Magnum One/Magnum One (Mid-American Digital) (Disc Manufacturing).iso/d17/docsm330.arc/DOCSMASH.DOC

Text File | 1990-03-21 | 22KB | 479 lines

DOCSMASH (TM) -- by David W. Rettger
====================================

DOCSMASH may be copied and passed to other users only if this
document file accompanies the executable program file and both
remain intact.  No party other than the author may change the
contents of these files or charge any fee for distribution (other
than a nominal sum to cover the cost of a floppy disk and mailing
fees).

If you have benefitted from the use of DOCSMASH, please contribute
toward to costs of creating and updating this program by sending
$10.00 (or $12.50 for a disk containing the latest version) to:

       David Rettger
       5304 Johnson Avenue
       Western Springs, Il. 60558

Updated versions are not attempts to get more money from registered
users.  They are my efforts to continue to improve this program.
After registering, please feel free to use future new versions free
of charge.  If you notice that the asking price has gone up and
you feel that the additional enhancements are useful, send a
contribution for the increase only.

IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR COMMENT ABOUT DOCSMASH, PLEASE INCLUDE
THE VERSION NUMBER OF THE PROGRAM YOU ARE USING.  About 30 different
versions have been released, each with additions or corrections based
on user input.  Older versions are still floating around some BBS's.
The problem or improvement you wish to comment about may already be
fixed.

=====================================================================

DOCSMASH.EXE - Version 3.30


Purpose:
--------

On a graphics-capable printer, DOCSMASH reduces the size of normal
printed output by a factor of 4.  This means that a 200 page document
will print out in 50 pages or less.  The type of hardware used
determines the degree of compression that can be achieved.  (My nine
pin printer will squeeze five full pages of text onto each sheet of
paper.)

This program is intended to print only pure ASCII files.  BBS
listings and most program manuals and documentation are usually pure
ASCII files.  Document files created by word processors, however,
generally contain a variety of soft codes, not pure ASCII.  Form feed
codes are the only soft codes filtered out by DOCSMASH.  Other codes,
if present, will play havoc with the final output from DOCSMASH.  To
print a word processor file with DOCSMASH, resave the document in
ASCII format with your word processor before using DOCSMASH.


Operation:  The Opening Menu
----------

DOCSMASH may be run from the current subdirectory or from the DOS
path.  At the DOS prompt, type the name "DOCSMASH" to begin.  The
opening menu will appear asking for the name of the document you
wish to print.  At this point you may:

           - Type the name of a file to print.
           - Display a Help Menu
           - Change printer configuration.
           - Change screen colors.
           - Display a directory
           - Change subdirectory
           - End the DOCSMASH session.

The other method of starting the program is to type DOCSMASH
followed by the path\name of the file to print.  No menu is
shown; instead, the print routine begins immediately.  (Ex: DOCSMASH
DOCSMASH.DOC will cause the DOCSMASH.DOC file to be printed from the
current subdirectory.)

Throughout the program session, hitting the <Esc> key will either
erase any existing typed entry, or it will cause the program to back
up to the previous menu.  On certain menus, any changes made will be
ignored if you "escape" back to a previous menu.


Printing a File: The Print Menu
----------------

To print a file from the Opening Menu, type the name of the file
followed by <ENTER>.  The Print Menu appears asking if you want to
begin printing at the beginning, or in the middle, or if you wish to
print something else instead.  To print the file from the beginning,
just hit <ENTER>.  If your printer is on, it should begin printing
four pages of text per sheet of paper.  If your first try at printing
produces a strange looking output, you must change the control codes
DOCSMASH sends to your printer.

You can start or re-start a print job from any specified point within
the document file by pressing the space bar at the print menu.  At
the prompt, type the phrase which identifies where you wish the
printing to start.  DOCSMASH will search the file for that phrase and
begin the printing on the line FOLLOWING the phrase.  Note:  The
search feature is case sensitive.  Type the phrase exactly as you
expect it to appear in the document.

The default setting is for continuous printing.  However, the <F3>
key acts  as a toggle switch whenever the "Page Break Pause" status
box is visible on the screen.  When the Page Break Pause is ON, the
printer will pause between page breaks.  This enables users to feed
individual sheets of paper into their printers.  This also allows
double sided printing to be done, thereby printing eight pages of the
document text on one sheet of 8.5 x 11 inch paper.  Just think of the
compression factor available here!  On wide computer paper you can
get at least six pages of text per side.  That means at least 12
pages of print per sheet of paper.  (OK, so who uses wide paper?  You
probably will have to settle for eight pages of text per sheet of
paper.)

