A/UX 2.0 and Imagewriters non-features

[Bruce Barnett]

In article <1990Sep28.224909.7440 at servalan.uucp> rmtodd at servalan.uucp (Richard Todd) writes:


>(Guess that means that telling you to use TeX instead (either OzTeX&DVIM72, or 
>UnixTeX&xdvi&Nelson Beebe's DVI->ImageWriter driver) isn't an option.  Pity.)

Yup. Pity.

>>I had hoped I could use the Mac tools for the drawings, and merge
>>troff with Mac diagrams. Not with A/UX 2!

>Not with anybody's troff or ditroff, even with the Ditroff-to-ImageWriter
>driver in A/UX 1.1.  The problem is that Mac drawing programs don't put
>their output in any form that troff recognizes.  (At best, you can get them
>to put out Encapsulated PostScript, but that don't work too good on a
>non-PS printer).

Yup. You are right. I guess I am spoiled by the flexibility of
PostScript printers. Unless I can convert a MacPaint document into
some bitmap document that ditroff can pass thru to some sort of
printer driver. It looks like the A/UX system supports MacOS Printer
requests. Perhaps I can figure out some way to convert ditroff into 
Mac format. (Well, maybe if I get desperate.)

>Now, there is a way you can do pic drawings somewhat more readily than the
>old standard way (type in your pic code, print out your document, see that 
>it didn't work, hack your pic code, etc.).  What you do is use the Xfig
>program for X Windows to draw your pictures and output them in FIG format,
>then use the fig2pic program from the TransFig distribution to convert that
>file to a pic file; you then have a pic file you can include in your
>ditroff file.


xfig is painful if you don't have a large monitor.


>Or just swipe the ditroff-ImageWriter binary off the 1.1
>distribution disks and install on 2.0.  After all, A/UX 1.1
>binaries run on 2.0.  Assuming they haven't made some incompatible
>change in troff, of course.  (Of course, if they have, you can
>always grab a few more files off those old distribution disks...).

This is the crux of the matter. I don't think it is that easy. 
(Someone tell me I'm wrong!)

It seems that Apple added MacOS Printer support. Something is now
different. Else why would they REMOVE functionality? Also - A/UX 2
does not support a non-appletalk ImageWriter LQ under the Unix print
spooler. Another example of something different. I don't feel warm and
fuzzy about this solution. 

I have a feeling I am going to learn a lot about ditroff and the
Unix/Appletalk LQ driver. It sure would be nice if someone from Apple
explains why someone who decided to stick with Apple printers got
shafted.



--
Bruce G. Barnett	barnett at crd.ge.com	uunet!crdgw1!barnett