Reference Manual

Forms per Page
in the "Attribute" columns of the files with .STR extension in your MUSE
subdirectory (these are text files giving the structure of the MUSE data files).
To print information from loan records requires a slightly different procedure.
Information which appears on the screen form associated with printing loans (e.g.
'Method of Shipment', 'Length of Loan') is not stored in a file, but is available to
be printed on loan invoices. The format for this information is loaninfo.mode or
loaninfo.loan_length. See the entry in FORMCAP for the remaining field
names. Information from the data stored in the master loan file (LOANMAST.DAT)
and loan comments (LOANCAT.DAT) are entered like an ordinary combination of
data file name and field (e.g. loanmast.last_name or loancat.lc_out_comment).
Loan counts require a special syntax. To print the number of specimens
borrowed of a particular preparation, use the syntax loancount. (e.g. loancount.number_alch).
On a control line, multiple items to be printed (literal text and field values) must
be separated by "+" signs. Spaces to be printed on the form must be treated as
literal text and included within double quotes (with or without other text; see
examples in the "Appendix D: Sample FORMCAP," page D-1).
One or more print functions may terminate a control line following any literal
text and field values. These print functions may specify, for the printed output
of the current control line, such things as centering or right justification of text,
conversions of data format for certain fields, the font to be used, etc. Be sure to
include a space character before each print function on the control line.
The calculation of the position of forms printed on a page or sheet of paper is
done internally by MUSE. Several aspects of the FORMCAP entry affect where
each individual form or label starts and stops. In general you will either be using
continuous label paper, or sheets of label paper suitable for printing from one to
many labels. Most applications will fall into the later category and it will be
necessary to calculate how many individual labels will fit horizontally and
vertically per page. The required parameters sheet_width, sheet_height,
forms_across, forms_down, form_x_gap and form_y_gap should be entered
for each label type based on these calculations. Typically, it will take trial and
error to get ideal spacing for a new label type.
An alternative style of form spacing may be appropriate for certain kinds of labels
or reports. The print functions paragraph and end_paragraph are used to print
entries of unknown length. In order to make efficient usage of this feature, you
can override the forms_down parameter and MUSE will continue printing forms
until the end of the sheet is reached (unless the number specified by forms_down
is reached first). To invoke this feature, the very first control line of the entry
should use relative rather than absolute positioning. For example, the standard
loan form (entry ll|Invoices/Laser, page D-6) has as its first position specification
(left_margin, 0.0). To change this to a variable number of forms per page, change
this to (left_margin, * + 4.0), change top_margin to 82.0 and change
forms_down to 10. Add a bottom margin numeric parameter (to indicate where
printing should stop) and change the page numbering function to
get_current_page (since the total number of pages can not be calculated). It will
then be necessary, of course, to edit the actual entry to use paragraph spacing.
Two caveats apply to the use of variable forms per page spacing. It should not
be tried on perforated labels as forms will likely print on seams, and it will not
work on labels printed more than one across. However, we expect it will be
useful for reports and printed catalog books or any label where space is at a
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12 FORMCAP