ProfitPress Mega CDROM2 Shareware Freeware (MSDOS)(1992)(Eng)

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SQC v2.50 The Advanced Printer Utility Copyright (C) 1990-1991 Daniel Baumberger Dynamic Designs Software STANDARD DISCLAIMER: ==================== This software is provided AS-IS. There is NO warranty, either expressed or implied. Damage resulting from the use or misuse of this software is NOT a responsibility of the author. INTRODUCTION ============ SQC is a powerful printer utility that allows printer codes to be sent to the printer from the MS-DOS command line. Codes may be specified by pre-defined opcodes, literal characters, and/or decimal, hexadecimal, or octal ASCII codes. SQC also allows printing of files with or without page breaks. The user can specify the number of lines per page. SQC will then insert page breaks after the specified number of lines. SQC also supports "continuous" printing, i.e. files that already are formatted. Version 2.50 adds more features to the list. A totally new, object-oriented printer interface was designed for SQC. The printer "object" controls the printer at the BIOS level. Error checking is done on the character by character basis. SQC will NOT print a character if the printer won't accept it. When run with no command line arguments, SQC will print the current status as returned by BIOS and what it means to you. This is helpful in figuring out what is wrong with your printer. New command lines switches were added: /PRINT, /LEN, and /CHECK. /PRINT is the same as /P:. /LEN is the same as /L:. /CHECK replaces the old "/C" parameter. /CHECK also has a shorter form. Refer to the sections on COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS for syntax. SQC now supports more printer ports. LPT1, LPT2, and LPT3 are directly supported. They are specified by the /LPT# switch described below. Some items were dropped out of SQC v2.50. The numerous help files are gone. The main help is now accessible through the /? switch, as used in MS-DOS 5.0. The environment variables are gone. In v3.0, a new environment variable will be introduced. It will be a mini command line that gets executed EVERY time SQC is run. Upon removal of these features, SQC's .EXE file size was reduce almost 50%! GENERAL SYNTAX ============== SQC's syntax looks like this: SQC [/Options] [Codes/Opcodes] The Options include: /C[ON | OFF] <- Turn printer checking on/off /CHECK=[ON | OFF] <- Turn printer checking on/off /LPT# <- Select LPT port # /P:fs <- Print files matching fs /PRINT=fs <- Print files matching fs /L:# <- Set the pagelength to # /LEN=# <- Set the pagelength to # /? <- Display a help screen with Options SQC will display the current status of the printer when run with no command line parameters or options. See PRINTER STATUS for details. Codes are explained in the section CODES. Opcodes are explained in the section OPCODES. PRINTER CHECKING ================ By default, SQC checks with the BIOS to make sure the printer is ready. If not, SQC will display a message allowing you to fix the problem or abort the program. With printer checking off, SQC prints the character via the BIOS. The BIOS will sit and wait until the printer is ready, or forever if necessary. Due to this, it is better to leave the printer checking on. However, printer checking does cause a little time overhead because it makes a BIOS call and does some checking. To turn the printer checking off, you can use either of these two forms: SQC /COFF SQC /CHECK=OFF Either way is correct. NOTE: Turning printer checking off by the switch ONLY turns it off for that execution of the program. The next time SQC is run, it will use the standard defaults. Similarly, the printer checking can be turned on in either of these two forms: SQC /CON SQC /CHECK=ON Using these switches, one can turn the printer checking off for some parameters and on for others. For example, SQC /COFF ESC @ /CON /PRINT=*.DOC In this example, the printer checking is turned off and an opcode (escape) and a character are sent. Then, printer checking is re-established and SQC will print all the files matching *.DOC with printer checking. NOTE: Case is insignificant. /CON = /con = /CoN = /cOn, etc. SELECTING A PORT ================ SQC v2.50 now allows other LPT ports to be used. To specify a different port, use the /LPT# command. # should be replaced by the number of the port. Valid ports are 1, 2, and 3. Anything else will generate an error. For example, SQC /LPT2 ESC @ /LPT1 /PRINT=*.TXT In this example, ESC and '@' are sent to the printer connected to LPT2:. Then, all .TXT files in the current directory are printed on LPT1:. Again, case of LPT is insignificant. PRINTING FILES ============== SQC can print files with or without page breaks. SQC supports any size pages. A size of 0 will generate a "continuous" printout. SQC will not send form feeds to skip the partitions. The default in SQC v2.50 is now continuous. Continuous printing can be used for files that already contain page formatting commands. Two switches are available to specify the file specification to print: /P: and /PRINT=. /P: was used in previous version. /PRINT= is ONLY available in v2.50. Both take a MS-DOS file specification. A file specification can be a single filename or use either or both of the MS-DOS wildcards: ? and *. For example, *.DOC specifies all files with the DOC extension. A??.A?? will print any files that start with and a, have two more characters, and have an extension that starts with an A and has two more characters. This will match files like AAA.AAA, AZZ.ABC, etc. In version 2.50, SQC defaults to continuous print. To split pages after so many lines, one uses the /L: or /LEN= parameter. Here are some examples of printing commands: