From: UDDRI@RICEVM1.BITNET
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.xerox-l
Subject: Re: PostScript benchmarks
Date: 13 Oct 92 16:29:58 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU

The PostScript performance figures for a number of Xerox printers posted
yesterday are based on the Doctor Laser PostScript benchmark program
which is quite well spread.  The contributors to this list are Ed Garay,
University of Illinois at Chicago, Charles Hodge, University of Chicago,
J.E. De Young, Entire, and Bo Lindqvist, Rank Xerox.

> I assume the time is in seconds?  For how many pages?

Yes the times are in seconds, the Doctor Laser program produces only one
page of data about the printer and a small graphic.  It is only the
graphic which is timed by Version 1.0.0 of the program.  The graphic
consists of a short text rotated 360 degrees and written at every 15
degree.

> I think for good benchmarks, you need both a small (1 page) test
> and a large (>20 page) test, because there is a setup time per
> job and a processing time per page.

I agree that this is not a good test for actual PostScript performance,
it should not be based on a single test rotating a piece of text.
Within XPLOR I have been active trying to convince the Technology and
the Standards chairpersons to develop a suite of benchmark documents
that could be used by all vendors for testing printer performance.

Noel Jackson, Rank Xerox, recently referred me to a suite of documents
used for more serious benchmarking of PostScript printers.  The name of
the suite has escaped my mind at the moment.

> Where can I get a copy of the benchmark test file?

A copy of the benchmark program is included below.  There are later
versions of the Doctor Laser program circulating.  Among many other
enhancements, Version 1.6.0 also times an 800 character paragraph of
text and prints a greyscale.

Please note that certain mailers may corrupt the appended PostScript
file.  Watch out for the "exclamation mark", "braces", "backslash", and
"commercial at".  The rest should be clean.

Lars Bruzelius
Uppsala University Computer Center
Box 174,  S-751 04  Uppsala,  Sweden.

Telephone: +46 18 18 77 31    Bitnet:    uddri@seudac21
Telefax:   +46 18 51 66 00    Internet:  Lars_Bruzelius@udac.uu.se

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
%! PS-Adobe
%% Laser Doctor, Version 1.0.0
%% Written by Jim Sullivan, January, 1989.
%% This was written out of a need to display as much information
%% about various Postscript Laserprinters onto one page.  More
%% can be added and anyone is free to modify it for their own
%% needs.

gsave

%% Beginning of definitions ********************************

/HB  {/Helvetica-Bold} def
/CBO {/Courier-BoldOblique} def
/C   {/Courier} def
/FF  {findfont} def
/SS  {scalefont setfont} def
/mt  {moveto} def
/s   {show} def
/fontname 30 string def
/getfont {pop fntnm cvs /fontname exch def} def
/fntnm 30 string def
/str 20 string def
/BOLD {CBO FF 10 SS} def
/NORMAL {C FF 10 SS} def
/cnt 0 def
/btime 0 def
/circleofbench
        { 15 15 345
            {gsave
               rotate 0 0 mt
               (Benchmark) oshow
             grestore
            } for
        } def
/oshow {true charpath stroke} def

%% End of definitions *****************************************

BOLD
200 756 mt
(Analysis by Doctor Laser, Version 1.0.0) s      %Print title
20 720 mt
NORMAL (This printer is a ) s
BOLD statusdict/product get str cvs s          %Gets the name of the
NORMAL ( running version ) s                   %printer from
BOLD version str cvs s                         %statusdict/product
NORMAL ( of Postscript.) s                     %and the version number
20 700 translate                               %of Postscript from the
                                               %'version' command
0 0 mt
(Available Fonts : (PaintType)FontName:Example of font) s   %Heading
0 -10 mt
(PaintType = 0@(filled@), 1@(stroked@), 2@(outlined@),) s
0 -20 mt
(            3@(mixed@), ?@(unknown@)) s
0 -30 translate

BOLD
FontDirectory {BOLD 0 0 mt                      %Push directory of fonts and
getfont                                         %get the fonts one at a time.
(@() s
{fontname cvn FF /PaintType get str cvs s} stopped {%ifelse
(?) s } {} ifelse              %Get the font's PaintType and print its value,
(@)) s                         %or if it is not supplied, print a '?'.

fontname s                     %Print the name of the font.

mark
fontname length 1 30 {(-) s} for   %Print dashes out to the font sample column.
(:) s                              %Print a colon.

{fontname cvn FF 10 SS ( ABCDEFGH abcdefgh) s } stopped {%ifelse
NORMAL (Error implementing font) s } {} ifelse      %Show a sample of each
cleartomark                                         %font.  If an error is
cnt 10 add                                          %trapped, print message
/cnt exch def                                       %indicating an error
0 -10 translate} forall                             %occurred.  Use the
NORMAL                                              %variable 'cnt' to count
cnt 30 add /cnt exch def                            %the number of fonts.

350 cnt mt                       %Move back up the page 'cnt' points.
(Virtual Memory Status:) s       %Print the Virtual Memory Status
0 0 translate                    %using 'vmstatus'.
370 cnt 20 sub mt
(Maximum Available Bytes = ) s BOLD vmstatus str cvs s NORMAL
370 cnt 30 sub mt
(Bytes currently in use  = ) s BOLD str cvs s NORMAL
370 cnt 40 sub mt
(Level of Save Nesting   = ) s BOLD str cvs s NORMAL
350 cnt 60 sub mt

(Cache status @(Red book p126@):) s  %Print out the cache status.
cachestatus
370 cnt 80 sub mt NORMAL (blimit = ) s BOLD str cvs s
370 cnt 90 sub mt NORMAL (  cmax = ) s BOLD str cvs s
370 cnt 100 sub mt NORMAL ( csize = ) s BOLD str cvs s
370 cnt 110 sub mt NORMAL (  mmax = ) s BOLD str cvs s
370 cnt 120 sub mt NORMAL ( msize = ) s BOLD str cvs s
370 cnt 130 sub mt NORMAL (  bmax = ) s BOLD str cvs s
370 cnt 140 sub mt NORMAL ( bsize = ) s BOLD str cvs s

usertime /btime exch def                %Print a graphic (circleofbench)
HB FF 12 SS                             %and time how long it takes for
430 cnt 230 sub translate               %the printer to interpret it.
.5 setlinewidth
circleofbench
0 0 moveto
(Benchmark Testing) true charpath
gsave 1 setgray fill grestore
stroke
-40 -80 mt
NORMAL
(Time to print) s
-40 -90 mt
(the above graphic) s
-40 -100 mt
(was ) s
BOLD
usertime btime sub 0.001 mul str cvs s  %Print out the time in seconds.
NORMAL
( seconds.) s
-40 -210 mt
( Please mail this page to)s
-40 -220 mt
( Ralph Carmichael ) s
-40 -230 mt
( MS 227-2) s
-40 -240 mt
( NASA Ames Research Center) s
-40 -250 mt
( Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000) s
-40 -260 mt
( carmicha\pioneer.arc.nasa.gov) s
grestore
showpage