Re: XyWin stops working

[Harry Binswanger hb@xxxxxxxx]

There are certain things that have been established at this list, to
general consensus. (I'm not sure if these things apply to all operating
systems: I use XP.)


1. Xy4 is better than Xy3. And there's (almost) no learning curve to climb
in learning Xy4. So get Xy4, and copy its files onto your harddrive. It's
available at:

http://users.datarealm.com/xywwweb/ (search for 4.018 to find the download).

2. If your computer can do networking, you can print directly to a USB
printer (I've been doing it for years). You need only enter a command like
the following at a DOS prompt (substituting the name of your computer for
"Fury" and your printer's name for "HP_6100"


net use lpt2 \\Fury\HP_6100 /Persistent:Yes

That tells Windows to use the USB port as if it were LPT2. Of course then,
correspondingly, in your XyWrite printer file (settings.dfl if you're using
Xy4), you need a line like:


LPT2  c:\xy\hpdj660c.prn   6100 on Harry's computer

I believe this kind of assignment was used in Xy3+ also. The "hpdj660c.prn"
is a printer file that works well enough with my HP 6100 multifunction
inkjet printer. I'm sure it, or something else that's available through our
good offices, will work with your Brother printer.


After the initial setup, which is merely what I said above--but we can help
with any questions--it's all permanent and transparent. You just print as
if it were a parallel printer.


Full disclosure: just yesterday, for some unknown reason, I couldn't print,
so I had to launch a DOS prompt and re-issue the NET USE command above. No
big deal. In fact, since, for unknown reasons, I seem to have to do this
every 6 months or so, I've programmed it to a key (and you say you know how
to program your .kbd file).


IN GENERAL: this list is very active and you can get your questions
answered usually in less than 24 hours. Particularly since it sounds like
your questions won't be new ones.


--Harry


Thanks. My printer is a Brother MFC 210C.
I have two copies of XY4 but it seems each one can only be loaded once,
and the computers they were loaded into have been dumped. No problem
because, as far as I'm concerned, iiia is a much better program.


One problem -- I'm not a computer type. I was editing a magazine when I
got XY and I had in-house help to tailor it, (actually Times XYwrite) to
my taste. I can now modify XY myself, (rewrite the keyboard), but in just
about everything else I'm a klutz.


I've been getting by pasting xy files into Word to print them, but it's
slow. I tried Nota Bene but it didn't work for me, because it seemed to
want to produce only finished (typeset) work. That's the same problem as
Word --
but I'm used to writing rough and letting typesetters worry about the
final appearance.


Still, it would be a convenience if I could print my roughs direct from
XY. I do a lot of my editing in a coffee shop these days and, in the old
days, it was nice to bang out a rough copy direct from XY.


I'm spending a lot of time out of town these days, so I will be off-line
for most of next week -- but I look forward to any advice you can offer.


andy t



----- Original Message ----- From: "Patricia M. Godfrey" 
To: 
Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2007 4:22 PM
Subject: Re: XyWin stops working



andy turnbull wrote:
xy for windows? does it exist? I've been using xyiiia in a dos window in
a windows machine. Is xy for windows a take-off on xy4? Can it work like
xyiiia? Is it still available?


None of the versions of XyWrite are "available" in the sense that you
could go out and buy a copy anywhere. They're what is called
"abandonware": the previous owner hasn't formally relinquished copyright,
but doesn't seem to be actively pursuing people who give a couple of
their friends copies.


XyWrite for Windows is pretty flaky, and won't run at all on some XP
boxes. Xy 4 works quite well under all versions of Windows (somebody is
even running it on Vista). If you like to run in windowed mode (rather
than full-screen) and your hardware is fairly fast, you may experience a
certain degree of jerkiness as the cursor responds--or takes its time
responding--to keystrokes under Windows 2000 and XP.


Note well that under XP and W 2000, you CAN print to a USB printer from
Xy or any DOS app IF the printer understands a supported printer
language. That is, if your printer is an HP PCL or a Postscript one, and
you have a network card in your PC, you should be able to tell Xy and the
opsys that that USB printer is actually on LTP2. This is done using a
command from the DOS prompt. We first need to know what kind of printer
you have; if it can work with any of the XyIII drivers, we can tell you
how to do it.


Xy 4 is available at XyWrite.com and vetusware.com, and with the addition
of XyWWWEB.com's U2 routines, you can print to ANY printer, attached to
any port, using two (valuable in their own right) additional programs,
Ghostscript (free) and GSView (nagware, but worth every penny of its some
$30 US price).


Tell us what kind of printer you have, and we'll recommend the best way
for you to go. NotaBene is also a solution, but it costs, and is, I
gather, forever being upgraded.


--
Patricia M. Godfrey
PriscaMG@xxxxxxxx




--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database:
269.11.13/946 - Release Date: 8/10/2007 3:50 PM







Harry Binswanger
hb@xxxxxxxx