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Postscript interpreter - user documentation
===========================================
Post V1.1 Copyright Adrian Aylward 1989, 1990
Free use and non-commercial reproduction of the binaries of the interpreter
library (post.library) is permitted, providing that the copyright notices
are not removed. Distribution by disk libraries is permitted provided only
a nominal copying fee is charged.
You may freely copy, use and modify the user interface program (post). The
source is included in the distribution.
All other rights are reserved. For queries and bug reports write to the
author:
Adrian Aylward,
20 Maidstone Road,
SWINDON,
Wiltshire.
UK.
No responsibilities accepted for bugs, but please let me know so I can fix
them.
Introduction
============
"Post" is a software based PostScript interpreter, presently running on the
Amiga. The source code is written in C, and should be fairly portable to
other machines. It supports the full Adobe language, with only minor
variations.
Prerequisites
=============
Post uses the Arp library (V39+), primarily for its file requestor. For
interactive working you also need ConMan (V1.3+). Both these programs are
widely available; any good BBS or PD/shareware library should have them.
(ConMan is shareware.) You may well have them installed on your machine
already.
If you prefer not to install ConMan as your standard console handler, you
will need to access it via an alternative device name, which you must
specify by the CONDEV option.
You will need at least a megabyte of memory, more for high density printer
output.
Command line interface
======================
usage:
post [files...] [IFF file] [SCREEN] [PRINTER] [INTERACTIVE]
[SIZE xyd..s..p.bc.] [MEM fhlv..] [CLOSEWB] [CONDEV con]
If you forget, type "post ?" to display this.
The input files
---------------
The interpreter reads the input files in turn. When running interactively
the input files are treated as startup files, and are rerun whenever the
interpreter is restarted. So you would normally specify just the standard
startup file "init.ps", or an alternative of you own. When running
non-interactively you should in addition specify all the files you want to
interpret, up to 5 in total; when the last is finished the interpreter will
exit.
Printer output
--------------
This is the default if neither the IFF nor SCREEN options are used, when
running non-interactively. The output is sent to the printer device as a
graphic dump.
The interpreter will obtain default values for the page size, density, and
number of colors from the current preferences. If you use the default sizes
make sure you have set the page size: run preferences and on the graphic 2
screen set the width and height limits - either bounded or absolute or in
pixels. The output defaults to black and white or 3 colour, according to
the preferences.
IFF file output
---------------
This option will send the output to an IFF file. Each IFF file contains a
single FORM ILBM. So that multiple pages may be created in a single run of
the interpreter, sequence numbers are automatically generated:
IFF path/fred*.pic will generate path/fred1.pic, path/fred2.pic ...
and IFF path/fred??.pic will generate path/fred01.pic, path/fred02.pic ...
The default page size etc. is the same as for screen output.
SCREEN output
-------------
This option will send the output to a window on the interactive screen. It
implies interactive working.
You can generate screen, printer and IFF output at the same time. But since
screen output has to use chip memory and printer output at high resolution
needs a large page buffer (about a megabyte for an A4 page at 300 dpi.) you
will probably run out of memory if you attempt the two simultaneously.
The default screen size is the same as the workbench screen, but in
interlace mode. The default density is 75 pixels per inch. The default
number of colours is 3. The page size is rounded up to the maximum size
of the window.
The INTERACTIVE option
----------------------
This option causes the interpreter to run interactively. A screen is opened
and on it appears a requestor window for the parameters. If you click on
OK two windows will be opened, one for console input and output, and the
other to display the page buffer. Use the menus.
The SIZE option
---------------
The SIZE option sets the page size and density etc..
SIZE "x..y..s..[x]d...[y]d..p.bc.?"
The page sizes ("x..y..s..") are in pixels, as decimal numbers; "s" sets
the size of the bands, for band rendering to the printer. Densities
([x]d..[y]d..) are in pixels per inch; "xd" or "yd" set the x or y density,
and "d" sets both.
The printer density can be set by "p"; its value should be in the range
1 to 7.
The number of colours is: "b" for black and white (1 bit plane), "c" or "c3"
for 3 colour rgb (3 bit planes), and "c4" for 4 colour cmyk (4 bit planes).
The MEM option
--------------
The MEM option controls the amount of memory allocated for workspace.
The memory defaults are chosen to suit a large machine processing relatively
complex pages. For simple screen output much lower minimums are possible -
if you don't have enough memory on your machine try the small values
instead.
Default Small
------- -----
v280000 (80000) Virtual machine memory
f60000 (1000) Font cache
l60000 (8000) Line drawing and image workspace
h20000 (1000) Halftone buffer
(x + 32) * y / 8 Page buffer
The default values should run on a 1MB machine with output to a black and
white screen; for colour output it is necessary to reduce the page size
and/or memory sizes. On a 2MB machine it should be possible to generate a
complex A4 page of printer output at 300 dpi.
