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FAXIT.DOC
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1993-11-03
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Documentation for the FAXIT program
version 1.0
The FAXIT program sends an ascii text file out the fax port on a
PostScript fax printer. It is useful with any PostScript fax printer,
such as the Compaq Pagemarq.
To use FAXIT, type:
FAXIT infile <ret>
Operating Instructions:
You specify the input file when running the program, and when
you are finished inputting information, press the <F10> key
to write or print the file.
FAXIT will display a Main Menu to ask if you would like to
select a person and phone number to send to from the phone
book. If your answer begins with "y" or "Y", FAXIT will
display the Phonebook menu, the contents of the file
faxbook.txt. Using the up arrow, down arrow, Page Up, and
Page Down keys you may highlight the name of the desired
recipient. Pressing the return key will enter this recipient
into the Main Menu.
If you do not choose to use the Phonebook, or if you have
made your selection, FAXIT will let you enter or modify the
recipient's phone number, name, and organization. Remember
to start the phone number with a 9, if the phone line
requires it. Subsequently you can enter your name,
organization, the fax subject, whether or not to send a cover
sheet, and whether or not to locally print a confirmation
sheet.
To correct an input field, after you have left that field,
press the up arrow, down arrow, or home keys until the cursor
reaches the field that needs correcting, and enter the
correct information for that field. If you have left the
main menu for the output destination menu, pressing <escape>
will return to the main menu so that you may correct any
errors.
Then the Output Destination window appears and you may choose
to store the output PostScript information in a file, or send
it to the printer, or both.
At this point FAXIT assembles a PostScript fax header, reads
in the ascii text file specified on the command line,
translates the ascii into PostScript and either creates a
file, or downloads the PostScript to a printer, or both.
Detailed Information:
The Phonebook:
When in the phonebook, the up arrow, down arrow, Page Up, and
Page Down keys move the highlighted name through the list.
Also, the space bar will move the highlighted name down, and
the backspace key will move the name up. The home key will
return to the top of the list. Pressing the escape key will
leave the phonebook, without making a selection. Pressing
the return key will make a selection, and that selection will
be entered in the Main Menu.
If the highlighted name is the first name in the phonebook,
pressing one of the "up" keys (up arrow, backspace, or Page
Up) will roll the phonebook menu around to the end of the
phonebook. Similarily, at the end of the phonebook, pressing
one of the "down" keys will roll the phonebook menu around to
the top of the phonebook.
The phonebook is a simple text file, called faxbook.txt. To
enter a phone number, and possibly a name and organization,
use a DOS text editor to create a file with the person's
name, organization, and fax phone number, separated by
slashes. For instance:
Ed Petrocelli /home pc fax/ 202-245-5654
Ed Petrocelli / Rayburn bldg, Gephart off / 202-665-3200
Mike Koshuta/General Scanning/301-332-7822
Betsy Lianza / 818-709-7602
The file may contain up to 256 names. If the file is larger,
the FAXIT program will read the first 256 entries.
To use the DOS editor edlin to create the faxbook.txt file,
enter the following commands, starting from the DOS prompt:
C:> EDLIN FAXBOOK.TXT
New file
*I<RET>
1* enter first name / organization / phone number
2* enter next name / org is optional/phone number
3* enter third name / organization / phone number
4* enter fourth name / organization / phone number
5*<control-Z>
*E<ret>
C:>
Be sure to put slashes in between the name and the
organization, and the organization and the phone number. If
you use a word processor to create faxbook.txt, be sure to
save the file in ascii format.
Main Menu operation:
When you are in the Main Menu of the FAXIT program each
individual field shows a default entry. This default entry
may be accepted by pressing <ret>, or it may be edited with
the left arrow, right arrow, Insert, and Delete keys. You
accept the string, and move on to the next input field by
pressing one of the following keys: Return, up arrow, down
arrow, Page Up, Page Down, Home, End, or various Alt-key
combinations. Because of an input bug with some PC's it may
be best to always complete an entry with the return key.
Input fields are marked in a different color field on color
monitors, and an underscore on monochrome monitors.
Output Destination
If you select not to save the filename, and not to print the
output file, a temporary filename is assigned, the PostScript
code is written to it, and it is deleted before the program
exits. Therefore, with this combination of choices, the
program does no useful work.
A output filename that cannot be opened doesn't write the
file. There is no error indication.
Connecting to the PostScript fax printer:
The program works best when the Personal Computer you are
running on is connected, through the parallel or serial port,
to a PostScript fax machine. This way, if you select to
print the output file (in the Output Destination menu), your
file is sent directly to the printer, and the fax is sent.
However, in many environments there is not a direct link from
the Personal Computer to a PostScript fax printer. More
often, there will be one PostScript fax printer in an
organization, and to use it will require carrying a floppy
disk over to a computer dedicated to the printer, or sending
a file over a network connection to the printer. For this
reason, the FAXIT program permits you to save the PostScript
output file, with a default filename of faxout.ps. This name
can be changed from the Output Destination window. Then you
can choose not to have FAXIT print the file, and after the
FAXIT program has exited, you can copy the faxout.ps file to
a floppy, and carry it to the computer connected to the
PostScript fax printer, or send the file over a network to
the PostScript fax printer.
The saved output file can be sent to a PostScript fax printer
afterwards by means of the "print <filename>" command.
Data Sizes:
The FAXIT program can read up to 63 characters for each of
the name and organization, and up to 32 characters for the
phone number. However, in the Phonebook display menu, only
20 characters are displayed for the name and phone number,
and 10 characters for the organization. In the Main Menu, up
to 28 characters are allowed for input for all three items.
25 characters are permitted for the output filename.
Errors / Known bugs: