<html> <head> </head> <body> <h1>The <i>slap</i> FAQ</h1> <h5>Author: Mike Spooner</h5> <h5>Version 0.1: September 1999</h5> <p> <i>This is only a very early draft</i> <p><hr><p> <h2>1) Introduction</h2> <h4>1.1) What is <i>slap</i>?</h4> slap is a UNIX command-line program for printing stick-on textual labels using a Seiko Instruments' Smart Label Printer. <p> It can print in several typefaces and point-sizes. <h4>1.2) What is a Smart Label Printer?</h4> See <a href="http://www.seikosmart.com/products/slp.htm"> http://www.seikosmart.com/products/slp.htm</a>. <h4>1.3) Do Seiko Instruments provide driver software for these printers?</h4> Yes, but only for Macintosh or Microsoft Windows (95, 98, NT, 2000, etc). For UNIX systems, you need slap. <h4>1.4) How about an interactive WYSIWYG version?</h4> An X11/Motif version is under development [sep99]. An X11/XView version is also planned. <h4>1.5) Which printer models are supported?</h4> At the time of writing, every SLP model ever, ie: <p> <ul> <li>Smart Label Printer</li> <li>Smart Label Printer Plus</li> <li>Smart Label Printer EZ30</li> <li>Smart Label Printer Pro</li> <li>Smart Label Printer 120</li> <li>Smart Label Printer 220</li> </ul> <h4>1.2) Which size labels are supported?</h4> All the standard Seiko label sizes (at the time of writing), ie: <p> <table><tr><td> </td><td> <table> <tr><th align=left>Name</th><th>Size in mm</th></tr> <tr><td>address</td><td align=center>28 x 89</td></tr> <tr><td>large address</td><td align=center>28 x 89</td></tr> <tr><td>euro address</td><td align=center>36 x 89</td></tr> <tr><td>diskette</td><td align=center>54 x 70</td></tr> <tr><td>shipping</td><td align=center>54 x 101</td></tr> <tr><td>file folder</td><td align=center>14 x 87</td></tr> <tr><td>large file folder</td><td align=center>14 x 87</td></tr> <tr><td>1x2 multipurpose</td><td align=center>28 x 51</td></tr> </table> </td></tr></table> <p><hr><p> <h2>2) Software Build Problems</h2> <p> <h4>2.1) GNU C and Solaris: "parse error before `*'"</h4> GNU C 2.8.1 has a configuration bug under Solaris 2.x. As a workround, set the following variable in the slap makefile: <p> <pre> POSIX1_TERMIOS_EXTENSIONS=-D__EXTENSIONS__ </pre> <p> GNU C releases prior to 2.8.0 must be reinstalled after upgrading Solaris or installing Solaris patches that update system header files. Failure to do so can cause GNU C to reject some valid C programs, and other troubles too. <p> Old releases of GNU C (eg: 2.3.3) do not handle the Solaris header files very well. The same workround as for GNU C 2.8.1 will at least allow you to compile slap. <p><hr><p> <h2>3) Miscellaneous Troubleshooting</h2> <p> <h4>3.1) SLP-120 or -220 printer on builtin serial-port of pre-1997 SPARC systems</h4> The builtin serial-ports of older Sun SPARC systems cannot run asynchronously at 57600 baud, even though the Solaris "zs" driver lets applications set such a speed without any error indication (this is a Solaris 2.1-2.6 "zs" driver bug). <p> This causes slap to grind to a halt without actually managing to print anything, sometimes accompanied by a few audible "clicks" from the printer. <p> The workround is to give the -b38400 flag on the slap command-line when using an SLP-120 or SLP-220 printer on a builtin serial port. <p> Note that add-on serial ports (SBus card, SCSI port box, etc), and PCI-based SPARC workstations, do not have this problem. <h4>3.2) SLP-120 or -220 printer misfeeds when loading a new reel of labels</h4> These printers need the newer type of labels that have a black square printed on the backing paper (they use this to detect top-of-page). <p> The SLP, SLP Plus, SLP EZ30 and SLP Pro use the holes between each label to detect top-of-form, so will work with both old and new types of labels. </body> </html>
