Re: [ql-users] £1000 to spend!
I agree this would be nice - I have mentioned it previously, but we seem to be barking up the wrong tree to some extent when it comes to using Windows only printers. A filter between QPC2 and the Windows printer driver is really not of any use to the general QL public, as it will not work with original QLs or with the Q40/Q60. Well, it depends on how you define general QL public. I estimate that the number of ACTIVE QL software users is actually running their software on QPC (well, I know the sales figures, don't I?) ;-) And there was no problem, wish and demand for anything but printing solutions (for QLs *AND* QPCs, of which the majority was QPC users). Well, and like you say: I am not aware of masses of current printers (and current means several years which can be used with a QL. Considering that users want a modern printer which can be used on various systems, I doubt that a dot-matrix printer (yes, you still get plenty, very expensive ones from EPSON) is the solution. Look at how many people use QPC on Laptops - it is quite natural that they would also like it to print on current colour printers, or portable inkjets etc. Jochen
Re: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] £1000 to spend!
I agreed with Jochen, exporting is pointless unless you already have something on the QL that you need to convert, and 99% of the time Geoff's QL2PC does that admirably. If you have to use OpenOffice on a PC to print QL documents, why not get rid of the QL altogther and just use OpenOffice to begin with? Or buy a BIC Pen - much cheaper than an inkjet anyway :-)) cheers. Darren Branagh, Bank of Ireland - Cards And Loans Business, Nassau House, 33/35 Nassau Street, Dublin 2. Ireland. Tel: 01-6798230 Fax: 01-6706813. BOI Group Data Classification - SMSQ - Jochen Merz To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] cc: Sent by: Subject: Re: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] £1000 to spend! [EMAIL PROTECTED] g.uk 08/03/2004 09:37 Please respond to ql-users Heheheee, you might as well tell some of the customers: alternative way: write it down yourself using a typewriter. Jochen Claude Mourier 00 wrote: Alternative way (rather then writing printer driver obsolete in a couple of month) : to provide a way to export documents with all attributes and print then with tools like, saiy, OpenOffice .. -Message d'origine- De : [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] la part de SMSQ - Jochen Merz Envoyé : lundi 8 mars 2004 09:59 À : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Objet : Re: [ql-users] £1000 to spend! I agree this would be nice - I have mentioned it previously, but we seem to be barking up the wrong tree to some extent when it comes to using Windows only printers. A filter between QPC2 and the Windows printer driver is really not of any use to the general QL public, as it will not work with original QLs or with the Q40/Q60. Well, it depends on how you define general QL public. I estimate that the number of ACTIVE QL software users is actually running their software on QPC (well, I know the sales figures, don't I?) ;-) And there was no problem, wish and demand for anything but printing solutions (for QLs *AND* QPCs, of which the majority was QPC users). Well, and like you say: I am not aware of masses of current printers (and current means several years which can be used with a QL. Considering that users want a modern printer which can be used on various systems, I doubt that a dot-matrix printer (yes, you still get plenty, very expensive ones from EPSON) is the solution. Look at how many people use QPC on Laptops - it is quite natural that they would also like it to print on current colour printers, or portable inkjets etc. Jochen This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify us immediately at [EMAIL PROTECTED] and delete this E-mail from your system. Thank you. It is possible for data transmitted by email to be deliberately or accidentally corrupted or intercepted. For this reason, where the communication is by email, the Bank of Ireland Group does not accept any responsibility for any breach of confidence which may arise through the use of this medium. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept for the presence of known computer viruses.
[ql-users] Re: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] 1000 to spend!
