[6195] in SIPB bug reports
Re: /mit/sipb/sun4bin/xdvi
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Albert Dvornik)
Fri Oct 25 13:15:51 1996
From: "Albert Dvornik" <bert@MIT.EDU>
To: Kent H Lundberg <klund@MIT.EDU>
Cc: bug-sipb@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: klund@mit.edu's message of 25 Oct 1996 (11:28:10 EDT).
<9610251528.AA08292@m38-370-13.MIT.EDU>
Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 13:15:08 EDT
> Sometime when I'm running /mit/sipb/sun4bin/xdvi and looking at a file
> with a lot of PostScript includes, xdvi will crash, hurting the X
> server, and it LOGS ME OUT.
>
> Badda boom, badda bing, thankyouverymuch.
>
> Ouch. Is this a known problem?
Sort of, but it can be avoidable through use of convenient
command-line options.
By default, xdvi displays PS insets using the Display PostScript (DPS)
extension of the X server, if the server supports it. The advantage
of this approach is speed. The disadvantage is that, if the PS inset
gets the DPS extension upset, the X server explodes and you get logged
out.
Xdvi supports an alternative (read: sloooooow) method of displaying
PostScript, by using a GNU program called "ghostscript". This will be
used if the X server can't do DPS, or if DPS has been disabled, by
either giving "-nodps" option do xdvi, or specifying
XDvi*nodps: true
in your .Xresources file.
BTW, you can read the manpage for the SIPB xdvi by using
man -M /mit/sipb/man xdvi
(using just "man xdvi" displays the Athena version of the page).
--Albert Dvornik
<bert@mit.edu>
