RE: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
On 3 Dec 2004 at 21:58, Duncan Neithercut wrote: the GUI - I find that it does not list all printer drivers correctly - loses first the one so passes the driver ID one position out of step to the filter. I only have 6 installed only the Epson stylus ones. Ooops, yes, done. Also the radio button Yes for print on the screen does not clear when switched off No. Both remain selected so its difficult to know what is selected. Done Ok, there is a new version on my website. This is a real beta version, meaning that I hope to have most bugs out, the doc is in sync with the facilities and it *should* now work with Qdos, which doesn't have named pipes. That aspect is not testes (yet). I'd be greatful if somebody could test it on a Qdos machine... The GUI is renamed PCP, there are many bugfixes. To be done: ** Freeze the interface between the PCP and the filters. (this depends on the feature y'all want - up to now I've seen - colour to be printed it + choose the font (this latter will NOT be implemented at first, until somebody tells me of another fontpack i.e. normal + bold +italic+ bold italic). ** Implement this interface in the PCP and the filter supplied. RTM! as usual at: www.scp-paulet-lenerz.com/14mljkl24/wolf/download/ Wolfgang www.scp-paulet-lenerz.com ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
RE: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
Hi, the GUI - I find that it does not list all printer drivers correctly - loses first the one so passes the driver ID one position out of step to the filter. I only have 6 installed only the Epson stylus ones. Also the radio button Yes for print on the screen does not clear when switched off No. Both remain selected so its difficult to know what is selected. Duncan Neithercut -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Wolfgang Lenerz Sent: 01 December 2004 19:29 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter Hi all, work on the Proforma printing suite continues. There is a new version on my website. This now contains the PFF device which, hopefully, is close to completion, pending bug fixes of the bugs you will find... Anyway, it will now call up a (configurable) file or (configurable) executable thing to be executed as soon as a channel is opened to it. It works here, but probably not at your place. Please give it a try, though. Please also Read The revamped Manual. As usual at: www.scp-paulet-lenerz.com/14mljkl24/wolf/download/ Now it's more the question of what else will be implemented in the GUI (the printer option prog). For the time being, you can choose your Proforma printer, plus the font size. More options I can think of would be: - where to print to (par, ser etc...) - landscape printing? (i.e. rotate by 90 degrees - left upper margins - font size - font to be used (doesn't make that much sense, it should probably be a monspaced font, there is only one, courrier). What else can you think of? Wolfgang www.scp-paulet-lenerz.com ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
RE: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
On 3 Dec 2004 at 21:58, Duncan Neithercut wrote: Hi, the GUI - I find that it does not list all printer drivers correctly - loses first the one so passes the driver ID one position out of step to the filter. I only have 6 installed only the Epson stylus ones. Also the radio button Yes for print on the screen does not clear when switched off No. Both remain selected so its difficult to know what is selected. Duncan Neithercut Please try the new version on the website... Wolfgang www.scp-paulet-lenerz.com ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
On Fri, 3 Dec 2004 21:58:46 -, Duncan Neithercut [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, the GUI - I find that it does not list all printer drivers correctly - loses first the one so passes the driver ID one position out of step to the filter. I only have 6 installed only the Epson stylus ones. Also the radio button Yes for print on the screen does not clear when switched off No. Both remain selected so its difficult to know what is selected. Yes, you are quite right about the list of printer drivers - the Yes and No has been corrected in the latest version - download it again from http://www.scp-paulet-lenerz.com/14mljkl24/wolf/download/. -- Rich Mellor RWAP Services 26 Oak Road, Shelfield, Walsall, West Midlands WS4 1RQ http://www.rwapservices.co.uk/ ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter, monospace font
Is there an easy way of finding out what characters a font supports?? You could try 'ProWesS Fonts Utilities'. Or for those using only Proforma, not ProWesS, the older SHOWPFF or whatever the font viewing utility was called (supplied with pre-ProWesS Line Designs) Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
Hi all, work on the Proforma printing suite continues. There is a new version on my website. This now contains the PFF device which, hopefully, is close to completion, pending bug fixes of the bugs you will find... Anyway, it will now call up a (configurable) file or (configurable) executable thing to be executed as soon as a channel is opened to it. It works here, but probably not at your place. Please give it a try, though. Please also Read The revamped Manual. As usual at: www.scp-paulet-lenerz.com/14mljkl24/wolf/download/ Now it's more the question of what else will be implemented in the GUI (the printer option prog). For the time being, you can choose your Proforma printer, plus the font size. More options I can think of would be: - where to print to (par, ser etc...) - landscape printing? (i.e. rotate by 90 degrees - left upper margins - font size - font to be used (doesn't make that much sense, it should probably be a monspaced font, there is only one, courrier). What else can you think of? Wolfgang www.scp-paulet-lenerz.com ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
Hmm - just thought - if you allow for C strings, you need to ensure that the character BEFORE the SER or PAR is not another letter, eg we could replace a prompt: Print to (SER), but not You are a loser (both would end with byte 0. And yes, Joachim is correct - you do also need to be able to handle the byte length format. Fairly easy to program - check if the word length6 (?) if not, is the byte length6. OK. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
Do all programs have a word length counter before the device name or do some have a byte length one? And any programs known to use a device name delimited by LF or whatever rather than the internal format with length word/byte? Good question - normally a word length. What about inside a C program (remembering that C expects strings to end with a 0 byte and not have a word length. ?? C does not use a length, in C the string is null terminated (so a null byte after the string, no easy way to figure out what the beginning of the string is. What about tokenized basic, or compiled basic? In SBasic (in some places at least), string length is indicated with a byte. Thanks, Joachim, I shall gather various type sof programs to throw at this and find out by trial and error how it works. Do you think the program should have a batch conversion mode as well, or do you think it's better doing just one program conversion at a time? Certainly easier to write to handle one named program at a time. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
