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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!hao!cires!nbires!opus!rcd
From: rcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn)
Newsgroups: net.text,net.unix,net.unix-wizards
Subject: Re: Need nroff driving table for DEC printer
Message-ID: <887@opus.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 11-Oct-84 22:08:26 EDT
Article-I.D.: opus.887
Posted: Thu Oct 11 22:08:26 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 13-Oct-84 03:59:54 EDT
References: <2947@teklabs.UUCP> <177@uwstat.UUCP>
Organization: NBI,Inc, Boulder CO
Lines: 27

> > [request for nroff driving tables for LA-100]
> > ...
> 
> I have such a driver, BUT it is VERY UGLY:  The main reason for the
> ugliness is that the la100 will not reliably do a reverse form-feed
----I have to assume that "reverse line feed" is really the problem.  Nroff
    doesn't use form feeds, let alone reverse form feeds (and in my limited
    experience, I've never seen a device that had them).
> unless one uses friction feed, and that is more of a problem than
> I am willing to put up with.  So I have a la-100 nroff driver and then a
> post-processor which gets rids of the reverse form-feeds and other
> ugliness and then prints pages;

What's the other ugliness?  If reverse LINE feeds (half and full) are the
problem, col(1) has been around for years to solve just that problem.
Even if you have to write one yourself, it's not that hard a problem.

> ...  But you too will curse
> nroff for wanting to put out reverse line-feeds.

Why?  From the user's standpoint, it's reasonable for most uses of reverse
motion (namely, superscripts and subscripts).  From the implementation
standpoint, it's a reasonable alternative to trying to hold an entire page
before output.
-- 
Dick Dunn	{hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd		(303)444-5710 x3086
   ...Relax...don't worry...have a homebrew.