Options for paper output?

[HPW]

Thinking of professional output on paper let me search for this in newlisp.

But it seems not much native options.



So what are the options:



Using TCL-Extensions?

Generating HTML and lauch a browser?

Generating PDF and use Acro Reader?

Other?



Any thoughts or ideas?

[Lutz]

>>>>>>

Using TCL-Extensions?

Generating HTML and lauch a browser?

Generating PDF and use Acro Reader?

>>>>>>



all of the above:  HTML and launching a browser would be the easiest. Don't know about the TCL-extensions. Best quality for printing of course PDF. Post Script the language behind PDF is fun to learn.



If you have a lot of tabular data you also might think eporting CVS format, which you could use in Excel/Access etc.



Or you could write an Excel sheet or Access database directly using the ODBC module shipped in the source distribution. Steve, alias adamss3 on this board, seems to have done some work with this and helped to develop / debug it.



Lutz

[HPW]

>HTML and launching a browser would be the easiest.



That have I done with my alisp-code and it only has to be ported.



>Don't know about the TCL-extensions.



I am investigating on this, but it seems that multiplatform-support for it is tricky.



>Best quality for printing of course PDF. Post Script the language behind PDF is fun to learn.



Would it be possible to have support for this in newlisp? Something like CL-PDF and CL-Typesetting. Sample here:



http://www.fractalconcept.com/ex.pdf">http://www.fractalconcept.com/ex.pdf



The work of Mark Battyani is fantastic, but only for the heavy CommonLisp's.

Is something simpler possible?

[HPW]

This is also an answer:



http://www.alh.net/newlisp/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=133&start=20">http://www.alh.net/newlisp/phpbb/viewto ... 3&start=20">http://www.alh.net/newlisp/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=133&start=20

[nigelbrown]

As newlisp has a light scripting feel why not use it as the start of

a tool chain that generates pdfs. Searching http://www.freshmeat.net">www.freshmeat.net projects

for pdf (as I'm sure you've done) reveals quite a list of tool chain candidates.

Plug for tool chains: Overall I feel that the tool chain approach is

underutilized - too often it seems to be felt that if you can't do it by static or dynamic linking from your own app that using a tool chain is an inferior last resort.



A set of recipes for using newlisp with various tool chains may be a useful resource.



Nigel

[HPW]

>Searching http://www.freshmeat.net">www.freshmeat.net projects for pdf (as I'm sure you've done) reveals quite a list of tool chain candidates.



No, I get the hint from powerbasic-forum (another programming tool out of my toolbox, also fast and small code) where lots of user seems to use it successfully.



And I want a full integration into one process, so that the enduser cannot see any interuption of his current session.



Or do I miss your point?

[eddier]

You might try generating LaTeX documentation from within newlisp and then calling latex from the (! ) shell command to compile it and dvips (dvi to postscript) from the shell command to print the resulting file.  Or if you want the pdf file -- call dvipdf (dvi to pdf) instead of dvips.



I've generated nice output this way in the past.



Eddie

[nigelbrown]

Hi

re Or do I miss your point?

I was suggesting that in the background you exec a tool chain to produce the output rather than interrupt the current process. Essentially after ypu click print on MS-Word for example you don't really care whether printing is directly integrated or runs a a separate process.



I'll try to come up with a specific example (next week)

Nigel

[nigelbrown]

Looking at freasmeat.net I found the GPL'ed ipdf.exe that is a binary for converting plain text to simple pdf. See http://hoopajoo.net/ipdf_win32.html">http://hoopajoo.net/ipdf_win32.html for the precompiled binary and look at http://hoopajoo.net/project_list.html">http://hoopajoo.net/project_list.html IPDF section for source to compile on linux.

Trying

C:newlisp>ipdf -m 'A4-p' -o readme2.pdf readme.txt

gives a reasonable, simple, pdf of the newlisp readme.



In newlisp, after putting the required plain text into temp001.txt (say) running:

> (exec {ipdf -m "a4-p" -o temp001.pdf temp001.txt})

()

>

creates the temp001.pdf.

