Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!cbnewse!tyc
From: tyc@cbnewse.att.com (felix.a.lugo)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: PrintApp ... Suggestion for NeXT, Inc.
Message-ID: <1991Apr28.190334.27035@cbnewse.att.com>
Date: 28 Apr 91 19:03:34 GMT
References: <1991Apr28.083232.12277@cbnewse.att.com> <1991Apr28.133907.20546@wam.umd.edu>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 58

In article <1991Apr28.133907.20546@wam.umd.edu> mikec@wam.umd.edu (Michael D. Callaghan) writes:
| 
| Can't one just open a Terminal window and type:
| 	open -p ~/*
| 
| I'm not sure how long that would take, but it should do what he wants.
| However, you still could not pick, say, eight arbitrary files from the
| browser window and print them.
| 
 ...
| ---------------------------------------------------------
| Michael D. Callaghan, MDC Designs, University of Maryland
| ---------------------------------------------------------

	Having to launch the application that created a file just for the
	purpose of printing it seems like a waste of resources.  If every
	application implemented a filter program (let's say the filter for
	WriteNow would be located in /NextLibrary/Filters/WriteNow), then
	it would be ideal to have a printing application that would invoke
	the filter when it required to print the file.

	For example, Workspace could pipe a file through the WriteNow filter
	without having to launch WriteNow itself.  The filter program would
	contain only as much code as required to convert from the WriteNow
	file format to PostScript.

	"open -p <files>" provides a means for printing multiple files but
	it does have some disadvantages/limitations:

		1. It requires the file's creator application to execute to
		   print it,

		2. It doesn't understand "directory" documents.  Try opening
		   a WriteNow directory with open -p; nothing will happen!

		3. It's only available from the command line interface
		   (although a NeXTStep interface could be written for it.)

	An application's filter could be implemented as an interface module,
	similar to the ones used in Preferences (see /usr/lib/Preferences).
	They could also implement Inspectors (to be used in Workspace's
	Inspector Panel under a Print submenu, for example).  Everything fits
	perfectly in this architecture.  All that is required is for NeXT, Inc.
	to define how the interface works and provide the "glue" to make other
	applications behave properly.

	Hey NeXT, if you need some help on this let me know.  Would anyone
	else like to volunteer?

===============================================================================
Felix A. Lugo

E-Mail: (NeXTmail preferred)
   AT&T Bell Laboratories, Naperville, IL	Felix_A_Lugo@ATT.COM
						coco@ihcoco.att.com
   AT&T NeXT User Group				nug@ihcoco.att.com
   T.Y.C. Software, Lisle, IL			coco@ihtyc.att.com
===============================================================================