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From: john13@garfield.UUCP (John Russell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Combining Troff/Tex fonts with Amiga (WordPerfect) print files
Message-ID: <4257@garfield.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 29-Nov-87 15:20:01 EST
Article-I.D.: garfield.4257
Posted: Sun Nov 29 15:20:01 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 2-Dec-87 22:50:39 EST
References: <4241@garfield.UUCP> <7200033@uiucdcsm> <1127@sugar.UUCP>
Reply-To: john13@garfield.UUCP (John Russell)
Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga
Distribution: na
Organization: Memorial University of Newfoundland
Lines: 68
Keywords: WordPerfect Pagesetter Troff Tex fonts

In article <1127@sugar.UUCP> peter@sugar.UUCP (Peter da Silva) writes:
>> > Troff? The non-WYSIWYG thing with the cryptic commands? Get real :-).
>> 
>> I'm trying :-)!  Let's face it, troff is stone-age text formatting.
>
>Troff is a different SORT of program than pagesetter. I wouldn't expect you to
>do a fancy newsletter with graphics and images in Troff. On the other hand,
>I'd hate to enter a book into Pagesetter. 

I was thinking more in terms of WordPerfect for book-type projects. And doesn't
PageSetter Professional accept WordPerfect documents? Hmmmmm... BTW, a
representative of one Canadian nation-wide distributer told me they wouldn't
carry Pagesetter since Commodore was including it in the software promotions;
I asked if this applied to Pagesetter Pro, and was told this was included in
the Productivity Pack -- I had to tell them it was actually just regular
Pagesetter with extra fonts and PostScript support.

Which is just as good a lead-in as any for this:

--
[Is comp.laser-printers moderated? This bounced when I tried to post it there.]

The Unix system here has both Tex and ditroff online, with tons of fonts for
each, and using a HP LaserJet for output. Unfortunately, this printer has no
font cartridges or anything like that, so a WordPerfect sample print that I
upload and print comes out looking like:

This is font #1.
This is font #2.
T h e s e   a r e   b i g   l e t t e r s .

etc. Sure, the print is great and all the formatting is correct, but it's in
that one (kinda big) font with no pizzazz.

What I am looking for, then, is some way to have the fonts stored on the
system downloaded into font positions on the LaserJet before sending the
WordPerfect document, which would have font & pitch change commands embedded
in it, this after "printing" the document into a file at home.

My questions:

- is this doable from within ditroff and/or Tex? It would require loading the
fonts and then exiting *without* resetting the printer; the rest of the
document could be printed as part of the same job, I suppose. Something like
(ditroff fontfile ; cat doc.wp) | lpr -Pljet.

- is there some simple utility already existing that would allow me to do this?
Someone here mentioned Vgrind, I presume the source to it is informative?
Barring that is there straightforward documentation on the font file formats 
I could use to write my own?

- are there any copyright difficulties involved in using fonts from either
package in this way?

- if it works, will the resulting fonts be fixed in size or can they be made to
vary with the print pitch/line spacing?

- what are the limitations on the number and sizes of fonts that can be
stored in HP laserjets of varying memory capacities? I know troff gives you 4
positions at once, WP uses 8 simultaneous font definitions.

If you know the answers to any or all of these questions, please let me know.
I have a semi-familiarity with *roff, no experience at all with Tex. 

John
-- 
"MEGA BRAIN 8K MEMORY"
	-- ad for a portable calculator/notepad, Globe & Mail Nov. 27/87