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2col Shareware Version 4.9 A Compressed Print Utility Copyright 1990-1993 by ARCaine Technology 960 Neilson St Albany, CA 94706 (510) 527-9859 All Rights Reserved DISCLAIMER This software and manual are sold "as is" and without warranties as to performance or merchantability or any other warranties whether expressed or implied. Because of the various hardware and software environments into which this program may be put, no warranty of fitness for a particular purpose is offered. We will not be liable for any special, incidental, consequential, indirect or similar damages due to loss of data, inability to use this program, or any other reason, even if we or our agent have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Be warned that not all data may print correctly when using this program with unconverted wordprocessor files. The user must assume the entire risk of using and evaluating this program. Any liability of Tony Caine or ARCaine Technology will be limited exclusively to product replacement or refund of purchase price. If you find these terms unacceptable, do not use this product. Introduction 2col prints an ASCII text file in two columns,each up to 80 characters wide, on standard width paper. It eliminates consecutive blank lines and prints at 20 characters/inch. 2col now supports Deskjet printers as well as dot matrix printers. See the insructions for using the -J option when running on a Deskjet printer. You must always use the -J option with a Deskjet. Bubblejet printers are supported in their Epson LQ emulation mode. Treat them like a 24 pin dot matrix printer. 2col can now print rough drafts of some wordprocessor formats including .WRI, Word, Wordstar, and WP-Generic files. See details and, particularly, limitations under the Wordwrap option. 2col is designed to be extremely easy to use. The default settings will accommodate most printing needs. On most 9-pin printers you can print a document by simply typing: 2COL [filename] <enter> For example, to print this manual type:2COL 2COL.DOC <enter> On 24-pin printers you must also include -Q on the command line. To see an 8 page demonstration of 2COL's many print modes you can type: DEMO2COL [9, 24, or J] <enter>. If your printer cannot print 20 char/in you should include -W68 on the command line. All IBM mode printers are 17 cpi and require -W68. 2col is intended to greatly reduce the huge volume of paper that results from printing reference manuals and text files. Regular use of this program should cut your paper bill by 60 to 70 percent. It provides excellent readability (unlike other compressed print programs) while compressing an average of four pages of source material onto one side of a sheet of paper. By using its even/odd alternate side print feature eight pages of text can be printed using both sides of a page. Since the normal draft mode of printing can be used, it is also much faster than those programs which rely on nonstandard print modes. By reducing the volume of paper, 2col also reduces storage requirements and the bulk one has to carry around when traveling. It can also save you money when faxing or mailing documents. As a side benefit, many 2col users actually find it easier and faster to read the compressed versions than the originals because they can take in more words at one time without having to scan across the page. 2col will optionally print in subscript mode - doubling the amount of text contained on a single sheet to a total of sixteen pages - with a significant loss in legibility and printing speed. This mode is intended mainly for archival use not for documents that will be read frequently. This program will work on most Epson-compatible dot-matrix printers which provide 17 characters/inch compressed printing but is especially intended for newer printers which have a compressed/elite mode (20 char/in) allowing two complete 80 character lines to be printed across the page. Printers which support 20 char/inch include:KXP1180, KXP1124, FX86, 200GX, LQ-series, etc. If you have a 17 char/inch printer see the registration section below about obtaining a word-wrap utility. Since most printers do not show the 20 char/inch mode on the front panel, you should check the manual or just try printing with 2col. If your printer supports 20 char/in but does not operate properly with 2col, contact me, and I will let you know if it is possible to provide you with an updated version that is compatible with your printer. 