Microcom 438 - Manual (Page 48)

438 Operator’s Manual - 880052-0100 5-1
Chapter 5 Printer Commands
The printer has a large and versatile collection of control commands to meet the special
needs of the most demanding applications. Most of the commands use the “^D” control
sequence, however the printer also recognizes a selected number of other control
sequences.
For all commands listed in this manual, the printer will recognize the one character control
code (“Ctrl+D”) or the two-character caret plus alpha character (“^+D+<CR>”) sequence. In
other words, the same command may be generated by either holding the control (Ctrl) key
down and pressing the alpha character or by entering the two characters – the ^ (caret,
generated when the “Shift” key is pressed and then the “6” key) and then the appropriate
alpha key (upper and/or lower case).
Unless specified otherwise, commands are entered by sending the ^Dxx command where
xx is the command number. The ^D commands are terminated by either issuing a carriage
return after the command or by issuing another command and/or control code. Some
commands load data or control numbers and are preceded by the ^Axx command. The xx
specifies the value and/or control number for the associating ^D command. The ^D
commands should precede or follow the actual format layout. They should be placed before
the ^D57 or just before the ^D3 print command unless otherwise mentioned.
To protect against errors, in situations where the two-character caret and alpha sequences
are used exclusively as printer commands, the control character recognition may be
disabled. This is accomplished by using the ^D93 command or by using the ^D21
command to setup Soft Switch #1 (^D21) Bit 3 (See 5.2.1.1).
Some mainframe and mini-computers cannot use the ASCII “^” character. In these cases,
substitute the ASCII pipe symbol (“|”) or use the one-character control code representation.
5.1 Special Printer Control Codes
To perform special functions, the printer uses the following control characters. All other
control characters will be ignored. Some of these instructions are also accessible through a
“^D” command sequence and will be noted as such.
^A Accumulator Mode: Used to supply the parameters for the ^D commands.
These parameters must be positive integers and are generally decimal
numbers but may be entered as binary if the ASCII “B” precedes the value or
parameter. For example, “^AB00000001^D21 <CR>” may also be entered as
“^A1^D21 <CR>” as well.
^B Text Entry Mode: Instructs the printer to enter printable text entry mode.
This command (or the preferred “^D <CR>”) must be sent before the text
string information. This command is the equivalent of the “^D<CR>” sequence
but does not require the carriage return (^B text string data). Because the
“control B” is shorter, it is easier to use in direct terminal mode. In general it is
better to use the ^D2 command sequence inside a file or program to assist in
trouble-shooting the format.