I don't know whether this is of any interest or not. The problems I find are
mostly things Deron will tackle after all the different systems are able to
produce a new document. For me, there are two bonuses over 5.0.3.3.

Oddly, I have not been able to start PageStream by clicking on the icon.
Once I have tried to, I need to reboot before I can run it from the Shell.

I thought maybe removing DEBUG and DEBUGFILE from the configuration file
might speed things up, but I don't detect any difference.

Most things I have tried work, as is probably to be expected, but I find it
a big relief in a program that so recently wasn't working at all.

The main things that don't work are fonts and colors. Today the Edit
Palette showed the full list of fonts, but no matter which I checked, I got
Zip. I could change fonts from the menu, but it only shows a partial list.
Deron is aware of the font problem, I believe, but it isn't high priority
yet.

I played with drawing shapes (I don't remember how to change pentagons to
triangles, so didn't try), and filling them with colors. Only two colors
currently available, though; black and white. I hardly imagine that is a
real problem.

Opening files created in 5.0.3.3 works, except for not being able to fix the
fonts unless the ones needed are on the short menu font list. I was finally
able to get through the Font Substitution requester (three DSIs on the way,
only one "Ignore"able) when loading the template I use once a month to
write a faculty retirees association newsletter. I clicked "Remember" for
each substitution, then "OK," and my template came up, strictly ZIP.
Fortunately the menu fonts short list showed what I needed, so I was able
to select text and change the fonts. Once I saved it, it came back up that
way the next time I opened it; I ignored the Substitution requester, which
just said "Zip."

I am very pleased about this, because I have had to boot with the OS4.1 disc
to run 5.0.3.3 in order to do an announcement. Assuming mail merge works in
5.0.5.5 I should be able to do the announcement in OS4.1u1 from now on even
without further fixes. Bonus #1.

Printing as PostScript works fine. Saving as PDF works fine.

A major improvement importing graphics: without thinking I tried a jpeg, and
it worked! (With 5.0.5.3 one gets an error message, and must use .iff's).
Bonus #2.

After I put a graphic in the middle of a text frame in one of my early
experiments, and tried to go back to adding text, I got a DSI and "Ignore"
did not work.

I bet getting Scripts to work is way down the line...

--
Bart Mathias
AmigaOne XE-G4 OS4.1u1

Hello Bart,

First, I'm tickled that someone else is having good luck with PageStream
Amiga. We should have been to this stage a long time ago, but at least
it is improving. I hope that enough folks get to your stage that this
coming week we can mop up the most annoying of the production issues.

> I thought maybe removing DEBUG and DEBUGFILE from the configuration file
> might speed things up, but I don't detect any difference.
>

No, the Amiga release is _always_ dumping the data to the "debug" output
(that goes to serial by default, but sashimi can reroute). I will have
to recompile without this to see what the real speed is and what kind of
issue it is. Removing DEBUGFILE will help some, as it won't make a copy
of the debug output to the file. Rerouting debug output via sashimi to
null: might help as well, but it will be a small improvement considering
all that will still be going on.

> Most things I have tried work, as is probably to be expected, but I find it
> a big relief in a program that so recently wasn't working at all.
>

That is the way it _should_ be

> The main things that don't work are fonts and colors.

I think what you mean is font selection via popup, and for some reason
SoftLogik/Colors drawer is empty? (You can populate that with data from
a previous release). The colors should be there. The archive is
basically just a copy of my test directory, and the Colors are on my
system...

> Today the Edit
> Palette showed the full list of fonts, but no matter which I checked, I got
> Zip. I could change fonts from the menu, but it only shows a partial list.
> Deron is aware of the font problem, I believe, but it isn't high priority
> yet.
>

You will need to either use the font menu, or better yet, the Font...
dialog box. That should give you all fonts, and examples etc.

> I played with drawing shapes (I don't remember how to change pentagons to
> triangles, so didn't try),

You can change the default number of sides etc the polygon tool uses by
changing the Preferences->Tool panel. Once drawn, you can change the
number of sides etc using the edit palette and object tool.

> and filling them with colors. Only two colors
> currently available, though; black and white. I hardly imagine that is a
> real problem.
>

Ah! That is not SoftLogik Colors being empty (that gives you color
libraries with which to define new colors). Instead, you must be missing
"PageStream5 Colors". At the very least, that should be in the Defaults
folder, no?

> Printing as PostScript works fine. Saving as PDF works fine.
>

Yea!

> A major improvement importing graphics: without thinking I tried a jpeg, and
> it worked! (With 5.0.5.3 one gets an error message, and must use .iff's).
> Bonus #2.
>

I believe all the filters are available, including png, jpeg, tiff,
jpeg2000, pdf document, etc. The _only_ one not compiled out is the
xMind filter I wrote awhile back for Tim Doty. It uses an XML library
which I need to port. I wouldn't bother for just the xMind filter as
that is something I would be surprised if anyone but Tim Doty needed,
but the SVG filter and a few others coming down the pick will need it as
well. In which case it is a no brainer to include the xMind.

anyway, glad it worked as well.

> After I put a graphic in the middle of a text frame in one of my early
> experiments, and tried to go back to adding text, I got a DSI and "Ignore"
> did not work.
>

Ok, any chance you can supply any kind of stack trace/segment offset etc.

> I bet getting Scripts to work is way down the line...
>
>

Do you mean PageStream macros, Arexx scripts, or Python scripts? The
first 2 are coded and should be functional. The latter is DOA at this
point. Might happen for OS4 version as I'm told a usable Python port exists.

Deron

--
Deron Kazmaier - support@pagestream.org
Grasshopper LLC Publishing -http://www.pagestream.org
PageStream DTP for Amiga, Linux, Macintosh, and Windows

On 02/27/2010, PageStream Support wrote:

> [...]
>> The main things that don't work are fonts and colors.
>
> [...]
>> Today the Edit
>> Palette showed the full list of fonts, but no matter which I checked,
>> I got Zip. I could change fonts from the menu, but it only shows a
>> partial list. Deron is aware of the font problem, I believe, but it
>> isn't high priority yet.
>
> You will need to either use the font menu, or better yet, the Font...
> dialog box. That should give you all fonts, and examples etc.

