Provided by: hp2xx_3.4.4-9_amd64 bug

NAME

       hp2xx - A HPGL converter into some vector- and raster formats

USAGE

       hp2xx [-options] [hpgl-file(s)]

OPTION SUMMARY

       Option Format  Default   Description
       -------------------------------------------------------------------------
       General options:
         -c   char *  11111111  Pen color(s). Valid: 1 to 8 digits of 0-7 each.
                                0=off, 1=black, 2=red, 3=green, 4=blue, 5=cyan,
                                6=magenta, 7=yellow.
         -f   char *  ""        Name of output file. "" = autom., "-" = stdout
         -l   char *  ""        Name of optional log file
         -m   char *  pre       Mode. Valid (some are compile-time options):
                                mf,cad,dxf,em,emf,epic,eps,escp2,fig,jpg,gpt,hpgl,
                       rgip,pcl,pcx,pic,img,pbm,png,pre,svg,tiff,pdf,nc
         -p   char *  11111111  Pensize(s) [dots] (default), [1/10 mm] (mf, ps).
                                Valid: 1 to 8 digits of 0-9 (or characters A-Z for
                       widths beyond 0.9mm) each.
         -P   int     0:0       Selected page range (m:n) (0 = 0:0 = all pages)
         -q           off       Quiet mode. No diagnostic output.
         -r   double  0.0       Rotation angle [deg]. -r90 gives landscape
         -s   char *  hp2xx.swp Name of swap file

       Size controls:
         -a   double  1.0       Aspect factor. Valid: > 0.0
         -h   double  200       Height [mm] of picture
         -w   double  200       Width  [mm] of picture
         -x   double   -        Preset xmin value of HPGL coordinate range
         -X   double   -        Preset xmax value of HPGL coordinate range
         -y   double   -        Preset ymin value of HPGL coordinate range
         -Y   double   -        Preset ymax value of HPGL coordinate range
         -z   double  1.0       Z engagement (working depth) (used in nc output only)
         -Z   double -1.0       Z retraction depth (used in nc output only)
         -t           off       True size mode. Inhibits effects of -a -h -w

       HPGL handling controls:
         -n           off   No filling of polygons; draws outline instead
         -N           off   Ignore PS commands, calculate plot size as needed
         -e   int     0     Extend IW clipping limits by given amount
         -M   int      0        Remap pen no.0 commands to given pen

       Raster format controls:
         -d   int     75        DPI value (x or both x&y)
         -D   int     75        DPI value (y only)

       PCL only:
         -F           off       Send a FormFeed after graphics data
         -i           off       Pre-initialize printer
         -S   int     0         (Deskjet) Special commands: 0=off,1=b/w,3=CMY,4=CMYK
         -d   (see above)       Valid ONLY 300, 150, 100, 75
         -D   (see above)       INVALID for PCL!

       EPS, PCL, and some previews:
         -o   double  0.0       x offset [mm] of picture (left  margin)
         -O   double  0.0       y offset [mm] of picture (upper margin)
         -C                     Modify -o -O to center picture within -w -h frame

       TIFF only:
         -S   int     0         Compression: 0/1=off,2=RLE,3=G3FAX,4=G4FAX,
                                             6=OJPEG,7=JPEG,8=deflate

       Preview on PC's (DOS):
         -V   int     18        VGA mode byte (decimal)
       -------------------------------------------------------------------------
         -H              Show help.

DESCRIPTION

       hp2xx  reads  HPGL  ASCII  source  files,  interprets  them, and converts them into either
       another vector-oriented  format or one of several rasterfile formats. Currently, its  HPGL
       parser  recognizes a large subset of HPGL/2.  Some high-level functions related to polygon
       filling are missing.  Also, only some of the fixed space vector  fonts  and  none  of  the
       variable space arc fonts are supported. Beside these limitations, hp2xx has proven to work
       with many HP-GL sources without any trouble.

GENERAL OPTIONS

       hp2xx reads from stdin or from a file if any given on the command line.  If no output file
       name  is  given (default), the output automatically goes into a file whose name is derived
       from the input file name and the current mode. For example, hp2xx -m pcl  foo.hpgl  writes
       the  output  to  a  file "foo.pcl". Use option -f outfile to specify your output file name
       explicitly, or -I -f- to write to stdout, e.g. when piping into a queue.

