🚀 go-pugleaf

hsi!stevens (Richard Stevens) writes:
> I just got a flier in the mail from Pipeline Associates in NYC
> for their "devps" software package, which appears to be a
> replacement for Adobe's Transcript.  Does anyone have any
> experience with it ??

We got 'devps' from Pipeline via their distributor SSC (Specialized 
Systems Consultants) in Seattle and are fairly happy with it.
We've got a spooled LaserWriter Plus and a QMS Lasergraphix 1200 (QUIC)
on a Vax 11/780 running Ultrix V1.2 and are running a hacked 
version of ditroff.

I have absolutely no experience with TranScript and until 
the LW+ arrived in February (?) no experience with PostScript 
either; so my comments may reflect my satisfaction with PS as 
well as devps.

The prices hsi!stevens reported are accurate [$295 (binary), 
$495 (single-system source) and $895 (multi-system source)] 
but please note that according to SSC's catalogue TranScript 
is a >troff< to PS Translator while devps is a >ditroff< to 
PS translator.

The devps program itself converts device independent troff to 
Postscript.  devps comes with a a package of programs and 
scripts that also allows you to do nifty things on the LW+: 
'reverse' reverses the page order on output (last page 
printed first, etc), 'lwpage' lets you select pages from 
a PS file to be (re)printed, and 'mkenv' generates labels 
and envelopes.  One of my favorites is a script called 
'LW' that lets me do manual feed, print in landscape mode, 
automagically print a letterhead overlay on the first page 
of the document, print a transparency frame on the first 
page, and print a message in large outline type diagonally 
across the page (this is neat; it looks like a large rubber 
stamp.)

Some Problems: 
- Formulas generated with eqn have a problem with vertical spacing.
  Characters overlap each other; output is unacceptable.
- pic diagrams are reduced by a factor of about 2.5.  We think inches are
  being interpreted as centimeters somewhere.  Output can be fudged.
- landscape option prints first page in landscape mode and the 
  rest in portrait.

These work fine:
- tbl works as well or better than on the QMS 1200.
- Times-Outline and Helvetica-Outline are supported.
- I can call some of the LW+ resident fonts from ditroff documents and
  I'm sure that when I really work at it I'll be able to figure out how
  to call the rest.
- Supports the standard list of troff special characters and then some.
- Has decent documentation and man pages with the odd typo.

Stuff I don't know about:
> - troff macros for shading, outlined and rotated text.
    This is news to me.
- devps comes with a program to handle output from a MacIntosh: macroff

On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd rate devps a 7.5.


Donna Hrynkiw
Systems & Computing - Kwantlen College           SCA:
PO Box 9030,  Surrey BC Canada V3T 5H8           Lady Elizabeth Braidwood
....!ubc-vision!casey!donna                      Kingdom of An Tir
donna@casey.kwantlen.bcc.cdn

Disclaimer: I don't work for SSC or Pipeline, I just bought some of their
stuff.