DAVID@ches.cs.vims.edu (03/26/91)
There was a recent request which, alas, I did not save so I can't attribute it, which asked for information concerning a BGI driver for HP laser. I too have an interest in this and take the liberty of perhaps expanding on what is meant. It would be nice to use all the Turbo graphics routines to drive a hard-copy graphics device such as a Laser since a page of laser graphics can be regarded as an array of pixels. The output from the program would either be a direct drive to the laser or the production of a file for off-line plotting. An additional useful driver would be one that produced HPGL output either on-line to a plotter or off-line to a file. This might be an order of magnitude more difficult as raster-to-vector conversions would be required. Anything out there?? David Evans, DAVID@CHES.CS.VIMS.EDU
bb16@prism.gatech.EDU (Scott Bostater) (03/26/91)
There's a program called Mercury (shareware version of Eureka!) that comes
with a hp laserjet bgi file. I didn't try and use the bgi directly from TP,
but did have the Mercury program generate a hp plot file. The file it
generated was about 700K for a 300x300 4"x5" plot. The actual plot file was
bloated with unneeded commands. I don't know if this is an aspect of the
bgi file in general or particular to the Mercury program, but I wasn't
impressed.
This is also the *only* laserjet bgi driver that I've seen so it may be no
worse than any commercial bgi driver available. I normally send plot data
to a LJ III in compressed mode and can get 300x300 4"x5" plots in 70-120K
using PCL-5 commands.
--
Scott Bostater Georgia Tech Research Institute - Radar Systems Analysis
"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him" -Ps 62.1
uucp: ...!{allegra,amd,hplabs,ut-ngp}!gatech!prism!bb16
Internet: bb16@prism.gatech.edupschwart@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Paul Schwartz) (03/26/91)
In article <26348@adm.brl.mil>, DAVID@ches.cs.vims.edu writes... >There was a recent request which, alas, I did not save so I can't >attribute it, which asked for information concerning a BGI driver >for HP laser... OTHER STUFF ABOUT BGIs FOR PRINTERS/PLOTTERS The book _Graphics_Programming_in_Turbo_Pascal_5.5_ by Ben Ezzell contains code for TPUs for Epson type dot matrix printers, laserjet printers, and HPGL plotters. I know its not BGI code, but it is concise and it works. Keep on trekin' - Z - +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | PauL M SchwartZ | There are many causes worth dying for, | | PSCHWART@macc.wisc.edu | but none worth killing for. | | PSCHWART@wiscmacc.BitNet | - Gandhi | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
frank@cavebbs.gen.nz (Frank van der Hulst) (03/27/91)
In article <26348@adm.brl.mil> DAVID@ches.cs.vims.edu writes: >There was a recent request which, alas, I did not save so I can't I too have seen many requests. So I've been working on such a beast for some months now. It is written Turbo-C, which poses problems with linking it into a TP program. I'm not sure yet how to do that... anyone got any ideas? Incidentally, it works fine in C. >attribute it, which asked for information concerning a BGI driver >for HP laser. I too have an interest in this and take the liberty of >perhaps expanding on what is meant. > It would be nice to use all the Turbo graphics routines to drive >a hard-copy graphics device such as a Laser since a page of laser >graphics can be regarded as an array of pixels. The output from the >program would either be a direct drive to the laser or the >production of a file for off-line plotting. My program outputs to any binary file, including stdprn. > An additional useful driver would be one that produced HPGL output >either on-line to a plotter or off-line to a file. This might be an >order of magnitude more difficult as raster-to-vector conversions >would be required. I've thought about that, but decided that would have to wait for release 2. My package does, however, work with lots of different dot-matrix printers. . -- Take a walk on the wild side, and I don't mean the Milford Track.
Bruce.Mcara@f72.n140.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Bruce Mcara) (03/30/91)
I am about to release a shareware package of BGI's for Laserjet, matrix and HPGL. These BGI's will produce MUCH smaller output files than you indicate. The HPGL version scales the plot surface to your P1/P2 settings so it can produce any size of plot. The matrix and laserjet BGI's come in two versions 1/2 page and full page. All output is truncated so that blank trailing bytes are not sent to the printer. The developers' version of the package ($25) includes a configuration editor which allows you to send output to any device or file. The BGI's are also very small 3-4 K. They use a disk buffer for graphics processing to minimize4 memory requirements but this can be redirected to a RAM drive to maximize speed. -- Bruce Mcara - via FidoNet node 1:140/22 UUCP: ...!herald!weyr!72!Bruce.Mcara Domain: Bruce.Mcara@f72.n140.z1.FIDONET.ORG Standard Disclaimers Apply...
syswerda@bbn.com (Gilbert Syswerda) (04/05/91)
In article <1991Mar27.073435.7521@cavebbs.gen.nz> frank@cavebbs.gen.nz (Frank van der Hulst) writes: >In article <26348@adm.brl.mil> DAVID@ches.cs.vims.edu writes: >>There was a recent request which, alas, I did not save so I can't > >I too have seen many requests. So I've been working on such a beast for >some months now. It is written Turbo-C, which poses problems with linking >it into a TP program. I'm not sure yet how to do that... anyone got any >ideas? There is a commercial package available that provides hardcopy support for BGI. It is called GRAF/DRIVE PLUS, from Fleming Software. The blurb in The Programmer's Shop (page 51, Spring catalog) says: BGI-compatible graphics drivers for Turbo C/Pascal. Implements most Turbo screen graphics functions for LaserJet and Epson, postscript, and HPGL pen plotters. Often a graphics program can be proted [sic] to a hard copy device by 'installing' a hard copy driver instead of a screen drivers. No royalties. Disclaimer: I have no connection with this company, and am not even a happy user (yet).