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-
- SETUP2.COM
- Command
-
- Jeff Prosise
- 1989 No. 10 (Utilities)
-
-
- Purpose: Sends menu-selected or typed control codes to a printer from
- within an application or from the DOS prompt.
-
- Format: SETUP2 [d:][path][filename] | [/C codes] | [/U]
-
- Remarks: Entered without the /C option, SETUP2 becomes a RAM-resident
- utility with a pop-up menu of user-configured printer control sequences
- specified in filename. The default hotkey is Ctrl-Right Shift. Esc closes the
- menu window and returns to any already-running application. Entering SETUP2
- with the /U option uninstalls the utility if no subsequent TSR program has been
- loaded.
-
- Any ASCII text editor or word processor can be used to create
- filename, which contains the desired printer commands. This file may be up to
- 64KB in overall size, and may contain any number of lines, each each of which
- must be ended by pressing Enter. The first line identifies the printer or
- company (hit Enter alone to leave it blank), and may be up to 26 characters
- long. Subsequent lines consist of up to 20 characters of identifying ASCII
- text, followed by a semicolon, followed by up to 255 bytes containing the
- printer control sequence. For example, the first four lines of a filename for
- an H-P LaserJet might be entered thus:
-
- H-P LASERJET
- Spreadsheet; 27,"&l1o2e5.647c66F",27,"&k2S"
- Reset Printer; 27,"E"
- Form Feed; 12
-
- ASCII 27 is the (decimal) Escape character; it could alternatively be
- entered in hexadecimal notation as x1B or 0x1B, following the C-language style.
- Numeric entries may be separated by commas (as shown), or by spaces or tabs.
- Literal ASCII text must be enclosed either within double quotes (as shown) or
- single quotes. White space to the right of the semicolon is ignored, and any
- line in filename beginning with a pound sign (#) is treated as a comment line
- and will not appear in the SETUP2 window.
-
- In the example just cited, when the SETUP2 menu is popped up with Ctrl-
- ight Shift, the words "Spreadsheet," "Reset Printer," and "Form Feed" will
- appear next to lines identified as F1, F2, and F3. The associated printer
- control codes do not appear in the on-screen menu, but are sent to the printer
- either by pressing the indicated function key or by moving the menu highlight
- bar to the appropriate line with the Up- and Down-Arrow keys and pressing Enter.
- The PgDn and PgUp keys bring lines in filename beyond the first "page" (ten
- lines) into the menu window.
-
- Below F10 in the SETUP2 menu is a blank line that may be used to send
- printer control sequences not contained in filename. This line is accessed by
- pressing the forward slash (/), typing in the actual control codes (using the
- format conventions previously discussed), and pressing Enter. In this case, the
- actual printer codes are shown on the screen; the entry line scrolls
- horizontally to accommodate sequences of more than 26 characters.
-
- Entering SETUP2 with the /C option enables sending printer control codes
- from the DOS command line without making the utility RAM-resident. This is
- useful both for testing and for batch file operations. The codes are again
- entered with the numeric and quotemark conventions previously indicated. Note
- that each line must end with an ASCII 13,10 (carriage return/line feed)
- sequence.
-
- By default, SETUP2 uses LPT1. Users familiar with DEBUG.COM can change
- the entry at offset 018A (normally 0) to 1 (for LPT2) or to 2 (for LPT3).
- Similarly, the default Ctrl-Right Shift hotkey can be changed to another
- shifting key combination by changing the entry at offset 01B3 (normally 5). A
- hex value of C in this location would change the hotkey to Ctrl-Alt, for
- example. A complete table of shift-mask values is printed in the original
- article.
-
- «MDNM»