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Printing with XyWrite drivers from XyWin



XyWrite for Windows can print using Windows drivers, but (unless I'm missing something obvious) printing with XyWrite drivers can be more difficult.

If your computer has an LPT1 port connected to a printer by a parallel cable, and if your printer is compatible with the printer language used by your XyWrite printer driver, then you can print from that XyWrite driver directly to LPT1. However, if you don't have an LPT port, then things are trickier.

I've been meaning to create a printing system (like the one I use for DOSBoxWP and my Win31DOSBox system) that can be used with printer output sent to a file, and here's a first step toward it. You may want to use it in its present state IF and ONLY IF the following three things are true:

1. You do not have a printer connected to LPT1.
2. Your printer is a true LaserJet or PCL-compatible model that can print PCL5 code. (You can also use a printer that supports PostScript.)
3. You want to use a XyWrite printer driver.

My XyWin installer installs a XyWrite driver for an HP LaserJet 4 model, which by default prints to LPT1. You can use that driver with this system by doing the following:

1. In XyWin, edit the HP printer driver to print to this output 
filename, instead of LPT1:
C:\Otvdm\output\raw.prn

The filename should have "raw" in it; the rest is optional. (If your Otvdm folder is not on drive C:, use the actual drive letter.)
Download and run this FilePrinter.exe program:

http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/FilePrinter.exe
Because it is written in AutoIt, your antivirus software will almost certainly tell you that is a weapon of digital destruction; it's up to you whether to make an exception for it or not. Please don't waste bandwidth asking whether it's safe or not.

When you run this program, it watches the C:\Otvdm\output folder for a file with the string "raw" in its name. When it finds one, and the file is fully written to disk, it uses a small raw-printing utility to send the raw data to your Windows default printer. The folder-watching program will keep running until you shut down Windows or right-click on its taskbar tray icon to pause or exit it.

Future versions will create PDF files or print to any Windows printer, and will offer to edit the XyWrite printer driver if necessary. But not this version.

One detail: If you want to use some other folder instead of 
C:\otvdm\output, start the FilePrinter program with the path that you 
want to use as a parameter, like this:
FilePrinter.exe D:\Path\To\SomeFolder

It's probably not a good idea to use a space in the pathname, but I haven't tested that.

I'll be traveling with a Mac all week, so won't be able to make any 
fixes in this. As always, this comes with no guarantees.