Assuming that the "Font... dialog box" is what one gets by clicking
"Choose..." under Type > Font, that doesn't work here. It comes with Athena
irrevocably highlighted, and a sample of Zip characters.

>> I played with drawing shapes (I don't remember how to change pentagons
>> to triangles, so didn't try),
>
> You can change the default number of sides etc the polygon tool uses by
> changing the Preferences->Tool panel. Once drawn, you can change the
> number of sides etc using the edit palette and object tool.

I just had a go at that, but no sign of an edit palette! I'm not getting one
for text either! I've relaunched a couple times to see if that fixes it (I
have had both palettes up to now); now I'll put this on Hold and reboot and
try again.

Nothing! What can I have done? I've often had to move them out of the way
during my experimenting, but they were always there!

>> and filling them with colors. Only two colors
>> currently available, though; black and white. I hardly imagine that is
>> a real problem.
>>
>
> Ah! That is not SoftLogik Colors being empty (that gives you color
> libraries with which to define new colors). Instead, you must be
> missing "PageStream5 Colors". At the very least, that should be in the
> Defaults folder, no?

Defaults not only has PageStream5 Colors, it also has Colores, Couleurs,
Farben, Guiones(?), and Kleuren. Plus it has ._PageStream5 kleuren and
._PageStream5 Colors. The 4096 size makes them look like Linux directories.

>> Printing as PostScript works fine. Saving as PDF works fine.
>
> Yea!

And I tested my current draft announcement, to go out in a few days. Mail
merge works perfectly; I won't have to mess with 5.0.3.3 via the OS4.1
install disk anymore.

>[...]
>
>> After I put a graphic in the middle of a text frame in one of my early
>> experiments, and tried to go back to adding text, I got a DSI and
>> "Ignore" did not work.
>>
>
> Ok, any chance you can supply any kind of stack trace/segment offset
> etc.

I'm afraid not, but if it happens again, I'll try to get something.

>> I bet getting Scripts to work is way down the line...
>
> Do you mean PageStream macros, Arexx scripts, or Python scripts? The
> first 2 are coded and should be functional. The latter is DOA at this
> point. Might happen for OS4 version as I'm told a usable Python port
> exists.

I had jumped to the conclusion that all those .py scripts were Python. Now
that I look at some, I see they are ARexx. What a good disguise!

I had tried using some in 5.0.3.3. It must have been before I started
learning Python, but I assumed at the time that that was why whatever I
tried didn't work. I thought there was even discussion of the matter.

I'll try some. I had successfully used the text warping thing at least once
in 4.0.whatever the working version was.
--
Bart Mathias
AmigaOne XE-G4 OS4.1u1

>
>>> I bet getting Scripts to work is way down the line...
>>>
>> Do you mean PageStream macros, Arexx scripts, or Python scripts? The
>> first 2 are coded and should be functional. The latter is DOA at this
>> point. Might happen for OS4 version as I'm told a usable Python port
>> exists.
>>
>
> I had jumped to the conclusion that all those .py scripts were Python. Now
> that I look at some, I see they are ARexx. What a good disguise!
>
> I had tried using some in 5.0.3.3. It must have been before I started
> learning Python, but I assumed at the time that that was why whatever I
> tried didn't work. I thought there was even discussion of the matter.
>
> I'll try some. I had successfully used the text warping thing at least once
> in 4.0.whatever the working version was.
>

Ah, you must mean the ones in the WIP folder (Work In Progress). A
little "scripting" history. All original scripts were done in ARexx.
After moving to other platforms, obviously we needed to use something
else. The first port to "Classic" Mac used Apple Scripts. That was also
single platform. Windows port had no scripting support (well, I looked
into supporting the Windows scripting abstraction which in theory would
let an app support multiple scripting methods but it is a mess). Linux
port I added python support because it would work on other platforms (OS
X and Windows specifically) and an Amiga programmer was porting Python
libraries necessary for PageStream. Sadly, the later hasn't happened,
but at least for everyone else they got a write once, run almost
anywhere PageStream scripting method.

Anyway, the WIP folder are the ARexx scripts that need to be rewritten
in Python for the other platforms. With the Python for Amiga stumbling
block, I suppose I need to put together a folder of the old ARexx
scripts in the distro. Just not put any thought into that.

In theory, any prior ARexx scripts should continue to function. Of
course, it is possible that some command changed.

One more fun tidbit. When you export a PageStream macro on the Amiga it
should convert it to Arexx by default. However, if you export with a
name ending in .py it should export it as a python script. Having added
that arexx code to the new scripting, the other platforms will continue
to default to exporting as a python script, but if the name ends in
.arexx it should export it as an arexx script. How is that for trivia

Deron

--
Deron Kazmaier - support@pagestream.org
Grasshopper LLC Publishing -http://www.pagestream.org
PageStream DTP for Amiga, Linux, Macintosh, and Windows

On 28/02/2010, Bart Mathias wrote:

>
> Printing as PostScript works fine. Saving as PDF works fine.
>
Even with large images? On PGS 4 I get crashes when trying to export PDF
with an image bigger than around 10Meg. (Which is not big nowadays.)

