Short:        Mpage 2.5 (68k+PPC)
Author:       Mark Hahn, Andreas Kleinert (port)
Uploader:     info ar-kleinert de
Type:         text/misc
Architecture: m68k-amigaos; ppc-powerup

 Amiga 68k/PPC port of Mpage.

 Mpage is a program to reduce and print multiple pages of text per
 sheet on a PostScript compatible printer.
 It also has limited functionality to do the same with postscript files itself.

 The PPC binaries have the ".elf" extension and are useable
 from Shell when being used with ppc.library V46+ or
 Frank Wille's emulation for WOS (V0.6b or higher).

 Have fun.

 Usage (for example):

   MPage TESTFILE >prt:
   MPage TESTFILE >T:DESTFILE

 --
 ARK, 25/Jul/99

 *************************************************************

COPYRIGHT:

Mpage and all the files distributed with mpage are covered by copyright:

 Copyright (c) 1994-1997 Marcel J.E. Mol, The Netherlands
 Copyright (c) 1988 Mark P. Hahn, Herndon, Virginia

     Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim
     copies of this document as received, in any medium, provided
     that this copyright notice is preserved, and that the
     distributor grants the recipient permission for further
     redistribution as permitted by this notice.

Mpage was written by:
   ...!uunet!\                       Mark Hahn, Sr Systems Engineer
              >pyrdc!mark            Pyramid Technology Corporation
 ...!pyramid!/                       Vienna, Va    (703)848-2050

 marcel@mesa.nl
   MESA Consulting  B.V.
   Voorburg
   The Netherlands
   Phone: +31-(0)15-3105252
   Mobile:+31-(0)6-54724868
   Fax:   +31-(0)70-3873683

=================================================================
DESCRIPTION:

Mpage is a program to reduce and print multiple pages of text per
sheet on a PostScript compatible printer.
It also has limited functionality to do the same with postscript files itself.

The following are the files you should have for mpage.

     README                 Notes and descriptions, this file
     README.OS2             OS/2 port description
     Copyright              Copyright notice
     CHANGES                Change storys
     Makefile               The Makefile
     TODO                   Wish List for changes
     FAQ                    Useful tips and hints
     NEWS                   Global changes, User visible changes
     Mpage.lsm              LSM file for mpage
     args.c                 Command line and options processing
     encoding.h             Definition of internal default character encoding
     file.c                 Generic file handeling
     glob.c                 Global variable setup
     mpage.h                Definitions
     mpage.c                Main Control
     page.c                 Page layout routines
     post.c                 PostScript file processing
     sample.c               Prints sample page layout pages
     text.c                 Text file processing
     mpage.1                Manual page

     fix                    Fix to mpage that makes it work with ArborText
     All.chars              Test file containing all ascii characters
     Encodings              Directory with character encoding library files
     Characters             List of postscript character encoding names
     Encoding.format        Description on how to create character encoding
                            library files
     gencodes.c             Util program to build All.chars file
     Test                   Directory with test pages

     OS2                    Contrib to build and use mpage on OS/2
     Contrib                Directory with contributions by others


INSTRUCTIONS:

All you should need to do is run make.
This will create mpage and a program called msample.  Mpage is
the program to print n-up pages.  Msample prints a sample outline.  I
used it for debugging the placement of the layout.  It is also handy
for other layout purposes.  It accepts all the arguments that mpage
does, but does not print files.

As a quick sample try:

        "mpage  mp_args.c"
or
        "mpage -8 mp_post.c"
or
        "groff  -man mpage.1 | mpage -2"


The manual page, mpage.1, formats with UCB or ATT manual macros.



USING MPAGE:

You will find that it takes a while on an Apple LW or Apple LW+ to
print 4 pages per sheet, It takes "a good long time" for 8 pages.
Reduced PostScript documents take a while too.  (A rule of thumb might
be 4 times as long for 4-pages-per-sheet reduction :-) On a QMS 8ppm
printer 4 pages per sheet is about the same speed and other forms of
"1-up" output.  mpage prints some timing information back from the
printer so you can measure the time required for full jobs.



ADMINISTRATORS:

As a printer administrator you should see the wish list for caveats
and information about future versions.  I still have work to do to
make mpage more "administrator friendly", but figured that I'd better
get what's been done out the door.



BUG REPORTS:

Mpage is supported but this is done is pare time. So please sent in
bug reports, request or other things related to mpage and once in
a while I'll release a version...
If you have a problem please send me a complete description of the
symptoms.  Please include the brand name of your printer, a copy of
the input file (especially if it is with PostScript input), and a
description of what to look for on the output.  If your printer has an
error log, please include as much of it as is revalant.  In general,
the more clearly organized information I have, the easier it will be
for me. And please do not forget to mention the mpage version you're
using. Also the ouput generated by your mpage might come in handy...



MAKING CHANGES:

Please, if you make any improvements, send them back to me so that I
can include them in future versions.  Also I would solicit comments as
to the usefulness, and effectiveness of mpage.  Let me know what you
like or dislike and feel free to ask any questions you have concerning
this mpage distribution.  Thank you!

-Marcel Mol
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marcel J.E. Mol               phone: (+31) 015-3105252
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delft University of Technology     | MESA Consulting BV
Netherlands                        | Networking and Unix Consultancy
marcel@duteca.et.tudelft.nl        | marcel@mesa.nl
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 They couldn't think of a number, so they gave me a name!
                                -- Rupert Hine