A2X(1) A2X(1)
NAME
a2x - convert and format ascii for printing to various devices
SYNOPSIS
a2x [options] [files]
DESCRIPTION
A2x.ps is a PostScript program to format ascii data in various ways.
There is also a UNIX shell script called a2x, which arranges a2x.ps
and a specified input to produce a PostScript program as output. It
also supports use of the Ghostscript interpreter gs. This way, you can
use a2x.ps with a real PostScript printer or produce output for any
device supported by Ghostscript.
A2x.ps is intended to be used with a2x, so this man page decribes just
that.
With a2x you may switch between portrait and landscape mode, suppress
even or odd pages, choose any number of columns per page, clip output
to columns (truncate long lines), use german umlauts, choose fonts and
their sizes (or lines per page), preview in an X window, handle tabs
and backspaces, print nroff-formatted man pages and more.
A2x always writes to stdout. If no files are given, a2x reads its
input data from stdin, so you may use it as a filter.
OPTIONS
-devDEV
With this option you can specify a target device other than the
default target device. DEV may be any Ghostscript device name or
ps. You should specify your individual default device in a2x as
described in the INSTALLATION section below.
-a4, -letter, -legal
choose upon paper sizes. The default is -a4. Again, change this
to your needs in a2x as described in the INSTALLATION section
below.
-1up 1 column portrait mode.
-2up 2 column landscape mode.
-o print odd pages only.
-e print even pages only.
-O print odd columns only.
-E print even columns only.
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-R print columns per page in reverse (from right to left) order.
-p print in portrait mode. This is the default.
-l print in landscape mode (2 up).
-cn Specify the number n of columns per page. The default is 1-column
in portrait mode, 2-column in landscape mode.
-title, -title=name
The -title option makes the filename being printed on (top left)
of each page. By default, this is not done. Using -title=string
causes string to be used instead of the file's name. (This is
useful when reading from standard in.)
-date
makes the current date being printed on (top right) of each page.
The default is not to do this.
-num Turns column numbering on. The default is not to number columns.
-pagenum
Turns page numbering on. The default is not to number pages.
-sn Sets the fontsize to n pt. The default is 10pt for portrait, 8pt
for landscape.
-bs Turn on backspace handling.
-tn Set tab width to n. The default is 8.
-nn Choose n lines per page. A corresponding fontsize is computed by
a2x.ps.
-ffont
Using the -f option you may choose the PostScript font font to be
used by a2x.ps. The default is Courier.
-iso ISO-Latin1 character encoding (default for PS level 2).
-ger, -us
With the -ger option, a2x.ps reencodes characters to allow german
umlauts. Suppress it with -us, which actually causes no
reencoding, or change the default in a2x.ps. However, the -iso
option enables umlauts by default, if your PS device supports
level 2.
-man Print nroff formatted man page. This selects a fixed font, 66
lines per page and turns backspace handling on.
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-pagecount
Finally, this option suppresses any output. It just prints the
number of pages it would have had to standard out (works only
with ghostscript).
-D Duplex (double sided) output, if your PS device supports this.
-T In conjunction with -D : tumbled (double sided, pages tumbled)
output, if your PS device supports this.
INSTALLATION
Installing a2x is easy.
First, assume, that you have Ghostscript or you don't have a PostSript
printer. Now, if you don't have Ghostscript, get it. It is available
via anonymous ftp at many sites. Once, you have installed it
successfully, go on like this:
(1) Type gs -h on your command line. Ghostscript should give you a
list of available devices. If your printer is in that list, you
are lucky. If not, get a new one (one in the list, of course).
(2) Copy a2x.ps to a directory, where you like it to live (if you are
superuser, Ghostscript's home would be a nice place, usually
something like /usr/local/lib/ghostscript, or similar).
(3) Copy the file a2xshell.ps to the same directory.
(4) Now, go into a2x and change the definition of the variables
Device and Paper. Simply assign to Device the Ghostscript device
name of your printer and one of the papersizes a4, letter and
legal to variable Paper. Also, look for the variable A2X_PATH in
a2x. Assign to it the directory path, where you just copied
a2x.ps in step (2).
(5) You may also want to specify some interactive devices. They are
given by the InteractiveDevices variable. For these, gs waits for
you to press return after each page. They should be screen
devices like the x11 device.
(6) Finally, copy a2x to a directory, where your shell can find it
(eg any directory mentioned in your PATH variable).
Next, assume you do have a PostScript printer. If you installed a2x
for use with Ghostscript, you are done. Use the -dps option to
generate PostScript output or make ps your default device as described
above. If you don't have Ghostscript and don't want to install it,
then simply follow steps (2), (4) and (6) above.
CUSTOMIZATION
To change default settings other than the ones described above, go
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into a2x.ps and check the definitions in the procedure /A2xdefaults.
If you would like some characters to be reencoded, go to the
definition of /fontvec in a2x.ps. The comments there should explain
how to achieve your desired encoding. The encoding choice is
controlled by the variable /country, which is simply the index of the
encoding in /fontvec. It is set in /A2xdefaults (and via the -ger and
-us options). If you do your own country specific reencoding, please
email it to me. I would then include it into the next version of a2x.
EXAMPLES
Assume, you have a working lpr command and want to print file abc.xyz.
To simply print this file "as is", use
a2x abc.xyz | lpr
However, you can do more. To preview the output in an X window, in
landscape mode, using 2-column style, type
a2x -dx11 -2up abc.xyz
I know, you'd like the filename and todays date being printed on top
of each page. Also, pagenumbers would be nice. BTW, 9pt, instead of
the default 8, would be possible. Say
a2x -dx11 -2up -title -date -num -s9 abc.xyz
Yes, viewing the first few pages, this seems to be ok. Now, abc.xyz
is quite large. You would like to know, how many sheets of paper it
would take to print it this way. Get it with
a2x -2up -title -date -num -s9 -pagecount abc.xyz
Oooh, thats a lot... Better, to print it double sided. First, all the
odd pages with
a2x -o -2up -title=abc -date -num -s9 abc.xyz | lpr,
and the rest by replacing the -o option by -e. Addititionally, the
string abc comes out on top of each page, instead of abc.xyz. Now,
you'd like to list all the TeX-files in the current directory. Use
UNIX's find and a2x. To get it formatted into Times-Roman font,
3-columns, do a
find . -name "*.tex" -print| a2x -c3 -fTimes-Roman | lpr
You can do a half sized (eg a5) double sided printing with -O, -E, -R:
a2x -a4 -2up -num -O file | lpr # prints logical pages [1|3]
[5|7] ...
Refeed paper to your printer (same order, upside-down) and do
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a2x -a4 -2up -num -E -R file | lpr # prints logical pages [4|2]
[8|6] ...
Cut between columns, merge and you're done.
Finally, to get this man page printed, do
nroff -man a2x.1 | a2x -man -2up -o | lpr
nroff -man a2x.1 | a2x -man -2up -e | lpr
BUGS
I have tested a2x with Ghostscript 2.6.1 and a DECLaser 1152, only.
Send bug reports via email to the authors address, please. With the
-dps option, a2x produces PostScript output in which the character ^A
(ascii 1) is used as a special symbol. For this reason, a2x filters
all ^A's from your input. As a consequence, reencoding this character
(see the CUSTOMIZATION section) will have no effect.
AUTHOR
Christoph Beck <beck@jack.rhein-main.de>
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