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Re: Executor: Problems printing from Word 5.1 to AppleTalk
I've had trouble getting files generated under Executor to print from
Macs. Here are some details for anyone interested:
Particularly interesting was printing a Word file I generated from
Macs in my own office: our Macs print via the Apple-supplied network
print option (ethernet), thru the Columbia Appletalk Package running
on our SPARC1+, which initiates an lpr to our UNIX printer which is
remote -- namely my NeXT. You'd think that if I could print from
Executor that a Mac could print the same file thru my NeXT, but NO!
it generated "dict full" errors. Had to go thru and strip out all
the NeXT ps junk that was not being used, then it would print.
Incidentally, this problem seems to be consistent when I've dropped
an eps file into Word (all of which have been generated in Diagram!,
so there are layers upon layers of NeXT ps setup).
Also, I have had trouble getting Word documents with eps inclusions
to print on non-NeXT systems (like a Mac using Appletalk to print to
a stock Apple laser writer). But then, I've also had trouble getting
Diagram!-generated eps files to print on a SPARC-only system, so I've
come to the conclusion that it is the eps causing the problems.
Lastly, we recently got a fax package for our SPARC, using
"ghostscript" for ps generation, and the NeXT would not print it!
Had to filter the ghostscript output to paste the global dictionary
into each page's local dictionary. The moral is that postscript
isn't as standard as it should be, since there are lots of custom
interpreters - and NeXT did a lot of custom interpreting also. For
true compatibility, ARDI has lots of foreign hardware and
interpreters to deal with.
When I get things fixed (need to shortly or I have to do pictures on
a Mac -- ugh!) I'll post the solution.
tec@alta.com (NeXTmail OK)