Hello [EMAIL PROTECTED]
On 03-Jan-00, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> On 1/2/2000 at 8:01 PM [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: {{
> I guess there really isn't a built-in printing mechanism. The
> workaround
> I have figured out is writing an html file, which can be printed from
> a web browser.
> }}
>
> Non-trivial printing seems like a tough cross-platform challenge,
> since I'm sure the models are very different. The other workaround
> that's been discussed is using PDF the same way, write to a PDF format
> and let Acrobat finish the job. But I don't think anyone's implemented
> that yet.
PDF is a Good Thing but only a couple of platforms are supported by
Adobe. Elsewhere the user is reliant on various hacks and ports of Linux
code.
Essentially it is a variant of PostScript and so works best with PostScript
printers. Supporting non-PS printers on any platform other than Windows
is a nightmare task because every model needs its own driver, and the
major manufacturers bring out about a dozen new models every year.
The usual approach is to render to a high resolution bitmap, in sections
small enough to fit in memory, and rely on the platform's OS to send
these sections in sequence to build up an image on the printer.
Text-only printing is really only useful for program code etc nowadays -
even emails often contain specifications as to which font they should be
printed in.
How far is Rebol planned to be its own OS, as Java is? Functions such as
rendering from TrueType, Type 1, Intellifont, or OpenType fonts are big things to
write and in some OSes are available in shared libraries etc. But using
the local libraries will make cross-platform coding impossible, as some
platforms will provide functions (such as algorithmic embolding) that
others lack. Some support Unicode, others do not. Problems ...
Regards
--
Don Cox
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