Heheheee, you might as well tell some of the customers: alternative way: write it down yourself using a typewriter. Jochen Claude Mourier 00 wrote: Alternative way (rather then writing printer driver obsolete in a couple of month) : to provide a way to export documents with all attributes and print then with tools like, saiy, OpenOffice .. I wonder what kind of documents are written on a QL in order to print them. What could all attributes mean? bold, italic and underline?? Images? Forget it! Different fonts? Forget it! Layout? Forget it! Prove me wrong but most of the documents would be a listing here and a small letter there. These can be printed without a problem using the small driver utilities we have for HP and Epson. If people really want to write a state of the art document, they use Windows- or Linux programs anyway, I suppose. Wolfgang
Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] £1000 to spend!
In a message dated 08/03/2004 02:34:19 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Simon Goodwin mentioned in the last QL Today that there are plenty of compatible printers out there, as Linux faces a similar problemEither this was not in QL Today or I really have missed something here. Yes you have - what an excellent little publication QL Today is - maybe you should read it hee hee !! Vol 8 Iss 5 p36 - however, I checked the link to the website he mentions (_www.linuxprinting.org_ (http://www.linuxprinting.org) ) and cannot find any information on compatible printers - just details of a Windows like printer driver written for Linux... (now could this be converted to the QL??)These drivers are integrated into Ghostscript, which needs Postscript asan input (yes, that old saga).Probably one could write a different frontend for the drivers, but Idon't know how difficult that would be (my gut says that I shouldn'ttouch that task with a 10ft long pole). And even then you still need toa) alter existing applications according to the new interface or b)provide a virtual Epson printer or whatever. Agreed - this would probably be a pain in thebutt My theory (where are PROGS when you need them) is that the drivers actually already exist in the main on the QL - in the form of ProWeSs drivers.ProForma (which really was much ahead of its time) features some driversbut the last one was written ages ago and therefore it will probablyhave the same problems with current printers. Yes, in part - the last driver was the ESC/P2 driver written by me, which supports 720dpi (never did get 1440 dpi to work). However, as all output is sent by ProForma as a graphics dump (only) direct to the printer port, this is exactly what Windows does - the problem with most modern printers is that they lack the commands to control text sent directly to the printer port, not graphics !! As ProForma has a wide range of graphics drivers, including ESC/P, ESC./P2, PCL 3 and PCL 4, it should support nearly every modern printer as far as I know. Some work may be needed to produce a driver for PCL 5, although this would not be too difficult. --Rich Mellor RWAP Services35 Chantry Croft, Kinsley, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, WF9 5JHTEL: 01977 610509Visit our website at URL:http://www.rwapsoftware.co.ukStuck with ordinary dial up internet connection ?? Read our review of internet accelerators and broadband at:URL: http://www.rwapadventures.com/Services/reviews.html
[ql-users] Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] £ 1000 to spend!
Prove me wrong but most of the documents would be a listing here and a small letter there. These can be printed without a problem using the small driver utilities we have for HP and Epson. Sorry - they cannot be printed with the small driver utilities which we have, unless you have specific printers - most modern, low cost printers (eg 99% of the EPSON range) will only print graphics !! They do not recognise a string of plain ASCII text sent to them - this is why we are faced with the problem! Exactly this is the problem - and even if some of them are able to print plain ASCII - this still does not help people with t87 documents etc ... we're NOT all using PC programs - my manuals are still printed from text87, and again - the text87patch shows that I'm not the only one having this problem. Printing is one of the biggest problems, as far as I can gather from customer emails and phone calls. You cannot imagine how many people just go out and buy a printer, and then wonder why QPC does not print anything anymore. Well, it has been written many times in QL Today and in the newsgroup etc. - but you just don't find a printer in the media stores anymore which is useable for us... There is also another problem: the interface. QPC prints, fortunately, to printers connected via USB, parallel port and serial port, PROVIDED they understand printing commands. Well, have a look at current printers and you see the problem: most of them come with USB only. There are adaptors USB to parallel and USB to serial, but the other way round...? I guess that non-QPC users will soon have a second problem in addition to the printer-language problem: how do I connect a printer with USB to the Aurora or Q40/Q60? Jochen
Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] £ 1000 to spend!
