NAME

PCL::Simple - Create PCL for printing plain text files

SYNOPSIS

  use PCL::Simple qw( PCL_pre PCL_post );

  open PLAIN,  '<plain_file.txt'         or die;
  open SNAZZY, '>ready_for_printing.txt' or die;

  print SNAZZY PCL_pre( -w => 132, -lpp => 66 );
  print SNAZZY while (<PLAIN>);
  print SNAZZY PCL_post;

  close PLAIN;
  close SNAZZY;

DESCRIPTION

PCL::Simple will provide PCL strings that cause your printer to print a plain text file with *exactly* the right font -- i.e. the exact font needed to fill the page with as many fixed width characters across and down as you specify.

In addition to providing for your desired width and height layout, the provided PCL strings will also cause the printer to honor your other desires regarding paper size, paper orientation, sides printed, and number of copies.

USAGE

Two functions are exportable: PCL_pre and PCL_post.

PCL_post takes no parameters, it simply returns a string containing the "Printer Reset Command" and "Universal Exit Language Command" as specified by PCL documentation. This string is meant for appending to the end of your plain text document.

PCL_pre takes a list or an href of key value pairs and returns a PCL string for insertion at the beginning of your plain text document. PCL_pre Paramaters are:

-w

Width (Required)

-lpp

Lines Per Page (Required)

-ms

Media Size defaults to letter. Valid values are: executive, letter, legal, ledger, a4, a3, monarch, com-10, d1, c5, b5

-msrc

Media Source is not set by default. Valid values are: numbers from 0 to 69. Generally refers to paper trays or feeders. See your printer documentation for details.

-o

Orientation defaults to portrait. Valid values are: landscape, portrait.

-s

Sides defaults to 0. Valid values are: 0 (Single), 1 (Double Long), 2 (Double Short)

-c

Copies defaults to 1.

AUTHOR

PCL::Simple by Phil R Lawrence.

COPYRIGHT

The PCL::Simple module is Copyright (c) 2002 Phil R Lawrence. All rights reserved.

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

NOTE

This module was developed while I was in the employ of Lehigh University. They kindly allowed me to have ownership of the work with the understanding that I would release it to open source. :-)