Re: Postscript to disk

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

In article <1994Oct1.032847.9607@muug.mb.ca>,
John Fenske <jfenske@muug.mb.ca> wrote:
> 
> There is another method that I use. You will need a LaserJet driver 
> (Harmony or Independence) and a little custom driver called "capture" that 
> someone wrote (sorry I forget his name) that dumps everything from the 
> printer port to a disk file.

That's me!  Actually, I never intended Capture to be used for this
type of operation - it is mainly intended for testing printer drivers.

I wrote it to look for a bug in the Harmonie DeskJet driver (the one
where it stuffs up the output on every page after the first one).  As
far as I know, Vitesse still haven't fixed this bug, despite me
telling them what the problem is (in April 1993).

Capture simply writes a file to disk containing the data that would
normally be sent to the printer.  If it is being used to test a
printer driver, you can then use a dump program to examine the file
and look at the exact sequence of characters being sent to the printer.

Capture isn't at all configurable regarding the file it outputs,
though you can change the directory if you have a resource editor.
An unmodified version outputs to RAM5.  The file is always called
CAPTURE.nnnn (nnnn is a four digit number).

It is good to know that it is useful to some people.  Incidentally,
GNO includes a driver called FilePort which operates on the same
principle, but outputs files into a spool directory from which they
can be printed by the lpd printer daemon.
-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand