🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <86579@ut-emx.uucp> tai@utpapa.ph.utexas.edu (Tai Morris) writes:
>I'm new to this newsgroup so I hope this question hasn't been answered
>too many times already...
>
>I need a program that parses a postscript file to see how many pages will
>be printed. Please don't tell me this is impossible - it's impossible that
>it is impossible because postscript printers know how to parse postscript
>files. Otherwise, the printer could be fooled, too.
>
>Any help would be appreciated.
>
>
>
>-- 
>Tai Morris, tai@utpapa.ph.utexas.edu


O.k., I won't tell you it's impossible. I'll just tell you you have
answered your own question!

In order to determine how many pages an arbitrary PS file will
print, you MUST parse the PS. That's what the PS printers do! And
that is exactly what you have already said.

See....you answered your own question!   8-{)

One solution is to send the file to the printer, count the pieces
of paper it ejects, throw the paper away, and you have the page
count.  8-{)

Seriously........ in order to predict accurately the expected page
count, you will need a PostScript interpreter running on the computer
where you want to perform the prediction. I understand that
ghostscript is a likely candidate. There may be others. I'm sure
you will hear of them.

From the PostScript FAQ:

Subject: 1.2 How can I tell how many pages my document will have? 

    The easiest way to count pages is view your document on-line with a 
    PostScript previewer. Some previewers like Ghostview and GSPreview 
    count the pages for you. (See Section 12, ``PostScript Interpreters 
    and Utilities''.) 

    If your document is generated by a professional program, you should 
    be able to just count the number of ``%%Page:'' comments 
    imbedded in the document. With UNIX you can type 
  
  grep -c %%Page document.ps
  
    to do this counting. (See Section 9, ``Encapsulated PostScript''.) 

    The only completely reliable way to count pages is to ask the 
    printer. PostScript printers maintain a page counter that can be 
    queried before and after the job is printed, and the page count is 
    a simple subtraction. This tends to require rather sophisticated 
    spooling systems and a communications channel that is 
    bidirectional. However, some printers allow you to submit jobs on 
    one port, and issue queries on another. Experts using a level 2 
    printer can use the SerialOff.PS and SerialEHandlder.ps programs to 
    communicate bidirectionally to the printer. 



Regards,

Bill Lee