2COL will now work in a limited way with many other printers. See the documentation for the -J-2 command. This is a registered feature but you can test it using the -K option. IMPORTANT! DOT MATRIX: The 20 char/in mode on many printers cannot be accessed by software if the DIP switches inside the printer are set for IBM mode. The printer MUST be set for the Epson/Standard mode. 2col will optionally supply the control characters to cause the full IBM character set to print. Also, your printer should have the auto linefeed switch turned off. If your printer has a front panel pitch control, it should be set to program mode. On most printers it is okay to set a specific font from the front panel as long as the pitch is left in program mode. Also, be sure that your paper is correctly lined up with your printer's top of form according to your printer manual. If your paper is misaligned, every page after the first will begin in the middle of the sheet when printing with 2COL. DESKJET: If you have previously been printing standard size characters with perf skip on, you must push the reset button on your printer immediately before printing with 2COL or use the -J1 option. Otherwise, the first page will not print correctly. Also, -W68 and -W67 may truncate lines on the Deskjet because of its 16.67 cpi font pitch. Hints Since 24-pin printers tend to print a taller font than 9-pin printers, both in subscript mode and standard, it is advisable to use fewer lines/page with 24-pin printers to get optimum readablity and appearance. The lower the -L value you choose, the larger the space between lines. Since 2COL does not issue any font selection commands, the last font selected for your printer will be the one used. Fonts may be selected via the printer control panel or by a printer control program. At 20 characters/inch the most readable font (and the fastest) is usually the standard draft font. Letter quality fonts tend to be too "busy" for good compressed printing. 2COL does issue a printer reset when it finishes and if the font you selected is not your default font, it may need to be reselected before printing again. You will find it most convenient to use 2COL if you install it in a directory which is located in your PATH statement. See your DOS manual for more information. When using a Deskjet you will probably want to use a top margin of -F4. Also, try selecting the draft mode on the printer's control panel. You may find it adequate for 2COL printing. Registration I will keep improving the program if I know enough people are finding it useful. My registration policy is very flexible. The nominal fee is $20 US If you don't feel you will get $20 worth of use out of 2COL, send whatever it is worth to you. If you are impoverished and can't afford to pay anything, enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope and I will send you a registration. This is not freeware or public domain. Shareware is simply a means of marketing commercial software. You are required to register if you intend to use this program after a reasonable trial period. When registering, please tell me the version number you have, your printer model, and where you obtained your copy of 2col. Foreign checks and credit cards OK. See REGISTER.DOC for details. 2col should be registered for the maximum number of copies that can be used simultaneously at your site. Site fees for commercial users can be negotiated. If you register for the full $20 fee, and enclose a Shipping and Handling fee of $5 I will send you the latest versions of 2COL and JETCOL (for lasers). JETCOL requires a separate registration fee if you decide to use it after a trial period. I will also send other printing related shareware programs including a word wrap program (by another author) which can be used to expand or contract the column width of documents before printing. This is particularly useful for those with 17 char/inch printers which cannot print two full 80 character columns. Also included is a conversion program which will help you print specially formatted word processor files correctly with 2COL. A label making program is also included. If you are a Wordperfect user, for an additional $3 I can also supply a macro which will print your current document with 2COL without leaving WP. A "professional" version of 2COL is now available for $75 which numbers each line and produces an alphabetized index of words in the document, and prints footers. Registered version features * Custom default settings 2COL's default settings can be modified by the user. This eliminates the need for the user to enter a string of options whenever they run the program. They need only enter the filename. * Automargin The automargin option is extremely useful for those who need to punch holes for binding. 2col scans the entire document before printing and, in effect, moves all the available "white space" from the center (and, if necessary,from the right margin) of the document to the left margin. Automargin also automatically activates the wordwrap (-&) feature if any line in the document is greater than the specified columnwidth (-W). To get an idea of how Automargin operates, type: 2COL 2COL.DOC <enter>. This will print with the default settings of 2col. Then type: 2COL 2COL.DOC -K -U8 <enter>. This will print a one page demo using automargin. * Multiple document names Multiple document names and wildcards can be entered on the command line. * Append When specifying multiple documents to print, registered users have the choice of starting each file at the beginning of a page or treating all documents as one continuous file without breaks. * Redirection of output Registered users can choose to send the output to a disk file for later printing in background (while running other programs) or they can send to LPT2, COM1, COM2, etc. * Pagefix Prints a specified number of pages per column retaining original line spacing and page breaks. * Pagelength adjustment for different paper sizes: A4, legal, etc. * Elimination of printer control commands for operation with non- standard printers. * The registration screen is eliminated, of course. Terminology Since several pages from the original source file are combined onto a single page of printer output, there may be some confusion about the word "page." We will always refer to the original document pages as "source pages." What is actually printed will simply be called "pages." Usage: 2col [options] path\filename [options] [path\filename]... Options (except -Yx) may be specified in any order before and/or after the file name(s). Options MUST be separated from each other by spaces and preceded by a "-". Upper and lower case are interchangeable. Options are defined as follows: -Lxx = Each column will be xx lines long -Cxx = No more than xx consecutive blank lines will be printed -Sxx = Skip xx pages before starting to print -O = Print only odd # pages -E = Print only even # pages -Wxx = column width (number of characters in each column) -P = Pause before printing each page. -N = Prints filename and page # at lower left corner -Dxx = Delimit each (source) page with a line and page # -T = Truncate long lines instead of wrap. -G = Enable full IBM character set.(dot matrix only) -Fx = Put a margin of x blank lines at the top of each page. -K = Print a one page demo to test registered options. * -Mx = Set left margin.(CAUTION:READ INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE USING)* -? = 2COL will ask for filenames to print. -Q = 24-pin printer line spacing -Jx = Deskjet mode -V = Report # pages to print.Modify spacing to fill last page -&xx = Wordwrap long lines. (useful for .WRI and similar files) ? = (no dash) Displays help screen. Must be the only option. *Options for registered users only* -A = Append multiple files. -Z = Route output to disk. -Ux = Scans file before printing and sets margins automatically. -Xx = Print x pages/column preserving page breaks & format -Yx = Customize 2COL default settings. -!xx = Modify line spacing to adjust for pagefill or pagelength. -J-2 = Eliminate printer control commands When more than 102 lines/page requested,shifts to subscript (half-height) mode. When column width is less than 69 chars,uses compressed mode (17 char/in.) When column width is greater than 68 uses compressed/elite (20 char/in.) Defaults: 80 characters/column;88 lines/page;1 consecutive blank line; no pause before printing page; do not number pages; wrap (not truncate) long lines;0 blank lines at top of page. Description of options ? 2COL ? <enter> or 2COL <enter> will display a help screen. -Lxxx Each column will contain xxx lines of data. Line spacing will be automatically adjusted to approximately fill the page. Characters will be normal (pica) height until more than 102 lines/column are specified; printer will then shift to subscript mode allowing up to 220 lines/column. Default value is 88. A lower -L value gives more white space between lines. -Cxx Pages of text frequently contain many blank lines of data. Experience has shown that most of these can be discarded without sacrificing readability. This option specifies that when there are more than xx consecutive blank lines, the excess will be discarded. If you set xx=66, 2col will print each page in its original format without discarding any blank lines. The default value is 1. -Sxx This feature is useful if you have a paper jam or decide to print part now and part later. Using this option will cause xx pages to be skipped before printing begins. For example, specifying "-S2" will cause printing to begin with page 3. When using the -O or -E option remember to count all pages - odd and even. -O This and the -E option allow you to print on both sides of each sheet of paper. By specifying "-O", only the odd numbered pages will be printed. When printing is complete,reload the first page back into the printer with the blank side facing the print head and rerun 2col using the -E option. Alternatively, 2COL will ask you whether you want to print the even pages after it has finished printing the odd. Respond "Y" after the paper has been reloaded or type "X" to terminate. -E Prints only even numbered pages. When using this option after the -O option be sure to shift the paper about 1/2 inch to the right before starting to print, to allow space for hole punching or other binding requirements. -Wxx This option specifies how wide each column will be. Wrapping or truncating will begin at this position. It also determines the print density. If xx is 68 or less, the printer will use compressed mode (137 characters across