[01f3cc6] | 1 | <refmeta> |
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| 2 | <refentrytitle>print.ini</refentrytitle> |
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| 3 | <manvolnum>5</manvolnum> |
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| 4 | </refmeta> |
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| 5 | |
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| 6 | <refnamediv> |
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| 7 | <refname>print.ini</refname> |
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| 8 | <refpurpose>survex printer settings |
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| 9 | </refpurpose> |
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| 10 | </refnamediv> |
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| 11 | |
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| 12 | <refsect1><title>Description</title> |
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| 13 | |
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| 14 | <Para> |
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| 15 | The print.ini file serves as a repository for printer descriptions for |
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| 16 | the Survex printer drivers. |
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| 17 | </Para> |
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| 18 | |
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| 19 | <refsect2><title>File Format</title> |
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| 20 | |
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| 21 | <Para>The format of the <filename>print.ini</filename> file |
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| 22 | is similar to the <filename>.ini</filename> files used on Microsoft Windows. |
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| 23 | The file is divided into sections, each section corresponding to a separate |
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| 24 | printer description. A section starts with a section name |
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| 25 | in square brackets, e.g.: |
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| 26 | </Para> |
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| 27 | |
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| 28 | <screen>[generic_pcl]</screen> |
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| 29 | |
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| 30 | <Para>followed by some options of the form |
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| 31 | <option>=<setting>, e.g.:</Para> |
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| 32 | |
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| 33 | <screen>pixels_across_page=960</screen> |
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| 34 | |
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| 35 | <Para>Most options are preceded by a comment (indicated by a semicolon ';') |
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| 36 | briefly explaining the option. |
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| 37 | </Para> |
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| 38 | |
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| 39 | <Para> |
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| 40 | Each section can contain a 'like' option. If present this contains |
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| 41 | the name of another section (possibly in another print.ini file). |
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| 42 | Options not specified in the current section will be taken from that |
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| 43 | section. This allows a printer definition to be based on that |
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| 44 | for another similar model of printer. |
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| 45 | </Para> |
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| 46 | |
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| 47 | <Para>Here is an example of how this works:</Para> |
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| 48 | |
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| 49 | <screen> |
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| 50 | [dm_9pin_12inch] |
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| 51 | like=dm_11inch_9pin |
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| 52 | lines_down_page=108</screen> |
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| 53 | |
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| 54 | <Para>This says that the definition 'dm_9pin_12inch' (for a 9pin dot |
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| 55 | matrix printer using 12 inch paper), is just like the 11 inch definition |
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| 56 | for the same printer, except that there are more lines per page. |
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| 57 | </Para> |
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| 58 | |
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| 59 | <Para>Each printer driver reads a different section - |
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| 60 | <command>printdm</command> (the Dot Matrix driver) reads |
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| 61 | <screen>[dm]</screen>, |
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| 62 | <command>printhpgl</command> (for HPGL plotters) reads |
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| 63 | <screen>[hpgl]</screen>, |
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| 64 | <command>printpcl</command> (for PCL printers) reads |
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| 65 | <screen>[pcl]</screen>, and |
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| 66 | <command>printps</command> (for Postscript printers) reads |
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| 67 | <screen>[ps]</screen>. |
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| 68 | Several definitions are supplied for each printer driver, covering |
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| 69 | most commonly encountered printers of each type. |
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| 70 | </Para> |
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| 71 | |
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| 72 | <refsect3><title>printdm</title> |
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| 73 | |
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| 74 | <Para>The definitions provided for printdm are: dm_8pin_a4, |
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| 75 | dm_8pin_11inch, |
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| 76 | dm_8pin_12inch, |
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| 77 | dm_9pin_a4, |
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| 78 | dm_9pin_11inch, |
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| 79 | dm_9pin_12inch, |
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| 80 | dm_24pin_a4, |
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| 81 | dm_24pin_11inch, |
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| 82 | dm_24pin_12inch, |
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| 83 | dm_panasonic_24pin, |
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| 84 | dm_lx86_9pin_11inch, |
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| 85 | and bj (for driving Canon BJ printers). |
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| 86 | </Para> |
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| 87 | |
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| 88 | <Para> |
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| 89 | In the unlikely event that you need to change the printer control |
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| 90 | codes, here is a quick overview of the format: printable characters |
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| 91 | are literal, except for backslash. A backslash |
