The Business Master (3rd Edition)

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Text File | 1992-07-01 | 29.7 KB | 660 lines

▀██▀▀█▄ ▄███ ██ ██ ▀██▀▀█▄ ██▄▄█▀ ▄█▀ ██ ██ ██ ██▄▄█▀ ██ ▀▀▀▀██▀ ██ ██ ██ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄▄█▀ ▄▄█▀ ▄▄ ██ ▄▄ ▄█▀ ▄▄ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ Introduction ══════════ P4UP prints text files in a concise, paper-saving format on laser printers. P4UP uses own its own tiny soft fonts to fit several page images on one side of a piece of paper. Whereas previous versions of P4UP were limited to 4 page images per piece of paper, this version can print up to 25 (in 5 rows of 5 columns). P4UP reformats your document files as necessary to fit. P4UP is complete: P4UP generates the soft fonts it needs and downloads them automatically. Although P4UP has many options to let you control the printing if you want to, all the options have reasonable default values, so you can ignore them until you need them. With this version, P4UP presents all the current option values in a menu, making them easy to remember or change. The price of P4UP is $29.95. See the last pages of this document for information on how to register P4UP, or press the F4 key on P4UP's menu to print an order form. P4UP works on HP LJ II's or better. It no longer supports the ThinkJet, DeskJet, or older laser printers, such as the Plus or 500. A Note on this Document ═══════════════════ If your printer is attached as LPT1, you see P4UP demonstrated by printing this document with the command "P4UP -W -C3 -NoM P4UP.DOC". The -W causes long lines to be Wrapped to fit in P4UP columns using a proportionally spaced font, suitable for reading material, such as documentation. The -C3 tells P4UP to display 3 Columns of pages on each piece of paper. The -NoM tells P4UP not to use its Menu (NoMenu). Recent Modifications ═════════════════ P4UP 3.2 added the options menu and included the P4Custom functions. P4UP 3.1 added Margin control (-MT, -MB, -MR, and -ML) and Grid control (-G). P4UP 3.0 added proportional printing and the Wrap options. Background ═════════ When I printed the first pages of text on my laser printer, I was a little disappointed with the standard 60-line pages. I knew the laser printer had great resolution, but I had no way to show it off. To do so, I wrote a program that could print four small page images on a piece of paper (on one side in portrait mode). This satisfies both my desire to conserve paper while letting me view a few hundred lines of text in a concise format. Since the standard line printer font is a little too large, I first made a soft font of the appropriate size. I gave P4UP several options, some to control the soft font (-P makes the soft font Permanent; -I lets you specify the soft font ID; etc.); some control the printing (-Z prints the page images in a Zigzag fashion; -H controls the Headers on each page image; etc.) I found out I could also support the DeskJet and even ThinkJet if I added some limitation to P4UP which I did. However, there have been very few DeskJet registrations, and no ThinkJet registrations, so after release 3.0 I dropped support for those printers. Doing so lets me make further use of the LaserJet. P4UP was originally to work as simply as DOS's PRINT command, just give it the name of the files to be printed. However, as P4UP grew, so did the number of options it supported. Eventually, these grew unmanagable. To recover the ease of using P4UP the value of all options are now shown on a menu. You can select any option with the arrow keys or mouse, ask for information about it, or change the value. Originally, P4Custom, a bonus to registered users, let you modify the default values for all P4UP options. This function has now been brought into P4UP itself. You can update the P4UP.EXE file on disk with the current settings for all options with the F10 key on the P4UP menu. Format ══════ P4UP has several options to let you control the print operation. Each of these is displayed on the P4UP menu screen. Examples of these options are whether you want grid lines around the page images, whether you want a line of headings at the top of each page, etc. The easiest way to use P4UP is to work off the menu. Once you've settled on the options values you can assign those values as defaults for future P4UP runs. However, you can bypass the menu if you choose and enter the values for any option on the DOS command line along with the names of the files to be printed. Each option on the DOS command line is preceded with a dash (-). An example of a P4UP command with options is: P4UP -NoB -Z archives.* This prints all the files that match the description "archives.