Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!crdgw1!barnett From: barnett@grymoire.crd.ge.com (Bruce Barnett) Newsgroups: comp.unix.aux Subject: Re: A/UX 2.0 and Imagewriters non-features Message-ID: Date: 1 Oct 90 21:40:40 GMT References: <1990Sep28.224909.7440@servalan.uucp> Sender: news@crdgw1.crd.ge.com Reply-To: barnett@crdgw1.ge.com Organization: GE Corp. R & D, Schenectady, NY Lines: 60 In-reply-to: rmtodd@servalan.uucp's message of 28 Sep 90 22:49:09 GMT In article <1990Sep28.224909.7440@servalan.uucp> rmtodd@servalan.uucp (Richard Todd) writes: >(Guess that means that telling you to use TeX instead (either OzTeX&DVIM72, or >UnixTeX&xdvi&Nelson Beebe's DVI->ImageWriter driver) isn't an option. Pity.) Yup. Pity. >>I had hoped I could use the Mac tools for the drawings, and merge >>troff with Mac diagrams. Not with A/UX 2! >Not with anybody's troff or ditroff, even with the Ditroff-to-ImageWriter >driver in A/UX 1.1. The problem is that Mac drawing programs don't put >their output in any form that troff recognizes. (At best, you can get them >to put out Encapsulated PostScript, but that don't work too good on a >non-PS printer). Yup. You are right. I guess I am spoiled by the flexibility of PostScript printers. Unless I can convert a MacPaint document into some bitmap document that ditroff can pass thru to some sort of printer driver. It looks like the A/UX system supports MacOS Printer requests. Perhaps I can figure out some way to convert ditroff into Mac format. (Well, maybe if I get desperate.) >Now, there is a way you can do pic drawings somewhat more readily than the >old standard way (type in your pic code, print out your document, see that >it didn't work, hack your pic code, etc.). What you do is use the Xfig >program for X Windows to draw your pictures and output them in FIG format, >then use the fig2pic program from the TransFig distribution to convert that >file to a pic file; you then have a pic file you can include in your >ditroff file. xfig is painful if you don't have a large monitor. >Or just swipe the ditroff-ImageWriter binary off the 1.1 >distribution disks and install on 2.0. After all, A/UX 1.1 >binaries run on 2.0. Assuming they haven't made some incompatible >change in troff, of course. (Of course, if they have, you can >always grab a few more files off those old distribution disks...). This is the crux of the matter. I don't think it is that easy. (Someone tell me I'm wrong!) It seems that Apple added MacOS Printer support. Something is now different. Else why would they REMOVE functionality? Also - A/UX 2 does not support a non-appletalk ImageWriter LQ under the Unix print spooler. Another example of something different. I don't feel warm and fuzzy about this solution. I have a feeling I am going to learn a lot about ditroff and the Unix/Appletalk LQ driver. It sure would be nice if someone from Apple explains why someone who decided to stick with Apple printers got shafted. -- Bruce G. Barnett barnett@crd.ge.com uunet!crdgw1!barnett