The CLOSEWB option
------------------
If memory is tight, you can try using this option to close down WorkBench
while Post is running. This only works if there are no application
windows open on the WorkBench screen.
The CONDEV option
-----------------
If you do not have ConMan installed as the default console handler, you
must use this option to specify its device name (without the ":").
The WorkBench interface
=======================
Just click on the icon. It always runs interactively. You can set up
default arguments by setting the ToolTypes; add a string "ARGS=...."
and it will be parsed just like the CLI startup. For example
"ARGS=init.ps screen" will define the standard startup file and make the
screen the default output.
The Menus
=========
Project
Restart Takes you back to the parameters requestor, after
which the interpreter is reinitialised.
Quit Quit from the program
File
Load font Loads a file from the PSFonts: directory by default
Load file Loads a file, without saving or restoring the VM
Run file Runs a file, saving VM before and restoring after
Interactive Interprets interactive input
Control
Pause every page Toggles pause every showpage/copypage
Continue after pause Does just that
Interrupt Sends a break; equivalent to CTRL/C
Before and after executing a file the operand stack is cleared. This is
to prevent invalidrestore errors, particularly if interpretation ended in
error with values on the stack. If you need to leave things on the stack
you will have to run the files from a driver file, or from the interactive
window. At the end of the file, (after any restore), the page is erased.
If you use the automatic font loading, as defined in the standard startup
file "init.ps", the font will be discarded when the VM is restored. To
avoid repeated reloading of common fonts it may be better to use the "Load
font" menu item to preload the ones you want. N.B. there is no check to
stop you loading the same one twice; it will probably work but it will
waste memory.
Compatability
=============
The interpreter is based upon the language (version "23.0") as described by
the (red) book:
"PostScript Language Reference Manual"
Adobe Systems Incorporated,
Addison-Wesley 1985, ISBN 0-201-10174-2
The 4 colour operators are also supported as described by the document:
"PostScript language Color Extensions"
Adobe Systems Incorporated (23-Jan-90)
File handling
-------------
The files %stdin, %stdout, %stderr are permanently open as far as the
operating system is concerned. Attempts to close them will invalidate the
file object but not close them to the operating system. If they are
connected to a terminal they will be unbuffered, so output will be
transmitted immediately, without waiting for a "flush". The special files
%statementedit and %lineedit are not supported.
Error handling
--------------
A new error "invalidstop" has been added.
The execution stack
-------------------
The exact contents of the execution stack are not defined by the language
reference manual, and cannot therefore be guaranteed to be the same as other
implementations. Dumping the stack is likely to yield useful debugging
information but is not recommended for normal programming.
Colour mapping
--------------
The interpreter can run with one bit plane (for black and white printers),
3 bit planes (red, green, blue) or 4 bit planes (cyan, magenta, yellow,
black). For screen output 3 bit planes are appropiate. For a colour
printer the 3 or 4 colour model can be used. The output is always in
binary; gray scale is supported only via the halftone mechanism.
For low resolution colour printers the 3 colour model is probably best.
The 4 color model is for high resolution colour printers that can generate
high frequency halftone screens, where a fourth screen is used to improve
the quality of the blacks and grays.
(N.B. the preferences printer drivers only handle 3 colour model, so if
you want to use the 4 colour model you will probably need to generate an
IFF file and write your own print dump program. They will however
automatically use black the ribbon/ink if the printer has one)
The transformations between the RGB and the HSB models are based on those in
the book:
"Procedural Elements for Computer Graphics"
David F. Rogers,
McGraw-Hill 1985, ISBN 0-E07-053534-5.
Band Rendering
--------------
For a high resolution printer the page buffer can be quite large (a megabyte
or so). If you don't have enough memory to hold the entire page at once you
can render each one in several bands. Set the "SIZE s..." option to the
largest band size you have space for. (For matrix printers it will probably
be best to make it a multiple of the number of printer pins times the number
of vertically displaced passes). Then run the postscript program generating
each page once for each band, using the "setband" operator, which is
described below, to set the base for each band. Start at a base of zero
and increment the base by the band size until you reach the page height.
Each band is sent to the printer as a separate graphic dump; the last band
generates a form feed to eject the page. You can use the "currentband"
operator to calculate the number of bands needed:
currentband 1 sub { setband pageproc } for 0 setband
will execute "pageproc" once for each band (remaining) on the page. The
procedure should execute copypage (or showpage) exactly once per iteration.
N.B. this technique is only suitable for printer output.
Fonts
-----
There are no fonts built in to the interpreter; they must all be downloaded.
The findfont operator will execute the error invalidfont if the font you
request is not present in the font dictionary. You can redefine it, perhaps
to search the Unix/Amiga filing system to automatically download fonts or to
substitute a default font.
