PSTEXT

Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: December 12, 1989
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NAME

pstext - convert plain text to PostScript

SYNOPSIS

pstext [ -l ] [ -ld ] [ -p ] [ -d ] [ -s pointsize ] [ -f fontname ] [ -n numberoflines ] [ -t tabstring ] [ - ] [ file ... ]

DESCRIPTION

Pstext reads each file in sequence converts it from plain text to PostScript and writes it to the standard output, if no files are specified it reads from the standard input. Backspaces move the current point back the width of the underscore (_) in the current font and pointsize. Form feeds cause text to begin printing on a new page, in the case of dual page mode the next page may actually be on the same piece of paper. Separate files always begin on a new page. Tabs are set every width of the current tabstring (see -t option below).

A reasonable amount of care has been taken to keep the PostScript generated as generic as possible.

The Apple LaserWriter, one of the more common PostScript printers, has the following fonts available: (note: the fonts must be specified exactly as shown.)

AvantGarde-Book               AvantGarde-BookOblique
AvantGarde-Demi               AvantGarde-DemiOblique
Bookman-Demi                  Bookman-DemiItalic
Bookman-Light                 Bookman-LightItalic
Courier                       Courier-Bold
Courier-BoldOblique           Courier-Oblique
Helvetica                     Helvetica-Bold
Helvetica-BoldOblique         Helvetica-Narrow
Helvetica-Narrow-Bold         Helvetica-Narrow-BoldOblique
Helvetica-Narrow-Oblique      Helvetica-Oblique
NewCenturySchlbk-Bold         NewCenturySchlbk-BoldItalic
NewCenturySchlbk-Italic       NewCenturySchlbk-Roman
Palatino-Bold                 Palatino-BoldItalic
Palatino-Italic               Palatino-Roman
Symbol                        Times-Bold
Times-BoldItalic              Times-Italic
Times-Roman                   ZapfChancery-MediumItalic
ZapfDingbats

The options are:

-l: Text will be displayed in landscape mode.
-ld: Text will be displayed in landscape and dual page mode.
-d: Text will be displayed in portrait and dual page mode.
-p: Text will be displayed in portrait mode (default).
-s: pointsize Text will be displayed in the given pointsize (12 default). Fractional pointsizes are acceptable.
-f: fontname Text will be displayed in the give font if available (Courier default). Any font may be specified, if the printer (or whatever is displaying the PostScript) can not find the font Courier will be used anyway. Fonts commonly available are Courier-Bold, Helvetica, Helvetica-Bold, Times-Roman Times-Bold, Times-Italic and Symbol. There are obviously more depending on your output device.
-n: numberoflines Text will be displayed with numberoflines per page. This takes precedence over -s flag.
-t: tabstring Tabs will be the width of tabstring in the current pointsize and font. The default tabstring is NNNNNNNN, meaning that tabstops are placed every width of 8 N's. Tabs will go to the nearest forward tab stop.

BUGS

In some systems (Next for example) findfont will look for fonts in more places than just those that FontDirectory gives. In these cases pstext output may not print in the desired font and will print in Courier instead. There are a couple of options in dealing with this. Modify the C code so the line containing the FontDirectory is not sent, or some other command is used (SharedFontDirectory in the case of a Next). Or you can comment out the line in the PostScript output before you send it to the printer. Be warned that omitting the line all together will mean that if you specify a font that can't be found the job will not print.

The margins have been set to work for an Apple LaserWriter NTX these may need to be reset for devices whose margins differ.

AUTHOR

Dan Judd, St. Olaf College.

This program is freely redistributable, and is not to be sold.

This document was created by man2html, using the manual pages.
Time: 11:02:53 GMT, January 11, 2023