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PRINTGL 1.16 REFERENCE (C) Copyright Ravitz Software Inc. 1990,1991 Ravitz Software Inc. P.O. Box 25068 Lexington, KY 40524-5068 USA p-1 Contents ------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction ..................................................... 2 License and Registration 3 What Is New ...................................................... 4 Installation 5 Operation ........................................................ 6 Syntax 7 Messages ......................................................... 8 Overview of Options 9 /A - Location Option ............................................. 9 /C - Pen Color Option 10 /D - Output Destination Option .................................. 10 /F - Output Format Option 11 /I - Scaling Point Location Option .............................. 13 /J, /K - Printer Code Prefix, Suffix Options 13 /L - Page Layout Option ......................................... 14 /M - Magnification Option 15 /N - Page Number Option ......................................... 15 /O - Origin and Orientation Option 15 /P - Plotfile Option ............................................ 16 /R - Internal Resolution Option 16 /S - Pen Shading Option ......................................... 16 /T - Temporary File Option 16 /W - Pen Width Option ........................................... 17 /X - Suppress Messages Option 17 /Y - Y/D Switch Setting Option .................................. 17 /Z - Chord Angle Option 17 PrintGL Menu Interface (PMI) .................................... 18 PMI Specific Functions 18 PMI Input and Output Choices .................................... 19 PMI Plot Options 19 PMI Pen Options ................................................. 19 PMI Page Layout Options 20 PMI Other Options ............................................... 20 Display Output 21 Canon BJ Printers ............................................... 21 Canon LBP Printers 21 Epson 9 Pin Printers ............................................ 22 Epson, NEC 24 Pin Printers 22 HP-GL Output .................................................... 22 HP LaserJet, DeskJet 23 HP PaintJet ..................................................... 23 HP QuietJet 23 IBM ExecJet ..................................................... 23 IBM LaserPrinter 23 IBM Proprinter .................................................. 23 IBM Proprinter X24 and Compatible Printers 24 IBM Quietwriter 2 and 3 ......................................... 24 Kodak Diconix Color 4 24 PostScript Printers ............................................. 24 GEM .IMG Bit Map Output 25 ZSoft .PCX Bit Map Output ....................................... 25 HP-GL Commands 26 HP-GL Character Sets ............................................ 35 Compatibility and Technical Information 37 User Support .................................................... 38 p-2 Introduction --------------------------------------------------------- PrintGL is a shareware pen plotter emulator for IBM/DOS systems. It prints or displays an HP-GL (Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language - HP 7475 and 7440/17440 subset) plotfile on most PC graphics devices. HP-GL is widely supported by CAD, drawing, plotting, and other graphics programs including AutoCAD, Generic CADD, MathCAD, SAS, and Schema. PrintGL will print on Epson, IBM, and NEC compatible 9 and 24 pin printers, HP LaserJet, DeskJet, PaintJet, QuietJet, and plotters, IBM ExecJet, Quietwriter 2 and 3, LaserPrinter, and plotters, Canon LBP and BJ printers, Kodak Color 4, and PostScript printers. It will also display plots with a CGA, EGA, VGA, enhanced VGA, or HGC, and output a ZSoft .PCX or GEM .IMG bit map file. Even if your graphics program supports your printer, you will probably find that PrintGL is faster, gives better print quality, and/or gives more formatting flexibility. PrintGL uses the best graphics modes available for each printer that it supports and uses transfer data compression to improve print speed on many printers. And it gives options such as orientation, magnification, position, and pen width, color, and shading. If you need printed graphics output from personal software, you can output HP-GL and use PrintGL to do the printing. This gives immediate support to a wide range of printers. And it lets you use the HP 17440 command set while still supporting lower function plotters. PrintGL interprets all of the HP 7475 and 7440/17440 (ColorPro with GEC) command set that is applicable to plotfiles except for character set 8 (Katakana). None of the digitize, output, or device control commands (except plotter on and off) are supported as these are only used with direct control of a plotter. And the error mask command is not supported. In addition to the HP 7475 and 7440/17440 commands, PrintGL handles paper feed commands and proportional fonts from the HP 7550 command set. PrintGL can be run from the DOS command line (and .BAT files) or from PrintGL Menu Interface (PMI). PMI is a menu driven program that lets you choose PrintGL options, select a list of plotfiles, and run PrintGL. This simplifies the selection of PrintGL's many options and lets you run multiple plotfiles without intervention. PMI lets you save three configurations, so after initial setup you can use PrintGL with minimal effort. This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006 or send a Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. p-3 License and Registration --------------------------------------------- PrintGL (including PrintGL Menu Interface) is provided as is. There are no warranties expressed or implied. PrintGL is distributed as shareware. You may use PrintGL without charge on a trial basis to determine its suitability for you. If you continue to use it after your evaluation, a $40 registration is requested. This registration covers use by a single person (on multiple computers) or installation on a single computer (may be used by a group of people). There is no cost to use a later 1.** version after registering any 1.** version. You may distribute PrintGL as a stand alone product if you keep the entire package together, unchanged, including this license explanation, and do not charge more than $10. You may not distribute PrintGL as part of another product. To register your copy of PrintGL, send your name, address, and $40 check, and specify PrintGL 1.16, to: Ravitz Software Inc. P.O. Box 25068 Lexington, KY 40524-5068 USA You will be sent a printed manual and current disk (specify 3 1/2 or 5 1/4). If you previously registered PrintGL, you may send $15 to get a current disk and manual. Multi-user licenses are $40 for the first copy (with disk and manual) and thereafter $30 per copy with disk and manual or $20 per copy without disk or manual. If you are interested in using PrintGL as a printer driver in a commercial program, send a note. Special license agreements are available for this. For users outside the USA, please make checks payable in US dollars, and except for Canada, please use a check or money order from a US bank if possible. p-4 What Is New ---------------------------------------------------------- For version 1.16: clarification of Canon BJ / IBM ExecJet drivers fixes bug in BJ130 driver (/FJ) HP QuietJet, ZSoft .PCX, Kodak Color 4 output formats compression mode drivers for 24 pin printers the PaintJet driver now uses data transfer mode 1 new LaserJet 2P/3, DeskJet driver (/FI) uses transfer mode 2 = symbol replaced by ! for alternate drivers (= still works) ~ in /F option suppresses color processing on color printers /J and /K option lets you send codes to the printer before and after the usual data is sent /FB (flat bit map) has been dropped /FV+ (720x540 EVGA) has been dropped - /FV+ is now 800x600 EVGA For version 1.14: new license agreement, printed manual HP-GL, PostScript, Canon LBP, Canon BJ, IBM ExecJet output HP 7550 polygon commands, proportional fonts are supported destination files can be appended improved clipping window handling improved line dash patterns improved margin precision revised colors (generally backward compatible) For version 1.12: HP 7475 command set support GEM .IMG output format alternate LaserJet driver is faster and uses less printer memory For version 1.07: plotfile masks are supported /X[S[F]][U] option suppresses messages PrintGL Menu Interface is included with the PrintGL package For version 1.05: DOS environment variable PRINTGL can be used to set defaults For version 1.04: /F9* supports NEC 24 pin printers in 360x360 dpi mode For version 1.02: any 800x600 VGA is supported with /FV*modenum The latest version of PrintGL is available from the support bulletin board at 606-268-0577 (1200/2400,N,8,1 24 hours/day, XMODEM or YMODEM (1K XMODEM) download), packed in .ZIP format. p-5 Installation --------------------------------------------------------- The PrintGL package includes these files: PRINTGL.EXE program PRINTGL.DOC documentation CHARSET.PLT HP-GL character set plotfile PMI.EXE menu interface program SAMPLE.PLT sample plotfile README.