Hi.

I'm new to Ghostscript.
I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.

And yes, this a step in the "print a PDF file" project.
I had some issues with getting the Xerox printer to print
a plain PDF file so I thought about converting i to to PS...

Have tried with:

$ gs "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=ps2write" "-sOutputFile=out.ps" "-fOUT.PDF"

The input file OUT.PDF only contains one page with 6-7 text lines
and one Code128 barcode. File created from the Python tool Reportlab.
And "out" refers to the Python step, it is the "input" file to GS.

The PDf file opens fine on any other environment, also when put in
a VMS directory served by WASD.

I have checked that the file org is as required by GS:

Record format: Stream_LF, maximum 0 bytes, longest 16384 bytes
Record attributes: Carriage return carriage control

GS just hangs and consumes 100% cpu until I end it with ctrl-C.
Does it wait for some SYS$INPUT input? Any switch I'm missing?

$ gs "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=ps2write" "-sOutputFile=out.ps" "-fOUT.PDF"
GPL Ghostscript 9.55.0 (2021-09-27)
Copyright (C) 2021 Artifex Software, Inc. All rights reserved.
This software is supplied under the GNU AGPLv3 and comes with NO WARRANTY:
see the file COPYING for details.
HV04JES_01 16:01:48 GS CPU=00:04:01.95 PF=48109 IO=152495 MEM=1369
HV04JES_01 16:01:51 GS CPU=00:04:04.56 PF=48109 IO=152496 MEM=1369
HV04JES_01 16:01:53 GS CPU=00:04:06.37 PF=48109 IO=152497 MEM=1369
Interrupt

$

One empty OUT.PS file is created and some empty TMPDIR files.

_TEMP_T45404.;1 1/52 13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.84
_TEMP_U45404.;1 0/0 13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.85
_TEMP_V45404.;1 0/0 13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.85
_TEMP_W45404.;1 0/0 13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.85

Any ideas? Some simple example for a GS command line to convert
a PDF file to a PS file?

Best Regards,

Jan-Erik.

Den 2022-03-13 kl. 16:13, skrev Jan-Erik Söderholm:
> Hi.
>
> I'm new to Ghostscript.
> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>
> And yes, this a step in the "print a PDF file" project.
> I had some issues with getting the Xerox printer to print
> a plain PDF file so I thought about converting i to to PS...
>
> Have tried with:
>
> $ gs "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=ps2write" "-sOutputFile=out.ps" "-fOUT.PDF"
>
> The input file OUT.PDF only contains one page with 6-7 text lines
> and one Code128 barcode. File created from the Python tool Reportlab.
> And "out" refers to the Python step, it is the "input" file to GS.
>
> The PDf file opens fine on any other environment, also when put in
> a VMS directory served by WASD.
>
> I have checked that the file org is as required by GS:
>
>  Record format:      Stream_LF, maximum 0 bytes, longest 16384 bytes
>  Record attributes:  Carriage return carriage control
>
>
> GS just hangs and consumes 100% cpu until I end it with ctrl-C.
> Does it wait for some SYS$INPUT input? Any switch I'm missing?
>
> $ gs "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=ps2write" "-sOutputFile=out.ps" "-fOUT.PDF"
> GPL Ghostscript 9.55.0 (2021-09-27)
> Copyright (C) 2021 Artifex Software, Inc.  All rights reserved.
> This software is supplied under the GNU AGPLv3 and comes with NO WARRANTY:
> see the file COPYING for details.
> HV04JES_01 16:01:48 GS        CPU=00:04:01.95 PF=48109 IO=152495 MEM=1369
> HV04JES_01 16:01:51 GS        CPU=00:04:04.56 PF=48109 IO=152496 MEM=1369
> HV04JES_01 16:01:53 GS        CPU=00:04:06.37 PF=48109 IO=152497 MEM=1369
>  Interrupt
>
> $
>
> One empty OUT.PS file is created and some empty TMPDIR files.
>
> _TEMP_T45404.;1       1/52        13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.84
> _TEMP_U45404.;1       0/0         13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.85
> _TEMP_V45404.;1       0/0         13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.85
> _TEMP_W45404.;1       0/0         13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.85
>
> Any ideas? Some simple example for a GS command line to convert
> a PDF file to a PS file?
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Jan-Erik.
>

Just a followup... I now found the "-dDEBUG" switch to GS, if this helps.
I also found the "-dBATCH" switch but that didn't change anything.

