ST9E.DOC ----------- The Star (ADI) Printer Driver for AutoSketch (TM) ADI (TM) Copyright 1989, 1990, Autodesk, Inc. Revision 1.0 April 24, 1992 License is granted for the use of this software and documentation on a no-charge, sharing basis. You may distribute and copy this software freely as long as it remains a completely unaltered package and is not sold for profit. INTRODUCTION This document explains the installation and use of ST9ECS.EXE (COLOR) and ST9EMS.EXE (MONOCHROME) ver 1.0, an Autodesk Device Interface (ADI) driver designed to run with Star 9 pin printers in conjunction with AutoSketch. Autodesk, Inc. makes no warranty, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, regarding these materials and makes such materials available on an "as-is" basis. HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS The hardware requirements specific to using the ST9E*S printer ADI driver with AutoSketch. o This driver is suitable for use with all 9 pin Star printers in the "LC", "FR" and "ZA" series, but some printers can't use all of the options provided by the driver. For example, a narrow carriage printer can't handle wide plots. Please refer to your Star user's manual for details. o A parallel card and cable is required. o Serial output is not supported because the time required to plot would be unacceptably long. HARDWARE INSTALLATION The Star printer must be connected to the computer with a standard Centronics-type parallel cable. COPYING THE DRIVER SOFTWARE The ST9E*S printer ADI (ver 1.0) driver for AutoSketch comes is 16k bytes long. The disk also contains a file ST9E*S.HLP for on-line command line options. You will probably want to install the driver in the same directory where you store AutoSketch. Here's how to copy the driver software onto your hard disk. 1. Change to the directory where you store AutoSketch: C:> CD SKETCH [Return] 2. Insert the ADI Driver diskette in drive A. 3. Copy the driver files to your hard disk: C:> COPY A:ST9E*S.* [Return] INSTALLING THE ADI ST9E*S DRIVER The AutoSketch Star printer ADI driver must be installed (loaded into memory) prior to entering AutoSketch. It is a "terminate and stay resident" (TSR) software program which can use up to 77K of RAM depending on how it is configured. Once loaded, it remains in memory until you turn off or reboot your computer. To install the driver: C:> ST9E*S [Return] The Star ADI driver will then be installed with the following defaults: o Interrupt 7b(hex) o 120 x 72 Dots per inch print density o 8" Paper width o Output directly to printer o Input from AutoSketch o form feed after every plot To change this setup, you can choose to include one or more options on the command line. These options are: -lx parallel port x -f plot from a file -v interrupt # -p no form feed -o plot to a file -w wide paper -dx density x To set the horizontal plot density C:> ST9E*S -Dx [Return] (where x is 1 to 4 in the following table): (default is 120 x 72) x Horizontal Vertical Density Density 1 60 72 2 120 72 3 240 72 4 240 144 You can also install the driver to write plot files directly to your disk drive for later printing (this will create a file named 'fname' on your default drive for later printing). This is useful for printing multiple copies of a plot. C:> ST9E*S -Ofname [Return] You can use the driver to read AutoSketch Binary printer plot files directly from your disk drive. This allows you to use plotting modes which would use too much memory for plotting from AutoSketch as a TSR. This option does not install the driver as a TSR, and may be used repeatedly. See the section titled "USE AS A POSTPROCESSOR" for more details: C:> ST9E*S -Ffname [Return] Note: These filenames must conform to DOS standards. To install the driver for printing on wide paper (will create a plot up to 13.6" wide): C:> ST9E*S -W [Return] (default is 8") To install the driver to use a different parallel port: C:> ST9E*S -Lx [Return] (where x is the new port assignment 1, 2 or 3) (default is LPT1) To install the driver to not send a form feed after each plot: C:> ST9E*S -P [Return] (default is a form feed after every plot) To install the driver for a different interrupt vector (default is 7B hex): C:> ST9E*S -Vxx [Return] (where xx is the new interrupt number) To display a list of these options: C:> ST9E*S -H or -? [Return] Prints a help message from st9e*s.hlp To install the driver using a combination of the above options: C:> ST9E*S -Oplotdata.plt -v7b This will do the following: 1. Create a plot file 'plotdata.plt' of your drawing on your default drive for plotting at a later time. 2. The interrupt vector will be 7b (in hex). MEMORY REQUIREMENTS FOR DIFFERENT CONFIGURATIONS RAM Memory required by driver (8" wide plot) n density Black & White Color ----------------------------------------------------------- X x Y 1 = 60 x 72 dpi 19k 27k 2 = 120 x 72 dpi 20k 26k 3 = 240 x 72 dpi 20k 29k 4 = 240 x 144 dpi 22k 35k RAM memory required for wide carriage (13.6" wide plot) n density Black & White Color ----------------------------------------------------------- X x Y 1 = 60 x 72 dpi 20k 28k 2 = 120 x 72 dpi 21k 33k 3 = 240 x 72 dpi 22k 38k 4 = 240 x 144 dpi 25k 48k ** Note: There are only 2 densities in the vertical direction. If you do not have AutoSketch and this driver configured for the same dots per inch, your drawing may be expanded or compressed in the y-axis. ** Note: Each time you type in the command ST9E*S (except for the special case of the "F" option for plotting binary files), another copy of the driver software is loaded into memory, using up to 82k more bytes of RAM. You need to "reboot" the system (to clear out the any copies of ST9E*S.EXE). USE AS A POSTPROCESSOR The ADI driver ST9E*S.EXE can work as a postprocessor, reading AutoSketch ADI binary files from your disk and sending them directly to the printer. Printer plot to an ADI binary printer file from AutoSketch. Then, when the Autodesk product is no longer running, you may use ST9E*S.EXE to plot from the binary file to your Star printer. USE WITH AUTOSKETCH The ADI ST9E*S driver may be used with AutoSketch. Failure to do this will cause driver messages to printed on the AutoSketch screen, overwriting the drawing displayed there. The ST9E*S driver dated 4/24/92 contains a fix so that it now works with 8088 class machines; previously it would hang the machine. Before you install this driver for AutoSketch, make sure that your Star printer is turned on and on-line. If it is not the driver will not be installed and an error message will appear telling you that it wasn't installed. Before every plot from AutoSketch using this ADI driver, you must make sure that the printer is turned on, connected and on line. Failure to do this will return you to the drawing screen with out any error messages. If the printer goes off-line, runs out of paper or becomes disconnected at any time during the plot, no more data will be sent to the printer and you will be returned to the drawing screen again without any error messages. Therefore if your drawing is not being plotted at all or stops plotting and you are returned to the drawing editor, make sure the printer has paper, is turned on, connected and on line. AutoSketch must be reconfigured so that it knows you will be using an ADI driver to do printer plots. To initiate AutoSketch's reconfiguration, type: C:>SKETCH /R [Return] or if you're installing AutoSketch for the first time, type: C:>SKETCH [Return] Configure AutoSketch's plotter as an Autodesk Device Interface Printer <3>. AutoSketch will prompt you for more information regarding this ADI driver. Then follow the instructions in Configuring AutoSketch in Chapter 2 of the AutoSketch Users Guide. Remember this ADI driver can only be used as a parallel device. **Note: When you open the plot area dialogue box, the values for x and y may be incorrect. Set them now, to the size of the paper you have in your printer. Rotating the plot may also work. system.