the size of text on the pages it's creating. 
     At present, "Times-Roman" is the mandatory parameter for this.  It is
     *highly* recommended this file not be copied around to many different
     script directories; instead, symbolic links should be made to the one
     copy, from every directory where it is needed.  See below for the
     procedure to do this.
     
   - <a-heading-for-each-page> supplies a heading for PS-convert to add
     to the top of each page.  If it's surrounded with double-quotes, 
     it may contain almost anything, including spaces.
     If you want a date on the listing, it must be included in this header.
     PS-convert does not supply one itself.
     
  For any that is not supplied on the command line, PS-convert will ask
  interactively, and offer a default for each one it asks for (except the
  script file name).
   
  PS-convert, in its present version, reports the stages of reading the
  script and laying it out on pages, somewhat as other conversion programs
  such as "latex" or "dvips" do; however, it is more verbose than many.
  This is mainly to let the user with a very large script follow its
  progress, as it is not yet clear that PS-convert will successfully get
  through the entirety of every script it tries to convert. In later, more
  stable versions, this listing will probably be optional, or absent.
  
  PS-convert has a built-in limit of 5000 nodes in one script.  Since this
  is the same limit as the current version of the script editor has, it 
  should not cause an immediate problem.
   
 LISTING PROBLEMS:
 
  To the extent that it can find them without aborting prematurely,
  PS-convert attempts to report problems it runs into.  At present, 
  there are really only two that are reported (at least for scripts
  that the script editor has validated):
  - failing to find a message in the message file whose key is given
    in the script file.  This is usually caused by the bug described
    below, if the script is acceptable to the script editor. 
  - having too much text in a node to fit it on a page.  This may well
    happen to comment and documentation nodes that try to give detailed
    information.  
    PS-convert will report those lines of the node that could not be made
    to fit on the page, ending with the node's ID number, in square brackets.
    It can only be fixed by using the script editor to break the node into
    at least 2 smaller ones, then redoing the printing.
   
   
 KNOWN BUGS:
 
   - PS-convert assumes your script has been checked and declared validated
     by the script editor; it makes no allowance for structural errors,
     such as a gap leaving part of the script not connected to the rest.
     It will either crash or fail to print that part of the script.
     
   - The script editor does not care about letter case (upper or lower)
     in the message file's message names (this has been part of ETC's and
     Geneva's definition of keyed message files for years).  So if the
     casing happens to disagree between the two files, the script editor
     will not be affected.  However, PS-convert *is* case sensitive, and
     will report having been unable to find messages under those names,
     which it will list.
     
   - PS-convert does not seem to be aware that an arc leaving a test box is 
     allowed to point to any type of node at all, including another test.
     It prints such directly linked test boxes as if they were part of the 
     same test cascade.
     
   - PS-convert does not always correctly find the boundaries of text in the
     nodes, particularly upper case text, and therefore sometimes lets it 
     flow well past the righthand side of comment or documentation nodes.
     
   - For the parameter "Times-Roman", it is not possible to supply a
     directory with the path (e.g.
     ~/Intermed/scripts/mod1/Times-Roman.AFM"), since PS-convert is
     actually expecting it as a font name, not the name and path of a file.
     This forces a copy of or link to Times-Roman.AFM to be required in the
     current directory when printing a script.
     
   - PS-convert's layout of script components does not resemble the way they
     are arranged in the script file itself.  Flow and content are preserved,
     but not organisation.  Merges of flow are almost never drawn.
     
     
Creating a symbolic link:

   A symbolic link is a UNIX file containing the name of another UNIX file.
   The UNIX file system recognises it and applies all requested operations
   to the other file named.  A symbolic link is created by the command
   
     "ln -s <original-file> <name-of-link-to-original>"
     
     (e.g.  ln -s /usr/ucb/vi my-vi" creates a link in the current directory
      called "my-vi", which points to the true file /usr/ucb/vi).
      
   For linking to Times-Roman.AFM, do the following:
   
      "ln -s ~usj/Intermed/script-printing/Times-Roman.AFM Times-Roman.AFM"
      
   in the directory where you want the link to be put.
      
   Consult "man ln" to find out more about links  (they can be very useful).