       The program scans the current HPGL source, converts all drawing commands  into  elementary
       vectors,  saves  these  in  a  temporary  file,  and  concurrently  determines the maximum
       coordinate range used. It then processes the vectors by mapping them into  a  user-defined
       coordinate system, preserving the aspect ratio of the original data.

       This  coordinate  system by default fits into a window of size 200 mm by 200 mm. To change
       the size of this bounding window, use -h height and -w width to  set  the  (max.)  desired
       height  and  width  of  your  output  picture; optionally use -a aspectfactor to alter the
       aspect ratio by the given factor (aspectfactor < 1 narrows your picture).   The  generated
       picture  will  always  fit  into the window defined by -h height and -w width, padded with
       background color at the lower or right margin if needed.

       A second way of defining sizes is relying on the size the picture would actually  show  if
       plotted  on  a  sheet  of paper by a HP-compatible plotter. By activating flag -I -t (true
       size), options -a, -h, and -w are ignored, and the sizes are derived from the  HP-GL  file
       assuming that 1 HP unit = 1/40 mm.

       Option -r rotation_angle (in degrees) allows you to rotate the object prior to all scaling
       operations. Its main use is to  facilitate  landscape  format:  -r90  rotates  your  whole
       picture,  e.g. from portait to landscape format. However, any reasonable rotation angle is
       valid.

       By naming a file with option -l log_file you can redirect the diagnostic outputs into  the
       given  file,  even  without a redirection mechanism for stderr like in UNIX shells (e. g.,
       DOS).  Option -q (quiet) gets rid of them completely.

       If you need to process a series of similar objects which should be translated into exactly
       the  same  coordinate  system, there is a way to override the auto-scaling: First, run all
       files separately and note the infos on the used coordinate ranges. Then, pick a range that
       will  cover  ALL  your  pictures.  You can now assign defaults to the internally generated
       range limits by specifying -x xmin, -X xmax, -y ymin, and -Y ymax.  NOTE: Clipping is only
       supported via the IW command ! If any picture coordinate exceeds your limits, they will be
       overwritten.

       Use option -m mode  to  select  the  program  mode,  i.e.  the  output  format.  Currently
       supported:  mode = "mf" (Metafont), "em" (emTeX \special{} commands), "epic" (line drawing
       using TeX macros within epic.sty), "eps"  (PostScript),  "dxf"  (Autocad),  "emf/emp"  (MS
       Enhanced  Metafile  /  Printing  -  available  in  Windows-built  executables only), "svg"
       (Scalable Vector Graphics), "fig" (XFig 3.2), "gpt" (GnuPlot  ascii),  "hpgl"  (simplified
       HP-GL, e.g. for import tasks), "pcl" (HP-PCL Level 3 format (suitable for printing on a HP
       Laserjet II, DeskJet, or compatible printer),  "escp2"  (Epson  Esc/P2  printer  commands,
       suitable  for  printing  on  Epson  Stylus  models),  "img" (GEMs IMG format), "jpg" (JPEG
       image), "pdf" (Adobe Portable Document format), "pbm" (Portable Bit Map / Portable  PixMap
       for  color  plots),  "pcx" (PC-Paintbrush format, also accepted by MS-Paintbrush / Windows
       3.0 and many other PC based pixel renderers), "png" (Portable  Network  Graphics  format),
       "nc"  (CNC  G-code,  for  engravings),  or "rgip" (Uniplex RGIP).  There is also a preview
       option "pre" which supports VGA cards (DOS),  ATARI,  AMIGA,  X11  servers,  and  Sunview.
       Default  mode  is "pre".  (As some of these modes rely on external libraries, they may not
       be builtin by default, and not be available in prebuilt binaries supplied  e.g.  in  Linux
       distributions.  The usage messsage generated when hp2xx is invoked without parameters will
       always list exactly those modes that are actually available.)

       If you use a raster format, the picture is rasterized by default into a 75 DPI  resolution
       image.  Use option -d DPI_value to change the resolution, e.g. -d300 will cause a HP LJ-II
       compatible 300 dpi rasterization. There is a way of specifying a different resolution  for
       y direction: -D DPI_y_value

       Some  programs  were  found  to generate HPGL output with too tight clipping bounds, which
       lead, for example, to some parts of text characters clipped off.  Use option -e  extraclip
       to add some extra amount of space to clip areas to workaround such mistakes.  For example,
       -e 40 will add 40 extra plotter units to every side of clipping box which is 1 mm in  true
       size.

