Path:
zazen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!news 
From: tyen@cs.utexas.edu (Anthony Yen)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.fax
Subject: Re: PCL5 and formatted faxing for DOS apps Message-ID: 
<l5tpb5INNnf2@ai.cs.utexas.edu> Date: 11 Jul 92 13:43:01 GMT
<1992Jul2.133022.11768@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca> 
<1992Jul6.231618.2178@armon.rain.com>
Organization: Coffee R Us
NNTP-Posting-Host: ai.cs.utexas.edu

In article <1992Jul6.231618.2178@armon.rain.com> mehdi@armon.rain.com 
(Mehdi Attaran) writes:
>tj@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (Terry Jones) writes: >
>>I am unaware of software for faxing that emulates PCL5, PCL4 seems to be 
>>the norm. SOmeone correct me if I am wrong please, pretty please! >
>Intel SatsisFAXtion modem lines is shipping with a program called FAXPOP. 
It >can emulate either an Epson FX85, or a HP Laserjet III. Yes, it does 
support >PCL5.... scalable fonts and all that jazz. Contact Intel at 800-538-
3373 for >more details.

I have the SatisFAXtion 400, and am very pleased with it. Mehdi's 
description of faxpop is bang on; the translation of the printer file is very 
good. There are also two other programs that will concatenate and break 
apart a DCX file into individual PCX files. 

Unfortunately, the translation program will only work if it sees a 
SatisFAXtion board on the computer. This makes it useless for my notebook 
computer, which uses an external Megahertz fax/modem. While I haven't 
read the fine print of the license yet, my guess is that it should be okay for 
me to use the software on another machine of mine, so long as it is not 
running on the machine that the SatisFAXtion board is installed in. I'll check 
and report back to the net on that. However, I did call Intel and was put 
through to Customer Service, and they confirmed that they do not sell a 
version for non-SatisFAXtion owners, nor was the translator written outside 
of Intel (so that I could perhaps contact the author directly and arrange to 
pay for another copy). An Intel techician is supposed to call me Monday, July 
13, to discuss this, but I'm not hopeful about it happening. 

At this point, I see two choices. One, I could crack the translator and disable 
the hardware check (I've already disassembled and glossed the major parts 
of the code---it's not that large a program). I would rather not do this; being 
a programmer myself, I believe in paying for software. I'll patch for bug 
fixes, but I'm loathe to do things like this unless there is absolutely no other 
way. Two, I could try and find an HP manual that describes PCL5, and write 
a translator for the PPM format (part of the pbmplus graphics translation 
package). This could be a real pain, but at least I would be contributing 
something positive to the user community.

I'm hoping that someone will step forward with a third solution, and let us 
all know about something out there that does this already. Right now, 
Postscript translators are beginning to seem attractive, but they are too 
bulky for my notebook's already crammed HD. --
____	tyen@cs.utexas.edu.....Kowabunga!...
/ony -- Claimer: Views expressed here == mine && only mine. Sail tough. 






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