$ gs "-dDEBUG" "-dBATCH" "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=ps2write"
"-sOutputFile=out.ps" "-fOUT.PDF"
START 0 1442264 147528 1309952 27692 true 574 3 <0>
GPL Ghostscript 9.55.0 (2021-09-27)
Copyright (C) 2021 Artifex Software, Inc. All rights reserved.
This software is supplied under the GNU AGPLv3 and comes with NO WARRANTY:
see the file COPYING for details.
END PROCS 5 1482472 187887 1330056 33508 true 683 3 <0>
END FONTDIR/ENCS 6 1522680 216224 1330056 35988 true 693 3 <0>
END DEVS 32 1581088 275532 1330056 35988 true 697 3 <0>
END STATD 35 1581088 295068 1330056 38868 true 702 3 <0>
END GS_FONTS 51 1691540 376199 1330056 38868 true 731 3 <0>
END BASIC COLOR 52 1691540 381800 1330056 38868 true 747 3 <0>
END IMAGE 54 1691540 388948 1330056 38868 true 752 3 <0>
BEGIN RESOURCES 91 2424788 1093925 1434768 144276 true 773 4 <0>
END CATEGORY 91 2444892 1101216 1434768 144564 true 774 5 <0>
END GENERIC 93 2464996 1122314 1434768 144564 true 776 4 <0>
END FIXED 95 2485100 1139677 1434768 144564 true 776 4 <0>
END MISC 96 2505204 1154609 1434768 144564 true 776 4 <0>
END ENCODING 103 2614092 1274075 1434768 148194 true 776 4 <0>
Extend MacRomanEncodingForTrueType for TrueType: insert /radical @ 195
Extend MacRomanEncodingForTrueType for TrueType: insert /lozenge @ 215
Extend MacRomanEncodingForTrueType for TrueType: insert /Omega @ 189
Extend MacRomanEncodingForTrueType for TrueType: insert /pi @ 185
Extend MacRomanEncodingForTrueType for TrueType: insert /partialdiff @ 182
Extend MacRomanEncodingForTrueType for TrueType: insert /apple @ 240
Extend MacRomanEncodingForTrueType for TrueType: insert /greaterequal @ 179
Extend MacRomanEncodingForTrueType for TrueType: insert /Delta @ 198
Extend MacRomanEncodingForTrueType for TrueType: insert /product @ 184
Extend MacRomanEncodingForTrueType for TrueType: insert /lessequal @ 178
Extend MacRomanEncodingForTrueType for TrueType: insert /integral @ 186
Extend MacRomanEncodingForTrueType for TrueType: cannot insert /Euro @ 219
used for /currency
Extend MacRomanEncodingForTrueType for TrueType: insert /infinity @ 176
Extend MacRomanEncodingForTrueType for TrueType: insert /notequal @ 173
Extend MacRomanEncodingForTrueType for TrueType: insert /summation @ 183
Extend MacRomanEncodingForTrueType for TrueType: insert /approxequal @ 197
END INITFILES 214 3833168 2443707 1434768 150960 true 1014 4 <0>
%rom%[Resource.Init]Fontmap 215 3833168 2448980 1454872 156134 true 1015 4 <1>
%rom%[lib]Fontmap 229 3953792 2523266 1454872 156134 true 1015 4 <1>
END FONTS 236 3973896 2543143 1454872 156134 true 1014 4 <0>
END DEVICE 373 4416184 2947101 1453392 154654 true 1013 4 <0>
END CONFIG 373 4416184 2947371 1453392 154654 true 1013 4 <0>
END INIT 379 4516704 3036330 1697616 408174 true 1019 4 <0>
END GLOBAL 380 4516704 3040408 1697616 410490 false 1018 4 <0>
_Interrupt_

$

On 13/03/2022 15:13, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
> Hi.
>
> I'm new to Ghostscript.
> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>
> And yes, this a step in the "print a PDF file" project.
> I had some issues with getting the Xerox printer to print
> a plain PDF file so I thought about converting i to to PS...
>
> Have tried with:
>
> $ gs "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=ps2write" "-sOutputFile=out.ps" "-fOUT.PDF"
>
> The input file OUT.PDF only contains one page with 6-7 text lines
> and one Code128 barcode. File created from the Python tool Reportlab.
> And "out" refers to the Python step, it is the "input" file to GS.
>
> The PDf file opens fine on any other environment, also when put in
> a VMS directory served by WASD.
>
> I have checked that the file org is as required by GS:
>
>  Record format:      Stream_LF, maximum 0 bytes, longest 16384 bytes
>  Record attributes:  Carriage return carriage control
>
>
> GS just hangs and consumes 100% cpu until I end it with ctrl-C.
> Does it wait for some SYS$INPUT input? Any switch I'm missing?
>
> $ gs "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=ps2write" "-sOutputFile=out.ps" "-fOUT.PDF"
> GPL Ghostscript 9.55.0 (2021-09-27)
> Copyright (C) 2021 Artifex Software, Inc.  All rights reserved.
> This software is supplied under the GNU AGPLv3 and comes with NO WARRANTY:
> see the file COPYING for details.
> HV04JES_01 16:01:48 GS        CPU=00:04:01.95 PF=48109 IO=152495 MEM=1369
> HV04JES_01 16:01:51 GS        CPU=00:04:04.56 PF=48109 IO=152496 MEM=1369
> HV04JES_01 16:01:53 GS        CPU=00:04:06.37 PF=48109 IO=152497 MEM=1369
>  Interrupt
>
> $
>
> One empty OUT.PS file is created and some empty TMPDIR files.
>
> _TEMP_T45404.;1       1/52        13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.84
> _TEMP_U45404.;1       0/0         13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.85
> _TEMP_V45404.;1       0/0         13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.85
> _TEMP_W45404.;1       0/0         13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.85
>
> Any ideas? Some simple example for a GS command line to convert
> a PDF file to a PS file?
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Jan-Erik.
>
When I used GS in the past, ISTR there were command files ps2pdf.com &
pdf2ps.com (or maybe PDFTO PS.COM) in the distribution

Chris

--
Chris

Den 2022-03-13 kl. 16:25, skrev Chris Townley:
> On 13/03/2022 15:13, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>> Hi.
>>
>> I'm new to Ghostscript.
>> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>>
>> And yes, this a step in the "print a PDF file" project.
>> I had some issues with getting the Xerox printer to print
>> a plain PDF file so I thought about converting i to to PS...
>>
>> Have tried with:
>>
>> $ gs "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=ps2write" "-sOutputFile=out.ps" "-fOUT.PDF"
>>
>> The input file OUT.PDF only contains one page with 6-7 text lines
>> and one Code128 barcode. File created from the Python tool Reportlab.
>> And "out" refers to the Python step, it is the "input" file to GS.
>>
>> The PDf file opens fine on any other environment, also when put in
>> a VMS directory served by WASD.
>>
>> I have checked that the file org is as required by GS:
>>
>>   Record format:      Stream_LF, maximum 0 bytes, longest 16384 bytes
>>   Record attributes:  Carriage return carriage control
>>
>>
>> GS just hangs and consumes 100% cpu until I end it with ctrl-C.
>> Does it wait for some SYS$INPUT input? Any switch I'm missing?
>>
>> $ gs "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=ps2write" "-sOutputFile=out.ps" "-fOUT.PDF"
>> GPL Ghostscript 9.55.0 (2021-09-27)
>> Copyright (C) 2021 Artifex Software, Inc.  All rights reserved.
>> This software is supplied under the GNU AGPLv3 and comes with NO WARRANTY:
>> see the file COPYING for details.
>> HV04JES_01 16:01:48 GS        CPU=00:04:01.95 PF=48109 IO=152495 MEM=1369
>> HV04JES_01 16:01:51 GS        CPU=00:04:04.56 PF=48109 IO=152496 MEM=1369
>> HV04JES_01 16:01:53 GS        CPU=00:04:06.37 PF=48109 IO=152497 MEM=1369
>>   Interrupt
>>
>> $
>>
>> One empty OUT.PS file is created and some empty TMPDIR files.
>>
>> _TEMP_T45404.;1       1/52        13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.84
>> _TEMP_U45404.;1       0/0         13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.85
>> _TEMP_V45404.;1       0/0         13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.85
>> _TEMP_W45404.;1       0/0         13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.85
>>
>> Any ideas? Some simple example for a GS command line to convert
>> a PDF file to a PS file?
>>
>> Best Regards,
>>
>> Jan-Erik.
>>
> When I used GS in the past, ISTR there were command files ps2pdf.com &
> pdf2ps.com (or maybe PDFTO PS.COM) in the distribution
>
>
> Chris
>

