3 Compatibility With Previous Release
5 Silicon Graphics-Specific Behavior of Display PostScript/X
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1. Introduction
PostScriptr is an interpretive programming language with
graphics capabilities for printing or displaying pages of
text, two-dimensional graphics, and sampled images. Display
PostScript/X (DPS/X) is a PostScript interpreter that
renders on the screen. DPS/X is based on Level 2 PostScript
language; Silicon Graphics' version of DPS/X is an extension
of its X Window System. The first time you run an
application that uses DPS/X, DPS/X is loaded into the X
server dynamically. DPS/X applications are X applications
as well and are run in much the same way.
Note: Packaged with your system software is a separate
sheet that contains the Software License Agreement.
This software is provided to you solely under the
terms and conditions of the Software License
Agreement. Please take a few moments to review the
Agreement.
This document contains the following chapters:
1. Introduction
2. Installation Information
3. Compatibility With Previous Release
4. DPS/X Application Examples
5. Silicon Graphics-Specific Behavior of Display
PostScript/X
6. Documentation Errors
1.1 Release_Identification_Information
Following is the release identification information for
Display PostScript/X:
Software Option Product Display PostScript/X
Version 2.0.2
Product Code SC4-W4D-5.2
System Software Requirements IRIX 5.2
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1.2 Online_Release_Notes
After you install the online documentation for a product
(the relnotes subsystem), you can view the release notes on
your screen. You can also view the release notes directly
from the CD, without installing them; see the pamphlet in
the CD case for instructions.
If you have a graphics system, select ``Release Notes'' from
the Help toolchest. This displays the grelnotes(1) graphical
browser for the online release notes. Refer to the
grelnotes(1) man page for information on options to this
command.
If you do not have a graphics system, you can use the
relnotes command. Refer to the relnotes(1) man page for
accessing the online release notes.
1.3 Product_Support
Silicon Graphics, Inc., provides a comprehensive product
support maintenance program for its products.
If you are in the U.S. or Canada and would like support for
your Silicon Graphics-supported products, contact the
Technical Assistance Center at
1-800-800-4SGI.
If you are outside these areas, contact the Silicon Graphics
subsidiary or authorized distributor in your country.
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2. Installation_Information
Display PostScript/X should be installed if you want to use
PostScript in a visual fashion: that is, to run
applications that display and manipulate PostScript.
xpsview (included with DPS/X), Adobe Illustratorr and
FrameMaker are examples of such applications.
This chapter lists supplemental information to the IRIS
Software Installation Guide. The information listed here is
product-specific; use it with the installation guide to
install this product.
2.1 Display_PostScript/X_Subsystems
The Display PostScript/X option includes these subsystems:
dps_eoe.man.dps This subsystem contains man pages for
some of the DPS/X applications, such as
xpsview.
dps_eoe.man.dpsdemo This subsystem contains man pages for
some of the DPS/X demo applications,
such as fontview.
dps_eoe.sw.dps This subsystem contains the files
required for DPS/X to execute properly
in an X11 client environment. The most
important requirement for these X11
client applications to run correctly is
the X11 DISPLAY shell variable or the
-display command line argument must
indicate an X server with the Adobe-DPS
extensions enabled and installed. To
provide this capability on an SGI X11
server, the subsystem x_eoe.sw.xdps must
be installed on the server the client is
referencing in its DISPLAY shell
variable.
dps_eoe.sw.dpsdemo This subsystem contains DPS/X
demonstration applications. Some may be
useful as tools, such as fontview, which
allows you to view the DPS/X fonts
available on the system (like text in
the previous release). Most of the
applications are intended only to
demonstrate some of the capabilities of
DPS/X, such as wonderland and
texteroids. These demonstration
programs reside in /usr/demos/bin.
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dps_eoe.sw.dpsfonts This subsystem contains 13 Adobe type 1
fonts. There are four styles (regular,
bold, italic, bold-italic) of Courierr,
Helvetica, and Times, and one style of
Symbol. These fonts are in
/usr/lib/DPS/outline/base. Additional
fonts products may be purchased
separately. An example is SGI's
Impressario product, which contains an
additional 22 Adobe type 1 fonts.
dps_eoe.man.relnotes This subsystem contains these release
notes.
Note: All DPS/X client programs require the presence of the
Adobe-DPS-Extension or 2DPSExtension in the X server
referred to by the DISPLAY shell variable. On SGI
systems, this requires the installation of the
x_eoe.sw.xdps subsystem. If any SGI DPS/X client is
run without the Adobe-DPS-Extension enabled in the X
server, an error message will be displayed: ``The X11
Server DPS/X extension failed to initialize.'' If
this happens, see if the Adobe-DPS-Extension is
enabled by running the X command xdpyinfo. If the
Adobe-DPS-Extension is not present, install the
x_eoe.sw.xdps subsystem.
