bill@carpet.WLK.COM (Bill Kennedy) (05/31/88)
I have the Microport Text Preparation System for V/AT. I understand
that it is DWB 1.0. The DWB 2.0 is supposed to have HP Laser Jet
printer support in it but it is for V/386 only. The V/AT version will
not run under V/386, Microport confirmed that.
I have written an lp interface script that allows me to select fonts,
point sizes, etc. from the command line and that works OK (I'll post
it if anyone is interested). I am modifying my printer filter to
correctly handle bold face and italics sent out by nroff (overstrike
and underscore), it works OK for a dot matrix printer now. Some time
ago a kind soul posted come code on how to enable the HP math
cartridge for n/troff but I didn't know enough about math or the
cartridge to make heads or tails of it.
Has anyone tried to put LJ-II support into the V/AT stuff? I would
not really object to the 386 package but I am weary of spending more
and more time and money to learn that the first 92% of the job got
done. The one from Elan appears to be complete but at $900 for the
286 version and $1200 for the 386 version it's clear that they aren't
targeting individuals in my income bracket.
In particular, I'd like to be able to select a symbol set, font, and
point size from within the n/troff source and have it come out as
something the LJ-II can react to (or my filter can catch and tailor).
I'm not sure how to do proportional spaced formatting with nroff
although my lp script will bring up the proportional spaced fonts.
From what little I know and what I hear of Alan Holub's "nr" it's
nroff only and it is so intimately woven into Microsoft C and DOS,
it's not worth the effort to port. Any suggestions, observations,
or info is appreciated.
--
Bill Kennedy Internet: bill@ssbn.WLK.COM
Usenet: { killer | att-cb | ihnp4!tness7 }!ssbn!billkg@elan.UUCP (Ken Greer) (05/31/88)
From article <75@carpet.WLK.COM>, by bill@carpet.WLK.COM (Bill Kennedy): > I have the Microport Text Preparation System for V/AT. I understand > that it is DWB 1.0. The DWB 2.0 is supposed to have HP Laser Jet > printer support in it but it is for V/386 only. No, DWB 2.0 does not have LJ support. > The one from Elan appears to be complete but at $900 for the > 286 version and $1200 for the 386 version. Not sure were you got your prices. They are, and have been since Jan. 1988: 286: $795 386: $895 The above prices include 2 drivers (LaserJet and PostScript) and enhanced DWB 2.0. For the extra $100, the 386 version includes an X-windows Troff screen previewer. (You'll need Bell Technologies Blit Graphics Card.) Not to make this into an add... so for more info on Troff/LaserJet/PostScript support, contact: Elan Computer Group, Inc. 410 Cambridge Avenue, Suite A Palo Alto, CA 94306 TEL: 415-322-2450 FAX: 415-322-1915 -- Ken Greer Elan Computer Group, Inc. {ames,hplabs}!elan!kg 415-322-2450
bowles@lll-crg.llnl.gov (Jeff Bowles) (06/01/88)
Ken Greer from Elan posted some information on their product, and then gave an address "to not make this into an ad." Well, folks, consider this an unsolicited ad. I bought their product, or should I say, I convinced the people who sign my paycheck to buy it, and I've been running it in a degraded mode: I don't use the HP "Soft Font" package yet, and in fact copy the output from "eroff" to an MS-DOS network to be dumped onto the printers there. It's a tacky process, but all I have (for now.) I am VERY pleased with the value added by Elan. They provided bitmaps for most point sizes for the standard typefaces (R, I, B, and S), support pic and tbl on the Laserjet II better than the Imagen 8/300 that DWB supposedly works with, fixed a lot of little problems with the macros, and in general, it works. Perhaps if you have a Unix box at home and want a troff for it, this is too pricey. If you can afford it, it's well worth it. Still, I sorta wish they'd provide me with a TeX, but... Jeff Bowles
larry@jc3b21.UUCP (Lawrence F. Strickland) (06/02/88)
From article <8040@lll-winken.llnl.gov>, by bowles@lll-crg.llnl.gov (Jeff Bowles): > Ken Greer from Elan posted some information on their product, and then > gave an address "to not make this into an ad." > > Well, folks, consider this an unsolicited ad. I bought their product, or > should I say, I convinced the people who sign my paycheck to buy it, and > I've been running it in a degraded mode: I don't use the HP "Soft Font" > package yet, and in fact copy the output from "eroff" to an MS-DOS network > to be dumped onto the printers there. It's a tacky process, but all I have > (for now.) > Consider this yet another unsolicited ad. We use a LaserJet+ (yes, that is right, we bought it years ago). So far we have gone through 3 revisions of the elan product and it has gotten better each time! The output is QUITE a bit more impressive than even things from some Postscript drivers. We DO use Soft fonts and are limited now by disk space more than anything else (a 30 Meg drive on a 3b2/300 doesn't allow much storage). Eroff has worked well for a number of years, more than I can say for most of the products we have purchased. The upgrades have been well worth the money, and though the product is pricey for a home user, the software is definitely worth it! Thanks, Elan... -- +--------------------------------------+-- St. Petersburg Junior College --+ | Lawrence F. Strickland | P.O. Box 13489 | | ...gatech!codas!usfvax2!jc3b21!larry | St. Petersburg, FL 33733 | +-(or) ...gatech!usfvax2!jc3b21!larry -+-- Phone: +1 813 341 4705 ---------+