| ID: | 4814 |
| From: | Bob Paddock <gr...@gmail.com> |
| Date: | Thu, 15 Apr 2021 10:12:28 -0400 |
| Subject: | Re: [pcb-rnd] feature removal RFC: the pscalib action |
| in-reply-to: | 4811 from rn...@igor2.repo.hu |
| replies: | 4816 from rn...@igor2.repo.hu |
> And the source does have some code that suggests the original developer, > whoever it was, Sadly I have to say it was probably me. I remember nothing about the specific code at this point. I do remember what was the cause of it. At some point Ghostscript/Ghostview was updated and the PCB output was no longer compatible, as I recall it caused the Windows version of GV to crash. This may have been where there was a big stink about Postscript being a security vulnerability, because early versions could manipulate files. As Don Lancaster likes to point out Postscript can be used for things besides drawing lines on paper. I updated the PCB Postscript code to a newer version of the Postscript Standard from some ancient version it had been using for a decade or two, So it no longer crashed Ghostview and was more inline with modern security practices for Postscript. >wanted to ask the user to measure, enter the size and then > get everything calculated and retested - in multiple iterations if needed. > It just never got finished I think. Going by very hazy memory the intent was that you could get a X:1 output on a Postscript printer, a Xerox in my case, that could be used with transparent film and UV sensitised boards. Each printer/paper(transparency) combo distorts measurements in its own unique way, hence the measure repeat cycle, to get ture X:1 scaling. There may have also been some issue with paper size and there was no generic way to find what paper was in use. At this point in time not even sure that was the case. To me getting a ture size print out is valuable for the printer/paper(substance) at hand. Today there may be better ways of doing it. I'm not sure why I never finished it. May have been due to my late wife's health causing me to spend my time differently. Her saga has become part of the recent documentary Pain Warriors. Pain Warriors is NOT a warm and fuzzy movie to watch.
Reply subtree:
4814 Re: [pcb-rnd] feature removal RFC: the pscalib action from Bob Paddock <gr...@gmail.com>
4816 Re: [pcb-rnd] feature removal RFC: the pscalib action from rn...@igor2.repo.hu
4818 Re: [pcb-rnd] feature removal RFC: the pscalib action from Bob Paddock <gr...@gmail.com>