Re: printers for xywrite

[jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

Norman Bauman wrote:

> At 12:08 PM 1/12/01 -0500, Janet Randall wrote:
>
> >if people have an answer, they should send it to me directly,
>
> With a copy to the list.
>

[In that spirit, here is a copy of my note to Janet. If I have
made any factual errors, no doubt someone will correct me.]


>Subject: Re: Printers for XY
>Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2001 12:00:17 -0800
>From: jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxxx
>To: randall@xxxxxxx

>Janet Randall wrote:

> My laserjet 3 printer just broke, leaving me with an opportunity to buy a
> color printer.>Does anyone have a suggestion for a current printer that is
> compatible with one of the xywrite printer files (I use xywrite for dos).
> I'd be interested in either laserjet or inkjet. I've >had success with HP
> black & write printers.
>

> Hi Janet,
>
> Printers of more recent vintage are an ongoing challenge. If one rejects
> the idea of moving to XyWin or Nota Bene, this narrows the field of
> options. It is possible to move to a Postscript based solution, using a
> Postscript interpreter and one of the general XY PS drivers, effectively
> doing an end run around individual printer drivers for a given make and
> model. (But I *think* your printer has to have PS capabilities in order
> to do this. Or maybe not.) A PS option has its own set of pros & cons, one of the main
> ones being the overhead of an intermediary module and speed. I believe
> the PS option is dealt with in a couple places on the XYWWWEB pages. One
> of these -- specifically for XY3 but applicable to XY4 as well -- is a
> link to a section of Annie Fisher's site.
>
> As you are no doubt aware, XY has the relative advantage that its control
> files (.KBD, .HLP, .PRN, etc.) are in plain, editable Ascii, rather than
> some compiled binary code. Given the XY manuals, a reasonably complete
> manual for the make / model of printer, the requisite aptitude, and the
> will to do so, it is very possible to write a custom printer driver from
> scratch for almost any new printer. I say "almost" because you must avoid
> purchasing any "Win-Printer" -- which has no "brain" chip of its own and
> leeches all resources off a running copy of Windows and your computer.
> This is not only a drag on your computer's performance, it won't even work
> at all for programs that run inside the Windows "DOS Box." Like XY4DOS.
> I would investigate this carefully before making any purchase. If the
> printer's docs and box explicitly state that it supports DOS, you can be
> sure that it is *not* a Winprinter. I believe there may be a couple other
> tell-tale signs, but I don't recall what they might be.
>
> A considerably easier approach than writing a whole new printer driver
> from scratch is to seek out a situation where an existing XY printer
> driver is already in the general ballpark of a contemporary model. It can
> then serve as a template, where just certain sections need to be modified
> and tested. This is possible in some cases because the control codes
> (printer Escape sequences) that a particular manufacturer uses do not
> drastically change over the models and over the years, because of
> pervasive standards like PCL (the Printer Control Language used by HP in
> its line of laser printers and many of its inkjet models, from early-on
> until today), and because later models tend to offer *supersets* of past
> functionality, rather than scrapping or replacing it.
>
> Now some examples. I have an ancient HP LJ-II for b&w plain text ouput,
> which I intend to keep running for a few more years if at all possible.
> No problem here in regard to XY, of course. (Incidentally, there is a
> thriving market in older, often reconditioned HP LJ models. Just take a
> look at Ebay, to name one popular venue. I recently saw a "low mileage"
> HP-4 there described as being in excellent condition. It might just come
> down to the prices being bid. I also know of some good sources for parts,
> etc. Service is readily available for HPs, even the older ones.) I have
> an Epson Stylus Color 800 for printing color and graphics. This inkjet
> has been out of production for a couple years at this point, and I'm not
> well informed about later models in the series. Quite some time ago, TTG
> pointed me towards three older XY printer files they said could drive this
> printer. Two of them do so satisfactorily, with one being able to print
> text in several colors. They were printer drivers intended for earlier
> Epson models, possibly from before Epson even made inkjets, but
the
> printer control codes had not changed. These printer drivers do not
> support anything like all the features offered by the Stylus 800, but it
> is minimally adequate for now, and I intend to revise and improve them at
> some point. The Epson printer manual did thoughtfully provide a glossary
> with the escape codes.
>
> I later purchased a LexMark Optra 40 Color Inkjet -- also by now replaced
> in their model lineup -- partly as a spare, and partly because it had
> built-in Postscript, an uncommon feature, especially at that price.
> LexMark inkjets did not even exist on the market at the time the last XY
> printer drivers were being released. It turns out that the old XY printer
> drivers for the HP Deskjet 500 series can serve as decent starting
> templates for much later HP Deskjet models, and there are indications they
> may serve a similar template role for this LexMark. (Beware of some later
> LexMark models, which tend to be Winprinters.) I plan to use the DJ500
> printer file to make specific drivers for the HP 840C my father has at
> one office, the Lexmark Optra 40 he has at another, and of course my own.
>In the case of the Optra 40, the basic printer manual was worthless, and I had to
>purchase a Tech. Ref. manual for it.
>
> >If I can't get a color printer that will work with my dos xywrite, then
>> what do I do?
>
> Presumably what I've been saying here is equally applicable to the HP
> Color laserjets, though these are still rather pricey.
>
> >George at the Technology Group said I could use xywrite for windows and
>> that it would run any printer. I think I'll need more information on
>> that, since I've been a die-hard dos >user (I run xywrite in dos under
>> windows).
>
> I've never liked the design and operation of the XyWin product either,
> which also puts the nix on Nota Bene for me.
>
> Hope this helps.


> Jordan