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1 gs

 gs - AFPL Ghostscript interpreter/previewer

! $Id: gs-vms.hlp,v 1.37 2005/10/20 19:46:23 ray Exp $

! Ghostscript version 8.53, 20 October 2005

  Usage:

   $ gs [options] [file ...]

 Ghostscript is an implementation of Adobe Systems' PostScript (tm)

 and Portable Document Format (PDF) languages. Gs reads files in sequence

 and executes them as Ghostscript programs. After doing this, it reads

 further input from the standard input stream (normally the keyboard).

 Each line is interpreted separately. To exit from the interpreter,

 enter the `quit' command. The interpreter also exits gracefully if it

 encounters end-of-file. Typing the interrupt character (e.g. Control-C)

 is also safe.

2 Description

 The interpreter recognizes several switches described below, which

 may appear anywhere in the command line and apply to all files

 thereafter.

 You can get a help message by invoking Ghostscript with the -h

 or -? option. This message also lists the available devices.

 Ghostscript may be built with multiple output devices. Ghostscript

 normally opens the first one and directs output to it. To use

 device xyz as the initial output device, include the switch

     "-sDEVICE=xyz"

 in the command line.  Note that this switch must precede the first

 .ps file, and only its first invocation has any effect. For example,

 for printer output in a normal configuration that includes an Epson

 printer driver, you might use the command

      gs "-sDEVICE=epson" myfile.ps

 instead of just

      gs myfile.ps

 Alternatively, you can type

      (epson) selectdevice

      (myfile.ps) run

 All output then goes to the printer instead of the display until

 further notice. You can switch devices at any time by using the

 selectdevice procedure, e.g.,

      (vga) selectdevice

 or

      (epson) selectdevice

 As yet a third alternative, you can define a logical name GS_DEVICE

 as the desired default device name.  The order of precedence for these

 alternatives, highest to lowest, is:

      selectdevice

      (command line)

      GS_DEVICE

      (first device in build list)

 To select the density on a printer, use

      gs "-sDEVICE=<device>" -r<xres>x<yres>

 For example, on a 9-pin Epson-compatible printer, you can get the

 lowest-density (fastest) mode with

      gs "-sDEVICE=epson" -r60x72

 and the highest-density mode with

      gs "-sDEVICE=epson" -r240x72.

 If you select a printer as the output device, Ghostscript also

 allows you to control where the device sends its output.  Normally,

 output goes directly to a scratch file on Unix and VMS systems. To

 send the output to a series of files foo1.xyz, foo2.xyz, ..., use

 the switch

      "-sOutputFile=foo%d.xyz"

 The %d is a printf format specification; you can use other formats

 like %02d.  Each file will receive one page of output. Alternatively,

 to send the output to a single file foo.xyz, with all the pages con-

 catenated, use the switch

      "-sOutputFile=foo.xyz"

 To find out what devices are available, type

      devicenames ==

 after starting up Ghostscript. Alternatively, you can use the -h or -?

 switch in the command line; the help message also lists the available

 devices.

 To select a different paper size, use the command line switch

      "-sPAPERSIZE=a_known_paper_size"

 e.g.,

      "-sPAPERSIZE=a4"

 or

      "-sPAPERSIZE=legal"

  As of this printing, the known paper sizes, defined in gs_statd.ps, are:

  PAPERSIZE    X"         Y"         X cm      Y cm

  ____________________________________________________

  11x17        11"        17"        27.94     43.18

  a0           33.0556"   46.7778"   83.9611   118.816

  a10          1.02778"   1.45833"   2.61056   3.70417

  a1           23.3889"   33.0556"   59.4078   83.9611

  a2           16.5278"   23.3889"   41.9806   59.4078

  a3           11.6944"   16.5278"   29.7039   41.9806

  a4           8.26389"   11.6944"   20.9903   29.7039

  a5           5.84722"   8.26389"   14.8519   20.9903

  a6           4.125"     5.84722"   10.4775   14.8519

  a7           2.91667"   4.125"     7.40833   10.4775

  a8           2.05556"   2.91667"   5.22111   7.40833

  a9           1.45833"   2.05556"   3.70417   5.22111

  archA        9"         12"        22.86     30.48

  archB        12"        18"        30.48     45.72

  archC        18"        24"        45.72     60.96

  archD        24"        36"        60.96     91.44

  archE        36"        48"        91.44     121.92

  b0           39.3889"   55.6667"   100.048   141.393

  b1           27.8333"   39.3889"   70.6967   100.048

  b2           19.6944"   27.8333"   50.0239   70.6967

  b3           13.9167"   19.6944"   35.3483   50.0239

  b4           9.84722"   13.9167"   25.0119   35.3483

  b5           6.95833"   9.84722"   17.6742   25.0119

  flsa         8.5"       13"        21.59     33.02

  flse         8.5"       13"        21.59     33.02

  halfletter   5.5"       8.5"       13.97     21.59

  ledger       17"        11"        43.18     27.94

  legal        8.5"       14"        21.59     35.56

  letter       8.5"       11"        21.59     27.94

  note         7.5"       10"        19.05     25.4

  Note that the B paper sizes are ISO sizes: for information about using

  JIS B sizes, see `Use.htm'.

