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Almathera Ten Pack 3: CDPD 3
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***************************************************************************
* *
* PaperBack! *
* *
* by BOB RYE *
* *
* Public Release: Friday 24/09/1992 *
* *
***************************************************************************
Everything contained in this release of PaperBack! for the Amiga is
USE-AT-OWN-RISK. I, the author, make no guarantee as to the fitness for
use of this software. I accept no responsibility for possible damages
incurred before, during or after execution of this software.
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# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
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*****************************************************************************
DID YOU PAY MONEY FOR THIS SOFTWARE?
PaperBack! is FREEWARE
This software is FREEWARE. This software is free. If you have paid
money for this software, then you have been ripped off. I have written
this program for you, for free. If you paid for "support" from where you
got this file, then you are also being ripped off. There is only one
person who is qualified to help you with the operation of this program:
ME (Bob Rye, the guy who wrote this program.)
You cannot obtain support from some unqualified desk-doofus hiding behind
the facade of "a support specialist". All that these people are doing is
making money from you, the innocent end-user, and ripping me off by
immorally making money from *MY* programs.
Please take a stand against these companies. Please don't buy *FREE*
software from these companies. If you would like copies of any (or all)
of MY software (anything by Bob Rye) you can have them for *FREE*. That's
right, for nothing. All I ask for is a blank disk, to copy the programs
onto, and the cost of return postage (and your address!) Then if you want
"support" for my programs, send Fido Netmail to me (addresses are at the
bottom of this document) or snail-mail me and you'll get real support.
STAND UP AND BE COUNTED.
Say NO! to costly FREE software.
*****************************************************************************
If you represent a PD/Shareware/Freeware library or electronic distribution
system, then please feel free to contact me to gain written permission to
allow you to legally include this software in your library, for
distribution. The "ADS" electronic distribution system has my written
permission to redistribute this software, as does Fred Fish.
You may copy and transfer copies of this package to whoever you like,
provided that this package is transferred completely intact, with all
documentation and executables unmodified therein (modification of
copyrighted works is called "contributory copyright infringement" and
persons found infringing copyright are liable to legal action); however,
if you represent a registered (or otherwise) company, and you wish to
redistribute this package, you MUST obtain my prior written permission.
The copyright to PaperBack!, the documentation, the source-code, and the
actual software remains the explicit property of Bob Rye, © 1992.
ANY commercial distribution of this package without the prior written
consent of the author (Bob Rye) is expressly prohibited.
PaperBack! © BOB RYE (1988-1992 inclusive)
DISCLAIMER
----------
ALTHOUGH OUTSTANDING BUGS IN THE CODE HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED, THERE REMAINS
THE POSSIBILITY OF UNFORESEEN PROBLEMS. I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFUTE THE
EXISTENCE OF SUCH 'BUGS', BUT IF FOUND, WE WILL ATTEMPT TO FIX SUCH
PROBLEM(S). IF, HOWEVER, UNFORESEEN BUGS ARE FOUND TO CAUSE YOU MENTAL
AND/OR PHYSICAL ANGUISH, THEN THAT IS AS THEY SAY IN THE CLASSICS, BAD
LUCK! I ACCEPT NO BLAME FOR ANY LOSS OR INCONVENIENCE FOUND TO ARISE FROM
THE (MIS)USAGE OF THIS PROGRAM. I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO WITHDRAW SUPPORT
AND UPGRADES AT ANY TIME. I PROBABLY WON'T DO THIS, BUT I HAVE THIS RIGHT.
ALL INSTANCES OF COMPANY AND/OR PRODUCT NAMES ARE (C), (R) AND (TM)
RESPECTIVELY, WHERE APPLICABLE. "PaperBack!" IS COPYRIGHT BOB RYE,
1992.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
###### PaperBack! ######
Version: 2.004 © Bob Rye
Cmp 13:32:17 Sep 01 1992
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Introduction
------------
Once upon a time, I had a tractor feed printer. This was fine for
rough and ready hex dumps and writing silly messages to people, but
otherwise, the ragged look of cheap tractor paper didn't make for a
wonderful presentation. Then I bought a single sheet feeder for my printer
(a lovely little Star NX24-10) and started to buy single sheet paper.