       While processing large pictures at high resolution on low-memory machines, typically under
       DOS, the program may start swapping. Optionally change the swap file by using -s swapfile,
       e.g. to speed up processing by swapping to a RAM disk.

       Unless  the  hpgl file specifies its own selection of pen widths and colors (for up to 256
       pens), a carousel of 8 pens is simulated. You can specify pen sizes and colors for each of
       these pens via options -p string and -c string.  "string" must consist of 1..8 digits (0-9
       for size, 0-7 for color).  Digit number n (counting from left) corresponds to  pen  number
       n.   The  digit  value  is this pen's color or size in internal units.  The pen width unit
       corresponds to 1/10 mm - using pen widths beyond 0.9mm is possible by using the letters of
       the  latin  alphabet,  so  that  A=1mm,  B=1.1mm  etc. The default size is 1 for all pens.
       Colors are  assigned  according  to:  0=off,  1=black,  2=red,  3=green,  4=blue,  5=cyan,
       6=magenta,  7=yellow.   Examples  of  use: -p22222222 -c33333333 changes all pensizes to 2
       units, all colors to green -p302 -c407 makes pen #1 a blue pen of size 3 , pen #3 a yellow
       pen  of  size  2,  suppresses  all  drawing with pen #2, and keeps all other pen sizes and
       colors.  Setting either -p or -c will override the equivalent HPGL/2 commands  (PC,PW)  in
       the HP-GL file.

       Sometimes,  HP-GL files contain several pages of plotter output.  hp2xx recognizes the HP-
       GL commands for "feed-forward", "pause" or "new page", and by default draws each image  as
       a  separate  page  (saving to sequentially numbered output files, or opening a new preview
       window  for  each).  You  can  select  any  particular  page  range  by  using  option  -P
       firstpage:lastpage  which  causes  hp2xx  to skip all drawing commands except those on the
       given pages.  Please note that even if only a single page is actually  drawn,  hp2xx  will
       nonetheless  process  the whole HP-GL file. This makes sure that effects of early pages on
       internal modes indeed influence later pages, as on a real plotter.

VECTOR FORMATS

       Supported vector formats are: TeX/Metafont, emTex-specials, TeX/epic-Macros,  Autocad  DXF
       CNC  G-code  XFig  3.2,  GnuPlot  ASCII,  Simplified  HP_GL,  Uniplex RGIP Scalable Vector
       Graphics (SVG) Adobe PDF(if libpdf is available) and -I PostScript.  Use -m mf to  convert
       a  HPGL  drawing  into  a  Metafont  character  to  be included into a TeX document as the
       character "Z" of a special font that you may create. Edit the metafont  source,  e.g.,  to
       change  the letter "Z" for another, or to change the line thickness, which is set to 0.4pt
       by default.  The other TeX-related modes ("cad"  for  TeXcad  compatible  code,  "em"  for
       employing  \special{em:line}  macros,  and  "epic"  for  drawing  lines  with  macros from
       "epic.sty") address different compromises to cope with TeX's poor line drawing  capability
       and  are  generally not recommended nor fully supported. Feel free to experiment with them
       -- they generate ASCII output that should be "input" into TeX/LaTeX documents.

       Use option -p pensize(s) for control over  pensize:  The  actual  Metafont  or  PostScript
       pensize  will  be  "pensize  *  0.1  mm", with pensize = 0 - 9 (0 = no drawing).  The same
       applies to

       In PostScript mode (-m eps), you may also need to use options -o and -O  (see  below)  for
       proper  margins on paper since hp2xx puts your picture "flush" to the left and upper paper
       limit by default.

RASTER FORMATS

       The following formats are supported: HP-PCL, Esc/P2, PCX, PIC,  IMG,  JPG,  PBM/PPM,  PNG,
       TIFF,  and  previews.  (PNG and TIFF formats rely on external libpng,zlib and libtiff, JPG
       relies on libjpeg. Versions built on MS windows  systems  -  or  versions  linked  against
       libEMF on other platforms - may additionally support EMF generation and printing.)

       Addition  of  other  formats  is  made  easy  for  programmers  because of hp2xx's modular
       structure. The program allocates a bitmap on a line-by-line basis, swapping lines to  disk
       if  needed,  and  plots  into  this bitmap. Depending on the selected format, a conversion
       module is then activated, which can easily be  replaced  by  other  converters.  Add  more
       formats if you like!

