
            Installation, Hardware/software requirements
            --------------------------------------------

  o Amiga, OS2.04 or better, PCL printer (DeskJet, Laser, ...)
  o the 'reqtools.library' by Nico Franois (1991-1993)
  o xpk.library (by U. Dominik Mller, Bryan Ford, ...)

  HiSpeed  is  a printing utility for DeskJet/laser printers. It is
  quite  similar  to  Matt  Melcher's HDPrint programs ("4 pages of
  text  to one A4 side"): Output is reduced to a few pages by using
  small typefaces. It is fast. Speed depends on your DeskJet model;
  DeskJet+:  about 4 pages/minute if you switch to HiSpeed mode. It
  should  be  a  nice  utility  for  people who have to do a lot of
  printing.

                            REQUIREMENTS
                            ------------

  Amiga,  at  least  512K,  OS2.04,  DeskJet/Laser.  You'll  need a
  softfont cartridge (a RAM expansion card) for your DeskJet if you
  want  to  use  all  functions of this program - otherwise you are
  limited to the printer's ROM fonts.


                              FEATURES
                              --------

  o easy-to-use workbench interface (but shell interface & ARexx
    port are available as well)

  o single or double sided printing; stack of paper has to be 
    turned only once (if at all).

  o free layout - e.g. 4*4 blocks of text (= 4 A4-pages) or two
    columns, or ... Portrait/landscape printing are available.

  o A5 book mode; covers are printed, too

  o blocks are seperated by lines (optional)

  o important ESC-sequences are supported: Italics, LQ/EDV, Tabs,
    Underlines, FF, ... (ANSI sequences, i.e. device independend)

  o Linefeed can be set to one of eight values

  o you can print more than one file ("job") simultanously - just 
    set up the job list

  o HiSpeed mode: ESC sequences are recognized and removed. Output 
    is performed as fast as possible.

  o Prescan/Preview are available (WYSIWYG)

  o several fonts available for output (number depends on your 
    printer); softfonts are supported

  o Sleep mode: HiSpeed's window is replaced by a small AppIcon on
    the workbench screen. Drag icons over it to have them printed.

  o optional page headers are possible as well as numbering of 
    lines

  o automatic index generation

  o appendix generation of marked words


                            CONFIGURATION
                            -------------

  HiSpeed  has  to  be  configured according to your printer - just
  choose  your  model  from the list of supported printers. Set the
  RAM  gadget  to  'RAM'  if  your  printer  is equipped with a RAM
  expansion  cartridge  (DeskJet) or doesn't require additional RAM
  in  order  to  use  softfonts.  The number of available typefaces
  depends  on  Printer/RAM  selection  -  while  a standard DeskJet
  without  RAM  is limited to one typeface, a DeskJet 550C with RAM
  will offer 4 portrait fonts and 3 landscape fonts. If you printer
  is  not  supported  by  HiSpeed so far, you'll have use the SetUp
  option  to register your printer with HiSpeed (see SetUp manual).
  Finally  you  should  select  a  screen font (project menu/select
  font)  to  be  used by HiSpeed since the program doesn't adopt to
  the screen font automatically; default is topaz 8.


                              PRINTING
                              --------

  The  files  ("jobs")  to  be  printed are displayed as "job list"
  (bottom  left). Scroll through that list using the arrow gadgets.
  Use  'Add' to add new jobs. A file requester will appear. You may
  add  more  than  one  file  at once by holding down the shift key
  during selection. There are other methods to add files to the job
  list,  too:  Just  drag a file's icon over the HiSpeed window. Or
  set  up  a  file via Arexx. Or let a file drop on HiSpeed's sleep
  icon  (however,  if you do so, it will be printed at once but not
  included into the job list).
  
  Use job <menu/clear list> to clear the complete list respectively
  the  'del' gadget to remove a single file. Select "SORT A" if you
  want to have the list sorted alphabetically. Use "sort #" to sort
  by size.

