Re: Partially off topic: Ghostscript puzzles

["Robert Holmgren" holmgren@xxxxxxxx]

** Reply to message from "Patricia M. Godfrey"  on Fri, 12
May 2006 12:48:22 -0400


> the 3.1 version (gswin32.exe) rather than the 9x version (gswin32c.exe)?

GSWIN32 is the GUI version, GSWIN32C is the command line version. They've both
been in \bin as long as I can remember. I mean, if GSWIN32.EXE was the Win3.1
version, it would be filenamed GSWIN16 -- no? 

> The GS docs mention a file (in the \lib subdir) called prfont.ps, which
> is supposed to print out a fontproof of all loaded fonts. Attempts to
> run it, either from the GS command line or through GSView generate "No
> such file or directory" errors. Anyone have any idea why? Am I correct
> in assuming that GS, being of *nix origin, wants paths specified *nix
> style, with forward, rather than backward, slashes?

LIST the script -- it *tells* you how to use the script & where to look for
sample commands! Default output device is always the display (cf. gswin32c -?
|more). So: situate in d:\gs\gs8.53\bin, command:
 gswin32c ..\lib\prfont.ps
then, at the GS> prompt, command:
 /URWGroteskT-Bold DoFont
then hit carriage return to show consecutive pagefulls of characters (executes
the ShowPage command). Try
 FontDirectory {pop DoFont} forall
to see every character of every font in your font dir (hit  *slowly*, after
page is fully displayed). Or you can simply write the command that you want to
execute at the bottom of the script, save it, execute it.

You know, this is really all that U2's TYP or XY2PDF commands do: they execute
PS commands in the interpreter. Everybody thinks it is so mysterious and
complicated -- it really isn't.

Command quit to quit.

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