My brother in law works for lexmark (senior sales director) and I asked him why Parallel has become extinct on cheap inkjets - he said ( as far as he knows) it is because the Parallel interface is copyrighted and owned by centronics, and royalties must be paid, whereas USB can be adopted for free - therefore an extra few pence profit in the cheaper range printers by adopting USB only. I have found it impossible to find a printer here with parallel for less than about 200 euro. Sad really, but there you go. It seems the real problem will be connecting the printer to your QL eventually - nevermind wether it works or not. cheers, Darren Branagh, Bank of Ireland - Cards And Loans Business, Nassau House, 33/35 Nassau Street, Dublin 2. Ireland. Tel: 01-6798230 Fax: 01-6706813. BOI Group Data Classification - SMSQ - Jochen Merz To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] cc: Sent by: Subject: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] RE: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [ql-users] £ 1000 to spend! g.uk 08/03/2004 11:13 Please respond to ql-users Prove me wrong but most of the documents would be a listing here and a small letter there. These can be printed without a problem using the small driver utilities we have for HP and Epson. Sorry - they cannot be printed with the small driver utilities which we have, unless you have specific printers - most modern, low cost printers (eg 99% of the EPSON range) will only print graphics !! They do not recognise a string of plain ASCII text sent to them - this is why we are faced with the problem! Exactly this is the problem - and even if some of them are able to print plain ASCII - this still does not help people with t87 documents etc ... we're NOT all using PC programs - my manuals are still printed from text87, and again - the text87patch shows that I'm not the only one having this problem. Printing is one of the biggest problems, as far as I can gather from customer emails and phone calls. You cannot imagine how many people just go out and buy a printer, and then wonder why QPC does not print anything anymore. Well, it has been written many times in QL Today and in the newsgroup etc. - but you just don't find a printer in the media stores anymore which is useable for us... There is also another problem: the interface. QPC prints, fortunately, to printers connected via USB, parallel port and serial port, PROVIDED they understand printing commands. Well, have a look at current printers and you see the problem: most of them come with USB only. There are adaptors USB to parallel and USB to serial, but the other way round...? I guess that non-QPC users will soon have a second problem in addition to the printer-language problem: how do I connect a printer with USB to the Aurora or Q40/Q60? Jochen This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify us immediately at [EMAIL PROTECTED] and delete this E-mail from your system. Thank you. It is possible for data transmitted by email to be deliberately or accidentally corrupted or intercepted. For this reason, where the communication is by email, the Bank of Ireland Group does not accept any responsibility for any breach of confidence which may arise through the use of this medium. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept for the presence of known computer viruses.
[ql-users] Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] £ 1000 to spend!
SMSQ - Jochen Merz wrote: Prove me wrong but most of the documents would be a listing here and a small letter there. These can be printed without a problem using the small driver utilities we have for HP and Epson. Sorry - they cannot be printed with the small driver utilities which we have, unless you have specific printers - most modern, low cost printers (eg 99% of the EPSON range) will only print graphics !! They do not recognise a string of plain ASCII text sent to them - this is why we are faced with the problem! Exactly this is the problem - and even if some of them are able to print plain ASCII - this still does not help people with t87 documents etc ... we're NOT all using PC programs - my manuals are still printed from text87, and again - the text87patch shows that I'm not the only one having this problem. Side-question: is the text87 patch available for Q40 ? (I read about it for QPC). I'm lacking text87 in 1024x512 so far... (And at which price... ) I guess that non-QPC users will soon have a second problem in addition to the printer-language problem: how do I connect a printer with USB to the Aurora or Q40/Q60? Only option so far is to be picky when buying the printer, checking that there is at least a parallel port (and one that does not need ECP/EPP, but plain good old parallel port, mono-directional... and no fancy mandatory cartridge management...) I just like my LX-800 and BJC-600...
[ql-users] Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] £ 1000 to spend!
