Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!jarthur!hmcvax.claremont.edu From: dhosek@hmcvax.claremont.edu (Hosek, Donald A.) Newsgroups: comp.text.tex Subject: Re: DVI files from Sun (etc) to Vax? Message-ID: <8179@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> Date: 23 Aug 90 16:19:27 GMT References: Sender: news@jarthur.Claremont.EDU Reply-To: dhosek@hmcvax.claremont.edu Distribution: na Organization: Quixote Lines: 35 In article , zhou@linac.fnal.gov (Ping Zhou) writes... >In article bglenden@mandrill.cv.nrao.edu (Brian Glendenning) writes: > Does anyone have any advice on how one can get a .dvi file from a Sun > (in my case) to a VMS VAX in a non-mangled fashion - i.e. so that the > file can be generated on the Sun but printed on the Vax? (We > have ftp/binary - I presume the problem is in byte orderings etc? Is > the problem even tractable?). Thanks. >I used binary ftp to transfer the .dvi and never had any problems. Yes, it >is from a SUN 4 to VAX/VMS. Then QTEX and print the .Q file (in my case). The problem is probably due to the fact that the Sun treats the DVI file as a stream of bytes while VMS looks at the DVI file as a series of 512-byte records. Most DVI drivers for VMS assume that the file has RMS blocking of F512 (although some C drivers I've looked at force stream access so the blocking doesn't matter). So, if your file isn't F512, you might have problems. The next problem that could occur is that in creating the F512 file, FTP will bad out the last record with x00's. Intelligent drivers ignore this, but, unfortunately not all drivers are intelligent. It should be possible to write a C program to insure that all blocking, padding etc. of the DVI file is correct after file transfer, but I've never bothered to do it myself. -dh --- Don Hosek TeX, LaTeX, and Metafont support, consulting dhosek@ymir.claremont.edu installation and production work. dhosek@ymir.bitnet Free Estimates. uunet!jarthur!ymir Phone: 714-625-0147 finger dhosek@ymir.claremont.edu for more info