thomsen@spf.trw.com (Mark R. Thomsen) (05/31/91)
I have three questions. I know of the history of PostScript - originated from ex-Xerox folk who saw the need for a laser printer graphics language and produced the mostly-right thing at the right time. They had some experience. Emphasis was on the static graphic and fonts associated with printing quality documents. Roll forward and we have a conversion morass - different graphics interfaces (languages, procedural interfaces, GUIs, none) for displaying on the screen and many translation paths into PostScript to print on the now ubiquitous laser printers. Now see NeWS and NeXT/Display PostScript - we have new graphics interfaces that are based in PostScript. No less of a morass overall but now we have some computer environments with less translating going on. Being a NeXT user I appreciate not having to translate (and having developed a commercial Macintosh program I know how difficult it can get). Question 1: Are there computers other than NeXT (DPS), SGI (NeWS), and Sun (NeWS) that create graphics for the computer screens in PostScript - real, planned, or mythical? Question 2: What is the Adobe pricing and licensing structure that seems to inhibit more companies from doing this? Question 3: Has anyone modified a display-list graphics package to produce PS code (e.g., PHIGS)? If so, please quantify the associated effort. Thankyou in advance and if warranted a summary will be posted. Mark R. Thomsen
davis@3d.enet.dec.com (Peter Davis) (06/03/91)
In article <284554CA.424F@deneva.sdd.trw.com>, thomsen@spf.trw.com (Mark R. Thomsen) writes... >I have three questions. > . . . > >Question 1: Are there computers other than NeXT (DPS), SGI (NeWS), >and Sun (NeWS) that create graphics for the computer screens in >PostScript - real, planned, or mythical? > DEC's DECwindows system includes the Display PostScript X extensions. . . .
Wally.Meerschaert@wyrm.rbbs-net.ORG (Wally Meerschaert) (06/04/91)
MR> Question 1: Are there computers other than NeXT (DPS), SGI MR> (NeWS), and Sun (NeWS) that create graphics for the computer MR> screens in PostScript - real, planned, or mythical? Kludge used to display Postscript output on PC's under DOS/Windows: Using QMS GoScript, you can create a PCX file and then from there you are home free. Even WordPerfect will display a PCX file on the screen. I don't know of any other DOS or Windows based products that will do the trick. I did hear of a product at SD '89 that was a windows program for learning postscript that seemed to work in their demo, but I never saw it marketed. --- Via Silver Xpress V2.28 -- Wally Meerschaert - via RBBS-NET node 8:914/201 INTERNET: Wally.Meerschaert@wyrm.rbbs-net.ORG
clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis) (06/04/91)
In article <1991Jun3.140245.13924@engage.pko.dec.com> davis@3d.enet.dec.com (Peter Davis) writes: >In article <284554CA.424F@deneva.sdd.trw.com>, thomsen@spf.trw.com (Mark R. Thomsen) writes... >>I have three questions. >>Question 1: Are there computers other than NeXT (DPS), SGI (NeWS), >>and Sun (NeWS) that create graphics for the computer screens in >>PostScript - real, planned, or mythical? >DEC's DECwindows system includes the Display PostScript X extensions. IBM RS/6000's have it too. Or at least the one we borrowed did. -- Chris Lewis, Phone: (613) 832-0541, Domain: clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca UUCP: ...!cunews!latour!ecicrl!clewis; Ferret Mailing List: ferret-request@eci386; Psroff (not Adobe Transcript) enquiries: psroff-request@eci386 or Canada 416-832-0541. Psroff 3.0 in c.s.u soon!
mh@roger.imsd.contel.com (Mike Hoegeman) (06/04/91)
In article <1991Jun3.140245.13924@engage.pko.dec.com> davis@3d.enet.dec.com (Peter Davis) writes: > >In article <284554CA.424F@deneva.sdd.trw.com>, thomsen@spf.trw.com (Mark R. Thomsen) writes... >>I have three questions. >> > . > . > . >> >>Question 1: Are there computers other than NeXT (DPS), SGI (NeWS), >>and Sun (NeWS) that create graphics for the computer screens in >>PostScript - real, planned, or mythical? >> >DEC's DECwindows system includes the Display PostScript X extensions. > . > . > . NeWS runs on other things like mac II's and 386 PC's under OS/2 I think. If you are really ambitious and have the bucks, you can buy the X11/NeWS source for like 1000 dollars and hack away. Supposedly it comes with some nice porting guide documentation and is relatively painless to get it running quickly on dumb framebuffers.