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| 92 | <!-- stupid docbook-to-man can't cope with \... |
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| 93 | '\' |
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| 94 | indicates that the following character is to be interpreted as a |
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| 95 | control code. So \[ means send the value 27 decimal (1B hex, |
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| 96 | also called 'ESC' for Escape). If the backslash is followed by a small |
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| 97 | x and two hex digits - e.g \x0c, then that means send the code 0C hex |
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| 98 | (12 decimal, also called 'FF' for FormFeed). |
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| 99 | --> |
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| 100 | followed by an 'x' followed by two hex digits represents the character |
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| 101 | with that hex value. A double backslash means a literal backslash. |
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| 102 | </Para> |
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| 103 | |
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| 104 | <Para> |
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| 105 | This is all rather cryptic (printer codes inherently are) but the provided |
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| 106 | set-ups will work with nearly all dot matrix printers, so you are unlikely |
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| 107 | to need to fiddle with these runes. |
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| 108 | </Para> |
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| 109 | |
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| 110 | </refsect3> |
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| 111 | |
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| 112 | <refsect3><title>printhpgl</title> |
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| 113 | |
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| 114 | <Para>The definitions provided for printhpgl are: |
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| 115 | hpgl_generic_a4landscape, |
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| 116 | hpgl_generic_a1landscape, and |
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| 117 | hpgl_generic_a0landscape. |
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| 118 | </Para> |
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| 119 | |
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| 120 | </refsect3> |
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| 121 | |
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| 122 | <refsect3><title>printpcl</title> |
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| 123 | |
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| 124 | <Para>The definitions provided for printpcl are: |
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| 125 | pcl_generic_a4 and pcl_modern_a4.</Para> |
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| 126 | |
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| 127 | <Para>Note that if you are using a PCL printer the defaults are set |
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| 128 | not to use advanced printer features for compatibility. If you want to |
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| 129 | try these (equivalent to HP laserjet III or later), then you should |
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| 130 | use the modern_pcl_a4 printer definition (see below for how to do this). |
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| 131 | This will enable horizontal and vertical tabbing. |
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| 132 | </Para> |
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| 133 | </refsect3> |
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| 134 | |
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| 135 | <refsect3><title>printhpgl</title> |
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| 136 | |
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| 137 | <Para>There's only one definition provided at present: |
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| 138 | ps_generic_a4.</Para> |
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| 139 | |
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| 140 | </refsect3> |
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| 141 | |
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| 142 | <!-- FIXME: fettle this |
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| 143 | <Para>If you find that your printout does not come out correctly, then the |
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| 144 | best way to make changes for your printer is to create a new section called |
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| 145 | [my_printer], and start with a like=something where something is the closest |
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| 146 | section to your printer. Then add new options to override the ones that are |
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| 147 | not correct for your printer. Finally you need to change the section for the |
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| 148 | type of printer you are using to point to your new definition. E.g. if you |
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| 149 | are using a dot-matrix printer then you need to change the [DM] section to |
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| 150 | say like=my_printer . |
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| 151 | </Para> |
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| 152 | --> |
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| 153 | |
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| 154 | </refsect2> |
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| 155 | </refsect1> |
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| 156 | |
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| 157 | <refsect1><Title>Customising Printer Settings</Title> |
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| 158 | |
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| 159 | <Para> |
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| 160 | The only settings most users will want to customise are which printer |
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| 161 | definition is used, and where to send the output. If you're using a Dot |
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| 162 | Matrix Printer you will also need to set calibration details. |
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| 163 | </Para> |
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| 164 | |
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| 165 | <Para>You shouldn't modify the master print.ini (located in /usr/share/survex |
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| 166 | on Unix, or in the same directory as the Survex program files on other |
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| 167 | systems), or your changes will be overwritten by upgrades. Instead create: |
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| 168 | </Para> |
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| 169 | |
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| 170 | <ItemizedList> |
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| 171 | <ListItem><Para>/etc/survex/print.ini (Unix - system-wide settings)</Para></ListItem> |
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| 172 | <ListItem><Para>~/.survex/print.ini (Unix - per user settings)</Para></ListItem> |
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| 173 | <ListItem><Para>myprint.ini in the directory where Survex is installed (other platforms)</Para></ListItem> |
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| 174 | </ItemizedList> |
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| 175 | |
