Category : Printer Utilities
Archive   : PRTFSET.ZIP
Filename : PRTFSET.DOC

PRINT FONT SETTER

DESCRIPTION:
Print Font Setter is a program that helps you to easily
use the special print functions of your printer, regardless
of brand.

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS:
To use Print Font Setter, you must set up a data file
for Print Font Setter 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 PRTFSET.DAT and must conform to a specific format so
Print Font Setter can understand it.
The PRTFSET.DAT file can be created with any editor or
word processor (Edlin, Wordstar, directly from the console,
etc.). Just be sure that if your use a word processor it can
save the file in ASCII format (see your word processor's
manual)
The data file (PRTFSET.DAT) must contain a description
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
set up the printer for compressed print. According to the
Epson manual, the control code to turn on compressed print is
15 (the ASCII character 15). To set up your PRTFSET.DAT file
for compressed print on an Epson printer, you would need an
entry like the following:

Compressed Print$015000

The first part of the entry is what you want printed on the
screen, Compressed Print in this case. Following the
description is a dollar sign ($) which tells Print Font
Setter where the end of the description is and where the
codes begin that are sent to the printer to turn on that
special print feature. Following the dollar sign are six
digits which to Print Font Setter 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. Print Font Setter expects two
three-digit numbers, so you have to enter 000 as one of the
two three-digit numbers to satisfy Print Font Setter'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
Print Font Setter requires two-three digit numbers. For
example, on the Epson Printer, to set up Italics print you
need to send the printer an ESC (escape) and a 53. You
would enter the description, 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 PRTFSET.DAT file would look like:

Italics Print$027053

Up to ten different special print functions can be
entered in the PRTFSET.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 Print Font Setter when it has
reached the end of your special print features. For example:

Compressed Print$015000
Italics Print$027053&

Remember: 1) You can have up to 10 entries in
PRTFSET.DAT.

2) each entry is comprised of; a description
followed by a dollar sign, 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). If your printer
manual says to send a alpha character
to the printer, you can find out what
ASCII code should be sent by referring to
the IBM-PC BASIC manual Appendix G.

3) The last digit of the last code is
followed by an ampersand (&) so Print
Font Setter knows when it has reached the
last of your special print features.


Running Print Font Setter:

To run Print Font Setter, at the DOS ("A>") prompt,
type:

A> PRTFSET

When you run Print Font Setter, it looks for the
PRTFSET.DAT file on the default (A) disk drive unless you
tell Print Font Setter that the DAT file is located on some
other disk drive. You can tell Print Font Setter the drive
the DAT file is located on by typing in the disk drive letter
after you type in PRTFSET at the DOS prompt. For example, if
the default drive is A and Print Font Setter is on drive B
and PRTFSET.DAT is on drive C, you would type in B:PRTFSET C
at the DOS prompt so DOS would know to look on drive B for
Print Font Setter and so Print Font Setter would know to look
on drive C for PRTFSET.DAT.

Sample File:

Listed below is a sample PRTFSET.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 Double Width print.
Since Print Font Setter can only have two
control codes per entry in the PRTFSET.DAT
file, two entries in PRTFSET.DAT are required
to send the three control codes the Epson
printer wants.