11.1 Description
The expg2hpgl tool converts EXPRESS-G diagrams to HP-GL plotter commands. The output may be sent to a file or piped directly to a plotter or another program.
This tool is intended primarily for the UNIX platform, but is also available on Windows. Windows users should be aware that they can also print directly from the EXPRESS-G editor.
11.2 Command Line
expg2hpgl [options] <expg-file>
The EXPRESS-G to HP-GL converter accepts the following options.
-color1pen <pen-number>- This allows the user to set the 'color1' or blue pen (default 2).
-color2pen <pen-number>- This allows the user to set the 'color2' or green pen (default 3).
-color3pen <pen-number>- This allows the user to set the 'color3' or red pen (default 4).
-color4pen <pen-number>- This allows the user to set the 'color4' or grey pen (default 5).
-f or -file <output-file>- Write HPGL data to a file. By default the tool writes to standard output.
-nc / -nocolor- Do not generate color commands for the plotter. By default, pens 1,2,3 and 4 are used to show color.
-normalpen <pen-number>- This allows the user to set the 'normal' or black pen (default 1).
-pages <start>[-<end>]- Allows the user to select a group of pages to print. If you do not include a min or max page (e.g. "-5" or "10-") it will assume the start or end, respectively, of the document.
-thinthick <number>- Sets the thickness that a thin line should be restroked to (if supported by plotter).
-thickthick <number>- Sets the thickness that a thick (inheritance) line should be restroked to (if supported by plotter).
-v- Give more information about the conversion process. It is useful for tracking the progress through large schemas.
11.3 Overview
The expg2hpgl tool generates a stream of HP-GL drawing commands from an EXPRESS-G diagram. The generated HP-GL is similar to the display of expgedit , but lines will go through boxes, since HP-GL cannot erase areas. Also fonts on plotters tend to be limited. However, plotters allow for extremely large plots.
By default, the HP-GL is written to standard output. If this is not desired you can use either the -file or the redirect operator send the output to a file.
% expg2hpgl diagram.exg > outfile.hpgl
% expg2hpgl -file outfile.hpgl diagram.exg