HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: yaot@stein.u.washington.edu (Jack Yao)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: Screen dumper for Level 2 Postscript
Date: 11 Nov 92 02:16:01 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov11.021601.12159
Expires: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 02:16:02 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

Hi:

Does anyone out there know how to get a color postscript
screen dumper for X window.(Level 2 Postscript). I have tried

xwd | xpr -device ps

but it gave me B&W image

Thanks in advance

Jack
yaot@dtrl.ee.washington.edu
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
From: rreiner@nexus.yorku.ca (Richard Reiner)
Subject: Make Ghostscript for Windows an OLE server
Organization: York University
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 02:29:48 GMT

I don't know how actively the MS-Windows version of Ghostscript is being
developed, but it occurs to me that it would be a Very Good Thing if
gswin could act as an OLE server.  This would improve the quality of
life significantly for all those millions of users of WordPerfect for
Windows, Word for Windows, Ami, PageMaker, and other wordprocessors and
desktop publishers who now have to stumble along, working with graphics
they can't see, whenever they embed an EPS figure in one of their
documents.  (Yes, sometimes we're lucky enough to be given an EPS figure
with a preview bitmap in it, but that makes the files very big and
is usually of poor quality).

If anybody from Alladin is reading this, what do you think?

-- 
Richard Reiner..............rreiner@nexus.yorku.ca..............416-538-3947
From: jwa@vipunen.hut.fi (Jyrki J Wahlstedt)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: Re: How to print a large ps file?.
Date: 13 Nov 92 04:03:34 GMT
	<1992Nov10.193426.25560@cs.wayne.edu> <1ds0feINNq9c@moe.ksu.ksu.edu>
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland


  Not /etc/termcap, but /etc/printcap. That's what I've seen.
--
!
!	Jyrki Wahlstedt
!		Jyrki.Wahlstedt@hut.fi
!
!  Our life is no dream, but it should and will perhaps become one.
!
From: rothman@tegra.com
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: PostScript disassembler?
Date: 5 Nov 92 15:06:34 GMT
Organization: Tegra, Inc.

Sometimes self-contained, perfectly functional PS programs get pretty hard
to decipher, because a lot of procedure definitions are made, operators are
redefined, etc. Does anyone know of a program that could eat a legal, but 
cryptic PS program and spew out Red Book standard PS? Obviously, the
output would be far larger than the input, but possibly it might be easier to
debug. If no such beast exists, do people think it would be hard or easy to
create?  What sort of issues would have to be confronted? Does anyone else
besides me think it would be useful?

Steve Rothman, Tegra Inc.

PS: Icing on the cake would be a pretty-print formatter, if this isn't
too ridiculous for PostScript. (Is there such a thing as pretty PS?)
==================================================================
email: rothman@tegra.com *** CIS: 72120,2747 *** FAX: 508-663-7082
From: clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: Re: How do I recognize postscript from a file
Date: 9 Nov 92 08:50:48 GMT
Organization: Elegant Communications Inc., Ottawa, Canada

In article <BxEy6H.KCs@chinet.chi.il.us> les@chinet.chi.il.us (Leslie Mikesell) writes:
>In article <3944@ecicrl.ocunix.on.ca> clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis) writes:

>>>When printing from MS Windows to Postscript file, the file (if you don't
>>>make it not to) starts with characters ^D%! (i.e. control-D, %, !).

>>The correct way to handle this is for the application to *not*
>>append or prepend ^D's, and let the spooler handle it.

>Errr, since when does MS Windows *have* a print spooler? 

The original context was about print spoolers.  MS Windows was brought
up by someone else.  I was commenting in general.  Besides, I know that
some UNIX ports of DOS applications do the same brain damage.  Also,
if there's no spooler, who cares?  (except if your network interface
isn't smart enough to remove this grunge)

>Don't you
>think it would be pretty silly of the applications to generate output
>that wouldn't work under the most common conditions?

I would think it would be pretty silly to *force* it to generate
invalid Postscript.  A "failsafe" *option* is a different thing.

>>MS Windows use of ^D is a kludge workaround for somebody else's botch.
>>A bad kludge.  Because the output of MS Windows ain't PostScript because
>>of it.

>Yes, having a single-tasking operating system is a botch I suppose, but
>it happens a lot in the real world.  I say the botch is that postscript
>printers require the ^D  to terminate a job over the serial/parallel
>ports, yet it isn't a defined postscript command.

