════════════╡ LASER-print MANagement Program - Help Module ╞═════════════Introduction..........1 │ Pitch...............G │ End pass-Double.....T╒═════════════════════╕ │Spaces/tab...........H │ End pass-Quad.......UMAIN MENU.............4 ╘Page header..........I ╘═End pass-Manual.....V╒═════════════════════╕ ╒═════════════════════╕ ╒═════════════════════╕DIRECTORY.............5 FILE SELECT...........K EXIT..................W│Drive................6 │Wildcard.............L │Save Option changes..X│Subdirectory.........7 │File tagging.........M ╘═Enter Reg. number...Y╘Configuration file...8 ╘═Page preview........O ╒═════════════════════╕╒═════════════════════╕ ╒═════════════════════╕ Disk/Printer error....ZOPTIONS...............A PRINT.................P ╒═══════════════════╕▄│Change menu colors...B │Print these files....Q │ TABLE OF CONTENTS │█│Style of output......F │ Sheet preview.......S ╘═══════════════════╛█ [HelpPage]-Display help information ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ LASERMAN prints unformatted ASCII files (those without printer control characters) on a laser printer in sixteen different styles. They include the normal portrait or landscape orientation with either 10, 12 or 16 characters per inch, and landscape orientation with two pages printed perside per sheet at 16 cpi. Some of these styles use multiple passes, printing on both sides of each sheet. This allows up to four pages of 72 lines each to be printed on a single sheet of letter size paper. A con- figuration file is also included to allow printing on legal size paper. In addition, the program has the ability to print individual files, each in the form of a booklet, or a group of files may be printed to- gether, as chapters of a book, in the form of a manual. Home-HelpMenu INTRODUCTION Other options include selection of only files that have been changed, page header and substitution of spaces for tabs. Options may be specified on the command line or by menu selection whilethe program is running. Files to be printed may be selected in the same manner. LASERMAN prints only unformatted ASCII files. If you use it to print a .COM file or a document generated by a word processor such as WordPerf- ect, the output will look strange. The only control characters that are passed to the printer are carriage return (13), line feed (10) and form feed (12). The tab character (9) is converted to spaces. Home-HelpMenu INTRODUCTION(continued) All other control characters (0-31) are replaced by a '■'. Valid characters (32-255) are printed 'as-is'. To print a document generated bya word processor, have the word processor program first store it in unformatted 'ASCII' form. In this Help Module, the use of brackets [ ] denotes a specific key. Parenthesis ( ) are used for comments. The border and bottom line of this help display are used for help key data, showing the currently active help action keys and their function. To toggle the arrow key blinking, press [DELETE], which also exits help. To normally exit from help, press [ESCAPE], [ENTER] or [F1]. Home-HelpMenu INTRODUCTION(continued) The MAIN MENU FUNCTIONS include: DIRECTORY....Change the data directory path or load new printer defaults.OPTIONS......Change the printing and program option. FILE SELECT..Select and tag files in the data path directory to print. PRINT........Print the tagged files using the current print options. EXIT.........Return to DOS & optionally save the default program options. To select a function and have its menu displayed, press its highlightedletter or move the highlight bar to it and press [ENTER]. Any function may be accessed from the main menu or any function menu by pressing its [highlight letter] or [ALT][highlight letter]. To toggle the background display on/off, press [TAB]. Home-HelpMenu MAIN MENU The function DIRECTORY MENU options include: DATA PATH......Change either the drive and/or the directory path to the data files to be printed. CONFIG FILE....Specify a configuration file to use to over-ride any or all of the program default options. RESTORE PATH...Reset the data directory path to the one that was set when LASERMAN was initiated. Selecting this