Convert .PRN file to .TXT

Uncabill

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May 26, 1998, 3:00:00 AM5/26/98

to

Sometimes the only way I can get info from windows that I can manipulate for my
own purposes is in the form of a .PRN file. These files are created by
printing from a program to a file using a PCL printer driver. An example is in
W95 Device Manager system summary. If you elect to print this to a file, it
creates a .PRN file. MY QUESTION: does anybody know of a program that will
convert this format into an unformatted text file i.e. a .TXT file. Please
drop me a line if you do. thanks.
Bill Schaible. Seattle, Washington USA
unca...@aol.com

Marcus Houlden

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May 26, 1998, 3:00:00 AM5/26/98

to Uncabill

[posted and mailed]

Install the text only/generic printer driver in Win95. You can then
print to files and get plain text with no problems. This was a method
for exporting data out of the old Win3.1 card file applet. It requires
no extra software and works quite well.

--
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Ray Moon

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May 30, 1998, 3:00:00 AM5/30/98

to Bill Schaible

Uncabill wrote:
>
> Sometimes the only way I can get info from windows that I can manipulate for my
> own purposes is in the form of a .PRN file. These files are created by
> printing from a program to a file using a PCL printer driver. An example is in
> W95 Device Manager system summary. If you elect to print this to a file, it
> creates a .PRN file. MY QUESTION: does anybody know of a program that will
> convert this format into an unformatted text file i.e. a .TXT file. Please
> drop me a line if you do. thanks.

Bill,

I do not know of a program to do what you want, but I know a better way
to print your information. Create a new printer called "Generic/Text
Only" using the Generic/Text Only driver. Now the .prn file should
contain only text with CR/LF control codes.

Hope that this is of some help.

Ray
=====================================================================
Ray Moon
ray...@moonware.dgsys.com
http://www2.dgsys.com/~raymoon/moonware.html
Home of MoonWare Shareware and the x86 Assembly Language FAQ
Come steal my pages... Well, not steal but come and see!

Leonardo Serni

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May 30, 1998, 3:00:00 AM5/30/98

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unca...@aol.com (Uncabill) wrote:

>Sometimes the only way I can get info from windows that I can manipulate for my
>own purposes is in the form of a .PRN file. These files are created by
>printing from a program to a file using a PCL printer driver. An example is in
>W95 Device Manager system summary. If you elect to print this to a file, it
>creates a .PRN file. MY QUESTION: does anybody know of a program that will
>convert this format into an unformatted text file i.e. a .TXT file.

Have you tried installing an "ASCII/Text Only" printer on Windows?

Leonardo

".signature": bad command or file name

Abdul Aziz

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Dec 29, 2022, 4:27:13 AM12/29/22

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Hi everyone,
I need to achieve the same using Java or Kotlin programming language, is it possible in 2022? :)

JJ

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Dec 29, 2022, 9:58:34 AM12/29/22

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For DOS, only Taurus JVM is usable, and only some Java standard packages are
available.

Tavis Ormandy

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Dec 29, 2022, 10:13:11 AM12/29/22

to

On 2022-12-29, Abdul Aziz wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> I need to achieve the same using Java or Kotlin programming language, is it possible in 2022? :)

You're replying to a thread from 30 years ago, on a group for the
discussion of msdos programming. I think it would be very surprising to
find java programmers here. Try a java group, like comp.lang.java.

Also, start a new thread, don't reply to long dead ones!

I don't know Java, but I would use ghostscript or libgs with the
txtwrite device.

Tavis.

--
_o) $ lynx lock.cmpxchg8b.com
/\\ _o) _o) $ finger tav...@sdf.org
_\_V _( ) _( ) @taviso

R.Wieser

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Dec 29, 2022, 11:04:06 AM12/29/22

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Abdul,

> Hi everyone,
> I need to achieve the same using

Maybe you could do what Leonardo suggested ?

>> Have you tried installing an "ASCII/Text Only" printer on Windows?

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

Johann Klammer

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Jan 1, 2023, 12:27:10 PM1/1/23

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The problem with the PS/PDF family of formats is that they do not necessarily contain text as text.
the letters might be there but not in the correct ordering. This bites me regularly,
when trying to copy code examples from microchip datasheets.
In theory you might get somewhere by converting to some raster format and using an ocr program
on that.