Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!haven!grebyn!karl
From: karl@grebyn.COM (Karl Nyberg)
Newsgroups: comp.text
Subject: Elan DWB II or Adobe Transcript for Sun?
Message-ID: <11759@grebyn.COM>
Date: 12 Jan 89 04:10:52 GMT
Reply-To: karl@grebyn.com (Karl Nyberg)
Distribution: na
Organization: Grebyn Corp. HQ
Lines: 44

[Posted for a friend who doesn't have news running yet.  Responses to me
please.  Thanks.]

Since I last spoke with some of you, I went ahead and bought a NEC 890 laser
printer (postscript, 3MB RAM, 35 fonts, etc).  Although I hadn't figured out
exactly HOW I was going to get troff out to the printer, I figured something
would come along.  Now, TWO things seem to have come along, and I'd
appreciate your comments on either or both packages.

TranScript -- Adobe TranScript is a set of filters that convert troff
  output (otroff, ditroff) to PostScript for printing by any PS printer.
  A couple of sites that I am familiar with have experience with Adobe
  TranScript....  It seems solid and object licenses are relatively 
  inexpensive ($500), except that Adobe doesn't sell objects for the Sun.  
  So the alternatives are to buy a cpu source license ($1795) from Adobe 
  or an object license from Sun ($1795).

Elan -- Elan sells the ATT Documenter's Workbench II (DWB 2.0) set of 
  tools with drivers (filters) for PostScript and LaserJet printers.
  The price is $1795 (sound familiar???), and includes:
  - all the DWB II tools and documentation (600 pages),
  - ditroff (more recent and better supported than Sun otroff),
  - Sunwindows previewer (save printing time, paper and toner),
  - bitmap support for Sun screen dumps, Tiff(?), PC Paintbrush, MacPaint
  - capabilities not provided by TranScript (landscape mode, 35 online
    fonts vs 14 for TranScript, support for pic).
  - an hour of free phone support.

I tend to favor the Elan package (complete DWB, ditroff and previewer),
except I don't know anyone who is currently using it.  The Elan folks tried
to make a big deal out of how much better ditroff was than otroff, but
seriously, how often has the regular troff crashed on you??  I've used the
regular troff for years with very few hassles -- how much better can ditroff
be?  Probably the answer is that it is "device independent", which makes the
job of integrating it to printers easier for the integrators.

-- Karl --

Karl A. Nyberg          karl@grebyn.com, nyberg@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu
Grebyn Corporation                 karl%grebyn.com@haven.umd.edu
P. O. Box 1144                        {decuac,haven}!grebyn!karl
Vienna, VA 22183-1144                               703-281-2194
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