CompuServe Messages

Dave, The parity settings of the HP plotter can be changed but it involves setting tiny DIP switches on the back of the plotter. The plotter itself is shared among 3 users using a manual switch. The other two users require NO parity. I am running two applications that require the use of the plotter, AutoCad and PCAD. AutoCad wants even parity, PCAD no parity, and both programs set the port's parameters directly and allow no changes. This leaves me with two unattractive alternatives: 1. Reset the DIP switches. This is a real pain because the plotter is not near me and must be physically moved to accomplish this. In addition, if I forget to return the DIP switches to the NO parity setting, the plotter doesn't work for the other two users. 2. Plot to disk and copy the resulting file to the plotter. Unfortunately, AutoCad gets confused when it can't get the hard clip limits from the plotter and chops off part of the plot. In addition, I'm kind of stubborn and resent having to resort to "workarounds" for a program that costs more than $3000. I found a neat solution. I connect the computer to a printer/plotter sharing device which converts internally between different communications parameters on the computer and plotter ports. This works great except that its ports must be set at power up to match the computer's and plotter's. I solved this by connecting COM2 to the sharing device with NO parity (for PCAD) and COM3 to the sharing device with even parity (for AutoCad). This works great except that I lose the use of my mouse on COM1 whenever I plot from AutoCad. PCAD does not support COM3 so I can't reverse the directions. I want to connect COM4 to a modem for use within Windows so I can't use it either. The final result is that I have $8000 worth of hardware and $12,000 worth of CAD software and I have to crawl on the floor to set DIP switches to use it all. I just can't understand why expensive programs (PCAD too!) have such inflexible software! Ray