git ssb

1
FreeCheck v0.21 August 12, 2000
2
Eric Sandeen, <eric_sandeen@bigfoot.com>
3
4
-----------------------------------------------
5
| READ THE "WARNING" FILE BEFORE YOU PROCEED! |
6
-----------------------------------------------
7
8
WHY DID YOU WRITE THIS?
9
-----------------------
10
MIPS/VersaCheck ticked me off with their (IMHO) shoddy check-printing
11
application, and their dismal customer service.  So here you go.
12
13
REQUIREMENTS
14
------------
15
The first thing that you MUST have to be able to use FreeCheck is a
16
good Type 1 MICR font.  I have created one, called "GnuMICR" that I think
17
is pretty excellent - but it has not been tested.  :)  There are also
18
commercial fonts you can buy, if that floats your boat.  See
19
www.bizfonts.com, for example.
20
21
You must also have either a PostScript printer, or a recent version
22
of GhostScript.  FreeCheck generates the check as a PostScript file.
23
24
Technically, you must also use MICR toner.  At a minimum, use a real
25
laster printer.
26
27
Also, you should use security blank check stock, not just plain
28
paper.
29
30
CONFIGURATION
31
-------------
32
Edit the file freecheck.cfg to add your account information, and define
33
any new check blanks or styles you want.   Take a look at the [Global]
34
section, too, to set things up for your system.
35
36
USAGE
37
-----
38
FreeCheck just prints a PostScript file to STDOUT.  That means that you
39
must either redirect it to a file, a printer, or a viewer (ggv accepts
40
a file on STDIN - I don't think gv does).
41
42
So, to print (assuming a PostScript printer, or GhostView filter):
43
freecheck.pl <options> | lpr
44
45
To view:
46
freecheck.pl <options> | ggv
47
48
To save a file:
49
freecheck.pl <options> > mycheckfile.ps
50
51
OPTIONS
52
-------
53
freecheck doesn't require any options, unless you want it to do something
54
useful.  By itself, it will print a couple sheets of standard checks
55
with a dummy account.
56
57
Type "freecheck --help" to see what options are available
58
59
For now, if you get tired of typing all those command line options, just
60
edit the defaults at the top of the main script.
61
62
HOW DOES IT WORK?
63
-----------------
64
FreeCheck is a Frankenstein-like combination of PostScript and Perl,
65
at this point.  The guts of the check layout are in PostScript, which
66
is embedded at the end of the Perl script.  This PostScript depends on
67
lots of variable definitions to decide what it should actually print.
68
That's where the Perl comes in - reading a config file, and generating
69
lots of lines of the type
70
	/foo {bar} def
71
which define what's shown on the page.
72
73
The file "example_check.ps" is a fairly well commented example of the
74
PostScript that is output by freecheck.  If you want to add something
75
to the layout, it may be easier to work with that file, get it going,
76
and then add the changes to the perl script.  And send them to me,
77
of course!  :-)
78
79