option first displays a verification prompt and then, on a positive response, resets the data drive and directory to those in effect at the start of the program. RESTORE CONF...Same, but for resetting the default configuration file. To select a DIRECTORY option, press its highlighted letter or move the highlight bar to it and press [ENTER]. Pgdn-DriveMenu DIRECTORY MENU The DRIVE MENU displays all valid drives "A" thru LASTDRIVE, as definedby CONFIG.SYS. Those drives that are capitalized are currently available,while the lower case drives are not. The current drive is highlighted. To select the data path drive, press its highlighted letter or move thehighlight bar to it and press [ENTER]. Home-HelpMenu Pgdn-SubdirectoryMenu DRIVE MENU The SUBDIRECTORY MENU displays the available subdirectories of the current drive/directory path. The "accept path" option will accept the path as currently displayed tothe right of the DIRECTORY menu. The ". <root dir>" option will reset the path to the root directory of the current drive. The ".. <parent>" option will remove the last subdirectory that was added to the path. To select one of these options or add another subdirectory to the path,move the highlight bar to the desired item and press [ENTER]. Pressing [highlight letter] will move the highlight bar to the first subdirectory whose name starts with that letter. Home-HelpMenu SUBDIRECTORY MENU The CONFIGURATION FILE PATH LIST MENU displays the PATH subdirectories that contain files with an extension of .LMC. If there is only one PATH subdirectory that contains .LMC files, this menu is not displayed and theprogram continues at the CONFIGURATION FILE MENU. (NOTE: there must be atleast one PATH subdirectory with .LMC files or LASERMAN will not run.) To select a PATH subdirectory from which a configuration file may be selected, move the highlight bar to it and press [ENTER]. Pressing [high-light letter] will move the highlight bar to the first subdirectory path displayed whose name starts with that letter. The program continues at the CONFIGURATION FILE MENU. Configuration files with a first letter of "_" are usually non-printer specific. Home-HelpMenu Pgdn-More CONFIGURATION FILE PATH LIST MENU The CONFIGURATION FILE MENU displays the files with an extension of .LMC, located on the selected subdirectory specified in the accepted path. A maximum of seventy-five files are shown at one time: to display others, use the cursor control keys noted on the help line. To select a configuration file, move the highlight bar to it and press [ENTER]. Pressing [highlight letter] will move the highlight bar to the first file displayed whose name starts with that letter. After configuration file selection, an option menu is displayed to allow use of the current configuration data as the default. If selected, by pressing [Y], the current DEFAULT.LMC file is saved as DEF-BACK.LMC (if not already present) and a new DEFAULT.LMC file is written using the current configuration data; otherwise the default file is left unchanged.Home-HelpMenu CONFIGURATION FILE MENU The function OPTIONS MENU options include: MONITOR.............Toggle the display between color and monochrome. CHANGE MENU COLORS..Change the colors of any of the eight menu types. STYLE OF OUTPUT.....Select the style and pitch of the printed output. SPACES PER TAB......Define the number of spaces to be used for tabs. PAGE HEADER.........Suppress or select the style of page header. FILE PAGE START.....Toggle whether, when printing multiple files using the Quad, Manual or Booklet STYLES, to start each new file on the next page or the next ODD page. RELOAD THE DEFAULTS.Reload the initial default options. A positive respo- nse to the verify prompt will then reset the options. Select the OPTION option by letter or highlight bar/move/[ENTER]. Home-HelpMenu OPTIONS MENU The CHANGE MENU COLORS MENU options are the eight types of menu windowsused by LASERMAN. To change the colors of a menu window type, press its highlighted letter or move the highlight bar to it and press [ENTER]. A sample menu window with the current colors is displayed. Change the background colors with the [UP] and [DOWN] arrow