[comp.sys.mac.programmer] Printing on a DeskWriter

engber@gumball.ils.nwu.edu (Mike Engber) (03/08/90)

I`m writing a printing utility for text files and I sometimes get an
out of memory error from the DeskWriter printer driver (it puts
up an alert)

- it only happens for some files
- it seems to have to do with document size, but not how you`d expect
	I have a 1/2 page and a 2 page file that both print fine
	it`s the one page files that have problems

I`m using MacRevealed III as a guide. Everything works fine on a LaserWriter.
Has anyone found out anything unusual about printing on the DeskWriter?

Any suggestions on what to examine to track down this bug. I`m totally
mystified right now. (I'm using THINK C 4.0)

-ME

svc@well.sf.ca.us (Leonard Rosenthol) (03/11/90)

In article <4884@accuvax.nwu.edu> engber@gumball (Mike Engber) writes:
>I`m writing a printing utility for text files and I sometimes get an
>out of memory error from the DeskWriter printer driver (it puts
>up an alert)
>
>- it only happens for some files
>- it seems to have to do with document size, but not how you`d expect
>	I have a 1/2 page and a 2 page file that both print fine
>	it`s the one page files that have problems
>
	There are two things you need to be aware of with the Deskwriter that
might cause errors when trying to print to it.  Both of which are either bugts
or oversights (depending on how you look at it) in their driver.

* It is not compatible with the Low Level Printing Interface.  If you use the
Print Streaming mechanism as described in IM or the Tech Notes, you will have
problems.

* Their printer driver is not compatible with Virtual from Connectix and one
very common symptom of this incompat is out of memory problems and garbaged
outputs.  I believe the problem to be (and have related to HP) that their 
drivers interrupt handlers/completion routines are installed in teh current
app heap and may be getting swapped out by Virtual.


-- 
+--------------------------------------------------+
Leonard Rosenthol        |  GEnie : MACgician
Lazerware, inc.          |  MacNet: MACgician
UUCP: svc@well.UUCP      |  ALink : D0025

jmm@lsuc.on.ca (John Macdonald|John Macdonald|Toronto) (03/14/90)

In article <16608@well.sf.ca.us> svc@well.UUCP (Leonard Rosenthol) writes:
|In article <4884@accuvax.nwu.edu> engber@gumball (Mike Engber) writes:
|>I`m writing a printing utility for text files and I sometimes get an
|>out of memory error from the DeskWriter printer driver (it puts
|>up an alert)
|>
|>- it only happens for some files
|>- it seems to have to do with document size, but not how you`d expect
|>	I have a 1/2 page and a 2 page file that both print fine
|>	it`s the one page files that have problems
|>
|	There are two things you need to be aware of with the Deskwriter that
|might cause errors when trying to print to it.  Both of which are either bugts
|or oversights (depending on how you look at it) in their driver.
|
|* It is not compatible with the Low Level Printing Interface.  If you use the
|Print Streaming mechanism as described in IM or the Tech Notes, you will have
|problems.
|
|* Their printer driver is not compatible with Virtual from Connectix and one
|very common symptom of this incompat is out of memory problems and garbaged
|outputs.  I believe the problem to be (and have related to HP) that their 
|drivers interrupt handlers/completion routines are installed in teh current
|app heap and may be getting swapped out by Virtual.

Just as a separate reference point (and in hopes of getting an answer),
I have seen the same behaviour (or rather my mother has) using
Microsoft Works.  Sometimes (but unpredictably as above) when she tries
to print from Works to her DeskWriter it complains that there is
insufficient memory.  Often (but not always) if she copies the same
document to a floppy and tries again it will succeed.  It is not a
lack of physical memory - the characteristics did not change after
switching from 1 Meg to 2.5 Meg.  It is not MultiFinder partition
size - the problem was there using finder (with both amounts of memory,
thus including the time before MF was practicle) and continues to
occur under MF with huge increases in the MF size specified for Works.

She has upgraded to a newer version of Works without that affecting
things too.  Now she just lives with and gets annoyed whenever it
prevents her from printing something when she needs it (did I mention
that if all else fails, a document will usually print successfully
the next day, but restarting doesn't help?).

I would be happy to hear a solution to this...