Forms Layout Considerations; Image Complexity; Line Tables - Xerox 4850 Reference

Image complexity

Line tables

XEROX 4850/4890 HIGHLIGHT COLOR LPS FORMS CREATION REFERENCE
5.

Forms layout considerations

Physical printer constraints and forms compiler methods are
factors that can affect form design. This chapter explores the
implications of these factors relative to the following:
• Image complexity
• Boxes
• Shading
• Sections
• Rounding measurements
• Coding techniques.
Form design is limited by physical restrictions on the amount of
image data (characters and lines) that can be printed on a scan
line and on a page.
Forms description language (FDL) line tables are internal FDL data
structures providing a record in memory of the lines to be drawn
on a page. These tables allow the system to find the corners and
edges of boxes when they are referenced at a later time.
Since excessive amounts of memory would be required to store
every line, the FDL compiler retains only the memory of the
longest lines that pass through any given coordinate in a
particular direction. FDL replaces dotted or broken lines with an
invisible line of the same length.
The FDL line tables can store 2,000 vertical and 2,000 horizontal
lines in memory. When you exceed either of these line table
limits, the following message is displayed:
TOO MANY HORIZONTAL OR TOO MANY VERTICAL LINES
This message warns you that the new user-specified line cannot
be retained in the table. The message is of no real consequence
to you unless the new line is intended as the side of a box. In
that case, the box is not found and consequently your form may
not compile.
Generally, the line table limits are reached because the form
contains a large number of short line segments. The most
probable reason for this is a series of vertical lines (for example,
tick marks) or horizontal (for example, a series of long dashes).
With either of these conditions, it is possible to reduce the
number of entries in the line table as the form is being
constructed.
5-1