> A major improvement importing graphics: without thinking I tried a
> jpeg, and it worked! (With 5.0.5.3 one gets an error message, and must
> use .iff's). Bonus #2.
>
> After I put a graphic in the middle of a text frame in one of my early
> experiments, and tried to go back to adding text, I got a DSI and
> "Ignore" did not work.
>
> I bet getting Scripts to work is way down the line...
>
Regards
--
Don Cox
doncox@enterprise.net

Don Cox wrote:
> On 28/02/2010, Bart Mathias wrote:
>
>
>> Printing as PostScript works fine. Saving as PDF works fine.
>>
>>
> Even with large images? On PGS 4 I get crashes when trying to export PDF
> with an image bigger than around 10Meg. (Which is not big nowadays.)
>

I doubt he checked. At this point, running from shell, it sure seems
like you should be able to test this yourself

Deron

--
Deron Kazmaier - support@pagestream.org
Grasshopper LLC Publishing -http://www.pagestream.org
PageStream DTP for Amiga, Linux, Macintosh, and Windows

On 02/28/2010, Don Cox wrote:

> On 28/02/2010, Bart Mathias wrote:
>
>>
>> Printing as PostScript works fine. Saving as PDF works fine.
>>
> Even with large images? On PGS 4 I get crashes when trying to export
> PDF with an image bigger than around 10Meg. (Which is not big
> nowadays.)

The one in question started as a 260K pgs file and became a 426K pdf.

The biggest one I know I ever did for sure, via 5.0.3.3, was only 2Mb before
and after.

But hold on, I'll put this on Hold (in case I crash the system) and see what
I can do with some larger files (if photo collections count).

... Lucky I did. PageStream crashed (PSI, but "Ignore PSI errors" didn't
work) every time I tried to load a document larger than 4330682 bytes; that
one resulted in a PDF of 4.05Mb, somewhat short of your 10Mb.

--
Bart Mathias
AmigaOne XE-G4 OS4.1u1

On 01/03/2010, Bart Mathias wrote:
> On 02/28/2010, Don Cox wrote:
>
>> On 28/02/2010, Bart Mathias wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Printing as PostScript works fine. Saving as PDF works fine.
>>>
>> Even with large images? On PGS 4 I get crashes when trying to export
>> PDF with an image bigger than around 10Meg. (Which is not big
>> nowadays.)
>
> The one in question started as a 260K pgs file and became a 426K pdf.
>
> The biggest one I know I ever did for sure, via 5.0.3.3, was only 2Mb
> before and after.
>
> But hold on, I'll put this on Hold (in case I crash the system) and
> see what I can do with some larger files (if photo collections count).
>
> ... Lucky I did. PageStream crashed (PSI, but "Ignore PSI errors"
> didn't work) every time I tried to load a document larger than 4330682
> bytes; that one resulted in a PDF of 4.05Mb, somewhat short of your
> 10Mb.
>
I tend to be saving PDFS of aound 150 Megs, containing many image files
of up to 10 Megs each.

I keep all images external, but the PGS files are still around 50 or 60
Megs.

Sorry, I can't do any testing right now - deadlines loom.

Regards
--
Don Cox
doncox@enterprise.net

Deron,

I had a quick chance to try out 5.5 on my A1 with update 1.
You've clearly made progress with this one!

Most problems seem font related now. If the first thing I
try to do is set font paths, it locks everything up. Soft reboot.

But if I merely open a new document, I can draw shapes and
create text boxes. I can type text in. But if I try to
change the font of the text, I am not given anywhere near
the fonts I tried to give it a path for. And when I choose
one of the few standard fonts available, it locks up again.
Soft reboot.

This is all after adding Pagestream5 to the JIT exemption
list in Prefs:Compatability.

I don't think my experience is much different from others
here, so I haven't bothered doing any debug listings.
Would it be worth the time to run anything here? I'm not
even sure what works on OS4.1.1 besides Snoopy.

--
--
--
Paul Zager

Proud Builder of Frankenthousand, the monster A1000
'030@50MHz, 2 megs chip/32 megs fast, 2 hard drives, OS 3.9
4xSCSI CD-ROM, SyJet, 56kHayes, 19" flicker free display

"Bride of Frankenthousand" A4000 Gave her life for her young

The Young Frankenthousand AmigaOne G4-XE, ATI Radeon 9250,
Catweasel, 2048 MB . . . now running OS4.1u1

Paul R.Zager wrote:
> Deron,
>
> I had a quick chance to try out 5.5 on my A1 with update 1.
> You've clearly made progress with this one!
>
> Most problems seem font related now. If the first thing I
> try to do is set font paths, it locks everything up. Soft reboot.
>
> But if I merely open a new document, I can draw shapes and
> create text boxes. I can type text in. But if I try to
> change the font of the text, I am not given anywhere near
> the fonts I tried to give it a path for. And when I choose
> one of the few standard fonts available, it locks up again.
> Soft reboot.
>
>

I can live with all of that. It was the troubles of getting to the
navigator that was driving me crazy.

> This is all after adding Pagestream5 to the JIT exemption
> list in Prefs:Compatability.
>

I still don't understand this. PageStream is 100% C compiled with GCC,
no hardware calls, as plain as you can get. Why would JIT have a problem
with PageStream is beyond me...

> I don't think my experience is much different from others
> here, so I haven't bothered doing any debug listings.
> Would it be worth the time to run anything here? I'm not
> even sure what works on OS4.1.1 besides Snoopy.
>
>
Nope. At this point, just reporting things like you reported above is
all I need. If I can't reproduce the problem, I'll ask for more details.
Steps to reproduce, hardware info, sample document or font, etc.

If I don't hear from someone who _can't_ use 5.0.5.5, I will strip out
the forced debug and start work on the small but growing bug list!

Deron

--
Deron Kazmaier - support@pagestream.org
Grasshopper LLC Publishing -http://www.pagestream.org
PageStream DTP for Amiga, Linux, Macintosh, and Windows

Greetings "Bart Mathias" <mathias@hawaii.edu>
On 28/02/2010 at 01:02 you wrote concerning
[PageStreamAmigaBeta] playing with 5.0.5.5

Hi Bart,

BM> I don't know whether this is of any interest or not. The problems I find are
BM> mostly things Deron will tackle after all the different systems are able to
BM> produce a new document. For me, there are two bonuses over 5.0.3.3.