It would be even worse if it was "defined" in this way.  Then coalescing
PostScript (as in, including EPS) becomes a special case and complicates
everybody's life.  Not to mention that the application has to know
ahead of time how the printer is connected - which ain't none of its
business.

>If ^D or some other token (perhaps not in the control character range) had
>been included in the postscript language definition to perform this needed
>function the problem simply wouldn't exist.

If you're printing to a network device?

Either way the spooler/print driver has to special case to generate
the correct stream to be sent to the printer.  It just seems far more logical
to me to retain device independence in the application, and let the
spooler/driver handle printers-specific dependencies, than introduce device
dependencies into the application, and have the driver have to selectively
undo the application-introduced dependencies AS WELL AS introduce the
correct dependencies.
-- 
Chris Lewis; clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca; Phone: Canada 613 832-0541
Psroff 3.0 info: psroff-request@ferret.ocunix.on.ca
Ferret list: ferret-request@ferret.ocunix.on.ca
From: rjq@phys.ksu.edu (Rob Quinn)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: Re: How to print a large ps file?.
Date: 12 Nov 92 20:31:47 GMT
Organization: Kansas State University
NNTP-Posting-Host: bohr.phys.ksu.edu

In <1ds0feINNq9c@moe.ksu.ksu.edu> I write:
]copies it first, and then prints it. Usually it copies it to somewhere in
]/var/spool (but see your /etc/termcap to be sure).

 As pointed out by Bill Pringle, I of course meant /etc/printcap. My mistake!
--
|                                                                Rob Quinn |
|                                                         rjq@phys.ksu.edu |
|                                                    QuinnBob@KSUVM.BITNET |
From: brown@vidiot.UUCP (Vidiot)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: Re: Is there interest in comp.sources.postscript?
Date: 12 Nov 92 08:19:02 GMT
Reply-To: brown@vidiot.UUCP (Vidiot)
Organization: Vidiot's Hangout

In article <1992Nov10.231730.8716@cs.brown.edu> jgm@cs.brown.edu (Jonathan Monsarrat) writes:
<
<Yes, it would be nice to have a new newsgroup, which would include
<source postings.

Yes, I too would like to see a comp.sources.postscript.

<Could this new newsgroup also be for more general discussion
<of programming PostScript? Our beloved comp.lang.postscript seems
<to be more than half devoted to asking and answering questions about
<using PostScript. I think that this is a fine, fine service that 
<PostScript-ers provide to each other and to newcomers.

Technically no.  A sources group is only for sending sources.  To have
discussions on those sources would require another group:

	comp.sources.postscript.d

<Still, it would be nice to concentrate directly on programming aspects.

I can agree with this.

<This goal would probably clash with the idea of having a source just for
<posting large PostScript pictures, which as Kevin noted, are really
<just big pictures with very little interesting PostScript. There
<are thousands of tools that produce PostScript out there, most of them
<not really being PostScript but being Framemaker or MacDraw or something.

What is wrong with sources from FrameMaker?  Maybe they are structured in
such a way that they could be used for generic applications.

<Therefore, I guess I'd suggest having a newsgroup for "programs
<and ideas", not for "sources" which seems to hint at a newsgroup
<in which nothing happens except large things get posted.
<
<Here is a suggestion name:
<
<comp.graphics.postscript
<
<There already exists comp.graphics, comp.graphics.avs, comp.graphics.explorer,
<comp.graphics.research, comp.graphics.visualization, comp.graphics.animation,
<comp.graphics.gnuplot, comp.graphics.opengl

I've missed those groups somewhere along the line.

<Having suggested one alternative, let me suggest the reverse now
<just to be confusing!
<
<Most comp.lang groups are mostly for talking about the languages,
<so perhaps the comp.lang.postscript group should do that and
<the Usenet group for *using* postscript would be
<
<comp.text.postscript    or  comp.graphics.postscript
<
<Anyway, as usual I am probably way out in left field. Hope to hear
<some more opinions on this subject!

For starters, I'd stick with the following groups:

	comp.sources.postscript
	comp.sources.postscript.d
-- 
      harvard\                          spool.cs.wisc.edu!astroatc!vidiot!brown
Vidiot  ucbvax!uwvax..........!astroatc!vidiot!brown
      rutgers/            INTERNET:vidiot!brown%astroatc.UUCP@spool.cs.wisc.edu
                                   brown@wi.extrel.com
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
From: antoon@ljouwert.et.tudelft.nl (Antoon Frehe)
Subject: Finding out the real page counter.
Keywords: pagecounter
Organization: Delft University of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 12:28:41 GMT

Hi,

Were looking for somthing that will let us admin. the usage of our
LaserJet III Si. 

In the past, as i understand, "pagecount" was used to return the value
of the pagecounter. I tried it in our printer software and it does work.
There is however one problem.

Our LaserJet is now addressed via tcp/ip. This lets us send large postscript
files to the printer and then the "pagecount" command even before the
first page is printed of the previous large file. This problem does not
appear when one is using a serial interface.

What I need, I think, is a question like "pagecount" which I can send to
the printer and which tells me if a job is still being processed. 
Is there any such command, or is there another way to solve the admin.
problem. (I.e. a program that determines the number of pages in a any
given PS-file)

Any help appreciated.


Groetjes Antoon.



-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Antoon Frehe                           E-mail antoon@dutentb.et.tudelft.nl
 University of Technology Delft                a.frehe@et.tudelft.nl
 Mekelweg 4, 2628 CD  Delft
 The Netherlands, Earth                 phone  015 781796
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
From: kevin@kosman.uucp (Kevin O'Gorman)
Subject: Is there interest in comp.sources.postscript?
Organization: Vital Software Services, Oxnard, CA
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 14:12:20 GMT

I have changed the subject; this was started in a thread with the subject
	Re: Postscript to draw the USA posted to alt.sources

clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis) writes:

>In article <4365@vidiot.UUCP> brown@vidiot.UUCP (Vidiot) writes:
>>In article <3925@ecicrl.ocunix.on.ca> clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis) writes:
[other discussion deleted]
>>How about my suggestion to have a PostScript sources group?  Oh, I can hear
>>the screams and moans now...not another newsgroup.  But what could be more
>>natural than to have a PostScript sources group within the PostScript
>>newsgroups.

>It's not that bad idea - that's what comp.sources.* is for.  However,
>the current convention is that there's no language differentiation in
>the groups, only O/S (or "refereed review", versus "review", versus "packaging
>standards only").  However, since PostScript is, in one sense, a different environment
>altogether from UNIX, a comp.sources.postscript might fly - especially if
>moderated.  I suspect, tho, the arguments would be about PostScript being a
>graphics format (and hence should be under alt.binaries), or there being
>insufficient demand (for PS programs versus, say, pornos) that it would
>be a long slog.

>I dunno.  What do other people think?  If we decide that one's appropriate
>and that it has a reasonable chance at flying, I'm amenible to running
>the vote.

I think this is interesting.  That's why I posted the USA map that started
this.  It may be too early for a Call For Discussion, if there aren't more
people jumping into this thread, though.

I also think we would want to discuss the issues about what kinds of source
should be posted.  The USA map, after all, was a thinly disguised binary.
There were a few interesting ideas in the prolog that helped keep the size
down, but the bulk of it is really just rlineto's and strokes.  That's one
of the reasons I didn't try and of the regular sources groups.

So, does it matter? Would people want a PS source group for PS ideas, or for
pretty pictures?  Is there enough interest to get the few hundred votes it
takes for a new group to come even close?

If so, I think it would be good precisely because PS source is in some ways
enherently different from other sources.  It tends to have a kernel of
generally-useful ideas and a huge amount of what's really data.  This may
annoy folks in other sources groups.  We're sort of used to it.

Anybody who reads this, if you want to make it happen, we need to know you're
interested.
-- 
Kevin O'Gorman ( kevin@kosman.UUCP, kevin%kosman.uucp@nrc.com )
voice: 805-984-8042 Vital Computer Systems, 5115 Beachcomber, Oxnard, CA  93035
Non-Disclaimer: my boss is me, and he stands behind everything I say.
From: andrew@frip.WV.TEK.COM (Andrew Klossner)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: Re: help with a def including an image
Date: 14 Nov 92 01:42:40 GMT
Article-I.D.: shaman.2157
Reply-To: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com
Organization: Tektronix Color Printers, Wilsonville, Oregon

> /mypic {
>	...
>	{currentfile picstr readhexstring pop}
>	...
> FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
>	...
> } def

You can't do it this way.  "readhexstring" reads from the file, not
from the procedure body.

  -=- Andrew Klossner  (andrew@frip.wv.tek.com)
                       (uunet!tektronix!frip.WV.TEK!andrew)
From: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: Re: How to print a large ps file?.
Date: 10 Nov 1992 02:38:50 GMT
Organization: HST Wide Field/Planetary Camera
Distribution: world
Reply-To: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol1.gps.caltech.edu

In article <1992Nov9.223322.27775@cs.wayne.edu>, nar@usha.cs.wayne.edu (Nagarajan Ramesh) writes:
>
>Hi,
>
>I have a large ps file that is too large for my Apple
>laser writer.  Even a symbollic link does not work.
>Can anybody tell me how I can print this file?.

