Documentation
v01.00.07
Released: 04/21/05
LightPage is a terminal-based pager incorporating several key features that may be important to people generating reports--especially from filePro.
LightPage will strip PCL and binary data from your report, letting you view it onscreen. With both vertical and horizontal scroll, you may easily view every part of the reports you generate. Adding yet more versatility, you may print the first, last, or current page, the whole document, or a range of pages--in their original format with the PCL included.
The current supported platforms are:
The following is required to use LightPage:
A demo version is available. The demo versions stamp the top of the viewing window with an [UNREGISTERED DEMO] label and insert a demo notice at the beginning of the viewed/printed text. These notices indicate the unregistered status of the software. This does not occur with the fully licensed version.
Download the demo for your platform:
Unpack the zip archive into any directory you choose. A subdirectory named LightPage will be created, and all program files are present within this subdirectory.
You may call the program directly from this directory at any time. If you wish to relocate the program itself to a location, you must copy all the included dynamic libraries to the same location in order for the program to work correctly. Relocation is purely optional. Putting this directory in your $PATH environment variable is the recommended course of action if you don't wish to call the fully qualified path every time you invoke the program.
Utilise the following syntax:
lpage [options] [file] [...]
LightPage can also take its data from standard input.
The working directory for temporary files for printing is /tmp by default. You may change this location with this option.
The indent number indicates how many characters to sidescroll at a time. The default is 10.
This option causes the program to scroll the entire document sideways at once, rather than "pulling" only the lines which need to be scrolled. This is desirable for most columnar reports.
This option sets the top title for the screen. The default is the program name and version number.
All keystroke commands are highlighted on-screen, and the few that are not in menus are documented on the help screen in the program.
LightPage looks for two configuration files, which may or may not be present. Both deal strictly with printer definitions, and only need be configured if you wish to print from inside LightPage.
The files are read in order:
The format of the files is of one or more lines defining a printer. In the definitions, there are two "magic cookies" that get substituted when the command is executed:
NOTE: All commands should have both standard output and standard error redirected to /dev/null or some other file to prevent screen corruption, although Control-L will redraw the screen if you forget.
The format of the lines is as follows:
printer=Descriptive Name:Lines Per Page:Command
In the case of a printer we wish to call Mike's Back Room LaserJet (Portrait), which would be used for 60 lines per page, we might have a line such as the following:
printer=Mike's Back Room LaserJet (Portrait):60:lpr -Pmike %f
If we wanted a separate entry for the same printer in landscape, we might have instead:
printer=Mike's Back Room LaserJet (Landscape):45:lpr -Pmike %f
By default, there is no printer selected, and the S key will cycle through all available printers. Printers are additive, so all printers in the main configuration file are first added to the list, and then all printers in the user's private configuration file. They will cycle in the order in which they are thus defined.
If you wish to define a default printer, preface the word printer with an asterisk (*) in the configuration file:
*printer=Copy Room LaserJet:66:lpr %f
The last entry read that contains an asterisk prefix to indicate a default is the default that is used, so users may override the default as needed.
Original Release.
Changed binary name to lpage to be shorter. Fixed defaults not being picked from global printer definitions.
This software remains the property of Fairlight Consulting, and license to use the program is sold to users. LightPage is licensed at a cost of $200.00 USD per system on which it is installed. Each license fee entitles you to install LightPage on one system, in any role you require.
Upon receipt of payment for a license, program will be delivered to the licensee via email at the email address associated with the PayPal payment.
Upgrades for the product are currently free when moving to new minor and major versions. Fairlight Consulting reserves the right to change this policy in the future, with no prior warning.
There is no warranty for this software. This software is offered "AS-IS" and without warranties as to performance or merchantability or any other warranties, whether expressed or implied.
Good computing practice dictates that any program should be thoroughly tested with non-critical data before deploying it for production. The user assumes the entire risk of using the program. In no event shall Fairlight Consulting be held liable for loss of data, failure of performance, or any other damages, be they real or perceived.
If you agree to these terms, click here to order LightPage!