       Option  -p  pensize(s) controls the size (in pixels) of the virtual plotting pen. The only
       implemented shape of the pen tip is a square of the given  length.   pen  sizes  of  5...9
       units  will be acccepted but replaced by 4 units.  Specifying -p4 when in 75 DPI mode will
       make pretty clumsy pictures, while you may prefer -p2 over -p1 when in 300 DPI.

       PCX: The size of a PCX picture is controlled via its specified height and the current  DPI
       value.  To create a high-resolution PCX image, just increase the DPI value as desired. PCX
       format does not accept offsets.

       IMG: See PCX.

       PBM/PPM:  See  PCX  for  options.  If  your  hpgl  file  is  not  monochrome,  hp2xx  will
       automatically create a PPM (portable pixmap) file instead of a PBM bitmap. (Use -c11111111
       to force generation of PBM from a color hpgl file).  Depending on the compile-time  option
       PBM_ASCII,  hp2xx will create ascii or binary pbm (ppm) files - usually the more efficient
       binary format should be preferred.

       (Unsupported options) PIC, PAC: ATARI ST screens (640x400 pixels) can easily be dumped  to
       files.  Programs  such  as  STAD  accept  graphics  by  including  such screen dump files.
       Graphics filling more than  one  screenful  may  be  split  into  screen-size  blocks  and
       loaded/mounted  blockwise.   hp2xx  converts  to  ATARI bitmap format by trying to fit the
       resulting picture into a single screen equivalent (max.  400  rows,  max.  80  Bytes  (640
       pixel)  per  row).  If  it succeeds, hp2xx produces a single output file. Specify ONLY its
       base name (option -f), since hp2xx adds the file extension ".pic" or ".pac" automatically.
       Do  NOT  try  to  work  on  more than one HPGL file simultaneously! Do NOT use more than 6
       characters for the file name, and  avoid  digits.  If  more  screen  blocks  are  required
       horizontally  and/or  vertically, hp2xx will automatically split the picture into separate
       files, counting them columnwise (top-to-bottom  and  left-to-right),  adding  a  two-digit
       number  to  the  given  file  name.  A maximum of 10 columns is supported.  The picture is
       padded with background color at its right and lower margins, if needed. PAC features  file
       compression, PIC does not.

       PCL:  HP-PCL  Level  3  format, most useful for direct printer output. Due to this action,
       there have been added some extra flags  and  options:  Use  flag  -i  to  send  a  printer
       initialization  sequence  before  the actual image. Among other things, this will instruct
       the printer which paper size to use. Flag -F adds a Form Feed (FF, hex 0C) after the image
       is  completed,  which  is what you may want most of the time. However, overlay printing of
       several files is feasible by omitting -F.

       For additional control of the picture's final position on  paper,  you  may  add  x  or  y
       offsets using -o X_offset or -O Y_offset. E.g., -o 20 -O 30 will give you 30 mm additional
       top margin and 20 mm additional left margin. Option -C modifies these  offsets  to  center
       the picture within the frame defined by -w -h.

       The  option  -C  will  attempt to center the drawing on the paper automatically. Note also
       that hp2xx now honors any PS (page size) commands in the hpgl file, which can also  create
       white space around the actual drawing.

       The  option  -N  will  make  hp2xx  ignore  any  PS  commands  given in the hpgl file, and
       recalculate the image size based on the actual geometry instead.

       The option -n will make hp2xx ignore any polygon filling commands,  rendering  only  their
       outlines.  This  may  serve both as a work-around for hp2xx' limited polyfill support, and
       improve clarity of thumbnail images of PCB designs and the like.

       The option -M pennumber will remap any color  or  drawing  commands  from  pen  0  to  the
       specified  pen  (which should typically be otherwise unused in the drawing). Historically,
       selecting pen 0 instructed a pen plotter to put away  the  pen  and  stop  drawing,  while
       modern  inkjet plotters can use it like any other color. Due to this ambiguity, hp2xx will
       draw the background of raster graphics in the pen 0 color, unless this option is used.

       For DeskJet / DeskJet Plus / DeskJet 500 / Deskjet 550 printers, there  are  some  special
       printer  commands.  Activate  them with option -S n.  n=0 switches them off, n=1 activates
       black/white mode, n=3 (DJ500C and DJ550 only) supports CMY color data, n=4  (DJ550C  only)
       supports CMYK color data.  Any n!=0 activates PLC data compression (TIFF mode: 2).

