perm filename POX[3,2] blob
sn#495286 filedate 1980-02-02 generic text, type T, neo UTF8
POX is one of the myriad XGP formatting programs. Its major
advantages are vectors and macros together with precise placement of
everything under user (programmer) control. Alternatives are PUB
which can produce output for other devices (LPT, TTY and some exotic
ones) as well as produce footnotes and indexes, and TEX which has the
prettiest layout of text and most of what is needed for technical
papers but alas doesn't have vectors or diagonal lines, compile-time
arithmetic, nor several other essential features I keep forgetting,
and doesn't have a good enough macro facility. Thus POX remains the
only document compiler in existence that can completely typeset (on
the XGP only) a mathematical paper that has complicated formulas or graphs.
The command "XSP POX.XGP[UP,DOC]" will produce hardcopy of
the writeup (appx. 30 pages). Occasional users can often borrow one
of the listings of the manual rather than make a new one. (Sometimes
there is a spare in the lounge or the publications room.)
A very old POX writeup in TTY/LPT format is available for
remote users. It is extremely obsolete, but you can find the basics
in it. To see it on your terminal, use "TYPE POXOLD.REM[UP,DOC]".
An "UNXGP"ed version of POX.XGP is available in POX.REM[UP,DOC]. It
is slightly unreadable since the UNXGPing process loses many of the
finer points of text placement, and also many lines are too wide for
most displays. But it's there, and it's more up-to-date than
POXOLD.REM and more readable than POX.XGP if you don't have an XGP.
POX is growing more and more obsolete, and soon there may be
a direct replacement, probably written in MacLISP. At present I am
consolidating all old POX information files (including old versions
of POX.LOG and POX.PLN, random messages I've sent myself suggesting new
features needed in POX and its successors, and reports from users of
bugs which are unlikely to ever be fixed in the present POX but which
ought to be considered when writing the successor to POX). Anyone
interested in knowing the true state of POX, anyone interested in
helping work on new document compilers, might want to brouse these files.
An index of the document-compiler-related files consolidated to date
is in POX.DIR[1,REM] (now purged to save disk space, see DART tape).
The standard POX compiler is POX.DMP[1,3], but sometimes there is a newer
experimental version and/or one or more older backup versions. The
experimental version is NPOX.DMP[1,3] and the backups are given names
POX.*[1,3] where the * is the month and date the version was created,
for example POX.414 on April 14 and POX.C06 on December 06.