Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!atc1!shyam
From: shyam@atc1.UUCP (Shyam Mittur)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Hardcopy in X
Keywords: Hardcopy
Message-ID: <106@atc1.UUCP>
Date: 18 Sep 90 22:34:20 GMT
Organization: Advanced Tech. Center, Laguna Hills, CA
Lines: 41


A couple of weeks ago, I posted the following query:

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>Does anybody know of a strategy to obtain hardcopy from X clients that is
>not restricted to the server's display resolution? For example, I would like
>to preview an X-Y plot on a window and then get hardcopy from a 300 dpi 
>PostScript printer, without being restricted to 75 or 100 dpi on the printer.
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I received six responses, four of them by E-Mail and two as return postings.
I have replied individually to those who sent me E-Mail, this is a summary.

My conclusion is that there is no such "strategy".  Perhaps this situation has
not been faced by most people yet, I think it will become an issue once more
"real-world" applications start working with X.  

It appears that my use of PostScript as an example misled people from the 
crux of the problem.  I should have mentioned something like a drum plotter.
Of the responses I received, all except one assumed the problem is restricted
to PostScript.  This is not so.  Most of the responses suggested rewriting the
client to call external routines, or generate PostScript, but this is not an
option here.

A good example to illustrate the situation is the Xload client.  Let's say I 
have Xload running on a display, and at some point, I decide I would like to 
get hardcopy of the load plot for the next three hours on an attached Calcomp 
plotter (1/1000 inch resolution - "I paid for it, I want to use it!" 
syndrome).   I can see no way of doing this, short of rewriting Xload, which
may not be feasible.

As an aside, I get the impression from the traffic in this newsgroup that most 
developers working in X assume PostScript when hardcopy is mentioned.  Am I 
mistaken, or is this because most developers have a PostScript printer next
to their workstation and are still busy developing "nifty" clients?

I would like to thank everybody who responded.

SHYAM MITTUR
ATC
Laguna Hills, CA