Depends - someone might at some stage develop a program which can output both text and graphics.. I think there was an old utility which already could do this from a Quill DOC file - am thinking back to CGH Services days (late 80s) Surely it would make more sense to send everything as graphics, then? Wolfgang The way my NLQL program was going to work from what I remember all those years ago was that it would output a line of text, CR back to the start of the line, calculate how much graphics would fit in that line and print those over the line of text, in other words mixed text and graphics. In other words, rather than rasterise the text, text was output as text and graphics superimposed. It meant I had a very long winded print process to say the least. The one hiccup was 9-pin dot matrix printers which printed NLQ by 2 slightly vertically offset passes to reduce their dottiness so the 9-pin printer driving was difficult to say the least. Looking back, it seems so complex I'm amazed I took it as far as I did before I stopped writing it! -- Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
Well, there is a program called NLQ in Quanta library which IIRC takes plain text and prints it as bit image graphics using NLQ fonts. Must go and have a look to see how that works. Dilwyn Jones - Original Message - From: Rich Mellor [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, November 27, 2004 4:17 PM Subject: Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter cut Depends - someone might at some stage develop a program which can output both text and graphics.. I think there was an old utility which already could do this from a Quill DOC file - am thinking back to CGH Services days (late 80s) Surely it would make more sense to send everything as graphics, then? In that case it would, but then you need a rendering program like Proforma to do the conversion from text to graphics !! -- Rich Mellor RWAP Services 26 Oak Road, Shelfield, Walsall, West Midlands WS4 1RQ http://www.rwapservices.co.uk/ ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
On 27 Nov 2004 at 16:02, Rich Mellor wrote: Trouble is we need to foresee that not everyone will think to swap the printer driver over. No. If they don't swap - too bad for them. If we can support it - why not I am happy to assist with writing the programs, I don't expect it to all lie on your shoulders Wolfgang. Neither do I... The sources are on my website. No, the filter wouldn't need to spot that, you'd use another filter. Depends - someone might at some stage develop a program which can output both text and graphics.. I think there was an old utility which already could do this from a Quill DOC file - am thinking back to CGH Services days (late 80s) Surely it would make more sense to send everything as graphics, then? Wolfgang www.scp-paulet-lenerz.com ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
Remember, each different GDI printer needs its own driver... I have mentioned this so many times. ProForma as it stands will only print to printers for which it has drivers and there are no ESC/P raster drivers. The cheap printers have no emulations. Even the expensive printers often have no emulations and some that have ESC/P2 - like my C80 - print from the QL and from Q40 but not from QPC2 which will happily print to the EPL 6200 using ESC/P2. It is a veritable minefield. Yet looking at the Epson documentation, my Stylus 880 for example has a 'raster graphics compatibility mode' whatever that may be. I haven't been able to find anyone able to answer this fully. It seems that some of these textless printers we assume are good for nothing do have a broad equivalent of a graphics mode, some with compression to reduce (and so speed up) the transfer of rasterised data. Since Proforma does devolve text down to raster graphics there may be scope for investigating possibilities here. If it is indeed true that at least some of these printers have raster graphics possibilities, it is definitely worth progressing with Proforma as although it won't by itself solve the Windows-only printer problem, if it does turn out that there is a route to these printers even if only blindly sending graphics data via a PAR or SER port, we may yet see a route ahead with them. As there are plenty of Linux drivers out there complete with sources, it's worth someone with the necessary knowledge having a look at what the Linux driver does. As we have sources for a PAR driver, it may not be beyond the bo unds of possibility that at least some of these printers are accessible even if indirectly. The Epson documentation is much less than clear on this - the raster codes (just two or three) it lists may be just to switch the printer out of Epson mode into Windows-only mode, I can't tell from the documentation and I haven't a Windows-only printer to try. It would be fairly straightforward I think to create a file with the right byte values in it and some random meaningless graphics such as a series of squares to copy_n to a printer, but I'm not very optimistic to be honest. Yuk, this is getting messy. It would have been nice and clear cut if I could have given a 'no chance whatsoever' or 'good chance' reply, but now I find myself in that horrible '1% chance' scenario where I originally thought there was hope, then thought 'no chance' and so on. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
I have no idea how easy it is to pass a PIC file to Proforma - Joachim?? Great to know that PROforma has existsed for (I think) close to ten years now, and still hardly anybody knows anything about it :-( The term is more like knew rather than knows. I probably have forgotten more about it than I know now. These days I tend to only use it when I use Line Design. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
Rich Mellor wrote: Does anyone have some source code I could look at for creating THINGs and using them?? Need more than a simple example I guess - would of course not disclose it to anyone without permission if it is for a commercial product 1) Have a look at Jochen's THING articles in QL Today (think there's copies on either the documentation CD or documentation website or both). 2) While on the documentation website, have a look at other entries in the Thing section, don't remember if there's any examples in there. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
On 25 Nov 2004 at 20:44, Rich Mellor wrote: The trouble is locating them - if these printers are so readily available at low prices, then what exactly are we developing this for as the QL can already output PCL 3 (just not the later versions). Well all I (innocently) did to get this started was to write an ASCII to PROfoma transformer... I stil think that the mian printing should be done from PROforma, after all Joachim did a great job there! Easiest thing is to print a test page from Quill as it includes some codes at the start which also need to be ignored ESC @ - reset printer ESC C n - set page length in lines CHR$(13) - Carriage Return CHR$(10) - Line Feed CHR$(12) - Form Feed ESC R n - Select international character set - used to translate £ symbol (n=0 is USA, n=3 is UK) ESC E - Bold on ESC F - Bold off ESC 4 - Italics on ESC 5 - Italics off ESC - n - Underline on / off (n=1,49 ON or 0,48 OFF) ESC S 0 and ESC S 48 - Superscript on ESC S 1 and ESC S 49 - Subscript on ESC T - turn off subscript / superscript OK, I'll see what I can do. Those are probably the main ones from memory - the translates are the problem areas. (...) If only all programs could output to a file - certainly accounts programs do not allow you to do this - as this is part