Re: Different dialects of PostScript?

[Michael Loßin <phallobst@xxxxxx>]

On 06-Feb-02 Kirill Semenkov wrote:
> I've recently found a strange problem while printing to HP Color LaserJet
> 4450N.

What driver do you use for this one?

> Pictures and PostScript files are printed correctly while text files and
> html
> files aren't. a2ps was used as filter for text files printing. HTML files

Which version of a2ps are you using?

> were
> printed from within browsers (Netscape 4.77 and konqueror 2.1.1). Printer
> gives
> a kind of error: PostScript error:  stack and so on... 

Argh! This very error message might be helpful -- why do you
omit it?

> ghostscript interprets PostScript files generated with a2ps and browsers
> correctly. I used apsfilter 6.1.1 and GNU GhostScript 6.51 with PostsScript

Please update both packages if possible. (7.2.1 and 7.04)

> level3 support compiled. It seems to me printer and apsfilter output speak
> different PostScript level 3 dialects. Setting
> GS_OPTIONS="-dLanguageLevel=3"
> doesn't help.

I don't know if there's a printer that *requires* PostScript Level 3
to be used. Apsfilter doesn't know (or care) about Level3, and most
converters produce Level2 by default.

> I looked through interiors of the apsfilter executable and made a small
> magic
> correction solving the problem. The patch is attached.
> So my question is. Have anybody observed such an effect and is there a
> simpler
> method to solve described problem?

This patch looks very hackish... You just add another gs invokation
with the "pswrite" device before the regular gs driver is used.
I have no idea why gs would choke on the PS files with the regular
driver, but not when using "pswrite".

There have been some stack bug fixes after 6.51, so you might want
to check out a current release of ghostscript, or use a driver that
is better suited for your printer.


HTH
Michael