The font caching will work significantly better if all your fonts have
UniqueID's. Then repeated makes of the same font with the same matrix will
be cached, and cached character bitmaps can be retained even if the font
is removed by a restore operation. N.B. if fonts are downloaded after a
save they will be removed by the corresponding restore; in the interests of
efficiency it may therefore be better to preload them.
Other features
--------------
Names of the form //name are looked up immediately by the scanner, and
packed arrays have been implemented. These features were not on the
original Adobe red book, but were added to the language specification later.
When scanning the contents of a string, if there any embedded strings the
escape sequences are interpreted just as they are in a file. This follows
the specification of the more recent Adobe interpreters (including display
PostScript) and not the original red book.
Operators omitted or changed
----------------------------
banddevice
Not appropiate for the Unix/Amiga environment.
bytesavailable
Since we can't tell how many bytes are available we always return -1.
copypage
For printer output this works like the standard. The number of pages
printed is equal to #copies. For screen output it does not need to do
anything, as the screen is not buffered. For IFF file output it writes the
page to the next file.
echo
Not appropiate for the Unix/Amiga environment.
executive
There is no executive, as the interpreter supports interactive usage
directly.
findfont
Looks in the FontDirectory. If it can't find the supplied key, it executes
the error invalidfont.
flushfile
We don't check for errors when flushing an input file, to prevent recursion
in the error handler.
framedevice
Not appropiate for the Unix/Amiga environment.
prompt
Not called by the interpreter. See "prompts" instead.
renderbands
Not appropiate for the Unix/Amiga environment.
resetfile
Does nothing.
showpage
See the notes for copypage above.
usertime
Returns the time elapsed since the interpreter started, with a resolution of
one second.
Operators added
---------------
currentband
"currentband" base size height
Returns the base of the current band, size of each band, and total height
of the page.
setband
base "setband"
Sets the base height of the band being rendered. The value must be greater
than or equal to zero and less than the total height of the page.
invalidstop
(error)
A "stop" has been executed for which there is no dynamically enclosing
"stopped" context.
prompts
string string "prompts"
The first string is used as the prompt when the interpreter is scanning
terminal input and executing it immediately; the second string is used when
execution is defered while scanning the contents of a procedure "{ ... }".
No prompt is given when a newline is encountered within a string.
vmhwm
"vmhwm" hwmused maximum
Returns two integers: the high water mark of the amount virtual memory used
since the program was first started or the last "vmhwm", and the maximum
available amount of memory.
Miscellaneous
-------------
The system dictionary is left writeable so that standard preludes can add
things to it - possibly removing write permission when they have finished.
Similarly FontDirectory is writeable, so that it is possible to add entries
without using definefont.
Device space
------------
The largest device that the interpreter can handle is 31767 (sic) by 32767
pixels. In practice you will probably run out of memory long before
reaching this limit.
Known Bugs
==========
If you close down WorkBench the menus sometimes get truncated and slightly
corrupted. I suspect this is a Workbench/Intuition problem.
If you type CTRL/C to abort if the printer is not ready then strange things
may happen on subsequent attempts to print.
N.B. if you run very low on memory, Intuition may behave strangely, and
refuse to resize windows etc.. This is not a bug in Post.
Versions
========
V0.0 14-Nov-89 (prerelease)
The original.
V0.1 06-Dec-89 (prerelease)
Image routines added.
Range checks eased on gray levels and colours etc..
Area filling speeded up, matrix manipulation and colour mapping rewritten,
numeric conditioning improved for path fill.
Bugs fixed: syntax error, == string escapes, error handling and quit when
recursing, vm error handling, integer overflow in path fill, matrix save,
interrupt after printing page, dictionary second save, name table restore,
boolean type checking, multiple halftone screens memory allocation.
V0.2 07-Jan-90 (prerelease)
Font and character routines added. Null device added. Band rendering of
printer output added.
Matrix manipulation rewritten again. Interpreter recursion rewritten.
Allocate stacks dynamically.
Bugs fixed: missing access checks on strings, scan token negative chars,
depth check in path flattening, pathbbox, strings or null objects as
dictionary keys, shade after grestore(all), fill/image with clip region,
clip unclosed subpath, dictstack/execstack.
V1.0 12-Feb-90
Support for big scrollable windows added. Menu handler added with port
name option. Workbench startup added with parameters requestor window.
Hex string scan optimised. Break now CTRL/C only, not CTRL/D.
Bugs fixed: aspect ratio in iff file, clipping pictures much wider than the
page.
V1.1 27-Mar-90
Interpreter made into shared library. Message port interface removed.
Band printing driver now included.
Immediate lookup of //name added. Packed arrays added. CR and CRLF now
converted to LF for readline and when scaning tokens from a file. Copypage
now takes account of #copies.
Bugs fixed: slow images where strings are not rectangles, attributes after
copy and bind, charpath with fonts using gsave, iff run compression,
setundercolorremoval now conforms to Adobe spec, make errorname literal,
slow images repositioned by 1/2 pixel.