Not here. So far, 5033 (i.e., 5.0.3.3) is much more solid than 5055. Can only perform a few operations before 5055 either brings the GR to the fore or simply becomes inoperative. Sometimes a short 'recovery' from the GR is possible by selecting "Ignore DSI errors" but on return to PageStream it is not long before (sometimes immediatlely upon return) there is a functional freeze---mouse stills runs around but nothing works.

BM> Oddly, I have not been able to start PageStream by clicking on the icon.
BM> Once I have tried to, I need to reboot before I can run it from the Shell.

Same here. But I now run 5055 indirectly from a shell by mounting a simple ARexx script on AmiDock. It sets the stack to 300,00 bytes but I'm not convinced that is so important. I've run 5055 from a shell with the stack at 36,856 bytes and it worked just as well.

BM> I thought maybe removing DEBUG and DEBUGFILE from the configuration file
BM> might speed things up, but I don't detect any difference.

I removed the DEBUG lines too, and the response is still slow---almost tolerable!

BM> Most things I have tried work, as is probably to be expected, but I find it
BM> a big relief in a program that so recently wasn't working at all.

Here I cannot support "most things" but delighted that 'some things' work.

BM> The main things that don't work are fonts and colors. Today the Edit
BM> Palette showed the full list of fonts, but no matter which I checked, I got
BM> Zip. I could change fonts from the menu, but it only shows a partial list.
BM> Deron is aware of the font problem, I believe, but it isn't high priority
BM> yet.

Same here: Edit Palette refuses to change the current font and always claims that Zip is the active font. But, as you point out

Type -> Font -> Choose...
or
Type -> Font -> «user selects font from popup list»

work well. Unlike you, I DON'T get a "short list" of fonts when accessing the menu «Type -> Font». Also, when the popup list of fonts from «Type -> Font» appears, the currently active font is identified *correctly* whereas the Edit Palette always claims that Zip is active.

As to colours, I'm not sure. My first test failed when working within a text frame created by PgS5033 since on calling
Type -> Line & Fill...
the only colours available were Black or White. But working on a document created by 5.0.3.3 a whole bunch of colours showed up and a colour change was carried out, but immediately thereafter PageStream failed.

I compared the «Pagestream5 Colors» files, and as they were about the same size, the one in 5055 was hidden, then copied the 5033 guy into the «Defaults» directory and renamed it to «Pagestream5 Colors» and then opened 5055. All went well but there were no new colours, and as soon as I requested that the «Color palette» be opened, PageStream died.

So I did the same trick using the «PageStream4.colors» file. Copied it over, renamed it. Seems like a stupid thing to do but when 5055 opened, there did not appear to be any changes!!! Tried to change text colour by selecting a CUSTOM colour. After fumbling around, was able to choose a bright red colour, but on return to the "Line & Fill" requester only Black was shown. Somehow I managed to change one paragraph to sickly yellow, but could not reproduce that. The "Line & Fill" requester is weird---everything seems to be duplicated. Two "Line" buttons, two "Fill" buttons and so forth. Undoubtedly there will be a simple explanation.

<<snip>>
BM> Opening files created in 5.0.3.3 works, except for not being able to fix the
BM> fonts unless the ones needed are on the short menu font list. I was finally
BM> able to get through the Font Substitution requester (three DSIs on the way,
BM> only one "Ignore"able) when loading the template I use once a month to
BM> write a faculty retirees association newsletter. I clicked "Remember" for
BM> each substitution, then "OK," and my template came up, strictly ZIP.

Confirmed here! Everything was Zip. No point of attempting to use the font substitution at this point methinks. Once the file loads, then changes possible with «Type -> Font».

BM> Fortunately the menu fonts short list showed what I needed, so I was able
BM> to select text and change the fonts. Once I saved it, it came back up that
BM> way the next time I opened it; I ignored the Substitution requester, which
BM> just said "Zip."

Confirmed here.

<<snip>>
BM> Printing as PostScript works fine.

Not here and we have the same PostScript printer. I only tried to print the «5.0 Flyer.pgs» file, after modifying it a bit, but after 17 minutes (went for a tea break and phone call) there was no discernable progress despite the fact that PageStream 5055 claimed it was printing page 1, and the printer declared that it was "Printing document".

BM> Saving as PDF works fine.

Have not tried that yet. Good news thought.

BM> A major improvement importing graphics: without thinking I tried a jpeg, and
BM> it worked! (With 5.0.5.3 one gets an error message, and must use .iff's).
BM> Bonus #2.

No bonus here! Tried a single JPEG and although it loaded nicely (did not use "leave external") PageStream was immediately inoperative. The GR did not appear in this case.

<<snip>>
BM> I bet getting Scripts to work is way down the line...

Without mu usual scripts I feel rather strangled, and although default Styles can be called, upon using them Zip reappeared and the PageStream ided.

Well .... there is more to report, but not tonight.

Cheers Don (Green Dragon)
--

On 03/02/2010, Ferguson, Don wrote:

> Greetings "Bart Mathias" <mathias@hawaii.edu>
> On 28/02/2010 at 01:02 you wrote concerning
> [PageStreamAmigaBeta] playing with 5.0.5.5
>
>
> Hi Bart,
>
>> I don't know whether this is of any interest or not. The problems I
>> find are mostly things Deron will tackle after all the different
>> systems are able to produce a new document. For me, there are two
>> bonuses over 5.0.3.3.
>
> Not here. So far, 5033 (i.e., 5.0.3.3) is much more solid than 5055.
> Can only perform a few operations before 5055 either brings the GR to
> the fore or simply becomes inoperative. Sometimes a short 'recovery'
> from the GR is possible by selecting "Ignore DSI errors" but on return
> to PageStream it is not long before (sometimes immediatlely upon
> return) there is a functional freeze---mouse stills runs around but
> nothing works.

Our experiences show a big difference between OS4.1u1 and ... are you still
using 4.0?

