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1996-06-22
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Documentation for VIEW.EXE, version 1.60
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VIEW.EXE is Copyright (C) 1993-1996 B.J. Guillot. All Rights Reserved.
VIEW is designed for use with the BGFAX shareware fax receiving/sending
program for DOS and OS/2. http://www.blkbox.com/~bgfax/
VIEW [filename|filespec] [options]
VIEW has been designed to read faxes stored in the following formats
(a) ZFAX version 2 (1D-MH coding only)
(b) Smith Micro Software's QuickLink II QFX
(c) TIFF-Class-F (used by Faxworks, Word Perfect 5.1+, etc.)
(d) Unknown formats (such as Binkley RAW, etc.)
(Results will vary when trying to read an unknown format)
It can VIEW, PRINT, and CONVERT the above fax types to PCX and DCX files.
The default filespec is "*.??X" which nicely handles *.FAX, *.QFX, *.PCX,
and *.DCX. If you specify a filename rather than a filespec, VIEW works
in batch mode rather than menu mode. (See notes on BATCH mode at the end
of this document.)
To use VIEW, change into the directory where all your faxes are located,
and then start it, by typing "VIEW". If if finds any faxes, it will bring
up a list of them on the screen, and you can use the up and down arrows to
select which fax you wish to view or print.
The available commands are listed on the bottom of the screen...
<Enter>=view, <Ctrl-Enter>=print, <F2>=convert to PCX, <F3>=convert to DCX,
and <Delete>=delete the fax
If you are converting the fax to PCX or DCX format, see the special
notes about this near the end of this file.
If you start VIEW without any command line parameters, it will automatically
detect either a CGA, EGA, or VGA display. However, IT WILL NOT DETECT THE
PRINTER TYPE, SO YOU WILL HAVE TO SPECIFY THAT MANUALLY. If a printer type
is not specified, the "print" option on the menu will be greyed out.
To force a specific video mode when starting VIEW...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mode Resolution Addr
---- ---------- -----
VIEW /CGA $6 640x200 $b800
VIEW /EGA $10 640x350 $a000
VIEW /VGA $11 640x480 $a000
VIEW /800 (or VIEW /SVGA) $102 800x600 $a000 (VESA mode)
VIEW /1024 $104 1024x768 $a000 (VESA mode)
VIEW /1280 $106 1280x1024 $a000 (VESA mode)
Your video card and/or monitor may not be able to support all of the modes
available. If your monitor starts to make funny noises when going into
some of the higher modes (/1024 or /1280), then TURN IT OFF! B.J. Guillot
will not be liable for any damage caused by leaving the monitor in a state
in which it was not designed to be used in.
============================================================================
Commands available while viewing the fax itself
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the fax image is on the screen, you have a few choices...
F1 HELP screen showing list of commands
Alt-I INVERT the fax colors, white <--> black, easier to read for some
Alt-F FLIP the fax for thoese people that send you upside down faxes
Alt-S SHRINK/SQUEEZE the fax so that the image appears smaller
(You can press Alt-S *multiple times* to change between many
different magnification factors.)
Alt-J JUMP to page number entered by user when prompted
(If using Alt-J on a ZFAX stored file, VIEW must first analyze
the fax finding all page boundries. On slow machines that may
take several seconds.)
Alt-G GOTO page number (same as Alt-J)
Ctrl-Enter PRINT CURRENT PAGE
PgDn Goto NEXT Page
PgUp Goto PREVIOUS Page
You can pan around by using the up, down, left, and right arrow keys.
F2 Debug Info--Nothing useful to you
F3 If you get really bored, hold down F3 for several seconds
============================================================================
To use a specific printer driver when starting VIEW...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Switch DPI Printer
------ ------- -------------
VIEW /P9 240x67.5 Epson compatible 9-pin dot matrix
(9-pin mode will print faxes TWICE as high as normal
in order for more resolution to be printed.)
VIEW /P24 180x180 Epson compatible 24-pin dot matrix, Canon BJ-600/4000
VIEW /P25 360x180 Epson compatible 24-pin dot matrix, Canon BJ-600/4000
VIEW /P26 180x180 Canon BJ-200 compatible bubble-jet printer
VIEW /P27 360x360 Canon BJ-200 compatible bubble-jet printer
VIEW /P37 150x150 PCL level 3 compatible laser printer
VIEW /P38 150x150 PCL level 4 compatible laser printer (faster than PCL3)
VIEW /P39 150x150 PCL level 5 compatible laser printer (faster than PCL4)
VIEW /P40 300x300 PCL level 3 compatible laser printer
VIEW /P41 300x300 PCL level 4 compatible laser printer (faster than PCL3)
VIEW /P42 300x300 PCL level 5 compatible laser printer (faster than PCL4)
VIEW /P24 is recommened for most dot matrix printers, and /P40 is recommened
for most lasers if you do not know what PCL level it supports.
Most Canon 600 and 4000 printers are set for "color" mode. The Canon will
be in Epson mode, that's why /P24 and /P25 are better choices for the color
Canon printers. Black and white Canon printers will probably need the
/P26 or /P27 switch. It depends on the DIP switch settings on the printer.
*********** What about printing to ports other than LPT1 ??? *************
VIEW /P40:LPT2
Will print to a laser printer on LPT2 as a software interrupt 17 device.
(Should use this.)
