SATO XL400/410 - Manual (Page 21)

Programming Manual 2. Command Codes
SATO RISC Printers 21
2. Command Codes
This section contains all the RISC printer Command Codes. The com-
mands must be sent to the printer in an organized fashion in order for the
label(s) to print.
The objective of this chapter is to explain the different commands and pro-
vide examples of their usage, as well as to provide a detailed reference
for programming the printers.
Each command begins on a separate page with its own heading. A uni-
form layout is used to help you find key information about each command.
For each Command Code in this section, there will be a sample data input
stream to the printer and the expected print output. By studying the exam-
ples, you can learn how to use the particular command within a whole
block of printer code. Pay particular attention to the “Special Note” with
each command to learn other important information.
The subject commands are highlighted in bold letters in the Reference
Sheets. There are two parts of most, but not all, commands. The first is
the command character which immediately follows the <ESC> code. It is
always an upper case alpha or a special character (such as an “&” or a
“%”). It is never a lower case alpha character. If the command requires
additional variable information, it is represented by a group of lower case
alpha characters immediately following the command character. For
example, if an aaaabb is listed following the basic command, the printer
will look for six characters immediately following the command. The first
four would represent the value of aaaa and the next two the value of bb.
The maximum number of characters defined in a parameter is repre-
sented by the number of characters shown in the command structure. For
example, a command followed by an aaaa can have up to four characters.
In general, commands with only one parameter following the command
can be entered without the leading zeroes. However, certain commands
require the exact number of matching characters. A command with two
parameters listed following the command code without a comma delimiter,
such as aaaabbbb require the exact number of digits to be entered. If the
value of aaaa is “800” and the value of bbbb is “300”, then the parameters
must be entered as “08000300”. It is recommended that you make it a
practice to always enter leading zeros to prevent any mistakes.
Note: These examples assume the use of the Standard Protocol
Command Codes and a parallel interface. The labels for all
printers will be similar, but, because of different resolu-
tions and print widths may be larger or scaled differently.