Hi Jérôme, Side-question: is the text87 patch available for Q40 ? (I read about it for QPC). I'm lacking text87 in 1024x512 so far... (And at which price... ) I don't know how many inquiries have been passed on to Marcel and at which level he decides to invest more time... I guess that non-QPC users will soon have a second problem in addition to the printer-language problem: how do I connect a printer with USB to the Aurora or Q40/Q60? Only option so far is to be picky when buying the printer, checking that there is at least a parallel port (and one that does not need ECP/EPP, but plain good old parallel port, mono-directional... and no fancy mandatory cartridge management...) I just like my LX-800 and BJC-600... Hope that they last for a long time I would not know what to buy now if my EPSON Stylus Color 900/980 breakes down, or my nice small protable Canon BJC-85. There is probably nothing current available which could replace them... Regards Jochen
[ql-users] Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] 1000 to spend!
Sorry - they cannot be printed with the small driver utilities which we have, unless you have specific printers - most modern, low cost printers (eg 99% of the EPSON range) will only print graphics !! They do not recognise a string of plain ASCII text sent to them - this is why we are faced with the problem! OK, I don't know much about Epson printers, I admit, but as to HP printers, they all _still_ understand direct (HPPCL-) commands and you can print plain text to them without a problem from the QL. Wolfgang
[ql-users] Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] £ 1000 to spend!
OK, I don't know much about Epson printers, I admit, but as to HP printers, they all _still_ understand direct (HPPCL-) commands and you can print plain text to them without a problem from the QL. I just checked the (German) HP homepage. I have not found a single printer where the technical datasheet states that it handles PCLx... Can it be assumed that all of them do? In case you buy one and it doesn't anymore - no real reason to complain as it is not a documented feature anymore. However, if they all do it - let's hope they continue to do it... as this will probably be the only solution then. Regards Jochen
Re: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] £1000 to spend!
Claude Mourier 00 wrote: Alternative way (rather then writing printer driver obsolete in a couple of month) : to provide a way to export documents with all attributes and print then with tools like, saiy, OpenOffice .. That would help me a lot. François Van Emelen -Message d'origine- De : [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] la part de SMSQ - Jochen Merz Envoyé : lundi 8 mars 2004 09:59 À : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Objet : Re: [ql-users] £1000 to spend! I agree this would be nice - I have mentioned it previously, but we seem to be barking up the wrong tree to some extent when it comes to using Windows only printers. A filter between QPC2 and the Windows printer driver is really not of any use to the general QL public, as it will not work with original QLs or with the Q40/Q60. Well, it depends on how you define general QL public. I estimate that the number of ACTIVE QL software users is actually running their software on QPC (well, I know the sales figures, don't I?) ;-) And there was no problem, wish and demand for anything but printing solutions (for QLs *AND* QPCs, of which the majority was QPC users). Well, and like you say: I am not aware of masses of current printers (and current means several years which can be used with a QL. Considering that users want a modern printer which can be used on various systems, I doubt that a dot-matrix printer (yes, you still get plenty, very expensive ones from EPSON) is the solution. Look at how many people use QPC on Laptops - it is quite natural that they would also like it to print on current colour printers, or portable inkjets etc. Jochen
Re: [ql-users] £ 1000 to spend!
Jerome Grimbert wrote: Only option so far is to be picky when buying the printer, checking that there is at least a parallel port (and one that does not need ECP/EPP, but plain good old parallel port, mono-directional... and no fancy mandatory cartridge management...) I just like my LX-800 and BJC-600... It would be nice with the (Q40, Q60 and) Platinum Card coming out to have the par device changed so that it can used bi-directionally (ECP/EPP). I have a radical suggestion to make, most non-Windows platforms are suffering from the same problem of Win printers. Each platform tries desperately to produce new drivers for the ever changing printers, needing to reshape it's whole driver system in the process. There is an alternative make a non-Win printer, whose supply is guaranteed for years. A printer is print engine and a controller. The ZX printer produced for the ZX81 will work on my ZX Spectrum till this day. Postscript looks better and better as time goes on. Laser use par, have PCL or postscript and sometimes have Epson emulation. -- Tarquin Mills Norwich Sinclair and Clones Show (ORSAM 2004) http://www.speccyverse.me.uk/orsam/
Re: [ql-users] £ 1000 to spend!
