| Re: Is there a worthy printing utility [message #11086] |
Mon, 16 March 1998 00:00 |
Peter Mason
Messages: 145
Registered: June 1996
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Senior Member |
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On Sat, 14 Mar 1998, David Fanning wrote:
<...>
> What I would really like is a Print File item under the
> File menu button in the IDE that would allow me to select ANY
> file in my directory and send it to the default printer.
> This would give me control over formatting PostScript output
> as I like (via the PS device) and it would provide an easy
> way to get the output sent to a printer.
I have some code that will let you send a "print file" (a postscript or PCL
file or something like that) directly to a (compatible) Windows printer, under
program control. It sticks up a list of the available Windows printers and
sends the file straight to the one you select. It's in a mixture of C and
IDL.
I wrote it to replace the strictly-Win3.1x "DEVICE,PRINT_FILE=" function in
IDL 4, really, and expected that it would not be needed in IDL 5. If anyone
is interested in it, then let me know and I'll make it available. (It's not
entirely standalone at the moment.)
While I'm at it, let me tell you about some other hybrid routines I have that
are also on the cutting edge of uselessness.
There's one that is passed a draw-window ID or draw widget value and sticks
the graphic onto the clipboard (like the IDL4 menu-option does, but without
needing a mouse click), and another that sticks a 2D array of numbers onto the
clipboard in "Text" format. (With IDL4 it can also copy the array as a "Csv"
- handy for pasting into Excel - but the sleight of hand I use to do this
crashes IDL 5.) L(e)ast of all, there's one that returns a STRARR giving the
drives attached (phys. and net.) to your PC. (Drive letters only.)
Again, let me know if you're interested.
Peter Mason
CSIRO division of Exploration and Mining
P.O Box 136, North Ryde, NSW, 2113, Australia
E-Mail: p.mason@syd.dem.csiro.au Tel: +61 2 9490-8883 Fax: 9490-8960/8921
Web: http://www.syd.dem.csiro.au/research/MMTG/
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| Re: Is there a worthy printing utility [message #11087 is a reply to message #11086] |
Sun, 15 March 1998 00:00  |
davidf
Messages: 2866
Registered: September 1996
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Senior Member |
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Peter Mason (peterm@demsyd.syd.dem.CSIRO.AU) writes:
> While I'm at it, let me tell you about some other hybrid routines I have that
> are also on the cutting edge of uselessness.
I'm going to have a new page on my web site devoted to those
programs that sounded-like-a-good-idea-when-I-thought-of-them.
They would probably be a lot more instructive than some of the
programs already available. I have a couple of dozen such
programs lying around here. :-)
Cheers,
David
-----------------------------------------------------------
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting
E-Mail: davidf@dfanning.com
Phone: 970-221-0438
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
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| Re: Is there a worthy printing utility [message #11093 is a reply to message #11087] |
Sat, 14 March 1998 00:00 |
davidf
Messages: 2866
Registered: September 1996
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Senior Member |
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Richard D. Hunt (rdhunt@sandia.gov) writes:
> Does anyone have printing utility that will work under IDL for MS
> windows and UNIX? I am trying to print something as simple as an
> 8-bit graphics image and I have played with Dialog_Printer* but
> they are too limiting and don't work well with object or direct
> graphics.
I had great hopes for the PRINTER device when I first heard
about it. But I, too, have been frustrated by it. And especially
with the way it handles images. (My images typically are
printed as tiny half-inch squares in the bottom corner of
the page.) I have discovered no way to combine images with
other types of graphical output, like I can with the PS
device.
What I would really like is a Print File item under the
File menu button in the IDE that would allow me to select ANY
file in my directory and send it to the default printer.
This would give me control over formatting PostScript output
as I like (via the PS device) and it would provide an easy
way to get the output sent to a printer.
By the way, I just recently learned that to print a PostScript
file on my Windows NT machine all I have to do is drag its
icon onto my Printer icon. This starts up GhostView on my
machine because this is the application associated with
*.ps files in my registry and gives me the printer setup
dialog. I simply select the "PostScript File" option and
off it goes. Quite nice. This could easily be automated
by spawning the "Send To" command.
Cheers,
David
-----------------------------------------------------------
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting
E-Mail: davidf@dfanning.com
Phone: 970-221-0438
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
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