
 !Jet_Text DeskJet Control Utility
 =================================
 
 Version : 2.60
 
 Author  : D.E. Bower


 Introduction
 ------------

 The !Jet_Text utility allows fast dumping of text and BASIC files to any
 printer that supports Hewlett-Packard's Printer Control Language (PCL).

 Almost all laser-printers conform to this standard (except for Postscript
 printers), but the program is optimised for the HP DeskJet / DeskJet Plus /
 DeskJet 500 series of ink-jet printers, and allows the user to select all
 the internal, external and soft font options that these machines support.

 The application is intended to complement rather than replace the RISC-OS
 printer-driver !PrinterLJ. Although !Jet_Text is limited to the font types
 built into the printers - or in external plug-in cartridges - it operates
 faster than !PrinterLJ in these cases. [ It only sends one byte per output
 character instead of the multi-byte graphics data used for outline fonts ]. 



 Usage
 -----


 (1) The application is installed on the icon-bar in normal RISC-OS fashion
     by double-clicking on the !Jet_Text directory icon.


 (2) A text or BASIC file can be dumped to the printer simply by dragging it
     over the DJet sprite on the icon-bar. If any other type of file is
     dragged to the icon-bar sprite, the program will offer to print the
     file as a formatted hex / ascii dump.

     Before starting the print-out, the utility will set up the printer by
     sending the set of escape code sequences which define the current
     printer configuration. If you want to view or alter that configuration,
     see the next section for details.

     As the listing proceeds, the number of bytes that remain to be printed
     will be shown under the sprite.


 (3) Clicking the SELECT button over the DJet sprite on the icon-bar
     will pop-up a large window which displays the current configuration.

     [ When you start-up the application, the initial configuration ]
     [ is automatically loaded and set from a disc file named State ]

     The following options can be altered as desired :

     Printer Type
     Character Set
     Portrait / Landscape orientation
     Typeface
     Print pitch (characters per inch)
     Font size   (points)   1 point = 1/72 inch
     Upright / Italic type style
     Medium / Bold type weight
     LQ / Draft print quality
     Page length (lines of text) and number of text lines per inch
     Top + Left + Right margins
     Text Wrap [on/off]
     CR=CR+LF  [on/off]
     Format    [on/off]  { only relevant for BASIC files at present }
          

     (a) Clicking SELECT or ADJUST over the Printer Type box will cycle
         through the DeskJet / DeskJet Plus / DeskJet 500 options. If the
         font characteristics are incompatible with the printer, then the
         box will be displayed in inverse video. If you choose to print a
         file under these conditions, the results are predictable, but can
         be quite surprising. [ This is a result of the selection algorithm
         the printer employs when an unknown font set is requested ]

     (b) Clicking SELECT or ADJUST over the Character Set box will cycle
         through a subset of the available internal and external sets.

     (c) All the DeskJet 500 internal fonts Courier / CG Times / Gothic
         can be selected by clicking SELECT on the appropriate diamond
         icon. If you are using external or soft-fonts then click on the  
         External/Soft diamond and use SELECT or ADJUST on the adjacent text
         box to cycle through the available options.

     (d) Three standard print-pitch options can be directly set by clicking
         SELECT on the appropriate diamond. ( Use the 16 cpi option to
         obtain 16.67 cpi output).  If you require a different pitch, then :

         (i)   click SELECT on the = diamond
         (ii)  click SELECT on the adjacent text box. The window header will
               change colour and a caret will appear in the text box.
         (iii) type in the desired pitch (an integer) into the text box
         (iv)  click SELECT on the text box to update the configuration

         N.B. the print-pitch setting will be ignored for all the
              Proportional Spaced fonts. These are shown with a PS
              suffix to the typface name.

     (e) Font-sizes are set in exactly the same way as the print-pitch.

     (f) The   Upright / Italic   Medium / Bold    LQ / Draft   choices
         are all made by clicking SELECT on the appropriate diamond.

     (g) Page length, lines/inch, Top margin, Left margin and Right margin
         settings are all made by clicking SELECT in the appropriate text
         box, typing in the new value and clicking SELECT again. I would
         advise users to read the printer-manual sections on page-layout
         before altering the default settings.

     (h) The Text wrap option is set ON by default. When a text line is too
         long to fit on the printer, the extra characters will be printed
         on the following line. If this option is switched OFF, then all the
         extra characters up to the next carriage return will be lost.

     (i) The CR=CR+LF option will send a line-feed character along with
         every carriage return. This would typically be ON for a !Edit file.
         However, the DeskJet front-panel switches can be set up to do this
         mapping automatically in which case you should leave the option OFF.

     (j) The only function of the Format option in the current version of
         the program is to add a space after the line number when printing
         a BASIC file. [ Future versions of the program may use the Format 
         option to Expand TAB characters in a text file and to set LISTO
         options when printing a BASIC file ].
       

 (4) Clicking the MENU button over the icon will produce a pop-up menu with
     the following options :

     (a) Information - Leads to a window giving program version / author

     (b) Save config - Saves the current settings to the State file.
                       The next time the application is started up,
                       it will use the saved settings. The file is
                       formatted as human-readable text.

     (c) Send config - The escape code sequences corresponding to the
                       current configuration are transmitted to the printer.
                       This is done automatically if you drag a text file
                       onto the printer icon, but the facility is provided
                       so that you can configure the printer independently.
                       One application is the listing of BASIC programs from
                       within BASIC using the LISTO pretty-print options.
                       I suggest you use LISTO 3 format and ensure the
                       CR=CR+LF option is switched OFF.

     (d) Set default - A default configuration is set up and displayed in
                       the window (if open). The selected default is the
                       Courier 12 point Upright font which is built-in to
                       all the DeskJet variants.

     (e) Abort print - The application will not send any further file data
                       to the printer. However, a form-feed character will
                       be sent to flush out any characters which remain in
                       the printer buffer and eject the final sheet.

     (f) Quit        - If a file is not being printed, the application will
                       be closed down. If a file is being printed, then a
                       dialogue box will pop-up to request confirmation.



 General
 -------

 The text-file being printed can contain embedded escape-code sequences
 to change fonts or styles within a document. Since this is a VERY
 fiddly procedure, I have provided a selection of suitable sequences
 within the file DJ_Esc. Full details of usage are provided in the file.


 The icons used within the window are standard RISC-OS icons. If you would
 prefer some more elegant patterns, then the !Boot and !Run files can be
 modified as shown by their internal documentation. Note that this will 
 re-define the patterns for ALL the applications currently running.

 
 Please address any comments or bug reports to :

     D.E. Bower
     15, Samantha Close
     Markhouse Rd.
     London E17 8EU

    