2.2 Installation_Method
All of the subsystems for Display PostScript/X can be
installed using IRIX. You do not need to use the miniroot.
Refer to the IRIS Software Installation Guide for complete
installation instructions.
2.3 Display_PostScript/X_Subsystem_Disk_Space_Requirements
This section lists the subsystems of the Display
PostScript/X option, along with their sizes and whether they
are installed by default. If you are installing this option
for the first time, the subsystems marked ``default'' are
installed if you use the ``go'' menu item. To install a
different set of subsystems, use the ``install,''
``remove,'' ``keep,'' and ``step'' commands in inst to
customize the list of subsystems to be installed, before you
select the ``go'' menu item.
Note: The listed subsystem sizes are approximate. Refer to
the IRIS Software Installation Guide for information
on finding exact sizes.
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Subsystem Name Subsystem Size
(512-byte blocks)
dps_eoe.sw.dps (default) 1979
dps_eoe.sw.dpsfonts (default) 2205
dps_eoe.sw.dpsdemo 2952
dps_eoe.man.dps 67
dps_eoe.man.dpsdemo 16
dps_eoe.man.relnotes 17
2.4 Prerequisites
To install dps_eoe.sw.dpsdemo, you must also install
motif_eoe.sw.eoe.
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3. Compatibility_With_Previous_Release
Display PostScript/X based on PostScript level 1 was new in
IRIX 4.0, and Display PostScript/X based on PostScript level
2 was new in IRIX 5.0.1. However, Silicon Graphics' previous
window system, 4Sight/NeWS, had similar functionality.
DPS/X differs from 4Sight/NeWS by specializing only in
rendering. This promotes standardization by allowing the
native window system to handle all nonrendering activities
such as input events. Because DPS/X is licensed from Adobe
Systems, Inc., it adheres closely to the PostScript
standard.
Many of the incompatibility problems encountered with the
PostScript interpreter in 4Sight/NeWS are alleviated with
DPS/X.
Just as Display PostScript/X is similar to NeWS, the DPS/X
application xpsview is similar to the NeWS application
psview.
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4. DPS/X_Application_Examples
The Display PostScript/X previewer, xpsview, is a DPS/X
application that allows you to view PostScript programs on
the screen before (or instead of) sending them to a printer.
Because it is also an X and Motif application, its behavior
is much the same as other X and Motif applications,
including launching, moving, resizing, and specifying
resources for. xpsview replaces much of the functionality
of the PostScript previewer, psview, found in previous IRIX
releases. For more information on xpsview, see the man page
or invoke xpsview (in /usr/bin/X11) with the -help option.
The application xpsview can be launched from the Toolchest.
Like many DPS/X applications, it runs in the X server's
default visual. It is mentioned here simply because it is
included in the default DPS/X installation. There are other
DPS/X applications available as separate products, such as
FrameMaker and Adobe Illustrator.
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5. Silicon Graphics-Specific Behavior of Display
PostScript/X
DPS/X is dynamically loaded into the X server when the first
DPS/X extension request is made (that is, when the first
DPS/X application is launched). It remains loaded until the
server is reset.
DPS/X creates a 4x4x4-cell colorcube and an 8-cell gray-ramp
in the standard colormap. These colors can be ``swapped-
out'' when applications that use a nonstandard colormap
(such as GL applications) receive focus (just as their cells
can be ``swapped-out'' when another X or DPS/X application
receives focus). Although colors in windows that do not
have input focus might look wrong, this is the correct
behavior and ensures that the window with focus always shows
the correct colors.
The PostScript operator selectfont substitutes the Courier
font if the requested font is not found.
Normally Display PostScript/X uses prebuilt fonts (hand-
tuned-bitmaps versus outline-rendering), but due to a bug
this type of font rendering has been disabled. In future
releases of DPS/X, SGI will either correct the problem with
the prebuilt fonts or provide comparable bitmap fonts, such
as the X portable compiled fonts (pcf's).
All PostScript program file operators execute in the IRIX
file system relative to /, the root directory. The string
``..'' is prohibited in filenames.
Several of the DPS/X demos provide the DPS/X FontSelection
panel window. In the current version of DPS/X, the demos
that provide this feature have a longer than usual startup
time. Future releases of DPS/X will hopefully improve this
startup time.
When launching the DPS/X demos from the toolchest, users
should be careful to wait until the demo has started before
launching a second DPS/X demo. Otherwise the X server may
exit. This problem does not occur when multiple DPS/X demos
are launched from a user shell.
At least one IRIX 4.0.5-based DPS/X client causes the DPS/X
extension to initialize incorrectly when it is the first
DPS/X client run after a system reboot. The symptom is that
the X server hangs. This problem can be avoided by running
any one of the SGI-delivered DPS/X clients first, which
initializes the DPS/X extension correctly. Once this is
done, the problem 4.0.5 client can be run without problem.
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6. Documentation_Errors
There are no known documentation errors.