FOR Your Information -------------------- This is a new product announcement from USENET. Forwarding this new product announcement in no way implies an endorsement by Sun etc. etc. -johnj -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: chris@harlqn.co.uk (chris richardson) Newsgroups: comp.newprod Subject: Software package for previewing and printing PostScript Works on SPARC, Sun 3, and Sun 386i Date: 13 Jul 89 22:25:20 GMT SCRIPTWORKS The Product ScriptWorks is Harlequin's software package for previewing and printing PostScript(R) descriptions of text and graphics images. The product runs on a wide range of standard hardware platforms and delivers monochrome, greyscale and colour PostScript images in X-Windows(TM) and a variety of other windowing environments. ScriptWorks is a very fast and flexible system. The package combines full support for the PostScript standard with proprietary techniques for overcoming the limitations of traditional implementations. The result is a system which performs complex clipping, large image handling, colour rendering and high quality font handling at remarkable speed. The Approach Harlequin has incorporated sophisticated memory management techniques into ScriptWorks to provide extra flexibility. Traditional limitations on the sizes of available stacks, the amount of PostScript virtual memory and the number of permissible graphic points do not apply. Instead, the ScriptWorks internal memory manager extends such facilities to cope with application requirements. This is effective both with and without virtual memory support from the host operating system. ScriptWorks has been designed to take full advantage of available co-processors, such as floating point and graphics units. The package is written in conservative C (and PostScript), thus enhancing portability and maintainability. Through ScriptWorks, Harlequin has shown that portability does not necessarily entail a loss of either performance or quality. PostScript PostScript is a simple interpreted programming language with powerful graphics capabilities. Its primary application is to describe the appearance of text, graphical shapes and sampled images on printed pages in a way which is independent of the resolution of output devices. ScriptWorks is completely compatible with the PostScript language from Adobe Systems Incorporated. There are two key references for this language: the PostScript Language Reference Manual by Adobe and the Apple LaserWriter(R). ScriptWorks essentially provides a superset of these, removing the restrictions which each may impose and, in case of irreconcilable conflict, ensuring that the LaserWriter industry standard is supported. This support for industry standards and usage has been a major concern. Several widely used software packages in desk top publishing, CAD and related fields do not quite produce pure PostScript. ScriptWorks has been adapted to accommodate their requirements. Fonts Harlequin has evaluated 'hinted' fonts from a range of vendors, selecting a very high quality hinting system which has been integrated into ScriptWorks. This technology adjusts the shape of characters to make allowances for rounding errors that occur as re-sizing takes place onto a raster of discrete pixels. The outcome is recognisable and aesthetically pleasing text at different sizes, resolutions and orientations. The effect is particularly apparent at small point sizes or low resolutions. Font Storage In its standard configuration, ScriptWorks takes its fonts from disk, allowing new fonts to be added easily to the system. It is also possible to save fonts described in PostScript terms with the standard fonts. ScriptWorks employs a multi-level font-caching system to enhance performance. These caches may themselves be saved on disk for further performance gains. Thus characters of commonly used sizes from any desired font may be permanently cached. (A similar effect is obtained by using ROM cache in printers.) Previewing and Windowing ScriptWorks supports both the previewing and printing of PostScript pages on multiple output devices. Previewing is best carried out in a windowing environment, although this is not essential. X-Windows is the standard environment but support is also available for native window systems such as SunTools and the Apollo Display Manager. In some environments, ScriptWorks can access the display's frame store directly, thereby greatly enhancing performance. Printing Taking full advantage of double buffering techniques, ScriptWorks supports Canon SX/CX laser printers. These operate at 300 dots per inch through a VME card supplied by De Facto Industries for Sun workstations. Standard configurations of ScriptWorks may be used to compute images at user-specified resolutions of up to 600 dots per inch. Even higher resolutions can be handled using ScriptWorks Plus, a separately available product, or through Harlequin's specialist services. Colour From the outset, full support for colour has been designed into ScriptWorks. For example, Harlequin's advanced error diffusion dithering technique is employed to provide 24-bit natural colour simulation for appropriate output devices. Care has been taken to ensure that the product conforms to the standard PostScript specification for colour as it has emerged. Portability ScriptWorks has been successfully ported to many different machines using a variety of ANSI standard and more traditional C compilers. Specific systems running ScriptWorks include the Sun family - Sun3, Sun4 and Sun386i, the Apollo Domain family including the DN10000, transputer systems, the Sony NEWS workstation, CLIPPER(R)-based Orion machines and InterPro(R) workstations from High Level Hardware and Intergraph Corporation respectively, and MIPS-based machines from MIPS themselves. Dependence on host operating systems has been kept to a minimum. Operating systems which have been employed include both Berkeley and System V UNIX(R) and those proprietary to specific machine vendors. MultiScript(TM) Harlequin also provides a related product called MultiScript, which is compatible with but extends the functionality offered by TranScript(R). MultiScript translates and filters a variety of printer and graphics formats into PostScript, ready for processing by ScriptWorks or any PostScript interpreter. Both MultiScript and ScriptWorks are available as networked or standalone systems. Enhancements Harlequin is committed to an extensive programme of development for ScriptWorks which will maintain the product's position on the leading edge of PostScript technology. The package is being ported to an even wider variety of platforms, displays, devices and systems. In particular, it is being incorporated into a PostScript imaging model with active windowing. Integration with LispWorks(TM), Harlequin's Common Lisp programming system and environment, is also taking place. Further Information For more information about ScriptWorks, any of the related products, pricing or availability please contact: ScriptWorks Support Harlequin Limited Barrington Hall Barrington Cambridge CB2 5RG England Tel. : +44-223-872522 Fax. : +44-223-872519 Telex : 818440 harlqn g Email : scriptworks-request@uk.co.harlqn or mcvax!ukc!harlqn!scriptworks-request Harlequin's products including ScriptWorks will be demonstrated at IJCAI 89 in Detroit. _______________________________________________________ * ScriptWorks, LispWorks and MultiScript are trademarks of Harlequin Limited. * The X Window System is a trademark of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. * PostScript and TranScript are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. * LaserWriter is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc. * UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories. Other brand or product names are trademarks of their respective holders. Harlequin reserves the right to alter the specification of ScriptWorks without notice.