
COPYRIGHT:

Mpage and all the files distributed with mpage are covered by copyright:

 Copyright (c) 1988 Mark P. Hahn, Herndon, Virginia
  
     Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim
     copies of this document as received, in any medium, provided
     that this copyright notice notice is preserved, and that the
     distributor grants the recipient permission for further
     redistribution as permitted by this notice.

Mpage was written by:
   ...!uunet!\                       Mark Hahn, Sr Systems Engineer
              >pyrdc!mark            Pyramid Technology Corporation
 ...!pyramid!/                       Vienna, Va    (703)848-2050



******************** Important Notice ****************************

I am moving to Seoul, Korea in about 2 days.  As such any claims
that I might have a couple minutes to spare to work on improvments
or repairs should be reduced accordingly.  While there are still
a number of changes I would like to make, I just don't have the
time.  They will have to wait.  However, I still solicit your input
so that if I have time, I will do what I can.  I don't know my
new net address or postal address, but mail sent to the above will
be forwarded on an irregular schedule.

**************** End Of Important Notice *************************

DESCRIPTION:

Mpage is a program to reduce and print multiple pages of text per
sheet on a PostScript compatible printer.

The following are the files you should have for mpage.

     MANIFEST               The shipping list
     README                 Notes and descriptions
     CHANGES                Changes since Version 1
     Makefile.mpage         The Makefile
     TODO                   Wish List for changes
     mp_args.c              Command line and options processing
     mp_file.c              Generic file handeling
     mp_glob.c              Global variable setup
     mp_head.h              Definitions
     mp_main.c              Main Control
     mp_page.c              Page layout routines
     mp_post.c              PostScript file processing
     mp_sample.c            Prints sample page layout pages 
     mp_text.c              Text file processing
     mpage.1                Manual page



INSTRUCTIONS:

All you should need to do is copy Makefile.mpage to Makefile and run
make.  This will create mpage and a program called msample.  Mpage is
the program to print n-up pages.  Msample prints a sample outline.  I
used it for debugging the placement of the layout.  It is also handy
for other layout purposes.  It accepts all the arguments that mpage
does, but does not print files.

As a quick sample try:

	"mpage -p mp_args.c"
or
	"mpage -p8 mp_post.c"
or
	"psroff -t -man mpage.1 | mpage -2"

The manual page, mpage.1, formats with UCB or ATT manual macros.

The spooler interface in mpage only submits to a UCB style spooler.  It
shouldn't take too much work to convert to submission to a ATT style
spooler.



USING MPAGE:

You will find that it takes a while on an Apple LW or Apple LW+ to
print 4 pages per sheet, It takes "a good long time" for 8 pages.
Reduced PostScript documents take a while too.  (A rule of thumb might
be 4 times as long for 4-pages-per-sheet reduction :-) On a QMS 8ppm
printer 4 pages per sheet is about the same speed and other forms of
"1-up" output.  mpage prints some timing information back from the
printer so you can measure the time required for full jobs.



ADMINSITRATORS:

As a printer administrator you should see the wish list for caveats
and information about future versions.  I still have work to do to
make mpage more "administrator friendly", but figured that I'd better
get what's been done out the door.  The alternative is to constanly
make changes and never release anything.



BUG REPORTS:

Mpage is not a supported program.  I do not have the time or resources
to maintain mpage.  I am interested in receiving reports of problems
so that which I get spare time I can try to fix them.  If you have a
problem please send me a complete, succinct description of the
symptoms.  Please include the brand name of your printer, a copy of
the input file (especially if it is with PostScript input), and a
description of what to look for on the output.  If your printer has an
error log, please include as much of it as is revalant.  In general,
the more clearly organized information I have, the easier it will be
for me.



MAKING CHANGES:

Please, if you make any improvements, send them back to me so that I
can include them in future versions.  Also I would solicit comments as
to the usefulness, and effectiveness of mpage.  Let me know what you
like or dislike and feel free to ask any questions you have concerning
this mpage distribution.  Thank you, Mark Hahn.