Aha OK. I just picket the reasently published kit from M Barryman.
That one only has these files:

2022-03-12 14:49 1 620 aaa_readme.txt
2022-03-12 14:49 18 362 Fontmap.VMS
2022-03-12 14:49 34 507 776 GS.exe_alpha
2022-03-12 14:49 50 638 336 GS.exe_ia64
2022-03-12 14:49 46 333 952 GS.exe_x86_64
2022-03-12 14:49 2 177 showfonts.ps

I just copied GS.exe_alpha and tried. Later added the two
Fontmap.VMS and showfonts.ps into same directoy, no change.

Symbol GS is setup like this:

$ sh sym gs
GS == "$UTIL:[GHOSTSCRIPT]GS.EXE_ALPHA"
$

A copy of that pdf2ps.com would be nice, if someone happens to have that.

Regards.
Jan-Erik.

On 03/13/2022 08:13 AM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
> Hi.
>
> I'm new to Ghostscript.
> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>
> And yes, this a step in the "print a PDF file" project.
> I had some issues with getting the Xerox printer to print
> a plain PDF file so I thought about converting i to to PS...
>
> Have tried with:
>
> $ gs "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=ps2write" "-sOutputFile=out.ps" "-fOUT.PDF"
>
> The input file OUT.PDF only contains one page with 6-7 text lines
> and one Code128 barcode. File created from the Python tool Reportlab.
> And "out" refers to the Python step, it is the "input" file to GS.

>
> Jan-Erik.
>

I haven't seen the use of "-f" for the input file before but I tried it
on a pdf and it worked but my pdf only had text, not a barcode. I have
seen some "creative" methods in using fonts in both ps and pdf before.
Does the command work for you if the pdf has only normal text using a
simple font like Helvetica?

Jeff

In article <t0l1m4$7a5$1@dont-email.me>,
=?UTF-8?Q?Jan-Erik_S=c3=b6derholm?= <jan-erik.soderholm@telia.com>
writes:

> I'm new to Ghostscript.
> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>
> And yes, this a step in the "print a PDF file" project.
> I had some issues with getting the Xerox printer to print
> a plain PDF file so I thought about converting i to to PS...
>
> Have tried with:
>
> $ gs "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=ps2write" "-sOutputFile=out.ps" "-fOUT.PDF"

This works for me:

$ IF P1 .EQS. "" THEN GOTO USAGE
$ IF F$PARSE(P1,,,"TYPE") .EQS. "." THEN P1 = P1 + ".PDF"
$ IF P2 .EQS. "" THEN P2 = F$PARSE(P1,,,"NAME") + ".PS"
$ IF F$PARSE(P2,,,"TYPE") .EQS. "." THEN P2 = P2 + ".PS"
$ GS "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=pswrite" "-dBATCH" "-sOutputFile=''P2'" 'P1'
$ EXIT
$USAGE:
$ TYPE SYS$INPUT

P1: PDF file (required), default type .PDF
P2: PostScript file (optional), default type .PS, default name <name_of_P1>.PS
$ EXIT

Den 2022-03-13 kl. 18:17, skrev Phillip Helbig (undress to reply):
> In article <t0l1m4$7a5$1@dont-email.me>,
> =?UTF-8?Q?Jan-Erik_S=c3=b6derholm?= <jan-erik.soderholm@telia.com>
> writes:
>
>> I'm new to Ghostscript.
>> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>>
>> And yes, this a step in the "print a PDF file" project.
>> I had some issues with getting the Xerox printer to print
>> a plain PDF file so I thought about converting i to to PS...
>>
>> Have tried with:
>>
>> $ gs "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=ps2write" "-sOutputFile=out.ps" "-fOUT.PDF"
>
> This works for me:
>
> $ IF P1 .EQS. "" THEN GOTO USAGE
> $ IF F$PARSE(P1,,,"TYPE") .EQS. "." THEN P1 = P1 + ".PDF"
> $ IF P2 .EQS. "" THEN P2 = F$PARSE(P1,,,"NAME") + ".PS"
> $ IF F$PARSE(P2,,,"TYPE") .EQS. "." THEN P2 = P2 + ".PS"
> $ GS "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=pswrite" "-dBATCH" "-sOutputFile=''P2'" 'P1'
> $ EXIT
> $USAGE:
> $ TYPE SYS$INPUT
>
> P1: PDF file (required), default type .PDF
> P2: PostScript file (optional), default type .PS, default name <name_of_P1>.PS
> $ EXIT
>

Intreresting.
"pswrite" is not part of the "Available devices:" but ps2write is.