of the security - prevents you from altering the reports by hand. OK, hence the PFF driver... Yes lol !! Chances are however, they will forget to launch the second print spooler program. OK. I've been thinking about that a few days now, and the only thing I can come up with to avoid that is that you have some kind of background job that is suspended until(either a byte is set in a thing or a byte is present in a pipe etc...) Of course, the job only needs to come up every x seconds. This is feasable. I find this scheme intellectually unsatisfying, though, since it seems wasteful to me as you will have a job querying th byte/channel/whatever periodically, thus eating up resources (memory -the job is loaded, time - the job runs) But I have been unable to think of something better. Anbody ? Yes but why should the QL be limited like this - it is much easier if you can add a job to a print queue and close the current program you are using. Ok, so now we aren't talking about a printer conversion, but about print spooling/queuing etc A whole new ballgame (...) What if this punter wants to print 1000 files at the same time to 1000 different printers hanging off a super USB interface, some of which use Epson emulation, some others Postscript, yet others GDI and whatnot? Do we care if he can't do that? Not that hypothetical - if the user is using a complicated filter (eg. convert to postscript), then they could be waiting a while, without actually knowing what is going on in the background as there is no reassuring noise of the printer running. You're pleading my case here - if they then initiated the printing via a separate print job, that could keep them informed... (...) I have no idea how easy it is to pass a PIC file to Proforma - Joachim?? No it isn't olny that. Until now, we've been talking text conversion programs. No you're mixing (?) text graphices. This is a different league. (...) Yes this would be easier IF the user has enough memory to hold the document in a pipe Remember we want to aim this at the lowest common denominator. No we don't. We need somebody with a machine big enough to run Proforma, PTR_GEN (for things) etc. At least a Gold Card, I'd say. (...) Wolfgang www.scp-paulet-lenerz.com ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
On Fri, 26 Nov 2004 13:54:49 +0100, Wolfgang Lenerz [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 25 Nov 2004 at 20:44, Rich Mellor wrote: The trouble is locating them - if these printers are so readily available at low prices, then what exactly are we developing this for as the QL can already output PCL 3 (just not the later versions). Well all I (innocently) did to get this started was to write an ASCII to PROfoma transformer... I stil think that the mian printing should be done from PROforma, after all Joachim did a great job there! Yes agreed :-) cut Those are probably the main ones from memory - the translates are the problem areas. (...) Best option is to throw some files at the filter once it is running on a wide number of setups. Everyone uses different translates where one character in Quill is translated to various printer control codes, eg. to use italics, get both the # and £ symbol etc... May just need to build up the various character set tables in the filter program to support this... cut Yes lol !! Chances are however, they will forget to launch the second print spooler program. OK. I've been thinking about that a few days now, and the only thing I can come up with to avoid that is that you have some kind of background job that is suspended until(either a byte is set in a thing or a byte is present in a pipe etc...) Of course, the job only needs to come up every x seconds. This is feasable. I find this scheme intellectually unsatisfying, though, since it seems wasteful to me as you will have a job querying th byte/channel/whatever periodically, thus eating up resources (memory -the job is loaded, time - the job runs) But I have been unable to think of something better. Anbody ? Maybe the better option would be for all filter programs to be installed into a common directory. Some form of header could be added (in REM statements, C, or Machine code block) which could be interrogated by the FILTER THING to find out what filters are available for each intermediate protocol - it could then either launch the default filter as required.. (maybe offer the user a list of filters to choose from). The only problem here is if the user only has floppy disk drives and no permanent storage. Maybe they should get a ROMDisq !! Yes but why should the QL be limited like this - it is much easier if you can add a job to a print queue and close the current program you are using. Ok, so now we aren't talking about a printer conversion, but about print spooling/queuing etc A whole new ballgame Yes it is - however, the FILTER THING could be adapted to handle this at some time in the future... What if this punter wants to print 1000 files at the same time to 1000 different printers hanging off a super USB interface, some of which use Epson emulation, some others Postscript, yet others GDI and whatnot? Do we care if he can't do that? Not that hypothetical - if the user is using a complicated filter (eg. convert to postscript), then they could be waiting a while, without actually knowing what is going on in the background as there is no reassuring noise of the printer running. You're pleading my case here - if they then initiated the printing via a separate print job, that could keep them informed... Yes I agree - but the filters are intended to be bolt on programs - they can give whatever feedback to the user they like. Where is this point heading?? I have no idea how easy it is to pass a PIC file to Proforma - Joachim?? No it isn't olny that. Until now, we've been talking text conversion programs. No you're mixing (?) text graphices. This is a different league. Yes it is - scheme as it stands allows this to be developed for the future. If we are capturing standard ESC/P2 graphics data sent to the PFF device (by SDUMP for example), then a filter could spot the header for this and convert it to Proforma (or PIC file) as necessary. The ESC/P2 raster graphics format is failry easy to decode :-) Still not exactly required at the outset is it!! Yes this would be easier IF the user has enough memory to hold the document in a pipe Remember we want to aim this at the lowest common denominator. No we don't. We need somebody with a machine big enough to run Proforma, PTR_GEN (for things) etc. At least a Gold Card, I'd say. Looks like they will also need some form of permanent storage. At least if we persuade users to move onto a Gold Card, they can then look at updating to a modern operating system as well (SMSQ/e) plus bring their QLs into the modern world. We need some idea from the questionnaire as to how many people are still sub Gold Card standard don't we (thank heavens Tony and Quanta did this form in the end) I have at least 3 Gold Cards here for sale... -- Rich Mellor RWAP Services 26 Oak Road, Shelfield, Walsall, West Midlands WS4 1RQ http://www.rwapservices.co.uk/ ___ QL-Users Mailing List
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
