next up previous contents index
Next: Resource File Up: Technology File Previous: Variable Setting as Keywords   Contents   Index

Hardcopy Driver Parameters

By default, all hardcopy drivers available within the program are made available to the user through the Format menu in the Print Control Panel. Drivers can be disabled, so they don't appear in the Format menu, by adding the ``off'' keyword to the ``HardCopyDevice'' line, which begins the block of lines describing the driver defaults. The driver blocks are found near the end of the technology file, and are written in their entirety when the Save Tech command is used to generate a technology file. It is not an error for a driver block to be absent; internal defaults will be used.

The following keyword(s) may be used outside of the driver blocks to set the default print driver.

DefaultDriver driver_name
This keyword sets the default print driver to use in both electrical and physical modes. When the Print Control Panel initially appears, the Format menu will have this driver selected. The driver_name is one of the driver names as listed in the HardCopyDevice keyword description below. The keyword AltDriver is recognized as a synonym for this keyword.

ElecDefaultDriver driver_name
Similar to DefaultDriver, but sets the default to use in electrical mode only. The keyword AltElecDriver is a synonym.

PhysDefaultDriver driver_name
Similar to DefaultDriver, but sets the default to use in physical mode only. The keyword AltPhysDriver is a synonym.

A driver block begins with a HardCopyDevice line naming the driver, and ends with the next HardCopyDevice line or end of file. In addition to the HardCopy... keywords that specify driver defaults, any of the keywords described in the Presentation Attributes and Attribute Colors categories of the Technology File Attributes section A.8 can be used. The attribute or color will then apply while in print mode and the driver is selected, both on-screen and in the driver output. The keyword formats are exactly as described in these subsections. If not given in a driver block, the driver will use the attribute or color values set in the main part of the technology file, or the program defaults if no value is specified.

Layer colors, fill, and visibility can be set on a per-layer basis for the driver, by including a ``mini-layer block''. This is a truncated version of the layer blocks described in Technology File Layer Blocks, section A.6. The only keywords which are accepted in a mini-layer block are RGB (to set the color), Filled (to set the fill pattern or outline style, and Invisible (to set visibility). However, there are two additional special keywords that may be included in specific drivers:

HPGLfilled filltype [ option1 option2 ]
This keyword is recognized and used only by the HP-GL hard copy driver (``hpgl_line_draw_color''), and is used to specify a fill pattern for the layer (electrical or physical). The parameters are those appropriate for the FT HPGL directive, as documented in
``THE HP-GL2 AND HP RTL REFERENCE GUIDE: A HANDBOOK FOR PROGRAM DEVELOPERS''
from Hewlett-Packard, (ISBN 0-201-63325-6) pages 127-129. This is summarized below:

filltype description option1 option2
1 solid, bidirectional ignored ignored
2 solid, unidirectional ignored ignored
3 hatched, parallel lines line spacing line angle
4 crosshatched line spacing line angle
10 shadings shading level ignored
11 not supported ignored ignored

There are 1016 dots per inch and angles are in degrees. Shading level is 0-100. If the HPGLfilled keyword is supplied for a layer and the filltype and options (if given) are valid, that fill will be used with the layer in HPGL output. There is presently no way to assign the layer color.

This parameter must be added to the technology file with a text editor. The default is no fill. Note that the fill patterns set on the screen in hard copy mode are not used by the HP-GL driver.

XfigFilled filltype
This keyword is recognized and used only by the xfig hard copy driver (``xfig_line_draw_color''), and allows setting the fill patterns for the layer (electrical or physical). The filltype is an integer 1-56, which selects one of xfig's internal fill patterns.

0 No fill
... shades
20 Full saturation of the color
... tints
40 White
41 30 degree left diagonal pattern
42 30 degree right diagonal pattern
43 30 degree crosshatch
44 45 degree left diagonal pattern
45 45 degree right diagonal pattern
46 45 degree crosshatch
47 Bricks
48 Circles
49 Horizontal lines
50 Vertical lines
51 Crosshatch
52 Fish scales
53 Small fish scales
54 Octagons
55 Horizontal "tire treads"
56 Vertical "tire treads"

Values 1 to 19 are ``shades'' of the color, from darker to lighter, a shade is defined as the color mixed with black. Values from 21 to 39 are ``tints'' of the color from the color to white, a tint is defined as the color mixed with white. The XfigFilled parameter must be added to the technology file with a text editor. The default is no fill. Note that the fill patterns set on the screen in hard copy mode are not used by the xfig driver.

As for regular layer blocks, a mini-layer block starts with a PhysLayer or ElecLayer keyword, or one of the aliases. The layer name given must be the name of a layer supplied in one of the regular layer blocks. A mini-layer block terminates when a new mini-layer block starts, or at the end of the driver block. The block order, and order with respect to other keywords, is arbitrary.

The other keywords of the driver block are described below.

HardCopyDevice device_name [off]
This line begins the driver block, and the keywords that follow apply to the device_name driver. The names are internally recognized strings:
hp_laser_pcl
hpgl_line_draw_color
postscript_bitmap
postscript_bitmap_encoded
postscript_bitmap_color
postscript_bitmap_color_encoded
postscript_line_draw
postscript_line_draw_color
windows_native
xfig_line_draw_color
image
If the ``off'' keyword is given (``disable'' and ``n'' are synonyms), the driver is disabled, and will not appear in the Format menu of the Print Control Panel.

See the description of the Print button in the File Menu (8.6.2) for more information on these drivers.

HardCopyLegend n
This keyword sets the default status of the Legend button in the Print Control Panel when the driver is active. Values can be 0, 1, or 2:

0 Legend button is off
1 Legend button is on
2 Legend button is grayed and inactive

HardCopyOrient n
This keyword sets the default status of the Portrait, Landscape, and Best Fit buttons in the Print Control Panel while the driver is active. Values are 0-3:

bit 0 set Landscape on, Portrait off
bit 0 unset Landscape off, Portrait on
bit 1 set Best Fit button on
bit 1 unset Best Fit button off

HardCopyCommand command_string
Specifies the command to use to queue the plot. This will be shown in the command text box of the Print Control Panel. The characters ``%s'' will be replaced with the name of the temporary file, all other characters are passed verbatim. If ``%s'' does not appear in the string, the file name will be appended to the string, separated by a space character. This keyword is ignored under Microsoft Windows.

HardCopyResol list_of_integers
This sets the resolutions supported by the driver, in dots per inch.

HardCopyDefResol integer
This has meaning only to drivers that have selectable resolutions. The value following this keyword is a zero-based index into the list of resolutions as given with the HardCopyResol keyword, and indicates the default resolution which will be selected in the Print Control Panel for the driver.

Example:

HardCopyDevice postscript_line_draw
HardCopyResol 72 75 100 150 200 300 400
HardCopyDefResol 2

This will select 100 as the resolution for the postscript_line_draw driver when the Print Control Panel first appears. The resolution can be changed with the menu.

$\textstyle \parbox{4in}{\tt
HardCopyDefHeight {\it float\_format\_number}\\
H...
...off {\it float\_format\_number}\\
HardCopyDefYoff {\it float\_format\_number}}$
These set the default image size and location, and are in inches, unless followed by the letter `c' which denotes centimeters. The Yoff number may be interpreted as a top or bottom margin, depending upon the driver. The dimensions are in all cases relative to the portrait orientation of the page. If the width or height is set to zero (but not both) the driver will assume auto-width or auto-hight mode, where the width or height is set to the minimum necessary to render the object.

$\textstyle \parbox{4in}{\tt
HardCopyMinHeight {\it float\_format\_number}\\
H...
...off {\it float\_format\_number}\\
HardCopyMinYoff {\it float\_format\_number}}$
These set the minimum acceptable values for the parameters.

$\textstyle \parbox{4in}{\tt
HardCopyMaxHeight {\it float\_format\_number}\\
H...
...off {\it float\_format\_number}\\
HardCopyMaxYoff {\it float\_format\_number}}$
These set the maximum acceptable values for the parameters.


next up previous contents index
Next: Resource File Up: Technology File Previous: Variable Setting as Keywords   Contents   Index
Stephen R. Whiteley 2024-09-29