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Need ascii to Postscript filter

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Mike McCole

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Dec 11, 1992, 2:15:54 PM12/11/92
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I'm in need of a filter that will allow me to print plain ascii files on a
postscript printer. (LaserWriter II) It's on a unix box. Any pointers to
a source file will be appreciated.

Mike

__
mi...@travis.csd.harris.com Mike McCole 305-973-5466
2101 W. Cypress Creek Road Ft. Lauderdale FL 33309 MS 143
All opinions expressed are mine, not Harris Corporations.

ha...@ducvax.auburn.edu

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Dec 11, 1992, 5:04:10 PM12/11/92
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In article <1gapda...@travis.csd.harris.com>, mi...@travis.csd.harris.com (Mike McCole) writes:
> I'm in need of a filter that will allow me to print plain ascii files on a
> postscript printer. (LaserWriter II) It's on a unix box. Any pointers to
> a source file will be appreciated.

Thanks to Gayle, there is a summary below. I recently compiled
Southeren's nenscript (an enscript clone). It appears in the listing below,
but it has been moved to pub/os2/all/printer/. Southeren is working on
a newer release. nenscript should compile easily.

Note that I do not know much about converters. I have never tested Gayle's
cz.

Thanks again to Howard Gayle for the summary.


From: how...@titan.hal.com (Howard Gayle)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: software to convert text to PostScript
Date: 13 Oct 92 13:58:43 GMT

Requests for software to convert text to PostScript are common
on comp.lang.postscript. As the author of one such system (cz),
I sometimes respond. But cz is not the best software for
everyone, so I've decided to put together a brief listing of all
the software I know about. I hope the format is
self-explanatory.
--
Howard Gayle
HaL Computer Systems, Inc.
1315 Dell Avenue
Campbell, California 95008
USA
how...@hal.com
Phone: +1 408 379 7000 extension 1080
FAX : +1 408 379 5022


$Header: /usr/tools/src/cz/3/work/RCS/TEXT-TO-PS,v 1.5 1992/10/13 13:54:33 howard Exp $

TEXT-TO-POSTSCRIPT CONVERSION SOFTWARE

Name (none)
Status ?
Targets PostScript
Features Written directly in PostScript; just prepend to an
ASCII file and send it to the printer.
Get-from Posted to comp.lang.postscript in article
<1992Oct1.1...@cs.brown.edu>.
--
j...@cs.brown.edu (Jonathan Monsarrat)


Name a2ps
Status copyrighted, freely redistributable except under
compilation copyright
Targets UNIX, MS-DOS
Features Two pages on each physical page, borders surrounding pages,
headers, line numbering, multiple copies, landscape
and portrait mode, wide format, lines numbering,
fold/cut long lines, control font size.
Get-from comp.sources.misc volume 10, issue 73, archive name
a2ps3, posted 17 February 1990. Modified version
posted to alt.sources 25 March 1990 by Tor Lillqvist
<t...@hemuli.tik.vtt.fi>. Updated version
available by anonymous ftp from imag.fr (129.88.32.1)
in the "archive" directory.
--
mig...@imag.fr or mig...@imag.UUCP (uunet.uu.net!imag!miguel)
Miguel SANTANA
LGI
IMAG-Campus
BP 53X
38041 Grenoble Cedex
France


Name asciiprint.ps
Status
Targets all
Features simple PostScript code to print ASCII text
Get-from zb...@umd5.umd.edu (Ben Cranston)


Name ato2pps
Status copyrighted, freely redistributable for noncommercial use
Targets UNIX, possibly available on Macintosh (C program)
Features Prints ASCII printable text boxed, 2-up, in
landscape mode. Prints boxed header with date & time,
file name, and page number.
Get-from Mark Edwards <edw...@vms.macc.wisc.edu>
(as of December 1988; UNIX version available from Jim Ingram)
--
Jim Ingram uunet!h-three!jimi | jimi%h-t...@uunet.uu.net
h-three Systems Corporation P.O. Box 12557 RTP NC 27709 919 549 8334