If the document to be printed is page formatted with form feed codes,
you may choose to suppress the form feeds or have the program use the
codes to format each smashed page.  The <F4> key will toggle between
the two choices.  Maximum compression will occur if you suppress the
author's pagination.  Suppression is the default setting.  If you
definitly want to keep the original page format, select the no-
suppression setting.  NOTE: Be sure to set the number of lines per
page (on the Page Format Menu described below) to a value at least as
large as the authors pages used in the document.  Also, this option
assumes that the document is being printed as the author wrote it.
Over-long text lines containing form feeds will not wrap correctly.


Display the Help Menu:
----------------------

Hit the <F1> key to bring up a simple help menu.  It displays the
special phrases and keystrokes that DOCSMASH is looking for at this
point in the program.  Hit any key to resume.  (Note: The help menu
will not function on certain monochrome systems.  If your system
is not compatible, you will see a notice when you start DOCSMASH
that indicates that the <F1> key has been disabled.)


The DOCSMASH Page Layout:
------------------------

The basic DOCSMASH page layout is a single 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of
paper divided into four quadrants.  The program compresses one page
of normal text into each of the four quadrants.  This four quadrant
format may be thought of as two vertical columns, each of which is
split into two units.  However, the user may change this basic four
quadrant format.  DOCSMASH allows the user to select both the number
of columns to be printed on a page and the number of units each
column is to be split into.  The user may also select the number of
lines to pe printed per inch and the number of lines to be printed in
each unit.

If the default settings for the page layout are not satisfactory, the
user may change them from the "Parameter Control Menu."


Changing the Page Layout:  The Parameter Control Menu
-------------------------

Changing the printer settings is easy if you have an Epson
compatible printer.  At the opening menu, instead of typing a
document name, type RESET PARAMS (or just hit <ENTER>).  The
Parameter Control Menu will appear showing the current settings.
These settings and their preset defaults are:

            Page Format Settings:

            Print Width Setting        = 164
            Number of Columns to Print = 2
            Number of Pages Per Column = 2
            Lines Per Page Printed     = 58
            Max Blank Lines to Print   = 4
            Word Wrap Is Now           = ON

            Epson Printer Control Settings:

            N/216th's Inch Line Feed   = 17
            Paper Length in Inches     = 11
            Left Margin Column Setting = 0


The first group labeled "Page Format Settings" determines the layout
of the page DOCSMASH will print.  These settings do not affect the
control codes actually sent to the printer.

The "Printer Width Setting" is the total number of characters that
will be printed across the entire page. A print width setting of 164,
with 2 print columns specified will result in two 80-width columns
separated by 4 spaces.

Each column of print can be split into multiple pages.  A setting of
2 for "Pages Per Column" results in the four quadrant format DOCSMASH
was initially designed around.  Set this value to one and you will
achieve the most compression.

"Lines Printed Per Page" refers to the individual pages in each
column.  If a single column would be filled using a setting of 124,
then a column broken into two pages obviously would need 62 lines
per page.

To maximize compression, DOCSMASH tries to throw out excess "white
space", i.e. blank lines of text.  The default setting will allow up
to four consecutive blank lines.  Conceivably, a zero setting can be
used, but the final output with no white space would be hard to read.
A setting of, say, 80 would most likely result in the text coming
through just as the author had typed it.

All early versions assumed that maximum compression was the ultimate
goal.  In the event a text line exceeded the column print width, word
wrap caused the excess length to drop down a line.  The next line was
read from the file and added on the same print line until the end of
the column was reached, at which point it too dropped down a line.
The net effect sometimes was to entirely reformat the paragraph.

Versions 3.2 and higher now include user controlled word wrap.  Word
Wrap is now a four position "toggle switch".  The options are ON,
OFF, AUTO-INDENT, and TRUNCATE.  The default position is ON, which
enables the method described above.  Selecting OFF causes excess line
length to be placed left-margin justified on the next line.  The next
read text line will print on the next line.  If the excess line
length happens to be a single word, that word will appear alone on
its own line.

The AUTO-INDENT feature was designed with programmers in mind.  Much
source code is formatted with specific indentations from the left
margin to mark blocks of codes such as loops and subroutines.  With
this setting excess line length will drop to the next line, but is
not left justified.  If the line it comes from begins in the tenth
column, the excess print will also begin in the tenth column.  No
further reformatting will be done.

