Installation of the Quikscript Editor, Qse

Qs is a PostScript program that will take a document that contains visible layout marks and perform the typesetting of the document dynamically. It requires a PostScript printer or a PostScript previewer for execution.

Qse is a program written in Java that makes Qs easier to use. It provides windows in which documents can be prepared, and menu items for printing or previewing a document. You will be unable to run Qse unless you first install Java on your machine. Java 1.2 or later is required.

Qse is distributed as a self-installing file for either a Unix shell or as a MS executable, and as a large installation including a range of fonts or as a small installation set up to use only the PostScript built-in fonts.

To install Qse under Unix:

1. A shell script is provided to place the Qse.jar file and a few documentation files in a directory that you choose, and to create an executable "qse" and place it in another directory of your choice, such as /usr/local/bin or ~/bin or ~. You will be prompted in the command window for these directory names.

2. Type

   sh Qse-install.bin

   or

   sh Qse-smallinstall.bin

   depending on which installation file you downloaded.

3. If the directory where you placed the "qse" executable is in your Path, then it should now be possible to run Qse by typing

   qse

4. You will need to set up a number of preferences when you first use Qse, such as the name of the PostScript previewer that you have on your machine, the name of the HTML browser, and the command to send a file to the printer. Choose the Edit menu-item, and then Defaults...

   If you do not have ghostscript or ghostview installed on your computer, you may need to download them.

   When you set up the command to print a file, you may need to be careful that the command does not rely on the file remaining on the disk while the file is spooled. Some operating systems (eg. "lp" on Solaris) assume this, and it is necessary to put a flag on the command to ask that the file be copied. Qse will immediately remove the temporary file it creates once it has been spooled.

To install Qse under MS Windows:

1. Qse is distributed as a self-extracting ZIP file. Executing this will create a folder containing Qse.jar and HTML documentation files. It will also place a short-cut on the desktop.

2. Click on Qse.exe or smallQse.exe to execute it. After it has been run, you can remove this file from the disk if you wish. You will be prompted for the location where you want the Qse folder to be placed.

3. To run Qse, either click the short-cut on the desktop, or find the Qse.jar executable Jar file in the Qse folder and click on it.

4. You will need to set up a number of preferences when you first use Qse, such as the name of the PostScript previewer that you have on your machine, the name of the HTML browser, and the command to send a file to the printer. Choose the Edit menu-item, and then Defaults...

   Under MS Windows, the simplest program to use for previewing your documents is gsview, which you may need to download. After downloading, its name to be typed in the Defaults panel will typically be
       c:\Ghostgum\gsview\gsview32
   Printing is most easily done at present also using gsview.

Problems?

This software is provided without charge. The author accepts no legal liability for any loss or damage that may arise from use of this software. The source code for the editor is available under licence from the author.
14 October 2005