BUG: "Bad Format GPC File" Error Message

• Microsoft Win32 Device Development Kit (DDK) version 3.51

SYMPTOMS

When working with Unitool version 3.01 and the minidriver sample in <DDK>\SRC\PRINT\HPPCL5MS, you receive the following error message:

   Bad Format GPC file

CAUSE

You cannot start a minidriver project based on this sample with the current version of Unitool. The versions are incompatible.

RESOLUTION

There is a newer version of Unitool (version 3.08) that allows you to work with the hppcl5ms project in version 3.51 of the DDK. Simply replace the old version of UNITOOL.EXE with the new one.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. To correct this problem, obtain version 3.08 of UNITOOL.EXE by downloading UNTL.EXE and running it in an empty directory.

Download UNTL.EXE, a self-extracting file, from the Microsoft Software Library (MSL) on the following services:

• Microsoft Download Service (MSDL)

        Dial (206) 936-6735 to connect to MSDL
        Download UNTL.EXE (size: 103913 bytes) 
  

• Internet (anonymous FTP)

        ftp ftp.microsoft.com
        Change to the SOFTLIB\MSLFILES directory
        Get UNTL.EXE (size: 103913 bytes) 
  

MORE INFORMATION

You will get the following warning message when you open the hppcl5ms project with version 3.08 of Unitool:

   This GPC file is now over 60K, and 64K it the limit. Do you want to edit
   it anyway? YOU WILL LOSE ANY CHANGES YOU MAKE IF THE FILE EXCEEDS 64K
   WHEN YOU TRY TO SAVE IT!!

This message appears because Unitool was designed for 16-bit Windows printer drivers, so it must check the data size of the DLL to be built. The hppcl5ms sample is large, so you will lose any changes that result in a GPC file over 64K.