Capturing output for printing

There are several ways to capture your program's output in a file.

The first way is to use "output redirection". The redirect command (>) will redirect the output from the program into a file. If your program does require you to type in data at the keyboard you will not see the prompts.

	  a.out > outdat

This method puts output into a file named outdat. The file can then be printed using the lp command:

	  lp outdat

To view the file use the cat or more commands:

	 cat outdat
	 more outdat

The same data may be routed directly to the printer without storing it in a file. This is done using the pipe (|) character to direct the command output to another device:

	 a.out | lp

If you need to enter data from the keyboard, you probably want to use the script command. Script makes a copy of everything that is printed on your terminal. To use script, type this command:

	script foo

The machine will respond:

	Script started, file is foo

Then run your program. When the program is done, type:

	exit

The machine will respond:

	Script done, file is foo

You can then view the file on your terminal screen or print the output file on a printer, just as you would any other file.