.TH DVI2QMS L "2 November 1983"
.UC 4
.SH NAME
dvi2qms \- print TeX dvi files on QMS 800/1200/2400 printers
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B dvi2qms
[
.B \-8
] [
.B \-d
] [
.B \-f
.I page#
] [
.B \-h
.I hostname
] [
.B \-l
] [
.B \-mag
.I magnification
] [
.B \-n
.I username
] [
.B \-o
.I filename
] [
.B \-t
.I page#
] [
.B \-x
] [
.B \-y
] [
filename
]
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
.B dvi2qms
program is reads TeX dvi files and writes printer files for
QMS 800/1200/2400 laser printers. It may be used as a dvi output
filter in the lpd printing system or as a user program. You can specify the
input file name on the command line, or dvi2qms will read the input 
file from standard input.
.SH SWITCHES
.IP \fB\-8\fP 5
Generate output for a QMS 800 laser printer. By default, the program generates
output for QMS 1200 and 2400 printers, which is slightly different than 
for QMS 800 printers.
.IP \fB\-d\fP 5
Enable debugging features. This switch makes the program more chatty than it
is normally to allow for some debugging of the program.
.IP \fB\-f\fP 5
Specify starting page for translation.
.IP \fB\-h\fP 5
Specify hostname (This switch is given to
.B dvi2qms
by the lpd printer daemon when the program is used as an output filter.)
.IP \fB\-l\fP 5
Print out files in landscape mode, instead of portrait mode.
.IP \fB\-m\fP 5
Specify a mag to use instead of the mag specified in the dvi file.
.IP \fB\-h\fP 5
Specify username (This switch is given to
.B dvi2qms
by the lpd printer daemon when the program is used as an output filter.)
.IP \fB\-o filename\fP 5
Specify a file for output. Standard output is used if no output file 
is specified.
.IP \fB\-t\fP 5
Specify an ending page for translation.
.IP \fB\-x\fP 5
Ignored.
.IP \fB\-y\fP 5
Ignored.
.SH FONTS
The QMS 1200 and 2400 laser printers require fonts to be rotated
from the format in TeX pxl files. The 
.B dvi2qms 
program will automatically do this rotation whenever necessary, but
glyph rotation is a time consuming operation. Because of this, the 
.B dvi2qms
program tries to keep its own set of font files,
which are essentially rotated pxl
files. The program tries to create a file in the same directory
where it found the pxl file. If it can, it rotates all the glyphs in the fonts
it uses and writes out a new file with the same name as the pxl file, except
with an r append to the end of the name. If it can't create the file, there's
still no problem, the 
.B dvi2qms
program just rotates the characters it needs every time it uses them. It just
takes a little longer to run.
.PP
It's a good idea if you're running dvi2qms as the dvi output filter in 
you lpd spooling setup to make daemon be able to create files in the fonts 
directory. Then the rotated pxl files will be created, and files will print
faster than if they were not there. It's ok to delete these files periodically
to free up the disk space they use. The
.B dvi2qms
program will simple regenerate the ones it uses.
.SH THE TEX SPECIAL COMMAND
Characters given in the TeX \\special command will be sent
directly to the printer. Some people use it to select the 
alternate paper feed mechanism to print out their files on letterhead.
.SH DVI2QMS AS AN LPD OUTPUT FILTER
Running DVI2QMS as an lpd output filter is pretty straightforward. Just 
add a df entry to the printcap entry for your QMS printer with value
the pathname of the
.B dvi2qms
filter program. For QMS 800 printers, the 
.B dvi2qms
program has to know that the printer is a QMS 800 printer. You should just
create a file named qms800 in the spooling directory for your printer.
When
.B dvi2qms 
sees that it's being run by lpd (it figures out by the switches passed
to it), it looks to see if the qms800 file exists in the spooling directory,
and if it does, figures that it is supposed to generate output for a QMS 800
printer, instead of a QMS 1200 or a QMS 2400.
.SH QMS PRINTER CONFIGURATION
The 
.B dvi2qms 
program uses 8 bit free format mode on the QMS printer.
You have to be careful that your
printer is configured so that it is accepting 8 bit data.
The symptom of this problem characters not looking right.
Consult you QMS printer manual to see how to enable interpretatation of eight
bit data.