*" with No Breaks (NoB) in a Zigzag pattern (Z). You may use upper or lower case for all P4UP arguments. P4UP Features ════════════ Several new features were added to P4UP in version 3.0, and a few features have been changed from previous versions. The following list highlights P4UP features: P4UP can now print up to 5 columns and rows per page. P4UP now comes with a fixed space font for data files or computer programs, and a proportionally spaced font to print documentation. Long input lines are automatically broken up to fit. Text can be both right and left justified. Headers now include File Name, Size, Date, and Time. Inter-line spacing can be directly controlled. Box characters match up with many line spacings. P4UP also: automatically expands tabs, and can ignore formfeeds. can print pages top-to-bottom or left-to-right. writes to LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, COM1, or COM2. supports letter, legal, executive, and A4 paper sizes. prints Even or Odd sides only to help with two-sided printing. P4UP 3.1 added the Grid (NoGrid) options and the Margins options (MT, MB, ML, MR). P4UP 3.2 added the options Menu. Typical uses for P4UP ═══════════════════ P4UP prints a lot of data in a small but readable format using little paper. I wouldn't recommend using P4UP to send memos you want people to read, but there are several occasions where it is appropriate. The following are some of my own experiences; I'm sure you will find others. As a programmer, I often have to work with three or four hundred lines of code at one time. Using P4UP allows me to get this many lines printed out on two pieces of paper which fit easily on my desk. Then I see the whole picture at one time, making it easier to deal with problems. When I've finished a program, I like to get an archive listing of all the source. Chances are I'll never have to refer to it again, but should the worst happen, I want to know there's a hardcopy backup around. Using P4UP for archive purposes saves a lot of paper. New software that I acquire often comes with a README or online documentation file. Admittedly I don't spend more time reading the documentation than most people, but having it printed out increases the chance that if I refer to it I'll be able to quickly find what I'm looking for, just by scanning for page headings. Using P4UP means I don't waste a lot of paper. The obvious value of P4UP is that when it is appropriate to use, it saves resources, space, and expense. Function Keys on the Menu ═════════════════════ When you enter the P4UP command, P4UP first displays the options menu. This screen shows you the current settings for options. If you are satisfied with the current settings, you can press the F2 key to proceed with printing. (If you know you don't want to change any settings, or are running P4UP in a BAT file, you can use the option -NoM (for No Menu) on the P4UP command line to skip the need of pressing the F2 key.) If you want to change the value of any option, or just get more information about it, you must first select that option. The selected option is displayed in a different color than the rest. It is also preceded with a small arrow on the screen. You can move to another option by pressing the arrow keys on the keyboard. If you have a mouse, you can move the mouse cursor over another option and click the left button. You can also select an option by pressing its letter. Each option has a letter that is highlhighted. When an option is selected, you can change its value by pressing the + or - keys. If you want more information about any option, press the F1 key when the option is selected. When you are done changing any options, you can begin printing with the F2 key. Should you decide not to print any files at this time, you can exit without printing by pressing the F3 key. When the menu is displayed, you can press the F4 key to print out an order form for P4UP. P4UP is shareware: you don't have to pay for a copy of it to evaluate it, but you have to pay for it if you continue using it after a reasonable evaluation period. Once you have the values of all the options set, you might want to assign them as default values for future uses. You can do this by pressing the F10 key at the menu. P4UP will read the P4UP.EXE file on your disk as a data file, locate where the option values are stored, and rewrite the EXE file with the new values you have set. When you run P4UP the next time, all options will default to the values you set when you last pressed the F10 key. Options on the Menu ═════════════════ If you don't understand any of the options on the menu, select it by moving the cursor to it, then ask for Help by pressing the F1 key. Each option will be completely described on screen. These options can also be set on the P4UP command line, and a description of them follows. This