[Coco] DriveWire printing options

[Bob Devries]

Aaron, you asked:

> Is there one printer model that would cover a majority of applications?

Sadly, even the Tandy printers used different codes for their various 
printing modes. I wonder if the graphics printing could be implemented as a 
separate module, which can be replaced with the correct type for the printer 
in use, along the lines of a DLL?

Regards, Bob Devries

--
Besides a mathematical inclination, an exceptionally good mastery of one's 
native tongue is the most vital asset of a competent programmer.

Edsger W.Dijkstra, 18 June 1975

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Aaron Wolfe" <aawolfe at gmail.com>
To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
Sent: Friday, December 25, 2009 5:20 PM
Subject: Re: [Coco] DriveWire printing options


On Fri, Dec 25, 2009 at 12:59 AM, Bob Devries <devries.bob at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Aaron,
>
> I'm sure there are some of us who still like to do development work on the
> real thing, and often being able to list all or part of a source file is
> useful.
>
> How likely is it to be able to catch the large range of Tandy printers 
> that
> were used, and convert their output (usually in various graphics modes) to 
> a
> raster image for printing on a Windows printer, or to a PDF or other
> graphics file such as jpeg? If this was a possibility then various
> programmes which produce graphics output could be used.
>

Java has good support for rendering 2D graphics, and once you have an
image, its simple to output it to a jpeg, a PDF, send it to a local
printer, etc.  The real trick would be turning the bytes sent to the
printer port into a 2D graphic :)

Is there one printer model that would cover a majority of
applications?  I could implement things in a modular style so that
additional bytes -> image converters could be plugged in its place
easily enough if people wanted additional printers, but focusing on
one to start at least would be more practical.

-Aaron



> Regards, Bob Devries
> Goulburn, NSW, Australia
>
> --
> Besides a mathematical inclination, an exceptionally good mastery of one's
> native tongue is the most vital asset of a competent programmer.
>
> Edsger W.Dijkstra, 18 June 1975
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Aaron Wolfe" <aawolfe at gmail.com>
> To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> Sent: Friday, December 25, 2009 4:50 PM
> Subject: [Coco] DriveWire printing options
>
>
>> Hi guys,
>>
>> First off, Merry Christmas to everyone :)
>>
>> As we are finishing up a feature set for the first release of the Java
>> based DriveWire server, I realize that I haven't put in anything for
>> printing support yet. I don't use printers much myself, never really
>> had much need.
>>
>> What (if anything) would be useful to people in the printing
>> department? Options range from dumping the bytes to a text file, to
>> displaying them on a web page, to even emulating some sort of Coco
>> printer and rendering the output in a PDF, etc...
>>
>> Anybody still print with their Coco? If there's something that would
>> be useful, let me know and I'll try to implement it.
>>
>> -Aaron
>>
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>
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