Quark Forums

I need to AutoPrint Postscript file by every generic box , but I  can't output all generic box ps file. The QuarkXPress software is alway unexcepted quit or error -48 . 

// Start Coding 

on run

    set _strStoragePath to (choose file as string) 

    tell application "QuarkXPress 4.1TC"

        tell document 1

            copy name to _docname

            set _GenBoxTotal to (count of generic box)

            tell print setup

                // Some print setup properties setting

               set printer type to "Generic Imagesetter"

            end tell

            // Set all box to Suppress printing first

            repeat with from _BoxNum = 1 to _GenBoxTotal

                tell generic box _BoxNum

                    set suppress printing to true

                end tell

            end repeat

        end tell

        // Set every generic box print to PS file

        repeat with from _BoxID from 1 to _GenBoxTotal

            if _BoxID > 1 then set suppress printing of generic box (_BoxID - 1) of document 1 to true

            set suppress printing of generic box _BoxID of document 1 to false

            set _SaveFullPath to ( _strStoragePath  & _docname & "." & _BoxID & ".ps" as string )

            1. Print document 1 PostScript file file _SaveFullPath

            2. Print document 1 PostScript file _SaveFullPath

            3.  Print document 1 PostScript file ( _strStoragePath  & _docname & "." & _BoxID & ".ps" as string  )

        end repeat 

    end tell

end run

// End Coding 

I try the syntax 1. Or 2. Or 3 ,  The QuarkXPress is unexcepted quit when _BoxID variables looping to 2. Only one file '<document>.1.ps' can be print.   I want to know How to fix it problem.

My Computer Config

MacOS 8.1 + QuarkXPress 4.1CT

Error -48 means the PS file already exists - so you could try to delete existing file before printing a new one: that's the easy answer indeed.

Something that would prevent most duplicated file names is the use of the box uniqueID instead of its index in document - to name the new PS files.

This being said - I am not sure this will really help you much: QXP is not crashing when you've got a duplicated file name because it's not going to print it in such a case - that's probably what's saving you from a crash in this case.

When there was no duplicated file then it goes to print and crashes - correct? 

It would be interesting to know where these duplicated files are coming from in the first place - if they were created in a previous PS output process before QXP crashed or if they where already there by mistake.

Anyway - I doubt this is a syntax problem in your "print" statement - assuming QXP TC is handling double bytes file names (etc) correctly during PS output.

At first I would try to simplify this printing process to a single doc output to make sure you can print one alone without a crash on this precise configuration of yours.

Then I would try to print several - and this is probably where your troubles are going to start: be aware that you can't print several documents at the same time - you have to wait first document output was successfully completed before you can fire the next one.

Firing them like a machine gun is usely leading to a crash: you have to understand you are sending a printing thread to the system every times you do a "print" statement - and that the system printing is actually controled by a printing driver.

Therefore if your printing driver is not able to queue the print *orders* it receives from the QXP application in a row then it will be quickly overloaded and would most certainly kill current printing thread before completion - leading to a crash in QXP - which is the actual printing thread owner.

I hope this will make sense to you - I don't have a scripting solution as I am used to handle this kind of issue by XTension programming. But I would be interested to know how this could be done by scripting as well indeed - assuming I was seing your problem correctly from a crystal ball. . .