Copyright Xerox Corporation 1983XEROXPALO ALTO RESEARCH CENTERImaging Sciences LaboratoryMarch 30, 1983To:PDPrint UsersFrom:Bob SproullSubject:PD Printer OperationFiled on:PDPrintOps.PressThis memo outlines the procedures for printing PD files on a number of ROS (raster-scanned) Xeroxexperimental printers. It is also a reference manual for the PDPrint program and includes detailedinstructions concerning its use. The format of PD files is described in a separate document [1].0. Server operationIn most cases, printers will be set up with a server that allows both PD files and Press files to beprinted. The EFTP protocol is used to transmit a PD file to the server. The server stores the file on theTrident disk and invokes the PDPrint program to print it.The PD server is not designed for unattended operation. The PDPrint program will halt if it detectsany difficulty during printing, such as a jam, low paper, or printer malfunction. Your intervention willbe required to fix the printer. You will also need to take special steps to reprint your file, since theerror recovery in PDPrint is not exceptional.The server is actually a simple Alto command file named "server.cm", which reads as follows:TridentEftp/T TridentTemp.press from 0'#0'#0Decide TridentTemp.press@server.cmThe first command receives a file using the EFTP prototol and saves it on the Trident disk. TheDecide program examines the file named in its argument to decide whether it is a Press file or a PDfile. If it is a Press file, it invokes the command "Press/O print TridentTemp.press"; if it is a PD file,it invokes the command "PDPrint print TridentTemp.press". When the printing finishes, the Altoexecutive interprets the command file once again, in an infinite loop.1. Printing PD FilesThe PD printing program is named "PDPrint," and may be run by hand. Because the printer isshared by many users, it is considerate to delete your PD file after you have finished printing. If theprinter is normally operated as a server, please type "@server" to the Alto executive before leaving theprinter.The basic command to PDPrint is "Print," followed by a file name. Thus>PDPrint print memo-1.pdwill print the file "memo-1.pd." The PDPrint command words (e.g., "print" above) can be abbreviatedas long as they remain unambiguous. The file to be printed may reside on the Trident disk or on the pX&;eIqcp"ar&`vs Zft(s W^t(s Tt(s QtF( Os%< MOQ KF Hp Dsd BO A 9 =F ;$D :h 89- 4$81U,/- *NV (H &37 $9% #$F p @sD u` L  nG2 U M N ?dvPD Printer Operation2Model 31 diskPDPrint looks on the Trident first.If you wish to override the number of copies specified in the PDPrint file (usually 1), append theclause "copies n" to the end of the command:>PDPrint print memo-1.pd copies 3PDPrint takes some time to format the files properly and begin printing. If you simply wish additionalcopies of a file you have previously printed, you may avoid the formatting delay by using the "reprint"clause in place of the "print file" clause:>PDPrint reprint>PDPrint rep cop 2If you wish to reprint only certain pages, e.g., if the printer mangled only one of your pages, you mayappend the clause "page n" or "pages n to m" to the reprint command:>PDPrint rep page 2>PDPrint rep pages 3 to 4Additional commands are explained in the "PDPrint Reference Manual," below.Troubles While PrintingPDPrint lets you know that it is working by flashing a cursor at you. The top of the cursor displays acharacter denoting the pass (C=scan convert, P=print) and a digit denoting the page number it isworking on.When PDPrint encounters an error during the scan-conversion pass, it will fall into Swat with an errormessage. You may try continuing from any of these errors by typing CONTROL P to Swat, but many ofthe errors are essentially fatal. If you wish to abort the printing, type CONTROL K to Swat. Errorsencountered during printing are also reported in this way. In many cases, problems with the printercan be fixed and you can continue execution.2. Care of printers[Info from Julian about our printers. Is there anything special that has to be done after powering upLilac?]3. Powering Up and DownThe optical systems in some ROS printers are delicate. Please observe any locally posted cautionswhen you turn your system on or off.Powering Up1. The Alto. Make sure that a Model 31 disk pack that contains PDPrint is in the machine and loaded.If the disk will not boot or if it demonstrates other bad behavior, there is no sense in continuing.2. The Trident drive. If the green light on the front of the drive is illuminated, a pack is mounted andrunning. The chances are excellent that this is the correct pack and that you can proceed to step 3. If fsG b1 ^,6 \,2Yo! U%A T3S Rh+2N2M, IL GD2D}2B ?AK ;r 8]sE" 6E 4 1U Z /;ts -Jts +03 *+, &p #Gsb !