option listing is in alphabetical order instead of being grouped by function on the menu, but the contents are the same. General P4UP Options ══════════════════ P4UP uses a format similar to the DOS Print command. You can give it one or more file specifications, optionally including the wildcard characters ? and *. Some examples: P4UP \123\plan.prn or P4UP a:*.doc a:*.lst Before you give the P4UP command, your printer should be attached, powered up, and switched online. P4UP processes the file specifications you give it. If the file specifications do not use a disk or path, the current disk and path will be used. If the file specifications contain the DOS wild cards ? or *, all matching files will be printed. Entering P4UP with no files and no options prints a help screen. P4UP has many options to give you control of the print operation. The following describes the P4UP's general purpose options. Options specific to soft font management are more completely described in another section. You can set default values for all options with the Update option on the P4UP menu screen. Break (-B or -NoB) By default, P4UP begins a new page image box when each new file is started. However, you can use the -B option to force P4UP to Break to a new piece of paper to start each new file. Columns (-Cn) Previous versions of P4UP were limited to two columns of two rows of page images on each side of a piece of paper. P4UP now can print 1 to 5 columns. Choose many narrow columns for a newspaper style display. Choose 1 huge column to print very long lines without truncation. See also the Row (-Rnn) and the Wrap (-W) options. Device (-Ddevice) Normally P4UP prints to the device LPT1. You can use the -D option to name a different printer device including: LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, COM1, COM2, or to a disk file. Examples: -Dlpt2 or -Da:memos.prn Even (-E) Print Even sides only. Useful for printing on both sides. See Odd (-O) option. Formfeeds (-F or -NoF) Interpret Formfeed characters as a skip to a new page box. Use -NoF if you want P4UP to ignore Formfeed characters in the input. Grid (-G or -NoG) Normally P4UP draws Grid lines around each page image box. You can suppress these lines with the -NoG option. Or, if you have set -NoG as the default (with Update), you can use the -G option to draw the grid lines. When you use NoGrid, Headers are also suppressed. Headers (-H or -NoH) P4UP prints a Header including the file name, file size, and page number. Additionally, the first box of each file shows the date and time of printing, whereas the second and subsequent box of each file shows the file's creation date and time. You can use -NoH to suppress these Headings, or the -H option to include them. ID (-Innnnn) P4UP uses it own small soft fonts. Use the -I option to give the soft font a specific font id for referring to it by other programs. Normally P4UP gives its font the id 1. You can give it a different id with the -I option, as in -I33. Pick an id not in use by other programs. If you make the font Permanent, you can use this ID later to select the font (with the Escape(nnX printer command.) When you use the Permanent (-P), P4UP downloads two fonts, one fixed space, and one proportionally spaced. The value you give in the ID (-I) option is given to the fixed space font; the proportional font is given an ID one higher. Note: the ID option cannot be specified on the P4UP menu, but if you use the -I option on the command line, the menu's Update command will set the new ID value as the the default value. Justify (-J or -NoJ) The Justify (-J) option is effective ONLY when the Wrap (-W) option is selected. When you choose Justify, the space between words is expanded until the rightmost character in the text meets the righthand border. The is effective only with the proportionally spaced font that is used with the Wrap option. Note that the justification is smooth in that each word is moved over by an appropriate number of laser printer dots (1/300 inches) as opposed to inserting extra character blanks between words. Leading/Lines (-Lnn) The -L parameter has two meanings, what Leading (or interline spacing) to use, or how many Lines P4UP should use in each box. If the value following the -L is 30 or less, it is interpreted as Leading. If greater than 30, it is interpreted as Lines. Leading refers to the space between lines. Normally P4UP uses characters that are 16 dots from top to bottom, and a leading of six dots. A laser printer dot is 1/300 inches. You can specify your own leading value with the -L command. Use a leading value of 0 for the tightest printing. Use a value of 16 to produce a double spacing effect. The maximum value is 30. Alternatively, you can specify the number of lines per box and