       Esc/P2:  This  is  the control language used in the Epson Stylus family of inkjets.  hp2xx
       currently does not address more than one line of nozzles in the print head,  so  printing,
       while  exact,  is  extremely  slow. Users might prefer piping the output of the PostScript
       module through ghostscript until this issue is resolved.

       PNG: Support for the Portable Network Graphics format relies on libpng which is  available
       from www.libpng.org.

       PRE:  Preview  on  all  machines. Use options -h -w -o -O -C to define the screen size and
       position of your output (-o -O -C may not always apply).  Under X11, you can pan around an
       image that is larger than the screen size by 'dragging' it with the mouse (pressing button
       1 while moving the mouse in the desired direction). Any other mouse button or keyboard key
       will terminate the preview.  For VGA cards (DOS), option -V VGAmode gives you a simple way
       to utilize SVGA modes. Please take care not to define larger windows  than  your  graphics
       device  can handle, as the results are unpredictable. As hp2xx uses standard BIOS calls to
       set pixels on VGA cards (slow but portable), you can select any hi-res mode  supported  by
       your system by simply specifying the mode byte with this option.

       TIFF:  The  tagged  image file format is supported by most graphics and image manipulation
       programs.  Support  for  TIFF  in  hp2xx  relies  on  the  TIFF  library  available   from
       www.libtiff.org,  which  offers  several  means  of image compression.  The -S commandline
       option selects between them as follows: -S 0 or -S 1: no compression -S 2: RLE (run length
       encoding)  -S  3:  Group  3 FAX (monochrome) -S 4: Group 4 FAX (monochrome) -S 5: GIF (not
       available by default, because of the UNISYS patent) -S 6: JPEG ('old' TIFF 6.0  style)  -S
       7: JPEG -S 8: deflate

EXAMPLES

        % hp2xx -m pcx -f my_output.pcx -d300 -p2222 -h50 -a 1.2 my_input.hp

          creates a PCX file at 300 DPI of height 50 mm, using an aspect factor
          of 1.2 and a pen size of 2 pixels for pens 1-4.

        % my_hpgl_generator | hp2xx -f- -o20 -O30 -F -q | lpr -P my_PCL_printer

          HPGL output is piped through hp2xx; the resulting PCL code is piped to
          the printer queue, giving an image of height 100 mm at 75 DPI.
          An additional left margin of 20mm and upper margin of 30mm is created.
          A formfeed will be added (handy if your printer queue does not).

        % hp2xx my_input.hp

          Preview on screen or into window.

ORIGINAL AUTHOR

        Heinz W. Werntges, Physikal. Biologie, Geb. 26.12,
        Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet,
        D-40225 Duesseldorf, Germany.

MAINTAINER SINCE V 3.30

        Martin Kroeker, daVeg GmbH,
        Schottener Weg 2
        D-64289 Darmstadt, Germany.
        mk@daveg.com or martin@ruby.chemie.uni-freiburg.de

        ATARI features & PIC, PAC, IMG modes are due to Norbert Meyer, Duesseldorf.
        AMIGA version & PBM mode are due to Claus Langhans, Kelkheim (Ts.)
        X11 previewer is due to Michael Schoene, Duesseldorf.
        Thanks for VAX support and a lot of testing to
          Michael Schmitz & Gerhard Steger, Duesseldorf
        Many OS/2 helps were due to Host Szillat, Berlin.
        (Later contributors: See TEXINFO file).

DIAGNOSTICS

       The  number  of  ignored  and/or  unknown  HPGL commands is given. You will be informed if
       swapping starts. Progress is indicated by a logarithmic count of internal  vectors  during
       scanning  and plotting, or by dots during (raster mode) output, where each dot corresponds
       to 10 scan lines.

BUGS

       There still are many non-implemented HPGL commands.

       The color assignment of some X11 servers leaves something to be desired.

       Color is only partially supported (not all possible formats).

       VGA preview: Color "magenta" shows as brown on some VGA cards.

       To match the specified sizes on your display during preview, you may have to calibrate  it
       using -d -D, e.g. by overwriting the 75 DPI default.

       Only  little  testing  has  been done on TeX-related and ATARI formats, so be prepared for
       bugs there, and PLEASE report them --  thank you!

SEE ALSO

       bm2font(1), F. Sowa's raster-to-TeXfont converter.

                                            6 May 2001                                   hp2xx(1)