I tried to change to "pswrite" and got:

GPL Ghostscript 9.55.0 (2021-09-27)
Copyright (C) 2021 Artifex Software, Inc. All rights reserved.
This software is supplied under the GNU AGPLv3 and comes with NO WARRANTY:
see the file COPYING for details.
Unknown device: pswrite
%SYSTEM-E-BADPARAM, bad parameter value
$

Den 2022-03-13 kl. 17:02, skrev Jeffrey H. Coffield:
>
>
> On 03/13/2022 08:13 AM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>> Hi.
>>
>> I'm new to Ghostscript.
>> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>>
>> And yes, this a step in the "print a PDF file" project.
>> I had some issues with getting the Xerox printer to print
>> a plain PDF file so I thought about converting i to to PS...
>>
>> Have tried with:
>>
>> $ gs "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=ps2write" "-sOutputFile=out.ps" "-fOUT.PDF"
>>
>> The input file OUT.PDF only contains one page with 6-7 text lines
>> and one Code128 barcode. File created from the Python tool Reportlab.
>> And "out" refers to the Python step, it is the "input" file to GS.
>
>>
>> Jan-Erik.
>>
>
> I haven't seen the use of "-f" for the input file before...

OK, I have tried with both -f switch and just having the PDF file
as a paramater. Same (negative) result.

> but I tried it on
> a pdf and it worked but my pdf only had text, not a barcode. I have seen
> some "creative" methods in using fonts in both ps and pdf before. Does the
> command work for you if the pdf has only normal text using a simple font
> like Helvetica?
>

I removed the barcode command from the ReportLab code, but it didn't help.

Here is an uuencoded version of my PDF file without the barcode.
Anyone having a GS setup are free to test it. It should be a framed
box with 7 lines of text. I have not used any specific font commands.

Well, that could not be posted but it got blocked with some
"binary file" message...

I anyone would like a copy of my PDF file (uuencoded),
I can mail a copy.

> Jeff

On Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 8:13:12 AM UTC-7, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
> I'm new to Ghostscript.
> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.

PDF is a subset of PS, such that a PDF file can be converted to PS
without processing the actual data. That is, pdftops is a fairly
simple program.

On the other hand, you do need something like ghostscript to
convert PS to PDF. For PS files containing a single bit image
per page, it might be fairly simple. Also, you should tell GS the
right resolution, so it doesn't have to resample any images.

In article <t0lf67$k00$1@dont-email.me>,
=?UTF-8?Q?Jan-Erik_S=c3=b6derholm?= <jan-erik.soderholm@telia.com>
writes:

> Den 2022-03-13 kl. 18:17, skrev Phillip Helbig (undress to reply):
> > In article <t0l1m4$7a5$1@dont-email.me>,
> > =?UTF-8?Q?Jan-Erik_S=c3=b6derholm?= <jan-erik.soderholm@telia.com>
> > writes:
> >
> >> I'm new to Ghostscript.
> >> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
> >>
> >> And yes, this a step in the "print a PDF file" project.
> >> I had some issues with getting the Xerox printer to print
> >> a plain PDF file so I thought about converting i to to PS...
> >>
> >> Have tried with:
> >>
> >> $ gs "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=ps2write" "-sOutputFile=out.ps" "-fOUT.PDF"
> >
> > This works for me:
> >
> > $ IF P1 .EQS. "" THEN GOTO USAGE
> > $ IF F$PARSE(P1,,,"TYPE") .EQS. "." THEN P1 = P1 + ".PDF"
> > $ IF P2 .EQS. "" THEN P2 = F$PARSE(P1,,,"NAME") + ".PS"
> > $ IF F$PARSE(P2,,,"TYPE") .EQS. "." THEN P2 = P2 + ".PS"
> > $ GS "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=pswrite" "-dBATCH" "-sOutputFile=''P2'" 'P1'
> > $ EXIT
> > $USAGE:
> > $ TYPE SYS$INPUT
> >
> > P1: PDF file (required), default type .PDF
> > P2: PostScript file (optional), default type .PS, default name <name_of_P1>.PS
> > $ EXIT
> >
>
> Intreresting.
> "pswrite" is not part of the "Available devices:" but ps2write is.
>
> I tried to change to "pswrite" and got:
>
> GPL Ghostscript 9.55.0 (2021-09-27)
> Copyright (C) 2021 Artifex Software, Inc. All rights reserved.
> This software is supplied under the GNU AGPLv3 and comes with NO WARRANTY:
> see the file COPYING for details.
> Unknown device: pswrite
> %SYSTEM-E-BADPARAM, bad parameter value

$ gs -v
GPL Ghostscript 9.02 (2011-03-30)
Copyright (C) 2010 Artifex Software, Inc. All rights reserved.

OK, I need to upgrade. :-( But one reason I hesitate is because some
things might stop working. :-|

Den 2022-03-13 kl. 22:24, skrev Phillip Helbig (undress to reply):
> In article <t0lf67$k00$1@dont-email.me>,
> =?UTF-8?Q?Jan-Erik_S=c3=b6derholm?= <jan-erik.soderholm@telia.com>
> writes:
>
>> Den 2022-03-13 kl. 18:17, skrev Phillip Helbig (undress to reply):
>>> In article <t0l1m4$7a5$1@dont-email.me>,
>>> =?UTF-8?Q?Jan-Erik_S=c3=b6derholm?= <jan-erik.soderholm@telia.com>
>>> writes:
>>>
>>>> I'm new to Ghostscript.
>>>> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>>>>
>>>> And yes, this a step in the "print a PDF file" project.
>>>> I had some issues with getting the Xerox printer to print
>>>> a plain PDF file so I thought about converting i to to PS...
>>>>
>>>> Have tried with:
>>>>
>>>> $ gs "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=ps2write" "-sOutputFile=out.ps" "-fOUT.PDF"
>>>
>>> This works for me:
>>>
>>> $ IF P1 .EQS. "" THEN GOTO USAGE
>>> $ IF F$PARSE(P1,,,"TYPE") .EQS. "." THEN P1 = P1 + ".PDF"
>>> $ IF P2 .EQS. "" THEN P2 = F$PARSE(P1,,,"NAME") + ".PS"
>>> $ IF F$PARSE(P2,,,"TYPE") .EQS. "." THEN P2 = P2 + ".PS"
>>> $ GS "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=pswrite" "-dBATCH" "-sOutputFile=''P2'" 'P1'
>>> $ EXIT
>>> $USAGE:
>>> $ TYPE SYS$INPUT
>>>
>>> P1: PDF file (required), default type .PDF
>>> P2: PostScript file (optional), default type .PS, default name <name_of_P1>.PS
>>> $ EXIT
>>>
>>
>> Intreresting.
>> "pswrite" is not part of the "Available devices:" but ps2write is.
>>
>> I tried to change to "pswrite" and got:
>>
>> GPL Ghostscript 9.55.0 (2021-09-27)
>> Copyright (C) 2021 Artifex Software, Inc. All rights reserved.
>> This software is supplied under the GNU AGPLv3 and comes with NO WARRANTY:
>> see the file COPYING for details.
>> Unknown device: pswrite
>> %SYSTEM-E-BADPARAM, bad parameter value
>
> $ gs -v
> GPL Ghostscript 9.02 (2011-03-30)
> Copyright (C) 2010 Artifex Software, Inc. All rights reserved.
>
> OK, I need to upgrade. :-( But one reason I hesitate is because some
> things might stop working. :-|
>

OK. If you *do* upgrade (using Marks kit it is really just to
copy one single EXE file), I'd be happy to provide you a copy
of my PDF file...

Den 2022-03-13 kl. 20:49, skrev gah4:
> On Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 8:13:12 AM UTC-7, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>
>> I'm new to Ghostscript.
>> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>
> PDF is a subset of PS, such that a PDF file can be converted to PS
> without processing the actual data. That is, pdftops is a fairly
> simple program.

So what is "pdftops"? Do you have a link to that (for OpenVMS) ?

On Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 3:06:52 PM UTC-7, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:

(snip, I wrote)

> > PDF is a subset of PS, such that a PDF file can be converted to PS
> > without processing the actual data. That is, pdftops is a fairly
> > simple program.

> So what is "pdftops"? Do you have a link to that (for OpenVMS) ?

It is open source C. I presume it can be compiled on VMS,
but haven't tried.

On 3/13/22 5:06 PM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
> Den 2022-03-13 kl. 20:49, skrev gah4:
>> On Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 8:13:12 AM UTC-7, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>>> I'm new to Ghostscript.
>>> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>>
>> PDF is a subset of PS, such that a PDF file can be converted to PS
>> without processing the actual data.  That is, pdftops is a fairly
>> simple program.
>
> So what is "pdftops"? Do you have a link to that (for OpenVMS) ?

It appears to be part of XpdfReader rather than Ghostscript:

https://www.xpdfreader.com/pdftops-man.html

Once upon a time, it ran on VMS. There seems to be something about it
at VSI:

https://vmssoftware.com/openkits/i64opensource/VSI-I64VMS-XPDF-V0300-4B-1-RNOTES.PDF

Possibly there is still a version that runs on VMS.

Craig A. Berry wrote:
> On 3/13/22 5:06 PM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>> Den 2022-03-13 kl. 20:49, skrev gah4:
>>> On Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 8:13:12 AM UTC-7, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>>>> I'm new to Ghostscript.
>>>> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>>>
>>> PDF is a subset of PS, such that a PDF file can be converted to PS
>>> without processing the actual data. That is, pdftops is a fairly
>>> simple program.
>>
>> So what is "pdftops"? Do you have a link to that (for OpenVMS) ?
>
> It appears to be part of XpdfReader rather than Ghostscript:
>
> https://www.xpdfreader.com/pdftops-man.html
>
> Once upon a time, it ran on VMS. There seems to be something about it
> at VSI:
>
> https://vmssoftware.com/openkits/i64opensource/VSI-I64VMS-XPDF-V0300-4B-1-RNOTES.PDF
>
>
> Possibly there is still a version that runs on VMS.

It is also included in POPPLER which is derived from XPDF

I got both of them compiled on my VMS systems
see :
http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#POPPLER
http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#XPDF

Regards
Jouk

Den 2022-03-14 kl. 09:07, skrev Joukj:
> Craig A. Berry wrote:
>> On 3/13/22 5:06 PM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>>> Den 2022-03-13 kl. 20:49, skrev gah4:
>>>> On Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 8:13:12 AM UTC-7, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>>>>> I'm new to Ghostscript.
>>>>> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>>>>
>>>> PDF is a subset of PS, such that a PDF file can be converted to PS
>>>> without processing the actual data.  That is, pdftops is a fairly
>>>> simple program.
>>>
>>> So what is "pdftops"? Do you have a link to that (for OpenVMS) ?
>>
>> It appears to be part of XpdfReader rather than Ghostscript:
>>
>> https://www.xpdfreader.com/pdftops-man.html
>>
>> Once upon a time, it ran on VMS.  There seems to be something about it
>> at VSI:
>>
>> https://vmssoftware.com/openkits/i64opensource/VSI-I64VMS-XPDF-V0300-4B-1-RNOTES.PDF
>>
>>
>> Possibly there is still a version that runs on VMS.
>
> It is also included in POPPLER which is derived from XPDF
>
> I got both of them compiled on my VMS systems
>   see :
>        http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#POPPLER
>        http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#XPDF
>
>
> Regards
>    Jouk

Many thanks for the links! Now, all these has a lot of "Other packages
required" listed and I do not need/want all that "viewer" or X11 stuff.

Just a command line PDF to PS conversion tool without having to
deal with X11, DECWindows or anything like that.

So if someone has a version of pdftops built for Alpha, I could be
interested in a copy.

B.t.w., I got help from a list memeber to test my PDF files using
GS 8.54 on both Alpha and IA64, and that seems to have worked OK.
Also GS 9.07 on Suse Linux could convert the files.

