BANNER INFO PDL 3/26/76 Last update: SWG 12/30/77 BANNER is a program for making banners on line-printer paper in various XGP fonts. It is invoked by: :BANNER (filler) "message" ,,... where: Can be any one of: | -- Print vertically - -- Print horizontally (default) ^ -- (uparrow followed by a char) Specifies that be used as the "linefeed" character. This allows certain line printers to avoid page perforation gaps. In particular: ^K -- (uparrow-K, not ^K): use VT for line-feed. This is the default, and the DM unspooler has been hacked to recognize this as a non-line counting line-feed, i.e., you won't get gaps at page perforations. ^S -- (uparrow-S, not ^S): the Tenex and Twenex line printer routines treat this as DM does for ^K. ^J -- (uparrow-J, not ^J): use LF for line-feed. Necessary for terminals. Is where to put the banner file. It is optional and defaults to ";_BANNE >". (filler) is the string of characters to be used over and over to form the letters on the banner. It is bounded by the (), which MUST be included. To include a ) in the filler, use )) or \), as for "s in the message (below). If you want the standard filler (*), leave out parentheses and all in the invocation. "message" Is the message you want on the banner. It is bounded by the "'s, which MUST be included. To imbed a " in the message, use two in a row or precede it with a reverse slash (\), depending on whether you are a PL/I or MUDDLE hacker. Reverse slash followed by a character other than double quote indicates a "function character" rather than an ordinary character in the message. The following is the only function character yet defined: \L -- put a control-L (FF) in the output at this point. Font 0 is initially used; to select a different font within the message, use a control-F followed by the number of the font to switch to. ,... Are the fonts to print the banner in. The first one specified is font 0, the next is font 1, etc. up to font 9 (for a maximum of 10 fonts). If none are specified, the default font 0 is "DSK:FONTS;40VSHD KST". For setup purposes, it is best if the largest font is specified first, as font 0. The resulting banner file can be printed on a MEMOWRECK or on an ODEC LPT by incanting ":COPY file,Tnm:" where Tnm is the appropriate console number. If you are on DM, you can spool your banner in the usual way, as the UNSPOOler now can "image" a file -- no gaps at page perforations! Examples: :BANNER XMAS > "Merry Christmas" 37VXMS ; create the traditional xmas banner. :BANNER XMAS > (HUMBUG! ) "Merry Christmas" 37VXMS ; a variation on the above (note space in filler) :BANNER "MUDDLE FOREVER!" ; create the banner in room 214. :BANNER ^S GUEST;FOO > "1Tenex? 0BLETCH2!!!" 40VRI,30VR,40VSHD ; create a file for a T(w)enex LPT (with ^S's instead of ^J's) ; using 3 different fonts. Notes: 1. Characters given which are not in the current font will halt the program. This is checked before any actual output is begun. 2. The font given is expanded with some effort (not 100% successful) made to get a reasonable aspect ratio out. For fonts of less than 40 in height this works out to about an expansion of 3 vertical and two horizontal. This expansion calculation is made on the basis of font 0's size, which is why the largest font should be font 0. Otherwise the largest font might exceed the paper width.