Setting the Printer in Unix SAS

By default, when you choose File->Print in the menu bar of the SAS display manager, the output is sent to a file called "sasprt.ps". You can print this file from a UNIX shell by typing the command 
lpr sasprt.ps
or from inside a SAS session by typing: 
x 'lpr sasprt.ps';

However, it is often more convenient to reset the default behavior of SAS so that choosing File->Print will automatically send selected output to the printer in the computer room in which you are working.

To make the default for SAS to send output directly to the printer, do the following:

  1. On the menu bar at the top of the log, program editor or output window, select File->Print Setup. The Print Setup window will appear, and the choice "PostScript Level 1" should be highlighted.
  2. Click on the Properties button on the Print Setup window.
  3. In the middle section of the Printer Properties window, choose Device Type "Printer" from the drop down menu.
  4. In the field labeled "Destination", enter 342
  5. Click "OK" on the Printer Properties window, then on the Print Setup window.

You only need to follow the above steps once -- SAS will remember the settings so that in future sessions, output will automatically be directed to the printer. Unfortunately, these defaults may cause SAS to send a job to the printer that will be truncated. There are three things you can do to adjust SAS' printing settings to insure that the output from the printer will look ok.

  1. The page orientation, set in File -> Page Setup -> Orientation. You can choose either portrait(the default, with the narrow edge of the paper on the top), or landscape(with the wide edge of the paper on top).
  2. The pagesize and linesize, set through the ps and ls options, respectively. For example, submitting the command 
    options ps=55 ls=80;
    should work with portrait orientation; using 
    options ps=42 ls=120;
    uses 42 lines per page, with a width of 120, and seems to work well with landscape orientation.
  3. Changing the font size, through File -> Print Setup -> Properties -> Font. You can fit much more on the page if you use a smaller font. For example, with landscape orientation and a font size set to 8, you can use 
    options ps=64 ls=150;
    to fit 64 wide lines on each page.
Remember to clear the window you're printing from before you send any output to the printer, because the File -> Print command will print the entire contents of the window, even if they're not visible when you issue the print command.
Phil Spector (link to my home page)
spector@stat.berkeley.edu