Hm... I see that the 8.54 kit is available from M Berryman, I'll get
that and see whats in it. Maybe one canjust extract the pdftops tool.
https://theberrymans.com/decus/pcsi_kits/GHOSTSCRIPT-V0854/

Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
> Den 2022-03-14 kl. 09:07, skrev Joukj:
>> Craig A. Berry wrote:
>>> On 3/13/22 5:06 PM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>>>> Den 2022-03-13 kl. 20:49, skrev gah4:
>>>>> On Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 8:13:12 AM UTC-7, Jan-Erik Söderholm
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>> I'm new to Ghostscript.
>>>>>> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>>>>>
>>>>> PDF is a subset of PS, such that a PDF file can be converted to PS
>>>>> without processing the actual data. That is, pdftops is a fairly
>>>>> simple program.
>>>>
>>>> So what is "pdftops"? Do you have a link to that (for OpenVMS) ?
>>>
>>> It appears to be part of XpdfReader rather than Ghostscript:
>>>
>>> https://www.xpdfreader.com/pdftops-man.html
>>>
>>> Once upon a time, it ran on VMS. There seems to be something about it
>>> at VSI:
>>>
>>> https://vmssoftware.com/openkits/i64opensource/VSI-I64VMS-XPDF-V0300-4B-1-RNOTES.PDF
>>>
>>>
>>> Possibly there is still a version that runs on VMS.
>>
>> It is also included in POPPLER which is derived from XPDF
>>
>> I got both of them compiled on my VMS systems
>> see :
>> http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#POPPLER
>> http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#XPDF
>>
>>
>> Regards
>> Jouk
>
> Many thanks for the links! Now, all these has a lot of "Other packages
> required" listed and I do not need/want all that "viewer" or X11 stuff.
>
> Just a command line PDF to PS conversion tool without having to
> deal with X11, DECWindows or anything like that.
>
> So if someone has a version of pdftops built for Alpha, I could be
> interested in a copy.
>
>

I put a a link to the binaries of the poppler utilities on my website
for AXP (I will do Itanium later to day, no X86, because I do not have
that yet)
http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#POPPLER

Jouk

Den 2022-03-14 kl. 10:35, skrev Joukj:
> Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>> Den 2022-03-14 kl. 09:07, skrev Joukj:
>>> Craig A. Berry wrote:
>>>> On 3/13/22 5:06 PM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>>>>> Den 2022-03-13 kl. 20:49, skrev gah4:
>>>>>> On Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 8:13:12 AM UTC-7, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>>>>>>> I'm new to Ghostscript.
>>>>>>> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> PDF is a subset of PS, such that a PDF file can be converted to PS
>>>>>> without processing the actual data.  That is, pdftops is a fairly
>>>>>> simple program.
>>>>>
>>>>> So what is "pdftops"? Do you have a link to that (for OpenVMS) ?
>>>>
>>>> It appears to be part of XpdfReader rather than Ghostscript:
>>>>
>>>> https://www.xpdfreader.com/pdftops-man.html
>>>>
>>>> Once upon a time, it ran on VMS.  There seems to be something about it
>>>> at VSI:
>>>>
>>>> https://vmssoftware.com/openkits/i64opensource/VSI-I64VMS-XPDF-V0300-4B-1-RNOTES.PDF
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Possibly there is still a version that runs on VMS.
>>>
>>> It is also included in POPPLER which is derived from XPDF
>>>
>>> I got both of them compiled on my VMS systems
>>>    see :
>>>         http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#POPPLER
>>>         http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#XPDF
>>>
>>>
>>> Regards
>>>     Jouk
>>
>> Many thanks for the links! Now, all these has a lot of "Other packages
>> required" listed and I do not need/want all that "viewer" or X11 stuff.
>>
>> Just a command line PDF to PS conversion tool without having to
>> deal with X11, DECWindows or anything like that.
>>
>> So if someone has a version of pdftops built for Alpha, I could be
>> interested in a copy.
>>
>>
>
> I put a a link to the binaries of the poppler utilities on my website for
> AXP (I will do Itanium later to day, no X86, because I do not have that yet)
> http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#POPPLER
>
>      Jouk

That was kind! I will try that pdftops utility later today.

Thanks!

Jan-Erik.

On 14/03/2022 11:27, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
> Den 2022-03-14 kl. 10:35, skrev Joukj:
>> Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>>> Den 2022-03-14 kl. 09:07, skrev Joukj:
>>>> Craig A. Berry wrote:
>>>>> On 3/13/22 5:06 PM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>>>>>> Den 2022-03-13 kl. 20:49, skrev gah4:
>>>>>>> On Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 8:13:12 AM UTC-7, Jan-Erik Söderholm
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>> I'm new to Ghostscript.
>>>>>>>> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> PDF is a subset of PS, such that a PDF file can be converted to PS
>>>>>>> without processing the actual data.  That is, pdftops is a fairly
>>>>>>> simple program.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So what is "pdftops"? Do you have a link to that (for OpenVMS) ?
>>>>>
>>>>> It appears to be part of XpdfReader rather than Ghostscript:
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.xpdfreader.com/pdftops-man.html
>>>>>
>>>>> Once upon a time, it ran on VMS.  There seems to be something about it
>>>>> at VSI:
>>>>>
>>>>> https://vmssoftware.com/openkits/i64opensource/VSI-I64VMS-XPDF-V0300-4B-1-RNOTES.PDF
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Possibly there is still a version that runs on VMS.
>>>>
>>>> It is also included in POPPLER which is derived from XPDF
>>>>
>>>> I got both of them compiled on my VMS systems
>>>>    see :
>>>>         http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#POPPLER
>>>>         http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#XPDF
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Regards
>>>>     Jouk
>>>
>>> Many thanks for the links! Now, all these has a lot of "Other packages
>>> required" listed and I do not need/want all that "viewer" or X11 stuff.
>>>
>>> Just a command line PDF to PS conversion tool without having to
>>> deal with X11, DECWindows or anything like that.
>>>
>>> So if someone has a version of pdftops built for Alpha, I could be
>>> interested in a copy.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I put a a link to the binaries of the poppler utilities on my website
>> for AXP (I will do Itanium later to day, no X86, because I do not have
>> that yet)
>> http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#POPPLER
>>
>>       Jouk
>
> That was kind! I will try that pdftops utility later today.
>
Note that the XPDF istribution of VSI also co ntains the pdftops tool:
https://vmssoftware.com/openkits/alpopensource/VSI-AXPVMS-XPDF-V0300-4B-1-RNOTES.PDF

