Re: Patricia's template (Was: Re: Xywrite Revealed)

["Robert Holmgren" holmgren@xxxxxxxx]

** Reply to message from "Patricia M. Godfrey"  on Sat, 04
Feb 2006 17:02:32 -0500


> Unfortunately, A4 paper is not to be found in the USA.

I buy mine at Staples. Websites too. Very widely available.

> Furthermore, it's
> not that much different in size from our standard Letter (Letter is 11
> in X 8.5 in, or roughly 279.4 MM X 216 MM).

Actually, it is radically different. Unlike 8.5 x 11, A4 makes common sense --
that's why it's the international standard. It shares with it's brethren
A0-A10, B0-B10, and (envelopes) C0-C10 an elegant simplicity: the ratio of
width to height of all A|B|C sizes is the square root of two, or 1 to 1.4142.
A4 is 210 x 297 mm; A3 is 297 x 420; A2 is 420 x 594... you can see the
pattern. Another way to think of it is: if you fold a single sheet of A3 in
half lengthwise, you get two pieces of A4. A sheet of A4 fits in a C4
envelope; folded in half it fits in a C5 envelope. Envelope sizes are the
geometric mean between two A sizes. It's a *system* (unlike the American
whatchamacallit).

> The Legal I was trying to
> use is 11 X 14 inches (some 356 MM)

Legal is 8.5 x 14, or approximately 216 x 356mm

> I tried moving the PW and FD
> commands for legal landscape to after the OF and TP ones, as you had
> them, but still no go. Is it possible that US printers simply don't
> support the calls that Ghostscript/Gsview and the Xy PS and HP drivers
> are using?

No. First of all, they aren't "US printers"; they're mostly made in the Far
East. Second, they're mostly marketed worldwide. Third, Postscript is the
international printing STANDARD! EVERYBODY uses Postscript -- at least, all
high-end printing is Postscript.

> Let me try printing to a Postscript printer to a file in a
> Windows app and comparing the resulting PS file with that generated by
> PostGhost. And seeing how both print from GSview.

They print perfectly.

If you want to use POSTGHST.PRN for US Legal paper size in portrait, make two
changes to this PRN file (and then *relaunch* XyWrite!):

DF JB=81
PG<) s showpage {3-byte_13}%%Page: {3-byte_13} restore save /x 18 def /y 4150
def l (
(the preceding were two lines, not three. Compare the A4 instructions in the
PRN for an idea of what's going on here. Then insert ordinary formats in your
documents. For test purposes, and a 1-inch offset all around, I'd use
something like:


and maybe  to "prove" the right margin by forcing flush right. View with
POSTGHOST, and be sure to set GSview "Media" to Legal size.

Get Portrait working first!

ACTUALLY...
Maybe I'll just post a new POSTGHST.PRN file with a built-in Legal Portrait &
Landscape options. And add A4 Landscape...

OK. Done. I've added several new Printer Control Codes to handle these sizes
and orientations. I've also made improvements to the PRN, by making the texts
more perfectly centered in the page.

When you switch to Legal, you need to disable one line and enable two lines --
and they are *different* lines for Portrait and for Landscape. Likewise for
A4. In general, the two lines are a new "DeFault JB=" command, and a new PG<
command. The lines to activate are clearly indicated in POSTGHST.PRN. Don't
forget to disable the old PG< command! One PG< command must always be active.

I **highly recommend**, after making these changes, that you SAve the PRNfile,
Quit, and then relaunch XyWrite!

Letter is the POSTGHST default, and you do NOT have to change anything for
either Portrait or Landscape. Also, Letter does NOT use a "DF JB=" command,
whereas Legal and A4 do.

Remember, you MUST use the SETP command to load this PRN! No LDPRN, LP, or
LOAD command -- SETP only.

You MUST enter correct formatting commands in your document. PageWidth and
FormDepth are obviously swapped. ToP, BoTtom, OFfset can stay the same. Etc.

You MUST set GSview for the correct size Media (may require relaunch of
GSview)!! Try printing first from GSview. If that works well, then try TYP
(result should be identical, but bypasses GSview).

New version of POSTGHST.PRN at:
 http://users.datarealm.com/xywwweb/postghst.zip

-----------------------------
Robert Holmgren
holmgren@xxxxxxxx
-----------------------------