Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!udel!rochester!bukys
From: bukys@cs.rochester.edu
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: Getting a psrev that works.
Message-ID: <9104151752.AA13235@stork.cs.rochester.edu>
Date: 15 Apr 91 17:52:16 GMT
Sender: bukys@cs.rochester.edu (Liudvikas Bukys)
Organization: Computer Science Department University of Rochester
Lines: 23

We're running some old version of Transcript on our Suns, licensed from
Adobe.  Most things in it seem dated around 1987.  I think it's version 2.1.

The psrev program that is part of this package is good at mangling files
into unprintability.  Embedded figures are good at causing this problem.
The page reversal code just picks the wrong points for breaking up the
document.  It doesn't look for %%BeginDocument/%%EndDocument comments.


Is there a version of Transcript that does this any better?
If so, whose Transcript, and what version number?


My observation from sending PostScript files to other people is that
half of the page-reversers out there are broken.  Perhaps Adobe should
consider releasing a version that works (if there is one) into the
public domain.  As it is, this problem is just gives PostScript
portability a black eye.  (The other eye is already black from the poor
PostScript generated by many applications.)

I get tired of prepending "%!" to things just to get them to print.
And even if I get a program that works, I still have to tell half of
the people I send files to try prepending "%!" if they have problems.