ON, AUTO-INDENT and OFF modes will attempt to break lines between
words.

The TRUNCATE mode does just what it says.  If excess line length
occurs,  it disappears from the print out.  I can not guess who would
want such an option, but I am sure that if it were not included I
would get all kinds of correspondence asking for it!

The second group of settings refers to the EPSON control codes sent
to the printer to achieve the "mini" print size.  The line feed
setting of 17 sets line feeds to 17/216's of an inch.  The closer the
lines are, the more you can fit on a page.  Change this setting
according to your own needs.

The "Paper Length in Inches" setting should match the size paper you
want to use.

The "Left Margin Column" setting can be adjusted in the event you
position your paper specially for certain word processors or if you
just want to punch holes in the left side of the page.  On narrow
carriage printers, a wider left margin will eat into the width that
is available for printing text.

To make these changes effective, they must be saved.  Exiting this
menu by hitting the space bar will save them.  If you wish to exit
with no save, hit the <Esc> key.  If you do save the changes, they
are saved in a configuration file, DOCSMASH.CFG.

The DOCSMASH.CFG File:
----------------------

Whenever you run DOCSMASH, it looks for the DOCSMASH.CFG file in the
root directory of the logged drive.  If it does not find the file,
DOCSMASH creates it, using the default parameter settings contained
in the program.  Future changes from the Parameter Menu will be saved
and recalled from this file.  To get back to the defaults, simply
delete the .CFG file.

Using Enviornment Variables with DOCMSASH:
------------------------------------------

A feature added to versions 3.27 and higher permits users to select
where DOCSMASH will find the .CFG and .PRN (described later) files.
If you do not want these files to be put in your root directory, use
the DOS command SET.  To tell DOCSMASH to find the files in a
subdirectory called "DOCSMASH" on the C: drive, you would type
"SET DOCSMASH=C:\DOCSMASH\" at the DOS prompt or include that line in
the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.  If the files do not exist in the specified
subdirectory, they will be created there.


The Print control Codes:
------------------------

As stated earlier, the Page Format Settings control how DOCSMASH lays
out a page to be printed.  These values are not printer control
codes.  The program sends the following default set of print control
codes to the printer if it does not find the print control file,
DOCSMASH.PRN, in the root directory of the logged drive.

    Code Name            Code Symbol       ASCII Representation
    ---------            -----------       --------------------
    Printer Reset         Esc @            27,64
    Elite Mode            Esc M            27,77
    Condensed Mode        Shift In         15
    Subscript Mode        Esc S 0          27,83,0
    Line Feed Width       Esc 3 n          27,51,n  *
    Left Margin           Esc l n          27,108,n  *
    Paper Length          Esc C Null n     27,67,0,n  *

          *  "n" is a variable set by the user
             under the Parameter Control Menu.

This combination, sent in this order, is the method used to create
the small print.  The codes sent are Epson codes and will not work
on Toshiba and other printers.  Also, some Epson type printers will
not accept both condensed and elite modes.  If your hardware will not
go into a "mini" print mode with the above settings, you must create
your own set of printer control codes.

Another set of printers which is not entirely compatible with these
commands are 24 pin printers.  They tend to run over to the next
page with my default settings.  The NEC P2200, for instance, does
not use the 216th's inch line feed mode.  It should be set up in
its 360th's of an inch mode as if it were a not-Epson compatible
printer.


Printers Not Epson Compatible: The Print Control Menu
------------------------------

If you use a printer which is not Epson compatible (such
as Toshiba or Hewlett-Packard printers), or even some Epson
compatibles that happen to require slightly different codes, you
must customize the codes DOCSMASH will send to the printer. To do
this, type RESET PRINTER (or hit F5) when prompted for a document
name at the opening menu.  The list of codes currently in use will
appear.  The top item will be highlighted.  Use the cursor control
keys to move the highlighted bar.  The left column is a list of the
codes by name. The right column is each code represented in decimal
ASCII format.

You may change the order the codes appear in to suit your needs.
However, the code for Reset Printer must be the first code in the
list.  The lines labeled "Extra" are just that, extra. They are
merely place holders to show where room exists for users to enter
additional lines of code.  If left blank, a null is sent to the
printer.

Changing the Print Control Codes:
---------------------------------

Changing the print control codes is easy.  To change a code label in
the left-hand column, go to the appropriate row and type the label
you want.  When you hit ENTER or move the bar, your new label will
appear in the left column.  To change the code values, simply type
the needed ASCII codes, separating each number with a comma.

