I-Data 5250 ALLY - Manual (Page 24)

AGILE 5250 ALLY User’s Guide and Reference Page 1-2
The commands can control all formatting aspects, including orientation
and paper size, the amount of justification and special print features like
bolding and underlining. Industry-standard printers are not capable of
understanding or interpreting either the commands or the hexadecimal
values representing printable characters.
The 5250 ALLY interprets the various SCS/DCA control codes it receives
and sends to the printer the command it needs to accomplish the formatting
specified by the SCS/DCA control code. It does this by sending a specific
programmable function string (PFS) to the printer upon receipt of a
specific SCS/DCA hexadecimal command.
The conversion of printable characters is accomplished by the 5250 ALLY
with translation tables. Upon receipt of a hexadecimal value representing a
printable character, the 5250 ALLY looks up the value in the active
translation table, and it sends to the attached industry-standard printer the
corresponding value that will produce the same printed character.
The key to allowing this interpretation and character translation is the
proper configuration of the 5250 ALLY. Most important to the
configuration process is the loading of the output port configuration
(printer driver) appropriate for the attached industry-standard printer. By
loading this driver, programmable function strings will automatically be
defined for the user’s specific printer for accurate conversion of the SCS/
DCA formatting commands received by the 5250 ALLY.
The output port configuration will also define the appropriate translation
table to use for the printer. The user may modify or delete any PFSs that
produce undesirable print results, and translation tables may also be edited
by the user to access printable characters not converted by the translation
tables to the user’s desired characters.
Before Beginning
The following are needed before installing the 5250 ALLY:
• A suitable location
• A parallel printer (or other output device)
• A twinax host interface cable connected to the user’s host System or
remote twinax controller
• Additionally, the user or someone in the user’s organization should
be knowledgeable about the host System and printer.