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 can also print directly from the EXPRESS-G editor.
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.
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