----------------------------------------------- PSPS v2.01 --- PostScript PrintScreen Utility ----- Copyright 1993 A.N.D. Technologies ------ ----------------------------------------------- -------- OVERVIEW -------- PSPS is a versatile screen dump tool for PostScript printers. PSPS allows you to use the PrintScreen key (or Shift-PrintScreen) and send the screen contents to either an LPT port or to an Encapsulated PostScript file. PSPS supports text and graphics modes on MDA, CGA, Hercules, EGA, MCGA, VGA, Super VGA, or any graphics adaptor which supports Int 10 BIOS functions. You may choose from Monochrome, reverse monochrome, grayscale, and color PostScript modes. PSPS will not work with the extended graphics modes of 8514/A or XGA. PSPS requires 9K of RAM, and may be unloaded when you're not using it. PostScript is a trademark of Adobe, Inc. -------------------- COMMAND LINE OPTIONS -------------------- If PSPS is already loaded, just type PSPS to find the current settings. You may also change one or more settings without affecting any of the others. L=N LPT port where N=1,2,3 U Uninstall O=P,L Orientation=Portrait, Landscape F=E,P Create new EPS,PS File PSPSxxxx.(E)PS; xxxx=1-9999 S=N Number of text screens per page; N=1,2,3 M=M,R,G,C Mode=Mono, Reverse Mono, Grayscale, Color X=N,Y=N Dimensions of graphics screen which PSPS can't detect E Eject page, flush unprinted text screens ---------------------------- L=N LPT port where N=1,2,3 ---------------------------- Default=LPT1 --------------- U Uninstall --------------- Removes PSPS from memory. ------------------------------------------ O=L Landscape Orientation (11" x 8 1/2") O=P Portrait Orientation (8 1/2" x 11") ------------------------------------------ Default=Portrait Will work in both text and graphics modes. ------------------------- F=E Create new EPS File F=P Create new PS File ------------------------- In graphics mode, the screen contents will be dumped to a Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) or an PostScript (PS) file. The EPS file is suitable for import into word processors and desktop publishing programs. However, it is unlikely that EPS files created by PSPS will will be viewable by image editing programs; these programs often need their own specific information which they incorporate into their own EPS files. These EPS files are NOT meant to be printed directly. EPS files are named PSPSxxxx.EPS, where xxxx is a number from 1 to 9999. PS files contain exactly the same data as if it were sent to the printer. PS files are named PSPSxxxx.EPS, where xxxx is a number from 1 to 9999. The main difference between EPS and PS files created by PSPS is that PS files contain extra commands for placement of the image on the page. If you send an EPS file to a printer, the image will not be placed correctly on the page. In text mode, a plain text file containing only the screen characters is created. These files are named PSPSxxxx.TXT, where xxxx is a number from 1 to 9999. File numbers begin at 1 for every new PSPS session. Files are placed in the current directory. Files with the same name WILL BE OVERWRITTEN. ------------------------------------- S=N Number of text screens per page ------------------------------------- Default=1 Since most text screens have 25 lines, you will find that one text screen dump hardly fills a sheet of paper. You may choose to print up to three screens on one page. PSPS will scale the size of the text to fit on the page based on the number of screens you have chosen, the dimensions of the first screen to be dumped, and the page orientation. You should note that PostScript printers have a job timeout feature; this setting automatically ends a print job after a specified time interval if a job is incomplete and no more data is received during that time. This value should be high enough to allow for any pauses you may encounter during multiple text screen dumps. Similarly, if you are capturing data to a network printer, then your network capture timeout value should also be large enough to allow for pauses between text screen dumps. This feature is not applicable in graphics modes. ---------------------------------------------- E Eject page, flush unprinted text screens ---------------------------------------------- If you have unprinted screens, then this will eject the page. It simply sends a CTRL-D (character code 4) to the printer. You may also choose to send it manually, like ECHO ^D>LPT1. ---------------------------------- M=M,R,G,C Graphics Printing Mode ---------------------------------- Default=Gray The choices are monochrome (1 bit), reverse monochrome (1 bit), grayscale (8 bit), and color (12 bit). Monochrome uses a black background, so use reverse monochrome if you want a white background. PSPS will not create grayscale or color data from 2 color graphics screen modes. When using a monchrome printing mode with a 4/16/256 color screen mode, the background