Support : Dialog Search Aids : Successful Searching : PRINT

PRINT

Use the PRINT command to request search results through the postal service, or to an alternate address. Electronic options include email or ftp. If you do not specify an alternate address, the prints will be sent to your account address through the postal service.The basic PRINT command consists of the word PRINT followed by a set number, a format, and the items (records) you want printed, e.g., PRINT S5/9/1-25. You can also use a Dialog accession number to print a specific record; enter PRINT, the accession number, and a format, e.g., PRINT 0947364/9.

The number of records you can request in any one PRINT command is limited to 5,000. A series of system defaults is used when you omit the set number, format, or item numbers from a PRINT command.

Basic PRINT Command

Set Number (Sn)

You can enter the set number of any set created since your last BEGIN command. The full set number (e.g., S12) is preferred, but you can omit the initial S (e.g.,12).

Format

The format you enter determines which fields of each record will print. You can use either predefined, numbered formats or user-defined formats. The formats available in a given database are listed on its Bluesheet, or can be found online by entering HELP FMT nnn (where nnn represents the file number). If no format is specified, the system defaults to Format 2. If the previous command was a PRINT command, it defaults to the format used in that PRINT command.

If you specify field display codes in a PRINT command, they must be separated by commas, e.g., PRINT S1/TI,SO,AB/1-20.

Item Numbers

The item numbers you enter specify which records in the set are to be printed. You can indicate a single record, a range of records (using a hyphen, e.g., 1-10), a non-sequential group of records separated by commas (e.g., 2,5,8,12), or a combination (e.g., 1,3-7,9). A maximum of 39 distinct numbers can be included in the Items list. To print all records contained in a set, enter the word ALL. If no items are specified, the system defaults to 50 records printed offline.

Unless a set is SORTed, or the records are specifically listed in non-sequential order (e.g., 1,8,5,23,2), records are printed in descending order of their Dialog accession numbers. In most databases, this reflects reverse chronological order of entry—the record most recently entered in the database has the highest accession number and is listed first.

PRINT Transaction Numbers

The response to a PRINT command consists of a PRINT transaction number, a confirmation of the PRINT command, and an estimated cost of the prints requested. Sequential PRINT transaction numbers are assigned separately to your PRINT requests in each section of the Dialog computer. For example, the first PRINT command entered in section A is assigned the number P001, and the first in section B is also P001; the second request in each section is P002, etc.

Basic PRINT Command Examples

Command Results

PRINT S4/5/1-9 Set S4, Format 5, first 9 records
PR S8/U3/ALL Set S8, user-defined format U3, all records
PR 91085273/7 Record with accession number in Format 7

Direct Record Access

In most databases, you can enter the PRINT command followed by the Dialog accession number for a known record, a slash (/), and a format, to print a record offline without first SELECTing its search terms.

(Summary of PRINT Command Options) 

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