Xref: utzoo comp.windows.ms:7766 comp.windows.ms.programmer:376
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!gatech!mcnc!rti!bcw
From: bcw@rti.rti.org (Bruce Wright)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms,comp.windows.ms.programmer
Subject: Re: Windows 3 Okidata Okimate 20 Driver
Summary: Printer drivers
Message-ID: <1990Dec8.053736.20808@rti.rti.org>
Date: 8 Dec 90 05:37:36 GMT
References: <113725@philabs.Philips.Com>
Followup-To: comp.windows.ms.programmer
Organization: Research Triangle Institute, RTP, NC
Lines: 30

In article <113725@philabs.Philips.Com>, ned@philabs.philips.com (Edward Sheehey) writes:
> Does anybody out there in WindowLand know where I can get a
> Windows 3 printer driver for an Okidata Okimate 20 color
> printer?

No, sorry, your best bet is to bother Okidata again and see if they
can give more information on what other printers theirs look like.

> Is there any way to write a printer driver or modify one
> for Windows without buying $1000 worth of sofware and
> taking 6 months to learn to write it? I have glanced through
> a few Windows programming books at the local B. Dalton and there
> is no mention of printer drivers in any of them!

Not really.  Windows drivers, and especially printer and video
drivers, are complex objects.  Very few people who do Windows
programming actually write drivers (part of the whole point of
writing in a standard "higher-level" environment), so there are
few other toolkits and books on how to do it other than the
Microsoft Driver Development Kit (DDK).

Even if you had the information and the software it would still
take quite a while to absorb all of it.  I don't know that 6 months
would be the right amount of time but it would be a good guess.

Unless you have other drivers you want to write, or unless you
just happen to like writing this sort of thing, you'd be better
off trying to find something that already exists.

						Bruce C. Wright