* quick information To install PrintGL copy the distribution files to your working disk or directory. PRINTGL.EXE is a stand alone executable file. There are no extra printer driver files or overlays. PRINTGL.DOC is this manual. You can print it with "COPY PRINTGL.DOC PRN" (39 pages). The HP-GL character sets may be printed with the command PRINTGL CHARSET.PLT /M1 /AO0,0 and a /F option specific to your printer, and inserted in the manual. PMI.EXE is the executable file for PrintGL Menu Interface. PMI needs to be able to find itself (PMI.EXE) and PRINTGL.EXE, so both of these files should be in a directory that is in your DOS PATH. SAMPLE.PLT is a sample plotfile to help you try out PrintGL. The README.* files are not needed to run PrintGL, but they must accompany the rest of the files if you distribute the package. p-6 Operation ------------------------------------------------------------ PrintGL reads a plotfile, does arc, character, fill, etc. to line conversion, stores the data in a coordinate list, and if needed, puts the list on disk. It then reorients the data and determines the plot size. Next the data is resized and relocated. For vector output formats (HP-GL, PostScript) data is output from here. For bit mapped devices (most printers, displays, bit maps) the coordinate list is rasterized and output in swaths. You are likely to see the printer print a swath and stop while PrintGL is processing the next swath. When you display a plot, press Esc to return to the DOS text screen. Ctrl-Break stops PrintGL at the next break point. Ctrl-Break is ignored when PrintGL is waiting for user input. PrintGL works within a printer's current margins and starts at the current vertical print position. If you decline the form feed suboption of the /L option then PrintGL leaves the printer at the start of the line directly below the plot. All printing is done in printer lines that cover the full height of the printhead. PrintGL will not automatically change a printer's operating mode. On multi-mode printers, the right operating mode must be set before running PrintGL or with the /J option. Internally PrintGL uses two byte coordinates on a 1016 dots/inch grid. This allows for plots with coordinates of over 30 inches - far larger than an HP 7475 can handle. However, if you are using PrintGL to emulate a large plotter, you may overflow the internal coordinate system. This condition is not checked, and it will cause garbage output. You can change the internal resolution to 508 dots per inch (giving 60 inch maximum plot sizes) with the /R option (/R508). This only helps store the original plot internally. The next step in PrintGL converts these coordinates to the requested size in the resolution of the output device, and these coordinates must also fit in the two byte coordinate list. p-7 Syntax --------------------------------------------------------------- The calling syntax of PrintGL is: PRINTGL plotfile /option1 /option2 ... Spaces between parameters are not required. The plotfile may be specified with the /P option if it is inconvenient to make it the first parameter. If a given option is entered more than once, only the last entry is used. And if an option is invalid (but not incorrect), it is ignored. This lets you set up a batch file with your preferred options but override them as desired. For example, create PHP.BAT with the line: PRINTGL /FL /M1 /P %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 Then PHP can be called just like PRINTGL but it defaults to HP LaserJet format with magnification 1. The DOS environment variable PRINTGL is examined by PrintGL and if it is nonblank then it is put in front of the command line parameters. If you put "SET PRINTGL=/FL/M1" in your AUTOEXEC.BAT then PrintGL will default to LaserJet format with magnification 1. This is ignored when running under PrintGL Menu Interface. If you do not enter any parameters or if any parameter is incorrect, PrintGL displays its option reminder screen. Below, [ and ] enclose optional suboptions and | separates mutually exclusive suboptions. The options and suboptions may be in any order except that multiple numeric suboptions are ordered. "c" refers to a suboption character, "x" and "y" to suboption numbers, "i" and "j" to suboption integers, "b" to a suboption byte, and "f" to a DOS file or device name. For numbers (x, y), a decimal point is allowed but is not required, and scientific notation is not allowed. "-" is allowed but not "+". For integer input (i, j), only base ten integers from 0 to 32767 are allowed. A byte (b) must be a base ten integer from 0 to 255 or a hexadecimal number prefixed with $ from $00 to $FF. Further range checking is done for most options to flag unreasonable input. If an option has multiple numeric suboptions, these may be separated with commas or blanks. ******************************************************************** It is very important to choose the right output format (/F option). It is likely that the default output format will work on your printer, but it is equally likely that it will not produce optimal results. Please look carefully at the entire list of output formats before choosing one, and do not assume that because a format works that it is the best one to use. ******************************************************************** p-8 Messages ------------------------------------------------------------- PrintGL displays a number of messages to keep you informed of what it is doing. The output looks like this. Reading SAMPLE.PLT Plotfile has 1 page(s) Processing page 1 2283 data records Overall magnification 0.9964 Print window Horizontal 0.00 7.54 Vertical 0.00 10.14 Plot area Horizontal 0.42 7.13 Vertical 0.61 9.54 Output format /FN 120x72 dots/inch (HxV) Writing to device LPT3 The first line is the plotfile that is currently being processed. The second line tells how many pages are in the plotfile, which page is being processed, and the number of data points in that page. The number of data points is the number of pen moves in the page and is shown to give you an indication of the plot's complexity. The overall magnification is either the magnification that you specified with the /M option or the effective magnification after fitting to the print window with /MF. The print window line gives the horizontal and vertical coordinates of the print window, always starting at 0,0 and in inches. The plot area gives the horizontal and vertical coordinates of a box that just covers the plotted data. This uses the same coordinate system as the print window, so you can tell where the plot is relative to the print window. The output format and resolution are given and then the output device is noted (except for screen plots). If three plane color is being used, the word "color" is displayed. If you have a black only printer, but the output format allows color (this is common with 9 and 24 pin printers), using color will triple the PrintGL run time with no improvement in print quality. During processing, PrintGL informs you when it is processing and writing data, and you can watch the progress from 0% to 100%, along with the elapsed time. p-9 Overview of Options -------------------------------------------------- PrintGL's options fall into several categories. The first is input and output choices. The input plot is chosen with /P, the plotfile, and /N, the page number. The output options are /F, the output format (printer model), and /D, the destination port, device, or file. The second category is the page layout, which is all contained in the /L option. This includes the size and location of the print window (which defines the hard clip limits of the plot), and the option to box the window, and send a form feed. The third category defines how the plot looks within the print window. /M, the magnification, sets the size of the plot. /A determines the location of the plot within the print window. /O sets the origin and orientation, and is used to rotate or mirror the plot. /I sets the initial scaling points as if you had set them from the front panel of the plotter. The fourth category defines the pens, /W for the width, /C for the color, and /S for the shade. And the last category determines how PrintGL processes the plot. This includes the temporary file /T, the default and minimum chord angle /Z, the plotter Y/D switch position /Y, the internal resolution /R, /X which suppresses output messages, and /J and /K which let you set up and reset the printer for special situations. /A - Location Option ------------------------------------------------- /A[O][x,y] - location - default /A The