Tarquin Mills wrote: Jerome Grimbert wrote: Only option so far is to be picky when buying the printer, checking that there is at least a parallel port (and one that does not need ECP/EPP, but plain good old parallel port, mono-directional... and no fancy mandatory cartridge management...) I just like my LX-800 and BJC-600... It would be nice with the (Q40, Q60 and) Platinum Card coming out to have the par device changed so that it can used bi-directionally (ECP/EPP). It would only provide the communication... but you would still miss the heavy driver and print engine on the 3.4 GHz P4, and 256 MB of memory... And most printers now have 'undocumented classified' code. A nightmare to make a driver when you're a third party. Postscript looks better and better as time goes on. Laser use par, have PCL or postscript and sometimes have Epson emulation. Postscript, yes. But cheap laser do not have it. My dream printer would be a Postscript-colour laser printer with unexpensive refill, recto-verso and A3-able processing as well as heavy paper capable (more than 250g/m²), with a minimal definition of 600 PPI, lot of memory and silent. Printing on transparent-slide would be a plus... Alas, I'm afraid I do not have the budget for that... nor the every-day use of it either.
[ql-users] RE: [ql-users] £ 1000 to spend!
Last EPSON laser-color 600dpi 4/16 pages/mn SER/USB only costs 500EUR (A4 only, without Ethernet card) : the price for a 300dpi bw in the recent past ! Don't know cost for replacement toner :-(( -Message d'origine- De : [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] la part de Jérôme Grimbert Envoyé : lundi 8 mars 2004 13:51 À : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Objet : Re: [ql-users] £ 1000 to spend! Tarquin Mills wrote: Jerome Grimbert wrote: Only option so far is to be picky when buying the printer, checking that there is at least a parallel port (and one that does not need ECP/EPP, but plain good old parallel port, mono-directional... and no fancy mandatory cartridge management...) I just like my LX-800 and BJC-600... It would be nice with the (Q40, Q60 and) Platinum Card coming out to have the par device changed so that it can used bi-directionally (ECP/EPP). It would only provide the communication... but you would still miss the heavy driver and print engine on the 3.4 GHz P4, and 256 MB of memory... And most printers now have 'undocumented classified' code. A nightmare to make a driver when you're a third party. Postscript looks better and better as time goes on. Laser use par, have PCL or postscript and sometimes have Epson emulation. Postscript, yes. But cheap laser do not have it. My dream printer would be a Postscript-colour laser printer with unexpensive refill, recto-verso and A3-able processing as well as heavy paper capable (more than 250g/m²), with a minimal definition of 600 PPI, lot of memory and silent. Printing on transparent-slide would be a plus... Alas, I'm afraid I do not have the budget for that... nor the every-day use of it either.
[ql-users] Re: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] £1000 to spend!
Claude Mourier 00 wrote: Alternative way (rather then writing printer driver obsolete in a couple of month) : to provide a way to export documents with all attributes and print then with tools like, saiy, OpenOffice .. The thing Jochen is talking about is not another printer driver but an interface to the Windows printing system, which in turn enables all Windows printers to work. Marcel
Re: [ql-users] £ 1000 to spend!
