Automating the conversion of ASCII to PostScript

You can configure the system to detect ASCII print files submitted to a PostScript print queue and automatically convert these ASCII files to PostScript for a PostScript printer.

Many applications that generate PostScript print files follow the convention of making the first two characters of the PostScript file %!, which identifies the print file as a PostScript print file. To configure the system to detect ASCII print files submitted to a PostScript print queue and automatically convert them to PostScript files before sending them to the PostScript printer, perform these steps:

  1. At the prompt, type: smit chpq
  2. Type the PostScript queue name, or use the List feature to select from a list of queues.
  3. Select the Printer Setup menu option.
  4. Change the value of AUTOMATIC detection of print file TYPE to be done? field to yes.

Any of the following commands now convert an ASCII file to a PostScript file and print it on a PostScript printer. To convert myfile.ascii, type any of the following at the command line:

qprt -Pps myfile.ps myfile.ascii
lpr -Pps myfile.ps myfile.ascii
lp -dps myfile.ps myfile.acsii

whereps is a PostScript print queue.