  Start  printing  by  clicking  at  the  print  gadget.  Jobs  are
  processed from top to bottom. If none has been set up so far, you
  will  be  asked  for a file. You may stop printing by closing the
  progress window  (HiSpeed  will  ask  for confirmation). Download
  mustn't be interrupted for this would confuse the printer.

  It  is  possible  to  print  single sheets, too, using the 'page'
  gadget.  This option is useful to reprint some lost passages of a
  large job (e.g. if ink cartridge went empty during printing).

  If  you  want  a  page  header (file name, page number), activate
  "PAGE  HEADER". See 'SetUp' on how to set up the header text (for
  example  it  is possible to have time/date strings or environment
  variables  inserted).  If you print more than one file, you might
  want an index: switch to header & index.


                          SETTINGS & UNITS
                          ----------------

  Usually  you  won't  have  to  change  paper  dimensions. Default
  settings  are  valid  for output to A4. The left border should be
  sufficient  for  perforating. Paper dimension settings offered by
  the  main  window  of  HiSpeed  only  describe  the area used for
  printing  (e.g.  if you want to restrict output to the upper half
  of a sheet, do it here). The actual physical paper size is set by
  a  different requester (setup requester): usually to A4 in Europe
  respectively to US-Letter/US-Legal in the US.
  
  Hit  "RESET ALL" go get the defaults. All settings are written to
  HiSpeed's  configuration  file  by <project menu/save config>. Be
  careful  as  far  as  the  dimensions  setup is concerned - wrong
  values (especially insufficient borders) will confuse HiSpeed.

  HiSpeed  v5.0  or  better  does  write  its configuration file to
  "ENVARC:HISPEED"  unless  a  different  directory  is  specified.
  Former  releases  used to write to 's:' or directly to 'envarc:'.
  Those files should be removed.

  Units  are  'mm'  with exeption of the block size display - which
  uses  [characters]  to  display  text block dimensions. The block
  size  depends  on border/paper settings as well as font selection
  (font width).

                                LAYOUT 
                                ------

  Layout  definition  (the  number/arrangement  of text blocks on a
  page)  is  of  great  importance  for a pleasing result: The more
  block  columns  you  order,  the  less characters will fit into a
  block  line.  If  the  block  with is too small, lines have to be
  splitted.

  Block  width  depends  on  the  selected font, too. If you select
  Courier  6  (this  is  the  only  font  offered  by  the standard
  DeskJet),  no more than 75 characters will fit into a single line
  provided  you  use  a  layout  of  two  columns.  In generally 75
  characters  is  not enough. You might use the Adjust-LF option in
  this  case:  It  will remove LF (line feed) codes. However, don't
  use this option with formatted data (tables or source codes).

  Edit  contents  of  the dx/dy gadgets to set the distance between
  columns/rows.  Enable the 'separate' option if you want to have a
  line drawn between two block rows. Blocks are linked from left to
  right and from top to bottom.

                               PREVIEW
                               -------

  HiSpeed  offers two ways of quality/volume precalculation without
  having  to waste a single page of paper: Use 'preview' to order a
  WYSIWYG  preview.  Or  use  'scan'  to get some statistics ( e.g.
  required  number  of  sheets).  While  scanning  is faster than a
  preview, the latter is more useful to get a general impression of
  the  output. Use the cursor keys to flip through pages in preview
  mode. Use the help key to open the statistics requester.

  The  distortions  value  of  the statistics display is related to
  text  lines  that  were  to long to fint into a single block line
  (i.e. lines that had to be splitted). Possible values are from 0%
  to  100%.  This value should be as low as possible since splitted
  lines  don't  look that well. Decide for a smaller font, use less
  columns or decrease margins to avoid distortions.