Name cz
Status free software (GNU license)
Targets UNIX
Features table-driven, handles almost any character set, uses
any font on printer, control font sizes, paper
size, page layout, number of columns, line numbers,
portrait or landscape mode, page reversal, leading
(line spacing), tab expansion. Emacs interface.
Get-from comp.sources.misc volume 8 issues 65-75, 77-78 ( 1 Oct 1989)
issue 97 (28 Oct 1989)
(Other prerequisites: see README file at beginning of
issue 65.)
--
Howard Gayle
(address above)

Name Enscript
Status commercial
Targets UNIX
Features 1 or 2 columns, portrait or landscape, manual paper
feed, headers, line printer simulation, line wrap or
truncation, control lines on page, fonts.
Get-from Part of Adobe Transcript package


Name epsonps
Status free software
Targets MS-DOS
Features Epson LX-800 to PostScript translator, supports
international character sets, IBM graphics characters,
different width fonts, bit-mapped graphics.
Get-from coming soon on comp.sources.misc
--
Russell Lang Email: r...@monu1.cc.monash.edu.au Phone: (03) 565 3460
Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering
Monash University, Australia


Name ETSR
Status commercial
Targets MS-DOS
Features Epson MX-80 to PostScript translator, includes
Epson Mx-80 graphics modes, supports virtual printers,
PrintScreen key
Get-from $75 from Niche Marketing, 7198 Camino Colegio, Rohnert
Park, CA 94928, USA. Phone +1 707-795-7306. Overseas
shipping is $5 extra. CA residents please include
6.25% sales tax.
--
Clayton E. Cramer <cramer%opti...@uunet.UU.NET>


Name hpscat
Status ?
Targets UNIX
Features Hangul (Korean).
Get-from Anonymous FTP from kum.kaist.ac.kr or
cair.kaist.ac.kr. Unfortunately, font is not a part of
'hpscat'. It's a property of ELEX Inc. ,MAC Korean dealer.
--
jbk...@cslab.kaist.ac.kr


Name i2ps
Status copyrighted? Freely redistributable.
Targets UNIX
Features Handles ISO 8859/1 and Norwegian ISO 646. Written in
Perl. Line numbers, wrap or truncate long lines,
landscape, 2 or 3 column, control body font size.
Get-from alt.sources article <AAS.90Oc...@boeygen.nr.no>
posted 30 October 1990.
--
Gisle Aas | snail: Boks 114 Blindern, N-0314 Oslo, Norway
Norsk Regnesentral | X.400: G=Gisle;S=Aas;O=nr;P=uninett;C=no
voice: +47-2-453561 | inet: Gisl...@nr.no


Name lpp
Status copyrighted; freely redistributable for noncommercial use
Targets UNIX, TOPS-10, TOPS-20, VAX/VMS, IBM PC, and more.
Features headers, different paper sizes, borders, font size,
banner page, truncate or fold long lines, adjust
margins, Swedish ISO 646, multiple copies.
Get-from Fredric Ihren <fr...@nada.kth.se>


Name lwf
Status copyrighted; freely redistributable for noncommercial use
Targets UNIX
Features indent, portrait/landscape, margin adjust, page range,
point size, tab stops, headers, page reversal,
multicolumn printing (via pr)
Get-from comp.sources.unix volume 15 issue 8, 25 May 1988,
archive name lwf (obsolete version with minor bugs).
An updated version can be ftp'ed from cs.ubc.ca
(137.82.8.5) as pub/lwf-2.2.shar.Z.
--
Barry Brachman | UUCP: {alberta,uw-beaver,uunet}!ubc-cs!brachman
Dept. of Computer Science| Internet: brac...@cs.ubc.ca
Univ. of British Columbia|
Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z2 | CSNET: brac...@ubc.csnet
(604) 228-3123 |


