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