DPOST(1) User Commands DPOST(1)

NAME

dpost - troff postprocessor for PostScript printers

SYNOPSIS

dpost [-c num] [-e num] [-m num] [-n num] [-o list]
[-w num] [-x num] [-y num] [-F dir] [-H dir]
[-L file] [-O] [-T name] [file]...


/usr/lib/lp/postscript/dpost

DESCRIPTION

dpost translates files created by troff(1) into PostScript and writes
the results on the standard output. If no files are specified, or if
- is one of the input files, the standard input is read.


The files should be prepared by troff. The default font files in
/usr/lib/font/devpost produce the best and most efficient output.
They assume a resolution of 720 dpi, and can be used to format files
by adding the -Tpost option to the troff call. Older versions of the
eqn and pic preprocessors need to know the resolution that troff will
be using to format the files. If those are the versions installed on
your system, use the -r720 option with eqn and -T720 with pic.


dpost makes no assumptions about resolutions. The first x res command
sets the resolution used to translate the input files, the DESC.out
file, usually /usr/lib/font/devpost/DESC.out, defines the resolution
used in the binary font files, and the PostScript prologue is
responsible for setting up an appropriate user coordinate system.

OPTIONS

-c num
Print num copies of each page. By default only one copy is
printed.


-e num
Sets the text encoding level to num. The recognized
choices are 0, 1, and 2. The size of the output file and
print time should decrease as num increases. Level 2
encoding will typically be about 20 percent faster than
level 0, which is the default and produces output
essentially identical to previous versions of dpost.


-m num
Magnify each logical page by the factor num. Pages are
scaled uniformly about the origin, which is located near
the upper left corner of each page. The default
magnification is 1.0.


-n num
Print num logical pages on each piece of paper, where num
can be any positive integer. By default, num is set to 1.


-o list
Print those pages for which numbers are given in the
comma-separated list. The list contains single numbers N
and ranges N1-N2. A missing N1 means the lowest numbered
page, a missing N2 means the highest. The page range is an
expression of logical pages rather than physical sheets of
paper. For example, if you are printing two logical pages
to a sheet, and you specified a range of 4, then two
sheets of paper would print, containing four page layouts.
If you specified a page range of 3-4, when requesting two
logical pages to a sheet; then only page 3 and page 4
layouts would print, and they would appear on one physical
sheet of paper.


-p mode
Print files in either portrait or landscape mode. Only the
first character of mode is significant. The default mode
is portrait.


-w num
Set the line width used to implement troff graphics
commands to num points, where a point is approximately
1/72 of an inch. By default, num is set to 0.3 points.


-x num
Translate the origin num inches along the positive x axis.
The default coordinate system has the origin fixed near
the upper left corner of the page, with positive x to the
right and positive y down the page. Positive num moves
everything right. The default offset is 0 inches.


-y num
Translate the origin num inches along the positive y axis.
Positive num moves text up the page. The default offset is
0.


-F dir
Use dir as the font directory. The default dir is
/usr/lib/font, and dpost reads binary font files from
directory /usr/lib/font/devpost.


-H dir
Use dir as the host resident font directory. Files in this
directory should be complete PostScript font descriptions,
and must be assigned a name that corresponds to the
appropriate two-character troff font name. Each font file
is copied to the output file only when needed and at most
once during each job. There is no default directory.


-L file
Use file as the PostScript prologue which, by default, is
/usr/lib/lp/postscript/dpost.ps.


-O
Disables PostScript picture inclusion. A recommended
option when dpost is run by a spooler in a networked
environment.


-T name
Use font files for device name as the best description of
available PostScript fonts. By default, name is set to
post and dpost reads binary files from
/usr/lib/font/devpost.

EXAMPLES

Example 1: Examples of the dpost command.

If the old versions of eqn and pic are installed on your system, you
can obtain the best possible looking output by issuing a command line
such as the following:


example% pic -T720 file | tbl | eqn -r720 | troff -mm -Tpost | dpost


Otherwise,


example% pic file | tbl | eqn | troff -mm -Tpost | dpost


should give the best results.

EXIT STATUS

The following exit values are returned:

0
Successful completion.


non-zero
An error occurred.

FILES

/usr/lib/font/devpost/*.out


/usr/lib/font/devpost/charlib/*


/usr/lib/lp/postscript/color.ps


/usr/lib/lp/postscript/draw.ps


/usr/lib/lp/postscript/forms.ps


/usr/lib/lp/postscript/ps.requests

SEE ALSO

download(1), postio(1), postprint(1), postreverse(1), troff(1),
attributes(7)

NOTES

Output files often do not conform to Adobe's file structuring
conventions. Piping the output of dpost(1) through postreverse(1)
should produce a minimally conforming PostScript file.


Although dpost can handle files formatted for any device, emulation
is expensive and can easily double the print time and the size of the
output file. No attempt has been made to implement the character
sets or fonts available on all devices supported by troff. Missing
characters will be replaced by white space, and unrecognized fonts
will usually default to one of the Times fonts (that is, R, I, B, or
BI).


An x res command must precede the first x init command, and all the
input files should have been prepared for the same output device.


Use of the -T option is not encouraged. Its only purpose is to enable
the use of other PostScript font and device description files, that
perhaps use different resolutions, character sets, or fonts.


Although level 0 encoding is the only scheme that has been thoroughly
tested, level 2 is fast and may be worth a try.

May 13, 2017 DPOST(1)