A option determines the location of the plot in the print window by specifying a point on the plot that is to be aligned with a point in the print window. You can specify the plot alignment point with x,y in inches from the plot's origin (before PrintGL's magnification is applied), or let it default to the plot center. For the print window alignment point, you can default to the center or specify the origin with O. By default, the plot center is aligned with the print window center. /A puts the center of the plot at the center of the print /AO0,0 puts the plot 0,0 at the print origin p-10 /C - Pen Color Option ------------------------------------------------ /Cc.. - color - default /CK The C option specifies the color of each of the eight pens. The colors are B for blue, C for cyan, G for green, K or L for black, M for magenta, R for red, W for white, and Y for yellow. Unspecified pens use the last selected color (/CRGB is the same as /CRGBBBBBB). If the output format does not allow color or color is suppressed in the /F option then every color except white is converted to black. All colors are ored into the plot, starting with a white background. White is useful for ignoring a pen and with shade mixed colors. Additional colors can be created with shade mixing. These colors use shading patterns to mix the eight pure colors. The format for a mixed color is .?? where each ? represents any of the eight pure colors. The first color is plotted with the pen's shading pattern (/S option) and the second is plotted with the inverse shading pattern. If the shade value is 0 (solid) it is replaced by 2 (one pel checkerboard) which produces the most uniform mixed colors. The mixed colors need line widths of at least 2 (4 for 2 pel shading patterns) to look good, and they may have visual artifacts on edges near 45 degree angles. Multipass dot matrix formats may not handle color mixing very well. Only a few of the printers that PrintGL supports can handle color. These are marked with ~ in the printer list (see /F option). Shading may be used to emulate color on black only printers (see /S option). /CK sets pen 1..8 to black /CKR.MB.KY sets pen 1 to black pen 2 to red pen 3 to magenta on blue pen 4..8 to black on yellow /D - Output Destination Option --------------------------------------- /D[+]f - destination - default /D1 The D option specifies the output printer port, device, or file. The + suboption causes files to be appended rather than overwritten (it has no effect on printer port or device output). 1, 2, or 3 causes PrintGL to use the BIOS printer routines, bypassing DOS. This is normally faster than using the DOS device (LPT1, LPT2, LPT3), but it may cause problems with print spoolers or multitasking systems. If your printer is attached to a serial port, specify /DCOM1, /DCOM2, etc. PrintGL cannot set up the port. This is usually done in the AUTOEXEC.BAT with MODE (probably MODE COM1:9600,N,8,1,P). /D is ignored for display output. /D2 sends output to the second parallel port via BIOS /DLPT3 sends output to the DOS device LPT3 /D+TEMP.PRN appends output to file TEMP.PRN p-11 /F - Output Format Option -------------------------------------------- /Fc[-│+[b]|*|i,j][!][~] - output format - default /FN~ The F option specifies the output format. -, +, and * are resolution modifiers, ! selects a compression mode driver, and ~ turns off color processing on color printers. -, +, *, !, and ~ are allowed even where they have no effect. The display mode numbers may be entered in hex by prefixing them with $. For bit maps you can choose a specific resolution. Resolutions are given in horizontal x vertical dots/inch. Drivers marked below with ! have a compression mode driver, selected with "!". This may be very useful, but it depends on your printer and computer. These drivers compress the output data by breaking bit map strips with printhead positioning commands. This saves data transmission time but uses more processing time. So you may find that on a slow computer they take more time than the regular driver. Some printers may spend more time positioning the printhead than is saved by not sending the data. And some printers may not position the printhead as accurately as needed for good results. Drivers marked below with ~ are color devices. Using ~ suppresses color processing, substituting black for all colors except white. /F1 IBM Proprinter .................................. 120x72 /F1+ IBM Proprinter (2 pass) 120x144 /F2 IBM Quietwriter 2 ............................... 240x240 /F3 IBM Quietwriter 3 240x240 /F4- IBM LaserPrinter (PPDS mode) .................... 150x150 /F4 ! IBM LaserPrinter (PPDS mode) 300x300 /F5 ! IBM X24 compatibles alternate 1 ................. 180x180 /F5+ ! IBM X24 compatibles alternate 1 (2 pass) 360x180 /F6 ! IBM Proprinter X24 .............................. 180x182 /F6+ ! IBM Proprinter X24 (2 pass) 360x182 /F7- ! IBM ExecJet, Canon BJ (Proprinter mode) ......... 180x180 /F7 ! IBM ExecJet, Canon BJ (Proprinter mode) 360x360 /F8 HP-GL .......................................... 1016x1016 /F9 !~ NEC 24 pin printers 180x180 /F9+ !~ NEC 24 pin printers (2 pass) .................... 360x180 /F9* !~ NEC 24 pin printers (4 pass) 360x360 /FC CGA display ...................................... 62x25 /FD- Canon LBP (ISO mode) 150x150 /FD ! Canon LBP (ISO mode) ............................ 300x300 /FE ~ 128K EGA color display 62x45 /FG ~ GEM .IMG bit map ................................ 100x100 /FGi,j ~ GEM .IMG bit map ixj /FH Hercules graphics card display ................... 70x45 /FI- HP LaserJet 2P/3, DeskJet 150x150 /FI HP LaserJet 2P/3, DeskJet ....................... 300x300 /FJ- Canon BJ (BJ130 mode) 180x180 /FJ Canon BJ (BJ130 mode) ........................... 360x360 /FK ~ Kodak Diconix Color 4 192x192 /FL- HP LaserJet compatible printers ................. 150x150 /FL ! HP LaserJet compatible printers 300x300 p-12 /FM 128K EGA monochrome display ...................... 62x45 /FN ~ Epson 9 pin compatible printers 120x72 /FN+ ~ Epson 9 pin compatible printers (3 pass) ........ 120x216 /FN* ~ Epson 9 pin compatible printers (6 pass) 240x216 /FP !~ HP PaintJet ..................................... 180x180 /FQ HP QuietJet (PCL mode) 192x192 /FS PostScript printers ............................ 1016x1016 /FT !~ Epson 24 pin compatible printers 180x180 /FT+ !~ Epson 24 pin compatible printers (2 pass) ....... 360x180 /FT* !~ Epson 24 pin compatible printers (4 pass) 360x360 /FV ~ VGA display ...................................... 62x62 /FV+ ~ 800x600 VGA display - mode $64 78x78 /FV+b ~ 800x600 VGA display - mode b ..................... 78x78 /FX ! IBM X24 compatibles alternate 2 180x180 /FX+ ! IBM X24 compatibles alternate 2 (2 pass) ........ 360x180 /FZ ~ ZSoft .PCX 100x100 /FZi,j ~ ZSoft .PCX ........................................ ixj Most 9 pin printers, including the IBM Graphics Printer, work best with the /FN drivers, even if they claim Proprinter rather than Epson compatibility. 9 pin printers with 1/144 inch indexing, such as the IBM Proprinter, may work better with the /F1 drivers. Most Proprinter X24 compatible printers, including the IBM Quickwriter, work best with /F5 or /FX. /F6 is only for the IBM Proprinter X24, XL24, X24E, and XL24E. The Canon BJ130E, BJ10E, BJ300, and BJ330 are compatible with the IBM ExecJet and work best with the /F7 driver. p-13 /I - Scaling Point Location Option ----------------------------------- /IA|R|W[N] - IP point location - default /IA The I option sets the initial scaling points (P1, P2 - the scaling points may be set in the HP-GL file with the IP command). A (absolute) sets the points to the default for the paper size (see below). R fits P1 and P2 to the print window with at least .25 inch margins and an x/y ratio of 10/7.2 (the same ratio as the HP 7475 with small paper). W fits P1 and P2 to the print window with a .25 inch margin. N makes the margin 0 for R or W and is ignored with A. The default scaling points depend on the paper size (/L option) and the plot orientation (/O option). paper options default scaling pts with RO90 command A /O1 /L 7.84,10.20 250,596 10250, 7796 154,244 7354,10244 A4 /O1 /L 7.60,10.88 603,521 10603, 7721 0,610 7200,10610 B /O1 /L10.20,16.38 522,259 15722,10259 283,934 10283,16134 A3 /O1 /L10.88,15.90 170,602 15370,10602 607,797 10607,15997 A /O2 /L10.20, 7.84 250,596 10250, 7796 154,244 7354,10244 A4 /O2 /L10.88, 7.60 603,521 10603, 7721 0,610 7200,10610 B /O2 /L16.38,10.20 522,259 15722,10259 283,934 10283,16134 A3 /O2 /L15.90,10.88 170,602 15370,10602 607,797 10607,15997 anything else 250,279 10250,7479 279,250 7479,10250 /O3 and /O4 gives the same default scaling points as /O1 and /O2. The default paper size is 7.54 by 10.14, the HP 7470 standard paper size. This causes "anything else" values. This is because a number of printers can't handle the slightly larger HP 7475 A size plots. You must use the /L option to get HP 7475 standard paper sizes. /IA uses the default scaling points /IWN sets the scaling points to fit the print window /J, /K - Printer Code Prefix, Suffix Options ------------------------- /J[b,b,..] - printer code prefix - default /J /K[b,b,..] - printer code suffix - default /K /J lets you send codes to the printer before PrintGL's usual data is sent and /K lets you send codes after PrintGL's usual data is sent. This lets you set up and reset the printer for special situations. These are not needed in the normal use of PrintGL. The codes are specified with byte values (0..255 or $0..$FF) separated with blanks or commas. There is a limit of 64 characters for any option, so very long sequences must be handled outside of PrintGL. /J27 79 sets skip perforation off to allow plots larger than one page on most continuous form printers /K10 10 sends two line feeds after the plot p-14 /L - Page Layout Option ---------------------------------------------- /L[B][F][R][x,y[,x,y]] - page layout - default depends on printer The L option defines the page layout. B boxes the plot at the print window edge using pen 8. F causes a form feed after the plot. This is ignored for bit maps and display output. R reverses the colors on displays and bit maps and is otherwise ignored. This gives the equivalent of a photographic negative. The first optional x and y are the print window width and height in inches rounded to .01. These define the hard clip limits. These values are not checked against your printer's capabilities. If you specify a print window that exceeds the output device limits, the results are unknown. You may need to reset your printer's margins, maximum line length, or page length to get large plots. The size needed for a given width and height exceeds x and y by 8 pels to allow for line widths. The second optional x and y are the left and top margins, measured from the printer's left margin and current vertical position to the print window. The top margin is modified to match the printer's native indexing, but is accurate to .02 inch. The margins for HP-GL and PostScript are measured from the device's 0,0 (left, bottom) since that is the starting point for these devices. Margins are ignored for display output and bit maps. Each printer has a default page layout. The default print window is 7.54x10.14 for printers and bit maps and 10.14x7.54 for HP-GL and displays. (150 dpi page printer formats default to a height of 10.11 to keep the picture on one page.) These correspond to HP 7470 A size paper. This is the done because some printers can't handle the extra .06 inch length of the HP 7475 A size. The margins are printer specific to compensate for different default margins. In evaluating user options, PrintGL processes each option and when finished reprocesses the default page layout for the last chosen printer and then reprocesses the last user /L option. This procedure gives good default values so that your /L option can change the letter or size suboptions and still have good margins. /LB7.5,3,.5,0 makes the print window 7.5 inches wide and 3 inches high, with a .5 inch left margin and no top margin, boxes the window, and does not do a form feed /LF7.54,10.14 sets HP 7470 A size paper /LF7.54,10.74 sets HP 7470 A4 size paper /LF7.84,10.20 sets HP 7475 A size paper /LF7.60,10.88 sets HP 7475 A4 size paper /LF10.20,16.38 sets HP 7475 B size paper /LF10.88,15.90 sets HP 7475 A3 size paper p-15 /M - Magnification Option -------------------------------------------- /M[F]x - magnification - default /MF.9 The M option specifies the magnification. F fits the plot to the printer window size. The default is /MF.9 which makes the plot 90% of the largest size that will fit in the printer window. /M1 gives the same size plot as an HP 7475 plotter. /MF.9 fits the plot to the print window and shrinks it 10% /M1 plots at the same size as an HP 7475 /M.5 plots at half the size of an HP 7475 /N - Page Number Option ---------------------------------------------- /N[i] - page number - default /N Ni says to print only page i of the plotfile. If you do not specify i then all pages in the plot will be printed (this is the default). /N prints all pages in the plotfile /N3 prints only page 3 /O - Origin and Orientation Option ----------------------------------- /O[1|2|3|4[L]] - origin, orientation - default /O The O option sets the printer's origin and orientation. The origin is one of four corners numbered 1..4 for upper left, lower left, lower right, and upper right. The L suboption specifies a left handed coordinate system (this should never be needed). If no origin is specified then printers use /O1 and displays and plotters use /O2. This best matches the plotter's width/height ratio. Here are pictures of PrintGL's view of the output media compared to an HP 7475's view, to help with choosing a /O option. HP 7475 PrintGL display or A size B size printer plotter y┌────────┐ 0,0┌────────┐y ul┌──────┐ur ul┌────────┐ur │ │ │ │ 1│ │4 1│ │4 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 0,0└────────┘x │ │ │ │ ll└────────┘lr │ │ │ │ 2 3 │ │ ll└──────┘lr │ │ 2 3 x└────────┘ /O1 puts the print window's origin in the upper left corner /O2 puts the print window's origin in the lower left corner p-16 /P - Plotfile Option ------------------------------------------------- /Pf - plotfile - no default The plotfile may be specified as the first parameter with no prefix, or it may be specified anywhere in the option list with /P. If you use a file name mask with "*" and/or "?", each matching file is processed, but the first failure or user break stops all processing. /R - Internal Resolution Option -------------------------------------- /Ri - internal resolution - default /R1016 /R sets the internal grid resolution in dots/inch. It is normally 1016 and rarely needs to be changed. To fit very large plots into the -32768..32767 coordinate limit, use /R508. Setting the resolution to a multiple of the output device resolution times the magnification may yield a small improvement in print quality. /S - Pen Shading Option ---------------------------------------------- /Sc.. - pen shading patterns - default /S0 /S assigns a shading pattern to each pen. Unspecified pens use the last specified shade. The shade values are 0..8. 0 is the default solid line. 1..4 are 1 dot patterns (75%, 50%, 25%, 12.5%) and need line widths of at least three to give good looking lines. 5..8 are 2x2 dot patterns (75%, 50%, 25%, 12.5%) and need line widths of at least five to give good looking lines. Some printers may wash out shading because they have a dot size that is large relative to the dot spacing. This is often the case with dot matrix printers in multipass modes. 1 █▀█▀█▀█▀ 2 ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄ 3 ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ 4 ▀ ▀ █▀█▀█▀█▀ ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ █▀█▀█▀█▀ ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ █▀█▀█▀█▀ ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ 5 ████████ 6 ██ ██ 7 ██ ██ 8 ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ████████ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ /S023 sets pen 1 to solid pen 2 to 1 pel checkerboard pen 3..8 to 1 pel dots /T - Temporary File Option ------------------------------------------- /T[+]f - temporary file - default /TPRINTGL.TMP PrintGL uses a temporary file when it does not have enough memory to handle a plotfile. You can use /T to put it on a RAM disk for extra speed. If you have 256K of free memory, it is likely that PrintGL will never use a temporary file. You can force the use of a temporary file, if the plot has over 1024 data points, with +. If you use a RAM disk this may speed printing. p-17 /W - Pen Width Option ------------------------------------------------ /Wc.. - pen widths - default /WA The W option assigns a line width to each pen (1..8). Each width may be 1..8 pels or A..H for the default width of the output format plus 0..7 (maximum 8). Unassigned pens use the last assigned width. The default line width is 1 for all output formats except non-impact printers of a least than 240 dpi, which default to 2. /WA sets pen 1..8 to the default width for the chosen printer /WABC123 sets pen 1 to the default width for the chosen printer pen 2 to the default width + 1 pel pen 3 to the default width + 2 pel pen 4 to 1 pel pen 5 to 2 pels pen 6..8 to 3 pels /X - Suppress Messages Option ---------------------------------------- /X[S[F]][U] - suppress messages - default /X The X option lets you suppress some PrintGL messages. The S suboption suppresses location and size messages. With S you can also specify F, which suppresses file names and page numbers, substituting "Plot 1", "Plot 2", etc. The U suboption suppresses unsupported command messages. /X gives all the normal messages /XS gives only the most important messages /Y - Y/D Switch Setting Option --------------------------------------- /YD|Y - Y/D switch setting - default /YD The Y option sets the plotter's rear panel Y/D switch to D or Y. Y starts with the plotter off and responds to esc.