Check printing

[Derek Atkins]

Hi,

Terry Boldt <tboldt at attglobal.net> writes:

> Using the option for selecting the top, middle or bottom check is not useful 
> since not all checks are not written at the same time/date. Thus, all checks 
> are really measured from the top down.

This is true.  When you rip off the top check, the next check is also
at the 'top' (unless there is some right-hand goop that remains with
the page).

> Normally (at least for all s/w I have used), page mesaurements are from the 
> left edge and top edge for this reason. All printers I have used, print from 
> the top edge down, not from the bottom up. All s/w I have used follows the 
> h/w practice. 

You've clearly never used PostScript, then.

GnuCash uses Postscript (through gnome-print, which is just an API on
top of PostScript) to generate the Check Image.  Postscript counts
from the bottom-left corner.  Flame at Adobe for making that choice.
Also note that it doesn't matter how large the actual piece of paper
is; what matters is the virtual size.  So if you always print on the
"top" check and feed your paper in, it will always print properly.

> Is there a reason for gnucash reversing this practice? Other than the practice 
> of geometers of laying out a 2D grid with x increasing to the right and y 
> increasing up? The geometer practice might seem more natural for qeometry 
> applications, but for laying out sheets for a printer, it is more natural to 
> reverse the vertical axis. A quick check with GIMP, reveals that GIMP also 
> measures from left to right and top to bottom. Both for display of the cursor 
> and in printing for measuring the image size and position.

See above about using postscript.

Admittedly the check-printing feature needs a major overhaul.  The
underlying measurement is still from the bottom left, but I suppose we
could hide that from the user (provided we also provide a "paper-size"
configuration).

> By simply changing the gnucash layout of measuring from bottom to top to 
> measuring from top to bottom, it would be possible to use multiple check/page 
> forms and the field measurements would remain constant.

That's not true.  They remain contant regardless.  At least they do on
my printer.  The physical paper is only the top-left portion of a
page, but the virtual paper is still the same regardless of the size
of the physical paper.  So at least in my printer if I feed in a
half-paper and tell it to print the "top check", it will always do so.
So, so long as the measurement from the top of the page is the same,
it will always print in the same spot.  At least on my HP LaserJet
6MP.  YMMV with other printers.

> My second question: On the "Custom Format" tab for printing a check, under the 
> "Check Position" field, there is another field: "Date Format".
> 
> What is this field used for?? And what does it mean to specify a position for 
> a 'format'??

Honestly, I have no clue what it's used for.

> I assume that the position of the printed date is specified by the "date" 
> field higher up, which testing seems to confirm.
> 
> Question 3: What is the field "Check Position" used for. I assumed that this 
> field would be added to the fields above. In testing, this field seems to be 
> totally ignored.

I don't know what this is used for, either.


As I said, we need to re-do the check-printing feature..  It needs to
be more flexible, clearer, and allow the user to save custom check
formats.  None of this is possible with the current architecture.  It
would also be nice to have a small graphic that sort-of displays what
the "page" would look like, but I don't know how hard/easy this would
be.

-derek

-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
       warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available