color is assumed to be color 0 in the palette, which is usually black, and all other colors become the foreground color in the PostScript output. See the next section for instructions on Hercules graphics mode printing. Color printing uses RGB values. Each 6 bit red, green, and blue color register is automatically converted to an 4 bit value. Therefore, there will be problems with 24 bit graphics screen modes. This may be changed in later versions. The size of the resulting file or print job can be pretty large. The header is not very long, so here are the sizes you can expect: Monochrome modes: 1 byte of data for every 4 pixels Grayscale mode: 2 bytes of data for every pixel Color mode: 3 bytes of data for every pixel The percentage of the elapsed job time is displayed on the upper left. ---------------------------------------------------------------- X=N,Y=N Dimensions of graphics screen which PSPS can't detect ---------------------------------------------------------------- PSPS can only detect the dimensions of CGA, EGA, MCGA, and VGA graphics screens. Therefore, if you use Hercules or Super VGA specific screen modes, then you must tell PSPS what the screen dimensions are. If you haven't specified these values, then PSPS will perform a text screen dump if it can't detect the screen mode. For Hercules graphics modes use X=720 Y=348. For Super VGA the graphics adaptor must support VGA Int 10 BIOS routines. --------------- TEXT MODE NOTES --------------- PSPS detects EGA/VGA 43/50 line and SVGA 132 column text screens. PSPS uses bitmaps for line/box characters, Symbol font for some extended characters, and Courier font for the rest. Control code characters (less than 32) are printed as blanks. If the cursor is off, you will not see PSPS moving through its routine. ------- HISTORY ------- 2.01: Added support for PS files; fixed error with text mode dump after a graphics mode dump. ------ NOTICE ------ PSPS is distributed as is, with no warranty implied or otherwise. If you distribute PSPS, you may not charge anything for it, other than any distribution costs you may incur. If you do so, please distribute it in the zip file PSPS201.ZIP, including the files PSPS.EXE and PSPS.TXT. ---------------- REGISTERING PSPS ---------------- A lot of time and testing went into PSPS. The unregistered version has all the same features as the registered version. When you first load PSPS, you will encounter an "Unregistered version" notice. This does not occur once you register. The price: $25 US for 1 license $125 for a site license $40 for a 1 license PSPS/T2PS bundle (see below for T2PS) $200 for a PSPS/T2PS site license If you are registering from outside the US, please make sure your payment is cashable at a US bank so that there are no conversion fees. Credit cards are not accepted at this time although they may be in the future. Registering over CompuServe is also a future possibility. After you register, you will be sent a new version by E-Mail. If you require a diskette to be mailed, please include an extra $5 inconvenience charge. Please send payments to: A.N.D. Technologies P.O. Box 64811 Los Angeles, CA 90064 USA Please include your name, company, mailing address, E-Mail address(es), and how you found out about PSPS. Registered users of previous versions of PSPS are also registered for this version. ----------------- TECHNICAL SUPPORT ----------------- Most communication is done by E-Mail, which is always monitored. Please feel free to leave questions and comments at: Compuserve - 71011,3570 Internet - 71011.3570@compuserve.com Phone - (213) 848-9345 FAX - Available (contact A.N.D. first) In order to keep the software inexpensive, it's highly unlikely that long-distance phone calls will be returned. However, the best times to catch a live person at the other end are weekdays at 9 AM Pacific time. ---------------------------------------- WHERE TO FIND THE LATEST VERSION OF PSPS ---------------------------------------- On CompuServe: in IBMHW:Printer Utilities On Internet: at the archive Simtel20 in the directory wsmr-simtel20.army.mil wuarchive.wustl.edu nic.switch.ch nic.funet.fi src.doc.ic.ac rana.cc.deak.oz.au PSPS - Copyright (c) 1992,3 A.N.D. Technologies ------------------------------------- OTHER SOFTWARE BY A.N.D. TECHNOLOGIES ------------------------------------- PCOUNTER 2.21 - A PAGE COUNTING PRINT SERVER FOR NOVELL NETWORKS Features: PostScript and HP LaserJet page counting; fast printing - including baud rates up to 115K baud; Text to PostScript conversion; user accounting; support for networked printers; simple configuration; and more! T2PS 1.0 - TEXT TO POSTSCRIPT CONVERSION TSR Features: Requires only 6.8K of RAM, and may be unloaded; user sets the font size, tab size, margins, page orientation, and LPT port; supports the extended IBM character set; ignores PostScript data. Great for programs without PostScript drivers. See above for info on a T2PS/PSPS bundle.