PRINTER.DOC Ver 1.1 John Petrey (c) 1983 This is the documentation file for the PRINTER.COM program, a program that allows one to easily use the special print functions for their printer (any make). PRINTER.COM is run by typing in PRINTER at the DOS prompt or directly from Wordstar using the "R" (run a program) command. PRINTER.COM is used to set up your printer to make use of it's special print functions (compressed print, double strike print, italics print, etc.) For example, you may have a printer that normally only prints 80 characters on a line, which is fine most of the time. However, you may find times when you'd like to print more than 80 characters on a line. You can use PRINTER.COM to tell your printer to use compressed print. Likewise, if you normally use continuous form paper, then you want the printer to stop printing when it runs out of paper. But when you want to use single sheet paper, the printer stops because it thinks it doesn't have any paper in the printer. PRINTER.COM can tell the printer to temporarily ignore the paper out sensor so you can use single sheet paper. Whatever your printer has the capability to do, you can easily do it with PRINTER.COM. To use PRINTER.COM you must set up a data file for PRINTER.COM to read so it knows what special print functions you want to use. You can enter up to ten different special print features in the data file. The data file must be named PRINTER.DAT and must conform to a specific format so PRINTER.COM can understand it. When you run PRINTER.COM, it looks for the PRINTER.DAT file on the default disk drive unless you tell PRINTER.COM that the DAT file is located on some other disk drive. You tell PRINTER.COM the drive the DAT file is located on by typing in the disk drive letter after you type in PRINTER at the DOS prompt. For example, if the default drive is A and PRINTER.COM is on drive B and PRINTER.DAT is on drive C, you would type in B:PRINTER C at the DOS A> prompt so DOS would know to look on drive B for PRINTER.COM and so PRINTER.COM would know to look on drive C for PRINTER.DAT. The data file (PRINTER.DAT) must contain a description (literal) of the special print features you want to be available and the printer control codes for each special print feature. The control codes are listed in your printer's user manual and are likely found in the back of the manual as an appendix. A control code is nothing more than a unique code that the printer recognizes as a command to change to a special print mode. Let's assume you have an Epson MX printer and want to be able to set up the printer for compressed print. According to the Epson manual (appendix B in my Epson manual) the control code to turn on compressed print is 15 (the ASCII character 15). To set up your PRINTER.DAT file for compressed print on an Epson printer you would need an entry like the following: Compressed Print$015000 Page 1 The first part of the entry is what you want printed on the screen, Compressed Print in this case. Following the literal is a dollar sign ($) which tells PRINTER.COM where the end of your literal is and where the beginning of the codes are that you want sent to the printer to turn on that special print feature. Following the dollar sign are six digits which to PRINTER.COM are really two three-digit numbers. The first three digits in this case are 015 which will be sent to the printer to turn on compressed print. The last three digits (000 in this case) will not be sent to the printer because it is 000. PRINTER.COM expects two three-digit numbers, so in this case we had to enter 000 as one of the two three-digit numbers to satisfy PRINTER.COM's requirement for two three-digit numbers. Many special print functions require two control codes be sent to the printer in order to set up a special print function, so that is why PRINTER.COM wants two-three digit numbers. For example, on the Epson Printer, to set up Italics print you need to send the printer a ESC (escape) and a 53 (according to my Epson Printer manual, Appendix B). You would enter your literal, Italics Print, followed by a dollar sign followed by 027053. 027 is the ASCII code for Escape and 053 is the code for Italics. Thus, the entry in the PRINTER.DAT file would look like: Italics Print$027053 Up to ten different special print functions can be entered in the PRINTER.DAT file and each should be on separate lines. The last entry should be followed by an ampersand (&) immediately after the last digit of the last code. The ampersand (&) tells PRINTER.COM when it has reached the end of your special print features. For example, if you only had two entries in your PRINTER.DAT file it might look like: Compressed Print$015000 Italics Print$027053& Remember, 1) you can have up to 10 entries in PRINTER.DAT 2) each entry is comprized of: a. literal followed by dollar sign b. followed by two three-digit codes (decimal ASCII value - not hex) that are to be sent to the printer (Refer to your printer's manual for the control codes to set up the special print features you want to use.) If your printer manual says to send a alpha character to the printer, you can find out what ASCII code should be sent by refering to the IBM-PC BASIC manual appendix G. 3) The last digit of last code is followed by an ampersand (&) so PRINTER.COM knows when it has reached the last of your special print features. Page 2 The PRINTER.DAT file can be created with any editor (Edlin, Wordstar, directly from the console, etc.). Just be sure if you use Wordstar that you create/edit the PRINTER.DAT file in the non-document mode. A sample PRINTER.DAT file (for an Epson printer) is provided as an example. PRINTER.COM can be run from Wordstar by using the R (run a program) command from the Wordstar Menu. For example, assume you just finished editing a document and have saved it. You should now be at the Opening Menu where you normally would strike P to begin printing the document. Before printing the document, you can strike R for run a program at which time Wordstar will ask you for the name of the program you wish to run. Type in PRINTER and strike the enter key. Note: if PRINTER.COM is not on the logged (default) disk drive you'll need to prefix PRINTER with the drive specification of the drive where Wordstar can find PRINTER.COM (such as A: for drive A). If PRINTER.DAT is not on the default disk drive, you'll need to specify the drive where it can be found after entering PRINTER. For example, if the default drive is B: and both PRINTER.COM and PRINTER.DAT are on drive A:, then you'll need to enter A:PRINTER A so Wordstar will know where to look for PRINTER.COM and PRINTER.COM will know where to look for PRINTER.DAT. After you've entered this, Wordstar will run the PRINTER.COM program which will prompt you for the special print functions you set up in your PRINTER.DAT file. Upon exiting PRINTER.COM, you will automatically return to Wordstar where you can now strike P to begin printing your document with the special print function(s) you selected in effect. Listed below is a sample PRINTER.DAT file for an EPSON printer. Set Printer to Power Up Mode$027064 Compressed Print$027015 Italics Print$027052 Emphasized Print$027069 Double Strike Print$027071 1/8th Inch Spacing$027048 Turn on Paper Out Sensor$027057 Turn off Paper Out Sensor$027056 Double Width Print #1$027087 Double Width Print #2$001000& Note: To use Double Width Print, both Double Width options in the above sample must be entered. This is because the Epson printer needs three control codes to set up Doulbe Width print. Since PRINTER.COM can only have two control codes per entry in the PRINTER.DAT file, two entries in PRINTER.DAT are required to send the three control codes the Epson printer wants. Page 3     three control codes the Epson printer wants. Page 3