keys. Thereare eight background colors. Change the foreground colors with the [LEFT] and [RIGHT] arrow keys. There are sixteen foreground colors. Press [ENTER] to accept the menu color change. The display is then refreshed to show the changed colors. Home-HelpMenu CHANGE MENU COLORS MENU The STYLE OPTION ╔═══════════════════╗ select the orient- ║ PORTRAIT ║ LANDSCAPE ORIENTATION ation of the print- ║ ORIENTATION ║ ╔═════════════════════════════╗ed output and ║ ║ ║ FULL or ║whether each sheet ║ ║ ║ ╚═long side │ ║will be printed on ║═long side ║ ║ LEFT │ RIGHT ║one or both sides. ║ ║ ║ │ ║Maximum page sizes ║ ║ ║ │ ║for each style are ║ ║ ║ │ ║shown on the next ║ HEADER PAGE# ║ ║ HEADER PAGE# │ HEADER PAGE# ║Help Page. ╚═══════════════════╝ ╚═════════════════════════════╝ Home-HelpMenu Pgdn-MaximumPageSizes STYLE OF OUTPUT MENU╔═ MAXIMUM PAGE SIZES ═╤═══ LETTER SIZE PAPER ══╤══ LEGAL SIZE PAPER ══╗ ║ ORIENTATION, char/in │WIDTH, Chars. │ LENGTH │WIDTH, Chars.│ LENGTH ║ ╟──────────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────┼─────────────┼────────╢ ║ Portrait, 10 cpi │ 80 │ 57 │ 80 │ 77 ║ ║ Portrait, 12 cpi │ 90 │ 79 │ 90 │ 104 ║ ║ Portrait, 16 cpi │ 125 │ 93 │ 125 │ 121 ║ ║ Landscape, 10 cpi │ 102 │ 45 │ 132 │ 45 ║ ║ Landscape, 12 cpi │ 123 │ 60 │ 159 │ 60 ║ ║ Landscape, 16 cpi │ 171 │ 72 │ 221 │ 72 ║ ║ Landscape, 2-up │ 81 │ 72 │ 106 │ 72 ║ ╚══════════════════════╧══════════════╧═════════╧═════════════╧════════╝ Home-HelpMenu Pgdn-StyleOptions STYLE OF OUTPUT MENU (continued)1-Up........Each page is printed in portrait orientation on one side only of a single sheet of paper. (A single pass reading the selected file(s) is required.) Double......Same but on both sides of each sheet of paper: page 1 front, page 2 back. (Two passes are required.) Landscape...Each page is printed in landscape orientation on one side only of a single sheet of paper. (A single pass reading the selected file(s) is required.) doUble sided landscape...Same but on both sides of each sheet of paper: page 1 front, page 2 back. (Two passes are required.) 2-Up........Two pages are printed in landscape orientation on one side of each sheet: page 1 left, page 2 right. (continued next page) Home-HelpMenu Pgdn-MoreStyleOptions STYLE OF OUTPUT MENU (continued) Nominal printing is 72 lines of 81 characters each (Two pass)Quad........Same but on both sides of each sheet of paper: page 1-2 front, 3-4back. (Two passes) Booklet.....Each selected file is printed Quad, with page 1 on the right of the first sheet and the last page on the left. Each file is printed on seperate sheet(s). (Two passes) Manual......All selected files are printed Quad as one document. The first sheet has file1, page1 on the right, last file last page on the left. (Three passes of the files, two passes of the printer.) To select the output style, press its highlighted letter or move the highlight bar to it and press [ENTER]. Home-HelpMenu Pgdn-PitchOptions STYLE OF OUTPUT MENU (continued) The PITCH MENU options are available only for the 1-Up, Double, Landscape and doUble sided landscape STYLE OPTIONS. The 2-up, Quad, Booklet and Manual STYLE OPTIONS use the condensed Line printer font. Pica....10 characters per inch. LETTER-Port=57 80 char lines, Land=45 102 char lines. LEGAL-Port=77 80 char lines, Land=45 132 char lines. Elite...12 characters per inch. LETTER-Port=79 90 char lines, Land=60 123 char lines. LEGAL-Port=104 90 char lines, Land=60 159 char lines.Line printer...16.67 characters per inch. LETTER-Port=93 125 char lines, Land=72 171 char lines. LEGAL-Port=121 125 char lines, Land=72 221 char lines. To select a pitch option, press its highlighted letter or move the highlight bar to it and press [ENTER]. Home-HelpMenu PITCH MENU The SPACES FOR TABS MENU options specify the number of spaces to be substituted for tab characters in the selected files that are printed. Additionally, leading spaces of more than 8 characters will be shortened as if they were tab characters: for example, 24 leading spaces = 3 tab characters. To select the number of spaces to substitute for tabs, press its high- lighted number/letter or move the highlight bar to it and press [ENTER]. Home-HelpMenu SPACES PER TAB MENU The PAGE HEADER MENU options determine whether the last two lines on each page will be used for a page header or for file text. Page Header with underline...A blank line and a page header consisting of the user specified fields of file name and date and time, the current date and time and the page number are printed at the bottom of each page. Specifying these fields and their defaults are covered on the next help page. page header Without underline...Same as above without an underline. No page header...No page header is printed at the bottom of each page. Instead, two more lines of text are printed on each page. To select a page header type, press its highlighted letter or move the highlight bar to it and press [ENTER]. Home-HelpMenu PAGE HEADER MENU The HEADER is divided into three sections (Left, Center and Right). Anyof the header data fields may be used in any of the header sections and they may also be repeated. The defaults are Left=F, Center=P, Right=A. [F]ILE: nnnnnnnn.eee mm-dd-yy hh:mm. FILE NAME, DATE, TIME f[I]LE: nnnnnnnn.eee mm-dd-yy....... FILE NAME, DATE ╔════════╗ fi[L]E: nnnnnnnn.eee................ FILE NAME ║ HEADER ║ [P]RINTED: mm-dd-yy hh:mm........ CURRENT DATE, TIME ║ DATA ║ p[R]INTED: mm-dd-yy.............. CURRENT DATE ║ FIELDS ║ p[A]GE: ppp................... OUTPUT PAGE NUMBER ╚════════╝ pa[G]E: ppp [ff-nnn].......... OUTPUT PAGE #, FILE #, FILE PAGE # [N]othing.................. BLANK Select the header data field by letter or highlight bar/move/[ENTER]. Home-HelpMenu PAGE HEADER MENU (continued) The function FILE SELECT MENU options include: ARCHIVE·BIT........Toggle the type of files to be displayed for selection and determine their subsequent handling. ON......The files archive bit must be on. CLEAR...Archive bit on, it's cleared after printing. EITHER..Archive bit may be either on or off. WILDCARD...........Specify a file wildcard mask that the files must meet before being displayed below for tagging. FILE·SELECTION/TAG.Display all files on the data path directory meeting the above criteria so they may be examined and tagged for printing. Select the FILE SELECT option by letter or highlight bar/move/[ENTER]. Home-HelpMenu FILE SELECT MENU The WILDCARD OPTION may be used to specify a group of files to be displayed for printing selection. The current file selection wildcard is displayed for editing. The normal DOS wildcard characters of '?' and '*' may be used. A '.' must separate the file name specified from the extension. To edit the wildcard, use the cursor control keys shown on the help line. To accept the wildcard after editing, press [ENTER]. To cancel changing the wildcard, press [ESCAPE]. Home-HelpMenu WILDCARD The FILE TAGGING MENU options include: ALL...............CLEAR-ALL/TAG-ALL displayed files and toggle the ALL type. TOGGLE FILE TAG...Toggle the highlighted files tag & move the highlight. SKIP FILE.........Move the file highlight to the next file. VIEW PAGE.........Preview the next page of the highlighted file. COUNT PAGES.......Count the number of pages to be printed for the highlighted file using the selected options. All files (up to 75 per display screen) on the current directory meet- ing the wildcard-archive bit settings selected are displayed in a Files- To-Print selection menu. If no files on the directory match, a message isso displayed and the program returns to the function FILE SELECT menu. Home-HelpMenu Pgdn-FileTaggingOptions FILE TAGGING MENU To select a file tagging option, press [highlight letter]. To move the file name highlight, use the cursor arrow & HOME/END keys. To move the file name highlight to the next file without changing its tag, press [S]. To TAG-ALL/CLEAR-ALL of the displayed files for printing, press [A], which acts as a tag/clear toggle. To Tag the highlighted file, press [T] or [INS]. To Clear the Tag on the highlighted file, press [DEL]. To Toggle Tag on the highlighted file, press either [SPACE] or [TAB]. To determine the # pages needed for the highlighted file, press [C]. To preview the pages of the highlighted file, press [V]. To end the tagging of files for printing, press either [ENTER] or [ESC]Home-HelpMenu Pgdn-PagePreView FILE TAGGING MENU (continued) The PAGE PREVIEW window displays the data on the next page, as it wouldbe printed, of the file currently being examined. The upper left portion of the text that will appear on each page when it is printed is shown. The solid color outline depicts the area where text will be printed on the page. To preview the next page of this file, press [ENTER]. To return to the file tagging menu at this point without previewing theremaining pages of this file, press [ESCAPE]. The number of printed pages(NOT sheets) and their maximum size (characters/line and lines/page) to this point in the file are given in the file information window. Home-HelpMenu PAGE PREVIEW The function PRINT MENU options include: REVERSE·2ND·PASS·OUTPUT....Toggle whether the printing order of the sheets on the second printer pass is to be re- versed. This option may be used when printing with input trays that print on the top side of the sheet that is visible. This option may be set in the configuration file, in which case it overrides saved and command line options. PRINT·THESE·SELECTED·FILES.Print the files that have been selected and tagged using the current option settings. To select a PRINT option, press its highlighted letter or move the highlight bar to it and press [ENTER]. Home-HelpMenu Pgdn-PrintingMenu PRINT MENU When files have been selected for printing, a PRINTING option menu is displayed. This menu has three options for printing files, three for skipping them and one to preview the next sheet to be printed. The title line of the Print Menu also specifies where the laser output should go. When first displayed, it blinks to alert you to set the printer for this output before printing any sheets. To print only this sheet and prepare for the next, press [P]. To print all of the sheets for this file and this pass, press [F]. To print all of the sheets for this and all remaining selected files for this pass, press [A]. Home-HelpMenu Pgdn-MorePrintingMenuOptions PRINTING MENU To skip only this sheet and prepare for the next, press [S]. EXTREME care should be taken with these skip options on multi-pass output: if youskip anything on the first print you MUST skip the same thing on the second pass, or your output will not line up. Normally, only use the skipoptions to determine how many sheets will be required, then go back and print it. To skip all of the sheets for this file and pass, press [I]. To skip all of the sheets for this and all remaining selected files forthis pass, press [L]. To preview what this sheet will look like, press [V]. When printing is complete, a message is so displayed. The program will then display the EXIT function menu, but you may still select/print. Home-HelpMenu Pgdn-SheetPreView PRINTING MENU (continued) The SHEET PREVIEW window displays the data on the next sheet to be printed. It may consist of a single page (portrait styles) or two pages (landscape styles). The upper left portion of the text that will be on each page printed on this sheet is shown. The solid color outlines depicts where text will be printed on the page(s). The bottom line gives the file from which the text comes and the output page number. To print this sheet and preview the next sheet, press [P] or [ENTER]. To skip this sheet and preview the next sheet, press [S]. See the cautions on skipping output on the previous help page. To take no action and return to the Print Menu, press [ESCAPE]. Home-HelpMenu SHEET PREVIEW The first pass of file reading and printing, using the Double Portrait or doUble Landscape Style of output on both sides of each sheet of paper,has been completed. The message window can contain specific notes for youprinter that may be differ from this information: if so, use it instead. To print the back side of these sheets, remove the pass 1 printer output and use it as the input for the next printer pass. The first sheetthat should be printed on this pass is the same sheet that was printed first on the last pass. Align the pages so they feed as shown on the informational display. Set the printer for the proper output path. To print the second pass, press any key other than [ESCAPE]. To return to the print menu without printing the second pass, [ESCAPE].Home-HelpMenu END OF PRINTER PASS, DOUBLE STYLE The first pass of file reading and printing, using the Quad Landscape Style of output on both sides of each sheet of paper, has been completed.The message window can contain specific notes for your printer that may be differ from this information: if so, use it instead. To print the back side of these sheets, remove the pass 1 printer output and use it as the input for the next printer pass. The first sheetthat should be printed on this pass is the same sheet that was printed first on the last pass. Align the pages so they feed as shown on the informational display. Set the printer for the proper output path. To print the second pass, press any key other than [ESCAPE]. To return to the print menu without printing the second pass, [ESCAPE].Home-HelpMenu END OF PRINTER PASS, QUAD STYLE The first two passes of file reading and printing, using the Booklet orManual Landscape Style of output on both sides of each sheet of paper, has been completed. The message window can contain specific notes for your printer that may be differ from this information: if so, use it. To print the back side of these sheets, remove the first pass of printer output and use it as the input for the next printer pass. The first sheet that should be printed on this pass is the same sheet that was printed first on the last pass. Align the pages so they feed as shown on the informational display. Set the printer for the proper output path. To print the third pass, press any key other than [ESCAPE]. To return to the print menu without printing the third pass, [ESCAPE]. Home-HelpMenu END OF PRINTER PASS, BOOKLET/MANUAL STYLE The function EXIT MENU options include: RETURN·TO·DOS.Exit LASERMAN. If any of the major options such as monitor, menu colors or reverse output have been changed, a prompt is displayed to allow saving the current option settings, prior to exiting. CANCEL........Return to the main menu. SAVE·OPTIONS..Save all of the option settings such that they become the new options defaults and are loaded each time that the program is executed. To select an EXIT option, press its highlighted letter or move the highlight bar to it and press [ENTER]. Home-HelpMenu Pgdn-SaveOptionChangesMenu EXIT MENU The SAVE OPTION CHANGES MENU ensures that changes to the major options of monitor, menu colors or reverse output are not lost inadvertently. Thesave options include: YES......Save all of the option settings and then exit and return to DOS.NO.......Don't save the options, but do exit and return to DOS. CANCEL...Return to the EXIT menu. To select a SAVE OPTION CHANGES option, press its highlighted letter ormove the highlight bar to it and press [ENTER]. After the registration number is entered the option changes are saved and a completion message is displayed. Home-HelpMenu Pgdn-RegistrationNumber SAVE OPTION CHANGES MENU LASERMAN is being distributed as shareware. If, after trying the program, you determine it is of value to you, registration is required. When you register, you will be supplied with a serial number (LASERMAN UTILITY MANUAL, bottom of Page 2) that should be entered into the programat this point. Entry of a correct serial number will also suppress the random display of the shareware message at the end of the program. IT MUST BE ENTERED WHENEVER THE OPTIONS ARE SAVED. To clear the registration number field, press [CTRL][END]. To edit the registration number, use the numeric keys and the cursor control keys shown on the help line. To accept the registration number after editing, press [ENTER]. To cancel entering the registration number and return to the EXIT menu,press [ESCAPE]. ENTER REGISTRATION NUMBER If an error condition is encountered while transferring data to the printer or to/from the disk drive, an informational message is displayed. To cancel this operation and exit from the program, press [ESCAPE]. To continue with the program, correct the error condition (make the printer ready, close the floppy diskette door, etc.) and press any other key. Home-HelpMenu DISK/PRINTER NOT READY
