UKTeX V88 #23 Friday 22 July 1988 TeX DVI2PS for VAX/VMS wanted. TeX in Pascal vs TeX in C VMS BACKUP tapes of the archive CTeX vs. Pascal TeX LaTeX newenvironment's HP Drivers for PC Landscape printing on the HP LaserJet+. --------------------------------- Editor Peter Abbott texsever@uk.ac.aston.spock I have discovered that when files are posted out from texserver a temporary file is created named TELEGRAPH.TMP;n where n is a generation number stepped up by the 'posting software'. On spock we have a version limit set at three and therefore if files cannot be delivered immediately the temporary files may be deleted and the generation number used again. This leads to error messages and the files being lost. The error has been corrected. At the same time the wait loop was set to 15 hours and not 15 mins, the desired value causing long delays before posting out files. Again the problem has been corrected. I apologise if this has caused any inconvenience but all outstanding files should by now have been delivered. The software is being amended to retain all messages for the time being and I will try and report common faults in accessing texserver. Users who are accessing texserver should send messages to texserver@uk.ac.aston.spock (JANET users 'big endian format') texserver@spock.aston.ac.uk (Other users 'little endian format') THE RETURN ADDRESS HOWEVER MUST OBEY JANET RULES WHICH ARE 'BIG ENDIAN FORMAT' Full details will be included in the 'tail' as soon as possible. Data Protection Act Under the above act I am required to inform you that I hold a computer file which contains your name (first name and last name) and your email name and email address. This file is used for distrin#buting UKTeX and TeXmag. I propose to publish a list in the proceedings of the TeX88 Conference as at June 30 1988. If anyone objects to the information being included in the computer file or in the published proceedings they should contact me as soon as possible. Note however if you request your name to be removed form the computer list I shall then be unable to continue to distribute UKTeX and TeXmag to you. Latest TeXhax in the Archive is #65 Latest TeXmag in the Archive is V2N4 --------------------------------- Date: 15-JUL-1988 16:17:05 From: 114RONAN@UK.AC.LIVERPOOL-POLY.SPOOL To: INFO-TEX@UK.AC.ASTON Subject: TeX DVI2PS for VAX/VMS wanted. Sender: JANET"114RONAN@UK.AC.LIVPOL.SPOOL" <114RONAN@UK.AC.LIVPOL.SPOOL> Originally-to: JANET%"infovax@ulcc.ncdlab",JANET%"texhax@ucl.cs",JANET%"info-tex@aston",114RONAN Mailer: Janet_Mailshr V3.0a (07-Jun-1988) First I apologise if you get multiple copies of this message - I am cross-posting to several lists. We run TeX/LaTeX on a VAX with VMS 4.7. We have recently had our LN03+ laserprinter upgraded to an LN03-R PostScript printer. However we have only DVI2LN3, which produces sixel output. This works, but we would prefer to avoid the overhead of re-translating from sixel to PostScript. Does anyone have a DVI2PS for VMS that we could get by Blue Book FTP? Or indeed any other way, but FTP is preferable. Any help greatly appreciated. Reply directly to me, please, as I don't get all the lists. Regards, Ronan Flood, (114RONAN@UK.AC.LIVPOL.SPOOL) Liverpool Polytechnic Computer Services. --------------------------------- Date: Fri, 15 Jul 88 21:49:05 BST From: Ian Moor To: info-tex@uk.ac.aston Subject: TeX in Pascal vs TeX in C Message-ID: <8807152149.aa14553@ivax.doc.ic.ac.uk> The speedup when using TeX in C may not occur on a non Unix machine or indeed on a Unix machine with a good optimizing Pascal compiler. The standard Berkely pascal compiler does not do much optimization and I have seen it produce incorrect code when optimizing. I would doubt that there is much speedup on VMS say as both compilers optimize, and the stronger typing in