let P4UP figure out what leading to use. Specify the number of lines per box with the -Lnn parameter, using a value of nn greater than 30. If the value is too large, it will be set to the maximum. So, You can get the most lines per box by specifying a very large number, such as -L999. Note that P4UP makes very intense use of the laser printer's capabilities. In some cases, the printer may show "21 ERROR", which is a Print Overrun. P4UP sends data to the printer which collects and organizes a page full. The 21 Error means that the data could not be presented fast enough to keep up with the movement of the paper. If this occurs, you might be able to print the data by adding a blank line or two to the text, or by increasing the leading. Menu (-M or -NoM) Use the Menu. If you want to use P4UP from a BAT file and don't want it waiting for the Print command at the menu, you can use the option -NoM (NoMenus), and P4UP will skip the menu. P4UP will use defaults for whatever options you don't specify. If you have customized P4UP not to use Menus, you can override that default with the -M (Menu) option. Margins (-MT, -MB, -ML, and -MR) Normally, P4UP uses the entire printable area on each piece of paper. The LaserJet can print about one quarter inch in from each edge. You can use the Margin options to set a different margin. -MT sets the Margin on the Top; -MB, Margin Bottom; -ML, Margin Left, and -MR, Margin Right. Follow each option with the number of laser printer dots (1/300 inches each) to be used for that margin. EG, to set a left margin of 1 inch for three-hole punching, use -ML300 on your P4UP command. Each page image is shrunk to fit the available print area after the margins are removed from the printable area. The interbox gaps remain unaffected. The number of characters that can fit within each box is calculated once the actual size is determined. Odd (-O) Print Odd sides only. Useful for printing on both sides. See the Even (-E) option. Permanent (-P) The -P option makes the P4UP's soft fonts Permanent in the LaserJet (until the printer is turned off). Both the fixed and proportionally spaced fonts are downloaded. Without the -P option, the P4UP font lasts only for the duration of the P4UP command. If you make the font permanent, you can bypass the downloading portion of P4UP in subsequent runs with the Resident (-R) option. Resident (-R) There are two -R options. If the -R is followed by a number, the -R is interpreted as the Row option; otherwise the -R is interpreted as a Resident option. The Resident (-R) option tells P4UP to reuse a Resident font (after a previous P4UP used the -P option). Normally the font is downloaded anew with each P4UP invocation. Once the font is made permanent, you can use it with other software or save the downloading time by using the Resident (-R) option. Rows (-Rn) There are two -R options. If the -R is followed by a number, the -R is interpreted as the Row option; otherwise the -R is interpreted as a Resident option. Previous versions of P4UP were limited to two columns of two rows of page images on each side of a piece of paper. P4UP now can print 1 to 5 columns and 1 to 5 rows. Use the Row (-Rn) to specify the number of rows P4UP should use. Note that rows refers to rows of page images, not rows of lines. Use a single row (-R1) to display uninterrupted text from the top of the page to the bottom of the page. This might be used to display a computer program, for example, where page separations are artificial. Size (-Sn) P4UP supports different paper sizes. Use the Size (-Sn) option to identify what paper you want. Use 1 for letter size, 2 for executive, 3 for legal, or 4 for A4. Tabs (-Tn) Tab expansion. Normally, P4UP expands tab characters in the text to enough spaces to get to the next group of 8 characters. You can set a value between 1 and 9 with the -T option. Example: P4UP -T3. Wordwrap (-W) P4UP automatically breaks lines longer than the column width of its page images. If you do not select word Wrap, long lines are broken at the edge of the page box. If you try to print a 100 character line in a box that is only 80 characters across, the 100 character line will take up two lines, the first 80 characters on the first, and the last 20 characters on the next. The next line will start at the leftmost column of the next P4UP line. If you use the Wrap (-W) option, P4UP essentially ignores carriage returns in the input text. Text is printed continuously. Lines are broken only at word boundaries. When you use Wrap, P4UP switches to a proportionally spaced font, since with Wrap, the specific columns individual words or characters appear in is not important. When you use Wrap, the Justification (-J) option is enabled. Zigzag (-Z) Zig-Zag printing. When you specify -Z, page 2 is to the right of page 1; with -NoZ, page 2 is below page 1. In other words, Zigzag prints page images rowwise or horizontally, NoZigzag prints page images columnwise or vertically. The P4UP Character Set ════════════════════ P4UP contains the shapes for all 256 characters in the 8-bit ASCII code. This includes all the single and double box characters. A few of the low numbered characters won't print out because they are intercepted by other hardware and software and interpreted as special control characters. The following table shows the P4UP character set: !"