                                FILES
                                -----

  HiSpeed  has been designed to process ASCII files with or without
  ANSI  codes.  Lines have to be terminated by LF codes. Additional
  CR  codes  (used  by  MS-DOS software) are recogized and removed.
  Turn  the  MS-DOS  option  ON  if  you want to print MS-DOS files
  (maybe recieved from a BBS system) - HiSpeed will use a different
  character  set  to  cope  with  these  files.  Softfonts  are not
  available  in  MS-DOS  mode because they have been developed with
  the Amiga chacaracter set (ecma latin) in mind.


                            ESC-SEQUENCES
                            -------------

  Switch  to  HiSpeed  mode  or turn PERFORM ESC off if you want to
  have  ESC-Sequences  ignored  (and  thus speed up output). If you
  enable  FFs (form feeds), every detected FF-code (12 dez) results
  in  a new text block. You better have a prescan to estimate paper
  needs  - some files (especially library manuals using the AutoDoc
  format) send FF codes after each paragraphe.

  HiSpeed mode does imply draft printing/normal stroke. Other modes
  use  LQ  printing,  EDV printing or bold printing. These settings
  stay  valid  until  they  are  turned  off by approbiate ANSI ESC
  sequences  being  part  of  the  file(s)  to  print.  The are not
  affected by ESC sequences if 'perform ESC' is off.


                            CHARACTER HEIGHT
                            ----------------

  Several  fonts  are  available  (number  depends  on your printer
  model),   e.g.   LinePrinter-5,   LinePrinter-6,   Courier-6  and
  LetterGothic-5. You should use LinePrinter-5 or LGothic-6, if the
  average  line  width  of  your  text  files  is  greater  than 80
  characters.  LinePrinter-6  looks  better  but  block width might
  become  too  small  (e.g. 80 characters if you choose a layout of
  two  columns).  Courier-6 is the worst choice: no more than about
  75  characters will fit into a line if you decide for a layout of
  two columns.

                          PORTRAIT / LANDSCAPE
                          --------------------

  All  DeskJet  models  apart  from the original DeskJet do support
  landscape  printing.  The  number of fonts available in landscape
  mode depends on your printer model.


                                  BOOK
                                  ----

  If  you  enable  book  mode  output is sorted in a way to support
  manual  creation:  simply  fold printed sheets to get A5 manuals.
  HiSpeed relies on the user's settings: if you set the block width
  to  120  columns but the actual (average) line width of a text is
  60  chacaters, output won't look good (columns are not centered).
  Simply  run  the AdjustBook macro after switching to book mode to
  have  the  layout adjusted automatically. Since book mode usually
  implies   landscape  printing  (not  supported  by  the  original
  DeskJet),  this  mode  should  only  be  used  with a DeskJet+ or
  better.

                                COVER
                                -----

  Select  'cover' to order printing of A5 covers. Several templates
  are  available.  Quality  of cover printing depends on the LQ/NLQ
  gadget.  This  function  requires  the  XPK  library.  Coverfiles
  actually  are  PCL files (i.e. files ususally sent to a printer).
  They  have  been  chrunched  using  xDrop  of  the  XPK  package.
  Recommended  file  extension  for  color  files is *.CYM (DeskJet
  500C)  or  *.CYMK  (DeskJet  550C).  Have a look at the templates
  directory if you are looking for the PageStream documents used to
  create the original HS cover files.


                          SINGLE/DOUBLESIDED
                          -------------------

  Single sided as well as double sided printing is available. Don't
  get  confused  if  HiSpeed appears to eject empty pages in double
  sided  mode  -  those  pages  are  required by the second pass of
  printing.

  *****************************************************************
  Take care of HiSpeed's advice if the program asks you to reinsert
  ejected  pages  in order to print the backsides. Handling depends
  on printing mode !
  *****************************************************************


                              PERFORATE
                              ---------

  Enable  'perforate'  if  you  want  to have perforation considerd
  during  double-sided output, i.e. to make HiSpeed swap left/right
  borders if necessary to ensure a sufficient left margin.