Note: You MUST use the commas to delimit ASCII numbers and do not
type any spaces!  Labels must begin with non-numeric characters.

To entirely delete an entry, type a space.  Typing mistakes are
corrected by backspacing.  Backspacing over an entire new entry will
restore the original values.

After making any changes, hit <F10> to return to the main menu.
You will have the option of saving the changes.  If they are not
saved, the changes will remain in memory only for the current
DOCSMASH session, or until you go to the RESET PARAMS menu.  If
saved, a file called DOCSMASH.PRN will be created on the root
directory of the logged drive.  As long as the .PRN file exists,
DOCSMASH will use only those printer codes in the file, not the
printer codes from the RESET PARAMS menu.  To use the codes in RESET
PARAMS, delete the .PRN file.  This is easily accomplished from
within DOCSMASH by typing the phrase "KILL PRN FILE" instead of a
document name.

NOTE: The .PRN files created by earlier versions of DOCSMASH are
not compatible with the new versions, 3.1 and higher.  Delete the
old \DOCSMASH.PRN file before using the new version.

Programming printer codes can be an imposing problem to non-
programmers.  A few users have taken the time to upload files
containing custom printer codes for their printers to the Orchard
Hill BBS (see below).  One such file is for the HP Laser Jet II.
If you get your printer set up properly, feel free to send to me a
copy of your custom codes along with your registration fee.  If
yours is the first I receive for your type printer, I will upload
the information in a file giving you credit for the contribution.


Changing Screen Colors:
-----------------------

At any time, hit <F2> to change screen colors.  A color selection
menu will appear that shows the possible screen colors and their
corresponding numbers.  Enter a number for the foreground (text)
color and the background color.  My preference is white (15) text and
blue (1) background.  Monochrome monitor users should use a dark
background color (0).


Displaying a Directory:
-----------------------

You can obtain a directory listing by entering the DOS command "DIR"
instead of a document name at the opening menu.  You may specify any
valid drive or path after the "DIR" command.  This function no longer
uses the DOS "SHELL" command so it should work on pre-DOS 3.0
systems.


Changing Directories:
------------------------
When asked for a document name at the opening menu, use the DOS
command "CD\", followed by any valid path name, to change to a new
subdirectory. Changing physical drives is not supported.  Printing a
document on a drive other than the logged drive may be done simply by
typing the entire file name, including the drive designation.


Terminating DOCSMASH:
---------------------

At almost any time you may hit <F10> to terminate.  If it does not
kick right out, hit <Enter>.  Apparently there are a few machines
out there that will not kick out with this command, so you also can
type the word END, instead of a document name, to quit.


Error Codes:
------------

In the event that DOCSMASH encounters a problem, error codes will be
shown on the screen.  The manual for IBM's BASICA or for GWBASIC
lists such error codes.  You can do a certain amount of trouble
shooting for yourself by looking up the number of the error code.


Other changes from early versions are:

- No truncating of print that is too wide for a single line.  Long
lines will wrap to the next line.  One user decided he did not like
word wrap, that he preferred truncating a few letters.  Well, you
can't please everybody!

- Progress reports during printing.  As pages spool to the printer,
you will see the percent of the file read reported on the screen.
Large print buffers will result in the reported number to be far
ahead of the actual printed output.


One final note, I have tried to make DOCSMASH as general as
possible.  With all the different hardware in use these days, it
is difficult to create a printer program that will run with
everything.  If you find that your equipment does not function
properly with this program, feel free to send a sample of the
program's output to me at the address shown above.  Please include
your name and address AND THE VERSION NUMBER of the program you are
using.  If you are using your own printer codes, send that
information, too.


=================================================================
This particular version of DOCSMASH was compiled using MicroSoft's
QuickBasic (Ver 4.5).
=================================================================
My thanks to Douglas K. Jardine, freelance writer/editor who
contributed his writing talants, reworking the bulk of the
DOCSMASH.DOC file.
=================================================================

All the changes made to DOCSMASH since its debut have been the
result of comments sent to the author by users.  If you would like
to see something changed or added, or if you just wish to make a
comment about the program, you may leave a message for David
Rettger on the ORCHARD HILL BBS, [phone]. Orchard Hill has
DOCSMASH available to non-registered callers. Call here for latest
versions.  Also, if you are interested in an active BBS with a
service oriented SYSOP, do consider this one!

On Compuserve, leave a message to the author, 71131,3253.