Subject: The Y command

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 7 Dec 1995 00:08:20 -0500

I am helping someone, new to the net, learn to use pine.  Their sevice
provider is running Free Bsd and Pine 3.91.  They use a sinclair QL
computer.  The Y (print) command does not work.  I thought if I had a
better understanding of how the the command works I might be able to
fiddle around and get it to work.  Any suggestions?  Thanks for the help

---

From: Chip Old <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 16 Dec 1995 03:01:25 -0500 (EST)

> fiddle around and get it to work.  Any suggestions?  Thanks for the help

Here's the "canned answer" I send to our users who ask about printing 
from Pine.  It's long...

-----------------------------
 
The standard way to print a message while in Pine is to press "Y" while 
viewing the message oe while the message title is highlighted in the 
folder index.  If the printing mode is set to "attached-to-ansi" (the 
default) in Pine's setup, Pine sends the appropriate VT100/ANSI commands 
to print the message on a printer attached to your terminal.
 
This works fine if you are working at a real VT100 or VT102 terminal with
a serial connection to the host computer, but you are not.  Instead, you
are using a personal computer with telecomm software set to emulate a
VT100 or VT102 terminal, and you are connected to the host via modem.
 
Many telecomm programs don't understand the VT100/ANSII printer commands
sent out by Pine when you press "Y" to print a message.  This isn't Pine's
fault, its the fault of incomplete implementation of VT100 or VT102
terminal emulation in the telecomm software.  Unfortunately, there are 
very few telecomm programs that have a really complete implementation 
of VT100 or VT102 emulation.  Most of them handle VT screen display 
adequately, but fall flat when it comes to useful things like printing.
 
It also isn't your printer's fault that you can't print properly from
Pine.  If your printer can print from other programs you use (word
processor, spreadsheet, or whatever), then it would print messages from
Pine if your telecomm program handled the VT100/ANSI printer commands
correctly. 
 
There are several workarounds you can try.  The first step in each of 
them is to save the message as a file in your home directory, as follows:

o While viewing a message in Pine, press "E" to export the message.
o When Pine prompts you for a file name to save to, enter a short easy to
  remember name.  Do the same for every message you want to print.  If you
  want each message to be in its own seperate file, give a different file
  name each time.  Or, you can put them all into the same file by specifying
  the same file name each time (this makes things easier later on).  This
  saves the messages in the specified files in your home directory on the
  host computer. 
o Quit Pine, then do one of the following depending on the capabilities of 
  your telecomm software.  How you do these things depends on how your 
  telecomm software is designed, so refer to your manual if necessary.
o If your telecomm software lets you scroll backward through a "scrollback
  buffer" (text that has gone off your screen), and if it lets you select
  and print text from the scrollback buffer, enter "cat filename" at the 
  UNIX prompt (but substitute the actual file name you used for 
  "filename").  This will scroll the text in the file down your screen.  
  Scroll backwards to the beginning of the text, select it all, then use 
  your telecomm program's "print selection" command to send the text to 
  your printer.
o If your telecomm program lets you capture text as it scrolls by on your 
  screen and save it to a file on your hard disk, turn on the capture 
  function in your telecomm program.  Issue the "cat filename" command at 
  the UNIX prompt.  When all the text has scrolled by, turn off the capture 
  function.  After you have logged off, use your favorite word processor 
  or text editor to open and print the capture file.
o If your telecomm program allows youi to send text directly to your
  printer as it scrolls by on your screen, turn on the print function in
  your telecomm program.  Issue the "cat filename" command at the UNIX 
  prompt.  When all the text has printed out, turn off the print function.
o Some telecomm programs (like ZTerm for the Macintosh) "print" to your
  screen instead of to your printer when you press "Y" in Pine.  If yours
  does this, you can use a modified version of the previous methods
  which makes it unnecessary to save the message to a file in your home
  directory.  Turn on the capture file function or the print function
  (whichever your telecomm program can do), then press "Y".  Pine will
  "print" the message to your screen, and your telecomm program will send
  the scrolling text to a file on your hard disk or directly to your
  printer.  Or, let the text scroll by, then scroll back to the 
  beginning, select all the text, and send the selection to your printer
  or to a file on your hard disk.
o If all else fails, download the file from the server to your hard drive. 
  Then use your favorite word processor or text editor to open and print the
  capture file. 
 
None of these are as easy as just pressing "Y" while reading a message in
Pine, but they get the job done.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Francis E. Old (Chip Old)         Internet: [email-masked]
Internetworking Administrator     Voice:    (410) 887-6180
Baltimore County Public Library   FAX:      (410) 887-2091
320 York Road
Towson, Maryland 21204 USA