Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!csun!srhqla!nrcvax!rick
From: rick@NRC.COM (Rick Wagner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: HP Desk Jet - Opinions
Message-ID: <337@nrcvax.NRC.COM>
Date: 13 Sep 89 00:40:52 GMT
References: <3080@cbnewsc.ATT.COM>
Reply-To: rick@nrcvax.UUCP (Rick Wagner)
Distribution: comp
Organization: Network Research Corp., Oxnard CA
Lines: 53

In article <3080@cbnewsc.ATT.COM> tjr@cbnewsc.ATT.COM (thomas.j.roberts) writes:
>BEWARE: the DeskJet has problems with page-length, due to its inability
>to print on the last 1/2 inch of a page.
>If you simply cat (or type) a file to it (one that is merely a series
>of lines, no Form-Feeds). It will either:
>
>	a) work fine, skipping the first and last 3 lines per page
>	   (Perf-skip mode on)
>	b) print 63 lines on Page 1, 3 lines on Page 2, 63 lines on Page 3,
>	   3 lines on page 4, etc... (Perf-skip mode off)
>
>While (a) might work for this case, if you then use it with a program
>that expects 66 lines per page (such as pr, troff, ...), the pages will
>quickly get out of sync. (b) is the ugliest thing I have ever seen.

This can be fixed by turning on the text-scale switch.  This causes
the printer to print 66 lines in the space of 60 lines.  Note that
this option should be shut off by word processors, or other programs
which do absolute page positioning, because the positions will be
scaled as well.  I put a 'text-scale-off' escape sequence into the
printer initialization string for WordPerfect.  That way when I print
from DOS, I get my 66 lines per page, but WP gets correct absolute
positions.

>
>Why HP decided to print only 3 lines on every other page is beyond my
>comprehension - it's a lousy way to try to preserve page boundaries,
>especially since such programs usually don't care about page boundaries.
>

This is because the form length is set to 66 lines; so every 66 lines
the printer ejects the page, forgetting that it just spat a page a few
lines ago because it ran off the printable bottom of the last.  The
text-scale option I described above solves this.  Unfortunately, the
manual is not very clear on what the text-scale switch does (it is
also lacking in a lot of other areas too).  I had the printer for six
months before I figured that dumb switch out.

>I have written a UNIX/MS-DOS filter to do the following:
(stuff deleted)
>
>Tom Roberts
>att!ihnet!tjr

	-rick


-- 
===============================================================================
Rick Wagner						Network Research Corp.
rick@nrc.com	rick@nrcvax.UUCP			2380 North Rose Ave.
(805) 485-2700	FAX: (805) 485-8204			Oxnard, CA 93030
Don't hate yourself in the morning, sleep 'till noon.