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| 176 | <Para> |
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| 177 | The drivers look for the section "[dm]", "[ps]", "[pcl]" or "[hpgl]" as |
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| 178 | appropriate. The file you create should should contain something like |
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| 179 | this to select a particular printer: |
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| 180 | </Para> |
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| 181 | |
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| 182 | <screen> |
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| 183 | [pcl] |
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| 184 | like=pcl_modern_a4 |
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| 185 | </screen> |
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| 186 | |
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| 187 | <Para> |
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| 188 | For printdm, it should also contain calibration measurements (calibrate |
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| 189 | your printer by running <command>printdm --calibrate</command>): |
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| 190 | </Para> |
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| 191 | |
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| 192 | <screen> |
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| 193 | [dm] |
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| 194 | like=dm_24pin_a4 |
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| 195 | mm_across_page=202 |
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| 196 | mm_down_page=278 |
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| 197 | </screen> |
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| 198 | |
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| 199 | <Para> |
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| 200 | You can override other settings too, such as the output destination. |
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| 201 | This is usually inherited from [base], and can be overridden in [base] |
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| 202 | (where it'll apply to all printer drivers) or in a printer driver |
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| 203 | specific section (such as [dm]). |
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| 204 | The output destination is set by an option of the form |
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| 205 | output_<platform>=<device>, where device can be a device name |
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| 206 | (e.g. PRN, LPT1, LPT2 under &msdos;, <filename/Printer:/ under &riscos;) or a |
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| 207 | filename: |
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| 208 | </Para> |
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| 209 | |
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| 210 | <screen> |
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| 211 | [dm] |
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| 212 | output_msdos=LPT1 |
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| 213 | like=dm_24pin_a4 |
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| 214 | mm_across_page=202 |
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| 215 | mm_down_page=278 |
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| 216 | </screen> |
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| 217 | |
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| 218 | <Para><!--FIXME what else has popen? msdos too?--> |
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| 219 | Under &unix; output may be piped into another command like so: |
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| 220 | </Para> |
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| 221 | |
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| 222 | <screen> |
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| 223 | [base] |
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| 224 | ; send output to printer 'oak' |
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| 225 | output_unix=|lpr -Poak |
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| 226 | </screen> |
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| 227 | |
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| 228 | <Para>Note you can also override the output setting using the --output |
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| 229 | command line option. |
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| 230 | </Para> |
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| 231 | |
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| 232 | <Para> |
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| 233 | If the output device isn't a device or a pipe command, it is taken as |
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| 234 | a filename to write the printer data to. This can then be sent to a |
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| 235 | printer later. |
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| 236 | </Para> |
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| 237 | |
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| 238 | <caution> |
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| 239 | <Para>If you're using &msdos; you need to be careful when sending output |
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| 240 | to a file - printdm, printpcl and printhpgl all produce binary files, which |
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| 241 | <emphasis>must</emphasis> then be sent to the printer with |
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| 242 | <userinput>COPY /B OUTPUT PRN</userinput> where OUTPUT is the filename and |
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| 243 | PRN the device name. Do <emphasis>not</emphasis> use COPY without the |
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| 244 | /B. If you do, the output may be corrupted. Sorry, this is a deficiency |
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| 245 | of &msdos;, and there is nothing we can do about it.</Para> |
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| 246 | |
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| 247 | <Para>If you send output straight to the printer, by putting <filename/PRN/ |
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| 248 | or <filename/LPT1/ in the configuration file, then this problem should not |
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| 249 | occur.</Para> |
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| 250 | |
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| 251 | <Para>printps produces text files as output, and so should be unaffected by |
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| 252 | this problem.</Para> |
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| 253 | </caution> |
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| 254 | |
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| 255 | <Para> |
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| 256 | printdm can also drive Canon bubblejets in native mode (which gives a |
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| 257 | higher resolution than in Epson emulation mode). To use this, |
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| 258 | set "like=bj" in the "[dm]" section - like so: |
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| 259 | </Para> |
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| 260 | |
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| 261 | <screen> |
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| 262 | [dm] |
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| 263 | like=bj</screen> |
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| 264 | |
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| 265 | </refsect1> |
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