(, esc.Y, esc.), and esc.Z commands. D starts with the plotter on and ignores these commands. /YD puts the YD switch in the usual D position /Z - Chord Angle Option ---------------------------------------------- /Zi,j - default and minimum chord angle - default /Z10,5 The HP 7475 defaults to a chord angle of 5 and has no minimum. Because PrintGL stores each chord in a circle in its internal database, this can be very time consuming. And because of the low resolution of printers it does not produce a corresponding improvement in print quality. The Z option specifies the default and minimum chord angles. The default is /Z10,5. For better emulation use /Z5,2. /Z5,2 sets the default chord angle to 5 degrees, and the minimum to 2 degrees p-18 PrintGL Menu Interface (PMI) ----------------------------------------- PrintGL Menu Interface (PMI) is a menu driven program that lets you select PrintGL options, choose a list of plotfiles, and run PrintGL. To run PrintGL Menu Interface, enter PMI at the DOS prompt, and press Enter. There are no command line options. The PMI main menu is displayed at the top of the screen, and the bottom of the screen is used differently for each main menu option. The PMI main menu is divided into six groups - the top row and five columns. Each group is described below. When the cursor is on a main menu item, the current value of the corresponding option is displayed below the main menu. To modify that value, press Enter (or the left mouse button). The options are modified with cursor movement and sometimes entering numeric values. The Enter key returns you to the main menu with the new option values. Esc (or the right mouse button) returns you to the main menu with the option values unchanged. Whenever a cursor bar has a notch, the value within the notch may be edited. PMI Specific Functions ----------------------------------------------- The top row of main menu options is dedicated to PMI functions. These include running PrintGL, switching to alternate settings, exiting PMI, saving the current PMI settings, and setting PMI options. R runs PrintGL from any main menu cursor location, but PrintGL messages will not be saved unless the cursor is on "run PrintGL". The "alt settings" item rotates between three PMI configurations. The current configuration number is on line 2 column 1. The "save settings" item saves the current PMI configurations. All of the current PrintGL and PMI options for each configuration are saved. The plotfile list is not saved. PMI saves its configuration by writing to PMI.EXE. To find PMI.EXE it looks in the current directory and then searches the DOS PATH, saving to the first PMI.EXE that it finds. The "menu options" item lets you configure PMI mouse sensitivity, screen colors, and up to five initial plotfile masks. Screen colors are specified with the standard IBM BIOS attributes. For color displays, the left hex digit is the background color and the right hex digit is the foreground color. Bright colors are not available in the background. 0 black 4 red 8 gray (bright) C bright red 1 blue 5 magenta 9 bright blue D bright magenta 2 green 6 brown A bright green E bright yellow 3 cyan 7 white B bright cyan F bright white p-19 PMI Input and Output Choices ----------------------------------------- Column one of the main menu lets you choose the plotfiles to plot (the /P option in PrintGL), the plot page number (/N), the output destination (/D), and the output format (/F). You may enter up to 99 plotfiles in the "plotfile" main menu option. To choose from a list of files, enter a mask name and press Enter (the cursor must be on the mask). PMI will then display a list of corresponding files. Select any number of the files by moving the cursor to the desired file and pressing Space (or the middle mouse button). If no files have been selected, then pressing Enter selects the file under the cursor. The selected files are added to the file list at or below the cursor. Files that would overflow the 99th position on the plotfile list are dropped. When you run PrintGL, PMI runs PrintGL for each file on the plotfile list. Masks are ignored. For any plotfiles that PrintGL does not successfully process, PMI inserts an arrow in front of the plotfile name. You can view the results from the "plotfile" main menu item. The arrow is not considered part of the file name by PMI, so you do not need to remove it to retry PrintGL. A number of printers in the output format list are marked with "!". These are compression mode drivers that may run faster than the normal drivers (see the ! suboption of the /F option). Printers that support color have a color option. This lets you specify a black/white printer even though you may have set up colors with the "pen color" menu. Output formats that do not support color do not have this option and always convert the selected colors to black and white. PMI Plot Options ----------------------------------------------------- The second column of main menu options define how the plot will appear on the page. The options include magnification (/M), orientation (/O), position (/A), and initial scaling points (/I). Left handed orientations are not available from PMI. PMI Pen Options ------------------------------------------------------ The third column of main menu options covers the pen characteristics: color (/C), shade (/S), and width (/W). Each of these menus use the up and down cursor keys to select a pen, and the left and right cursor keys to choose an attribute. For color selection, the one character colors (l,b,c,g,m,r,y) represent pure colors, and the two character colors are shade pattern mixes. The shade pattern mixed colors use the current shading option for that pen, unless the shade pattern is 100% (solid), in which case a one pel checkerboard is used. p-20 PMI Page Layout Options ---------------------------------------------- The fourth column of main menu options covers the page layout. Each item is a suboption of the /L option - box, form feed, print window, and left and top margins. Reverse image displays and bit maps are not available from PMI. PMI Other Options ---------------------------------------------------- Options that are generally set once and then never touched are in column 5. These include the temporary file name (/T), and under "other", the default and minimum chord angle (/Z), plotter D/Y switch setting (/Y), internal resolution (/R), and printer code prefix (/J) and suffix (/K) options. p-21 Display Output ------------------------------------------------------- /FC drives a CGA, but does not give color. The CGA card has no graphics mode that supports the eight colors used by PrintGL. The EGA drivers (/FE, /FM) require a 128K or 256K EGA. If you have a 64K EGA, the CGA (/FC) driver will work. /FM is for an EGA card with a digital (TTL) monochrome monitor attached. If your display adaptor supports Hercules modes, /FH will give better resolution. /FH supports the Hercules monochrome graphics card. There is no additional support for the Hercules InColor card. /FV works with any VGA card. /FV+ requires a VGA card and multisync monitor that support 800x600 mode. PrintGL sets up the screen by setting BIOS display mode $64 ($ means hex). If your VGA card uses another mode number to select 800x600 mode, you can specify this number in the /F option. Here is a list of /FV options for common VGA cards. ATI /FV+$54 Paradise /FV+$58 Trident /FV+$5B Genoa /FV+$29 Renaissance /FV+$64 Video Seven /FV+$62 For MCGAs, use the VGA driver without color - /FV~. The MCGA does not support high resolution color. Display output cannot be redirected to a file - the /D option is ignored when a display output format is chosen. Canon BJ Printers ---------------------------------------------------- /FJ gives 360 dpi graphics for any Canon BJ printer in BJ130 mode. For the BJ130E, BJ10E, BJ300, and BJ330 in Proprinter mode, /F7 (IBM ExecJet) gives 360 dpi graphics with better speed than /FJ. /F7 does not work with the BJ130. The BJ printers have an image density option (switch 1-9 on the BJ130). Low density eliminates every second pel (to save ink). To get the full resolution of the printer, you must use high density. Canon LBP Printers --------------------------------------------------- /FD works with any Canon LBP printer in ISO mode. At 300 dpi it takes about 1 meg of memory to print a full page of graphics. At 150 dpi (/FD-) 512K handles a full page. The compression mode driver (/FD!) will probably be preferred. You may need to set