Learning about PostScript vs. PCL/HPGL?
pi...@zeus.colbud.hu
Where might I find out more about the comparative (dis)advantages of
PostScript vs. PCL/HPGL? Things that I'm curious about: Does anyone
actually write little programs in PCL/HPGL as many people do in PostScript?
Is there an analog to EPS in PCL/HPGL? Are there drivers like DVIPS that
convert DVI files to PCL/HPGL? Why does PostScript have such a privileged
place in the TeX world over PCL/HPGL?
These are sincere (if perhaps somewhat naive) questions.
Thanks,
Chris P.
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Michael Piotrowski
> Where might I find out more about the comparative (dis)advantages of
> PostScript vs. PCL/HPGL? Things that I'm curious about: Does anyone
> actually write little programs in PCL/HPGL as many people do in PostScript?
A quick answer to this point: PCL and HPGL aren't programming
languages as PostScript is; there aren't any looping constructs, for
example. Consider them more like static file formats. You can write
PCL or HPGL code by hand, though people do this usually only for
templates used for generating complete page descriptions.
> Is there an analog to EPS in PCL/HPGL? Are there drivers like DVIPS
> that convert DVI files to PCL/HPGL? Why does PostScript have such a
> privileged place in the TeX world over PCL/HPGL?
You don't usually include PCL code into a document, but you may want
to include HPGL files generated by CAD software. There is a dvi2pcl
driver (by Bo Thidé) which you should find on CTAN, but according to
the author it is rather limited, although he might want to pick up the
project again some day. The dominance of PostScript over PCL in the
TeX world might be due to the fact that higher-quality printers
traditionally only supported PostScript; as far as I know this still
applies to typesetters.
--
Michael Piotrowski <m...@linguistik.uni-erlangen.de>
<http://www.linguistik.uni-erlangen.de/~mxp/>
Department of Computational Linguistics --- University of Erlangen, Germany
jso...@my-dejanews.com
that describes a page but does not allow programming. PS, as I understand it
is device independent where as PCL is more device dependent. A given PS
file, as I understand it, should be printable on any printer that supports
that level of PS. In PS, as I understand it you are not dealing with device
dependent rasters but rather images. In PCL areas such as resolution are a
concern. My understanding is that fewer processing resources are required in
a PS printer. I believe PS capable printers historically have been more
expensive. I suspect that for PCL, the host computer does more of the actual
rasterization than in PS.
I am just getting into PDLs and I hope other replies will correct any errors I
may have made. A book I am reading is "Developers Guide to HP printers" by
Norman E. Smith. It has a 98 copy write and explains HP printers from a SW
developers prespective.
John Sotack
In article <6ot0or$4ae$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>,
pi...@zeus.colbud.hu wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Where might I find out more about the comparative (dis)advantages of
> PostScript vs. PCL/HPGL? Things that I'm curious about: Does anyone
> actually write little programs in PCL/HPGL as many people do in PostScript?
> Is there an analog to EPS in PCL/HPGL? Are there drivers like DVIPS
that
> convert DVI files to PCL/HPGL? Why does PostScript have such a privileged
> place in the TeX world over PCL/HPGL?
>
Corrin Lakeland
I think the main reason is that postscript is 'device independant'. PS files
will print on any postscript printer while PCL files will only print on
hewlett packard printers. I believe that PCL is optimised for the printer
whereas postscript is more optimised for the image creator.
HPGL is a vector language like postscript but unlike postscript it is a real
pain to type. I have written pictures in it, but only as the print command
for an application. Instead of having understandable commands (e.g. moveto),
it uses two letter acronyms. Since hardly anybody writes things by hand any
more, I guess HPGL would be ok. I think the reason you don't hear much about
it is that it only works on some printers
> Is there an analog to EPS in PCL/HPGL?
HPGL doesn't really need an analog to EPS, you can (almost) just copy your
image into the larger image.
> Are there drivers like DVIPS
I've never seen any.
> Why does PostScript have such a privileged place in the TeX world
Why shouldn't it? Postscript is device independant (like DVI) but unlike DVI
it is supported by almost every single printer. Postscript is fairly easy to
use for most TeX users (being similar to the picture enviroment).
Corrin
Corrin Lakeland
Gerard Middleton
Ah, if only all printers did support Postscript -- the cheaper ones do not
(yet they produce very nice output). In my part of the world, it takes
$1000+ to get a Postscript printer. Please dont tell me to use
Ghostscript, it does a rotten job of printing on my home printer (a Canon
bubblejet). I use an old LaserJet II with a cartridge to print
Postscript at work. Not only that, but it appears to be the ONLY
Postcript printer in my (not very technologically advanced) department.
But my real question is this -- I too would like to know a little more
about Postscript. More than I can learn reading "The LaTeX Companion"
(which is quite useful) -- but I do not want to read a whole book on the
subject. Can anyone recommend a good ARTICLE?
--
Gerry Middleton
School of Geography and Geology, McMaster University
Tel: (905) 525-9140 ext 24187 FAX 522-3141
Bo Thidé
>
> Hi,
>
> Where might I find out more about the comparative (dis)advantages of
> PostScript vs. PCL/HPGL? Things that I'm curious about: Does anyone
> actually write little programs in PCL/HPGL as many people do in PostScript?
> convert DVI files to PCL/HPGL? Why does PostScript have such a privileged
> place in the TeX world over PCL/HPGL?
>
> These are sincere (if perhaps somewhat naive) questions.
>
> Thanks,
> Chris P.
>
> -----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
> http://www.dejanews.com/rg_mkgrp.xp Create Your Own Free Member Forum
PCL is a low-level "raster-like" description language whereas HPGL
is a vector graphics language. PCLh can be considered the equivalent
of an assembler language and is relatively close to DVI. PostScript
is more a high-level page-description language, in some sense similar
to TeX.
A typical appliction where you would use PCL is for a DVI-to-PCL
driver so that it would suffice to have a simple, inexpensive PCL printer
(entry-level Laser, DeskJet etc) for printing out your TeX documents.
In fact, I once wrote such a driver which is still in use. DVI-to-PCL
drivers can be very fast and produce compact print files.
Why PostScript has such a privileged place in the TeX world is beyond
me. I know that many TeX users think that you need PostScript
to produce advanced TeX documents including graphics. This is not
so. My first book (well, monograph, perhaps) which included
graphics, was printed without any use of PostScript. Still it
looked OK (at least the printing and publication office of Uppsala
University keeps a copy to show as an example of good typesetting;
to be honest, I am not too pleased with it myself).
Bo
--
^ Bo Thidé (Ass Prof)------------http://www.wavegroup.irfu.se/~bt
|I| Dept. of Space and Plasma Physics, SE-755 91 Uppsala, Sweden.
|R| Office: Villavägen 3. Phone: (0)18-4717269. Fax: (0)18-554917
/|F|\ Mobile Phone: 0705-613670 Home Phone: [+46] 18-554184
~~U~~ E-Mail: mailto:b...@plasma.uu.se Mobile: mailto:cal...@irfu.se
Amitha Perera
> But my real question is this -- I too would like to know a little more
> about Postscript. More than I can learn reading "The LaTeX Companion"
> (which is quite useful) -- but I do not want to read a whole book on the
> subject. Can anyone recommend a good ARTICLE?
I found Peter Weingartner's "A First Guide to PostScript" at
http://www.cs.indiana.edu/docproject/programming/postscript/postscript.html
quite useful.
Cheers,
Amitha
--
Amitha Perera tel: +1-518-276-2806
Computer Science Department
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute