Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!rutgers!labrea!decwrl!hplabs!hp-sdd!ucsdhub!jack!crash!malloy
From: malloy@crash.cts.com (Sean Malloy)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: New Microsoft Word Question
Message-ID: <2161@crash.cts.com>
Date: 18 Dec 87 02:49:38 GMT
References: <3204@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>
Reply-To: malloy@crash.CTS.COM (Sean Malloy)
Organization: Crash TS, El Cajon, CA
Lines: 53
Keywords: Microsoft Word drivers
Summary: Get it out the door quick, not right

In article <3204@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> mdf@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Mark D. Freeman) writes:
>I just upgraded from 3.1 to 4.0.  I use an Okidata Laser, and under 3.1
>I used the HPLASPS driver, as there wasn't an OKILASER driver yet.
>
> . . . (We also use a NEC
>P5-XL.  According to the 4.0 drivers, TMSRMN on an HPLASPS is
>equivalant to BoldItalicPS-1 on the NEC.  Fat chance!)
>
>Comments?
>
I recently got my Word 4.0 upgrade, and I found a number of subtly
disturbing things in Word's drivers. I have an NEC CP6 printer, and
have had to rework the driver Microsoft provides, due to the following
set of annoyances:

1. The underline function works by underlining in Epson mode graphics
   -- at 120 dpi. The printer has a maximum resolution of 360dpi, but
   more importantly, it has a built-in underline function that was
   ignored.

2. The superscript and subscript functions use full-size characters
   shifted up or down by a half-line. Again, the CP6 has built-in
   superscript and subscript functions that use reduced size
   characters.

3. The default fonts are all draft mode on the CP6, and the
   draft/final switch in the Print Options menu doesn't seem to have
   any effect on the output. I'm more likely to do a NLQ printout than
   a draft printout, so why make the draft fonts the defaults?

4. Microspacing is again done using Epson graphics, this time at 240
   dpi.

5. Double underlining is again done at 120 dpi using Epson graphics.


Some of these I can't do anything about; Word _still_ doesn't know
that 24-pin printers exist, so I can't tell Word to draw double
underlines and to microspacing at 360 dpi. There are enough 24-pin
printers on the market now that you'd expect Miscrosoft to take
advantage of their capabilities -- all it would take is adding a flag
to the 'mod' field of the PCSD to be defined as "24-pin graphics. 3
bytes of graphics data for each column of graphics printed." and
modify the printer output routines accordingly. But no. That might
have been useful.

-- 
	Sean Malloy {hplabs!hp-sdd, akgua, sdcsvax, nosc}!crash!malloy
		ARPA: crash!malloy@nosc
	Naval Personnel Research and Development Center
	San Diego, CA 92152-6800
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