WinPrint Index

WinPrint: Tips

Calamus runs in WindowsPack under a built-in emulator. This makes it possible for Calamus to run on Windows computers by emulating a TOS operating system. Due to this Calamus is a little slower than on a TOS-compatible computer or on an Apple computer with MagicMac. This is because the TOS processor instructions have to be byte-swapped completely each time so that they can be understood by the Windows PC processor – instruction by instruction, over and over again. This alone slows things down in comparison to an operating system where this byte-swapping of functions is not necessary. For this reason the emulator is assigned under Windows to work with a sensibly chosen (high) priority. Because – unlike other Windows applications – it doesn't really know when you are working with Calamus or when Calamus is simply lying around.

If you now use Calamus to print out a file via WinPrint, then the following happens as a rule:

1. Calamus builds up the page in the memory of the WindowsPack emulator.
2. The print data is then sent by WinPrint to the Windows printer spooler.
3. The printer spooler then passes the received data via the GDI to the Windows printer driver.
4. The Windows printer driver prints.

During this process there are a number of places where problems can arise, which you can solve yourself. An important role is played by the Calamus parameters dialog here, which you can call by holding down the [Ctrl] key while launching Calamus.

Memory

If possible, do not assign more memory to Calamus than is actually present in your PC. It is possible to assign more (depending on the amount of free space on the relevant hard disk), but the WindowsPack emulator then has to swap back and forth continuously between physical RAM and the hard disk. This does not exactly speed up the process!

Timing

Calamus can tell the Windows printer spooler that it should accept a file as completely received only after xx seconds. But sometimes it may happen that the printer spooler is set to a very low timeout value, and with a very large page, which is possibly being printed from Calamus in colour, starts to print the page while Calamus is still sending data to the printer spooler. In that case set the Spooler wait time in the Calamus Parameters dialog to a higher value, say to 60 or 120 seconds.

Priority

As already described in the introduction to the WinPrint printer driver, Calamus always runs with a very high priority. When you have printed a page in Calamus, it may be advantageous to minimise Calamus, in other words click at top right of the window containing Calamus on the minimiser icon so that Calamus only appears in the Windows taskbar. Then the Calamus process will be set to the lowest priority under Windows – provided that you have set the Save CPU time when minimized switch in the Calamus Parameters dialog. In that case the Windows printer spooler can pass the data it has received at full speed to the Windows printer driver, without being slowed down continuously by Calamus.