Business & Presentations/Business and Presentations - Volume 1 (1995)(Sideface)(NL).iso/hputils/lasrutil/p4up.doc

Text File | 1991-03-13 | 16KB | 346 lines

Introduction
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P4UP is a DOS utility program that prints four page images of ASCII text in
portrait mode on one side of a piece of paper on a variety of printers. On
printers that support soft fonts, such as the LaserJet or DeskJet, P4UP builds
and downloads its own soft font.  On other printers which cannot use these
soft fonts, P4UP uses printer graphics to draw the page of text.  P4UP is
shareware for $29.95.

P4UP is known to work on: HPLJII, IID, IIP, III, LJ+, DJ, DJ+, and ThinkJet
along with several compatibles.

P4UP has several options to let you control the print operation.  Enter these
options on the command line along with the file names.  Precede each option
with a dash (-).  All options have default values, and can be turned on or
off.  (When you register P4UP, you will also receive P4CUSTOM which lets you
customize P4UP to your liking by setting your own default value for all
options.)  An example of a P4UP command with options is:

        P4UP -NoB -Z archives.*

This prints text with No Breaks (NoB) in a Zigzag pattern (Z).  You may use
upper or lower case for all P4UP arguments.

In its simplest form, using all the default values, P4UP works like the DOS
PRINT command.  Just give it the file names you want printed, using disk,
directory, or wild cards.  For example:

    P4UP  APRIL.LET    or    P4UP  *.PRN    or    P4UP P4UP.DOC

P4UP will:

     Automatically expand tabs (you can set the width) and formfeeds;

     Breaks up wide lines and wraps them to fit as necessary;

     Print the pages top-to-bottom or left-to-right;

     Write to LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, COM1, or COM2;

     Print Even or Odd sides only to help with two-sided printing.

You don't have to remember P4UP options.  Just enter the P4UP command
with no arguments, and a list of options will be displayed in a help screen.

Modification History
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Version 2.1 adds the following features:
  Even (-E) and Odd (-O) side option for two-sided printing.
  66-line page images default on LJ and DJ with as many as 95 with -L option.
Version 2.0 adds the following features:
  The Format (-F) option specifies either soft fonts or graphics printing to
   support the HP ThinkJet, DeskJet, LJ+, and LJII.
  60-line pages are used with Headers (-H) or without (-NoH).
  The Tab (-T) options allows variable expansion of tab characters in text.
  Options can now be turned off with the -No prefix for use with P4CUSTOM.
  All registered users get P4CUSTOM to set default values for all options.
Version 1.1 corrected an incompatibility with other laser printers
Version 1.0 of P4UP was the original version for the HPLJII.

Typical uses for P4UP
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P4UP prints a lot of data in a small but readable format using little paper.
I wouldn't recommend using P4UP to send memos you want people to read, but
there are several occasions where it is appropriate.  The following are some
of my own experiences; I'm sure you will find others.

As a programmer, I often have to work with three or four hundred lines of
code at one time.  Using P4UP allows me to get this many lines printed out
on two pieces of paper which fit easily on my desk.  Then I see the whole
picture at one time, making it easier to deal with problems.

When I've finished a program, I like to get an archive listing of all the
source.  Chances are I'll never have to refer to it again, but should the
worst happen, I want to know there's a hardcopy backup around.  Using P4UP
for archive purposes saves a lot of paper.

New software that I acquire often comes with a README or online documentation
file.  Admittedly I don't spend more time reading the documentation than most
people, but having it printed out increases the chance that if I refer to it
I'll be able to quickly find what I'm looking for, just by scanning for page
headings.  Using P4UP means I don't waste a lot of paper.

The obvious value of P4UP is that when it is appropriate to use, it saves
resources, space, and expense.
General Options and Usage for P4UP
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P4UP prints files much as the DOS PRINT command does.  You can give it one or
more file names, even using ? and *.    As examples:

    P4UP \123\plan.prn   or    P4UP  a:*.doc a:*.lst

Before you give the P4UP command, your printer should be attached, powered up,
and switched online.

P4UP processes the file specifications you give it.  If the file specifications
do not use a disk or path, the current disk and path will be used.  If the file
specifications contain the DOS wild cards ? or *, all matching files will be
printed.  Entering P4UP with no files and no options prints a help screen.

P4UP has many options to give you control of the print operation. The following
describes the general purpose options for P4UP.  See the section named Font
Management for a description of other options which are specific to soft font
capabilities of the HP LJ and DJ.  See the Printer Capabilities section
for a further description of the Format option (-F).  You can set default
values for all options with P4CUSTOM which is included in the price of P4UP.

    -An Adjust page images on paper.  (1 - centered; 2 - all to right;
       3 - odd to right, even to left; 4 - to fit A4 paper.)

    -B Break to a new piece of paper with each new file.  If you use -NoB,
       the next file will start in the next available quadrant of the paper.

    -Ddevice  Normally P4UP prints to the device LPT1.  You can use the -D
       option to name a different printer device including: LPT1, LPT2, LPT3,
       COM1, COM2.  Example: -Dlpt2

    -E Print Even sides only.  Useful for printing on both sides.  See -O.

    -Fn Format (Further explained in section on Printer Capabilities):
    -F0 (HPLJ) is for laser printers which use HPLJ soft fonts.
    -F1 (HPDJ) is for the HPDeskJet with a memory cartridge for soft fonts.
    -F2 is for printers which have 300 dots per inch graphics and
        500K of available memory but which cannot use either F0 or F1.
    -F3 is for printers which support 150 dots per inch graphics.
        The characters are rougher than F2 but print twice as fast.
    -F4 (HPTJ) is for the HPThinkJet in Native mode (switch 5 down).
    -F5 (HPTJ) is for the HPThinkJet in Emulation mode (switch 5 up).
    -F6 (HPLJ+) is for laser printers which use HPLJ + soft fonts.

    -H Headers.  With this option, P4UP will print a header with the filename
       and page number before each 60-line page.  Use -NoH for no headings.

    -Lnnn  Specify number of lines per page.  Default is 66 on DJ and LJ.
     Use -L999 for maximum.  Example:  -L60

    -O Print Odd sides only.  Useful for printing on both sides.  See -E.

    -Tn Tab expansion.  Normally, P4UP expands tab characters in the text
       to enough spaces to get to the next group of 8 characters.  You can
       set a value between 1 and 9 with the -T option.  Example: P4UP -T3.

    -Z Zig-Zag printing.  When you specify -Z, page 2 is to the right of
       page 1, and page 3 below page 1.  With -NoZ, page 2 is below page 1,
       and page 3 is to the right of page 1.


The P4UP Character Set
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P4UP contains the shapes for all 256 characters in the 8-bit ASCII code.
This includes all the single and double box characters.  A few of the low
numbered characters won't print out because they are intercepted by other
hardware and software and interpreted as special control characters.
(-F6 doesn't define characters in the range of 0-31 or 128-160.)

Although the box characters meet up across the page, they do not meet up
vertically.  P4UP uses 12 lines per inch vertically.  Since all P4UP
characters are formed with 16 dots per line, P4UP would have to print at
18.75 lines per inch (300 dots per inch / 16 dots per line), to achieve
vertical connections.  This would make normal text unreadable.

The following table shows the P4UP character set: