Version History

Version 4.2.1012 - 05. January 2006

• Added an automatic pen-up command following a UC [user-defined character] command.
• Converted the help file to a .CHM (compiled HTMLHelp) format.
• The distribution kit is now a Windows Installer (MSI) file instead of a setup executable.

Version 4.2.1010 - 03. March 2004

• Added the /X parameter that, when used together with the /BMP option, prevents Plot2EMF from writing the .EMF file to disk. NOTE: This feature is supported only when Plot2EMF has been registered.
• Fixed a bug that caused the image to be skewed when saving a BMP File when using a registered version of Plot2EMF.
• Changed some parameters in the memory handling, so that Plot2EMF manages more buffers internally. This should improve performance slightly.

Version 4.1.1008 - 18. December 2002

• Fixed a bug in the registration code, where names containing special characters (e.g. Ä, Ö, or Ü) were not handled correctly. This could cause a misleading "unable to write to registry" error.
• Corrected some cosmetic errors in the help and registration dialog boxes.

Version 4.1.1006 - 20. August 2002

• Added the /I:PC command line parameter to give the user a way to ignore the "PC" (Pen Color) commands, if they have been defined in the HP-GL file.
• Changed the way that the rendering routine scales drawings, so that almost any scaling factor can be defined between 0.1 and 1000.0. The /S:nnn command line parameter and the "Open HP-GL Special" dialog box were changed to reflect this new feature.
• Fixed a bug (apparently introduced in version 4.0) where the character direction command (DI) was not handled correctly.

Version 4.0.1000 - 3. November 2001

• Added the PolyView interface library (P2E4PV.DLL) to the distribution kit. The PolyView interface allows Plot2EMF to be used as a HP-GL converter for PolyView www.polybytes.com
• Added the command-line tool CALLP2E.EXE to the distribution kit. CALLP2E uses P2E4PV.DLL to call Plot2EMF, and returns when the file has been converted. This is useful when calling Plot2EMF from a batch file, since the batch file will wait until the HP-GL file has been converted before continuing.
• Added an annoying Registration Reminder pop-up to urge users to register their copy of Plot2EMF. When the registration information is valid, this reminder is not displayed.
• Changed the license key format and added support for evaluation licenses and the import of license files.
• Fixed a bug in the batch printing routine (/BX /PD) so that Plot2EMF correctly waits for each file to be spooled.
• Fixed a bug that caused the default page size to be 0x0 instead of 297x210 (A4).
• Fixed a bug that caused Plot2EMF to report that simple plots (containing only one line of text) had a height of 0.
• Fixed a bug that caused text to be rotated twice when using the Force Rotation option.
• Fixed a bug that caused text to placed incorrectly when using the Scale Drawing by 50% option.
• Changed the rotation of the /NTGL command line parameter from 180° to 90°.
• Added the /K command line parameter to "kill" Plot2EMF. This can be used at the end of a batch file to ensure that Plot2EMF is closed.
• Plot2EMF will not close until any print function has completed. This fixes a problem when using the /PD and /BX (Print Default and Batch eXit) command line parameters.
• Added a number of other command line parameters (/2, /C, /E, /F, /Q and /DDE) to support the PolyView library (DDE interface).
• Added support for the CO (Comment), MG (Message) HP-GL/2 commands (in both cases, the text will be written to the .LOG file).
• Changed how text is plotted - now each character is placed individually, so the character spacing should look correct regardless of which font is selected (including the built-in vector font).
• Plot2EMF now selects "Courier New" as the default font when not using the built-in vector font.
• Implemented the DV (Define Variable Text Path) command, and corrected the implementation of the CP (Character Plot) command.
• Implemented the ES (Extra Space) command.
• Implemented the NP (Number of Pens) command. If no NP command is defined, Plot2EMF assumes 16 pens.
• The BP (Begin Plot) command is now supported (implemented as an IN [Initialise] command).
• The PS (Plot Size) command now supports one or two parameters.
• The CR (Set Color Range for Relative Color Data) command has been implemented.
• The PC (Set Pen Color) command now supports up to 256 pens. Be sure to use the NP256 command before the PC commands.
• The interpreter now recognises several additional ESC sequences, and should result in less interpretation errors.

