ggray@wpi.wpi.edu (Gary Gray) (04/02/89)
Last night I was printing out the documentation to Kermit, and had one hell of a time trying to get it to fit on a page properly so I could stick it into a 3 ring binder.... Which gave me an idea. Would anyone (especially you shareware/freeware authors) be interested in a program that would print documentation? It would allow the user to state how s/he would like the stuff printed (# of columns, margins (top, bottom, left, right) print style for titles and such). It would also account for stuff like diagrams and such that should not be broken over page bounderies (it would print the diagram at the top of the next page, and would fill the remainder of the current page with text) Also, since the user can input his printer setup, the documentation writer could have access to things like italics, underlining, wide printing and such without having to think about what the different printer code are for these. Other features: a) automatic header-footer generation b) automatic page number printing (option for a time/date stamp) c) the ability to redefine the page size d) the capability of re-assigning print styles (in case your printer cannot handle a certain style or if you can't stomach it) e) a startup for the printer to put it in special modes (letter quality, condensed, etc) f) The generation of a table of contents that actually means something (the author would mark the line of text to be referenced in the document, the table of contents would be printed last with this information...) I am curious as to whether this would be used at all. It would allow a simple text file to be formatted in an attractive manner with only a small amount of effort by the author of the document. The user will get the documentation printer the way he wants it, without having to re-edit the file. Is this of any use? Has someone already introduced such a program? I could go on and on about the features I'd put in it, but if I am just covering old ground I don't want to waste anyone's time.... -- _____________________________________________________________________________ _ |"Don't care if they say we are a dyin' race / _ ar \/ ggray@wpi.bitnet | I'd rather be here than any other place \_| ra / ggray@wpi.wpi.edu | Keep on working, Keep on working" P.T.
Geva_Apple-Maniac_Patz@cup.portal.com (04/05/89)
Yes, this document printing idea is excellent. Some things which ought to be borne in mind: * Size. The authoring side can be as big as you like, but the distribution part of the package must be small, as it's obviously going to be transmitted as part of a shareware/PD program, which needs to be as small as possible for transmission. Programmers will NOT use the package if they have to forego their favourite editor to do so. * Format: How are authors going to indicate the formats they require? In off? IBM DCF? %%%% Geva %%%%