- Original Message - From: Rich Mellor Sent: Thursday, November 25, 2004 6:51 PM Subject: Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter Peter Graf is work on network drivers for the Qx0. What happens if an application crashes while printing, is the PFF device block from further use. Glad to hear it - its such a shame that Peter does not keep everyone informed of what he is working on - it might generate more interest in the Q40 / Q60. Plus someone might be willing to help. You cannot expect Peter to contribute to this discussion when he gets shot at everytime he pokes his head above the parapet. Don't forget that after his last contribution to this list two people told him he was not welcome and only one defended him. He is not there to be switched on an off as we want. If you want information from Peter, why don't you email him privately? I had an extensive correspondence with him over QL2004 without any problems. Best Wishes, Geoff ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
On 26 Nov 2004 at 13:27, Rich Mellor wrote: (...) Best option is to throw some files at the filter once it is running on a wide number of setups. Everyone uses different translates where one character in Quill is translated to various printer control codes, eg. to use italics, get both the # and £ symbol etc... May just need to build up the various character set tables in the filter program to support this... No, definitely not. If printing from (Xchange) Quill use the printer driver I supplied.. (...) Yes I agree - but the filters are intended to be bolt on programs - they can give whatever feedback to the user they like. Where is this point heading?? :-))) Yes it is - scheme as it stands allows this to be developed for the future. If we are capturing standard ESC/P2 graphics data sent to the PFF device (by SDUMP for example), then a filter could spot the header for this and convert it to Proforma (or PIC file) as necessary. The ESC/P2 raster graphics format is failry easy to decode :-) No, the filter wouldn't need to spot that, you'd use another filter. (...) Wolfgang www.scp-paulet-lenerz.com ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
On Fri, 26 Nov 2004, gwicks wrote: If you want information from Peter, why don't you email him privately? I had an extensive correspondence with him over QL2004 without any problems. I have always found Peter to speak his own mind. He is always willing to talk by email. I got off to a very poor start with him, but he was very patient with me and we have a good understanding of each other now. He's cool. That is to say he has actually done something, and released it. It takes a certain degree of stubbornness to do that. Dave ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
On Fri, 26 Nov 2004 13:40:57 -0600 (CST), Dave P [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Fri, 26 Nov 2004, gwicks wrote: If you want information from Peter, why don't you email him privately? I had an extensive correspondence with him over QL2004 without any problems. I have always found Peter to speak his own mind. He is always willing to talk by email. I got off to a very poor start with him, but he was very patient with me and we have a good understanding of each other now. He's cool. That is to say he has actually done something, and released it. It takes a certain degree of stubbornness to do that. Fair enough, but all I want is for him to post a message to the mailing list or even one of the magazines, letting us know what developments are happening every now and then !! -- Rich Mellor RWAP Services 26 Oak Road, Shelfield, Walsall, West Midlands WS4 1RQ http://www.rwapservices.co.uk/ ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
RE: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
The problem is analysing the data, and the big difficulty with the QL survey is that it will be too biased to the users of this list who may not be typical of Quanta members. Yes but they are typical of active QL users the sort of people Quanta needs to court. What did you say you learned in market research? :- )) Duncan Neithercut -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of gwicks Sent: 25 November 2004 21:24 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter - Original Message - From: Rich Mellor Sent: Thursday, November 25, 2004 6:54 PM Subject: Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter Yes, the survey MAY shed some light on the subject - however, what's the betting that we get no more than 40 replies. What's wrong with 40 replies? It may surprise you but a lot of professional market research uses samples that are not much bigger than that. I have twice done work for a major car manufacturer. Each time the sample was 50 interviews with Dutch users and 50 UK users. The first car we did was universally praised and went on to be heavily advertised. The second was a top of the range 4x4 and we heard nothing but stories of loose ashtrays and malfunctioning computers that could not be overriden manually. Out of the Dutch sample two drivers had had the experience of the car coming to a complete standstill on the fast lane of a motorway. That model was never advertised, disappeared from the range and it is only now after some years that a new version has been released. (Interesting addtional point. It was not in the survey, but I could also tell that that particularly make of car was very popular under devout catholics.) The problem is analysing the data, and the big difficulty with the QL survey is that it will be too biased to the users of this list who may not be typical of Quanta members. Best Wishes, Geoff ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
RE: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
Geoff He has done a good bit of shooting also and IMHO for his personal satisfaction first leaving aside the needs of the users who have rallied to his call and invested in the Qx0 series, time and real cash! Its also no suprise that now when he appears some people thoughtlessly continue to shoot first. No matter how talented Peter is he needs a critical mass of interest and support as much as other developers interested in more PC orientated QL things. Those in this other camp desperately need his talents and area of focus hence the shots. It is past time to bury hatchets and act like adults. Those with most status have most to gain by bending a little. Those who may have to concede a little need to realise that not every conflict is decided by a single battle. A step back today does not meet loss forever or oblivion for a final vision. In a dialogue one concession needs to be matched with another. The World is a funny place. Send flames if you wish. I advise asbestos suits if you do. Best Wishes Duncan -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of gwicks Sent: 26 November 2004 17:31 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter - Original Message - From: Rich Mellor Sent: Thursday, November 25, 2004 6:51 PM Subject: Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter Peter Graf is work on network drivers for the Qx0. What happens if an application crashes while printing, is the PFF device block from further use. Glad to hear it - its such a shame that Peter does not keep everyone informed of what he is working on - it might generate more interest in the Q40 / Q60. Plus someone might be willing to help. You cannot expect Peter to contribute to this discussion when he gets shot at everytime he pokes his head above the parapet. Don't forget that after his last contribution to this list two people told him he was not welcome and only one defended him. He is not there to be switched on an off as we want. If you want information from Peter, why don't you email him privately? I had an extensive correspondence with him over QL2004 without any problems. Best Wishes, Geoff ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