Version 3.4.986 - 22. June 2001

• Added a new command line option /PD (AutoPrint to Default). This is an extension to the /P (AutoPrint) command, which instructs Plot2EMF to use the default Windows printer, rather than prompting the user. This should normally be used in conjunction with the /BX (Batch Exit) command. This can also be combined with the /PM command below, e.g. /PDM or /PMD.
• Added a new command line option /PM (AutoPrint MetaFiles). This is an extension to the /P (AutoPrint) command, which instructs Plot2EMF to open and print.WMF and .EMF files, rather than HP-GL files.
• Added a new command line option /Z (Zap Logs). With this option set, the .LOG files generated by Plot2EMF will be automatically deleted if there was no warnings generated during the conversion.

Version 3.4.984 - 19. June 2001

• Added a new command line option /BX (Batch exit). With this option, the specified file(s) will be processed, and then the Plot2EMF window will close. This overrides the setting "Don't close after starting via document" in the Options dialog.
• When the /B (Batch mode) or /BX (Batch exit) command is used, and a directory name is specified, Plot2EMF now searches the directory for any files matching *.PLT, *.HGL and *.HPG.
• Plot2EMF is now limited to one instance. When you try to start a second copy of Plot2EMF, it will automatically bring up the previous instance. Any command line parameters specified will be processed by the original instance.
• The information message at the end of a /B (Batch mode) command has been removed, so that the batch mode runs completely unattended.

Version 3.4.982 - 18. June 2001

• The "Save to BMP" command has been fixed and enhanced. When this command is selected, it now prompts you for the dimensions of the bitmap, then for the target filename.
• There is a new button on the toolbar to return to the "fit to window" view.
• When the command line option /B (Batch mode) is used, and a plot file is encountered with coordinates greater than 16,384 pixels, the file will be automatically reinterepreted with 50% scaling. In addition, all other warning notifications have been turned off. To determine if a file was successfully converted, please check the respective .LOG file.
• Added a new command line parameter /BMP nnn (Automatic.BMP file creation), where nnn is the desired width of the bitmap to be created. When /BMP is defined, a.BMP file will be created along with the .EMF file. NOTE: This feature is supported only when Plot2EMF has been registered.
• Added a new command line parameter: /P (AutoPrint). When /P is specified, the plot files will automatically be printed as soon as they have been converted. Used together with the /B (Batch mode) command, a large number of plot files can be converted and printed at once. NOTE: This feature is supported only when Plot2EMF has been registered.

Version 3.4.976 - 14. April 2001

• Increased the maximum size of a single HPGL command from 32KB to 128KB.
• Added a new option "Normalise" coordinate system in the Options dialog. With this option set, Plot2EMF tries to normalise the coordinate system (adjusting the coordinate system so that (0,0) is the lower-left corner. If your plot is being clipped (you only see the upper-right hand corner), try turning this option off. If your plot uses the IW (Input Window) command and the plot appears to be empty, try turning this option on.
• Corrected the interpretation of the IW (Input Window) command when preceeded with an SC (Scale) command.

Version 3.4.972 - 15. March 2001

• Corrected a problem when the HPGL file ended with an ESC character that caused Plot2EMF to 'hang'.
• When text is plotted, it is now correctly rotated with respect to the DI or DR commands, RO commands, fixed rotations and/or mirrored axis of the "Open HPGL Special" option.
• Added a new option "Use high resolution mapping mode" to the Settings box. With this option set, the resulting .EMF file should be 'readable' by Corel and other graphic programs.
• Changed the defaut colors for pens 9 to 16 to be the darker equivalent of pens 1 to 8. Previously, pens 9 to 16 were all black.
• Removed the warning message when an empty LB; command is seen. Now the command is simply ignored.
• Corrected how the : (Select Pen) command is interpreted in a PE (Encoded Polyline) command. This now works correctly on several test files I have received from Plot2EMF users. Thank you!

Version 3.4.970 - 8. March 2001

• Corrected two problems with the : (Select Pen) command in the PE; (Encoded Polyline) command.
• Changed how the scaling points are interpreted, to fix a problem when using mirrored axis with the IW; (Input Window) command.
• Fixed a memory allocation problem introduced in build 966 (a buffer for the log file was too small).
• Fixed the processing of the command line, so that the /MX doesn't generate the message "Can't open 'X'".

Version 3.4.966 - 7. March 2001

• Fixed a clipping problem when using the IW; (Input Window) command with negative values.
• Changed how the CP (Cursor Position) command is implemented. It should now work correctly.
• Changed the .LOG file messages to include the (approximate) file offset where the 'offending' command was located.

Version 3.4.962 - 17. February 2001

• Added support for multi-page plot files. This feature is supported only when Plot2EMF has been registered. This option remains disabled until Plot2EMF has been registered.

Version 3.4.960 - 3. February 2001

• Added a vector font as an alternative to using built-in Windows fonts. The font definition comes from hp2xx-3.3.2 from the NetBSD Project, and is distributed by the Free Software Foundation.
• (Partially) Implemented the SD; (define standard font attributes) command. Attributes 5 (italic) and 6 (weight) have been implemented.
• If the plot exceeds the Windows EMF limit of 16'384 pixels, a message will be displayed with the option to reprocess the HP-GL file with scaling turned on.
• The second parameter on the DT; (define label terminator) is now supported, which defines if the terminator should be printed or not. Previous releases would always print the terminator if it was anything other than chr(3).
• Previous releases would always append a space to any LB; command. This has been fixed.
• Fixed a bug in the relative scaling when P1 or the scaling point was other than (0,0).
• Fixed the scaling of UC; (user-defined charaters).

Version 3.3.947 - 27. December 2000

• Fixed a problem on Windows NT/2000 when plotting text labels (LB command). This bug, introduced in build 945, caused text to be printed in reverse on Windows NT and Windows 2000 systems.
• Fixed the 'Easter-Egg' dialog box (the image was missing).

Version 3.3.946 - 26. December 2000

• Added a Factory Settings button to the "Pen Settings" dialog box to reset the colors and pen widths back to the default values.
• Fixed a bug introduced in build 945 where the pen colors were not correctly transferred to/from the "Settings" dialog.
• The third (optional) parameter of the LT (Line Type) is now recognised but ignored. Earlier releases would generate a warning if this parameter was present.
• The following HPGL/2 commands are now recognised but not implemented: BB, CR, NI, NP, and PI.

Version 3.3.945 - 14. December 2000

• Minor redesign of the Settings... dialog box, because the following options were added. The Pen settings (Color and Width) are now in a separate window.
• Added "Convert text from ASCII to ANSI" as an option (was previously always enabled).
• Added "Emulate HP LaserJet" option to wait for the Esc%#B command. Don't use this option unless you are sure that your Plot file contains this Escape sequence!
• Changed the "Paper Size" option to support DIN A4, A3, A2, A1 and A0.
• Added the command line parameters /A4, /A3, /A2, /A1 and /A0 to set the default paper size when using the Batch mode.
• Implemented the second parameter (pen number) in the PW (Pen Width) command.
• When a plots contains PC; (Pen Color) commands, these colors now apply only to the current plot, rather than overwriting the pen settings.
• When the "Paper Size" is set to DIN A1 or DIN A0, the plot is automatically scaled down by 50%, since Windows Metafiles can't handle plots larger than 32'767 pixels.
• In the "Open HPGL Special..." dialog, there is now an option to manually scale the plot down by 50%.

Version 3.2.938 - 7. December 2000

• Fixed a memory allocation error when plotting archs with a negative (clockwise) angle.
• Fixed the plotting of clockwise arcs when using the "Don't optimize arcs and circles" option. Without this option, arcs are *always* plotted counterclockwise on Windows 9x/ME.
• Corrected the interpretation of the PE; command so that it matches the HPGL specfication.
• Base32 PE; commands are now correctly interpreted.
• (Experimental) Support for fractional PE; commands has been included.

Version 3.2.935 - 2. October 2000

• The IW; command is now properly handled when there was a previous RO; command.
• Added support for the PS3; (A3 paper size) and PS4; (A4 paper size) commands.
• The actual version number and registered user name now appears on the 'Welcome' screen.

Version 3.2.932 - 5. September 2000

• Added the new Open HPGL Special... menu command.
• Changed how the the Fix Rotation (/R command line option) works. Now any RO; commands in the HPGL file will be performed, then rotated again per the /RO option.
• Finished the Fix Rotation command so that the LB; command is also rotated.
• Finished the Mirror (/MX and /MY command line options) so that the LB; command is also mirrored.

