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From: ignatz@aicchi.UUCP (Ihnat)
Newsgroups: net.wanted,net.wanted.sources
Subject: Dumb printer BS/HT routine needed
Message-ID: <381@aicchi.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 28-Feb-85 17:09:45 EST
Article-I.D.: aicchi.381
Posted: Thu Feb 28 17:09:45 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 1-Mar-85 09:43:23 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: Analysts International Corp; Chicago Branch
Lines: 37
Xref: watmath net.wanted:5908 net.wanted.sources:549

.

Hello, folks.  I'm going to do what I should have a week ago, and see
if I'm reinventing the wheel.

Our site is running a Plexus P/40, using Plexus' port of Unix 3.0 (binary
license).  Recently, I got John Collins' spooler package and fired it up;
really, a very nice effort.  HOWEVER...the parallel port on the Plexus
is a nice, dumb port--whatever is sent there, goes out (NO canonical
interpretation whatsoever); and the Dataproducts M200 hanging off the port
is a nice, dumb dot matrix--it knows enough to reverse print its buffer,
and that's it.  Including no recognition of BS (^h) or HT (^I).  The line
printer daemon from Plexus is the standard one, with no control over running
jobs--but it DOES have, apparently, a quite efficient algorithm to handle
embedded backspaces.  I've already written a filter to preprocess files,
and it's reasonably efficient on strings of backspaces/characters
(i.e., AAAA^H^H^H^HAAAA^H^H^H^HAAAA), but chokes (efficiency-wise)
on nroff-type emboldened strings (i.e., A^HA^HA^HA^H).

While I'm at trying to optimize this critter, I'd just as well ask:  does
anyone out there have a routine to handle this type of idiocy?  Specifically,
one that I could use; in the end result, this will become a part of JMC's
spooler package as a printer type-description.  Please either mail to me,
or call (collect, if need be).

	Thanks,

		
	Dave Ihnat
	Analysts International Corporation
	(312) 882-4673
	ihnp4!aicchi!ignatz
-- 
	Dave Ihnat
	Analysts International Corporation
	(312) 882-4673
	ihnp4!aicchi!ignatz