How to design an app to support multiple printers

Question

I have every kind of IBM printer you can think of. What is the best strategy for creating documents which will print on all of them?

Answer

  1.  If you're an end user, don't add device-specific code.

  2.  For text programmers, set up a profile that defines fonts using .DF
      LIST (to select the first font available for your device).

  3.  Define your line and page dimensions for the least common denominator.

  4.  Specify horizontal and vertical space in fixed units (inches,
      millimeters, ems) rather than unqualified units.

  5.  Avoid hard coding page and column ejects as the amount of text that
      fits in a column or page will vary with the font and device.  (use :psc
      or .cs).

  6.  Define symbols for quote marks, dingbats, etc that are available for
      each device.

  7.  Try to avoid using .TI or .TR for codepoint translations as they
      usually bind the document to a device.

  8.  Read the Implementation Guide to see how it was done in the Starter
      Set.

Last updated: 93/08/24 17:17:54