PFlist is a program to produce hardcopy for text files, and is typically used to produce listings. The advantage over simply copying the file to the printer is that you can choose the font and fontsize which have to be used, allowing both more readable text, and better use of the paper. It is also possible to produce the listing in landscape orientation and in two columns (possibly combined).
To allow you to keep this listings, enough room is always left to punch holes and keep them in a binder, without erasing important letters. Also, each page contains a footer with the page number and some user defined text, possibly including the filename and also the update time for the file. This allows you to make the distinction between versions of a file, and you can even resort the pages if you accidently drop the listing.
Of course, you want to be able to select the files you want printed as easily as possible. Therefore, PFlist will simply display the files in a directory which you can select. By indicating the Tree option, you can make sure that the files in all the subdirectories are also displayed.
You can choose the directory in two ways. If you indicate the current directory with a HIT or press <d>, then you can edit the directory in the window. If you indicate the item with a DO or press <D>, then you can select it in the standard directory select window.
In the window you can also move up in the directory tree by indicating the <- item or pressing <<>.
You can make sure that PFlist does not display all the files in the current directory. This works in the same way as in the standard ProWesS file select window. If you indicate the extensions item than you can enter a file extension (that is, a string which is compared with the end of the filenames). You can enter several alternatives by separating them with a semicolon.
Normally only the files which end in one of the given extensions will be displayed in the directory window. However if the Not item (<n>) is selected, then only the files which do not end in one of the extensions will be selectable.
To start the printing, you have to indicate the DO item, or indicate the last file which you want to include in the printout with a DO.
Each new file which is printed always starts on a separate page. However, the page numbers will just continue.
If you are using PFlist on a machine which is running SMSQ/E then you will get some progress report in a special window (otherwise the window will just stay empty). It displays the current action, and allows you to interrupt the printing by indicating quit. When quit has been indicated, the printing is cancelled when the page which is being printed is finished. Please remember that this may still take some time. (Unfortunately, this is necessary to make sure the printer remains in a usable state.)
To make sure that you output is produced properly, you have to make sure that the correct printer driver and output device are selected. When you indicate the printer driver item or press <r>, then you get a submenu with all the resident drivers. Just select one and indicate DO.
The device can be selected by pressing <e>. If no device is given, then the default device for the printer driver will be used. The device is usually pard or ser1hr.
You can choose the font which has to be used for printing. You just have to select the font from the list and indicate DO. The menu can also be reached by pressing <f>.
In most cases, especially for printing listing, it is adviseable that a fixed width or monospaced font is used. This means that all the characters in the font have the same width. That way the characters will stay aligned with their appearance in a text editor. A typical example is the "Courier" font family.
Of course, you can also set the fontsize which has to be used to print the text. It is adviseable to make this fit according to the width of your text, as PFlist will not print anything which falls of the right margin. The item to select the fontsize can be reached by pressing <s>.
Normally speaking PFlist prints the selected files using one column and portrait page orientation (same as most magazines). However you can also instruct PFlist to use two columns (press <w>). Also, you can make PFlist print sideways, using landscape orientation (press <l>).
In any case PFlist will always make sure that there is enough room at the left on the page to allow you to punch holes in the pages and put them in a binder, without loosing any part of the text.
Some text files contain tabulate characters. PFlist can handle this, but you will have to make sure that all the text files that you print at a time have the same tab distance.
PFlist will replace tab stops with space characters. You can determine what the maximum width of a tab is. This mechanism assumes that you use a monospaced font, and will insert spaces until the next character will be printed at a multiple of the tab distance.
You can set the tab distance by pressing <t>.
On each column, PFlist will print a footer at the bottom. At the right in this footer, the column number is displayed (this is the page number if there is only one column). On the left, there can be some user defined text.
The footer text which has to be printed can be set by selecting the footer text item, or pressing <o>.
Apart from any normal text, like e.g. a copyright message, you can also include the name of the file which is printed in the footer. This can be done by including the sequence $N (capital N!) somewhere in the text. It is automatically replaced by the filename (excluding directory).
You can also include the update date of the file in the footer. This allows you to differentiate listings of separate versions. The sequence $D (capital D!) will be replaced by the current file's update date when the footer is printed.
As could be expected, PFlist is quite configurable.