After a while, I started to realise that by only using one side of this
paper for standard dumps I was being a little bit wasteful. So then I
started using both sides of my single sheet paper, and all was well in
Ballarat.
Then, out of nowhere, came the need to stack 20 or more sheets of paper
into the sheet feeder and to print out huge documents. The question was
posed: "How do I use both sides of the paper when I just dump the document
to the printer?" This was a doosy. I then tried various commercial packages
hoping that they would allow me to load a document file, separate the odd
pages from the even, print the odd pages, and then print the evens on the
back of the odds. Looking, looking, looking...
I finally had a look at Excellence! because it apparently had alternate
side printing. One thing I immediately noticed with Excellence! was it's
slick appearance, and seemingly useful options. I was wrong. Wolf in
sheep's clothing I'm afraid (IMO). What a truly useless package! It never
printed anything out properly on my setup. Several other people attempted
the same thing, and failed. It wasn't just me! I somehow managed to get
Excellence! to think about alternately printing a document for me.
Unfortunately, I didn't realise that Excellence! is only for those of you
with '040 accelerators, and it took about 10 minutes to load a 600k doc.
Then the alternate printing started after I set it up. What a laugh. It
printed page 3 first. Then page 14. Then a load a postscript. Then
binary garbage. Then page 1. I don't like Excellence!. The problem was
that Excellence! was the only package I'd seen that would alternately
print for you. Until...
PaperBack V1.01
the assembly language beast. Pback version 1.01 worked beautifully if you
treated it right, but bitched you to death if you didn't. You had to
manually place the formfeeds (pagebreaks) into the documents BEFORE you let
Pback print it. Pback 1.01 had to have a formfeed as the LAST character at
the end of the file. If it didn't, Pback 1.01 would take your machine to
the meditation room. PaperBack version 1.0a was written in November of
1989, and version 1.01 was written sometime in 1990. Up until now,
PaperBack hasn't been updated. But now that I've got a mean-as-cats-piss C
compiler, why not update the thing?
Please note that PaperBack! DOES NOT print documents. It only
pre-arranges the documents for better printing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Front Panel
-----------
###### PaperBack! ######
Version: 2.002 © Bob Rye
Cmp 13:32:17 Sep 01 1992
Usage: PaperBack [-S] [-Fnnn] -iinfile [-ooutfile]
-S = summary [no-action] mode
-Fnnn = force a formfeed every nnn lines
[ default = 66 lines ]
-iinfile = use file infile as source
-ooutfile = use file outfile as destination
[ default = infile.[odds|evns] ]
The above is what you'll get if you enter "PaperBack! ?" from the CLI.
This is the help screen, and PaperBack! defaults to this screen if options
are given in an incorrect way. Let's explain the switches, which are, BTW,
case-insensitive:
-S - you should use this switch when you would like to know how many
pages the document contains, how many lines etc. The number of
pages figure is useful for when you intend to print the document
to your printed (just how many sheets do I need?) This summary
mode is a passive mode. Nothing actually changes during this
evocation. The only other switch which needs to be given in
conjunction with "-S" is the "-i" infile switch.
Example: PaperBack! -s -ivd0:doc
will give you the summarised run-down on the contents of "doc".
-Fnnn - this switch allows you to override previously set formfeed
locations throughout the document. If your document already
contains formfeeds/pagebreaks, but you'd like to discount them
because your printer settings allow you to stack 80 lines per
sheet (instead of 66 lines), then you can use this switch to
fully override the pre-existing formfeeds. The old formfeeds
will be skipped by PaperBack!, and only your preferred formfeed
settings will be accounted. If you use the "-F" switch WITHOUT a
specific number, PaperBack! will use a default of 66 lines per
formfeed. If you know that the source textfile contains valid
(pre-existing) formfeeds, and you would like to use these
pre-existing formfeeds, then you shouldn't use the "-F" switch.