the printer memory mode with /J 27 59 27 91 50 38 122. If the printer is in Diablo mode, PrintGL switches to ISO mode. To switch back to Diablo mode on completion, use /K 27 58. p-22 Epson 9 Pin Printers ------------------------------------------------- /FN covers a wide range of 9 pin dot matrix printers. You need a cyan/magenta/yellow ribbon to get color prints. /FN+ uses 1/216 indexing and /FN* uses 1/216 indexing and 1/240 graphics. The IBM 9 pin Proprinters do not do 1/216 indexing and do not correctly handle 1/240 graphics. /F1 is a special Proprinter driver. The /FN drivers use the following printer escape codes: esc J - index esc L - graphics command for /FN and /FN+ esc Z - graphics command for /FN* esc r - set ribbon color (only if color is specified) Epson, NEC 24 Pin Printers ------------------------------------------- /FT covers all Epson LQ printers and many compatible printers (Panasonic, etc.). You need a cyan/magenta/yellow ribbon to get color prints. /FT+ and /FT* use 1/360 graphics mode, and /FT* uses 1/360 indexing and resets the line feed distance to 1/6 inch on completion. A clean paper path with equal tension on each side is needed for good 360x360 graphics. /F9 and /F9+, for NEC 24 pin printers, are identical to /FT and /FT+. /F9* is identical to /FT* except for the esc + printer code. These drivers will not work with IBM Proprinter X24s in alternate graphics mode because they use the absolute tab command. The /FT drivers use the following printer escape codes: esc $ - absolute tab esc * ' - graphics command for /FT esc * ( - graphics command for /FT+, /FT* esc + - set n/360 indexing for /FT* esc 2 - start esc A indexing for /FT* esc A - set n/72 indexing for /FT* esc J - index esc r - set ribbon color (only if color is specified) The compression mode drivers (! suboption) may or may not be an improvement with these printers. HP-GL Output --------------------------------------------------------- /F8 outputs low level HP-GL, converting all characters, arcs, fill, and clips to vectors. The output is HP 7470 compatible, containing only IN, SP, IW, LT, PU, and PD commands. PG is added if form feed is specified (the default). If you decline the form feed, then multiple plots may be appended to the same page. PrintGL uses its width parameter (/W) as a pen selector, so for each pen in the original HP-GL, you may specify a new pen in the output HP-GL. The default /W option is /W12345678 for this case. Shading and color parameters are ignored. p-23 HP LaserJet, DeskJet ------------------------------------------------- /FL works with any LaserJet or DeskJet in portrait mode. Portrait mode may be set with /J 27 38 108 48 79 or you can reset the printer with /J 27 69. At 300 dpi (the default), if you have just 512K in a LaserJet then your plot can cover about half the area of the page. 1.5M is sufficient for a full page of graphics. At 150 dpi (/FL-) 512K handles a full page. All DeskJets can handle a full page of graphics at 300 dpi. The compression mode driver (/FL!) will probably be preferred on LaserJets, but it does not work on DeskJets. /FI is the same as /FL except it uses transfer mode 2 for improved speed. This is supported on the LaserJet 2P and 3 and all DeskJets. HP PaintJet ---------------------------------------------------------- /FP drives PaintJet printers. PaintJet printers are sold with either a serial or parallel interface. The parallel interface is faster. The compression mode driver (/FP!) uses data transfer mode 2 (instead of 1) and works only with a PaintJet XL. HP QuietJet ---------------------------------------------------------- /FQ works with QuietJets in PCL mode. /J 27 37 65 /K 27 37 64 sets PCL mode and resets to the DIP switch selected mode on completion. IBM ExecJet ---------------------------------------------------------- /F7 drives the ExecJet. The image density (switch 1-4) should be set to high to get the full 360 dpi resolution. IBM LaserPrinter ----------------------------------------------------- /F4 drives the LaserPrinter in PPDS (native) mode. /FL will work if the LaserPrinter is in HP LaserJet mode. At 300 dpi it takes about 1 meg of memory to print a full page of graphics. At 150 dpi (/F4-) 512K handles a full page. The compression mode driver (/F4!) will probably be preferred. IBM Proprinter ------------------------------------------------------- The /F1 driver is for all 9 pin Proprinters. The high resolution driver (/F1+) uses 1/144 inch indexing and it does not work with Epson 9 pin compatible printers that have 1/216 inch indexing. There is no /F1* resolution, which would be 240x144, because Proprinters do not handle 1/240 graphics correctly. Use /FN for the IBM Graphics Printer. p-24 IBM Proprinter X24 and Compatible Printers --------------------------- PrintGL has three drivers that cover the Proprinter X24 and compatible printers. The first, /F6, is for all IBM Proprinter X24s. These printers do 1/144 indexing, and using them at 180 dpi results in horizontal white streaks every 2/3 inch. The /F6 drivers compensate for this indexing by defining the vertical resolution as 182 dots/inch and indexing 19/144 inch per line. To work properly, the printer must be on a 1/72 boundary when the graphics are printed. If you keep the line feed distance a multiple of 1/72 (1/6, 1/8, 1/9) then this will always be the case. The second X24 compatible driver is /F5 and is referred to as X24 alternate 1. This is for printers that are X24 compatible except that they do 1/180 indexing. This is probably the case with most X24 compatible printers, including the IBM Quickwriter. The third X24 compatible driver is /FX and is referred to as X24 alternate 2. This is the same as /F5 except that the vertical units command uses a different format that is not strictly IBM compatible. This driver works with Panasonic 24 pin printers in X24 mode. Proprinter X24 and XL24 printers are very slow with graphics, making many passes per line. This limitation cannot be overcome with software. The X24E and XL24E are significantly faster. IBM Quietwriter 2 and 3 ---------------------------------------------- /F2 and /F3 drive the Quietwriter 2 and 3. Line widths should be at least 2 as Quietwriters do not print consistent 1 pel lines. These drivers reset the line feed distance to 1/6 inch upon completion. Kodak Diconix Color 4 ------------------------------------------------ /FK drives the Color 4. PostScript Printers -------------------------------------------------- /FS outputs Encapsulated PostScript, useful for printing or importing into publishing programs. All characters, arcs, fill, and clips are converted to simple vectors, so PrintGL is not a general purpose HP-GL to PostScript converter. PrintGL's pen width parameters are assumed to be in units of 4/1016 inch. Drawing is ordered so that each shade covers all lighter shades and the /S shading parameters are mapped as follows: shade gray level shade gray level 1,5 0.2 3,7 0.6 2,6 0.4 4,8 0.8 If the form feed suboption of the /L option is declined then there is no showpage command in the file, and more PostScript may be appended to the same page. p-25 GEM .IMG Bit Map Output ---------------------------------------------- Here is the .IMG format created with /FG. The header is composed of 8 word values, high byte first: 1 8 number of color planes - 1 or 3 1 pel width in microns - round(25400 / horizontal dots/inch) pel height in microns - round(25400 / vertical dots/inch) scan line width in pels number of scan lines The scan lines follow, in top to bottom order. For color plots, each each complete scan line consists of a red, green, and then blue scan line. Data for the scan line uses these commands: $01..$7F - 1 to 127 * 8 pels 0 (only used for background) $81..$8F - 1 to 127 * 8 pels 1 (only used for background) $80 n b1 b2 .. bn - n bytes of bit mapped data 1 is the background and 0 the foreground for b/w files. 1,1,1 is the background for color files, with 0 representing the absence of red, green, or blue. The bit usage may be reversed with /LR. The bit map is the size specified by the /L option plus eight pels in each direction. The width is an even number of bytes. ZSoft .PCX Bit Map Output -------------------------------------------- /FZ gives .PCX output with this format. The file starts with a header composed of 128 byte values: 10,2,1,1,0,0,0,0, max_x,max_y, (2 bytes each, in pels ) dpi_x,dpi_y, (2 bytes each, dots/inch ) 0,0,0, 0,0,127, 0,127,0, 0,127,127, (color palette ) 127,0,0, 127,0,127, 127,127,0, 127,127,127, 0,0,0, 0,0,255, 0,255,0, 0,255,255, 255,0,0, 255,0,255, 255,255,0, 255,255,255, 0, color_planes, (1 or 3 ) width (2 bytes, in bytes ) 1,0,..,0 The scan lines, top to bottom, follow. For color plots, each complete scan line consists of a red, green, and blue scan line. Each scan line is composed of these data commands: $00..