mcdonald@aries.scs.uiuc.edu (Doug McDonald) (06/04/91)
In article <633.284AEC6C@wyrm.rbbs-net.ORG> Wally.Meerschaert@wyrm.rbbs-net.ORG (Wally Meerschaert) writes: > > MR> Question 1: Are there computers other than NeXT (DPS), SGI > MR> (NeWS), and Sun (NeWS) that create graphics for the computer > MR> screens in PostScript - real, planned, or mythical? > >Kludge used to display Postscript output on PC's under DOS/Windows: >Using QMS GoScript, you can create a PCX file and then from there you >are home free. Even WordPerfect will display a PCX file on the screen. > >I don't know of any other DOS or Windows based products that will do the >trick. Both GoScript (a commercial program) and Ghostscript (a gnu free product) will display Postscript directly to the screen as ordinary MSDOS programs. Ghostscript is reasonably easy to hack for any size screen you have. Both work well, though there are some things one or the other may have trouble with. GoScript produces quite excellent hard copy on HP Laser Jets. Doug MCDonald
hill@cse.uta.edu (Adam Hill) (06/07/91)
On the Amiga there is a program called Post. This consists of a
dynamically linkable library and a few programs that make use of it.
The Post program is the general PS interpreter. It will output to an
IFF file, the screen or the printer. PostLJ is a program that will
output a PS directly to a LaserJet. Mkbmap is a separate
package that will take any Type1 or Type3 PS font and output it at any
density as an Amiga bitmap font.
Source code is availible for all programs mentioned above, including
the post.libary. Tomas Rockiki uses it in his TeX package for the
Amiga to give TeX on-screen PS preview capabilities.
--
adam hill -- hill@cse.uta.edu ASOCC - University of Texas at UTA
I programmed for three days Make Up Your Own Mind.. AMIGA!
And heard no human voices. Amiga... Multimedia NOW!
But the hard disk sang. - TZoP Born To Run SVR4thomsen@spf.trw.com (Mark R. Thomsen) (06/08/91)
I asked three questions last week on PostScript. Since responses stopped coming I guess its time for a summary. Q1: What computers create display graphics in PostScript? Q2: What are Adobe pricing/licensing arrangements? Q3: <no responses> Computers that display PostScript as run-time graphics support for applications programs: NeXT - Display PostScript (NeXTstep) Sun - NeWS (Open Windows) SGI - NeWS DECstations - Display PostScript (DECwindows) IBM R6000 - Display PostScript (NeXTstep) Amiga - Post (library compatible with Amiga graphics) Ones that seem to but that I have not confirmed through vendors: MIPS - NeWS? Mac - ? PC - ? There are a lot of previewer programs out there - too many to create an exhaustive compendium. Since my interest/question was oriented to run-time graphics I do not include them. They seem easy to find, though, if you watch this news group. Adobe pricing is a mystery, though obviously quite expensive and has to be balanced with a lot of sales to be feasible. There is a rumor that as Adobe's applications ramp up in sales they will become less dependent on PostScript for success and might (maybe, could, may) lighten up on the premium for Post- Script. No details in the rumor. Thanks to the dozens who responded, Mark R. Thomsen
sanzgiri@bombay.metaphor.com (Ajit Sanzgiri) (06/11/91)
In article <284FEA7D.5A62@deneva.sdd.trw.com> thomsen@spf.trw.com (Mark R. Thomsen) writes: >I asked three questions last week on PostScript. Since responses >stopped coming I guess its time for a summary. > ..... > ..... > IBM R6000 - Display PostScript (NeXTstep) You don't need NeXTstep. My IBM RS6000/320 has DPS as an X extension and no NeXTstep. Ajit
mfinegan@uceng.UC.EDU (michael k finegan) (06/12/91)
Someone posted code (a few weeks ago) to allow keyboard control of dps - allowing each page to be viewed, before the next one was drawn. Anyone have something like that for the Sun Sparc /usr/openwin/demo/xview/xps demo ? - Mike mfinegan@uceng.uc.edu
dick@cca.ucsf.edu (Dick Karpinski) (06/12/91)
I'm an ardent supporter of PostScript, so I was delighted to be able to get a NeXT on my desk with ps for both the screen and for the attached laser printer. I'm also delighted to have such good access to a high quality printer. These are part of the reason that I was flabberghasted to discover the following problem: When I look at shell scripts on my screen, all is clear, but when I print one from the Terminal application, the back-quotes come out on paper tilted the wrong way! This completely changes the meaning of a shell script. I'm using Courier Medium 14.0 pt. and I'm still enchanted that the cut and paste facility permitted me to grab that detail right off the font panel for Terminal. Despite the fact that I got the software from NeXT, I suspect that this is an oversight by Adobe folks. Let me know where, besides here, I ought to be reporting such problems. Dick
adm@einstein.canterbury.ac.nz (Andrew McGregor) (06/12/91)
In <1991Jun11.214224.19253@uceng.UC.EDU>, mfinegan@uceng.UC.EDU (michael k finegan) writes: >Someone posted code (a few weeks ago) to allow keyboard control of >dps - allowing each page to be viewed, before the next one was drawn. >Anyone have something like that for the Sun Sparc /usr/openwin/demo/xview/xps >demo ? Solution: use /usr/openwin/bin/pageview, which is the same as xps but less buggy and nicer to use (open-look editor, adjustable resolution etc.) A D McG.