Den 2022-03-14 kl. 11:56, skrev jouk:
> On 14/03/2022 11:27, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>> Den 2022-03-14 kl. 10:35, skrev Joukj:
>>> Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>>>> Den 2022-03-14 kl. 09:07, skrev Joukj:
>>>>> Craig A. Berry wrote:
>>>>>> On 3/13/22 5:06 PM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>>>>>>> Den 2022-03-13 kl. 20:49, skrev gah4:
>>>>>>>> On Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 8:13:12 AM UTC-7, Jan-Erik Söderholm
>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>> I'm new to Ghostscript.
>>>>>>>>> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> PDF is a subset of PS, such that a PDF file can be converted to PS
>>>>>>>> without processing the actual data.  That is, pdftops is a fairly
>>>>>>>> simple program.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> So what is "pdftops"? Do you have a link to that (for OpenVMS) ?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It appears to be part of XpdfReader rather than Ghostscript:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://www.xpdfreader.com/pdftops-man.html
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Once upon a time, it ran on VMS.  There seems to be something about it
>>>>>> at VSI:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://vmssoftware.com/openkits/i64opensource/VSI-I64VMS-XPDF-V0300-4B-1-RNOTES.PDF
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Possibly there is still a version that runs on VMS.
>>>>>
>>>>> It is also included in POPPLER which is derived from XPDF
>>>>>
>>>>> I got both of them compiled on my VMS systems
>>>>>    see :
>>>>>         http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#POPPLER
>>>>>         http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#XPDF
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards
>>>>>     Jouk
>>>>
>>>> Many thanks for the links! Now, all these has a lot of "Other packages
>>>> required" listed and I do not need/want all that "viewer" or X11 stuff.
>>>>
>>>> Just a command line PDF to PS conversion tool without having to
>>>> deal with X11, DECWindows or anything like that.
>>>>
>>>> So if someone has a version of pdftops built for Alpha, I could be
>>>> interested in a copy.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> I put a a link to the binaries of the poppler utilities on my website
>>> for AXP (I will do Itanium later to day, no X86, because I do not have
>>> that yet)
>>> http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#POPPLER
>>>
>>>       Jouk
>>
>> That was kind! I will try that pdftops utility later today.
>>
> Note that the XPDF istribution of VSI also co ntains the pdftops tool:
> https://vmssoftware.com/openkits/alpopensource/VSI-AXPVMS-XPDF-V0300-4B-1-RNOTES.PDF
>
>
>

Yes, I saw that. But I was somewhat put off by the requirements for
an ODS-5 system disk, Motif and DECWindows. No need for any of that.

On 3/13/22 9:13 AM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
> Hi.
>
> I'm new to Ghostscript.
> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>
> And yes, this a step in the "print a PDF file" project.
> I had some issues with getting the Xerox printer to print
> a plain PDF file so I thought about converting i to to PS...
>
> Have tried with:
>
> $ gs "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=ps2write" "-sOutputFile=out.ps" "-fOUT.PDF"
>
> The input file OUT.PDF only contains one page with 6-7 text lines
> and one Code128 barcode. File created from the Python tool Reportlab.
> And "out" refers to the Python step, it is the "input" file to GS.
>
> The PDf file opens fine on any other environment, also when put in
> a VMS directory served by WASD.
>
> I have checked that the file org is as required by GS:
>
>  Record format:      Stream_LF, maximum 0 bytes, longest 16384 bytes
>  Record attributes:  Carriage return carriage control
>
>
> GS just hangs and consumes 100% cpu until I end it with ctrl-C.
> Does it wait for some SYS$INPUT input? Any switch I'm missing?
>
> $ gs "-dNOPAUSE" "-sDEVICE=ps2write" "-sOutputFile=out.ps" "-fOUT.PDF"
> GPL Ghostscript 9.55.0 (2021-09-27)
> Copyright (C) 2021 Artifex Software, Inc.  All rights reserved.
> This software is supplied under the GNU AGPLv3 and comes with NO WARRANTY:
> see the file COPYING for details.
> HV04JES_01 16:01:48 GS        CPU=00:04:01.95 PF=48109 IO=152495 MEM=1369
> HV04JES_01 16:01:51 GS        CPU=00:04:04.56 PF=48109 IO=152496 MEM=1369
> HV04JES_01 16:01:53 GS        CPU=00:04:06.37 PF=48109 IO=152497 MEM=1369
>  Interrupt
>
> $
>
> One empty OUT.PS file is created and some empty TMPDIR files.
>
> _TEMP_T45404.;1       1/52        13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.84
> _TEMP_U45404.;1       0/0         13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.85
> _TEMP_V45404.;1       0/0         13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.85
> _TEMP_W45404.;1       0/0         13-MAR-2022 16:01:45.85
>
> Any ideas? Some simple example for a GS command line to convert
> a PDF file to a PS file?

You have found a bug. There is an infinite loop in the code caused by a
member of a linked list pointing to itself. Debugging now.

In the meantime, you might consider downloading XPDF from the VSI
products site (https://vmssoftware.com/products/list/). It includes a
pdftops executable that may do what you want.

Alternatively, I have found there are a number of printers that cannot
print PDF files if simply sent to the raw port, or even via LPR, but
which can print them if the file is sent via IPP. If you have Multinet,
try setting up an IPP queue to your printer. If not, you can try my IPP
command-line utility.

Mark Berryman

> When I used GS in the past, ISTR there were command files ps2pdf.com &
> pdf2ps.com (or maybe PDFTO PS.COM) in the distribution

In case the command used helps any, the pdf2ps shell script from
whatever version of ghostscript is installed on a handy linux box
(9.55.0) follows.

Obviously the -sDEVICE setting won't work for the OP, based on other
comments in this thread.

In particular, the "-c save pop" bit looks like something that might
be worth trying, though.

De

#!/bin/sh
# Convert PDF to PostScript.

# This definition is changed on install to match the
# executable name set in the makefile
GS_EXECUTABLE=gs
gs="`dirname \"$0\"`/$GS_EXECUTABLE"
if test ! -x "$gs"; then
gs="$GS_EXECUTABLE"
fi
GS_EXECUTABLE="$gs"

OPTIONS=""
while true
do
case "$1" in
-?*) OPTIONS="$OPTIONS $1" ;;
*) break ;;
esac
shift
done

if [ $# -eq 2 ]
then
outfile=$2
elif [ $# -eq 1 ]
then
outfile=`basename "$1" \.pdf`.ps
else
echo "Usage: `basename \"$0\"` [-dASCII85EncodePages=false] [-dLanguageLevel=1|2|3] input.pdf [output.ps]" 1>&2
exit 1
fi

# Doing an initial 'save' helps keep fonts from being flushed between pages.
# We have to include the options twice because -I only takes effect if it
# appears before other options.
exec "$GS_EXECUTABLE" $OPTIONS -q -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH -P- -dSAFER -sDEVICE=ps2write "-sOutputFile=$outfile" $OPTIONS -c save pop -f "$1"

On 2022-03-13, Jan-Erik Söderholm <jan-erik.soderholm@telia.com> wrote:
>
> Aha OK. I just picket the reasently published kit from M Barryman.
> That one only has these files:
>
> 2022-03-12 14:49 1 620 aaa_readme.txt
> 2022-03-12 14:49 18 362 Fontmap.VMS
> 2022-03-12 14:49 34 507 776 GS.exe_alpha
> 2022-03-12 14:49 50 638 336 GS.exe_ia64
> 2022-03-12 14:49 46 333 952 GS.exe_x86_64
> 2022-03-12 14:49 2 177 showfonts.ps
>

That's a GPL licenced program, so Mark is supposed to either provide
you with a full source kit or to supply his changes (including those
changes to build scripts) along with a pointer to the original full
source kit.

Details in:

https://www.ghostscript.com/licensing/index.html#open-source

Simon.

--
Simon Clubley, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.

Den 2022-03-14 kl. 20:49, skrev Simon Clubley:
> On 2022-03-13, Jan-Erik Söderholm <jan-erik.soderholm@telia.com> wrote:
>>
>> Aha OK. I just picket the reasently published kit from M Barryman.
>> That one only has these files:
>>
>> 2022-03-12 14:49 1 620 aaa_readme.txt
>> 2022-03-12 14:49 18 362 Fontmap.VMS
>> 2022-03-12 14:49 34 507 776 GS.exe_alpha
>> 2022-03-12 14:49 50 638 336 GS.exe_ia64
>> 2022-03-12 14:49 46 333 952 GS.exe_x86_64
>> 2022-03-12 14:49 2 177 showfonts.ps
>>
>
> That's a GPL licenced program, so Mark is supposed to either provide
> you with a full source kit...

I'm totally uninterested by any sources for this software.
I'm just looking for a working solution.

On 03/14/22 11:50, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
> Den 2022-03-14 kl. 11:56, skrev jouk:
>> On 14/03/2022 11:27, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>>> Den 2022-03-14 kl. 10:35, skrev Joukj:
>>>> Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>>>>> Den 2022-03-14 kl. 09:07, skrev Joukj:
>>>>>> Craig A. Berry wrote:
>>>>>>> On 3/13/22 5:06 PM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>>>>>>>> Den 2022-03-13 kl. 20:49, skrev gah4:
>>>>>>>>> On Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 8:13:12 AM UTC-7, Jan-Erik
>>>>>>>>> Söderholm wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> I'm new to Ghostscript.
>>>>>>>>>> I try to convert a PDF file to a PS file.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> PDF is a subset of PS, such that a PDF file can be converted to PS
>>>>>>>>> without processing the actual data. That is, pdftops is a fairly
>>>>>>>>> simple program.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> So what is "pdftops"? Do you have a link to that (for OpenVMS) ?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> It appears to be part of XpdfReader rather than Ghostscript:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> https://www.xpdfreader.com/pdftops-man.html
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Once upon a time, it ran on VMS. There seems to be something
>>>>>>> about it
>>>>>>> at VSI:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> https://vmssoftware.com/openkits/i64opensource/VSI-I64VMS-XPDF-V0300-4B-1-RNOTES.PDF
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Possibly there is still a version that runs on VMS.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It is also included in POPPLER which is derived from XPDF
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I got both of them compiled on my VMS systems
>>>>>> see :
>>>>>> http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#POPPLER
>>>>>> http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#XPDF
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Regards
>>>>>> Jouk
>>>>>
>>>>> Many thanks for the links! Now, all these has a lot of "Other packages
>>>>> required" listed and I do not need/want all that "viewer" or X11
>>>>> stuff.
>>>>>
>>>>> Just a command line PDF to PS conversion tool without having to
>>>>> deal with X11, DECWindows or anything like that.
>>>>>
>>>>> So if someone has a version of pdftops built for Alpha, I could be
>>>>> interested in a copy.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I put a a link to the binaries of the poppler utilities on my
>>>> website for AXP (I will do Itanium later to day, no X86, because I
>>>> do not have that yet)
>>>> http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/software2.html#POPPLER
>>>>
>>>> Jouk
>>>
>>> That was kind! I will try that pdftops utility later today.
>>>
>> Note that the XPDF istribution of VSI also co ntains the pdftops tool:
>> https://vmssoftware.com/openkits/alpopensource/VSI-AXPVMS-XPDF-V0300-4B-1-RNOTES.PDF
>>
>>
>>
>
> Yes, I saw that. But I was somewhat put off by the requirements for
> an ODS-5 system disk, Motif and DECWindows. No need for any of that.
>
>

Perhaps but the pdftops tool is probably command line and could be
called from a script. Just extract that and use it...

Chris