Printing

Most printing in the subdepartment goes via queues. This has the advantage that a number of users on a number of computers can use the same printer but does mean that you may have to wait for your output. The queue software allows you to see how your job is getting on and allows you to cancel it before or during printing. In one respect the information provided by this software can be misleading. With a number of computers all using the same printer each may have its own queue and once your job has reached the head of the queue it may say that your job is printing. In fact another computer may be using the printer so you should wait until you get confirmation that your job has finished before collecting your output.

It is VERY IMPORTANT to make sure that the queue you send your file to supports the language it contains. You have already seen what happens when you send a Postscript file to a printer that only handles plain text. Sending files to the wrong queues results in:-

• Wasted paper: usually far more than the document would have used. People have wasted hundreds of sheets of paper sending binary files to our line printer.

• You becoming unpopular!

So if you realise you have made a mistake, cancel the job as quickly as possible. However some printers are smart enough to handle files in more than one language automatically; they determine the format of the file from its contents.

One final point, we run all our computers without operators and rely on all users to cooperate in the smooth running of our system. In particular this means:-

• Only print files you really need and collect the output as soon as possible.

• Treat other users output with respect.

• Report all printer faults at once.