[net.text] eqn on a Diablo 630: Yuk!

dfh@scirtp.UUCP (David F. Hinnant) (05/26/86)

I need to generate some sensible eqn output on a Diablo 630.  Can this 
even be done?  I'm using "neqn" which may or may not be standard System III
or System V, I don't know. I'm using INTERACTIVE's "IN/ix" port.  The manual
page says neqn is for nroff and eqn is for troff.  Other documents indicate
that neqn works on some devices, but the 630 is not mentioned.

Actually, I get something relatively useful for output as long as the equation
doesn't use greek letters.  Square roots are OK, and a limit looks pretty
good, comparatively speaking.  Greek characters don't generate - and I don't
expect them to on my current printwheel.  If I want a Sigma, I get a "R".  
Pi comes out as a "C", Rho as a "K".  The Integral sign is a "^".  Each of
these is preceeded with a control-N which is the ASCII "so" (shift out?)

Now, what should I expect to happen?  Are there some printers that will stop
and allow you to change printwheels?  I looked in a printwheel catalog ate
the "general scientific" wheel which has everything I need.  However, the
daisy petals don't match.  I.e., the "R" isn't the same petal position as
the Sigma.  Is the control-N an escape for some printers/terminals that
does something useful?

Any suggestions?


-- 
				David Hinnant
				SCI Systems, Inc.
				...{decvax, akgua}!mcnc!rti-sel!scirtp!dfh

jeff@utastro.UUCP (Jeff Brown the Scumbag) (05/26/86)

In article <576@scirtp.UUCP>, dfh@scirtp.UUCP (David F. Hinnant) writes:
> I need to generate some sensible eqn output on a Diablo 630.  Can this 
> even be done?  I'm using "neqn"....

At our installation the only way we could get neqn to give the greek
(and other) symbols on a Diablo 630 was to use predefined strings,
e.g., instead of 

	.EQ
	alpha = delta epsilon + .....
	.EN

use

	.ds Ga <control code which creates alpha>
	.ds Gd <control code which creates delta>
	.ds Ge <control code which creates epsilon>
	...
	.EQ
	\*(Ga = \*(Gd \*(Ge + ...
	.EN

which was ugly and annoying but could be made to work.  There are no
doubt better ways of going about this.
----
"Plan for the worst imaginable.  That way your only
disappointment will be your feeble powers of imagination."

Jeff Brown the Scumbag
		{allegra,ihnp4}!{noao,ut-sally}!utastro!jeff
		jeff@astro.UTEXAS.EDU
Astronomy Department, U. of Texas, Austin 78712

colonel@ellie.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) (05/29/86)

This is an old one.  If you can find a printwheel that's got everything
you want, then just
  make up a driver,
  get your friendly neighborhood syshack to install it,
  invoke nroff with the -T630 option.
(Or use ditroff and write a ditroff driver!  But first you need a
ditroff driver.)

If you need more than one printwheel, you're in trouble.  You can
(1) fake the Greek characters with composites;
(2) switch printwheels back and forth.

I've seen UCSD software that would print a page in two passes!  You
switched wheels between passes.

If you can fake the Greeks, just code the movements into the nroff
driver.  If you need to switch back and forth, well ... A friend of
mine had that problem once, and I wrote a postprocessor for nroff
that paused when a wheel switch was called for.  It _might_ still
be around....
-- 
Col. G. L. Sicherman
UU: ...{rocksvax|decvax}!sunybcs!colonel
CS: colonel@buffalo-cs
BI: csdsicher@sunyabva