Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!mailrus!ames!ncar!tank!eecae!cps3xx!cpsvax!smithda
From: smithda@cpsvax.cps.msu.edu (J. Daniel Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.text
Subject: Re: DVI files to Postscript (and tools)
Message-ID: <4776@cps3xx.UUCP>
Date: 28 Sep 89 01:18:57 GMT
References: <860@pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu>
Sender: usenet@cps3xx.UUCP
Reply-To: smithda@cpsvax.UUCP (J. Daniel Smith)
Organization: Michigan State University, Computer Science Department
Lines: 71

In article <860@pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu> verber@pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu (Mark A. Verber) writes:
>It seems to be a shame that everyone has done their own dvi2ps driver
>with their own extensions, fixes, and improvements.  I am trying to
>make a list of about various drivers:
Amen!!!!!!!!!!!
Its nice to have lots of people working on dvi->ps drivers, but it is
also getting very confusing with all these different versions.  I have
source code for 4 or 5 different dvi->ps drivers on a machine here.
Each one has a few features that are unique to it.  (For example the
one that is currently installed as dvi2ps will do PostScript scaling
of a CM bitmap font if it can't find the right size.  This is really
neat, because then one can use say \font\bigtt=cmtt at 73.2pt without
any problems).  The list of features goes on for each different
version.

>I will be happy to post a summary after I get responces.  It would
>be nice to try and merge the various versions of dvi2ps back into
>a single driver that would replace the current dvi2ps on the Unix-TeX
>dist.
This would be WONDERFUL.  Let's get a big long list together of what
everybody wants in their dvi->ps.  I don't think there would be to
many mutually-exclusive type things.  This might be a big driver with
lots of options, but I think that is much better than the current
state of too many drivers.

So, here is what I would like in my dvi->ps (just off the top of my
head):
   * GOOD PostScript output (I assume this also means fast PS output)
   * Inclusion of other PS files (EPSF format).  Since the output will
     also be EPSF, it should be possible to include the output from a 
     previous run of dvi2ps as a PS file in another.....
   * Support of ALL font formats.  I know PKs are the best, but we
     only want ONE driver floating around...
   * Support of Internal PostScript fonts.  A naming standard needs to
     be agreed upon here.  I have TFMs called Times-Roman.tfm and
     t-rom.tfm. 
   * Support of other PS fonts.  Both user defined fonts (so I can
     generate Logos and the like in PS), and downloadable fonts (so I can
     use fonts from Adobe) 
   * Font substitution.  Substitute missing fonts with "close" fonts,
     or with resident PS fonts. 
   * I like the PS font scaling of Bitmaps mentioned above.
   * Control over the PS encoding vector (so I can use those neat
     characters that are in a PS font from TeX.  A CM section symbol
     doesn't look very nice if everything else is Helvetica).  Also, I
     think that the PS accented characters are probably better than with
     TeX.
   * All options controllable from a file.  A file like
     /usr/local/tex/.dvi2ps for standards for the local system and
     ~/.dvi2ps for however I might want things set up differently.  Of
     course the command line would override all of this, but it would  
     be nice just to type dvi2ps filename most of the time.
   * Correct VM memory usage.  I should be able to print the PS file
     generated by dvi->ps on all PS printers.
   
I'm sure there are many, many, many more features that people would
like to see.  Some have become almost "standard" like landscape
printing, etc.

Anybody want to tell us out there in NetLand why this can't be done, or
take a guess as to how long such an task might take?
   
   Dan
=========================================================================
J. Daniel Smith                      Internet: smithda@cpsvax.cps.msu.edu
Michigan State University              BITNET: smithdan@msuegr

Yea, from the table of my memory,
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records.
             - William Schakespeare, Hamlet
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