Re: HPGL plotters (was Producing G code...)

On 5/19/04 11:37 PM, caudlet thom-at-tcaudle.com |yahoo| wrote:

>Most commercial plotters will not drive
>directly from Windows even though most claim to be HPGL compatable.
>The solution has been to have a separate sign layout package that had
>the correct drivers for your cutter. Signtools negates the need for
>the separate package if all you do is make signs...

and also:

>Trouble is, that the generic HP driver
>that used to ship with Windows stopped working in Windows 2000 and
>above.

Okay, I know this is getting pretty far off topic, but I just bought an ancient plotter/cutter,
and I finally figured out how to make the stupid thing just run some HPGL without any
other software or even a printer driver.

So the answer is... DOS! For a parallel port connected plotter, simply type the following at
the DOS prompt:

print "C:\dir\file.plt">lpt1

You can also run one liners using the syntax:

echo [string]>lpt1
for example
echo "PU0 0;">lpt1 # to go home
or
echo "PU10160 0;">lpt1 # to advance 10 inches

So much for progress.