5.0.3.3 won't work at all on my OS4.1.1. When I absolutely have to do
something with PgS that requires more fonts than I can get from Type >
Fonts (like getting out a newsletter this morning), I have to boot from the
OS4.1 install disk. Running a computer with its operating system on a CD
isn't awfully fast.

I don't get many GRs. I'm starting to develop a sort of memory of what
causes them, and I just don't do them things.

>[...] I now run 5055 indirectly from a shell by mounting a
> simple ARexx script on AmiDock. It sets the stack to 300,00 bytes but
> I'm not convinced that is so important. I've run 5055 from a shell with
> the stack at 36,856 bytes and it worked just as well.

I've thought of writing a script, but so far typing "te" TAB "pg" TAB "pa"
TAB Enter has seemed easier. I don't do anything with stack.

>[...]
>> Most things I have tried work, as is probably to be expected, but I
>> find it a big relief in a program that so recently wasn't working at
>> all.
>
> Here I cannot support "most things" but delighted that 'some things'
> work.

Notice that I qualified "most things." Mayhap you try more things than I.

>> The main things that don't work are fonts and colors. Today the Edit
>> Palette showed the full list of fonts, but no matter which I checked,
>> I got Zip. I could change fonts from the menu, but it only shows a
>> partial list. Deron is aware of the font problem, I believe, but it
>> isn't high priority yet.
>
> Same here: Edit Palette refuses to change the current font and always
> claims that Zip is the active font. But, as you point out
>
> Type -> Font -> Choose...
> or
> Type -> Font -> «user selects font from popup list»
>
> work well.

Did I say Type > Font > Choose worked? I can report that that has hung my
PageStream that last three times I tried it. The shortened list below
"Choose ..." has worked OK, and I'm pretty sure I have had inconsistent
success with the Edit palette for things beyond the short list.

I also discovered today that at least some times when I thought I was
getting Zip, it was really Artistic.

> Unlike you, I DON'T get a "short list" of fonts when
> accessing the menu «Type -> Font». Also, when the popup list of fonts
> from «Type -> Font» appears, the currently active font is identified
> *correctly* whereas the Edit Palette always claims that Zip is active.

Usually the Edit palette shows me nothing. There is no space for a string
requester between the curled arrow and whatever is on the right. On the
rare occasions when that requester has shown a font I can't remember
whether it was lying or not.

>
> [...]. The "Line & Fill" requester is
> weird---everything seems to be duplicated. Two "Line" buttons, two
> "Fill" buttons and so forth. Undoubtedly there will be a simple
> explanation.

The Mail Merge requester has that kind of duplication as well.

>
>
> <<snip>>
>> Opening files created in 5.0.3.3 works, except for not being able to
>> fix the fonts unless the ones needed are on the short menu font list.
>> I was finally able to get through the Font Substitution requester
>> (three DSIs on the way, only one "Ignore"able) when loading the
>> template I use once a month to write a faculty retirees association
>> newsletter. I clicked "Remember" for each substitution, then "OK," and
>> my template came up, strictly ZIP.

(Except as noted above, it turned out to be Artistic.)

> <<snip>>
>> Printing as PostScript works fine.
>
> Not here and we have the same PostScript printer. I only tried to print
> the «5.0 Flyer.pgs» file, after modifying it a bit, but after 17
> minutes (went for a tea break and phone call) there was no discernable
> progress despite the fact that PageStream 5055 claimed it was printing
> page 1, and the printer declared that it was "Printing document".

One thing I have learned is not to print directly to the printer from
certain programs, and PageStream is one of them. Instead, I print to a file
in RAM: which takes very little time, and then copy the file from RAM: to
the printer, and it prints pretty much immediately.

>> [...]
>> A major improvement importing graphics: without thinking I tried a
>> jpeg, and it worked! (With 5.0.5.3 one gets an error message, and must
>> use .iff's). Bonus #2.
>
> No bonus here! Tried a single JPEG and although it loaded nicely (did
> not use "leave external") PageStream was immediately inoperative. The
> GR did not appear in this case.

I have always used "leave external" with perhaps one exception when I did it
the other way to try to figure out what was the difference. I don't think I
liked what happened, and never tried it again.

> <<snip>>
>> I bet getting Scripts to work is way down the line...

As Deron pointed out to me, those .py scripts are not python after all, but
mainly ARexx. I tried some this morning and got error messages that I
didn't understand but proved the script was understood by my machine.

Bart Mathias
AmigaOne XE-G4 OS4.1u1

On 02/03/2010, PageStream Support wrote:

>> This is all after adding Pagestream5 to the JIT exemption
>> list in Prefs:Compatability.
>>
>
> I still don't understand this. PageStream is 100% C compiled with GCC,
> no hardware calls, as plain as you can get. Why would JIT have a
> problem with PageStream is beyond me...
>
The JIT in AOS 4 seems to be buggy, compared to the ones in Amithlon and
UAE.

AOS4 users are regularly talking about adding programs to the exemption
list.

Regards
--
Don Cox
doncox@enterprise.net

Hi Don,

On 2/03/2010, you wrote:

>> I still don't understand this. PageStream is 100% C compiled with GCC,
>> no hardware calls, as plain as you can get. Why would JIT have a
>> problem with PageStream is beyond me...
>>
> The JIT in AOS 4 seems to be buggy, compared to the ones in Amithlon
> and UAE.
>
> AOS4 users are regularly talking about adding programs to the exemption
> list.
>
But... but... the JIT is only for 68K code. It's not used by PPC programs.
Surely PGS 5.x.x is pure PPC and doesn't use the JIT?

cheers
tony

Hi Bart, Deron & all,

>>>> Printing as PostScript works fine.

Not on 68k it doesn't, as the Postscript driver will not load into the
requester box even when the correct one is double-clicked on or confirmed in
the requester. Nothing goes into the Postscript options requester to show a
selecetd Postscript printer.

