The Datafile PD-CD 4/DATAFILE_PDCD4.iso/utilities/utilsf/lazyprint/!LazyPrint/!Help

Text File | 1996-02-24 | 12.5 KB | 286 lines

                 !LazyPrint   Version 2.03       25 January 1996

  !LazyPrint sends simple text or Draw files to a Hewlett Packard laser
printer, allowing easy selection of printer parameters such as paper
orientation, margin sizes and hardware fonts for text printing jobs such as
program listings, simple letters and address labels. Draw files can also be
printed in either orientation of the paper and at any magnification and
position on the page.

  It was written because I am much too impatient to wait while the Acorn
printer driver makes up a graphics page using bitmaps for characters. The
Computer Concepts Turbo driver prints a text page faster, but much slower
than the time taken to print the same page using the printer hardware fonts
and !LazyPrint.

  !LazyPrint is NOT a printer driver, it only sends existing files to the
printer. It does not communicate with other programs so cannot be used from
word processors or Desktop Publishing packages.

 =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

                    Operating Instructions

  Double click on the !LazyPrint icon to load the application onto the Icon
Bar.

  For text files, set up the page layout parameters by clicking <Select>
over the icon on the iconbar to show a window where you can select
parameters. Details of these are given in the section 'Text parameters'
(below).

  Then drag text and Draw files to the !Lazyprint icon.

  Text files will be sent straight to the printer; Draw files will open a
window to allow positioning of the image on the page.

  The output may be printed or sent to a file of type 'printout' (FF4),
which can later be sent to the printer by double-clicking over it provided
that the !LazyPrint application has been 'seen' by the filer. This can be
useful for frequently printed files.

 =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

                          Text Parameters

  This window is in various sections:

  The top left area shows the page layout including
1) the page orientation (portrait/landscape)
2) six positions for a page number (top/bottom and left/middle/right/)
3) a possible heading which shows the  complete file name and file date
4) whether the lines should be numbered (sometimes useful for program
   listings)
5) whether the output should be sent direct to the printer or to temporary
   file for printing later
6) how the paper should be fed to the printer. The 3 possibilities are to
   take all the sheets from the feed hopper, to request that each sheet be
   manually fed or to request that odd/even numbered sheets come from the
   hopper/manual which allows easy double-sided printing.

  Set the margin sizes in the top right area. Margins are measured in
millimetres from the edge of the paper (not from the edge of the printable
area) and hence have built-in minima.
  Note: no check is made on the length of the lines; if they are too
        long to fit on to the page, the extra characters are lost without
        warning; the right margin is used only to set up multi-columns and
        does not stop the printing.

  Set tab positions in millimetres from the left edge of the paper.
  Note: 1, no check is made that the tabs are not off the right hand edge
           of the paper
        2, see section on 'Control codes' below on how to use the tabs

  Set the number of lines/inch or the number of lines/page.
  Note: These depend on each other and also on the page orientation and
        header or page numbering which each can take up two lines. Changing
        one will affect the other.


  Set the number of columns to print. This can be used for printing
labels when a combined with appropriate left and right margins to position
the text on the labels.

  Set the number of copies to be printed.

  Finally set up the font for the printing. Up to four different fonts may
be used in any one document. These are numbered from 1 to 4, the last three
being accessed by embedded control codes in the text (see section on
'Control codes' below).
  Click <select> over the appropriate font number to open a window where the
font and its size and alternate characteristics may be set. Click <menu>
over the font name to select the font and then change its point size and
characteristics (Bold, italic or condensed). One point = 1/72 inch.

  Your layout is now complete. To save the layout for future use, click over
'New Layout', enter a name for your layout in the white icon, click over the
'create' and the 'OK'. The maximum number of layouts is 12.

  Previously created layouts can also be selected in this window by
double-clicking over their name, they can also be renamed or deleted.

  Don't forget to save your new layout from the icon-bar menu for next time.

 =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

                           Control codes in text

  !Lazyprint recognizes a few control codes (ASCII characters with values
less than 32) embedded in text. These are:

 [09] (CTRL/I) move to next tab position
 [0c] (CTRL/L) skip to next page (must be the only character on the line)
 [0e] (CTRL/N) use secondary font rather than font 1
 [0f] (CTRL/O) use font 1
 [11] (CTRL/Q) select font 1 as the secondary font
 [12] (CTRL/R) select font 2 as the secondary font
 [13] (CTRL/S) select font 3 as the secondary font
 [14] (CTRL/T) select font 4 as the secondary font

  All other control codes (apart from 'newline' are ignored)

 =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

                            Printing Draw files

   Warning: version 2.03 of !LazyPrint understands how to print from Draw
files containing path objects (line drawing) and text at any angle. Printing
of sprite and text-area objects may be possible in later versions.

   Drop a Draw file on to the icon bar icon and a window will open showing
how the draw area is to be transferred to paper. !Lazyprint will select the
best orientation of the paper depending on whether the width or height is
bigger, and will scale the size to make the Drawfile just fit into the
paper. You can change the orientation by clicking on the 'Landscape' or
'Portrait' box.