Name mp
Status copyrighted; freely redistributable for noncommercial use
Targets UNIX
Features print mail messages and news articles, including
digests, as well as ASCII text files. 2-up landscape
mode. Prints Filofax, Franklin Planner, Time Manager,
and Time/System International formats.
Get-from FTP from iesd.auc.dk (130.225.48.4) in the PostScript
directory, or ftp.adelaide.edu.au (129.127.40.3) in
the pub/sun/richb directory.
--
Rich Burridge. PHONE: +61 2 413 2666 MAIL: ri...@Aus.Sun.COM

Name nenscript
Status ?
Targets MS-DOS, UNIX, OS/2
Features "enscript clone"
Get-from comp.lang.postscript article
<geoffw.7...@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU>, posted 7
October 1992. You can find nenscript for OS/2
1.x--2.0 and MSDOS on ftp-os2.nmsu.edu in
pub/uploads/nensc113.zip.


Name pc2ps
Status ?
Targets MS-DOS
Features Handles IBM code page 437 line graphic symbols.
Get-from GIE...@EDVZ.ATI.ADA.AT (Roland Giersig)


Name Post
Status shareware ($5)
Targets MS-DOS
Features control margins, fonts, orientation, scaling
Get-from F. C. Betts
Veda Incorporated
Suite 200
5200 Springfield Pike
Dayton, OH 45431


Name POSTPRN
Status public domain
Targets MS-DOS
Features A MS-DOS device driver that prints {portrait, landscape} and
{1-up, 2-up, 4-up} pages. Automatically converts ASCII to
PostScript simply by opening the device and writing to it.
Get-from grape.ecs.clarkson.edu:/d/dosutil/postprn.zip
(315)268-6667 (1N8, 12/2400), file area 7, postprn.zip
--
Russell Nelson (nel...@sun.soe.clarkson.edu)


Name pps
Status ?
Targets UNIX
Features Designed to be extended into further tools. It
consists of a front-end that converts the file into
generic Postscript. You tack a header onto it that
defines the behaviour of tabs, font changes, newlines,
formfeeds, and so on.
Get-from alt.sources and comp.lang.postscript article
<1992May13.0...@NeoSoft.com>, posted 13 May 1992.
--
Peter da Silva. <pe...@sugar.neosoft.com>.
NeoSoft Communications Services -- +1 713 684 5900


Name printer
Status commercial
Targets UNIX and MS-DOS (C program)
Features Monofont (Courier); monosize (12 pitch).
With other devps programs, supports portrait
and landscape printing, manual feed, reverse
page order printing, message and other overlays,
^L (form feed) page eject.
Get-from Part of Pipeline Associates' devps package.
--
Jim Ingram uunet!h-three!jimi | jimi%h-t...@uunet.uu.net
h-three Systems Corporation P.O. Box 12557 RTP NC 27709 919 549 8334


Name psf
Status copyrighted; freely redistributable for noncommercial use
Targets UNIX, Xenix, MS DOS
Features 2-up, 4-up, landscape, portrait, control fonts and
sizes, double-sided printing, scaling, banner page.
Get-from comp.sources.misc volume 12 issues 104-109, archive
name psf2.
--
to...@ajfcal.UUCP (Tony Field)


Name psfx80
Status commercial
Targets Sun 386i (UNIX MS-DOS capable machine)
Features Epson FX80 emulation with some limitations
Get-from Sun Microsystems, Inc. (with 386 or 486 box ? -:)
--
wit...@enme.UCalgary.CA | Witold Owoc
witold%en...@UNCANET.BITNET | The University of Calgary, Canada
uunet!ubc-cs!calgary!enme1!witold |Department of Mechanical Engineering
...alberta!/


Name PSR
Status
Targets MS-DOS
Features
Get-from
--
I ported the old program PSR from Unix to DOS just yesterday, but I
haven't used it much. So far it works OK. I will be porting and
testing several other programs in the near future. I can send what I
have, but unless you are in a rush, wait a bit, OK?
--
Bill Silvert, Habitat Ecology Division.
Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, NS, Canada B2Y 4A2
UUCP: ...!{uunet,watmath}!dalcs!biomel!bill
Internet: bill%bio...@cs.dal.CA BITNET: bill%biomel%dalcs@dalac


