wright@m.cs.uiuc.edu (04/14/90)
This posting is my attempt to conduct an unscientific poll to determine a better answer to a query I posted earlier. While the responses I received were helpful (thank you responders), I believe that the number of requests for copies of my responses (which exceeded the informative responses I received) indicates a general desire for this information. If you choose to respond, or feel the need to issue flames my way, please use email to restrict the amount of traffic in this notefile. Earlier I posted a query about incorporating a set of printer configurations to handle a reasonable percentage of the available printers without expecting the end user to sift thru his/her printer manual and configure the program manually. The responses I received fell into three categories: 1) Use a very generic (basically straight ascii) format that any printer can handle. 2) Incorporate a package that handles the problem for you (usually designed to handle several hundred printers). 3) Recognize that most of the printers out there use one of a handful of protocols and implement the common ones. Apparently, there are several people out there like me who would like to provide better quality output than option (1) without spending the $$$ required to use option (2). Since no one jumped up with a suitable list of generic printer protocols, I will attempt here to conduct an unscientific poll to determine that list, which I will then add to the summary of the responses I received from my previous query. Hopefully, we will be able to determine that it's not that hard to cover a wide range of printers and still produce printed output that actually takes advantage of some of those printer features that we all pay good money for. To prime the poll, and hopefully restrict the volume of responses to a reasonable number, we'll assume that I'm distributing a program that has been configured for these printer protocols: 1) Epson 2) IBM Proprinter 3) HP LaserJet I'm looking for two types of responses: A) Printers that use protocols that are not on the above list, and are worthy of having their protocols added to the list. Note I'm not expecting 100% emulation of the protocol, just a reasonable subset. Determining exactly what a "basic" set of each protocol entails is not an issue of this poll. B) Printers that need to be configured by dip switch or initialization string to use a generic protocol. EG- MYPrinter has its own MY protocol, but can be switched to recognize Epson commands by ... BTW - I won't worry about Postscript printers at this point; don't send me email about them. One of the previous responses gave some references for Postscript programming which I'll include in the final summary. I'm attempting to accumulate a definitive list of printer protocols that I, and other interested programmers, can use to provide improved software. Your participation is greatly appreciated. -David Wright wright@cs.uiuc.edu wright%cs@uiucvmd.bitnet