- Original Message - From: Rich Mellor Sent: Friday, November 26, 2004 7:47 PM Subject: Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter Fair enough, but all I want is for him to post a message to the mailing list or even one of the magazines, letting us know what developments are happening every now and then !! As it happens I am corresponding with Peter on another subject at the moment and have just emailed him. I took the opportunity of telling him of this thread and said people would be interested to hear of relevant Q60 developments. I did suggest that maybe private emails are better. BTW my impression is that there is a willingness on both sides to forget the arguments of the past. I was quite worried about the licence debate boiling up into a major row at QL2004 and spoiling the show if Peter came. (And I wanted him to be present.) I found both sides in the argument were prepared to be flexible to prevent that happening. We just have to be careful on both sides to avoid the subjects we know are too sensitive. Best Wishes, Geoff ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
Yes, even Quill should be able to write to PFF as long as you enter it as '_PFF' in the printing dialogue if it won't accept just PFF. Quill can even accommodate unusual names like _n1_PAR for printing IIRC. Shouldn't be too difficult to write a program which looks for and automatically patches SER or PAR to PFF I'd have thought to help users not confident of their abilities to do it in a binary editors (new QL saying: PFF drivers do it with binary editors!) lbytes program into heap use something like Turbo Toolkit's SEARCH_MEMORY to locate a SER, ser or Ser string (think it's case sensitive) poke the new string in at this address redo until no more SER or PAR found SEXEC the program to overwrite the original It only becomes a problem if search and replace strings are different lengths I suppose I'm sure there was a lot of such programs around 20 years ago to change MDV to FLP, though I can't remember if the strings patched were fixed or could be changed. And didn't Freddy Vachha release a program called Transfer Utility or some name like that, which did pretty much the same thing? I don't know much about device drivers, so if I was involved I'd probably volunteer to write this as part of the project. In fact, I think I'll probably go ahead and write one anyway! Dilwyn Jones Marcel Kilgus wrote: Rich Mellor wrote: So how do we overcome this problem if we have a filter that captures output to PAR but our printer is connected to the PAR device?? Guess the simplest solution is to have the PFF_USE command alter the PAR device as well?? No no no. Do not mess up the system to accommodate 20 year old programs! Look at Windows, even XP is still compatible with Windows 1.0 applications and THAT is the main source of problems they have with that platform. Kludge over kludge! Ok, short recap: you want to rename all SER and PAR devices to be able to rename the PFF device to be a SER or PAR device. And because of what? To make some ancient programs happy that probably nobody uses anymore anyway! Work on the root of the problem! If you can't simply send those old bastards to bit heaven then change them! Usually it's a 1 minute job, take a hex editor, search for SER, overwrite with PFF and that's it. Marcel ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
On Thu, 25 Nov 2004 14:11:19 +, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Yes, even Quill should be able to write to PFF as long as you enter it as '_PFF' in the printing dialogue if it won't accept just PFF. Quill can even accommodate unusual names like _n1_PAR for printing IIRC. Shouldn't be too difficult to write a program which looks for and automatically patches SER or PAR to PFF I'd have thought to help users not confident of their abilities to do it in a binary editors (new QL saying: PFF drivers do it with binary editors!) lbytes program into heap use something like Turbo Toolkit's SEARCH_MEMORY to locate a SER, ser or Ser string (think it's case sensitive) poke the new string in at this address redo until no more SER or PAR found SEXEC the program to overwrite the original It only becomes a problem if search and replace strings are different lengths I suppose I'm sure there was a lot of such programs around 20 years ago to change MDV to FLP, though I can't remember if the strings patched were fixed or could be changed. And didn't Freddy Vachha release a program called Transfer Utility or some name like that, which did pretty much the same thing? I don't know much about device drivers, so if I was involved I'd probably volunteer to write this as part of the project. In fact, I think I'll probably go ahead and write one anyway! Dilwyn Jones Yes please Dilwyn - the idea of the PFF device will be to cope with existing SER parameters as well (even if it just ignores some of them), so we need only be able to patch PAR and SER with PFF at the moment. There were some programs to do this already, as you say, but not everyone has the DP one and so its easier to write our own. Just need a nice interface to enter the name of the program to be patched - Menu extensions from Jochen seem the best bet as most people can use them. -- Rich Mellor RWAP Services 26 Oak Road, Shelfield, Walsall, West Midlands WS4 1RQ http://www.rwapservices.co.uk/ ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
I am glad to see that this has at least inspired some interest and hopefully we will see the beginnings of some work towards an actual product - although we still have no confirmation that Proforms can output to a Windows only printer - if not, we may be in trouble. Surely someone has access to one of the cheap Epsons on a PC and can install QPC2 plus Linedesign and see if they can print something direct to that printer successfully. If there are no volunteers, guess I could always go and buy one for £40 or so just to try it. However, I have been asked to explain why the program needs to be so complex. I admit to the original moanings about using modern printers from within the QL. Wolfgang produced an excellent ASCII to Proforma filter which will overcome this, by taking an ASCII file and sending it to Proforma for printing. This is sufficient for printing plain ASCII files, and could be adapted to include EPSON control codes for files printed by some QL utilities. This however creates two problems: 1) Some programs on the QL only allow you to print to ser1 or PAR and do not allow you to send data to a file. 2) It is more user friendly to have a printing process which is invisible to the user. If the user has to always print to a file then run another program to get output, they will soon get fed up of this process and abandon the QL altogether. We therefore needed to design a PFF device which would allow these programs to print to the PFF device. The PFF device would then pass the output to the filter for processing and printing. Joachim then identified a third problem if we are to use a PFF device. If two programs on the QL try to print at the same time, then the output can become corrupt. We therefore decided that what is needed is a printer management program (the FILTER THING) which will capture the output from all the open PFF devices and store it for processing by filters one at a time. It would also enable more than one type of filter to be present in the QL at the same time (for example, for printing via Proforma, creating Postscript output or even for creating HTML output). This FILTER THING is the most complex part of the program, but essential to ensure that the user can have a wide range of printing options available. A flow chart appears below of the way the system will work: Proforma Filter Flow-Chart User initiates a Print command from within a program to the PFF device This will specify printer number and intermediate protocol (ASCII, EPSON, HP, Proforma) | | | PFF Device contacts the FILTER THING to check if the given printer exists and if the intermediate protocol is supported |- If given printer does not exist --- return error Not Found | |- If protocol not supported return error Not Implemented | FILTER THING opens a channel to the temporary storage (pipe or file) and passes the channel ID back to the PFF device | | | PFF device outputs the data to the specified channel ID | | | Once data printed by PFF device, PFF device notifies the FILTER THING that it is complete. FILTER THING closes the channel and then initiates the Filter Program for the specified protocol. FILTER THING opens a READ channel to the temporary storage and passes this to the filter program for processing | | | The Filter Program processes the data and passes it to Proforma / Ghostscript / Printer for printing. | | | Once the filter program has completed processing the data, it notifies the FILTER THING, passing back the READ channel ID. FILTER THING then closes the READ channel ID and deletes the temporary storage | | | Proforma / Ghostscript process the final data and send it to the printer. (NOTE: some filters
RE: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
Like SPLF tk2 ? -Message d'origine- De : [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] la part de Rich Mellor Envoyé : jeudi 25 novembre 2004 16:52 À : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Objet : Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter (...) Joachim then identified a third problem if we are to use a PFF device. If two programs on the QL try to print at the same time, then the output can become corrupt. We therefore decided that what is needed is a printer management program (the FILTER THING) which will capture the output from all the open PFF devices and store it for processing by filters one at a time. It would also enable more than one type of filter to be present in the QL at the same time (for example, for printing via Proforma, creating Postscript output or even for creating HTML output). ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
In message [EMAIL PROTECTED] Rich Mellor wrote: Finally, the other problem to be addressed is how the QL will communicate with the printer. Admittedly more and more printers have USB only connection which means that they currently cannot be connected to a native QL or the Qx0. However, this is down to the hardware designers to overcome. QPC2 users can print to USB printers (not sure about the other PC emulator users), but they still face the same problem that the printers cannot handle text sent directly to the USB port. Therefore there is a need for this software Peter Graf is work on network drivers for the Qx0. What happens if an application crashes while printing, is the PFF device block from further use. -- Tarquin Mills ACCUS (Anglia Classic Computer Users Society) http://www.speccyverse.me.uk/comp/accus/ ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
On Thu, 25 Nov 2004 17:48:32 +0100, Wolfgang Lenerz [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 25 Nov 2004 at 15:52, Rich Mellor wrote: I am glad to see that this has at least inspired some interest and hopefully we will see the beginnings of some work towards an actual product - although we still have no confirmation that Proforms can output to a Windows only printer - if not, we may be in trouble. Surely someone has access to one of the cheap Epsons on a PC and can install QPC2 plus Linedesign and see if they can print something direct to that printer successfully. If there are no volunteers, guess I could always go and buy one for £40 or so just to try it. Don't even bother. There is no Proforma driver for GDI printers, so no output to them. Remember, each different GDI printer needs its own driver... I'm not so sure - the EPSON GDI printers appear to use just the graphics driver which was used on the Epson 200 (maybe different DPIs but nothing else). Whether HP and Canon printers are the same, I do not know - it would be interesting to know what happens tho If Proforma cannot output to these printers - is there much point in persuing this further as people will still be struggling to find printers which are compatible with the QL... However, I have been asked to explain why the program needs to be so complex. I admit to the original moanings about using modern printers from within the QL. Wolfgang produced an excellent ASCII to Proforma filter which will overcome this, by taking an ASCII file and sending it to Proforma for printing. This is sufficient for printing plain ASCII files, and could be adapted to include EPSON control codes for files printed by some QL utilities. Well , if one told me what these were, I'd probably have done it already... Have a look at the standard Quill output for starters - Dilwyn will have a copy of the complete Epson ESC/P programming manual somewhere for download, but it is large. Text87 output is a lot more troublesome as it uses a large number of text formatting commands. This however creates two problems: 1) Some programs on the QL only allow you to print to ser1 or PAR and do not allow you to send data to a file. I haven't seen one of those yet, but anyway the PFF device will take care of this, a simple buffer (or actually not even that, it'll squirt everything to a pipe)... Yes it will... :-) However as you rightly say, the PFF device cannot open a directory device if the user wants to use a hard disk for temporary storage rather than space in memory... 2) It is more user friendly to have a printing process which is invisible to the user. If the user has to always print to a file then run another program to get output, they will soon get fed up of this process and abandon the QL altogether. I doubt it. Sell it to them as a modern version of a printer spooler. Not really a modern version of a printer spooler if they have to (a) Print from their program (b) remember to call up the printer spooler program to actually see any output.. !! It is all too easy to see no output from the printer and straight away think - oops have I run out of paper / ink Or just completely forget to print out the files (eg. if you go away from the QL while it is doing a series of reports). Joachim then identified a third problem if we are to use a PFF device. If two programs on the QL try to print at the same time, then the output can become corrupt. 1 - Design the PFF device so that it can only have one file open to it at any time. Trrivial,since we're designing that device anyway. Isn't that just adding to the annoyance factor - Cannot print now cos something else is spooling... 2 - What happens TODAY when two apps try to print to par/ser at the same time? In what way is the user better/worse off, even if we don't implement n° 1 above ? Because it prevents the user getting annoyed by having to wait until one print task is finished - they may not even know when it has finished and just have to keep on trying until the PFF device lets them (if printer in a different room, or filter is sending output to a postscript or HTML file rather than a physical printer). We therefore decided that what is needed is a printer management program (the FILTER THING) which will capture the output from all the open PFF devices and store it for processing by filters one at a time. In other words, you want to create a sort of buffer which is filled in through a device driver io routine, but is not part of that device driver. Or perhaps I misunderstand? Yes that is basically it. It would also enable more than one type of filter to be present in the QL at the same time (for example, for printing via Proforma, creating Postscript output or even for creating HTML output). Of course, we are still talking about simpe ascii files being transformed into all that, aren't we? ASCII or files containing epson control codes - depends on the filters that are
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
On Thu, 25 Nov 2004 18:33:16 GMT, Tarquin Mills [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In message [EMAIL PROTECTED] Rich Mellor wrote: Finally, the other problem to be addressed is how the QL will communicate with the printer. Admittedly more and more printers have USB only connection which means that they currently cannot be connected to a native QL or the Qx0. However, this is down to the hardware designers to overcome. QPC2 users can print to USB printers (not sure about the other PC emulator users), but they still face the same problem that the printers cannot handle text sent directly to the USB port. Therefore there is a need for this software Peter Graf is work on network drivers for the Qx0. What happens if an application crashes while printing, is the PFF device block from further use. Glad to hear it - its such a shame that Peter does not keep everyone informed of what he is working on - it might generate more interest in the Q40 / Q60. Plus someone might be willing to help. It really is such a shame that there was such a big fall out over the smsq/e licence and as a result devices developed for the Q60 are not necessarily engineered to work on other systems as well and yet the Q40 /Q60 can still benefit from improvements in SMSQ/e (even if Peter and some others are not willing to use the later versions of SMSQ/e). With such a small community, any divisions and arguments about Quanta are just more reason for people to forget about the QL entirely. We should all strive to work together, even if we don't always agree with one and other. No idea what happens if the application crashes whilst printing - does this happen very often on a QL nowadays I wonder (without needing the user to reset the system anyway)?? -- Rich Mellor RWAP Services 26 Oak Road, Shelfield, Walsall, West Midlands WS4 1RQ http://www.rwapservices.co.uk/ ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
On 25 Nov 2004 at 18:46, Rich Mellor wrote: If Proforma cannot output to these printers - is there much point in persuing this further as people will still be struggling to find printers which are compatible with the QL... I disagree (again...). I'd never buy a GDI printer, and there are many others that wouldn't (just think of Linux). There are so many pronters out there that have some kind of emulation( Laserjet, PCL etc...) . Well , if one told me what these were, I'd probably have done it already... Have a look at the standard Quill output for starters - Dilwyn will have a copy of the complete Epson ESC/P programming manual somewhere for download, but it is large. Text87 output is a lot more troublesome as it uses a large number of text formatting commands. No, let's keep things simple: what codes are used for bold on/off, underline, high, low? Yes it will... :-) However as you rightly say, the PFF device cannot open a directory device if the user wants to use a hard disk for temporary storage rather than space in memory... If he wants that, let him print to a file. Not really a modern version of a printer spooler if they have to (a) Print from their program (b) remember to call up the printer spooler program to actually see any output.. !! It is all too easy to see no output from the printer and straight away think - oops have I run out of paper / ink Or just completely forget to print out the files (eg. if you go away from the QL while it is doing a series of reports). a) above seems pretty logical to me... If they forget that, there'll be no print. 1 - Design the PFF device so that it can only have one file open to it at any time. Trrivial,since we're designing that device anyway. Isn't that just adding to the annoyance factor - Cannot print now cos something else is spooling... Can't print now 'cause something I'm already printing something else sounds quite logical to me. 2 - What happens TODAY when two apps try to print to par/ser at the same time? In what way is the user better/worse off, even if we don't implement n° 1 above ? Because it prevents the user getting annoyed by having to wait until one print task is finished - ...which is what they have to do today... they may not even know when it has finished and just have to keep on trying until the PFF device lets them (if printer in a different room, or filter is sending output to a postscript or HTML file rather than a physical printer). Isn't that really totally hypothetical? What if this punter wants to print 1000 files at the same time to 1000 different printers hanging off a super USB interface, some of which use Epson emulation, some others Postscript, yet others GDI and whatnot? Do we care if he can't do that? (...) Yes that is basically it. Ooops. (...) ASCII or files containing epson control codes - depends on the filters that are written for it really. Ok, same problem. What happens when someone wants to send a graphics dump? Just add a graphics filter. Just add a graphics filter. I'll let this stand as is. This FILTER THING is the most complex part of the program, but essential to ensure that the user can have a wide range of printing options available. A simple set of different filter progs called, if you want, from one printer spooler selctor would be enough for that. Yes it would - but the problem is how the PFF device and the filters communicate with the printer spooler. My understanding is that a THING is much better for this purpose. The best way I've found right now is to use pipes. The PFF device just puts everything into a pipe. Then we have a standard format that anything, filters, spoolers etc... can easily get at. A flow chart appears below of the way the system will work: Proforma Filter Flow-Chart (...) FILTER THING opens a channel to the temporary storage (pipe or file) and passes the channel ID back to the PFF device I'd be MOST interested in knowing how you'll handle that (see my other message to Joachim). See other response - suggest the FILTER THING opens a channel in readiness if this will be a problem. How many files are you going to keep open, since your hypothetical punter will want to print so many things at once? Wolfgang www.scp-paulet-lenerz.com ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
On Thu, 25 Nov 2004 20:43:29 +0100, Wolfgang Lenerz [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 25 Nov 2004 at 18:46, Rich Mellor wrote: If Proforma cannot output to these printers - is there much point in persuing this further as people will still be struggling to find printers which are compatible with the QL... I disagree (again...). I'd never buy a GDI printer, and there are many others that wouldn't (just think of Linux). There are so many pronters out there that have some kind of emulation( Laserjet, PCL etc...) The trouble is locating them - if these printers are so readily available at low prices, then what exactly are we developing this for as the QL can already output PCL 3 (just not the later versions). There is no list anywhere that I can find of modern printers which support ESC/P2 or direct text output. Don't forget that most Linux / Unix users now use some form of printing program for output - no idea whether that sends plain text and epson control codes to the printers or graphics..?? . Well , if one told me what these were, I'd probably have done it already... Have a look at the standard Quill output for starters - Dilwyn will have a copy of the complete Epson ESC/P programming manual somewhere for download, but it is large. Text87 output is a lot more troublesome as it uses a large number of text formatting commands. No, let's keep things simple: what codes are used for bold on/off, underline, high, low? Easiest thing is to print a test page from Quill as it includes some codes at the start which also need to be ignored ESC @ - reset printer ESC C n - set page length in lines CHR$(13) - Carriage Return CHR$(10) - Line Feed CHR$(12) - Form Feed ESC R n - Select international character set - used to translate £ symbol (n=0 is USA, n=3 is UK) ESC E - Bold on ESC F - Bold off ESC 4 - Italics on ESC 5 - Italics off ESC - n - Underline on / off (n=1,49 ON or 0,48 OFF) ESC S 0 and ESC S 48 - Superscript on ESC S 1 and ESC S 49 - Subscript on ESC T - turn off subscript / superscript Those are probably the main ones from memory - the translates are the problem areas. Yes it will... :-) However as you rightly say, the PFF device cannot open a directory device if the user wants to use a hard disk for temporary storage rather than space in memory... If he wants that, let him print to a file. If only all programs could output to a file - certainly accounts programs do not allow you to do this - as this is part of the security - prevents you from altering the reports by hand. Not really a modern version of a printer spooler if they have to (a) Print from their program (b) remember to call up the printer spooler program to actually see any output.. !! It is all too easy to see no output from the printer and straight away think - oops have I run out of paper / ink Or just completely forget to print out the files (eg. if you go away from the QL while it is doing a series of reports). a) above seems pretty logical to me... If they forget that, there'll be no print. Yes lol !! Chances are however, they will forget to launch the second print spooler program. 1 - Design the PFF device so that it can only have one file open to it at any time. Trrivial,since we're designing that device anyway. Isn't that just adding to the annoyance factor - Cannot print now cos something else is spooling... Can't print now 'cause something I'm already printing something else sounds quite logical to me. Yes but why should the QL be limited like this - it is much easier if you can add a job to a print queue and close the current program you are using. 2 - What happens TODAY when two apps try to print to par/ser at the same time? In what way is the user better/worse off, even if we don't implement n° 1 above ? Because it prevents the user getting annoyed by having to wait until one print task is finished - ...which is what they have to do today... they may not even know when it has finished and just have to keep on trying until the PFF device lets them (if printer in a different room, or filter is sending output to a postscript or HTML file rather than a physical printer). Isn't that really totally hypothetical? What if this punter wants to print 1000 files at the same time to 1000 different printers hanging off a super USB interface, some of which use Epson emulation, some others Postscript, yet others GDI and whatnot? Do we care if he can't do that? Not that hypothetical - if the user is using a complicated filter (eg. convert to postscript), then they could be waiting a while, without actually knowing what is going on in the background as there is no reassuring noise of the printer running. cut What happens when someone wants to send a graphics dump? Just add a graphics filter. Just add a graphics filter. I'll let this stand as is. I have no idea how easy it is to pass a PIC file to Proforma - Joachim?? This FILTER THING is the most complex part of the program,
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
Well , if one told me what these were, I'd probably have done it already... Have a look at the standard Quill output for starters - Dilwyn will have a copy of the complete Epson ESC/P programming manual somewhere for download, but it is large. Text87 output is a lot more troublesome as it uses a large number of text formatting commands. Too big to download or email, but can send them on a CD to you if required, just let me have the address you want it sent to. If you have broadband, it might be feasible for you to download them direct from Epson websites rather than wait for snail mail from me. They are PDF files, and the text can be extracted in the usual way, but it becomes an unformatted mess. I created a minimalist plain text Epson codes list but this is rather less comprehensive than the Epson PDFs. The text version is more easily emailed etc. -- Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
3. The program Wolfgang provided. This will then regularly check the accounting thing to know if something needs to be printed. If there is, then it goes ahead and prints stuff. If a new print job arrives for a printer which is already being printed on, the job is delayed (this would probably best be handled by the accounting thing too). I haven't yet tried Wolfgang's program so I may be totally out of sync and making no sense here, but I'll contribute this: In the absence of a 'device driver' solution... Assuming it's a filter program which for example copies the file printed to ram1_ to a chosen printer... 1. Reserved filename, say ram1_prtfile_dat or similar. (Would allow printer drivers to be configured to this filename if this is the only printing method available) 2. A job runs which checks for a new file of this name (check for file existing of that name and it's last known date printed). 3. When filename exists with a date which hasn't been printed before, print it. Make sure that the job which sends it to the filter keeps it open or some means of preventing the file being changed (i.e. in use) until it's all been sent to the printer. Contention avoided. Finally, as I haven't been using your program, Wolfgang, does it require the full Prowess (which I don't use) or just Proforma? Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.quanta.org.uk/mailing.htm
Re: Re: [ql-users] Proforma Filter
On 17 Nov 2004 at 14:23, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Assuming it's a filter program which for example copies the file printed to ram1_ to a chosen printer... 1. Reserved filename, say ram1_prtfile_dat or similar. (Would allow printer drivers to be configured to this filename if this is the only printing method available) Well apparently, Rich has some programs that only print to par or ser. 2. A job runs which checks for a new file of this name (check for file existing of that name and it's last known date printed). How often? (...) Finally, as I haven't been using your program, Wolfgang, does it require the full Prowess (which I don't use) or just Proforma? Just Proforma. Wolfgang www.scp-paulet-lenerz.com ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.quanta.org.uk/mailing.htm
