+*+*+* From: John¢ Sebastian Mcgowan To: A.PIGNATO¢ Sub: Article¢ ¢ Here is a bit of an article for your¢ online newsletter... a user on GEnie¢ wanted a word processor that would¢ print out with Atari (Atascii) fonts¢ and I know of one combination (maybe¢ two) that will work. This article¢ describes one of them.¢ ¢ -+-+-+-¢ ARTICLE¢ -+-+-+-¢ ¢ Printing with Atascii fonts and¢ TEXTPRO version 4.54¢ ¢ If you have an Epson compatible¢ printer and want a full featured word¢ processor that will enable you to¢ print out documents as they appear on¢ screen (with ATASCII fonts), there is¢ a combination that will work.¢ ¢ The word processor is TextPro version¢ 4.54 (NOT 4.56 or 5) and ONLY the¢ regular version (NOT LoMem or XE¢ versions) along with Analog's "G:"¢ Device handler and Atari Dos.¢ ¢ TP454 uses ONLY himemory (and¢ respects the lomem pointer) (except¢ when using something like¢ SpartaDos... I "suspect" that the¢ access to subdirectories and Sparta¢ directories does NOT respect LoMem).¢ The LoMem version of TP454, TP456 and¢ TP5 all use some low memory.¢ ¢ Analog's "G:" handler was a software¢ routine that would add a device¢ (called "G:") to which one could¢ print out text (using the Atascii¢ font in memory). It lives in LoMemory¢ and updates the LoMem pointer, and¢ is, therefore, compatible with the¢ standard version of TP454 with Atari¢ Dos.¢ ¢ IF one first loads in Analog's G:¢ device and then runs TP454, one can¢ print to "G:" and print out with¢ whatever font one has loaded as¢ TEXTPRO.FNT (to print to "G:" from¢ TP, just use CTRL-P and backspace¢ over the "P:" and change it to "G:"¢ or "G3:" if one wants wide, 40¢ column, printing) (G:=80+ column¢ lines:: G2:=40 column lines, narrow¢ print - narrow but as it appears on¢ screen:: G3:=40 column wide print::¢ G4:=60 column wide print)¢ ¢ Sounds good, but what if you want to¢ change fonts? While TP456 and TP5¢ allow this, TP454 does not. However,¢ I have written a ML addition to TP454¢ that allows a new font to be loaded¢ into TP454 without exitting TP. (You¢ may find this file up as TPFNTLOD.ARC¢ on a BBS, or the name may be¢ something close to this).¢ ¢ The easiest way to set up a disk for¢ this is to create an Atari format¢ disk (say, DOS 2.0) and copy TextPro¢ to the disk (with file name TP454)¢ and the Analog "G:" handler (with¢ name G.COM) and the fontloader¢ routine. Now rename G.COM to¢ AUTORUN.SYS and delete DUP.SYS. Then¢ rename TP454 to DUP.SYS and boot¢ without Basic.¢ ¢ This will first load the G: handler¢ (AUTORUN.SYS) and THEN go to DUP.SYS¢ (which is TP) (NOTE: If you want to¢ exit to DOS, you will have to put a¢ disk in drive one which has a REAL¢ DUP.SYS on it!). Thus you are in TP¢ with the G: device loaded (but TP has¢ so many DOS commands accessible from¢ its Dos interface menu that you will¢ probably not need to exit to DOS).¢ ¢ You can use the fontloader routine to¢ load a new font and print to "G:" (or¢ "G3:") for a printout using the new¢ font.¢ ¢ A couple of points. Inverse¢ characters are treated as TP¢ commands... so if you want a listing¢ of a basic programme which has¢ non-ascii codes (say inverses), SAVE¢ the file to "G:" (this will not allow¢ formatting as to length of lines, but¢ will allow the inverse codes to be¢ printed rather than treated as TP¢ control codes: IF YOU INSERT¢ CRs=CHR$(155)'s AT THE ENDS OF THE¢ LINES, THE FILE WILL BE FORMATTED BY¢ LINE, BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO HAVE THE¢ CRs IN THE FILE IF YOU WANT TO SAVE¢ TO "G:" AND THUS BE ABLE TO PRINT¢ INVERSE CHARACTERS!). CHR$(0) will be¢ printed as either a blank or a dot¢ (rather than a heart) depending upon¢ whether or not you have turned on the¢ command (in TP) to show CHR$(0)'s¢ (false spaces).¢ ¢ The default line spacing is 1/9 inch¢ (so vertical characters that touch on¢ the screen touch on the printout). To¢ change this requires opening the "G:"¢ with a different auxilliary number,¢ which can be done, say from Basic,¢ but canNOT be done from TP. HOWEVER¢ if you use an ESC-2 Epson compatible¢ (which demands an extra ESC-2 code)¢ the printout will be at 1/6 inch¢ spacing from TP... to correct this,¢ load the G: handler programme into TP¢ and change the ESC-A-CTRL_H to¢ ESC-3-CTRL_X which changes 8/72 inch¢ to 24/216 inch and works with more¢ printers!¢ ¢ For example, configure TP to 99 lines¢ per page (say, with a bottom margin¢ at 94) and print to "G:" to get a¢ print out that looks like the screen¢ (but with more characters per line if¢ you haven't put in CRs). This will¢ allow you to print text to "G:" or¢ "G3:" and have a printout of your¢ screen, just as it shows up on the¢ screen! (for printing to G:, inverse¢ characters cannot be used).¢ ¢ While Antic had programmes, say, to¢ printout inserts for Cassette tapes¢ (using Atascii fonts), using a¢ template (and TP's INPUT macro) would¢ enable one to print such from TP.¢ ¢ Creating a font, say with map¢ symbols, and setting up macros to¢ print various symbols (using graphic¢ characters from the new font) or¢ combinations thereof (one might need¢ to print two characters abbutting in¢ order to show a wide symbol, or¢ vertically adjacent, and this can be¢ done with a macro key stroke), would¢ enable one to create a macro file¢ that would enable one to create maps¢ (or circuit diagrammes or house¢ planning routines or flow charts)¢ which would print out (set up a¢ CTRL-P macro to SAVE - in order to¢ show inverse characters if they are¢ needed - to "G3:", say) to give a¢ dump of the screen to the printer.¢ ¢ +-+-+¢ ¢ A combination of TP454, Analog's "G:"¢ device and my font loader routines¢ for TP454 will give you a full¢ featured word processor with printing¢ with Atascii fonts!¢ ¢ Actually, I use DD3 so do not need¢ such printing, but have used it in¢ the past.¢ =END=¢