Jerome Grimbert wrote: Tarquin Mills wrote: Jerome Grimbert wrote: Only option so far is to be picky when buying the printer, checking that there is at least a parallel port (and one that does not need ECP/EPP, but plain good old parallel port, mono-directional... and no fancy mandatory cartridge management...) I just like my LX-800 and BJC-600... It would be nice with the (Q40, Q60 and) Platinum Card coming out to have the par device changed so that it can used bi-directionally (ECP/EPP). It would only provide the communication... but you would still miss the heavy driver and print engine on the 3.4 GHz P4, and 256 MB of memory... And most printers now have 'undocumented classified' code. A nightmare to make a driver when you're a third party. Printers are not the only thing I want to attach to the parallel port, e.g DAC, Webcam, Par-USB etc. Par is one of the fastest ports on the Q60, faster that USB version 1. A retro printer would be something to sell at meetings. -- Tarquin Mills Norwich Sinclair and Clones Show (ORSAM 2004) http://www.speccyverse.me.uk/orsam/
Re: [ql-users] Shows List
Dilwyn does (or at least did!!) He is usually pretty good at keeping his site up to date. try http://homepages.tesco.net/dilwyn.jones/shows/shows.html cheers, Darren Branagh, Bank of Ireland - Cards And Loans Business, Nassau House, 33/35 Nassau Street, Dublin 2. Ireland. Tel: 01-6798230 Fax: 01-6706813. BOI Group Data Classification - [EMAIL PROTECTED] .com To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent by: cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [ql-users] Shows List g.uk 08/03/2004 13:38 Please respond to ql-users Does anyone have a webpage where the latest QL show information is centralised?? -- Rich Mellor RWAP Services 35 Chantry Croft, Kinsley, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, WF9 5JH TEL: 01977 610509 Visit our website at URL:http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk Stuck with ordinary dial up internet connection ?? Read our review of internet accelerators and broadband at: URL: http://www.rwapadventures.com/Services/reviews.html This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify us immediately at [EMAIL PROTECTED] and delete this E-mail from your system. Thank you. It is possible for data transmitted by email to be deliberately or accidentally corrupted or intercepted. For this reason, where the communication is by email, the Bank of Ireland Group does not accept any responsibility for any breach of confidence which may arise through the use of this medium. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept for the presence of known computer viruses.
Re: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] £1000 to spend!
On Mon, 8 Mar 2004 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: If you have to use OpenOffice on a PC to print QL documents, why not get rid of the QL altogther and just use OpenOffice to begin with? 1000 pounds to the person who ports OpenOffice? ;) Dave
[ql-users] RE: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] £1000 to spend!
And use SBasic instead of Java :-)) -Message d'origine- De : [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] la part de Dave P Envoyé : lundi 8 mars 2004 16:41 À : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Objet : Re: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] £1000 to spend! On Mon, 8 Mar 2004 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: If you have to use OpenOffice on a PC to print QL documents, why not get rid of the QL altogther and just use OpenOffice to begin with? 1000 pounds to the person who ports OpenOffice? ;) Dave
Re: [ql-users] £ 1000 to spend!
Jerome Grimbert wrote: Tarquin Mills wrote: Postscript looks better and better as time goes on. Laser use par, have PCL or postscript and sometimes have Epson emulation. Postscript, yes. But cheap laser do not have it. My dream printer would be a Postscript-colour laser printer with unexpensive refill, recto-verso and A3-able processing as well as heavy paper capable (more than 250g/m²), with a minimal definition of 600 PPI, lot of memory and silent. Printing on transparent-slide would be a plus... Alas, I'm afraid I do not have the budget for that... nor the every-day use of it either. Xchange (etc) - pedit - (Epson ESC/P2) - (Postscript) - Printer This would need two parts a Postscript downloader and a converter. -- Tarquin Mills ACCUS (Anglia Classic Computer Users Society) http://www.speccyverse.me.uk/planet14/comp/accus/
[ql-users] Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] £1000 to spend!
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Simon Goodwin mentioned in the last QL Today that there are plenty of compatible printers out there, as Linux faces a similar problem Either this was not in QL Today or I really have missed something here. Letters page, page 36 of volume 8 issue 5. The printers page on my website has a list of QL-compatible printers, contributed by several people. Probably one could write a different frontend for the drivers, but I don't know how difficult that would be (my gut says that I shouldn't touch that task with a 10ft long pole). This is always the problem with printer-type software. Many of my programs have had printer drivers over the years and most users seem to have 'problems' with them. Even the most simple of things like your driver only prints circles 99% correctly are enough to put you off having anything to do with putting drivers into software due to the sheer amount of time you have to spend on supporting the same old queries over and over again. Most people just won't accept that getting an Epson printer to print 99% circles is miraculous, never mind 100%. The printers ain't designed to do it. And if such simple things as aspect ratios cause that much hassle to software writers, they certainly ain't going to touch printer drivers with Marcel's 3m long pole. And even then you still need to a) alter existing applications according to the new interface or b) provide a virtual Epson printer or whatever. Given that most QLers are used to Epsons in one form or another, with most QL programs assuming some form of Epson compatibility somewhere between FX80 and ESC/P (2) that would seem the obvious way to go. Another possibility for graphics at any rate is to extend the SDUMP drivers to include HP PCL and possibly Windows GDI-type output, I suppose, though probably impractical. My theory (where are PROGS when you need them) is that the drivers actually already exist in the main on the QL - in the form of ProWeSs drivers. ProForma (which really was much ahead of its time) features some drivers but the last one was written ages ago and therefore it will probably have the same problems with current printers. From what I remember, Prowess drivers only drove printers with command sets, not GDI printers. It was possible to generate drivers which would output GIFs or fax pages or whatever, though. At the end of the day, drivers are largely filters which convert one form of data into another. (Here's a block of QL graphics in memory, convert it into Epson bit image data mr printer driver sir) -- Dilwyn Jones
Re: [ql-users] New Mode 16 Sprite Collection
Thank you. Dilwyn Jones ...Easyptr only allows 8 character sprite names and 64x48 pixel sprites in 4 colour mode) The last one is not correct. I can load without problems very large true colour sprites into as well the old Easymenu as the new Easymenu (by Marcel). It looks a bit strange indeed, when you have 'loaded' a large sprite and try to make the 'object' of an InfoObjectWindow (for example), because the sprite won't fit into the small preview window, but it just works fine. Wolfgang Uhlig
Re: [ql-users] Re:Easymenu
In message [EMAIL PROTECTED], Wolfgang Uhlig [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes Also: I was not aware of the fact that Easymenu is still 'sold'. I thought the sources to have been free for a longer time now. How, Roy and/ Marcel, am I supposed to react if someone wants to have the new Easymenu? Jochen and I have been selling EasyPtr since Albin 'gave' it to us. As far as I know it remains a copyright commercial program. At least I have never been told anything different. If Marcel is updating bits of this and, given his email to this list it seems that may be on hold a bit, it will be up to him to say what should be charged for an upgrade. I would say that a) Since the code is unfinished and has bugs I would not give it to anyone who was not actively working with Marcel as a beta tester. b) Unless Albin has declared it to be a free program it should only be available from Jochen or Q Branch. I know that you acted in good faith and there is no censure involved here. By the way have been trying to get QCoCo to work on the Q40 and it fails with the message : LINE 980 SP_GET value out of range If I continue I get the program but the left hand part of the screen and some of the components of the menus are missing. If I give it a theme to start with it is better but the display is still not right. Any ideas? -- Roy Wood Q Branch. 20 Locks Hill, Portslade, Sussex. Tel: +44 (0) 1273 386030fax: +44 (0) 1273 430501 web : www.qbranch.demon.co.uk
Re: [ql-users] Re:Easymenu
Roy wrote: a) Since the code is unfinished and has bugs I would not give it to anyone who was not actively working with Marcel as a beta tester. b) Unless Albin has declared it to be a free program it should only be available from Jochen or Q Branch. I know that you acted in good faith and there is no censure involved here. Okay :) By the way have been trying to get QCoCo to work on the Q40 and it fails with the message : LINE 980 SP_GET value out of range As far as I remember there was something with a SMSQE version for Q40 which seemed to be new but even so produced this fault. I cannot reproduce it because I have no Q40. Try to get the newest version of Wolfgang Lenerz, test it and write me again, will you? Otherwise you could also configure QCoCo to start with a (default-)theme, then you will not have this problem. Wolfgang
Re: [ql-users] Shows List
In message [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes Does anyone have a webpage where the latest QL show information is centralised?? I always put show information onto my site on the 'news' page. Provided people send it me that is. Actually I also take it from other sources too. At moment it is a bit behind but I do intend to get it up to date this week. http://www.qbranch.demon.co.uk/News.htm#Workshops if anyone wants email me details of shows that are happening or add to details I have please send them in. -- Roy Wood Q Branch. 20 Locks Hill, Portslade, Sussex. Tel: +44 (0) 1273 386030fax: +44 (0) 1273 430501 web : www.qbranch.demon.co.uk
Re: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] £1000 to spend!