#$%&'()*+,-./ 0123456789:;<=>? @ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO PQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_ `abcdefghijklmno pqrstuvwxyz{|}~ ÇüéâäàåçêëèïîìÄÅ ÉæÆôöòûùÿÖÜ¢£¥₧ƒ áíóúñÑªº¿⌐¬½¼¡«» ░▒▓│┤╡╢╖╕╣║╗╝╜╛┐ └┴┬├─┼╞╟╚╔╩╦╠═╬╧ ╨╤╥╙╘╒╓╫╪┘┌█▄▌▐▀ αßΓπΣσµτΦΘΩδ∞φε∩ ≡±≥≤⌠⌡÷≈°∙·√ⁿ²■ Box characters are set up to connect vertically when printed with an appropriate separation between lines, called leading. Use the Leading (-L) option to assign a leading from 0 to 8 if you want the box characters to meet. ╔══╦═╗ ┌──┬─┐ ║ ║ ║ │ │ │ ╠══╬═╣ ├──┼─┤ ╚══╩═╝ └──┴─┘ ╒══╤═╕ ╓──╥─╖ │ │ │ ║ ║ ║ ╞══╪═╡ ╟──╫─╢ ╘══╧═╛ ╙──╨─╜ ███ ▄▄ ▌▌ ▐ ▐ ▐▌ ▐█ ▄▄ ███ ▄▄ ▌▌ ▐ ▐ ▐▌ ▐█ ▀▀ Box characters may not line up horizontally when printed with the Wrap (-W) option because the font it uses is proportionally spaced. With it, different characters have different widths. Box characters will line up horizontally, with each other, but may not match other characters. Thinner characters, such as an 'I' or '1' take up less space than thicker characters, such as 'M' or 'W'. If you try to draw a box around two lines of text, one containing an 'I' and the other a 'W', the rightmost box character in the line with the 'I' will be positioned further to the left than in the line containing the 'W', as shown in the following box: ╔════╗ ║ I1 ║ ║ W4 ║ ╚════╝ In this document, in text that should not be treated as words, such as the block P4UP 3.2 at the top of this document, blanks have been replaced with the ASCII 255 character. The 255 character is a blank of the same width as the box characters. Font Management Options (-P, -R, and -I) ════════════════════════════════════ P4UP uses two soft fonts, each with a point size of 5.8 and a pitch of 21.4. You can make these P4UP soft fonts permanent for use with other software besides P4UP, but you might require a special print driver or setup to use them. Soft font printers have two classes of soft fonts, temporary and permanent. Temporary soft fonts are erased whenever the printer is reset, something that occurs during many print operations. Permanent soft fonts are kept until software specifically removes them, or until the printer is turned off. Normally, P4UP downloads whichever font it needs each every time you use P4UP. The font is marked temporary and lasts only for the duration of the P4UP command. If you plan to use P4UP several times in succession, you can tell P4UP to make its fonts permanent in the first P4UP command, and tell subsequent P4UP commands to bypass the downloading operation. This will save some time. To mark the fonts as permanent, enter: P4UP -P P4UP uses two soft fonts, one fixed spaced and the other proportional. If you use the Wrap (-W) option, the proportional spaced font is used, otherwise the fixed space font is used. Normally, a P4UP job will only download the one font it needs. However, when you use the Permanent (-P) option, P4UP will download both fonts to your printer. Each font takes up about 16K of your printer's memory. The -P option makes the fonts Permanent in the LaserJet (until the printer is turned off). Without the -P option, the P4UP font lasts only for the duration of the P4UP command. In subsequent commands, use the R option: P4UP -R filename The -R option tells P4UP to Reuse a Resident font (after a previous P4UP used the -P option). Normally the font is downloaded anew with each P4UP invocation. Once the font is made permanent, you can use it with other software. Select the soft font by font ID or with the characteristics. A complete identification of the P4UP fixed space font is: E&l0OE(10UE(s0p21.43h5.76v0s0b3T where the E's are Escapes. In English, this means: portrait orientation; PC-8 symbol set; fixed spaced; 21.43 pitch; 5.76 point; upright style; medium stroke; courier typeface. For the proportional font, replace the "s0P" with an "s1P". The -I option can be used to give the soft font a specific font id. Normally P4UP gives its font the id 1. You can give it a different id with the -I option, as in -I33. Pick an id not in use by other programs. If you make the font Permanent, you can use this ID later to select the font. With the Permanent (-P) option, two