Re: Xy4 and cold feet

[Paul Lagasse pglagasse@xxxxxxxx]

On 03/15/2011 02:27 PM, Nicholas Clifford wrote:
At the risk of going over ground much gone over before, can anyone
point me to an easy way to print DOS (like Xy4) through a USB
connection? Sorry for the repetition.


Nothing's entirely easy. And the solution may depend on your printer.
Though I no longer use the following methods (since I work in Linux),
these did work for me in WinXP, and once set up they were easy to use.
The first solution prints faster where Xy4 is concerned, if that matters:


1. For Xy4, you can go to http://users.datarealm.com/xywwweb/ and get
and install the latest version of XyWWWeb.U2, following the instructions
there, and then set up Xy4 to use typ --


2. More generally, see http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/usbprint.html
-- the PrintFile method described here also works with XyWrite, though I
think when I tried it out I had to install ghostscript and ghostview
into folders whose paths did not include spaces, ie c:\gs and c:\gsview.
If it works for WPDOS and Xy4 it can probably work for other DOS apps.


If you want to know more about typ before embarking on the process of
setting it up, here's the info from the XYWWWEB.INF file:


 {typ}

 Print file with Ghostscript RJH 5/29/06

 Overcome inability to print with WinXP, non-PCL, USB printers, etc.

 Required files/packages:
 DL either Ghostscript AFPL v8.53+ (http://www.cs.wisc.edu/-
  ghost/index.html) or GPL v8.15+
  (http://voxel.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/ghostscript/gs815w32.ex
  e) (basic fonts are included in package -- be sure to click the box
  "Install Fonts" during Setup)
 POSTGHST.PRN (http://users.datarealm.com/xywwweb/postghst.zip): add to the
  PP: stanza of DFL
 KMD.EXE (http://users.datarealm.com/xywwweb/WIN95CMD.ZIP), installed in DOS
  Path (preferably in BootDrive:\WINDOWS|WINNT\system32)

 Printer drivers are compiled into Ghostscript (not separate files).
  One printer driver must be specified in XyWWWeb.REG (see
  UserVariable GsPrnDev, below). To determine the *name* of an
  appropriate printer driver to specify, see:
  a list of Ghostscript printer devices and the printers with which
  they are compatible:
 http://www.cs.wisc.edu/ghost/doc/printer.htm
  a list of printer drivers:
 http://www.cs.wisc.edu/ghost/doc/AFPL/devices.htm
  and "Details of Ghostscript output devices":
 http://www.cs.wisc.edu/ghost/doc/cvs/Devices.htm#Win
  If you find a printer driver, make SURE that it is compiled into
  Ghostscript! Command: "GSWIN32C -? |more"
  If no printer driver seems compatible with your printer, generic
  driver "mswinpr2" is available, which works (slowly) with ALL
  PRINTERS(!) that can print under Windows.

 PRiNter file POSTGHST.PRN now supports A4 printing. See comments in
  POSTGHST.PRN (SEarch for "A4")

 To use TYP, the current XyWrite PRiNter file must be a Postscript PRN.
  You may use a different PRN than POSTGHST.PRN, but it *must* have a
  filename beginning with the four letters "POST..." (all XyWrite
  PostScript PRNs are filenamed "POSTsomething.PRN"). Be aware that
  POSTGHST.PRN is specifically set up for Ghostscript fonts, whereas
  factory PRNs are not -- you will need to adapt them manually. Add
  the PS PRN file to the PP: stanza of DFL. Establish it as the
  current PRN using the SETP command, e.g. in STARTUP.INT (the LOAD
  command works too, but eats memory).
 Two or three entries in XyWWWeb.REG must be completed (one-time
  procedure):
 1.the fully-qualified d:\path\filename for GSWIN32C.EXE (the
  Ghostscript command line executable) in Ghostscript_EXE_Win32 e.g.:
     Ghostscript_EXE_Win32=F:\GS\gs8.53\bin\GSWIN32C.EXE
 2.the name of the printer device driver you will use in GsPrnDev (add
  this UserVariable to REG's [Ghostscript] stanza if it is not already
  present), e.g.
 GsPrnDev=ljet4
  A specific printer device driver will print hands-off to the default
  printer specified in the Windows Printer control panel, unless you
  indicate a different printer in UserVariable WinPrinter, below.

  If no specific driver for your printer is available, you must use
  the generic driver "mswinpr2". You have two options: 1) you can use
  the default printer specified in your Windows Printer control panel,
  for hands-off printing, with this command:
 GsPrnDev=mswinpr2 default
  or 2) you can summon the Set Printer dialog each time you print, and
  manually select a printer (or accept the default) ==> then hit "OK":
 GsPrnDev=mswinpr2 dialog
  The "dialog" option requires that you complete the Set Printer
  dialog, and it also affords the option of setting other Printer
  properties, or even of Canceling the print job (in which latter case
  only you will need to manually close a Ghostscript desktop window).
 3.(optional) the name of one physical printer to which frame TYP will
  always print (hands-off), whether it is the current "Default
  Printer" or not, in WinPrinter, e.g.:
     WinPrinter=EPSON Stylus C60 Series
     WinPrinter=\\PSNYC\HPLaserJ
  The name of the printer should be written exactly as it appears in
  the Windows Printer control panel. If it is still not recognized,
  run Printers.VBS (command at DOS: "cscript //nologo Printers.VBS"),
  which reports all valid printer names accurately.

 Usage:
 All available arguments to the normal TYF (or PRINTF) command are
  legal (except "target_filename", which is nonsensical here):
 TYP [d:\path]filename][,,page_ranges][,o|e|p]
  e.g.:
 TYP  Print current file
 TYP ,,2/4   Print current file pages 2 and 4
 TYP MYFILE   Print MYFILE
 TYP MYFILE,,-3 Print MYFILE pages 1-3
 TYP MYFILE,,3-9,O   Print MYFILE Odd-numbered pages
  3,5,7,9
 You must confirm (y|N) printing of DeFined text

--paul lagasse