Nigel

[nigelbrown]

below is a context that outputs a pdf directly - it could be used to add extra funionality - create pdf from text file, callable functions that output pdf etc.

I don't have anywhere to put it up on a site. It's just a straight translation from the c - more or less.



; from txt2pdf.c that had header below

; from http://www.planetpdf.com/mainpage.asp?WebPageID=156">http://www.planetpdf.com/mainpage.asp?WebPageID=156

; titled "How to convert text to PDF"

;/*

;   Copyright 1998

;   P. G. Womack, Diss, Norfolk, UK.

;   "BugBear"

;   Do what you like, but don't claim you wrote it.

;*/

;       converted by Nigel

; usage:

; access using (TXT2PDF:txt2psf function_to_provide_text filenamestring)

; file will be opened named from filenamestring (put your own .pdf extension on)

; then function_to_provide_text will be repeatedly called - each call should produce

; either

;         a string that will be treated as text with a newline implicitly at the end

;    or   character 12 that will be treated as formfeed - that is start a new page

;    or   nil that will signal end of data - pdf will then be finalised and closed, no more calls will be made

; returns true if successful (file created and closed) false if file open fails.

; eg      (TXT2PDF:txt2pdf (lambda() (pop '("line1" "line2" "12" "line1 on newpage" "2nd line"))) "demo.pdf")

;



(context 'TXT2PDF)



(setq  page_width   594.0 )

(setq  page_depth   828.0 )

(setq  margin   30.0 )

(setq  font_size   10.0 )

(setq  lead_size   10.0 )

(setq object_id   1 )



(setq num_pages  0)

(setq pages '())



(define (store_page id) (begin (push id pages -1) (inc 'num_pages)))



(setq num_xrefs  0)

(setq xrefs '()) ; holdsposition of xrefs as assoc list



(define (start_object id) (begin (push (list id (seek pdfout)) xrefs)

                             (write-buffer pdfout (format "%d 0 objn" id))))

(setq stream_id  0)

(setq stream_len_id 0)

(setq ypos 0.0)    

                     

(define (start_page) (begin (setq stream_id object_id)

                           (inc 'object_id)

                           (setq stream_len_id object_id)

                           (inc 'object_id)

                           (start_object stream_id)

                           (write-buffer pdfout (format "<< /Length %d 0 R >>n" stream_len_id))

                           (write-buffer pdfout "streamn")

                           (setq stream_start (seek pdfout))

                           (write-buffer pdfout (format "BTn/F0 %g Tfn" font_size))

                           (setq ypos (sub page_depth margin))

                           (write-buffer pdfout (format "%g %g Tdn" margin  ypos))

                           (write-buffer pdfout (format "%g TLn" lead_size))))

                           

(define (end_page) (begin (setq page_id object_id)

                         (inc 'object_id)

                         (store_page page_id)

                         (write-buffer pdfout "ETn")

                         (setq stream_len (- (seek pdfout) stream_start))

                         (write-buffer pdfout "endstreamnendobjn")

                         (start_object stream_len_id)

                         (write-buffer pdfout (format "%dnendobjn" stream_len)) ; "%ldnendobjn" newlisp int is 32 bit

                         (start_object page_id)

                         (write-buffer pdfout (format "<</Type/Page/Parent %d 0 R/Contents %d 0 R>>nendobjn" page_tree_id stream_id))))



(define (do_text pdfgets)

  (begin

   (start_page)

   (while (setq buffer (pdfgets))

    (begin

     (if (< ypos margin)

      (begin

       (end_page)

       (start_page)))

     (if (= (length buffer) 0)

      (write-buffer pdfout "T*n")

      (if (= (first buffer) "12"); formfeed code

       (begin

        (end_page)

        (start_page))

       (begin

        (write-buffer pdfout "(")

        (setq s -1)

   (if (!= (nth -1 buffer) "00") (setq buffer (append buffer "00"))) ; protect from endless last char

        (while (!= (setq c (nth (inc 's) buffer)) "")

