Microcom 470 - Manual (Page 49)

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470 Operators Manual 41
CHAPTER 5: PRINTER COMMANDS
The 470 printer has a large and versatile collection of command codes to meet the special
needs of labeling applications. Most of the commands use a ^D control sequence, however the
printer also recognizes a selected number of other control sequences.
For all the commands listed in this manual, the 470 will recognize either the one-character
control character or the two-character caret and alpha character sequence. In other words, for
a PC keyboard, the same command can be generated either by holding down the control key
and pressing the letter or by entering two characters -the ^ (a caret, the character generated if
you press the Shift key and the 6) and an alpha character (upper or lower case).
To protect against errors, in situations where two-character caret-alpha sequences are used
exclusively as printer commands, control character recognition can be disabled. This is done
either through software dip switch #1 position 3 (^D21) or command ^A1^D935.
Some main-frame and mini-computers cannot use the ASCII '^' character. In these cases
substitute the ASCII pipe symbol '|' or use the one character control-code representation.
The caret symbol can be used in text or bar codes by preceding it with another caret.
5.1 SPECIAL PRINTER CONTROL CODES
The following control characters perform special functions. All other control characters are
ignored. Some of these instructions are also accessible through a ^D sequence.
^A Accumulator Mode: Used to supply parameters for ^D commands. These parameters
must be positive integers and are generally decimal numbers but they can be binary if
preceded by a ASCII B. (i.e., ^AB00000001^D215 equals ^A1^D215)
^B Text Entry Mode: Instructs the printer to enter text entry mode. This command (or
^D25) must be sent before the text information. This command is equivalent to ^D25
but does not require a 5 after it (i.e. ^Btext data string5). Because control B is shorter
than ^D25, it is easier to use in direct terminal mode. In general it is better to use ^D25
inside a file or program.
^C Print a label: Prints a single label or starts printing a batch of labels. This command is
equivalent to ^D35 but does not require a 5 after it. Because Control C is shorter than
^D35, it is easier to use in direct terminal mode. In general it is better to use ^D35
inside a file or program.
^D Command Mode: Used to issue commands to the printer. This command is normally
preceded by a ^A sequence (see above).
^E Printer Enquiry: See section 5.2 for more details (equivalent to ^D55 but does not
require a 5 after it). Because Control E is shorter than ^D35, it is easier to use in direct
terminal mode. In general, it is better to use ^D55 inside a file or program.