soft fonts are downloaded, one fixed space, and the other proportional. The fixed space font is given the id indicated with the ID (-I) option, the proportional font is given an id one higher. Acknowledgement ══════════════ The rough edges of the soft font used by P4UP were smoothed out using FONTFIX. This and other SoftFontWare programs are available from: S. H. Moody & Associates, Inc. 1810 Fair Oaks Avenue South Pasadena, CA 91030 Disk Vendors, Bulletin Boards, and Users Groups ════════════════════════════════════════════════ You may distribute this program as long as the following guidelines are met: Distribute all files essentially unchanged. Charge less than $10 for distribution of the program. Describe the product as shareware. Please forward problems or complaints to the author. Please let the author know you are distributing the program. Please distribute the latest version of the program available. Where's My Copy? ═══════════════ If you are ready to buy the software, order it directly from Hexagon Products. See below for the address and price list. If you are looking for an evaluation copy, you should find it from one of the shareware channels. Because of the indirect method of distribution, shareware ends up in many more places than the author ever knows about. If you can't find Hexagon Products shareware on a bulletin board or from a local users group, you can use one of the following sources which carry the most recent versions: The HPPERIP forum of Compuserve. Public Brand Software in Indiana, 800-426-3475. Public Software Library in Texas, 800-242-4775. What's Shareware ═══════════════ With shareware, the software author sends evaluation copies to a few central places such as bulletin boards. They in turn make copies available to others at little or no cost. Quality software is passed on continuously, making the software readily available to all. Users need only pay for software that works for them. Since there are many shareware authors, and a large audience for quality shareware, some companies called disk vendors have formed to bring the two together. By charging a small copying fee, they can collect catalogs of shareware, pay for toll-free telephone numbers, take credit charges for disk copying fees, and make a profit. A catalog from these vendors is the best survey of quality shareware available. They usually charge $5 or less per disk and maybe $5 or less for shipping and handling. Shareware authors get no payment from the bulletin boards or disk vendors who distribute the shareware. When you pay a vendor for an evaluation copy of the software, the payment covers their expenses and goes to their profit. The shareware authors get paid only when you pay them directly for the products you choose after you evaluate them. Although you can evaluate the software before paying, it is not free. If you continue to use the software after a reasonable evaluation period, you are required to pay for it. Shareware is protected by the Copyright laws. However, since the software author does not keep track of who is evaluating the software, you're not going to get a bill. Rather, you are on your honor to pay for the software. It is much like public supported television. Registration ═══════════ The price of P4UP is $29.95. In addition, all purchasers will also receive P4PrtSc, a program that performs Print Screen activities using the tiny P4UP font, formatting several screens per page. You also get a small landscape soft font for LaserJets that prints 240 characters across the page, suitable for spreadsheet printing. There is a charge of $15 to upgrade from a previous version of P4UP. contact: P4UP Hexagon Products P.O. Box 1295 Park Ridge, IL 60068-1295 Bill Arendt (708) 692-3355 76064,1776 When you register P4UP 3.2, please include the following information: Name:_____________________________________________ Company:__________________________________________ Address:__________________________________________ City:______________________________State:_________ Zip:______________Phone:__________________________ Please circle what you use: Printer Brand / Model: II IIP III IIIP Other:____________________________________________ Diskette: 3.5 5.25 Either Where did you find P4UP?__________________________ Credit Cards ════════════ My business is too small to take credit card sales. If you want to purchase P4UP directly from me, you must pay by check. If this is inconvenient, you may buy P4UP directly from the The Public (Software) Library (MC/Visa accepted). Ask for a fully-registered version. Call: 1-800-2424-PSL (for orders only) 1-713-665-7017 (for information) or write: Public (Software) Library P.O. Box 35705 Houston, TX 77235-5705 With each registration you get a credit towards future PSL disk orders.