                             OUTPUT DEVICE
                             -------------

  Use  the port gadget to select desired output device respectively
  output  file.  If  output goes to a file, HiSpeed will create two
  files  (even/odd  pages)  using  file extension 1 respectively 2.
  File  1  has  to  be  sent to your printer before file 2 later on
  since (only) this file will keep softfont data.


                            SHELL INTERFACE
                            ---------------

  HiSpeed  can be usewd from a shell. Or by any program providing a
  shell   startup   like  Stefan  Becker's  ToolManager.  Supported
  arguments  are  (according  to  the  template  scheme used by the
  AmigaDos manual):

     FILE/M,   S=SLEEP/S,   D=DOUBLE/K,  H=HEADER/K,  N=NUMBER/K,
     H=HISPEED/K, P=PREVIEW/S, C=SCAN/S, L=LANDSCAPE/K, B=BOOK/K,
     F=FEED/N,   I=INDEX/S,   LQ/S,  EDV/S,  BOLD/S,  ADJUSTLF/K,
     SORTNAME/S,   SORTSIZE/S,   ASL/S,   SCREEN/K,  PERFORATE/K,
     CMDFILE/K,  MSDOS/K,  UNI/K,  ANSI/K,  PARSEFF/K,  FILTER/K,
     PAR:/S, SER:/S, RESET/S:

  Characters  after  a  slash  describe  the option's type (e.g. /S
  would  mean  'switch').  Characters followed by '=' are shortcuts
  (e.g.  H is a shortcut of HEADER). The following option types are
  available:

    K .... Keyword asssignment. Example: HISPEED DOUBLE=TRUE. The '=' 
           may be omitted. Valid argumets are ON or OFF.

    S .... Switch. These Options set a special mode/perform some
           action *IF* they are specified. No argument (like ON) 
           expected. Example: HISPEED RESET

    N .... These options introduce numerical values; example:
           HISPEED FEED=3. The '=' may be omitted.

    M .... Introduces list of files. The option name itself (FILE)
           may be omitted. Example usage: 

           'HiSpeed FILE s:user-startup s:startup-sequence'.
         

  These options perform the same action as the gadgets of HiSpeed's
  GUI,  so  please  have  a  look  at  the  explanations  above for
  explanations.

                             AREXX PORT
                             ----------

  HiSpeed's  ARexx interface is described in the file ARexxEDoc. By
  using  ARexx  it  is  possible  to  add  headers  to files before
  printing them, to format a text, to generate an appendix, to move
  HiSpeed to a different (public) screen, ....


                               MACROS
                               ------

  ARexx  macros  found  within  the  HISPEED/AREXX directory during
  startup  are  gathered as MACRO menu. Please read the 'ARexxEDoc'
  manual for more details about ARexx.


                                FILTER
                                ------

  Toggle  'FILTER'  ON if you want the '@' character to be regarded
  as  keyword  qualifier.  It will be removed before output. Have a
  look at the MakeAppendix macro.


                              SLEEP-ICON
                              ----------

  Use  the 'Zzz' gadget to iconify HiSpeed. You may drag files over
  the  icon to have them printed - it's an AppIcon. Doubleclick the
  icon  to  wake  HiSpeed  up  again.  Since  the Amiga OS does not
  support  reading  AppIcon  coordinates,  HiSpeed won't be able to
  remember  the  icon  position  after you have moved it to another
  location.  Nevertheless  it is possible to snapshot the preferred
  position:  Open  the  'prefs/env-archive/hispeed' directory. Move
  the   'AppIcon'  icon  from  within  that  directory  to  desired
  location, than snapshot it (icon menu of workbench). Finally move
  the  icon  back to its drawer. HiSpeed will read the new position
  the next time it is evoked.

                                SETUP
                                -----

  It is possible to adjust HiSpeed to almost any PCL printer (many
  ink printers, many laser printers). Have a look at the 'Setup'
  text for details.
