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Re: Winprint

Thanks for that info, John.  However, I still don't quite have this working.  I conformed the Winprint config to match what you wrote, but some details must still be off.  

First of all, now that I got vDosXy + Xy-4 loading properly, after that help from Carl, I saw that apparently no printing can happen without a Xy printer driver loaded ?  So I reinstated an old
 one from a previous Startup.Int, HPLJ-4.Prn.  This got me past the 'No Printer Loaded' error from Xy, but the choice of printer is likely my first mistake.  It's been quite some time since I had that printer.  My current printers are a Canon MX-860 and a Brother MFC 8890DW laser, both of which are set up to operate wirelessly under Win for nearly all Windows apps, over my home network.  I gather that this vDos setup expects an Epson printer ?  (And that is probably *not* going to be wireless, just standard wired USB ?)  I'm not sure how or if this could be addressed.

I modified the Winprint config to look for files with the extension *.tmp (rather than the initial default of *.txt), in directory C:\Xydocs.  That would be to remain in sync with your use of "fo.tmp."  Then, it seemed as though there must be an extra space or two in the syntax you quoted.  I was getting a different error from Xy (something about printing range ?), and no printing.  With a document onscreen, I changed the command to 

   tyf,
 c:\Xydocs\fo.tmp

because when I had included a page # after it the result was also an error.  This time I actually got some printing . . .  but the Brother laser (chosen as default printer in the Winprint config) began spitting out page after page with just a line or two of PCL garbage at the top of each page . . . so I had to turn the printer off.  (But it _was_ printing wirelessly !)

Clearly, some more fine tuning will be
 required here.  Worst case, if it came to that: I guess I could just output documents to disk, and then use NB for the printing.


   Jordan


 
 
 
 
  From: John Paines 
 To: "xywrite@xxxxxxxxxxxxx"  
 Sent: Friday, January 30, 2015 2:23 PM
 Subject: Re: Winprint
  
 

I've set the top margin to 12mm, which gives a 1/2" top margin.  For lines per page I have 61 -- on my system, that's the value required to get xywrite's page-breaks, soft or hard, to fall correctly.  Those are the only margin commands which required adjustment for my purposes.

Under Utility options, you enter the folder and file name to which you'll be saving, via print to file.  I left the
 timings and other defaults as is.

Under Format of Data, and "Code page" you'll probably want to select MS-Dos Latin (CP 437), though it's possible other settings will also work and/or serve your needs better.  Everything else on that tab I left alone.

On the Misc tab, I selected the printer and left everything else alone.

As
 for the printing routine -- it's just a simple save/get which, when executed, saves the current screen document (as text), then puts on the command line a tyf command which will send the same screen document to the designated directory as a file with the filename winprint is looking for (in my case, the command reads "tyf , c:\vdos\fo.tmp,#", where '#' is the current page number.  The routine doesn't execute the command, because it may require entering a page range.

 
 
 
 
  From: J R FOX 
 To: "xywrite@xxxxxxxxxxxxx"  
 Sent: Friday, January 30, 2015 3:57 PM
 Subject: Re: Winprint
  
 

I have set up a dedicated folder -- Xydocs -- for this purpose, and will try to use that location exclusively, sending / saving to there a copy of whatever I wish to print with Xy.  (This is currently being tried on a different computer, at home.  I'll have to check to see just what happened on the one I was
 reporting about, the next time I am there.)  In the Winprint config, I selected Lucida Console 12.  I'm unsure about other settings in the Winprint confg.  How have you set those -- for any that matter -- and can you tell me exactly how you are going about printing from Xy inside of vDos ?  What "routines" ?


   Jordan




 
 
 
 
  From: John Paines 
 To: "xywrite@xxxxxxxxxxxxx"
  
 Sent: Friday, January 30, 2015 6:41 AM
 Subject: Re: Winprint
  
 

On second thought, winprint *will*, upon loading, print any file which satisfies its type and location requirement.  So if it's configured to print *.txt files in
 directory vdosxy (assuming a wild card works with winprint; I don't know), it might print all those files once it was loaded.  

It might also delete them when it's finished.  I use simple routines to print to fo.tmp and the same output directory, no matter where the text file is located.  That way, there's no need to ever change the location which winprint monitors for files to print and no chance of deleting an actual text file.

 


 
 
 
  From: John Paines 
 To: "xywrite@xxxxxxxxxxxxx"  
 Sent: Friday, January 30, 2015 8:23 AM
 Subject: Re: Winprint
  
 

Just to be clear, this is the download site for winprint:

  
It shouldn't matter where you install it, and I can't account for the behavior
 you describe.  Assuming it's installed, double-click on winprint.exe, which puts the winprint icon in the taskbar (though you may have to "show hidden icons"). 

 Assuming you've already configured winprint to your liking (right click on the icon to bring up the dialogue boxes), use xywrite to print to file.  If you've set the winprint dialogue box to look for that generically named output file in the indicated directory, it prints the document. That's it.  Without a print to file command, and winprint configured to look for that output file, nothing should happen.

 


 
 
 
  From: J R FOX 
 To: "xywrite@xxxxxxxxxxxxx"  

 Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2015 11:32 PM
 Subject: Winprint
  

 

I must be doing something wrong.  I put this into the vDosXy directory, which I thought was the instructed procedure, and then invoked it.  (I did this from Windows Explorer.)  The program then decided to print -- in succession -- every text file therein.  Not what I had in mind.  It would have been necessary to disconnect the printer to make it stop, but it happened to run out of paper before I could have done that.

So, what is the *correct* way to use this thing ?


   Jordan


 
 
 
 


  From: John Paines 
 To: "xywrite@xxxxxxxxxxxxx"  
 Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2015 12:33 PM
 Subject: Re: new computer XY-DOS
  
 

I don't believe there's any documentation.  However, loading the program puts an icon in the taskbar, which is (for the most part) self-evidently configurable.  You get a choice of fonts, point size, margins, lines per page, font translation (code 437), choice of
 installed printers, and provision for supplying the file name and directory of the file which winprint will monitor (you must print to file with this utility), and printer selection.  Winprint is the fastest option available I've found; a xywrite tyf command goes instantly to the printer.  By contrast, it's several seconds before vDos's dosprinter utility kicks in with a dialogue box.