[cc]mc | .hd dprint "optimize printing on a Diablo" 08/28/84 dprint {-c | -j | -l | -s | -x} { } [cc]mc .ds 'Dprint' prints files on the user's terminal, making the assumption that the terminal is a Diablo model 1610 or 1620. Printing is done bi-directionally, optimizing motion of the print head and platen as much as possible. .sp The following options are available to control 'dprint's behavior: .in +5 .ta 6 .tc ` .sp .ti -5 -c`If present, the next argument must be an integer; 'dprint' will produce the specified number of copies of each file that it prints. .sp .ti -5 -j`'Dprint' will cause a page eject following each file (or copy of a file, when multiple copies are specified). Normally, no extra space is inserted between successive files or copies of the same file. .sp .ti -5 -l`If present, the next argument must be an integer; 'dprint' will use that number as the number of lines per physical page. It is important that this number match the form length selected on the terminal itself, else anomalous behavior may result. 'Dprint' assumes there are 66 lines per page, corresponding to the standard 11 inch form length. .sp .ti -5 -s`This option causes 'dprint' to pause at the top of each page and sound the terminal's audible alarm, allowing the user to insert a new piece of paper. Printing continues when the user types an ACK character (ctrl-f). [cc]mc | .sp .ti -5 -x`This option prevents the initial page eject. This option is useful when printing on special forms (mailing labels, etc.). Since the diablo does not support relative vertical motion this option should only be used when the paper/form is initially at top of form. [cc]mc .in -5 .sp The remaining arguments specify files to be printed. Most often, one or more pathnames will be given, indicating that the named files are to be printed, or there will be no other arguments, indicating that input is to be read from standard input. The full syntax of the construct is described in the entry for 'cat' in section 1 of the Reference Manual. .sp It is assumed that the paper has been mounted so that a form feed will advance to the first line on the next page. This may be done by pressing the 'set tof' switch (in the upper right corner of the keyboard) after the paper has been positioned properly. .sp In addition to optimizing print head motion, 'dprint' provides an extended character set of Greek letters and mathematical symbols to support the special character functions of the Software Tools Subsystem text formatter, 'fmt'. These special graphics are accessed by normal ASCII character codes with their most significant bit turned [ul off]. (Note that the normal Prime convention is that this bit is always turned on for text characters.) The following table shows the correspondence between ASCII character codes, formatter functions, and special graphics: .in +5 .sp .nf .ne 35 .ul Character 'Fmt' Function Graphic .sp a alpha lower-case Greek alpha b beta lower-case Greek beta d delta lower-case Greek delta D DELTA upper-case Greek delta e epsilon lower-case Greek epsilon n eta lower-case Greek eta g gamma lower-case Greek gamma G GAMMA upper-case Greek gamma 8 infinity "infinity" symbol + integral integration symbol l lambda lower-case Greek lambda L LAMBDA upper-case Greek lambda u mu lower-case Greek mu ^ nabla inverted delta (APL del) ~ not EBCDIC-style "not" symbol v nu lower-case Greek nu w omega lower-case Greek omega W OMEGA upper-case Greek omega - partial partial differential symbol p phi lower-case Greek phi P PHI upper-case Greek phi y psi lower-case Greek psi Y PSI upper-case Greek psi 3 pi lower-case Greek pi 4 PI upper-case Greek pi r rho lower-case Greek rho s sigma lower-case Greek sigma S SIGMA upper-case Greek sigma t tau lower-case Greek tau h theta lower-case Greek theta H THETA upper-case Greek theta x xi lower-case Greek xi z zeta lower-case Greek zeta .sp .fi .in -5 These extended graphics are produced by fractional motions of the platen and print head and overstriking of standard ASCII graphics. Best results are obtained when the paper is being fed by the platen and pinch roller and not by the pin-feed mechanism. .es help -p dprint | dprint dprint junk dprint -s -l 80 journal_article dprint -c 5 -j hand_out .me .in +5 .ti -5 "Usage: dprint ..." for incorrect argument syntax. .ti -5 ": can't open" if given file could not be opened for reading. .in -5 .bu If interrupted by the BREAK key while printing, 'dprint' may hang, waiting for the Diablo to acknowledge the last group of characters sent. To clear this condition, it is simply necessary to type a ctrl-f at the keyboard. If the ctrl-p key is used instead of BREAK, this condition normally does not occur. .sp When multiple copies of a file are requested using the "-c" option, 'dprint' obliges by rewinding the input file and re-reading it. If the input is being taken from a standard input port, and that port is not connected to a rewindable device (i.e., a disk file), then only one copy is produced. .sp Error messages are produced on the standard error output port, which is normally directed to the terminal. If it is undesirable to have these messages interspersed with the contents of the printed files, error output should be redirected to a file. [cc]mc | .sp Does not currently handle the full set of 'fmt' special characters. .# This will eventually be fixed, I hope. [cc]mc .sa cat (1), copy (1), fmt (1), print (1), sprint (3)