the page). If xx is 69 or larger the printer will use compressed/elite (160 characters/line). If your printer does not support compressed/elite and you try to use it, you will end up with a mess. You should then specify xx as 68 and decide whether you want to truncate long lines or wrap them. You might want to reformat the document with a shareware word wrapping program.I can supply one when you register. See the "registration" section of this document for details. Due to printer limitations there is no space between columns when a column width of 80 is specified. When a width less than 80 is requested, one space is inserted between columns. -P Program will pause before printing each page. Hit any key to print a page. This option is useful if you are feeding single sheets to the printer. -Nx This will cause the filename,page and/or date to be printed in the lower left-hand corner of each sheet. To avoid confusion when using the -S, -O and -E options the page numbering is not reset for each document when multiple documents are specified on the command line(registered version only). If x=1 or blank only the filename and page number will be printed. If x=2 the current date will also print. -Dxx If you need to keep track of each source page, this option will print a dashed line with a page number in the middle whenever a form feed is encountered or after xx lines of data. If no xx value is specified 66 lines/page is assumed. Thus -D66 is the same as -D. Experience has shown that this option will be rarely used because most documents either number their own pages or it is just not important to keep track of original page breaks. -T Normally when lines longer than the specified column width are encountered, 2col will wrap the data to the next line. If you prefer to truncate or discard excess characters on a line, you should invoke this option. -G Sends control codes to enable full IBM graphics set (ASCII 128-255). The graphics set includes line drawing characters and foreign alphabets. This function is not for DeskJet. -Fx 2col will insert x blank lines at the top of each page before printing. The default is 0. -Mx CAUTION: IMPROPER USE OF THIS OPTION WILL CAUSE YOUR PRINTER TO PRINT PAST THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE. This command sets the left margin x spaces from the edge of the page. Default is 0. Use this option with caution! Most standard width printers only have 160 print positions across the page. If you insert spaces with a margin command, the printer will wrap characters that go past the 160th print position to the left side of the page, causing extra lines to be inserted. If you use a left margin of 5, for example, you might have to set the column width to -W77 to prevent wraparound (this is only necessary if printable characters would be pushed past the 160th column- blanks don't matter). The easiest way to achieve a left margin without having to worry about characters wrapping is to use the Automargin option (-Ux) described below. Given the limitations of standard width printers, it is suggested that you permanently shift your paper several spaces to the left. You can adjust your word processor margin settings to compensate, so that normal printing will be unaffected. -K Including this option on the command line allows any registered option listed below to be used, but only for a one page demo. This option allows you to explore the options available to registered users. -? Instructs 2COL to ask for files to print once it is running. You can specify files both on the command line and when 2COL asks for filenames. Separate the file names with spaces. This option is useful when 2COL is run from a menu or a Windows icon. -Q Adjusts line spacing for 24-pin printers. If you have a 24-pin printer and do not use this option, pages will print too long. -Jx Use this option whenever you are using a Deskjet printer. If x=0 or blank, 2col will not eject a page before printing. You can use this option if you have just printed with 2COL or if perf skip was not activated. If you have previously been printing with perf skip on, you must either push the reset button on the printer before running 2col or use -J1. -V This option prescans the document and tells you how many pages (odd+even) will print. If you are printing only odd or even, you must divide by two. If the last page is only partially filled you will be given the option to compress the line spacing to eliminate the partial page or increase the spacing to fill it. "C" compresses the lines. "E" expands the lines. "N" preserves the original spacing. If you are printing multiple documents without the Append (-A) option or using the fiXpage (-X) option, you will not be able to modify the line spacing. You can also enter a percentage value with the -V option. For example, entering -V35 will cause final pages which are more than 35% filled to be Expanded to fill the page and final pages less than 35% filled to be Compressed to eliminate the page. You can specify from -V1 to -V99. All prompts are bypassed in this mode. Note: It is impossible to always adjust the spacing to exactly fill the page. 2COL will come as close as possible. -&xx Wordwrap lines to a maximum of xx characters. When this option is off (default) 2COL will wrap in mid word. This wordwrap feature is intended for printing some word processor documents (such as .WRI,and WP Generic) where carriage return/ linefeeds occur only at the end of paragraphs. The current implementation is not intended to reformat a document to increase the length of lines which have CR/LFs at the end. When in filter mode (see below), wordwrap will also print Wordstar documents. Some wordprocessor programs imbed non-ASCII graphics and other control information in their files. The wordwrap feature normally eliminates ASCII characters outside of the range 32-126. This will greatly reduce but not eliminate "garbage" when printing these files. WRI files, for example, have graphics at the end and you will almost always see at least a few lines of garbage when printing unconverted .WRI files. If the -G (graphics) option is invoked on the command line ALL FILTERING WILL BE DISABLED and all characters ASCII 1-255 will be passed to the printer. Filter mode also deletes any line beginning with a period ".". This is for printing Wordstar documents. Automargin will automatically activate wordwrap when it sees long lines. Since Wordwrap filters out IBM graphics characters unless the -G option is specified, it is not advisable to leave it enabled all the time as a command line option. Invoke it when you need it or let automargin handle it. You can prevent Automargin from activating wordwrap by including -&- on the command line. IMPORTANT: Information which has been encoded in non-ASCII graphics format will not print in any readable form and will be lost. If an EOF (Control-Z) is embedded in the data, printing will stop at this point.Further data past an EOF will not print. Wordwrap is intended mainly as a convenience to provide an approximation of word processor documents. If you require perfect reproduction of the original document, you MUST first convert the document to pure ASCII before printing with 2COL. ***Options below are only in the registered version of 2col*** -Yx The -Y option allows you to modify 2COL's default settings. This MUST always be the first option on the command line whenever you use it. Typing "2COL -Y1 <enter>" will cause 2COL to display all current default settings. Typing "2COL -Y2 [options....] <enter>" will cause 2COL to permanently remember those options by modifying the 2COL.EXE program itself. Your personal registration code MUST always be one of the options specified whenever you modify the default settings. Whenever the -Y2 option is used, any options not specified on the command line will be reset to the standard defaults. Therefore, even if you change only one of your custom options, you must reenter them all at the same time. The next time you run 2COL the options you specified will automatically be used. For example, if you want to set the number of lines/page to 102 and print the page numbers at the bottom, you would type: 2COL -Y2 -L102 -N registration code# <enter>. The next time you type 2COL [filename] <enter> It would be as though you had typed: 2COL -L102 -N registration code [filename]. If there are several different option profiles you wish to use, you can create different copies of 2COL.EXE with different names, such as 2COL1.EXE, 2COL2.EXE, etc. The -Y2 option only modifies the EXE file having the same name and path that you type on the command line. All defaults with an 'x' value can be temporarily overridden with a different value on the commmand line. Use an 'x' value of 0 to temporarily deactivate Automargin or Pagefix. Any option without an 'x' value can be activated by simply putting it on the command line. To temporarily deactivate an option set as a permanent default, type a minus after the option. For example, to temporarily deactivate the N option, you would put -N- on the command line: 2COL -N- [filename] THIS FUNCTION WILL NOT WORK ON .EXE FILES THAT HAVE BEEN COMPRESSED WITH PKLITE. You must first decompress, use the -Y2 option and then recompress. -A When multiple files are specified on the command line (registered version only) you have the option of either starting a new page for each file (default) or appending them as though they were one continuous file. The -A option causes them to be appended. -Ux The aUtomargin function allows you to obtain as much margin as possible according to the format of the document. 