Microcom 412 - Manual (Page 43)

412 Operators Manual 35
CHAPTER 5: PRINTER COMMANDS
The 412 printer has a large and versatile collection of control 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 412 will recognize either the one-character
control character or the two-character caret and alpha character sequence. In other words, for
a PC key board, 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 (^D21) or command ^D93.
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 and pipe characters can be used in text or bar codes by entering them twice.
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 however be binary if preceded by an ASCII B. (^AB00000001^D21 equals
^A1^D21>
^B Text entry mode: Instructs the printer to enter printable text entry mode. This
command (or the preferred ^D2) must be sent before the text information. This
command is equivalent to ^D2 but does not require a  after it (^Btext data string).
Because control B is shorter it is easier to use in direct terminal mode. In general it is
better to use ^D2 inside a file or program.
^C Print a label: Starts the print cycle or batch. This command is equivalent to ^D3 but
does not require a  after it. Because control C is shorter than ^D3 it is easier to use
in direct terminal mode. In general it is better to use ^D3 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). ^D commands must be terminated with a  or
another control sequence (^A9^D73^D3 equals ^A9^D73 and ^D3.
^E Printer enquiry: See section 5.2 for more det ails (equivalent to five NULL’s or a ^D5).
The ^E command does not require a  after it. If Binary Compression is enabled, the ^E
and ^D5  commands will not function and five NULL characters should be sent
instead. Because Binary Compression is enabled by default, it is wise to use the five
NULL character method when possible.