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- A form is a self-contained description of any arbitrary graphics,
text, and sampled images that are to be painted multiple times on
each of several pages or several times at different locations on a
single page.
- With the new forms feature, you can define a base form whose
representation stays cached between pages, so only information that
changes between forms will need to be interpreted for each page. The
representation used to cache the form may vary from device to device
depending on the available resources, such as memory and/or hard
disk space. In some cases, the actual rasterized form will be saved,
in other cases, an intermediate representation (such as a display
list) may be saved. Benefits: End-users will benefit by improved performance.
- This makes forms processing faster and provide a natural
framework for ISVs implementing a forms functionality in their
application. Benefits: Convenience for ISVs.
- Besides the traditional concept of ``forms,'' some other examples
of forms include: Letterhead, stationary, overhead presentation
backgrounds, repetitive symbols in a CAD drawing such as screws
(mechanical drawing) or windows (architectural drawing), complex
background blends in 35mm slides. Benefits: Enhanced functionality and
application of PostScript printers in a variety of different environments.
Next: Patterns
Up: About PostScript 2
Previous: Optimized text operators
Allen B
2/2/1998