QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS... ------------------------ Everything you wanted to know about GEM Spooler, but didn't dare to ask... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: What is the last version of GEM Spooler ? Answer: The most recent shareware version is v2.2. Registered users are sent version 3.0. Version 3.0 is no shareware. Question: Are there costs in using GEM Spooler ? Answer: Yes and no. No, because GEM Spooler is shareware: you can try it out, copy it and give it to friends. Yes, because if you use GEM Spooler regularly, we expect you to register your copy. By registering you support us in developing future versions of GEM Spooler, that will become available to you at a small cost. As a registered user, you are sent the latest version of GEM Spooler and you receive the next major update for free. And if you should encounter problems when using GEM Spooler, you can benefit from our technical support. Question: GEM Spooler crashes when using Tempus. Answer: If you use a GEM Spooler version beneath v2.2 (up to 2.1b), this is correct. In version 2.2 this problem is solved. Question: When I use GEM Spooler together with the Butler James accessory, my ST bombs regularly. What's wrong ? Answer: The clock option of Butler James causes trouble with GEM Spooler. Turn off the clock option and everything will work fine. This problem is solved in version 2.2. Question: GEM Spooler doesn't seem to work if I print with Calamus or Timeworks Publisher (or other programs). What's happening ? Answer: These programs - and some other too - print directly to the output port (serial or centronics), bypassing the normal TOS routines. No spooler can help this ! These programs do this to achieve higher printing speed. But usually, printing through TOS with GEM Spooler is even faster than printing directly to the output port ! Therefore, check if your software offers the choice between direct or standard printing (refer to the software's manual). If so, use standard printing. If not, you'll have to settle with the software's choice. Note: Some Calamus printer drivers do print through TOS routines: sometimes serial, sometimes parallel. If your printer needs that driver, you're lucky. Try it out ! Question: Why doesn't GEM Spooler offer MyDial- or FlyDial-like dialogs with shortcuts, popups etc. ? Answer: Because this would add some 30 Kbyte to the accessory size (yes, we tested it...). This is a little bit too much if one knows that similar functionality can be added to any GEM dialog by using an appropriate utility like Let'em Fly 1.18 (highly recommended !). The GEM Spooler 2.2 utilities however do use MyDial ! Question: If GEM Spooler is activated, my foreground tasks slow down... What is wrong ? Answer: The printer timing is not correctly set and slows down GEM... If your printer is connected to the parallel port, check if the busy interrupt is activated (Timing dialog). If you really want to print in block mode or if your printer is connected to the serial port, lower the block size and/or raise the event timer value. Experiment ! Question: GSPINST acts weird ! If I load a PDF, I get other codes as I entered before saving that PDF. Answer: Your version of GSPINST has a bug that alters the codes when loading a PDF. The PDF itself is OK, you just have to take care that you don't overwrite it with the altered codes when saving it again. Question: GEM Spooler crashes when I change the resolution on my TT. Answer: Try version 2.1b or higher of GEM Spooler. These versions should survive resolution changes, although it remains a risky operation. The problem is caused by TOS: before making a resolution change, TOS clears all memory allocated by accessories, without informing them in advance. A killing joke... Future TOS versions should solve this inconvenience. Question: The 'Prompt for job settings' option (Jobs dialog above an application) leaves a grey rectangle on my screen. Have I found a bug in GEM Spooler ? Answer: No ! The program you used is no pure GEM program and doesn't react to the REDRAW message GEM sends after closing the Jobs dialog. You can often recognize such programs by the fact that accessories are not directly accessible (but through a special menu e.g.). Question: Why do you pay so much attention to 1st WordPlus ? I thought this program spooled printer output by itself... Answer: Correct. But we aren't really interested in 1st Wordplus. We're actually interested in all the public domain 1st Word Plus printer drivers. These drivers contain information on how characters should be printed, information that is also stored in the GEM Spooler character tables (CTB files). That's why it is quite useful that 1st Word Plus drivers can be converted to CTB tables. Steven Van Rossen, August 1992