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Almathera Ten Pack 2: CDPD 1
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mrprint
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mrprint.doc
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1995-03-14
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MRPrint: A detabbing print utility for the Amiga
Author: Mark Rinfret
Requires the ARP library, V1.1 or later.
MRPRint prints Amiga text files to the printer device or
standard output. MRPrint provides several processing options
which afford the user some flexibility in determining the
output format. Perhaps the most important feature is tab
expansion. MRPrint expands embedded tabs to blanks,
according to the user's tab spacing specification
(default=4). MRPrint also will optionally generate page
headers, line numbers and new margins. Input lines that are
too long for the current margin settings will be split across
multiple lines, maintaining correct pagination and line
numbering. A form feed character detected at the beginning
of an input line will be recognized and cause a page eject.
MRPrint is invoked from the CLI with Un*x style command line
parameters. Wildcarding of file names is supported, allowing
either AmigaDOS or Un*xstyle wildcard specifications. All
parameters, including the file name(s) to be printed are
optional. In the case of formatting options, defaults are
used if no option is explicitly given. All options must
precede file names on the command line. To see a list of
options, invoke MRPrint with:
MRPrint -?
Of special note is the fact that MRPrint will automatically
detect and reject files which have binary (non-printable)
content. You can therefore invoke MRPrint in the following
form
MRPrint *
to print all files in the current directory without having to
worry about object, program data, or directory files being
printed.
If no file names are passed on the command line, MRPrint will
put up a file name requester. Multiple files may be printed
in this fashion, terminating MRPrint by pressing the CANCEL
gadget on the requester.
The current default values for MRPrint are:
left margin: 1
right margin: 80
tab spaces: 4
1
headers: enabled
line numbers: disabled
Of course, having the source (nice rhyme, eh?), you can change
these so that you don't have to constantly type in your favorite
options. Be sure that your margin settings in preferences don't
interfere with MRPrint's behavior. MRPrint expects the left
margin to be set to 1 and the right margin to be at least as wide
as what you specify on the command line. I usually set my
preferences to 1, 255. Of course, if you're ambitious, you'll add
the code to get the Preferences settings and adapt.
There are lots of things that can be done to improve this
program. A 'copies' option would be nice as well as options to
support letter quality, draft, condensed print, etc. The Amiga
supports these things in a fairly nice, generic way if you have
the right printer driver. I hope you find MRPrint to be a useful
addition to your tool box. By the way, I love ARP. It's a good
example of the way things should be done. My compliments to
Charlie Heath and his crew for developing such a fine product and
making it freely available to the public.
Mark Rinfret
mark@amanpt1.Newport.RI.US
work: 401-849-9930 x301
home: 401-846-7639
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