Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!mips!spool.mu.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!stanford.edu!neon.Stanford.EDU!flamingo.Stanford.EDU!espie
From: espie@flamingo.Stanford.EDU (Marc Espie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.applications
Subject: Re: ProDraw 2.0 PS Output
Message-ID: <1991Mar7.025457.7280@neon.Stanford.EDU>
Date: 7 Mar 91 02:54:57 GMT
References: <1991Mar6.111237.27374@athena.mit.edu>
Sender: news@neon.Stanford.EDU (USENET News System)
Organization: LIENS, ENS, 45 rue d'Ulm, Paris (France)
Lines: 33

In article <1991Mar6.111237.27374@athena.mit.edu> spworley@athena.mit.edu (Spaceman Spiff) writes:
>
>I use and enjoy ProDraw 2.0- its slick, especially on an accelerated
>Amiga. 
>
>My problem is outputting Postscript to PS printers- sometimes the
>output is too complex for the printer and it barfs. The Pro Draw
>manual warns about this- its the printer's fault.

I'd guess the printer barfs by saying something like:
%[VMError ....
The manual's warning is a lame excuse. Every postscript printer has enough
memory to perform *very* difficult jobs but there are rules to
follow when generating postscript documents.

Specifically: the postscript interpreter has a garbage collector,
but you have to invoke it yourself (oversimplified)
If there are unrelated drawings on the same page, it is a good idea
to reclaim memory between each drawing, especially if each drawing
uses memory. If you don't respect this basic rule, your printer will
barf when a page is too complex.
Given the type of thing that Pro Draw is supposed to do, this is probably
what happens. I've seen enough brain-damaged postscript software to know
the problem (sigh...).

You can say this is the printer's fault, in as much as the program 
uses too much memory. You can also say this is the program's fault, for
using too much memory in the first place. :-)

I don't own ProDraw, and the postscript header is almost certainly
copyrighted, so I can't check this. Would someone else be inclined to do that.
--
    Marc Espie (espie@flamingo.stanford.edu)