}  p sb $ \r s^  /5 )@ A' @]oPD Printer Operation3you doubt, read on:Make sure power is on: If the Trident drive is making no noise whatsoever, the power is off. At theback of the drive is a toggle switch that should be flipped up to the "on" position. Noise shouldensue.To dismount a pack: Flip the black switch next to the green light to the "stop" position, and wait forthe green light to stop flashing. Open the cover of the drive carefully by releasing the latch near theforward edge of the lid. Now you are in a position to read the label on the top of the disk pack. Ifyou wish to remove the pack, retrieve the plastic pack housing (the top part, with the handle), lower itslowly over the pack, and carefully rotate the handle counter-clockwise ("unscrewing") until faint clicksare heard repeatedly. Now carefully lift the pack out by the handle and place it on the pack housingbase.To mount a pack: Retrieve the pack in its housing, and remove the base. Lower the pack into theTrident drive, and turn the handle clockwise ("screwing in") until it stops. Do not over-tighten. Nowlift out the pack housing by the handle. Close the lid to the Trident. Flip the black switch from"stop" to "start." The green light should flash for several seconds and then remain lighted. If this isnot the case, something is wrong.3. The printer. Follow the appropriate procedures for your model.Powering Down1. The Trident drive. Turn the black switch on the front panel to "stop" and wait for the green light tostop flashing. If you wish to power down completely, find the toggle switch at the rear of the driveand turn it off (down).2. The Alto. Use the normal procedures for powering down the Alto. fsG b ^,9 \b [ W;+ U17 T%A REh Pzi NN L Is*7 GE" EM D45 BI! >B ;er 7sh 6(S 4^ 0B -3?:PD Printer Operation4PDPrint Reference ManualPDPrint version 1.0The repertoire of PDPrint commands offers several options when a file is printed. The format of thecommand line is:>PDPrint/switches option option ...The "switches" govern the overall operation of PDPrint; the "options" label the specific options beingused and can be abbreviated as long as they remain unambiguous; most of these options requirearguments.The options control two aspects of PDPrint: what is done during the scan-conversion pass, and what isdone during the printing pass. Scan-conversion is controlled with the following options:PrintScan-convert a PD file. This is the main command to print a PD file. The argumentis the name of the file to be printed. Example: "PDPrint print memo-1.pd". PDPrintwill look for the file on the Trident drive first, then on the Model 31.RePrintUse previously scan-converted information saved on the disk. The file most recentlyprinted is re-printedthis usually avoids time-consuming scan-conversion processes.The "pages" option applies to reprinting.On most installations, PDPrint and Press share a large disk file that contains scan-converted information.Thus, a PDPrint "reprint" option can be used after PDPrint has been run to create the scan-convertedinformation, but if Press is run in between the PDPrint scan-conversion and the "reprint" request,PDPrint will not do the right thing. PagesThis option governs which pages of a file will be reprinted. Page ranges are specifiedwith the "to" option: "PDPrint reprint pages 2 to 3".PatternsUse a built-in procedure to scan-convert eight test pages. Printing is controlled with the following options:(default)Print on the attached printer. The "copies" option applies in this case. CopiesThis option takes a single number as an argument, and is used to control the numberof copies of the document that should be printed. If no "copies" option is given, thenumber of copies requested in the PD file is honored.NoPrintDo nothing with the scan-converted result.DisplayShow the image on the Alto screen.Switches:Several global switches can alter the use of PDPrint:/VVerbose  gives better error messages fsG"bpX%J`S [sQ YL2U/ RhQ PU N KaR IX F$r sJ DZ', BH ?r sK =S I ;) 8t64 6o'= 4O 3C$ /sr s%. .5 *r s< '#2 # H ?r sD  t= 5 8r s* r s" T 52 p% )?\PD Printer Operation5/RReverse  makes a mirror image (sort of)/NNegative  makes a photographic negative (on some printers)/DDebug/MMeter  inverts the normal setting of statistics-taking/IInstall PDPrintErrors. When PDPrint encounters an error, it uses Swat to print an error message from the filePDPrint.Errors. You may attempt to continue from an error by typing CONTROL P to Swat, or youmay kill PDPrint by typing CONTROL K.Installing PDPrintThe command "PDPrint/i" is used to "install" PDPrint. This process sets a large number ofparameters and initializes all the necessary scratch files. This section attempts to explain the procedureused for getting it all going.DisksPDPrint can build its scratch files on either Model 31 disk (drives 0 or 1) or on a Trident T-80 disk.In both cases, a "file system" must have been created on the disk before PDPrint can be installed.The easiest way to create a file system on a Model 31 disk pack is to use the "erase a disk" optionwhen installing the operating system (but don't burden the disk with a lot of files if you want thespace available for PDPrint use). The TFU command "erase" can be used to initialize a T-80 packwith a file system.FilesPDPrint requires a number of files in order to operate properly. The scratch files used by PDPrint areusually shared with those used by Press installed on the same disks. Thus if a file named "Press.Bits" isallocated on the Trident disk, PDPrint will let you use it for its "Bits" scratch file. In the list of filesbelow, the name "Either" is used to stand for either "Press" or "PDPrint". PDPrint.Run (* %)PDPrint.Errors (* %)PDPrint.State (%)Either.BitsEither.ScratchEither.LO1Either.LO2Either.MeterDecide.run (* if running a server)Server.cm (* if running a server)TridentEftp.run (* if running a server)The files marked with * are files that you must provide before beginning to install PDPrint (they canbe obtained from [indigo]); the remainder are scratch files that will be created if necessary. Filesmarked with % must reside on the Model 31 system disk. fsG2b(2`S;2^2\72Z WJ UDts Sts Np K>sP IsA* G D7r @sf >L =/V ;e$? 9[ 7 4^r 0sM /!S -V/= +K(&O$ % Z   0"e!' )*; ^?) 6 L@\PD Printer Operation6PDPrint.Run. This file is distributed as part of the PDPrint system. It is approximately 40K wordslong.PDPrint.Errors. This file contains error messages for use by Swat.PDPrint.State. This tiny file contains the results of installing PDPrint.Either.Bits. This scratch file is used to buffer the raster image for pages to be printed by Press. Thisfile can be as big as you like, but must be at least big enough to hold one full-page image.This minimum is computed as (k(s+15)/16l)(k(32k(b+31)/32l+1023)/1024l) K words,where s is the number of scan-lines on the page, and b is the number of bits per scan-line.If PDPrint attempts to print a PD file with enough pages to overflow the buffering available inEither.Bits, PDPrint will break up the scan-conversion and printing passes into severalsegments. First it will scan-convert pages until it exhausts the buffering in Either.Bits, then itwill actually print those pages on the output device. Then it will repeat this sequence until theentire file has been properly printed. Note that this process may destroy the collationsequence.Either.Scratch. This scratch file is used to hold the "load" between printing passes.Either.LO1 and Either.LO2. These scratch files are used during the scan-conversion process to holdleftover lists.Either.Meter. This scratch file holds statistical information about PD files as they are printed. Thisfeature is intended primarily for diagnostic use during system development. Consequently,you should disable the recording of metering information when you install PDPrint. However,the file Either.Meter must exist in any case, although it can be of negligible length (1K words).The list of files below gives a rough idea of appropriate sizes (remember that a "disk page" is 0.25Kwords on a Model 31 and 1K words on a Trident):Either.BitsTrident15000 pagesEither.ScratchTrident64 pages (Press requires a much larger Scratch file.)Either.LO1Trident100 pagesEither.LO2Trident100 pagesEither.MeterTrident1 pageIt is not essential that you get the file sizes exactly right. If PDPrint exhausts one of the files duringoperation, it will generate a reasonable error message that identifies the short file. You can then re-install PDPrint to enlarge the file and try printing again.The PDPrint installation dialogIf you have retrieved all the files necessary to run PDPrint and decided on the sizes of the scratch filesyou wish, you are ready to embark on the installation dialog.Installation is invoked with the command "PDPrint/i". Once PDPrint has been properly installed,subsequent installation is considerably simpler: simply typing RETURN to each installation prompt willuse the same value used in the previous installationthe previous value is given inside parentheses. fsG bIts`S \C YoJ ULT3+1Rhususususus ustsP9"M!>K>8Is+8G-5EJ D @V =/ U;e 7>*6(G4^=2Xts /!-7t -Vsts) ){ ( ){t,&Os ){$ ){" ){ HS }P ; Ar sU = oU 0ts! G @\x'PD Printer Operation7The paragraphs below describe the various questions you will be asked. Each response must beterminated with a RETURN; typein to PDPrint is edited by typing BS to backspace one character (\ willbe typed to indicate a character has been rubbed out); N RETURN is sufficient to mean No; Y RETURNis sufficient for Yes. If you make a catastrophic mistake during the installation, simply type SHIFTSWAT (or boot the machine) and begin again.General installation parameters.Record metering information? Normal answer: "N"Meter each page transfer? Normal answer: "N"Normally use extended memory? Normal answer: "Y"PDPrint will use extended memory, if it is available, to hold the PD "load". Up to 63K words of load can be heldin extended memory. If extended memory is not available or if PDPrint is not instructed to use it, the load mustbe smaller (somewhat less than 30K words).Printer parameters. Because PD format is a device-dependent one, the installation parameters usedmay affect the kinds of PD files that are acceptable to the device (e.g., resolution requested in the filemust match that of the installation). At the end of this document are installation parameters forseveral devices.Output device? Type in the name of the output device you are usingthe prompt gives a listof possible answers. Depending on the device you select, some of the following questions maybe omitted.Resolution in bits/inch? Enter the resolution of the device.Resolution in scans/inch? Usually the same as bits/inch.Paper speed (inches/second)? This is the speed of the paper transport system. Changing thisvalue will change the size of the image along the transport direction. PDPrint records thisvalue to a precision of 1/10 ips. Number of printer colors? Black-and-white printers answer this question with "1". A colorprinter will answer either "3" or "4" depending whether it has a black developer.Use standard n-color printing queue? Pimlico and Puffin require control information to selecta toner color for each printing cycle. This control information can be obtained in two ways: (1)from a fixed standard queue, or (2) from the PDPrint program. In the first case, the PD filetoner colors and feed/strip information must correspond to the standard queue built into theprinter; in the second, the PD file specifications are interpreted and used to build the printingqueue. The standard queues are:3-color: Magenta+feed; Yellow; Cyan+strip4-color: Magenta+feed; Yellow; Cyan; Black+stripDoes the machine use a Pimlico ROS? Some Puffins (notably Lilac) use a different ROS.Scan line length in bits? The response to this question is used to servo the bit-clock on some fsG b] `Sts(ts ^7tst \sFt Zs' WT/P-M,1It!OHYZF* C@s<& Au^ ?F =:n M8\6 3g=/9,F*;("%|Q#Q ? QtV DL2/J()( 01% *Z | ?](PD Printer Operation8devices. The value can be adjusted until the size of the image appears correct.Scan margin adjustment? This value specifies the number of scan-lines that are passed upbefore imaging begins. Changing this value changes the position of the image along the papertransport direction.Bit margin adjustment? This value specifies the alignment of the image along the scanningdirection.How many seconds before timing out printer? This value is chosen to be a bit longer than themaximum time it takes to image a page.Do you want scan-lines doubled? Devices driven by the Slot card can repeat scan-lines if youanswer this question affirmatively. For example, you might claim that a device has aresolution of 300 scans/inch and enable scan-line doubling, if the printer will actually putdown 600 scans/inch.Number of form-feeds prior to printing? (Versatec) This is the number of pages to spew outof the printer before printing.Number of form-feeds after printing? (Versatec) This governs how much paper is ejected afterprinting.Paper parameters.Scan dimension? Answer with the size of the medium, in inches, measured along the scanning(scan-line) direction.Transport dimension? Answer with the size of the medium, in inches, measured along thetransport direction.Disks. PDPrint will ask if you want to use the Trident disk. It will also ask if you want to make useof drive 1 of the Model 31 controller. (If you have two Model 31 disks with a single file systeminstalled on both, answer No.)Files. Now PDPrint will cycle through all the scratch files, asking you to specify the treatment foreach one. If a file already exists, its location and size are printed, and you are asked if that is proper("Y" or simply RETURN implies Yes). If you respond that the allocation is not proper, or if the filedoes not exist, PDPrint prompts to determine which disk the file should use, and how big (in diskpages for the disk you select) the file should be.Installation parametersThe information below gives installation parameters for several interesting devices.Hornet. (Instances: Stinger)Device: SlotResolution: 384Number of printer colors: 1Scan line length: 5597Scan margin adjustment: 85 fsGbO^K \3*[WZU Rh?P&M,WKaSI OGDZRB?5(=S 96o?412S/h +[ *+=rs (` $^ #$S !YtsP "? rs Rp sT n2 222 D2 y 2?]PD Printer Operation9Bit margin adjustment: 290Scan lines doubled: NoPrinter timeout: 10Paper dimension, scan direction: 14Paper dimension, transport direction: 8.5Raven. (Instances: Quoth)Device: SlotResolution: 300Number of printer colors: 1Scan line length: 5597Scan margin adjustment: 85Bit margin adjustment: 145Scan lines doubled: NoPrinter timeout: 10Paper dimension, scan direction: 14Paper dimension, transport direction: 8.5Puffin. (Instances: Lilac)Device: PuffinResolution: 384Paper speed: 4Number of printer colors: 3Use standard color queue: No (Yes is OK, but N preferred)Use a Pimlico ROS: YesScan line length: 3920Scan margin adjustment: 3700Bit margin adjustment: 320Printer timeout: 20Paper dimension, scan direction: 8.5Paper dimension, transport direction: 11Note that with devices controlled by ROS adapters [2] it is possible to change the resolution over some range withoutmaking any engine modifications, since the bit clock and polygon motor speeds are servoed according to the installationparameters.References[1] "Printing Device File Format," March 3, 1983. Filed on [maxc]pdformat.press.[2] "Programmer's Guide to Orbit, the ROS Adapter, and the Dover Printer," June 1977. Filed on[maxc]orbitguide.press. fsG2b2`S2^2\#2Z) W2U 2S2R"2PW2N2L2J2I-2Gb#2E) B%2@[ 2>2< 2:290927f25232220;2.q$2,( )Wt g 'c &, "p HsJ 2.  % ?NF TIMESROMAN LOGO TIMESROMAN  TIMESROMAN  TIMESROMANMATH   f %,2X6j/9 7pdprintops.bravoSproullMarch 29, 1983 3:58 PM