paul@cgh.com (Paul Homchick) (04/02/91)
I have a copy of Excel 3.0, which runs under Windows 3.0 on a DOS
machine. I have the Windows printer configured as a NEC LC-890 (v47)
postscript printer (which is normally connected to the DOS machine),
and the device set as a FILE. When I create a postscript file from
this system, I remove the ^Ds from the beginning of the file, remove
the CRs and and change the %!PS-Adobe-3.0 line to %!. When I send the
resulting file to my NeXT (040 cube, Nextstep 2.0) printer with lpr, I
get a pop-up PostScript error window that reports:
%%[Error: dictfull; Offending Command: def]%% OK <- (not ok!)
and, the resulting output is nil.
Presumably, the dictionary is being filled up by all of the stuff in
the Windows postscript header. Is there a way around this, either by
somehow tuning parameters in DPS, or by performing some surgery on the
Windows postscript file? I really had my heart set on 400dpi for a
proposal I was working on. ;-(
Thanks to any and all!
--
Paul Homchick :UUCP {rutgers | uunet} !cbmvax!cgh!paul
Chimitt Gilman Homchick, Inc. :Internet paul@cgh.com
259 Radnor-Chester Rd, Suite 140 :MCI PHOMCHICK
Radnor, PA 19087-5299 :GEnie HOMCHICKpaul@cgh.com (Paul Homchick) (04/07/91)
In article <1537@cgh.com> paul@cgh.com (Paul Homchick) wrote: > I have a copy of Excel 3.0, which runs under Windows 3.0 ... >I have the Windows printer configured as a NEC LC-890 (v47)... >When I create a postscript file [... and send it to my NeXT printer,] >I get a pop-up PostScript error window that reports: > %%[Error: dictfull; Offending Command: def]%% >and, the resulting output is nil. And, after a bit, he got some help from NeXT. In using the postscript driver for the NEC, windows was including the following PS sequence: {statusdict begin 2 setpapertray end }stopped pop If there is no setpapertray (and with a NeXT printer, there is not), statusdict is left on the dictionary stack. statusdict is big enough that the program soon runs out of dictionary room and bombs. Removing the above sequence solved the problem. My correspondent mentioned that "There are better ways to safely execute a PS operator if it [might] not be present". Now, I'm curious, does anyone know the correct way of doing this? If I had a hat, it would be off to the fine folks at NeXT who are always trying to help. This problem was entirely mine and Microsoft's but someone at NeXT took the time to help me with this. -- Paul Homchick :UUCP {rutgers | uunet} !cbmvax!cgh!paul Chimitt Gilman Homchick, Inc. :Internet paul@cgh.com 259 Radnor-Chester Rd, Suite 140 :MCI PHOMCHICK Radnor, PA 19087-5299 :GEnie HOMCHICK
pgraff@next.com (Peter Graffagnino) (04/08/91)
In article <1542@cgh.UUCP> paul@cgh.com (Paul Homchick) writes: >In using the postscript driver for the NEC, windows was including the >following PS sequence: > > {statusdict begin 2 setpapertray end }stopped pop > >If there is no setpapertray (and with a NeXT printer, there is not), >statusdict is left on the dictionary stack. statusdict is big enough >that the program soon runs out of dictionary room and bombs. Removing >the above sequence solved the problem. > >My correspondent mentioned that "There are better ways to safely >execute a PS operator if it [might] not be present". Now, I'm >curious, does anyone know the correct way of doing this? > The best way to conditionally execute operators that may not exist is to use the `known' operator. In the example above, the most robust implementation is: statusdict /setpapertray known { 2 statusdict /setpapertray get exec } if Hopefully Microsoft will include this in a future release of their Windows driver. Peter Graffagnino Graphics Software NeXT Computer, Inc.
glenn@heaven.woodside.ca.us (Glenn Reid) (04/08/91)
Paul Homchick writes > In using the postscript driver for the NEC, windows was including the > following PS sequence: > > {statusdict begin 2 setpapertray end }stopped pop > > My correspondent mentioned that "There are better ways to safely > execute a PS operator if it [might] not be present". Now, I'm > curious, does anyone know the correct way of doing this? There are two operators that are designed for this kind of thing. They are "where" and "known". Since "statusdict" may be missing in addition to "setpapertray", you should check for both of them. Here is a reasonable way to execute this kind of code: /statusdict where { %if pop statusdict begin /setpapertray where { pop 2 setpapertray } if end } if -- Glenn Reid RightBrain Software glenn@heaven.woodside.ca.us NeXT/PostScript developers ..{adobe,next}!heaven!glenn 415-851-1785 (fax 851-1470)
edwardj@microsoft.UUCP (Edward JUNG) (04/09/91)
In article <471@heaven.woodside.ca.us> glenn@heaven.woodside.ca.us (Glenn Reid) writes: >Paul Homchick writes > >> In using the postscript driver for the NEC, windows was including the >> following PS sequence: >> >> {statusdict begin 2 setpapertray end }stopped pop >> >> My correspondent mentioned that "There are better ways to safely >> execute a PS operator if it [might] not be present". Now, I'm >> curious, does anyone know the correct way of doing this? > >There are two operators that are designed for this kind of thing. >They are "where" and "known". Since "statusdict" may be missing in >addition to "setpapertray", you should check for both of them. > The NEC printer *does* have a paper tray operator; you might want to use the generic postscript driver in Windows in preference to the NEC one -- this may clear up your problem with use of operators not supported by the NeXT printer. Please note that the reason all those print drivers are shipped with Windows is so that the driver output can be tweaked to match the selected printer hardware. A number of companies, including Microsoft, are investigating how to do this without involving the user, but if this is to be done in a generic store and forward manner (e.g. the eventual target device is not known and cannot be communicated with at the time the output file is generated), the problem is very intractable for high-end output. -- Edward Jung Microsoft Corp. My opinions do not reflect any policy of my employer.