   The image is shown by a black outline box on the grey printable area of
the white paper. You can move the outline box by positioning the pointer
somewhere inside it and then holding down the 'Select' button while moving
the mouse to drag the outline box to the desired position. You can change
the size by dragging any corner of the box. The image always remains inside
the grey area and keeps its original aspect ratio.

   As with text files you can determine whether the output will go directly
to the printer or to a file and whether the paper comes from the hopper or
requires manually feeding.

   It will be possible to change how the colours are rendered on future
releases. The current method uses the NTSC video standard translation:
          grey = 0.3*red + 0.59*green + 0.11*blue
to obtain a grey-level in the range [0:1] which it then prints with
half-tone dots.

   Finally, click 'OK' to print the file or 'Cancel' to abandon the print.

 =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

            Definition files in the application

1 FontList.
  The program does not interrogate the printer to find out which hardware
fonts are present.
  It has a file 'FontList' containing a list of all the available HP
hardware fonts and a translation of Acorn fonts to HP fonts for use with
Draw files. Only 3 of these translations are on the supplied 'Fontlist':
Homerton (to Arial), Trinity (to Times New Roman) and Corpus (to Courier).
These translations are reasonably accurate but you might want to add others
for your favourite Draw font.
  You should compare this list with that printed on your printer test page
and edit 'FontList' to contain only the ones which are in your printer.
  The format of the file is described at the end of the file itself.

2 Choices.

  This contains a line of configuration information and then pairs of lines
for up to 12 allowed Layouts.


The example layouts  supplied are 'DiskLabels', 'Labels 7x3', 'Letter',
'Line printer'  and 'Listing132'.

'DiskLabels' uses Univers font to print labels for 3.5" floppy discs on
            special stationery with 5 labels in each of 2 columns on an
            A4 sized page. (Avery type L7664) The labels are 2.75" wide
            and 2.83" high. 17 lines are printed per label. The example text
            file 'MyDisks' was used with this layout, which expects you to
            feed the labels pages manually.

'Labels 7x3' uses the Univers font in point size 12 to print address labels
            on special stationery with 7 labels in each of 3 columns on an
            A4 sized page (Avery type L7160). The labels are 2.5" wide and
            1.5" high. 9 lines are printed per label. The example text file
            'Mylabels' was used with this layout, which expects you to feed
            the labels pages manually. To adapt this layout for labels with
            a different number of lines per label you change the lines per
            inch, the margins and the number of columns until you get the
            layout you want on your new labels; there is no way to set the
            number of lines per label.

'Letter'  uses 'Times' font in 12 pt to print a simple letter with
          TAB characters to space out the address lines . An example letter
          is in the file 'Myletter'. The alternate font (2) is Italic
          font 3 is Bold, font 4 is 'Marigold'

'Line Printer' is intended for making a compact listing of a program source
               using the 'lineprinter' font, which is a fixed size.
               This prints short lines, of about 80 characters per line,
               in landscape orientation, with 2 columns of text per page
               and a page number and header consisting of the full directory
               name of the file printed in 10pt Bold Letter Gothic.
               Try using it to print this 'ReadMe' file

'Listing 132'  prints files with lines with up to 132 characters in portrait
               orientation with one column of text per page using the
               'Lineprinter' font, and a similar header line to that
               printed by 'Line printer'. If you ask for '2-sided', it stops
               every other page and expects you to feed the page it has
               just printed back in again.

 =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

                             Utilities

   There are two utilities within the !LazyPrint application: CSV2Labels and
LPPrint.

   CSV2Labels converts 'CSV' files to a text format suitable for printing
on labels stationery. (See the file CSVInstr for details on how to use
this).

   LPPrint sends a 'Printout' file to the printer

   Both are activated by double-clicking on their appropriate filer icon.

 =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

                             Comments

                   ************************
To use !LazyPrint with the Computer Concepts Turbo driver cable,
double-click on your:

  !System.!CCShared.!PrintQFS

to neutralize the effect of the cable before attempting to print anything.
                   ************************


!LazyPrint has only been tested on a Hewlett Packard LaserJet 4P, it should
work on any model 4 type HP printer though the 'Fontlist' file will have to
be changed for a 4PJ or 4L model which do not support all the fonts.

 =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

                            Reporting Faults

I have yet to write a program which is completely bug free. If you find a
problem, please complete the information in the file 'FaultRep' and send it
to me on a disc with the file you were trying to print. If you want a reply
you must be a registered user (Read ReadMe).


Planned Enhancements

I should also like to hear if you would like specific enhancements to the
program. At the moment I plan to do the following:

1. Fix the problems with the Draw file printing.

   Known problems in version 2.03:
   a) make colour translation available to user
   b) write code for sprite, text-area/column objects


2. Read a 'Sprite', translate it to Hewlett Packard Graphics language,
   and send it to the printer

 =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

   D.J.Crennell, 'Fortran Friends', P.O.Box 64, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0TH.

      E-mail: [e-mail]


 =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*