Xref: utzoo comp.lang.forth:572 comp.lang.postscript:975 comp.windows.news:792 comp.windows.misc:704 Path: utzoo!dciem!trigraph!john From: john@trigraph.UUCP (John Chew) Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth,comp.lang.postscript,comp.windows.news,comp.windows.misc Subject: Re: Why you should use NeWS as a tool to learn PostScript Message-ID: <403@trigraph.UUCP> Date: 22 Sep 88 14:52:53 GMT Article-I.D.: trigraph.403 References: <13655@mimsy.UUCP> <2407@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu> Reply-To: poslfit@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu Followup-To: comp.lang.postscript Organization: Trigraph Inc., Toronto, Canada Lines: 44 Summary: try lasertalk on a mac In article <2407@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu> lee@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu (Greg Lee) writes: >Maybe not all readers of this discussion know that you can do a >certain amount of playing around without NeWS. The PS interpreter >inside the Apple LW, at least, has an interactive mode. You can >can have it calculate and display values on your screen, so long >as the values have string values. For images, you have to wait >for a page to print, though, so that slows things down. > > Greg, lee@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu If you have a Mac, another good way to learn PostScript is to buy a copy of LaserTalk, by Emerald City Software (with whom I have no connection, other than by virtue of being a satisfied customer). LaserTalk is a PostScript programming environment with basic debugging features (breakpointing, stepping and tracing through code, dictionary browsing, continuous display of a user-configurable set of status variables), a reasonable editor, and an online hierarchical copy of the operator summary in the Red Book. You can also preview a page image on your screen at varying resolution without running off hardcopy. I could not do any serious PostScript work without LaserTalk or something like it. Programming PostScript blindly and running off hardcopy to test it is an obscene idea from the dark ages of batch programming and punched cards. Connecting a terminal to a LaserWriter and talking to its interactive interpreter is still a pretty sick idea. It's like debugging a graphics program in C without a debugger or a raster device. I wish I had an opinion on NeWS, but that'll have to wait until we get a Sun here.... John Chew -- john j. chew, iii poslfit@utorgpu.bitnet trigraph, inc. poslfit@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu toronto, canada {uunet!mnetor!utzoo,utgpu,utcsri}!trigraph!john [it is my opinion that these are solely my opinions.]