VIEW /P40:+LPT2
Will print to a laser printer on LPT2 as a "file" rather than a device.
(Sometimes this prints a little faster, but usually it prints much slower.)
VIEW /P40:+TEST.PRN
then from a DOS prompt, "copy test.prn lpt2" as an alternate way of printing
*** What about A4 or US-Legal paper sizes?
VIEW /P40 /A4 for metric-A4 (rather than US-letter)
VIEW /P40 /LP for US-legal (rather than US-letter)
VIEW /P40 /PL:nnnn define your own number of scanlines (non-standard paper)
Multiple command lines parameters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VIEW /p40 /1024 /a4
For example would make VIEW use 1024x768 resolution when viewing faxes and
print faxes (when the user hits Ctrl-Enter) to a laser printer. It is
suggested that you make a batch file to call VIEW with these parameters so
that you don't have to always type them in.
You do not want to type that in all the time, so I would suggest creating
a batch file, V.BAT, to startup "menu" mode easily...
@c:\bgfax\view /p40 %1 %2 %3 %4 %5
BATCH MODE (Printing or Converting without user intervention)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can also start VIEW in a "batch" mode, which requires no user
intervention.
"VIEW FAX0001.FAX /P40" would print the fax0001.fax file to a laser printer.
"VIEW fax0001.fax /dcx" would convert that fax to a DCX file
"VIEW fax0001.fax /pcx" would convert that fax to PCX files
(Note that a DCX file is basically a multipage PCX file, and many fax
applications support the DCX format. PCX format gets messy because each
fax page has to be saved into a seperate file, but PCX format is nearly
universal and just about every graphics program on the planet will let
you load a PCX image.)
THE FILENAME MUST BE THE FIRST COMMAND LINE PARAMETER IN ORDER FOR
BATCH MODE TO FUNCTION!
Notes about FAX->PCX and FAX->DCX conversions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PCX files are both great and bad. They are great because almost every
graphics program on the face of the planet can use PCX files. They are
bad because only one page can be stored in a single file! Ugh!
Intel solved that problem by "inventing" the DCX file format, which is
essentially a "collection" of PCX files, with a small header at the top
of the file. Intel used DCX exclusively with their CAS fax software for
the Intel Satisfaxtion modem, but the DCX format became very popular,
and it is finally starting to catch on (even though Intel no longer
supports the Satisfaxtion modem.)
But, most software still cannot handle DCX files, so we are limited to
using PCX files. You need to learn how VIEW.EXE names the multiple PCX
files that will when you do a convert.
For example, take a 3 page file, HELLO.FAX and convert it to PCX:
VIEW will create PAGE0001.PCX, PAGE0002.PCX, and PAGE0003.PCX
VIEW will also create a BATCH file called DOPCX.BAT that has three lines:
CALL EXEPCX PAGE0001.PCX PAGE0001
CALL EXEPCX PAGE0002.PCX PAGE0002
CALL EXEPCX PAGE0003.PCX PAGE0003
You can make your own "EXEPCX.BAT" file that utilities some OCR utility,
for example, and have it scan the three output files. The "%1" variable
will pass the full name (PAGEnnnn.PCX) and the "%2" variable will pass
the filename only (PAGEnnnn) since some software will barf if you send
it the PCX extension.
DCX files will retain the filename during conversion. For example, to
convert HELLO.FAX to DCX, the output file will be called HELLO.DCX.
Note that low resolution faxes will have the number of scan lines
doubled so that the effective resolution on any PCX or DCX file will
be 200 dpi.
Miscellaneous switches
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VIEW /DB Try to display bad scan lines (normally, VIEW just puts a dotted
line across the screen if it detects a bad scan line.)
VIEW /BO Display fax using a backwards bit order. This may be necessary
if you have received a fax on a USR modem with Binkley's internal
fax routines, or if you have started BGFAX with the incorrect
command line switch.
/RH "Retain original Height" during PCX and DCX conversions. This
keeps low res faxes at 100 dpi during conversion instead of
doubling the height.
/RF "Retain original Filename" during PCX and DCX conversions.
Instead of calling PCX files, PAGE0001.PCX, PAGE0002.PCX,
PAGE0003.PCX, etc., a file called HELLO.FAX would have the
following output files:
HELLO.PCX, HELLO.P01, and HELLO.P02
Most graphics editing software requires a "PCX" extension on
the filename, so this mode is not recommened. It is provided
to maintain compatibility with the old VIEW 1.55 and below.
/PL:nnnn This lets you refine the "page length" of a piece of laser
paper, in the number of laser-scan lines. Normally, VIEW uses
3380 scan lines for a piece of A4 paper, but I was told some A4
printers very, i.e.:
Deskjet 500C A4 /A4 /PL:3170
Deskjet 500C A4/performation skip /A4 /PL:3320
Deskjet 500 A4 /A4 /PL:3234
Oki Laserline 6 A4 /A4 /PL:3411
If you are using US paper size, this is not necessary!
Note about 2D-MR compressed faxes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VIEW does not currently support 2D-MR faxes properly. A 2D-MR fax is
basically a 1D-MH normal fax with every other line having only "difference"
information rather than the whole scan line encoded. VIEW will correctly
view the 1D-MH lines, but will show the 2D-MR lines as improperly decoded
scan lines.
Regards,
B.J. Guillot