Deron, are you aware of this problem? I did send you a separate message
about this, but haven't had a reply as yet.

>>>> Saving as PDF works fine.

I managed to save a PDF from 5.0.5.5 on 68k Amiga Classic, though it was not
easy as I can only view a document at a maximum of about 30% with a full
800x600 CGFX screen, due mainly to the MUI navigation buttons being bigger
than the PageStream work window itself, as they must take up about 2/3rds of
the whole screen size, which is very limiting on testing PgS5.0.5.5 and very
frustrating.

Deron, any MUI fix likely for this in the very near future ?

Also, I can obviously run PgS 5.0.5.5 via the SHELL/CLI, .... BUT... it
takes SEVEN MINUTES to loadup, and I feel many others will have thought it
is doing nothing during this time, and reset their machine or just given up.
Is there anyway of getting the start-up time for this version down to a more
realistic timescale for 68k? It closes in 3 to 4 seconds, maybe less, which
is of course realistic, so why is the startup taking so long, and why is
there no progress indicator of what PgS is doing to startup the program,
which it shows on the splash screen for PgS4.x ?.

I have also mentioned that if I run it just from the SHELL as PAGESTREAM5
then I can forget MULTI-TASKING on the Classic Amiga 68k as it just inhibits
access to right hand mouse click menus, and I also notice the clock stops,
that is anytime PgS is asked to do something never mind the 7 minutes wait
for it to loadup.

I found starting PgS 5.0.5.5 from the SHELL/CLI with the command RUNBACK
PAGESTREAM5 allows the Amiga to continue to multi-task and the time delay
for PgS to load is not affected in any significant way, still 7 minutes, so
something in the code seems to be either hogging all the CPU time, or
disabling/inhibiting/prohibiting multi-tasking on the Amiga while PgS does
anything. Any idea what that might be?

Neil Pearson

Hi Paul,

> Most problems seem font related now. If the first thing I
> try to do is set font paths, it locks everything up. Soft reboot.

I am using an 060/50 based Amiga 1200, and with that choosing fonts I have
not found to be a problem, as yet.

> But if I merely open a new document, I can draw shapes and
> create text boxes. I can type text in.

I find initially after PgS 5.0.5.5 is unarchived/setup, there are no fonts
installed with the archive, and I have to add the font path to be able to
see any text on screen, unless I load a PDF that has embedded fonts.

Well that's my findings from the testing I have had chance to do with PgS
5.0.5.5. Anyone else using an A1200 or A4000 for PgS 5.0.5.5 testing that
can confirm or add to these comments?

Bye for now,

Neil Pearson

On 03/02/2010, Neil Pearson wrote:

> Hi Bart, Deron & all,
>
>>>>> Printing as PostScript works fine.
>
> Not on 68k it doesn't, as the Postscript driver will not load into the
> requester box even when the correct one is double-clicked on or
> confirmed in the requester. Nothing goes into the Postscript options
> requester to show a selecetd Postscript printer.

I'm not positive I follow that. The requester box is the thing top center
that says "Printer:"? That requester gives me two options, "PostScript" and
"<Bitmap File>." I don't know why it doesn't give me other options, unless
it's the line "SETOUTPUT PostScript PostScript" in my configuration file.
What would happen if you put that in by hand?

But I'm not sure that's what you mean, because I don't think double clicking
on either option is possible.

I don't see any Postscript options requester. I have "Send to:" with five
options: PAR:, SER:, Device, PostScript file, and EPS file. I choose
PostScript file; in the rare cases I want to go directly to the printer,
I'll later name the file "prtx.ps."

Then comes a "PPD:" requester. This was the hard part originally, because I
had to find one for my printer on line.

There is a blank requester-looking-thing after "PostScript file:" on the
"Send to:" line. It doesn't seem to have a function.

Bart

--
Bart Mathias
AmigaOne XE-G4 OS4.1u1

Greetings "Tony Wyatt" <wyattaw@optushome.com.au>
On 02/03/2010 at 11:18 you wrote concerning
Re: [PageStreamAmigaBeta] Re: playing with 5.0.5.5

Hi Tony,

<<snip>>
TW> But... but... the JIT is only for 68K code. It's not used by PPC programs.
TW> Surely PGS 5.x.x is pure PPC and doesn't use the JIT?

I don't think that is true Tony. Version 5.0.3.3 is designed for PPC, but the current 5.0.5.5 that we are testing is for OS3 and 68k stuff. At Deron's website, under

Amiga-OS3-68k

one finds downloads for 5.0.5.4 and 5.0.5.5, whereas under

Amiga-OS4-PPC

one finds 5.0.3.3. For me, running under OS4.0, I find 5.0.3.3 is much more stable than 5.0.5.5 but still is not very reliable.

Cheers Don (Green Dragon)
--

Greetings "Neil Pearson" <neil@pearson.1to1.org>
On 02/03/2010 at 13:22 you wrote concerning
Re: [PageStreamAmigaBeta] problems with 5.0.5.5

Hi Neal,

NP>>>>> Printing as PostScript works fine.

NP> Not on 68k it doesn't, as the Postscript driver will not load into the
NP> requester box even when the correct one is double-clicked on or confirmed in
NP> the requester. Nothing goes into the Postscript options requester to show a
NP> selecetd Postscript printer.

Well here, OS4.0 is emulating the 68020 processor and I certainly don't get the behaviour that you describe. Couple of days ago, I tried to print the «5.0 Flyer.pgs» file and PageStream 5055 was not able to process the file. Perhaps I did not wait long enough, but 17+ minutes is long enough for me. However, spurred by your comments, I tried again a few minutes ago and was able to print a simple template---some sort of "school attendance sheet" that is in the «documents» directory of 5055. So that gives me some hope for further printouts.

However, unlike Bart, I cannot say that "Postscript works fine." I was going to print one of my old 5.033 files, but on trying to "fix it up", because of the takeover by that dictatorial font Zip, I soon met the GR and then PageStream 5055 cashed in its chips.

