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From: omh@cs.brown.edu (Owen M. Hartnett)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Page Rectangles
Message-ID: <52630@brunix.UUCP>
Date: 10 Oct 90 03:12:05 GMT
References: <10585@goofy.Apple.COM> <52424@brunix.UUCP> <10603@goofy.Apple.COM>
Sender: news@brunix.UUCP
Reply-To: omh@cs.brown.edu (Owen M. Hartnett)
Organization: Brown University Department of Computer Science
Lines: 56

In article <10603@goofy.Apple.COM> casseres@apple.com (David Casseres) writes:
>In article <52424@brunix.UUCP> omh@cs.brown.edu (Owen M. Hartnett) writes:
>
>> 1) Microsoft products can write to areas which are within the "minimum 
>margins."
>
>Yes.  Some applications, for their own reasons, restrict imaging to a 
>rectangle smaller than the Print Manager's page rect (which is the 
>rectangle defined by the minimum margins of the current device), but most 
>applications allow drawing into the entire page rect.
>
Not quite what I meant.  You can print (on legal size) a larger area 
from Excel than the Print Manager's page Rect (unless this has been
changed in the new print drivers).  I was working on a legal size form,and
discovered that, using quickdraw, I couldn't get the same area to print
that Microsoft achieved with Excel.

Please note that I am aware of the excesses indulged in over and above
the compatibility guidelines by certain vendors.  However, it's difficult
for us small developers to sit and watch somebody get away with adding
a feature that you would love to have and only be told that "there is no
way to do it."

>
>But please note that you must be very careful with the concept of a 
>"lowest common denominator of printing power."  Your examples of a 
>LaserWriter or LaserWriter SC are capable of printing a wider rectangle 
>than an ImageWriter!  And what if next week someone hits the market with a 
>printer that only allows a 7.5" width but is otherwise so wonderful that 
>everybody buys it?  The program might then join the ignominious company of 
>early programs that assumed "the printer is always an ImageWriter," or 
>later ones that assumed "If it isn't an ImageWriter, it's Postscript."  A 
>well-designed program needs to look at the page rectangle defined by the 
>Print Manager at print time, and behave accordingly.
>

Your points are well taken, but what about a vertical market application
where the output device is specified?  Since applications programmers
are currently checking for color quickdraw, FPU, etc, why not also
check your output device?

Also, please don't get annoyed at all the printing questions.  Your
company only recently (with the "Learning to Drive" article) let the
cat out of the bag with regard to disclosing information on printing.

Years of non-support have created much legend and lore about the
intricacies of printing, so it's natural that people will be confused
as to what is correct information and what is not.

-Owen


Owen Hartnett				omh@cs.brown.edu.CSNET
Brown University Computer Science	omh@cs.brown.edu
					uunet!brunix!omh
"Don't wait up for me tonight because I won't be home for a month."