Any use of the "-F" switch will cause PaperBack! to override the
existing formfeed settings for that document. Some examples:
Example: PaperBack! -s -f45 -ivd0:doc
will summarise the contents of "vd0:doc" by using a formfeed
setting of one formfeed per 45 lines of text. No actions will be
taken by PaperBack! as summary mode is passive.
Example: PaperBack! -f80 -ivd0:doc
will output the contents of the textfile "vd0:doc" using a
formfeed setting of one formfeed for every 80 lines of text.
Example: PaperBack! -f -ivd0:doc
will output the contents of the textfile "vd0:doc" using a
default formfeed setting of one formfeed for every 66 lines of
text.
-iinfile - this switch tells PaperBack! which file to load and use as it's
source file. Please note that the entire path to a file MUST be
given.
Example: PaperBack! -s -idh0:devs/mountlist
will summarise the contents of the file "dh0:devs/mountlist".
-ooutfile - this switch tells PaperBack! the base name of the output files.
By default, when you ask PaperBack! to actively edit a document,
whether using the document's built-in formfeed settings or using
your override settings, PaperBack! will need to output two
files. The first output file will be the ODDS files. This is
the file which contains all of the odd-nunbered pages from the
source document. The second file is the EVNS (evens) file. This
file contains the even-numbered pages from the source document.
Each of these files must have a valid name. This switch allows
you to set the basename of each of these files. If you don't
use this switch, then PaperBack! will default it's output names
using this formula: ODDS = inputname.ODDS
EVNS = inputname.EVNS
If you were to use this switch in this way:
Example: PaperBack! -ivd0:doc -oram:doccy
you would receive your two output files in the ram: directory,
named "doccy.odds" and "doccy.evns" for odds and evens
respectively. If you were to NOT use the "-O" switch:
Example: PaperBack! -ivd0:doc
you would receive your two output files, named "vd0:doc.odds"
and "vd0:doc.evns". When the "-O" switch isn't given, PaperBack!
defaults to using the source filename, and appends the ".odds"
and ".evns" suffixes to this source filename.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So What?
--------
Well, once you have rendered your original document into it's two
constituent "odds" and "evens" parts, you can then print the files using
whatever editor/printing utility that you like. What I usually do is this:
1. I PaperBack! -s the document I intend to print.
2. I then notice how many odd sheets I'll need (checking the information
that PaperBack! has printed to the CLI window for me!)
3. I arrange that many sheets of paper and set up the printer.
4. I print the odd sheets.
5. I turn the sheets upside down, and sort them back to front.
6. I arrange the sheets of paper back into the sheet feeder.
7. I print the even sheets on the backs of the odd sheets.
It might sound like a pain in the arse, but it sure beats using twice
the amount of paper. On a test document (which I needed to print out
anyway!), without PaperBack! the hardcopy would have taken 84 sheets pf
paper. Using PaperBack!, I only used 42 sheets. AND it's better for the
environment!
BTW, I've never tried PaperBack! with continuous feed paper, but I
cannot see why it couldn't be done. After all, formfeeds still work ok in
tractor mode!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If this program works well, or if it fills a gap in your software
collection, then also feel free to contact me and we'll talk. I love my
fiance, KickOff 2, Kelly Bundy and bikini-clad babes. If you feel like
talking electronically or snail-mail-wise about any of these issues
(although Kim might have something to say about that! *;-), please do so.
Contact addresses!
------------------
Snail:
Bob Rye
11 Beaver Street
St. Albans
Victoria
Australia 3021
Electronic:
Bob_Rye@guru.apana.org.au (preferred!)
3:633/359.7@fido (preferred!)
41:300/359.7@amiganet
42:8699/8.7@trinet
bobrye@csource.oz.au
CRAZY DIAMOND 3:633/359@fido
Phone: [Intl. +61 3 5698873] [National 03 5698873] up to 14.4k
SysOp: Chris Quonoey
The latest PUBLIC version of all of my programs will always be available on
this BBS.