Perhaps you'd tell us what you mean by "too large for my Apple laser writer"?
What error messages do you get when you try to print it?  Why did you think a
symbolic link would make the slightest difference?

>Nagarajan Ramesh                !   internet- nar@cs.wayne.edu
>Dept. of Computer Science	!   uucp    - ..!umich!wsu-cs!nar
>Wayne State University, 	!   Phone: (313)-577-2477 
>Detroit  MI 48202 		!   Fax  : (313)-577-6868

Wonderful testimonial to the CS department at Wayne State, isn't he?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: CARL@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL

Disclaimer:  Hey, I understand VAXen and VMS.  That's what I get paid for.  My
understanding of astronomy is purely at the amateur level (or below).  So
unless what I'm saying is directly related to VAX/VMS, don't hold me or my
organization responsible for it.  If it IS related to VAX/VMS, you can try to
hold me responsible for it, but my organization had nothing to do with it.
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
From: rcd@raven.eklektix.com (Dick Dunn)
Subject: Re: PostScript disassembler?
Organization: eklektix - Boulder, Colorado
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 06:11:55 GMT

rothman@tegra.com writes:
>Sometimes self-contained, perfectly functional PS programs get pretty hard
>to decipher, because a lot of procedure definitions are made, operators are
>redefined, etc. Does anyone know of a program that could eat a legal, but 
>cryptic PS program and spew out Red Book standard PS?...

It's not clear what you mean by "Red Book standard"--if it's a legal
program, it's "red book" by some plausible definition.  Green book...now,
that would be a help.

Unwinding procedures is a hard one, because you've got recursion and
dynamic binding.  Even if you don't try to unwind any recursive procedures,
it seems that expanding them out might well make a program harder to read
rather than easier.

Operator redefinitions can be found; this is something an interpreter could
be made to do with a little rewiring.

Why don't you sketch out some examples for us--original program and what
you'd like as the result of the processing?  That might make it easier to
get a handle on the problem.

>...Obviously, the
>output would be far larger than the input, but possibly it might be easier to
>debug...

Is your goal really more at a PostScript debugger?  If that's what you're
after, let's take that tack instead.

>PS: Icing on the cake would be a pretty-print formatter, if this isn't
>too ridiculous for PostScript. (Is there such a thing as pretty PS?)

Well, there's definitely such a thing as ugly PS!  But yes, it's not hard
to derive rules for formatting PS according to a style like the one the
green book uses.
-- 
Dick Dunn    rcd@raven.eklektix.com   -or-   raven!rcd    Boulder, Colorado
	...Simpler is better.
From: clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: Re: Sending special characters to serial connected LaserWriter
Date: 7 Nov 92 08:38:02 GMT
Organization: Elegant Communications Inc., Ottawa, Canada

In article <BxAvzG.DzL@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca> tj@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (Terry Jones) writes:
>>In article <4353@vidiot.UUCP> brown@vidiot.UUCP (Vidiot) writes:
>>>You will need to send to output to a PostScript printer that has a parallel
>>>port, and not a serial port.  Binary data cannot be sent through a serial
>>>port, plain and simple.  Too many problems.  Things like Xmodem work because

>A common reasone for the belief that you cannot send binary data over the
>serial line is that the serial communications paramaters are by default
>parity ignore. This means the high bit is getting stripped off. If you
>set the parity setting to NONE then things will work fine.

Nope.

In essence, async serial communication consists of the following
bits in sequence:

	- one start bit
	- 7 or 8 data bits
	- 0 or 1 parity bits
	- 1 or 2 stop bits.

Parity and character length are two different things.  If the character
length is 7, no setting of parity will permit 8 bit characters through
because the 8th bit will not track the 8th bit of the characters you're
trying to send.  The 8th bit will be the parity.  Whether odd, even, mark,
space or none (in latter case, the 8th bit seen on the receiving end
will be a stop bit).

You need 8 data bits to send binary.

If you're set to 7 bit, there are 7 bits of data on the serial line followed
by the parity (odd, even, mark, space, none) bit.

If you're set to 8 bit, there are 8 bits of data on the serial line followed by
the parity (odd, even, mark, space, none) bit.

