[comp.windows.x] xpr HP LaserJet hack

schriste@uceng.UC.EDU (Steven V. Christensen) (11/23/89)

I applied the MIT fixes to the X11 source, and found some patches to
make xpr work with an HP LaserJet printer. I thought, "gee, neat! That's
what I need!!"  I applied the patch (successfully, so it says), and
set off to try it out:

System:  Sun 3/60 with SunOS 4.0 X11R3 with MIT fixes and Purdue speedups.

I use "xwd" to dump a window. This works, as I can display the window with
"xwud" just fine.

I try to use "xpr" to create the raster file like this:

	"xpr -def ljet -out hpjetout windowfile"

When I print it, all I get (after some time in transferring the file to
the printer:-) is a dark black page. I look at the file "hpjetout" with
"od -ax hpjetout", and I correctly see the commands to set up and print
the raster files, but all the data is "ffff ffff ffff ffff .....", which
is of course the black page.

I know the xpr works for a pageprinter (IBM3812), because I created a
3812 file and it looked reasonable (at least not all ffff......).

Does anyone have an idea why this is happening? No error messages are
output or anything (but that doesn't mean anything...).


Thanks,

	Steven
-- 
Steven V. Christensen
U.C. College of Eng.
schriste@uceng.uc.edu

jw@pan.UUCP (Jamie Watson) (11/30/89)

In article <2900@uceng.UC.EDU> schriste@uceng.UC.EDU (Steven V. Christensen) writes:
>I applied the MIT fixes to the X11 source, and found some patches to
>make xpr work with an HP LaserJet printer. I thought, "gee, neat! That's
>what I need!!"

After having tried several different hacked versions of xpr, and trying
to hack it myself for a while, I finally discovered a much easier way to
get window dumps printed on a LaserJet - just use pbm, like this:

    xwd | xwdtopbm | pbmtolj -r 100

Works like a charm.  Not the fastest of all possible solutions, but it
also offers you the ability to fiddle with the window dumps using other
pbm filters, if you want.

If you don't have pbm yet, a new version was recently posted in
comp.sources.misc.  It really is very nice.

jw