Plotter slowdown routines for Roland DXY plotters

One day I got a Roland plotter and wanted to change it into a CNC machine. I couldn't find a program to make my Roland DXY plotter move slowly so I wrote this little hack. The 'program' creates a microstep file from a roland dxy plotter file. A microstep file makes the plotter move extremely slow so you can use it for CNC purpose. I posted the source somewhere on the internet but kept receiving emails from people asking me for an executable version. Well, nearly 2 years later ... here it is...

How does it work?

How do I get it?

What does it cost?

// PlotterCNC.cpp
//
// HOW TO MAKE YOUR ROLAND DXY PLOTTER MOVE VERY VERY VERY VERY SLOW
//
// SUBMITTED BY
// Arne Diegenbach
// CARLABS AUTOMOTIVE LABORATORIES / WWW.CARLABS.NET
//
// WHAT IS THIS?
// This little application converts a Roland DXY file to Roland microstep DXY file
// 
// WHAT IS THIS FOR?
// Normally if your plotter needs to move from let's say [10,10] to [14,10]
// it will move in the selected velocity speed (VS).
// If you want to use your plotter as a CNC machine (I use it for engraving)
// you want it to move very slow and constant.
//
// HOW DOES IT WORK?
// It changes every vector to a multiple microstep vectors. So [10,10] to [14,10]
// becomes [10,10] to [11,10] to [12,10] to [13,10] to [14,10].
// In this way your plotter moves with constant speed and very very very slow.
//
// HOW TO USE?
// Use the nornal Roland driver to print to a file
// Change the path below to point to the path, compile and run
// Temporarily change the COM/LPT port of the Roland driver to point to a non existing
// port.
// Start Hyperterm, check if the communication with your plotter works by typing OI
// Now choose 'Send text file' and select the file generated by this program.
//
// FOR WHAT PLOTTER DOES IT WORK?
// Although this program was made for the Roland DXY 1300 plotter, you might
// use it for every plotter in that series or adapt it to your plotter.
//
// IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS OR QUESTIONS LET ME KNOW.
//
// This program is made with plain vanilla ansi c. It 'should' compile on nearly
// every c-compiler/platform.
// Mail me if you want to have an executable version.
//
// Yes, you can donate your plotter, money, pizza.
//
// arne _AT_ carlabs.net
//
// This is a 15 minutes try and play program.
//
//
// COPYRIGHT
// This program is published under the GNU public license.
// You may not remove this header and commercial use is not allowed
// without my expressed written permission. You can distribute this file.
// 
// Have fun! Send me some (pictures) of your results.
// Download from: http://www.robota.nl/cnc/
//
// CHANGE HISTORY
// 2003-11			ARNE	Initial build

#include "stdafx.h"	// ms specific header, remove otherwise
#include <string>

int cnc_microstep(const char* infile, const char* outfile)
{
	FILE *f = fopen(infile, "r");
	if (f == 0)
		return -1;
	unlink(outfile);
	FILE *of = fopen(outfile, "w");
	if (of == NULL) {
		fclose(f);
		return -2;
	}
	int c;
	char b[512], bb[100];
	char *p = b, *pp = bb;
	int x,y,lx=0,ly=0,dx,dy;
	while ((c = fgetc(f)) != EOF) {
		if (c == ';') {
			*p++ = c;
			*p++ = 0;

			if (memcmp(b, "PD", 2) == 0 || memcmp(b, "PU", 2) == 0) {
				p = b+2;
				pp = bb;
				while (*p != ',')
					*pp++ = *p++;
				*pp = 0;
				x = atoi(bb);
				pp = bb;
				while (*++p != ';')
					*pp++ = *p;
				*pp = 0;
				y = atoi(bb);
				

				if (lx && b[1] == 'D') {
					dx = x - lx; dx = dx < 0 ? -dx : dx;
					dy = y - ly; dy = dy < 0 ? -dy : dy;
					if (dx > 1 || dy > 1) {
						int max = dx > dy ? dx : dy;
						if (max > 0) {
							double deltax = (double)(x - lx) / (double)max;
							double deltay = (double)(y - ly) / (double)max;
							double xp = lx + deltax;
							double yp = ly + deltay;
							while (--max) {
								fprintf(of, "PD%d,%d;\n", (long)xp, (long)yp);
	//							fprintf(of, "PD%d,%d; **** CHECK\n", (long)xp,(long)yp);
								xp += deltax;
								yp += deltay;
							}
						}
					}
				}

				lx = x;
				ly = y;
			}
			fprintf(of, "%s\n", b);

			p = b;
			*p = 0;
		}
		else *p++ = c;
	}
	fclose(of);
	fclose(f);
	return 0;
}

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