abrams@SMILEY.MITRE.ORG (Marshall D. Abrams) (10/04/88)
I am considering shifting some of my text processing from a UNIX system to my Atari. I would like to describe what I am doing and solicit suggestions on how to achieve something similar on the Atari. I am currently using troff to produce outline-format text and vugraphs from the same source. I do this will two different shell scripts which interpret a bullet command (i.e., .B1) to set margins and print one of the special characters (in this case a bullet, \(bu). I also use pic and tbl to include line drawing and tables; I have to scale the pictures and change font size sometimes to make them fit. I am willing to share my existing software with other UNIX users -- but that's not the purpose of this note. For the Atari I am thinking about using the XLEnt First Word Processor (FWP), which I know how to use; or writing some BASIC programs which emulate the UNIX shell scripts. I also have Daisy-Dot II (DDII), which appears very useful for producing high quality printed output. In the normal size text printout, I'm not sure how to incorporate line drawings and tables. There are undoubtly additional picture capabilities I might want to add, but I'm starting by thinking about what I presently use. My material is mostly technical, so line drawings have been quite satisfactory. I see that FWP allows me to include pictures using the ep command. Can anyone recommend software that I should use to produce line drawings and tables? Also, any idea what happens when such pictures are run through DDII? I have even more questions about producing vugraphs. What's available to print 24 to 36 point size characters? Can I get presentation quality? (My standards are based on comparison with an Imagen laser printer.) Can I do some BASIC programming which will allow me to automatically generate continuation slides, or do I have to work a screen at a time? The same questions about tables and pictures also apply. I would appreciate hearing from anyone with suggestions and experience. Partial answers and hints will be appreciated. I'll summarize the answers for the net. Sincerely, - Marshall D. Abrams, phone: (703) 883-6938 The MITRE Corporation, 7525 Colshire Drive Mail Stop Z506, Mc Lean, VA 22102 Short e-mail address: abrams@mitre.arpa