Dave P wrote: On Mon, 8 Mar 2004 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: If you have to use OpenOffice on a PC to print QL documents, why not get rid of the QL altogther and just use OpenOffice to begin with? 1000 pounds to the person who ports OpenOffice? ;) Dave That seems like a lot of cash for what is a pretty trivial task. -- Lau http://www.bergbland.info Get a domain from http://oneandone.co.uk/xml/init?k_id=5165217 and I'll get the commission!
[ql-users] Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] £ 1000 to spend!
In message [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes My brother in law works for lexmark (senior sales director) and I asked him why Parallel has become extinct on cheap inkjets - he said ( as far as he knows) it is because the Parallel interface is copyrighted and owned by centronics, and royalties must be paid, whereas USB can be adopted for free - therefore an extra few pence profit in the cheaper range printers by adopting USB only. This is only part of the story. There is also a general move by the computer industry to have fewer interfaces and, by extension, fewer drivers on a system. USB II is much faster than Parallel - actually even USB 1.1 was. They also want to lose the PS/2 ports and use USB for keyboard and mouse as well. It is all part of the way that the physical makeup of the modern computer is being steered. As I have said before the floppy drive is going too!. -- Roy Wood Q Branch. 20 Locks Hill, Portslade, Sussex. Tel: +44 (0) 1273 386030fax: +44 (0) 1273 430501 web : www.qbranch.demon.co.uk
[ql-users] Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] Re: [ql-users] RE: [ql-users] £ 1000 to spend!
This is only part of the story. There is also a general move by the computer industry to have fewer interfaces and, by extension, fewer drivers on a system. USB II is much faster than Parallel - actually even USB 1.1 was. They also want to lose the PS/2 ports and use USB for keyboard and mouse as well. It is all part of the way that the physical makeup of the modern computer is being steered. As I have said before the floppy drive is going too!. Well, floppy may even bring us an improvement: I have seen USB floppy drives from Teac and Sony which claim to be 2x speed!! Has anyone tested them under QPC? Are they really twice the speed? I wouldn't mind that (with all the disk copying at the shows!) Jochen
[ql-users] Multi-Sprite Viewer
Per has asked me to host his MultiSprite Viewer on my web page. It is now downloadable from just below the sprite zip files. See the link: www.geocites.com/svenqhj/myfree.html I've tested an earlier version of the Viewer on a directory of 485 sprites and it handled it just fine. Tim Swenson
Re: [ql-users] Multi-Sprite Viewer
You might want to try: www.geocities.com/svenqhj/myfree.html :) jim On Mar 8, 2004, at 8:47 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Per has asked me to host his MultiSprite Viewer on my web page. It is now downloadable from just below the sprite zip files. See the link: www.geocites.com/svenqhj/myfree.html I've tested an earlier version of the Viewer on a directory of 485 sprites and it handled it just fine. Tim Swenson