Name pstext
Status copyrighted; freely redistributable for noncommercial use
Targets UNIX
Features Handles tabs and backspaces, prints two-up, landscape
or portrait.
Get-from comp.sources.misc volume 26, issue 67, archive name
pstext, posted 26 November 1991.
--
Dan Judd
St. Olaf College
dan...@thor.acc.stolaf.edu


Name swtext
Status commercial
Targets
Features started off as a clone of Adobe's ``enscript'',
but is now greatly enhanced, eg large numbers of columns, ``document''
mode with paragraph fills and *bold* and _italic_ printing (controlled
by *...* and _..._ respectively), more control over page layout....
Get-from Harlequin Ltd,
Barrington Hall, Barrington, Cambridge, CAMBS, United Kingdom
--
scriptwor...@harlqn.co.uk


Name text2ps
Status ?
Targets DOS, UNIX?
Features arbitrary rotation, control body font, body font
size, horizontal spacing, leading, left margin on even
and odd pages, top margin, fold long lines
Get-from comp.binaries.ibm.pc, volume 1, archive name text2ps.
It's C source, despite the name of the news group.
--
Stephen Frede, UNSW, Australia
Modifications: Venu P. Gopal


Name TOPS
Status Freeware
Targets MS-DOS
Features Not many. Very simple text to ps filter. Quite fast.
Get-from Posted to comp.lang.postscript. Extra copies available from Ian.
--
Ian Farquhar Phone : (612) 805-7420
Office of Computing Services Fax : (612) 805-7433
Macquarie University NSW 2109 Also : (612) 805-7205
Australia Telex : AA122377
ACSNet ifar...@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz.au ifar...@suna.mqcc.mq.oz.au

--
--Darrel Hankerson ha...@ducvax.auburn.edu

peter da silva

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Dec 14, 1992, 10:35:21 AM12/14/92
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In article <1992Dec11...@ducvax.auburn.edu> ha...@ducvax.auburn.edu writes:
> Name pps
> Status ?
> Targets UNIX
> Features Designed to be extended into further tools. It
> consists of a front-end that converts the file into
> generic Postscript. You tack a header onto it that
> defines the behaviour of tabs, font changes, newlines,
> formfeeds, and so on.
> Get-from alt.sources and comp.lang.postscript article
> <1992May13.0...@NeoSoft.com>, posted 13 May 1992.
> --
> Peter da Silva. <pe...@sugar.neosoft.com>.
> NeoSoft Communications Services -- +1 713 684 5900

I just posted an update to alt.sources. Minor bug fix in PREPS, lots of
enhancements to PPS.SH, and a man page.
--
%Peter da Silva/77487-5012 USA/+1 713 274 5180/Have you hugged your wolf today?
/L{lineto}def/C{curveto}def/F{0 562 moveto 180 576 324 648 396 736 C 432 736 L
482 670 518 634 612 612 C}def/G{setgray}def .75 G F 612 792 L 0 792 L fill 1 G
324 720 24 0 360 arc fill 0 G 3 setlinewidth F stroke showpage % "Peerless"

Eric W. Sink

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Dec 15, 1992, 3:22:28 PM12/15/92
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mi...@travis.csd.harris.com (Mike McCole) writes:

>I'm in need of a filter that will allow me to print plain ascii files on a
>postscript printer. (LaserWriter II) It's on a unix box. Any pointers to
>a source file will be appreciated.

I too need one of these, but I also want the ability to arbitrarily place
EPS graphics on the page too. No, I don't need the text to flow around
them! :-)

Do any of the tools do this? I modified nenscript to provide such
functionality, albeit somewhat crudely.

--
Eric W. Sink, Spyglass | "You are the Pan."
1800 Woodfield Drive | - Rufio
Savoy, IL 61826 |
---- e-s...@uiuc.edu ---------|---------- 217-355-6000 -----------------------

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