Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!oliveb!tymix!antares!tardis!jms
From: jms@tardis.Tymnet.COM (Joe Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: 1.4 wish list-Printer Support
Summary: PrtDrvGen doesn't do everything
Keywords: Printer Driver maker/patcher needed
Message-ID: <193@tardis.Tymnet.COM>
Date: 14 May 89 10:39:42 GMT
References: <6984@ecsvax.UUCP> <47xA02P525zb01@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com>
Reply-To: jms@tardis.Tymnet.COM (Joe Smith)
Organization: McDonnell Douglas Field Service Co, San Jose CA
Lines: 31

In article <47xA02P525zb01@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com> dwl10@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (Dave Lowrey) writes:
>>My wish for 1.4 (and 1.3 and 1.2) is for C-A to provide a utility 
>>that will allow the user to create his/her own printer driver.
>>
>Fish Disk #60 has a program called PrtDrvGen. It will do exactly what
>you have asked for.

I agree, if you make it: "will probably do everything you need".

Before I finally found a driver for DEC's LA50, I tried to build one using
PrtDrvGen 2.3 from Amicus disk #22.  I typed in all the specs for the escape
sequences, and then found that there was no way to tell the program how to do
sixel graphics.  There were options for horizontal pixels versus vertical
pixels, and how many pixels per character, but the killer was in specifying
what to do with the rest of the bits in the byte.  PrtDrvGen gave me 4 options:
  bits + 0	use 6 LSBs, remaining high bits off
  bits + 0xC0	use 6 LSBs, remaining high bits on
  bits*4 + 0	use 6 MSBs, remaining low bits off
  bits*4 + 3	use 6 MSBs, remaining low bits on
Sixel graphics require bits+63, which was not one of the options.  (I didn't
send in the shareware fee to get sources to PrtDrvGen since I knew the driver
I needed was out there, somewhere.) I eventually found an LA50 driver on a
disk from Sacramento, they may have gotten it from CompuServe.

Other than not handling one incompatible printer, it looked like a very
good program.
-- 
Joe Smith (408)922-6220 | SMTP: JMS@F74.TYMNET.COM or jms@tymix.tymnet.com
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