Conference iosg::all-in-1_v30

417.0. "ALL-IN-1 2.4/WPS-PLUS V4 printing problems" by KAOFS::R_RYAN () Mon Apr 06 1992 18:14

    The following note may belong in the WPS-PLUS conference but...what the
    heck...I want to put it here too. The following note is only one of
    about 15 problems I had to deal with on a customer site last week. Of
    the problems dealt with, all have been resolved or worked around. The
    only issue remaining is the backwards compatibility of ALL-IN-1
    2.4/WPS-PLUS 4.0.
    
    
Problem Statement: Since the customer upgraded ALL-IN-1 to version 2.4 
and WPS-PLUS to version 4.0, they have encountered numerous problems in
printing documents as well as several other issues.

Configuration:
Mixed cluster (CI and NI)
2 X 6310
1 X UVAXII
LN03s, HPLJIIDs and HPLJIIDs connected to DECserver 200s.

Software Revisions:
VMS 5.4-3
ALL-IN-1 2.4
WPS-PLUS 4.0
LTdriver X5.1-131
LATCP X5.0-22
LATSYM V5.1-006

Problems:
Most of the customers printing problems stemmed from the use of 'Printer table'
commands. In almost every case these commands are broken and do not perform
the functionality available in past versions of WPS-PLUS.

In past versions the customer would create control blocks ( GOLD COMMAND ) in
which a printer table command such as 'manual_feed' would be placed. Manual_
feed is defined in the HPLJIIID printer attributes table (HPLJ3D.PRA) as
<27>&l2H. Invoking the printer table control block within the document would 
cause the print formatter to send the above escape sequence to the printer.

The workaround for this problem was to invoke the printer table command in the
TOP BLOCK by placing the keyword , 'manual_feed' in square brackets. This 
is a documented capability. Other keywords, such as Upper_tray, Letter, Legal,
and Landscape also worked in this fasion, however they would all fail if invoked
via the printer table control block.
 
In some instances, the use of printer table control blocks would cause printer
justification problems. For example, in some documents a space would be missing
and cause the print on the first line of text to miss its tab position.

Example:
---------------------------------- TOP ---------------------------------------
----------------------------- START CONTROL ----------------------------------
Printer table manual_feed
----------------------------- END   CONTROL ----------------------------------
					        TESTING COMPANY
						1234-A STREET
						REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN.

The resulting printout:

					       TESTING COMPANY
						1234-A STREET
						REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN.

This printout would occur so long as a control block with a print table command
was used. The workaround involved the use of the keyword in a top block.
Example:
---------------------------------- TOP ---------------------------------------
----------------------------- START CONTROL ----------------------------------
TOP
[MANUAL_FEED]
----------------------------- END   CONTROL ----------------------------------
					        TESTING COMPANY
						1234-A STREET
						REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN.

The resulting printout:

					        TESTING COMPANY
						1234-A STREET
						REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN.

The only documentation that we were able to find that suggested that printer
table commands did not function as they had in the past was in the ALL-IN-1
WPS-PLUS Users Reference Guide version 4.0. On page 8-5, table 8-1, under
PRINTER TABLE keyword, it states:
"Initiates a control sequence as defined in the attribute table for the printer.
For more information, see WPS-PLUS printer characteristics. The printer table
command is valid in footnotes and multicolumn areas."
This is a functionality change that is poorly documented and caused numerous
problems on this customers site. 

    Anyway...I know that there are numerous problems with printing under
    ALL-IN-1 2.4/WPS-PLUs 4.0. What I'm interested in is why we the use of
    printer table commands has changed and why it was not screamed from the
    heights to the customers before they installed it? There are an awful
    lot of escalations occurring and an awful lot of angry customers.
    
    If anyone has any light to shed on this, I'd appreciate it.
    
    Regards,
    Ron Ryan
    Western Canada Suport
    P.S. I don't know nuttin about ALL-IN-1/WPS. What a delightfull time I
    had. I have examples of problems and workarounds if anyone is
    interested.