Pascal may help the optimizer. Ian Moor --------------------------------- Received: from jenny.cl.cam.ac.uk by gnnt.Cl.Cam.AC.UK id aa02441; 19 Jul 88 12:24 BST Date: Tue, 19 Jul 88 12:22:54 BST From: R Fairbairns To: Peter Abbott Subject: VMS BACKUP tapes of the archive Message-ID: <8807191224.aa02441@gnnt.Cl.Cam.AC.UK> IS it the case that one can ask/pay/whatever(?) you to produce a BACKUP tape of the entire UKTeX archive? I'm slowly collecting it on my machine, but the way it goes is incredibly inefficient (it involves a Kermit stage at 2400 Baud!) and I'ld save a lot (overall) if I had a proper `snapshot' of the state of the archive. If it's possible, I'ld be most grateful for details of whatever service you can offer. I appreciate that whatever you do may well be on a `kindness of the heart' basis, and we would be able to pay any reasonable charges you may have to impose. I have seen (somewhere in the arhives of last year's UKTeX---before I joined---% I think) a reference to you producing BACKUP sets, but what prompted me to think of this was your recent messages about tar tapes of the archive. (While I do have a very grotty tar-reader under VMS, that I wrote myself, I'ld much rather use the native format). Thanks in anticipation (and no, I'm not expecting an answer before the end of TeXeter!), Robin Fairbairns +++Editor - I have suitably amended the tail to the digest+++ --------------------------------- Received: from jenny.cl.cam.ac.uk by gnnt.Cl.Cam.AC.UK id aa02618; 19 Jul 88 12:34 BST Date: Tue, 19 Jul 88 12:30:29 BST From: R Fairbairns To: info-tex@uk.ac.aston Subject: CTeX vs. Pascal TeX Message-ID: <8807191234.aa02618@gnnt.Cl.Cam.AC.UK> In UKTeX V88 no. 22, David Shepherd of Inmos remarks that he hasn't found a significant increment of speed between `standard' (Pascal) TeX and CTeX on his VAXes. (Or the other way round...) This didn't surprise me: I had understood that the reason CTeX was so desirable was that (some?) UnixV Pascal compiler was so {\em awful}, while {\em any} Unix C has to be reasonable, or noone'll buy the Unix! The same consideration doesn't seem to apply between VMS Pascal and VMS C (both of which we use here), and I understood that DEC use fundamentally the same compiler under their Ultrix, too. Am I getting the wrong end of the stick, or is Inmos using something other than VMS or Ultrix (I thought they used VMS---something in the back of my mind rather than surety, mind you). Robin Fairbairns Laser Scan Cambridge --------------------------------- Received: from qmcms.maths.qmc.ac.uk by csvax.cs.qmc.ac.uk id a000681; 19 Jul 88 20:10 BST Received: from num.maths.qmc.ac.uk (num) by qmcms.maths.qmc.ac.uk; Tue, 19 Jul 88 20:04:31 BST From: A system manager (usually ast) Date: Tue, 19 Jul 88 20:05:19 BST Message-Id: <6118.8807191905@num.maths.qmc.ac.uk> To: abbottp@uk.ac.aston Subject: LaTeX newenvironment's Cc: sjs@uk.ac.qmc.maths Peter, I have run across something strange recently which, perhaps, other more experienced readers of UKTEK, etc. have encountered and understood. Worse, having solved it for myself, I sent the solution to a colleague, only to discover that he encountered the same difficulty which no longer appeared for me. Fot the sake of concreteness, let me give you my version of a newenvironment wich now works OK for me: -------------------------------- cut here ---------------------- \documentstyle{article} % % ENVIRONMENT ***************** paraenum *************** % % The following environment is basically enumerate but % it produces a paragraph-shaped item, rather than one which % is indented. \newcounter{parenum} \newenvironment{paraenum}{\begin{list}{\theparenum.\hfill} {\usecounter{parenum} \setlength{\labelwidth}{0pt} \setlength{\itemindent}{2em} \setlength{\leftmargin}{0pt} \setlength{\partopsep}{0pt} \setlength{\topsep}{0pt} \setlength{\parsep}{0pt} \setlength{\itemsep}{0pt} }}{\end{list}} % \begin{document} This document tests two new additions to agujgr style files. The first produces an enumerated environment that has each item set in paragraph mode, the way JGR likes it(?)! The second is a complete table etc., etc. First the ``paraenum'' environment: \begin{paraenum} \item This will be the first item in the list, which as you can see looks like a paragraph when typeset. \item And this is the second. \end{paraenum} These additions may not be perfect, but I think they work. Steve Schwartz, Astronomy Unit, Queen Mary College, Mile End Road, London, E1~4NS UK. \end{document} --------------------------- second cut ----------------------------- I'll spare you with the second example. The point is, in developing this I had a lot of trouble and consistently produced a LaTeX error at the "\end{paraenum}", which claimed thatLaTeX error. See LaTeX manual for explanation. Type H for immediate help. ! \begin{list} ended by \end{paraenum}. \@latexerr ...for immediate help.}\errmessage {#1} \endgroup \end ...nore \ignorespaces \fi \else \@badend {#1} \fi l.110 \end{paraenum} As you can see, it clearly failed to expand my ending text. I eventually cured the problem (for me) by changing around the line breaks in the file, in particular keeping the closing bracked of the "begin text" next to the opening bracket of "end text". Very proud of my creation, I sent it to a colleague. His (Vax/Vms) LaTeX gave him the same error message! Yet, when I LaTeXed the file he returned to me (marked "returned to sender!), I had no trouble. I use LaTeX via Textures on a Mac. Clearly different machines have different quirks. I would be very interested to know if anyone has encountered similar problems and found the rationale, as fixing this is very much a hit and miss affair (mostly miss). Many thanks, Steve Schwartz sjs@uk.ac.qmc.maths --------------------------------- Date: 20 Jul 1988 14:35:31-WET DST To: info-tex@uk.ac.aston Subject: HP Drivers for PC From: se314 Hello, Does anyone know of - or have (and wants to give away) an IBM PC driver for converting DVI files to HP Laser Jet, HP Laser Jet Plus or HP Laser Jet 2. Many Thanks, Billy Gibson. JANET Address: se314@uk.ac.city --------------------------------- Message-id: <21 Jul 88 14:38:51 BST WWCOMPS@UK.AC.UMRCC.CMS> Date: Thu, 21 Jul 88 14:38:51 BST From: "Mike Glendinning" To: info-tex @ uk.ac.aston Subject: Landscape printing on the HP LaserJet+. Has anybody modified the Beebe DVIJEP driver to work in landscape orientation? Failing that, does anybody have another public domain driver that will print on a LaserJet+ in landscape mode? Mike Glendinning, University of Manchester Regional Computer Centre. (If anyone is interested, I have modified DVIJEP to run on VM/CMS using the IBM C compiler, and also to support the Kyocera F-1010 laser printer in HP LaserJet+ emulation mode.) --------------------------------- !! !! Files of interest [public]000aston.readme !! [public]000directory.list !! [public]000directory_dates.list !! [public]000directory.size !! !! Editor - I have a tape labelled TeX 2.9 LaTeX 2.09 Metafont 1.3 !! Unix 4.2/3BSD VAX SUN 2/3 Pyramid Seqeunt SYS V: 3B2 Tar 1600 bpi blocked !! 20 1 file dated 26 may 1988 (from washington.edu). !! !! I have the facilty to copy this tape for anyone who sends the following !! !! 1 2400 tape with return labels AND RETURN postage. !! !! Send to !! !! P Abbott !! Computing Service !! Aston University !! Aston Triangle !! Birmingham B4 7ET !! !! A VMS backup of the archive requires 2 (two ) 2400' tapes at 6250bpi. !! Remaining details as above. !! !! Replies/submissions to info-tex@uk.ac.aston please !! distribution changes to info-tex-request@uk.ac.aston please !! !! end of issue