maurice@sol8.cs.monash.edu.au (Maurice David Castro) (06/05/91)
Having recently purchased an HP DeskJet 500, and having recovered from the shock of having a quiet printer that turns out lovely output, I have now started on software development. Unfortunatelty, I have discovered a slight problem in the user manual: although it describes the printer control language itself, it leaves out certain critical elements to do with the format of the graphics command. In summary: * What is the format for plain (ie non-compressed) data transfer? * If the various compression schemes are known what are they? * Is the technical reference manual (which HP does not supply with the system) really useful? Thanks in advance for your assistance. Maurice Castro - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - maurice@bruce.cs.monash.edu.au Monash University Clayton Victoria Australia.
oovvoo@mixcom.COM (Mike Shawaluk) (06/06/91)
In <maurice.676102676@sol8> maurice@sol8.cs.monash.edu.au (Maurice David Castro) writes: >In summary: > * What is the format for plain (ie non-compressed) data transfer? > * If the various compression schemes are known what are they? > * Is the technical reference manual (which HP does not supply > with the system) really useful? Hmmmm, I seem to remember posting something to the same effect as this message a few months ago, and promising to post a followup when I had more information; thank you Maurice for jogging my memory... I did in fact order the tech. reference manual for the DJ 500, and when it arrived, I eagerly read through it, and found it to be quite informative (BTW, it cost $15.00 plus s/h and my home state's sales tax (WI)), at least in regard to the information on the various graphics dump commands. However, one key area which was NOT covered was the soft font format, as well as the widths of the CG Times characters, which I needed for a word processor printer driver I was modifying. I quote the following paragraph from page 7-8 of said tech. reference manual, in the section titled "Soft Fonts" (without permission, of course): "CREATING SOFT FONTS The escape sequences for creating soft fonts are not detailed in this manual due to the length and depth of information required. The following escape sequences are not described. Create font Ec )s # W (font descriptor) Download Character Ec (s # W (descriptor and data) If you are a software developer wishing to create soft fonts for the HP DeskJet 500 printer, Hewlett Packard encourages you to join the HP Peripherals Developer Program. Detailed information for developing soft fonts is available through the HP Peripherals Developer Program. To receive more information about the program and to obtain an application packet, contact the HP Peripherals Developer Program Coordinator at (619) 592-8308." Well, I called this number right away, and explained that I was extremely upset after purchasing their fine printer, and discovering that the supplied manual didn't tell me everything I wanted to know, so I then purchased their fine tech. reference manual, which STILL didn't tell me everything I wanted to know! The person I spoke to asked me for my name and address, and told me that my developer's packet would be in the mail shortly, and that there was no charge for it! It arrived a few days later, and included an extra copy of the owner's manuals AND a large (8.5x11) spiral bound manual, complete with 3 5.25" HD diskettes with character width tables for ALL of the internal and soft fonts and cartridge fonts that they offer. The manual has sections for graphics, fonts, and lots of other stuff, like how to do merged text & graphics. It is also a cross reference of features and techniques for all 3 DeskJet printers (the original, Plus, and 500 models). In summary, if I would have known that all of this information was just a phone call away, I probably wouldn't have ordered the tech. reference manual, since the information on graphics dumps is also in the developer's manual, although in more terse technical terms (which I have no problem understanding, since I'm a software engineer). I should also mention that there is a questionairre which was included which HP requests be filled out and returned to them, to let them know what kind of product(s) you are developing, if you want to take advantage of the full range of services of their developer program, which includes -- oh well, time to quote another part of the tech. reference manual: "This manual is not the preferred text for software developers. If you are a software developer wishing to create a printer driver for the HP DeskJet 500 printer, Hewlett-Packard encourages you to join and take advantage of the HP Peripheral Developer Program. The program offers the following: - Detailed development information for all HP peripheral products. - Online technical support for program developers. - Loaner printer units for test and development of your program, and for use at tradeshows. - A quarterly newsletter to keep you informed of the latest peripheral product news." (They then repeat the phone # for obtaining a application packet) Now, I don't know whether they automatically sent me more than the standard application form, because I was unhappy when I called, but I guess it's worth a phone call to find out. Sorry for the somewhat long post, but just another happy HP customer here. Hope this was helpful. - Mike -- - Mike Shawaluk (oovvoo@mixcom.com) "It is a good day to live."
tony@sdd.hp.com (Tony Parkhurst) (06/08/91)
|> Unfortunatelty, I have discovered a slight problem in the user manual: |> although it describes the printer control language itself, it leaves |> out certain critical elements to do with the format of the graphics |> command. The user manual is definately inappropriate for this. Most users will never actually do PCL programming. |> In summary: |> * What is the format for plain (ie non-compressed) data transfer? <esc>*rA Initiates graphics. <esc>*b#W<data> Where # is the number of bytes of binary data following the 'W' which describes one row of graphics. (this command repeats for the entire graphic). <esc>*rB End raster graphics. <esc>E Finish printing page, eject page and reset printer. Note: Don't put newlines or carridge returns between these commands. |> * If the various compression schemes are known what are they? For the DeskJet and DeskJet+: Modes 0, 1 and 2 For the DeskJet 500: Modes 0, 1, 2 and 3 Mode 0 is uncompressed. Mode 1 is run length encoded. Mode 2 is a combo of modes 0 and 1 (called TIFF tag bits ?) Mode 3 is delta row encoding. I have posted a program to comp.sources.misc which reads in PCL graphics files and compresses (or decompresses) the graphics. |> * Is the technical reference manual (which HP does not supply |> with the system) really useful? Yes, indeed it has all the info you need. -- Tony Parkhurst ( tony@sdd.HP.COM ) "free people need no drug laws" -- James A. Parker