edmoy@violet.berkeley.edu (02/18/88)
I've just noticed that HyperCard violates Adobe's PostScript guidelines. It sends 8-bit binary to do the bitmap image of the card. This is fine for printing to a LaserWriter using AppleTalk, but not for serial connections. First of all, the LW defaults to ignore parity, so you lose the top bit. Certainly, you can reset this, but consider telling a campus community that if you want to print from HyperCard, you need to run a set of PostScript commands (which to them looks like Greek). The biggest problem is that most non-AppleTalk LaserWriters here are connected to Unix systems, running the TranScript software from Adobe. The software assumes seven bits per data byte, so doesn't do anything special to get eight data bits. For Unix, doing eight bits require usually requires more work in the code (unless you're running 4.3BSD, but we have a mixture of Suns, MicroVaxes, etc). I realize that the output would be twice as big using hex instead of binary, but I think this would be at least a useful option. Edward Moy Workstation Software Support Group University of California Berkeley, CA 94720 edmoy@violet.Berkeley.EDU ucbvax!violet!edmoy