🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <SULLIVAN.90Feb7011318@msor0.msor.exeter.ac.uk> sullivan@msor.exeter.ac.uk (Rob Sullivan) writes:
>Can anyone tell me if it is possible to intercept the postscript file
>produced by software such as Microsoft Word on the Mac before it
>reaches the printer?
>

I've written up the below to explain this question when I see it.  If there 
are any errors, let me know.  Otherwise I'll just post it periodically or
when the question is asked.

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This _has_ to be _the_ most frequently asked question in this newsgroup...

This is actually quite simple to do.  First, be sure that the LaserWriter is
the currently selected printer.  Then select "Print..." as usual.  While in
the "Print" dialog, press and hold the "OK" button.  While holding the "OK"
button "down" [as if you were pulling down a menu], press and hold the
command key and either the "F" or the "K" key with the other hand.  Let up
on the "OK" button and continue to hold Command-F or Command-K until you see
"Creating Postscript(r) File." in place of the usual "Looking for LaserWriter.."
message.  You can now let up on the Command-F/K keys.  A text file will be
created on your disk, probably in the same folder as the program you are
printing from, though they sometimes appear on the root level or in the
Blessed Folder.  The files are named in the same way as screen dumps, that is,
PostScript0, PostScript1, ..., PostScript9.

The difference between holding down Command-F and Command-K is that the former
pipes just the document's PostScript into the file, while the latter includes
the Apple LaserPrep dictionary.

I have found this technique most useful for tracking down print errors in the
public Mac lab I work in.  From time to time, as i'm sure most of us have 
experienced, the LaserWriter driver will choke on a document and the print job
will fail, without the user getting any feedback as to why the job died.  The
dedicated PostScript spoolers, like Adobe's SendPS, generally provide more
informative error messages, so if a job fails, I will dump it to a PostScript
file, then use SendPS to send it to the LaserWriter, and can usually then tell
the user more specifically what they need to change to get the document
printed.

If you find yourself doing this on a regular basis, there is a way to make it
a bit easier by hacking the LaserWriter driver with ResEdit.  Normal caveats
as regard the use of ResEdit apply; my favorite line is, "Use ResEdit only
on a disk with which you wouldn't mind wiping off the bottom of your shoes."
ResEdit is not a dangerous as it was at one time [by that I mean the program is
more stable, and unexpected bombs and corruptions happen less frequently], but
it is still not a tool to be taken lightly.  However, if you follow the 
instructions below to the letter, even the most inexperienced ResEdit user
should be OK.  Alright, on with the show:

1.  Launch ResEdit.
2.  Open the "LaserWriter" file.
3.  Open the "DITL" resource.
4.  Open DITL # -8191.
5.  Select "Select Item Number..." from the DITL menu.
6.  Use this dialog to select item #22.
7.  Select "Open as Dialog Item" from the File menu.
8.  In the window which will appear, you will see four fields labelled
    "Top," "Left," "Bottom," and "Right."  They will all contain 0.
    Change these to contain, respectively, 74, 328, 90, and 428.
9.  Close this window.  You will notice that there is a new checkbox to the
    right of "Manual Feed" which reads "Disk File."
10. Close and save the file, and quit ResEdit.

Now, when you select "Print...," you will be able to merely check this box
before clicking "OK," and the PostScript File will be generated without your
having to press Command-F.  The checkbox takes the place of Command-F, in that
it does not include Laser Prep. 

There is one other ResEdit mod you may wish to make.  STR #-8191 contains the
name that will be given to the created files.  Normally that string is just
"PostScript," so the file ends up in the various locations mentionedd above.
If you change this to a specific pathname, you can make all those files
turn up in the same place.  For example, assume a hard disk named "HD40," on
which is a folder named "Postscript tools," within which is a folder named
"Dumped PS files."  If you wanted these PostScript files you're creating to
all end up in that last folder, you would change the contents of STR -8191 to:

HD40:Postscript tools:Dumped PS files:Postscript

and your Command-F/K files will all be directed into that folder.

That should cover it.

<chaz>

(C) 1990 Chaz Larson

All product names are trademarks of their respective holders.

-- 
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                 Chaz Larson - clarson@ux.acs.umn.edu
            "Hey, I'm no Jack Kennedy..." - Flaming Carrot
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