jeff@drexel.UUCP (Jeff White) (07/06/88)
Has anyone out there ever tried to drive a laser printer from Scripsit (Xenix version, but DOS version is probably similar). The laser printer will either be an Apple Laserwriter NX (in Diablo mode), or an HP LaserJet. The LaserWriter is being purchased with a Mac II system, so it's use requires no additional expense (the HP would have to be bought separately). As far as the LaserWriter goes, I don't see any way to use the Postscript features and fonts, since Scripsit doesn't have a driver for it. I've played around with the Diablo 630 emulation on the LW a little, and it produces neat (but simple) monospace characters, with bold and underline possible via simple escape sequences. It would be easy enough to put those codes into a Scripsit printer description file. I don't know what other features are available in the emulation mode (the LW manual only has 2 pages on it), like real italics, proportional spacing, and so on. I think I need a 630 manual to see what capabilities a real Diablo would have, and then see whether the LaserWriter can properly emulate them. The LaserJet was an alternate option if the LaserWriter didn't work, but since I think it should (I haven't actually tried it), I don't see much reason to look into it any further. I also doubt whether the LJ would offer much more than the LW in 630 mode (maybe a different selection of fonts). Does anyone know if there are additional Scripsit drivers available? (I guess I should see what Radio Shack is doing with their own laser printer). I've seen a couple of public domain Postscript programs for printing simple text and occasionaly graphics. I'm wondering whether I might be able to find a filter- type program that Scripsit would send straight text + printer control codes to, and which would get converted to Postscript code, allowing some additional features (fonts, most likely). Any help would be greatly appreciated. Jeff White Drexel University - ECE Dept. rutgers!bpa!drexel!jeff