$BF - 1 byte of bit mapped data $C1 b - 1 byte of bit mapped data $C2..$FF b - 2..63 repeated bytes (only used for background) 1 or 1,1,1 is used for the background (0 or 0,0,0 with /LR). The bit map is the size specified by the /L option plus eight pels in each direction, and the width is an even number of bytes. p-26 HP-GL Commands ------------------------------------------------------- PrintGL's HP-GL specification is taken from the programming manuals for the HP 7470A, 7475A, ColorPro (7440/17440), and 7550A. The closest match to the PrintGL command set is the 7440/17440, HP manual 07440-90001. PrintGL supports the 7470, 7475, and 7440/17440 command sets except for character set 8 (Katakana), digitize commands, output commands, the error mask command, and some device control commands. Supported commands are listed below. Commands that are not applicable to printing, such as pen velocity, are considered supported but are completely ignored. Commands that are not supported are flagged and then ignored. In addition, form feed commands (PG, AF) and proportional spaced fonts, from the 7550, are supported. And fifteen pens are allowed instead of eight. In reading a plotfile, PrintGL ignores carriage returns, line feeds, and nulls except where they may be valid characters (LB, SM, DT, esc.), and ASCII EOF (026) is interpreted as an end of file mark. AA x_center , y_center , arc_angle [, chord_angle] arc absolute AA draws an arc starting at the current pen position with the pen in the current up/down state. AF advance full page (7550 extension) AF starts a new plot. PrintGL starts every page with the pen up at 0,0. AP automatic pen pickup - IGNORED AR x_center_delta , y_center_delta , arc_angle [, chord_angle] arc relative AR draws an arc starting at the current pen position with the pen in the current up/down state. CA character_set designate alternate character set See HP-GL CHARACTER SETS for a list of character sets. p-27 CI radius [, chord_angle] circle CI draws a circle centered at the current position. The current up/down state and position are unchanged by a CI command. CP [spaces , lines] character plot CP moves the pen by character spaces (+ is along the text) and lines (+ is up), using the current up/down state. Using no parameters is the same as a carriage return/line feed. CS character_set designate standard character set See HP-GL CHARACTER SETS for a list of character sets. DF default values This sets default values for the following commands: CA, CS, DR, DT, FT, IW, LT, PA, PT, SC, SM, SL, SR, SS, TL. DI [run , rise] absolute character direction DI sets the baseline direction for labels. Using no parameters is the same as DI1,0. DR [run , rise] relative character direction DI sets the baseline direction for labels. Run and rise are a percentage of P2X-P1X and P2Y-P1Y. Using no parameters is the same as DR1,0. DTt define label terminator The label terminator marks the end of an LB command. The default is ASCII 003. EA x_opposite_corner , y_opposite_corner edge rectangle absolute EA draws a rectangle with corners defined by the current position and the command parameters. The current pen position and up/down state are unchanged. p-28 EC enable cutter - IGNORED EP edge polygon EP draws the current polygon edge. Any pen up/down used in creating the polygon is respected in drawing the edge. ER x_opposite_corner_delta , y_opposite_corner_delta edge rectangle relative ER draws a rectangle with corners defined by the current position and the command parameters. The current pen position and up/down state are unchanged. EW radius , start_angle , sweep_angle [, chord_angle] edge wedge EW draws a wedge centered at the current position. The current pen position and up/down state are unchanged. FP fill polygon FP fills the current polygon. Pen up/down commands used in creating the polygon are ignored. There is a limit of 2000 fill line segments per polygon. FT [type [, spacing [, angle]]] fill type These are the fill types. Type 2 is identical to type 1 for PrintGL. 1 solid lines spaced at the pen thickness (see PT command) 2 unidirectional solid lines spaced at the pen thickness 3 lines at the specified spacing 4 cross hatched lines at the specified spacing 5 type ignored A spacing parameter of 0 sets the spacing to 1% of the P1-P2 diagonal. Spacing is in x axis units (this is only relevant if the axes have different scaling). PrintGL supports any integer angle for fill (the HP 7475 requires multiples of 45 degrees). Cross hatched lines are at angle + 90. IN initialize p-29 IP [p1x , p1y [, p2x , p2y]] sets scaling points P1 and P2 IP sets the scaling points (P1 and P2) in plotter units. P1 and P2 are used by a number of commands to help with size independent plots. IW [x_lower_left , y_lower_left , x_upper_right , y_upper_right] input window IW sets a clipping window in plotter units. With no parameters, the clipping window is turned off. LB..text..terminator label Labels use the current character set, based on CA, CS, SA, and SS commands. See HP-GL CHARACTER SETS for font specifics. LT [pattern_number [, pattern_length]] line type PrintGL's line type patterns are close to, but not identical to HP's. Line type patterns are dynamically limited to a minimum length of 16 pels. no parameter ──────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 dots at endpoints only 1 ∙ ∙ ∙ 2 ──────── ──────── ──────── 3 ──────────── ──────────── ──────────── 4 ──────────── ∙ ──────────── ∙ ──────────── ∙ 5 ────────── ── ────────── ── ────────── ── 6 ────── ── ── ────── ── ── ────── ── ── Pattern length is a percentage of the P1-P2 diagonal with a default of 4%. Line type is a property of the line that is being drawn - it is not a property of the pen that is being used to draw the line. You cannot specify that a certain pen should use a specific line type. (Color, shading, and width are pen properties and can be assigned to pens.) PA [x , y] [, x , y] ... plot absolute PA moves the pen in current up/down state. p-30 PD [x , y] [, x , y] ... pen down PD sets the pen down and optionally moves it with the current absolute/relative mode. PG [i] new page (7550 extension) PG starts a new plot. The parameter is ignored. PrintGL starts every page with the pen up at 0,0. PM i polygon mode PM 0 starts polygon mode. The current position is the first point in the polygon. PM 1 starts a new subpolygon. The position after the next pen movement is the first point in the subpolygon. The first pen move of a subpolygon is done with the pen up, regardless of the current up/down status. PM 2 ends polygon mode. PM 1 and PM 2 close the current subpolygon with the pen up if it is open. If used without first starting polygon mode (PM 0), PrintGL adds an implied PM 0 before processing the PM 1 or PM 2. The following commands are accepted in polygon mode: PM, PA, PR, PU, PD, AA, AR, CI (circles are automatically prefixed and suffixed by PM 1), and IN (ends polygon mode). The polygon buffer is limited to 500 data points. PR [x_delta , y_delta] [, x_delta , y_delta] ... plot relative PR moves the pen with the current up/down state. PS paper size - IGNORED PrintGL ignores this command. You must set the paper size with the /L option. PT [thickness] pen thickness The pen thickness is the line spacing, from .1 to 5.0 mm, used in solid fills. (PT does not cause a pen to be a certain width.) p-31 PU [x,y] [,x,y] ... pen up PU raises the pen and optionally moves it with the current absolute/relative mode. RA x_opposite_corner , y_opposite_corner shade rectangle absolute RA fills a rectangle with corners defined by the current position and the command parameters. The current pen position and up/down state are unchanged. The rectangle edge is not drawn. RO [angle] rotated coordinate system RO or RO 0 sets up a normal coordinate system. RO 90, the only other allowed value, sets up a system that is rotated 90 degrees. The method of rotation depends on the paper size. The RO command does not change the scaling points, so an IP command is useful after an RO. The HP 7475 specifies two different meanings for RO90 depending on the paper size (A/A4 or B/A3). PrintGL decides which type of rotation to do based on the sum of the print window width and height. If this sum is greater than 24 inches then large paper rotation is used. Otherwise, small paper rotation is used. Small paper rotation: Large paper rotation: RO 0 RO 90 RO 0 RO 90 y┌────────┐ 0,0┌────────┐y 0,0┌────────┐y y┌────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 0,0└────────┘x x└────────┘ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ x└────────┘ 0,0└────────┘x RR x_opposite_corner_delta , y_opposite_corner_delta shade rectangle relative RR fills a rectangle with corners defined by the current position and the command parameters. The current pen position and up/down state are unchanged. The rectangle