"New" .PRN drivers for XY -- inkjet models

[jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

Hi All --

Since we've been discussing printer driver revisions lately -- as in the
case of the HP-2100 -- I thought I might as well post this message now.

There are a number of inkjet printer makes / models in common use now
that did not exist at the time XyQuest (and later TTG) were actively
creating and revising drivers. The Lexmark line is a good example, and
probably some of the Cannon printers. It seems to me that some of the
more advanced users of XY who still use it -- perhaps members of this
list -- *must have* either revised some plausible driver template, or
written their own printer file from scratch, to fill this gap. If I can
avoid re-inventing something that already exists, so much the better.

I have been using my Epson Color Stylus 800 for a couple years now with
a selection of three (old) printer drivers that TTG directed me to a
while back. I think they may have been XY-3 drivers, but I don't
recall. If so, I must have put the .PR header at the top-of-file, and
XY4DOS has been happy to make use of them. One of the three printer
files is capable of color printing, so designated text can be in red,
green, or blue, possibly yellow, again I don't recall, as such usage
has not been for a while now. Anyway, I consider that problem solved.

At a time when my Epson was having some hardware problems, I bought a
Lexmark Optra 40 on closeout, to have as a backup. As far as I know,
there is no XY driver for Lexmark printers, period. My dad, a XY-3
user, also has one of these at his East Coast office. We need viable
printer drivers for these. If necessary, I may be able to write a
3-series driver for this from scratch, but it could be a hard slog.
When I've looked around inside Xy-4 series drivers, and in the XY4
manual's section on this, what I see looks considerably more complicated
than the 3-series printer files. If anyone has already written their
own printer file for this printer, I sure would like to hear about it.
If not, and I manage to write one, I'll mention it here and anyone else
who may be interested will be welcome to try it out, and improve it if
they can.

There is also an HP 840C inkjet that I need to support, and possibly a
higher model in that line later on. Early experiments with the stock HP
Deskjet 500 printer file were fairly encouraging. That printer file may
need only moderate revision, and we'll be in business.

Your input is welcome.


Jordan Fox