<<snip>>
NP>>>>> Saving as PDF works fine.

Good to hear that, I'll try it one of these days.

NP> I managed to save a PDF from 5.0.5.5 on 68k Amiga Classic, though it was not
NP> easy as I can only view a document at a maximum of about 30% with a full
NP> 800x600 CGFX screen, due mainly to the MUI navigation buttons being bigger
NP> than the PageStream work window itself, as they must take up about 2/3rds of
NP> the whole screen size, which is very limiting on testing PgS5.0.5.5 and very
NP> frustrating.

An 800x600 screen! I would not like to run PageStream on a screen with that low a resolution, although, in the 'old' days, I ran it on a much cruder screen (A1200 days!).

NP> Deron, any MUI fix likely for this in the very near future ?

Yes, that would be wonderful, but I recall Deron saying that he was having great difficulty with the MUI. Would not the MUI programmers be helpful???

NP> Also, I can obviously run PgS 5.0.5.5 via the SHELL/CLI, .... BUT... it
NP> takes SEVEN MINUTES to loadup, and I feel many others will have thought it
NP> is doing nothing during this time, and reset their machine or just given up.

I'll say! I certainly would have given up! However, you said "obviously run via a shell"!?!? Is that telling us that you can run 5055 from the executable icon?? I've never got that far.

<<snip>>

Cheers Don (Green Dragon)
--

Hi Don,

On 2/03/2010, you wrote:

>> But... but... the JIT is only for 68K code. It's not used by PPC
>> programs. Surely PGS 5.x.x is pure PPC and doesn't use the JIT?
>
> I don't think that is true Tony. Version 5.0.3.3 is designed for PPC,
> but the current 5.0.5.5 that we are testing is for OS3 and 68k stuff.
My mistake, sorry. I've been following this discussion with interest and I
must upgrade to the PPC version 5 soon. I didn't realise there was a 68K
release of version 5.

cheers
tony

Hi Don,

On 2/03/2010, you wrote:

>> But... but... the JIT is only for 68K code. It's not used by PPC
>> programs. Surely PGS 5.x.x is pure PPC and doesn't use the JIT?
>
> I don't think that is true Tony. Version 5.0.3.3 is designed for PPC,
> but the current 5.0.5.5 that we are testing is for OS3 and 68k stuff.
My mistake, sorry. I've been following this discussion with interest and I
must upgrade to the PPC version 5 soon. I didn't realise there was a 68K
release of version 5.

cheers
tony

PageStream Support wrote on 01.03.2010
about <Re: [PageStreamAmigaBeta] Re: playing with 5.0.5.5> the following:

> Paul R.Zager wrote:
...
>> This is all after adding Pagestream5 to the JIT exemption
>> list in Prefs:Compatability.
>>
>
> I still don't understand this. PageStream is 100% C compiled with GCC,
> no hardware calls, as plain as you can get. Why would JIT have a
> problem with PageStream is beyond me...

i don't see a difference here if i place pgs on the jit blacklist. so i see
no need for it. having the same problems with both :-/

regards...
--
Michael Merkel (MiMe@IRC)
Michael.Merkel@gmx.net
http://www.mirime.de/Michael
Member ofhttp://www.amiga-freunde.de

Greetings "Bart Mathias" <mathias@hawaii.edu>
On 02/03/2010 at 08:26 you wrote concerning
Re: [PageStreamAmigaBeta] playing with 5.0.5.5

Hi Bart,

Starting all over again. I've just recovered from a lockup with PageStream 5055. Solid! Had to us a cold reboot to get back to YAM. Should have saved the brillian dialogue that I had composed before more experimentation with 5055. :-0

<<snip>>
BM> Our experiences show a big difference between OS4.1u1 and ... are you still
BM> using 4.0?

Yes!

BM> 5.0.3.3 won't work at all on my OS4.1.1.

That's ridiculous! Such reports must be frustrating for Deron.

BM> When I absolutely have to do
BM> something with PgS that requires more fonts than I can get from Type >
BM> Fonts (like getting out a newsletter this morning), I have to boot from the
BM> OS4.1 install disk. Running a computer with its operating system on a CD
BM> isn't awfully fast.

When you boot from the OS4.1 install disc, then what version of PageStream do you use? When you were using OS4.0 I thought that 5.033 was your 'main' PageStream since you could not use 4156 at all!!!

BM> I don't get many GRs. I'm starting to develop a sort of memory of what
BM> causes them, and I just don't do them things.

It is a constant threat here. That's why I set up an ARexx script to open 5055 from AmiDock to deal with those unending freezes.

<<snip>>
BM>> Here I cannot support "most things" but delighted that 'some things'
BM>> work.

BM> Notice that I qualified "most things." Mayhap you try more things than I.

I doubt it! Proof? OS4.1! QED

BM>>> The main things that don't work are fonts and colors. Today the Edit
BM>>> Palette showed the full list of fonts, but no matter which I checked,
BM>>> I got Zip. I could change fonts from the menu, but it only shows a
BM>>> partial list. Deron is aware of the font problem, I believe, but it
BM>>> isn't high priority yet.

Ok, now I know what you mean by "short" or "partial" list. Until last night, I had so few fonts installed that the "short list" would reveal them all. But after throwing in more font families from the «TTfonts» directory in my 5033 setup, I have now to use the full «Type -> Font -> Choose...» to get a new font.

BM>> Same here: Edit Palette refuses to change the current font and always
BM>> claims that Zip is the active font. But, as you point out
BM>>
BM>> Type -> Font -> Choose...
BM>> or
BM>> Type -> Font -> «user selects font from popup list»
BM>>
BM>> work well.

BM> Font > Choose worked? I can report that that has hung my
BM> PageStream that last three times I tried it.

Essentially the same here. A few minutes ago I used it to type two sentences into a text frame, using a different font for each sentence. That worked fine! When I tried the same trick for the third sentence, PageStream frooze solid (dead mouse) and required a cold reboot. I had the same response last night when I was trying to change the font in use from Zip (or was it Artistic?) to something else after loading the «5.0 Flyer.pgs» file, In fact, highlighting a paragraph and applying a 'new' font did NOT work, although I've had it work in text frame wherein I typed the text by hand before making a font change.

So «Type -> Font -> Choose...» is dicey but seems to work on occasion.

<<snip>>
BM> I also discovered today that at least some times when I thought I was
BM> getting Zip, it was really Artistic.

Yes, I noticed that tonight. On my list of fonts, Artistic is the first one listed. I tried to scroll down to Zip for comparison, but on the way PageStream dies.

BM>> Unlike you, I DON'T get a "short list" of fonts when
BM>> accessing the menu «Type -> Font». Also, when the popup list of fonts
BM>> from «Type -> Font» appears, the currently active font is identified
BM>> *correctly* whereas the Edit Palette always claims that Zip is active.

As noted above, I retract my comment about the "short list." However, if the current font is visible in the list, then it is correctly identified by the bullet marker.

BM> Usually the Edit palette shows me nothing. There is no space for a string
BM> requester between the curled arrow and whatever is on the right. On the
BM> rare occasions when that requester has shown a font I can't remember
BM> whether it was lying or not.

It lies! What does one do with those entries «Collections» and «Arrage By»?

BM>> <<snip>>
BM>>> Printing as PostScript works fine.
BM>>
BM>> Not here and we have the same PostScript printer. I only tried to print
BM>> the «5.0 Flyer.pgs» file, after modifying it a bit, but after 17
BM>> minutes (went for a tea break and phone call) there was no discernable
BM>> progress despite the fact that PageStream 5055 claimed it was printing
BM>> page 1, and the printer declared that it was "Printing document".

Last night, I had a better session. Was able to print a single page! One of those templates that comes with 5055 and 5033.

BM> One thing I have learned is not to print directly to the printer from
BM> certain programs, and PageStream is one of them. Instead, I print to a file
BM> in RAM: which takes very little time, and then copy the file from RAM: to
BM> the printer, and it prints pretty much immediately.

Well ..... I certainly don't have to do that with 4156 or 5033, but I will try it with 5055 and see if that is a more reliable route.

<<snip>>
BM> I have always used "leave external" with perhaps one exception when I did it
BM> the other way to try to figure out what was the difference. I don't think I
BM> liked what happened, and never tried it again.

For me the advantage of using "leave external" is that PageStream then records the use of that graphic and you can get a list of the graphic files used from the REPORT guy. That is very useful at times, but photos look so 'bad' when "leave external" is used that I'll often load them into the file, check that they appear okay, then delete and reload using "leave external".

Cheers Don (Green Dragon)
--

Michael Merkel wrote:
> PageStream Support wrote on 01.03.2010
> about <Re: [PageStreamAmigaBeta] Re: playing with 5.0.5.5> the following:
>
>
>> Paul R.Zager wrote:
>>
> ...
>
>>> This is all after adding Pagestream5 to the JIT exemption
>>> list in Prefs:Compatability.
>>>
>>>
>> I still don't understand this. PageStream is 100% C compiled with GCC,
>> no hardware calls, as plain as you can get. Why would JIT have a
>> problem with PageStream is beyond me...
>>
>
> i don't see a difference here if i place pgs on the jit blacklist. so i see
> no need for it. having the same problems with both :-/
>
> regards...
>

The problems you (and others) are having at this point are most likely
just bugs. Fonts, speed, etc.

I'm still waiting for anyone running MorphOS to give a positive response
that they were able to get a new document opened. Anyone??

Deron

--
Deron Kazmaier - support@pagestream.org
Grasshopper LLC Publishing -http://www.pagestream.org
PageStream DTP for Amiga, Linux, Macintosh, and Windows

On 03/04/2010, Ferguson, Don wrote:

> Greetings "Bart Mathias" <mathias@hawaii.edu>
> On 02/03/2010 at 08:26 you wrote concerning
> Re: [PageStreamAmigaBeta] playing with 5.0.5.5
>
> Hi Bart,
>
> Starting all over again. I've just recovered from a lockup with
> PageStream 5055. Solid! Had to us a cold reboot to get back to YAM.
> Should have saved the brillian dialogue that I had composed before more
> experimentation with 5055. :-0

Well, I'm obviously a faster learner than you. I always put my YAM
output on "Hold" before I touch PageStream or IBrowse (or just about
anything, anymore).

> <<snip>>
>> [...]
>> When I absolutely have to do
>> something with PgS that requires more fonts than I can get from Type >
>> Fonts (like getting out a newsletter this morning), I have to boot
>> from the OS4.1 install disk. Running a computer with its operating
>> system on a CD isn't awfully fast.
>
> When you boot from the OS4.1 install disc, then what version of
> PageStream do you use? When you were using OS4.0 I thought that 5.033
> was your 'main' PageStream since you could not use 4156 at all!!!

Well, yes. I'm so used to the situation of having to use 5.0.3.3, which I
can now launch only from OS4.1 via the install disk, that I didn't think to
clarify that.

>[...]
>
> Last night, I had a better session. Was able to print a single page!
> One of those templates that comes with 5055 and 5033.

Hooray for small victories!

> For me the advantage of using "leave external" is that PageStream then
> records the use of that graphic and you can get a list of the graphic
> files used from the REPORT guy. That is very useful at times, but
> photos look so 'bad' when "leave external" is used that I'll often load
> them into the file, check that they appear okay, then delete and reload
> using "leave external".

More things on my to-learn-about list. I am not cognizant of a REPORT guy.
And I'm going to have to experiment with (or read the manual wbout,
whichever turns out to be easier) that "leave (or not) external."

--
Bart Mathias
AmigaOne XE-G4 OS4.1u1