Version 3.2.930 - 23. August 2000

• Fixed a problem reading HPGL files containing line-breaks in the middle of a command.
• Text is now converted from OEM (DOS) to the ANSI character set before plotting (reversed from v3.1.918).
• Reversed the orientation of text plotted vertically, since apparently Microsoft reversed this in newer Windows releases.
• The 5th parameter (type) is now recognised in the SC; command (Scale). Please note that types 1 and 2 are not implemented in this release.
• Fixed the bug that caused Plot2EMF to 'hang' when decoding the PE; (Polyline Encoded) command with Base32 encoding.
• Corrected (I think) the decoding of Base32 PE; commands, but I don't have any test data to verify this at the moment.
• Plot2EMF now support 16 pens. Previous releases were limited to 8 pens.
• Added support for the (non-standard?) PC; command (Pen Color) to dynamically select the pen color.
• Added a new option to select the font to use when rendering LB; (Label) commands. If spacing is an issue, I would recommend staying with fixed-width fonts like Courier or FixedSys.
• The Apply button in the Options dialog now asks if you would like to reprocess the HPGL file with the newly selected settings.

Version 3.1.918 - 16. March 2000

• Fixed a problem introduced in build 917 where the batch mode was no longer working correctly.
• Text is now converted from ANSI to OEM (DOS) character set before plotting.
• There is a known bug when plotting text at 90°. Apparently this is a bug in Windows 98, since it seems to work on Windows NT.

Version 3.1.917 - 13. March 2000

• Fixed a logic error in the rotation code (caused mirror images by 90° rotation)
• Implemented the UC; command (User-Defined character)
• Added some experimental command line parameters. See Command Line Parameters
• First version compiled with Microsoft Visual C++. Previous releases were compiled with Watcom C++.

Version 3.1.916 - 6. December 1999

• Fixed a buffer overflow fault when the device is not initialised and the command exceeds ~200 bytes in length.

Version 3.1.915 - 17. November 1999

• Fixed a memory leak in the Options... dialogue box.
• Enhanced the command-line processing to support batch mode conversions. (See Command Line Parameters)
• Added a status dialog that is displayed during the conversion process.
• Cleaned up a few internal things so that MSVC++ doesn't complain when compiling. Release code is still built with the Watcom C/C++ v11.0 however.
• Plot2EMF is now officially SHAREWARE, not freeware. If you have a previous release of Plot2EMF, you are free to continue using it for free. However, you really should purchase a licenseRegistration :-)

Version 3.1.838 - 23. September 1999

User Interface

• Added a toolbar to access commonly used commands.
• Zoom-In and Zoom-Out now enabled up to a factor of 32X.

Rendering Engine

• Added the HPGL/2 Polyline Encoded command (PE...;). However, only integer values are supported at this time (no encoded real numbers).
• Polygon Mode (PMn;), Edge Polygon (EP;) and Fill Polygon (FP;) commands implemented.
• Anchor Corner (ACn;) command implemented.
• Error in the rotation code fixed (rotation of 90° or 270° resulted in a diagonal line).
• Default colors changed to match the HP 7550Plus driver (from Windows NT 4.0): 1=Black, 2=Red, 3=Green, 4=Yellow, 5=Blus, 6=Pink, 7=Turquoise, 8=Violet.

Version 3.0.733 - 13. September 1999

• Added the HPGL/2 commands PS; (paper size), WU; (width units) and PW; (pen width). If a PW; command is found in the HPGL source, it over-rides the width value specified in the Options Dialog.
• The HPGL parser now correctly handles HPGL commands that contain a carriage-return (it is ignored). LB; (label) commands containing a carriage-return are handled correctly.
• The command buffer now starts at 1KB in size. This can be modified by setting a key in the registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Informatics Consulting\Plot2EMF\set name\InitialCmdBuffer = (DWORD) 4096 (4 KB initial size)
• A memory leak in the Options dialog box has been fixed.
• The VS; (Velocity Select) and PG; (Page Feed) commands can be ignored by setting a key in the registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Informatics Consulting\Plot2EMF\set name\IgnoreVSandPG = (DWORD) 1
• The rendering engine now explicitly places a point at the end of each line. The default behaviour from MS Windows is to leave the end-point of a line un-painted.
• On Windows NT, circles with a negative radius are drawn clockwise. On Windows 9x, use the "don't optimise" option to use this feature.
• The .PLT filename is now used as the title on the printer. (Earlier releases used the .LOG file name)
• Added the "Device Inititalisation implied" option on the Options Dialog.
• Added Keyboard scrolling with the arrow keys. Use CTRL+arrow to scroll page-wise.

Version 3.0.659 - 8. September 1999

• Added support for the HPGL/2 Beziér curve functions "BZ" and "BR".
• Corrected the functionality of the scaling points ("IP" command), so that all plots are relative to the scaling points.
• Added the compatibility mode for arcs, wedges and circles. If enabled, these structures are drawn from a series of line segments instead of the native ARC or PIE commands. The plotter emulation is better, but the metafile is larger.
• Added the LO[n]; (Label origin) command. Labels containing a carriage-return now return to the label origin point.
• Fixed a bug in the CP[x,y] (Character Position) command.
• Added the "View Source" function to the File menu.
• Added the "Text Viewer" selection to the Preferences dialog.

Version 3.0.621 - 6. September 1999

• Several menu items are now (correctly) disabled when there is no metafile being viewed.
• Files are now correctly "unassociated" from Plot2EMF when the extension is unchecked in the preferences dialog.
• The zoom factor now remains unchanged when a new plotfile is converted.
• The mapping mode and viewport settings are now properly set when drawing the screen.
• The logo button on each dialog box now responds only when the SHIFT key is pressed.
• The installation kit was built with the newly released INF-Tool Pro v5.2Credits.

Version 3.0.603 - 3. September 1999

User Interface

• Save As EMF... and Save As BMP... implemented in the File menu.
• Printing implemented and added to the File menu.
• View menu and scalable viewing functionality added.
• Register... item added to the Help menu.
• All settings are now stored in the registry (not using Plot2EMF.INI any more).
• Several options added to the Options Dialog, and a few moved to the new Page Setup Dialog.
• The metafiles and log files can now be stored in a different folder from the HPGL files.
• Associtations with .PLT,.HGL and .HPG file extensions can now be made via the Preferences Dialog.

Rendering Engine

• Compound PA, PD and PR commands now use the PolyLine command rather than multiple LineTo commands.
• The handling of the 'relative' flag has been improved (should work properly now).
• The rendering engine loop has been optimised (commonly used commands should be faster).
• Warnings about no-op commands can now be disabled, as can the message that the conversion was succesful.

Distribution Kit

• It's still freeware, but no longer under the GPL. Support future developments by registering!

Version 2.1.327 - 23. August 1999

• HPGL files may now have the extension .PLT, .HPG or .HPL
• Fixed an incomplete error message if an unrecognised filename extension is used.
• The command buffer is now automatically extended (up to 32KB) if a command is longer than the existing buffer.
• Removed the Max. Command Length option from the Options dialog
• Added the "Don't close after starting via document" checkbox the Options dialog.
• Pressing F1 in the Options dialog box will now open the help file to the appropriate page.

Version 2.1.316 - 19. August 1999

• The View Log... menu item now opens the "File Open" dialog box to select a log file to view.
• The Paste menu item now works as expected.
• A problem in the handling of the relative flag was fixed. The commands "PR;PU-10,-10;" should now work as expected.
• The CS0, CA0, and SS commands are now accepted. Any other character set selection will generate a warning, as does the use of the SA (Select Alternate Set) command.
• The Help text has been improved significantly.

Version 2.1.310 - 18. August 1999

• Major improvements over version 2.0. This really should have been called version 3.0!
• Added support for the Help files.
• Added the Options... dialogue box
• Support for several additional HPGL commands

Version 2.0

• First version that supports a majority of the HPGL/1 command set.

Version 1.x

• Very primitive - Bascially only supported the PU, PD, PA and PR commands, and only very short command lines. If you are using PLT2EMF version 1.x, I strongly suggest updating to the latest Plot2EMF release!

See Also:

• Contents
• Registration
• Order Form

Copyright © 1999-2006 by James Greene. All rights reserved. Information subject to change without notice.