-- 
Chris Lewis; clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca; Phone: Canada 613 832-0541
Psroff 3.0 info: psroff-request@ferret.ocunix.on.ca
Ferret list: ferret-request@ferret.ocunix.on.ca
Xref: sparky comp.lang.postscript:5466 comp.text:1382
From: rickcl@pogo.wv.tek.com (Rick Clements)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: Re: Multiple copies within PS file
Date: 10 Nov 92 02:08:01 GMT
Article-I.D.: pogo.13903
Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Wilsonville,  OR.

In article <1992Nov10.002304.23079@u.washington.edu> zeno@phylo.genetics.washington.edu (Sean Lamont) writes:
>In article <1992Nov9.155057.5403@inel.gov> haw@inel.gov (Grant Hawkes) writes:
>>     I am wondering if there is a way to give a ps command to print
>>multiple copies of the ps file.  I have a two page color postscript

>edit the ps file, replace instances of "showpage" with
>copypage
>copypage

An easier way is "/#copies n def".  Replace n with the number of copies
you want.
-- 
Rick Clements (RickCl@pogo.WV.TEK.COM)
From: merklin@hal.gnu.ai.mit.edu (Ed Kemo)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: printing images on documents
Date: 6 Nov 92 15:07:37 GMT
Article-I.D.: mintaka.1992Nov6.150737.12307
Distribution: comp.lang.postscript
Organization: /etc/organization


Hello!
I am trying to print the image of a bug "underneath" the body of a document.
What I am trying to do is overlay either the document or the image of the
bug in such a way that the document prints out with the image of a bug
slightly shadowed so that an imprint appears. I know this can be done
with Word for Windows using watermarks...but I would like to do this
in postscript...Any help is greatly appreciated
you can reach me at merklin@gnu.ai.mit.edu
thanks
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
From: tj@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (Terry Jones)
Subject: Re: Sending special characters to serial connected LaserWriter
Organization: UTCS Public Access
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 15:21:16 GMT

>In article <4353@vidiot.UUCP> brown@vidiot.UUCP (Vidiot) writes:
>>You will need to send to output to a PostScript printer that has a parallel
>>port, and not a serial port.  Binary data cannot be sent through a serial
>>port, plain and simple.  Too many problems.  Things like Xmodem work because

A common reasone for the belief that you cannot send binary data over the
serial line is that the serial communications paramaters are by default
parity ignore. This means the high bit is getting stripped off. If you
set the parity setting to NONE then things will work fine. This is 
certainly easier on newer printers with LCD interfaces than on the
older printers with setsccbatch commands and a magic table of numbers,
but it is possible on MOST PS printers. I think some very early ones 
did not support parity none, like maybe only version 23 LaserWriters.

tj
From: billr@nic.cerf.net (Bill Richardson)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: Re: Is there interest in comp.sources.postscript?
Date: 11 Nov 92 01:40:40 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.3686
Organization: CERFnet

I too support a newsgroup dedicated to the posting of postscript
source.  Of course there would be the "problem" of someone posting
large drawings and the such.... but for those of us that aren't all
that proficient in postscript (I just got Ghostwriter for the PC and
I'm ready to play... and learn), I think that ANY source code would
be great.   After all.... if you REALLY want to learn the tricks of
a particular language... ANY language... you read a program written
by someone proficient with that language.

I'd also like to see the newsgroup for the art that would naturally
be posted...... it would be great to have a forum for posting our
favorite "accomplishments".  Count me in when the call for discussion
hits.

-- 
Bill Richardson        |  If you took all the politicans in the world,
billr@cerf.net         |  and placed them end to end, they wouldn't
billr@netlink.cts.com  |  reach a conclusion.
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
From: wolff@inf.fu-berlin.de (Thomas Wolff)
Subject: Re: Trying to Connect with Thomas Wolff
Organization: Free University of Berlin, Germany
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 15:55:32 GMT

henry@trilithon.mpk.ca.us (Henry McGilton) writes:

>... recently posted a reference to a book:

>    Thomas Merz: TerminalBuch PostScript :
>    Fonts und Programmiertechnik
>    M:unchen; Wien: Oldenbourg, 1991.
>    ISBN 3-486-21674-0

>None of my book stores here have ever heard of the author,
>book, ISBN, or publisher.
>Would you be so kind as to supply an address for the publisher,

The book I quoted is written in German and the address of the publisher is:
R. Oldenbourg Verlag GmbH
D-8000 M:unchen

Thomas
wolff@inf.fu-berlin.de
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript