¢¢ Printer Draft Font Maker¢ ¢ by¢¢ Thomas J. Andrews¢¢ Copyright 1997¢¢Developed from "The Printer Font Maker" for Gemini 10X and Epson FX80 printers by James Duffin (Copyright 1984)¢¢¢This program can create and edit downloadable draft characters for the Star Micronics NX-1001 9-pin dot matrix printer. While designed specifically for the NX-1001, it should work with any printer compatible with the Epson LX850, which the NX-1001 emulates when in "standard" mode. The program can download directly to the printer or create a disk file that can be copied to the printer at a later time or from another program. It can also use Epson FX80 and Star Gemini 10X font data files created with James Duffin's "Fontmaker." (Antic Magazine, March 1985)¢¢Hardware requirements are: a 48K or better Atari 8-bit computer, joystick, disk drive, and, of course, a compatible printer. This program will work with Atari DOS 2.0s, 2.5, and MYDOS 4.5. It should work with almost any DOS but the horrendous DOS 3.0 (is ANYBODY still using that thing?), but it hasn't been tested with any others. It's written in Atari BASIC and works with Turbo BASIC XL, with a bit of special setup procedure. I highly recommend using Turbo BASIC. The operating speed difference is worth the effort.¢¢This ARC file should include STARFNT.BAS, STARFNT.DOC, and several font data files with NX extensions.¢¢Getting Started¢¢Getting the NX fontmaker up and running couldn't be simpler. Just RUN STARFNT.BAS from either Atari BASIC or Turbo BASIC XL, or use your favorite autorun or menu program. Sometimes, the display is unstable during disk access when using Turbo BASIC. It doesn't affect anything but the display, but it can be annoying. If this happens, make sure you save any font data you want to keep, then try pressing RESET and RUNning the program again. The instability should disappear. ¢¢Using STARFNT¢¢The first screen you see contains a short description of the program. Pressing any key will take you to the main operating screen.¢¢On the Main Screen you'll see an empty dot matrix grid, a list of commands, and a group of characters. These characters are the ones you can use for downloading. Use the joystick to move the cursor over the character you want to use, then press the trigger button to select it.¢¢Once a character has been selected, any font data already in memory for it is copied to the dot matrix grid. A plus sign in the grid indicates a blank spot and a filled circle indicates a printed dot. Edit the character by moving the cursor over the grid space you wish to change, then pressing the button. Dots may be adjacent to each other vertically, but not horizontally. When finished, copy the edited character to memory by using one of the commands listed on the screen (except "D"). A small representation of the character will be drawn on the bottom of the screen and the character in the list will be shown in inverse to indicate it has been edited.¢¢Since all CHR$(155)'s will be changed by the printer interface to Chr$(13)'s before they get to the printer, a 155 is not allowed in the font data. If a 155 is detected when copying the edited font data the program will automatically change it to a 153, which is similar in appearance in the grid, and ask you to re-edit the character.¢¢Key Commands¢¢E Edit Character. This is the command to use when you want to copy one character to memory and then do another. ¢¢D Descender On/Off. This toggles the descender of the character being edited. Descender off means the character will use the top 8 pins when printed. Descender on means it will use the bottom eight.¢¢S Save Font. This saves the font data into a disk file that STARFNT can load and use in another session. The files with the NX extension are this type of file. It can NOT be used to download a font to the printer.¢¢L Load Font. This loads font data files created with the SAVE command above. All font data in memory before the command is initiated will be cleared. Any characters showing font data will be indicated in the character list.¢¢F Load FX80 Font. This loads and converts FX80 font data files created with James Duffin's original program, similar to the LOAD command above.¢¢G Load Gemini Font. This loads and converts Star Gemini 10X font data files created with James Duffin's original program, similar to the LOAD command above.¢¢START Load Printer. This downloads the characters in memory directly to the printer. If the printer has a DIP switch controling print buffer functions, it must be set to the download position for this command to work. Once a font is downloaded to the printer, it will remain there until the switch is turned off or it is replaced with another font. For test purposes, you will be asked if you want the characters printed for you.¢¢OPTION Create Font File. This creates a font file that can be dumped directly to the printer from another program or from DOS. The file will contain all the commands to download the characters and set the printer to use them.¢¢All commands using disk files will ask for a filename. Any legal Device:Subdirectory:Filename combination of 40 characters or less will be accepted. A name without a device code will use "D:" as a default. To get a directory of any drive, press RETURN at the Filename? prompt, then answer with a drive number.¢¢I've had a lot of fun converting Mr. Duffin's program for my printer. I have plans to develop a similar program to edit and download NLQ characters for my NX-1001, so look for it if you have any interest. I also intend to write a version of my Print Star that will download font files created by these two programs. Programming the Atari 8-bit is still as enjoyable as ever - why should I stop now?¢¢Thomas J. Andrews ¢¢e-mail: tandrews16@delphi.com¢
