From: sarrasin@disuns2.epfl.ch (Christian Sarrasin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.applications
Subject: Re: ProWrite & the DeskJet (Was: ProWrite 3.3 Press Release)
Date: 5 Sep 92 13:53:58 GMT
Reply-To: sarrasin@disuns2.epfl.ch (Christian Sarrasin)
Organization: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne

In article <1992Sep4.210410.968@galaxy.gov.bc.ca> EWILTS@GALAXY.GOV.BC.CA writes:

[stuff about DJHelper fixing printings problems with QuickWrite deleted]

>> 
>> This is very interesting, since I also purchased DJ Helper about 1.5 year ago
>> and it really didn't help! Could you please tell me what your settings in
>> DJ-Helper are?
>
>DJHelper:
>	Top Margin 0
>	Text Length 63
>	Page Length 66
>Preferences Printer:
>	Paper Length 63
>	Driver DJH_Driver
>
>-- 
>
>Ed Wilts, BC Systems Corp., 4000 Seymour Place, Victoria, B.C., Canada, V8X 4S8

Thank you for providing these settings. Of course, my situation is
slightly different, since I am using A4 paper, but it did not work...

I just reloaded all of the DJHelper software on my HD and tried using the
settings you provided and sent something to print using ProWrite 3.2.4. I
set the top margin of my ProWrite document at 2.5 cm and send it to the
printer using the "NLQ" mode.

First I tried with the switch in DJHelper's main panel set to "ON", and
there two additional bothering things happen:

#1.the accents in my documents are all changed to graphic characters
   (like theta instead of e accute, and such). I remember that DJHelper
   has a control over the character translation tables, but I find it
   rather annoying that it doesn't match the vanilla character set by
   default.

#2.I had set a 1.5 cm margin at the bottom of my page in my ProWrite
   documents. And since this ends up being more lines on page than what I
   configured DJHelper with, it simply decides to put the last line of my
   first page at the top of a second, blank page... here again, I know
   that this could be avoided using all the controls that DJHelper has
   over the page length and such but I didn't want to waste too much time,
   since...

#3.Of course, my first page was printed with a top margin of about 1.5 cm,
   and the next were printed with a ridiculous top margin of around 0.2 cm!

If I turn the switch in DJHelper's main panel to "OFF", then annoyance #1
& #2 above do not happen, but #3 remains, as it does when using the
standard WB2.04 driver... so DJHelper didn't "help" at all!

You asked me to draw my own conclusions... well here they are:

DJHelper is a product which allows fine tuning of many aspects of printing
process. However, it is an extra, needless, step beyond what the standard
preferences drivers allow. (although at performance's expense... I also
noticed that the printing was slower with DJHelper turned on, which is
normal)

You'll need to spend much time and waste many sheets of paper in order
find one good setting. It can give good results for that particular
setting but one day you'll want to print one extra line at the bottom of
one page, and you will find that you need to run the configuration program
again, and re-configure it and so on...

This shouldn't happen: if I ask for something that is a little bit
different in one application program, the application program should *take
over* what was set in the preferences. This is possible with the standard
preferences, because the application knows HOW TO DEAL WITH IT (although
sometimes it should know better, like ProWrite), but it cannot deal with a
program like DJHelper, which is NO standard, and will therefore always
remain on top of the application, having control everything the
application output, no matter what you try to set in it...

So I ask the same question again: Will ProWrite 3.4 treat DeskJets' top
margins correctly *using the standard driver*?

PS: I don't mean to sound rude! It's just that I have always been
    disappointed with DJHelper, especially since it is advertised every-
    where as being the "miracle" solution... As far as I am concerned, it
    is definitely not!

Christian.

     ----------------------------------------------------------------------
                   "This ain't the Planet of Sound" -- Pixies
                     \\\ Stay tuned for more Rock'n'Roll ///
     Christian Sarrasin (sarrasin@eldi.epfl.ch || sarrasin@disuns2.epfl.ch)
     ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.applications