2col scans the entire document before printing and adjusts the column width to gain as much space on the print line as possible. The space obtained is allocated to the left margin until the x value you entered is reached. The remaining space, if any, is then added to the right margin. If you have specified the -E option (to print on the reverse side of the page), the first available space is used to create a right margin (for binding) rather than a left margin. Automargin automatically turns on the wordwrap feature (-&) whenver lines longer than the columnwidth (-W) are encountered in a document and the truncate (-T) option is off. If you do NOT want wordwrap activated automatically include -&- on the command line. This is safer than truncating lines. -Zfilename Allows output to be routed to a file instead of to the printer. The file can then be printed in background while running other programs. For example, to send output to a file called PRINT.TXT, you should include -ZPRINT.TXT on the command line.If PRINT.TXT does not exist, it will be created. If PRINT.TXT already exists, 2col output will be appended to the end of the file. This command is only active in the registered version of 2col. This option can also be used to redirect output to LPT2, COM1, COM2, etc. -Xx Prints exactly x pages in each column preserving original page breaks and not suppressing consecutive blank lines. Thus the original page formatting is maintained. Allowed range of x is 1-3. A page length of 66 is assumed unless modified with the -D option. -X option page formats: x=1 x=2 x=3 111 222 111 333 111 444 111 222 111 333 111 444 111 222 111 333 111 222 222 555 111 222 222 555 111 222 222 444 111 222 222 444 333 666 111 222 222 444 333 666 -!xx Modifies line spacing so you can fill non-standard size paper. This would include legal or European paper. This option also allows you to finetune the pagefill amount of standard paper. Entering a positive value expands the spacing between lines. A negative value decreases spacing between lines. Although it depends on the printer, you should find that values in the 25-75 range will usually do the job. This option does not affect the printer's forms length adjustment. If you change paper you must modify the forms length setting before running 2COL. -J-2 Eliminates printer control commands. If you have a printer which has a non-standard command set, you can create your own command string to set up your printer, put it into a batch file and run it before running 2COL. 2COL will not send out any commands which could interfere with your manual setup. 2COL can be made to work with many printers this way, including Diablo 630, most IBM's, etc. 2COL's margin setting commands will not work in this mode. You would need to preset the margin as part of your setup string. Unregistered users can test this mode by using the demo (-K) option. You can also use this option to send output to a file for printing with sideways (landscape) print programs. Finally, you can use this option to create a 4 column format. Type:2COL Filename -J-2 -ztemp -&39 -w40. Then:2COL temp Examples: 2COL 2COL.DOC -L102 <enter> will print 102 lines/column 2COL 2COL.DOC -L102 -N will print 102 lines/column and number pages. 2COL 2COL.DOC -G -N will number pages and enable IBM graphics set. Using 2COL with a word processor The wordwrap feature (-&) provides a convenient, but not always perfect,way of printing many wordprocessor files(such as .WRI) In those cases where you cannot get a satisfactory printout directly from a document in its original form, most word processors have what is called an ASCII output or DOS output mode which 2COL will work with. If you are given a choice, it is usually best to convert without line breaks and use 2COL's wordwrap feature. I can supply WP and WFW macros which will allow you to print with 2COL, without leaving WP or WFW. You can print the document you are editing, with a single keystroke. See the registration section. I also supply to registered users conversion programs which may help you print other word processor formats with 2COL. Using 2COL with Microsoft Windows An icon and a PIF are provided for use with Windows. The PIF is configured for background printing. This will permit you to initiate the print process and then go off and do something else, much in the same way as you do with the Print Manager. You can also drag and drop files to be printed while in File Manager onto either 2COL.EXE(foreground) or 2COL.PIF(background). Program Abort Hitting Control-C (or Control-Break) will terminate the program immediately. The printer will not stop printing, however, until its buffer is empty. Distribution Permission is hereby given to copy and distribute this program as long as no more than $10 is charged. It must be made clear to the buyer that this is only a handling charge and not a registration fee. You must include all files in their original unmodified form when distributing this program. Catalog, rack and CD-ROM vendors must either read VENDOR.DOC for additional details or contact the author before distributing 2COL. Permission to distribute may be revoked by the author at any time for any reason. YOU MUST NOT DISTRIBUTE ANY COPY WHICH HAS BEEN BRANDED WITH A REGISTRATION CODE. A program can be unbranded by typing 2COL -Y2 <enter>. All trademarks used in this document are the property of their owners. -Tony Caine- Fidonet: 1:125/28 TONY CAINE Internet: tony.caine@f28.n125.z1.fidonet.org