         (begin

          (case c

           ("(" (write-buffer pdfout "\"))

           (")" (write-buffer pdfout "\"))

           ("\" (write-buffer pdfout "\")))

          (write-buffer pdfout c)))

        (write-buffer pdfout ")'n"))))

     (setq ypos (sub ypos lead_size))))

   (end_page)))

   

(define (txt2pdf pdfgets pdffilename) (begin

          (set 'pdfout (open pdffilename "write")) ; mod to have txt2pdf to return nil if open fails

          (if (= pdfout nil) nil (begin ; do else if file opened ok

       (write-buffer pdfout "%%PDF-1.0n")

            (setq page_tree_id object_id)

            (inc 'object_id)

            (do_text pdfgets)

            (setq font_id object_id)

            (inc 'object_id)

            (start_object font_id)

            (write-buffer pdfout "<</Type/Font/Subtype/Type1/BaseFont/Courier/Encoding/WinAnsiEncoding>>nendobjn")

            (start_object page_tree_id)

            (write-buffer pdfout (format "<</Type /Pages /Count %dn" num_pages))

            (write-buffer pdfout "/Kids[n")                                

            (dolist (ppid pages) (write-buffer pdfout (format "%d 0 Rn" ppid)))

            (write-buffer pdfout "]n")

            (write-buffer pdfout (format "/Resources<</ProcSet[/PDF/Text]/Font<</F0 %d 0 R>> >>n" font_id))

            (write-buffer pdfout (format "/MediaBox [ 0 0 %g %g ]n" page_width page_depth))

            (write-buffer pdfout ">>nendobjn")

            (setq catalog_id object_id)

            (inc 'object_id)

            (start_object catalog_id)

            (write-buffer pdfout (format "<</Type/Catalog/Pages %d 0 R>>nendobjn" page_tree_id))

            (setq start_xref (seek pdfout))

            (write-buffer pdfout "xrefn")

            (write-buffer pdfout (format "0 %dn" object_id))

            (write-buffer pdfout "0000000000 65535 f n")

            (dotimes (i (- object_id 1)) (write-buffer pdfout (format "%010d 00000 n n" (lookup (+ i 1) xrefs)))) ;"%010ld 00000 n n"

            (write-buffer pdfout (format "trailern<<n/Size %dn/Root %d 0 Rn>>n" object_id catalog_id))

            (write-buffer pdfout (format "startxrefn%dn%%%%EOFn" start_xref));"startxrefn%ldn%%%%EOFn"

            (close pdfout)))))

           

(context 'MAIN)

[nigelbrown]

Sorry a typo in usage it should of course be

access using (TXT2PDF:txt2pdf function_to_provide_text filenamestring)

see the demo line lower

Nigel

[Lutz]

Thanks, wonderful! I will put it on the news website next week in the Tips&Tricks section, if this is Ok with you.



Lutz

[nigelbrown]

Yes that's fine.

A couple of observations from the C-to-newLISP conversion process:



The acceptable format specifier in C %ld (long integer) isn't in newLISP - as all newLISP ints are long and %d handles that - so extra editing of formats was needed. Could newLISP accept ld as a specifier? (that is just treat it as %d)



The editor GVim ftp://ftp.vim.org/pub/vim/pc/gvim62.exe">ftp://ftp.vim.org/pub/vim/pc/gvim62.exe at http://www.vim.org/index.php">http://www.vim.org/index.php is a handy text editor that is able to flash matching brackets (menu item Edit|Global Settings|Toggle Showmatch).

I've replaced my previous editor with it for lisp.



Nigel

[Lutz]

thanks, i will look into it



Lutz

[Sammo]

Code Select Expand

;; copy-text-to-pdf
;; simple wrapper for Nigel's 'txt2pdf' code
;;
(define (copy-text-to-pdf text-filename pdf-filename)
    (let
        ( (infile (open text-filename "read")) )
        (TXT2PDF:txt2pdf (lambda () (read-line infile)) pdf-filename)
        (close infile) ))