edge is not drawn. p-32 SA select alternate character set SA specifies the alternate character set as current. The alternate character set is chosen with CA. SC [xmin , xmax , ymin , ymax] scaling SC sets user units for subsequent drawing. The units are defined by user values for P1 (xmin,ymin) and P2 (xmax,ymax). Using no parameters turns scaling off, and subsequent drawing is done in plotter units (1/1016 inch). SI [width , height] character size absolute SI sets the capital letter box width and height in centimeters. Letter spacing is 1.5 * width and line spacing is 2 * height. Using no parameters with B or A3 paper is the same as SI.285,.375 and any other paper is the same as SI.187,.269. SL [tan_angle] character slant SL sets the character slant. The parameter is interpreted as the tangent of the angle from vertical. Using no parameter sets the slant to 0 degrees. SM[c] symbol mode SM sets symbol mode, which centers the symbol mode character at any plotted point. Any character from ASCII 033 to 126 except ";" sets symbol mode. Any other character turns symbol mode off. SP pen_number select pen SP selects a pen. Using 0 or no parameter stores the pen without selecting a new pen. This is usually done at the end of a plot. PrintGL ignores any drawing with pen 0. SR [width , height] character size relative SR sets the capital letter box width and height as a percentage of P2X-P1X and P2Y-P1Y. Letter spacing is 1.5 * width and line spacing is 2 * height. Using no parameters is the same as SR.75,1.5. p-33 SS select standard character set SS specifies the standard character set as current. The standard character set is chosen with CS. TL [positive_length [, negative length]] tick length TL sets the tick lengths used by XT and YT. The parameters are lengths above and below the current position as a percentage of P2Y-P1Y for x-axis ticks and a percentage of P2X-P1X for y-axis ticks. UC [[pen_control ,] x_delta , y_delta] ... user character UC specifies a user defined character. The pen control number is 99 for pen down or -99 for pen up. Pen movements are relative, with x_delta in units of 1/4 the character width and y_delta in units of 1/8 the character height. VA adaptive velocity - IGNORED VN normal velocity - IGNORED VS pen velocity - IGNORED WG radius , start_angle , sweep_angle [, chord_angle] shade wedge WG fills a wedge centered at the current position. The current pen position and up/down state are unchanged. The wedge edge is not drawn. XT x-axis tick XT draws a vertical line, with length specified by the TL command, at the current position. The pen position and up/down state are unchanged. p-34 YT y-axis tick YT draws a horizontal line, with length specified by the TL command, at the current position. The pen position and up/down state are unchanged. esc.( esc.Y plotter on Esc.( and esc.Y turn the plotter on. This is only relevant with the /YY option. It is not flagged as unsupported if /YD is set. esc.) esc.Z plotter off Esc.) and esc.Z turn the plotter off. They are only effective with the /YY option. The plotter on and off commands let you include comments or data to pass through to another device in the plotfile. These are flagged as unsupported commands if /YD is set, as an indication that you should set /YY. esc.@, esc.H, esc.I, esc.M, esc.N, esc.R RS-232 device control commands - IGNORED with /YY p-35 HP-GL Character Sets ------------------------------------------------- The HP 7475 and 7440/17440 include the following character sets. PrintGL supports all of these except Katakana. PrintGL's characters are similar to but not identical to HP's. 0 ANSI ASCII 1 9825 character set 2 French/German 3 Scandinavian 4 Spanish/Latin American 6 JIS ASCII 7 Roman Extensions 8 Katakana - NOT SUPPORTED BY PRINTGL 9 ISO IRV (International Reference Version) 30 ISO Swedish 31 ISO Swedish For Names 32 ISO Norway Version 1 33 ISO German 34 ISO French 35 ISO United Kingdom 36 ISO Italian 37 ISO Spanish 38 ISO Portuguese 39 ISO Norway Version 2 The character sets specify a font for codes 033..127. Codes 000..032 and 128..255 are independent of the character set and are all no ops except these. 003 default label terminator 008 backspace 009 half backspace 010 line feed 011 reverse line feed 013 carriage return 014 select alternate character set 015 select standard character set 032 space Each of the character sets is available as a proportional font by adding 10 to the set number. Unlike the HP 7550, PrintGL's proportional fonts are identical to their corresponding fixed pitch fonts in shape, and differ only in positioning. The character width to user specified width ratio is 1 for all characters except these: I l i j width ratio .75 1 ( ) [ ] { } " width ratio .5 . , : ; ` ' | ! width ratio .25 The space between characters is always one half the user specified character width. p-36 The HP-GL characters cannot be printed with the standard ASCII character set. The file CHARSET.PLT is an HP-GL file that can be used to print a replacement for this page, showing the character sets. Use the command PRINTGL CHARSET.PLT /M1 /AO0,0 with a /F option specific to your printer to do this. p-37 Compatibility and Technical Information ------------------------------ PrintGL will run on any IBM compatible MS-DOS computer. It will work in a region as small as 96K but may need more memory for high resolution or wide prints. 120K should suffice for the worst case black/white prints - 13.5 inches wide, 360x360 dpi. Color output requires an additional 32K or more for high resolution or wide prints. 200K is needed for the worst case. A larger region usually makes things go faster by allowing larger buffers and averting the use of a spill file. By default, PrintGL uses the BIOS printer interrupt to send data to a printer. If a file or device is specified for output then DOS 2.0 file handling is used instead. Messages are written to the screen with standard DOS CON output. Graphics screen modes (except Hercules) are set up with BIOS, and graphics screen updates are done by writing directly to the display buffer. PMI will run on any IBM compatible MS-DOS computer. It will work in a region as small as 160K. When running PrintGL, all but 40K is given to PrintGL. More memory may allow PrintGL to run more quickly. PMI runs PrintGL via a DOS shell. It searches the current directory and then the DOS PATH, calling the first copy of PRINTGL.EXE that it finds. When saving the current settings, PMI makes the same search for PMI.EXE. PMI can use any text or graphics display mode that allows at least 80 columns and 20 lines of text. In text modes, PMI writes directly to the display buffer, and in graphics modes, BIOS is used to display text. When under DESQview, PMI should be started in a text mode, and it writes directly to the DV selected screen buffer. The Microsoft mouse interface (interrupt hex 33) is used for mouse handling. PRINTGL.EXE may be compressed with PKLITE, LZEXE, or other EXE file compressors. PMI should not be compressed because it rewrites the EXE file when saving the user settings. PrintGL and PMI were written by Cary Ravitz and compiled with Borland's Turbo Pascal 5.5 and Turbo Assembler 1.01. p-38 User Support --------------------------------------------------------- The quickest way to resolve problems with PrintGL is to use the support bulletin board. The Ravitz Software support bulletin board is at: 606-268-0577 1200/2400,N,8,1 24 hours/day. To ask a question (or make a comment or suggestion), first prepare a file with the details of your question. Please be very specific, and include any related information on your hardware, software, and operating environment. Then call the bulletin board and choose the upload question option. XMODEM file transfer protocol is required for this. Your question will be assigned a number (such as 1015) - remember this number. An answer file (with the assigned number) will be posted, usually within 24 hours. To get an answer, call the bulletin board, choose the download option, then the answer option, and then enter the answer number. XMODEM is also required for downloading answers. All question and answer files are public. The latest versions of PrintGL and Ravitz Editor are available from the bulletin board. These are packed in .ZIP format and may be downloaded with XMODEM or YMODEM (1K XMODEM). Anyone may use the bulletin board, however priority may be given to registered users of PrintGL and RE. You may send questions by mail to: Ravitz Software Inc. P.O. Box 25068 Lexington, KY 40524-5068 USA It is best to send questions on diskette (360K, 1.2M, 720K, or 1.44M, 720K is best) in a standard ASCII file. The answer will be put on your diskette and it will be mailed back to you. This will make it easy to include example files or a new version of the software with the answer. Return postage is appreciated.