2 Initialization_files

 When looking for the initialization files (gs_*.ps), the files related

 to fonts, or the file for the `run' operator, Ghostscript first tries

 opening the file with the name as given (i.e., using the current

 working directory if none is specified).  If this fails, and the file

 name doesn't specify an explicit directory or drive, Ghostscript will

 try directories in the following order:

 1. The directory/ies specified by the -I switch(es) in the command

    line (see below), if any;

 2. The directory/ies specified by the GS_LIB logical, if any;

 3. The directory/ies specified by the GS_LIB_DEFAULT macro in the

    Ghostscript makefile.

 Each of these (GS_LIB_DEFAULT, GS_LIB, and -I parameter) may be either

 a single directory, or a list of directories separated by a `:'.

2 X_resources

 Ghostscript looks for the following resources under the program name

 `Ghostscript':

 borderWidth

  The border width in pixels (default = 1).

 borderColor

  The name of the border color (default = black).

 geometry 

  The window size and placement, WxH+X+Y (default is NULL).

 xResolution 

  The number of x pixels per inch (default is computed from

  WidthOfScreen and WidthMMOfScreen).

 yResolution

  The number of y pixels per inch (default is computed from

  HeightOfScreen and HeightMMOfScreen).

 useBackingPixmap

  Determines whether backing store is to be used for saving display

  window (default = true).

 See the file `Use.htm' for a more complete list of resources.

 To set these resources, put them in a file (such as

 SYS$Login:ghostscript.dat) in the following form:

      Ghostscript*geometry:    612x792-0+0

      Ghostscript*xResolution: 72

      Ghostscript*yResolution: 72

2 Options

 Note that VMS will convert all command line arguments to lower case

 if they are not within quotes. Therefore, if a certain command does

 not work, try again but with quotes around it.

  --  filename arg1 ...

 Takes the next argument as a file name as usual, but takes all

 remaining arguments (even if they have the syntactic form of switches)

 and defines the name ARGUMENTS in userdict (not systemdict) as an

 array of those strings, before running the file.  When Ghostscript

 finishes executing the file, it exits.

  -Dname=token

  -dname=token

 Define a name in systemdict with the given definition.  The token must

 be exactly one token (as defined by the `token' operator) and must not

 contain any whitespace.

  -Dname

  -dname 

 Define a name in systemdict with value=null.

  -Sname=string

  -sname=string

 Define a name in systemdict with a given string as value.  This is

 different from -d.  For example, -dname=35 is equivalent to the

 program fragment

      /name 35 def 

 whereas -sname=35 is equivalent to

      /name (35) def

  -q

 Quiet startup - suppress normal startup messages, and also do the

 equivalent of -dQUIET.

  -gnumber1Xnumber2

 Equivalent to -dDEVICEWIDTH=number1 and -dDEVICEHEIGHT=number2. This is

 for the benefit of devices (such as X11 windows) that require (or allow)

 width and height to be specified.

  -rnumber

  -rnumber1Xnumber2

 Equivalent to -dDEVICEXRESOLUTION=number1 and -dDEVICEYRESOLUTION=number2

 This is for the benefit of devices (such as printers) that support

 multiple X and Y resolutions. (If only one number is given, it is used

 for both X and Y resolutions.)

  -Idirectories

 Adds the designated list of directories at the head of the search path

 for library files.

 Note that gs_init.ps makes systemdict read-only, so the values of names

 defined with -D/d/S/s cannot be changed (although, of course, they can

 be superseded by definitions in userdict or other dictionaries.)

2 Special_names

  -dDISKFONTS

 Causes individual character outlines to be loaded from the disk the

 first time they are encountered.  (Normally Ghostscript loads all the

 character outlines when it loads a font.)  This may allow loading more

 fonts into RAM, at the expense of slower rendering.

  -dNOCACHE

 Disables character caching.  Only useful for debugging.

  -dNOBIND

 Disables the `bind' operator.  Only useful for debugging.

  -dNODISPLAY

 Suppresses the normal initialization of the output device. This may be

 useful when debugging.

  -dNOPAUSE

 Disables the prompt and pause at the end of each page. This may be

 desirable for applications where another program is `driving'

 Ghostscript.

  -dNOPLATFONTS

 Disables the use of fonts supplied by the underlying platform (e.g.

 X Windows).  This may be needed if the platform fonts look undesirably

 different from the scalable fonts.

  -dSAFER

 Disables the deletefile and renamefile operators, and the ability to

 open files in any mode other than read-only.  This may be desirable

 for spoolers or other sensitive environments.

  -dWRITESYSTEMDICT

 Leaves systemdict writable.  This is necessary when running special

 utility programs such as font2c and pcharstr, which must bypass normal

 PostScript access protection.

  -sDEVICE=device

 Selects an alternate initial output device, as described above.

  -sOutputFile=filename

 Selects an alternate output file for the initial output device, as

 described above.

2 Files

!!! Change

 GS_Root:[Ghostscript.gs4_0]

 Startup-files, utilities, and basic font definitions.

 GS_Root:[Ghostscript.Fonts4_0]

 Additional font definitions.

 GS_Root:[Ghostscript.gs4_0.Examples]

 Demo Ghostscript files.

 GS_Root:[Ghostscript.gs4_0.Doc]

 Assorted document files.

!!! Change

2 See_also

 The various Ghostscript document files (above).

2 Bugs

 See the network news group comp.lang.postscript.