🚀 go-pugleaf

I have recently spent hours, if not days trying to convert from Version
2.0 with Professional Extension to the new Version 3.0 for Windows.  
I have had absolutely no longer with their technical support.  My
system is as follows:

	Compaq 386S with 5 meg of memory
	Windows 3.0
	Ventura 3.0 with a patch that was posted on Compuserve
	HP Laserjet III printer (HPPCL5 driver for Windows)
	Pacific Page 25-1 cartridge
	Adobe Type Manager (ATM) for Windows

I first tried to print out a one page document.  It printed a 1/2
inch stripe down the left margin of the paper on every document.
This seems to be fixed with the patch I got from Compuserve.  (If
you need the patch, you can get it from the Ventura support group
(GO VENTURA) libraries.  If you aren't a member of Ventura, let
me know and I'll mail you a copy.

So finally, I have gotten a one page document printed correctly.  I
takes over 3 minutes for VP to start up on my system, because it remakes
the environ.wid file everytime VP starts up.  The manual says to rename
this file and use the renamed file in your style sheets to speed up
loading.  I can't get this to work at all (at least with the patched
version...I never checked to see if the original version had this
problem.) I posted this problem to the Compuserve bulletin board...I see
what response I get. 

I purchased ATM and the HP Laserjet III because I did not want to
have megabytes of different point sizes of fonts on my disk.  
I had about 8 meg of fonts for the HP and now it is done to less
than 2 megabytes.  

I have hundreds of documents written with the 2.0 version of Ventura and
found very few problems.  When I started to convert over to the new
version, I have had to edit almost every document.  I like to highlight
part of sentances or lines by using the graphics feature of 'box text'
and then shading it.  This worked correctly in 2.0, but the shaded
box always wipes out the text in Version 3.0.  Yes, I have tried 
selecting the 'place behind' feature in the graphics menu, but it
doesn't seem to work.

Text placement varies often with the new version.  It is usually
solved by turning hyphenation off.  (They have used a new hyphenation
algorithm in Version 3.0).  They document how to use the old method,
but I have not tried that yet.

In several cases, I have had problems with style sheets, such as font
size getting screwed up.  I have not been able to replicate this problem.
There is absolutely no documentation in the manual on the binary format of
a style sheet.  If it gets corrupted, like several of mine have, you'll
have to use a backup.

The most disturbing problem I have is that I cannot use multiple with
tables within the same VP session.  If I choose to use a different
width table, other than environ.wid, I get a "Cannot use new width
table" error and VP quits with a severe error.  If you accidently
save your document during this session with an incorrect width table,
you may never be able to bring up that style sheet again.  (VP stores
the name of the width table in the style sheet file.)  I had
to use a backup copy of the style sheet to correct this problem.

Since Ventura Software, Inc did not originally write this software,
(they bought the company and support until the end of 1990), problems
will probably not be fixed very quickly.  Some people on Compuserve
suggest you buy the GEM version since Ventura is having a special
deal if you buy both versions...why would I want to buy this version
when it doesn't have any new features over 2.0 that I would use?

I am really a promoter of Windows 3.0 and windowing environments
in general.  I would hope that these program get cleared up quickly
before Ventura's and Xerox's reputation get tarnished...but I'm
not holding my breath!

Rick Kamp
Tektronix, Inc.
Network Displays Division
Wilsonville, OR
(503)685-2728
rickka@orca.wv.tek.com