Thanks for the response,Chris. I'm running Win98 so DOS is not a problem. I have operated in DOS on a limited level, but it seems like I'm stepping into a bunch of disconnected jargon when I try to get anywhere with this postscript stuff. I'm not sure how ghostview relates to the ABC program or howyou ensure that your printer is getting printable info, etc. Is there any place that has some basic tutorial that will allow this to make sense either specifically for the ABC2ps programs or something general that will be applicable. Also I had my brother, who has worked in DOS for 20 years or more, try to run this program and he coulsn't get it to open with either the exexcutable or a command line entry.
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Chris Davidson Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2002 5:36 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [abcusers] Can anyone help! You don't say which version of Windows you are using - if it is post Win98 (i.e. ME or XP) then you won't be able to operate in DOS mode, and ABCm2ps in these circumstances needs the full command line in order to work. (i.e. after the "abcm2ps" you need to add the name of the file you want to operate on, and any switches you want to use) A crude workaround is to create a batch file (i.e. with a .bat suffix) using any text editor - such as Notepad. This batch file will consist of a couple of lines which for instance might be: path=C:\gstools\gs5.50;C:\gstools\gsview abcm2ps goodtune.abc -o Then all you have to do is double click on the batch file and you will end up with a postscript file called out.ps in the same directory as the abc file. (The first line tells abcm2ps where to find the ghostscript and ghostview files and the "o" suffix tells the program to output the postscript file.) The drawback (as far as I discovered anyway) was that everything needed to be in the same directory - i.e. as the abcm2ps program! It didn't seem to like file paths. The good news is a wonderful front end from Seymour Schlien called RunABC (the URL of which escapes me for the moment - but there is a link from Chris Walshaw's abc home page.) You can download a Windows executable (about 800K) or download the whole of the TclTk package it is built from and run it as a Tcl script. (the former is probably easier unless you have Tcl already or are interested in developing scripts yourself.) The RunABC front end then needs configuring (it prompts you to do this anyway first time around) You tell it where abcm2ps, abc2midi timidity (software MIDI player) ghostscript and all your other related ABC programs are. RunABC holds all this together - including very simple but powerful control over formatting and output. (incidentally there is a Linux TclTk version which works great as well!) You can basically display (and then print out) play (as MIDI) edit (using a text editor or your choice) etc etc. All ABC tunes in your selected file are listed and you can highlight which ones you want to print or play (or even all tunes if there are no more than around 150ish) Hope this is helpful. Good luck! Chris Davidson In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, A. O. Gutierrez <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes >I cannot get my any copy of ABCm2ps to operate on my system. The author has >not responded and I'm stuck with ABC2win which does nice job on tunes, but >can't handle lyrics. There does not seem to be a tutorial around for the >complete novice to start using these programs. I have the John Atcherly >ABC2ps which supposedly has a windows executable. The file is there, but >when it is activated the DOS box flashes on screen the disappears without a >trace, no minimized indicator on the taskbar, nothing anywhere. Any help >available? > >A. O. Gutierrez >Jamestown,RI > > > >To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/list >s.html -- Chris Davidson To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