SQC /LEN=60 /PRINT *.MOD SQC /L:0 /P:*.? The first example prints all .MOD (Modula-2) files splitting pages after 60 lines. The second example continuously prints all files with a one character extension. NOTE: SQC sends a form feed to the printer between files so that each file starts on a new page. What happens if you start printing and find out that you don't want to print the files? Pressing a key aborts printing of the current file only. Pressing a key many times will abort more files. At present, there is no way to abort the whole print process (unless you turn off the printer and select the "abort" option when SQC reports an error). CODES ===== Codes can be in one of four forms: decimal ASCII, hexadecimal ASCII, octal ASCII, and literal characters. Here is the logic that SQC uses to determine which category a code falls under: (1) If the length of the code is 1, then it is sent "as-is" as a literal character. (2) If the code starts with a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, then it is processed as a decimal ASCII code. (3) If the code starts with a 0X or a 0x, then it is processed as a hexadecimal ASCII code. (4) If the code starts with a 0 (and is NOT followed by an 'x'), then it is processed as an octal ASCII code. (5) If all these fail, then it is processed as an opcode (or an error). Here is an example: SQC 0x1B @ 120 061 SQC will send 0x1B, or the escape character, the '@' character (ASCII 64), the decimal code 120 ('x'), and the octal code 061 ('1'). OPCODES ======= SQC has 32 predefined opcodes. They are the standard ASCII names for the control codes. Since most of these characters cannot be displayed, SQC will substitute their opcode name in their place. Here are the predefined opcodes and their decimal, hexadecimal, and octal values. Codes marked with '*' are not accessible using SQC. These are the single digit decimal codes. They will be interpreted as characters '1' through '9'. Use the octal or hexadecimal value instead. OPC Dec Hex Oct What is It? ============================================================ NUL * 0x00 00 The "NULL" character SOH * 0x01 01 Start Of Header STX * 0x02 02 Start TeXt ETX * 0x03 03 End of TeXt EOT * 0x04 04 End Of Transmission ENQ * 0x05 05 Inquiry ACK * 0x06 06 Acknowledgment BEL * 0x07 07 The Bell Character BS * 0x08 10 BackSpace HT * 0x09 11 Horizontal Tab LF 10 0x0A 12 Line Feed VT 11 0x0B 13 Vertical Tab FF 12 0x0C 14 Form Feed CR 13 0x0D 15 Carriage Return SO 14 0x0E 16 Shift Out SI 15 0x0F 17 Shift In DLE 16 0x10 20 Data Link Escape DC1 17 0x11 21 Device Control 1 DC2 18 0x12 22 Device Control 2 DC3 19 0x13 23 Device Control 3 DC4 20 0x14 24 Device Control 4 NAK 21 0x15 25 Negative Acknowledgement SYN 22 0x16 26 Synchronous Idle ETB 23 0x17 27 End of Transmission Block CAN 24 0x18 30 Cancel EM 25 0x19 31 End of Medium SUB 26 0x1A 32 Substitute ESC 27 0x1B 33 Escape FS 28 0x1C 34 File Separator GS 29 0x1D 35 Group Separator RS 30 0x1E 36 Record Separator US 31 0x1F 37 Unit Separator SP 32 0x20 40 Space PRINTER STATUS ============== New to SQC v2.50 is printer status. When run with no command line arguments, SQC will display what the BIOS says the current state of your printer. A "normal" status value should be 144. That means that the printer is NOT busy, and the printer is selected. Here are the other errors that can be returned and what could cause them. "Busy" : That usually means that the printer is currently doing something. SQC can compensate for this when printing codes and files so other than the status, it will not occur. "Not Busy" : The printer isn't doing anything (or so it thinks...). "Acknowledge" : Other than the name, this one is not used much. I do not know in what cases it would be generated. However, it is included because BIOS can return it. "Out of Paper" : This one is more obvious. However, it can also occur when the printer is off. Other errors will be generated when the printer is off so this one is used for what its name says. "Selected" : This is one the "normal" returns. The printer should always be selected. If not, then some error has occurred. Other errors should describe the problem. "I/O Error" : Another obvious one. The printer is either off or off line. It could also be that the printer is not hooked up (or non-existant). "Time-out" : Obvious name, unobvious function. This is another status that is rarely generated. It could be generated when the printer is off or off line. It depends on the BIOS of the machine. REGISTRATION ============ SQC is NOT a free program. It is shareware. You are granted a limited license to use SQC to see if it meets your needs. After 30 days, you are required to register the program with the author. Complete registration is $10 including two free updates. Registered users also receive other programs from Dynamic Designs Software. To register, send a check (payable to DANIEL BAUMBERGER) to: Daniel Baumberger Dynamic Designs Software 811 South Nevada Drive Longview, WA 98632-5611 Please include the version number that you have. As always, questions, comments, suggestions, and problems are welcome!! Write or E-Mail and I will see what I can do. I can also be reached via E-Mail (Internet) at this address: baumb@cs.washington.edu INTO THE FUTURE =============== What is coming? The ideas that I have are an environment variable that acts as a "mini-command line" to be executed each time SQC is run. User defined opcodes or macros are another possibility. I am also thinking of an "interpreter" mode. Also, command files specifying commands and other things. If you have things that you would like to see, write the address above or send E-Mail to the Internet address above. NOTE: the E-Mail address is temporary. It will expire upon graduation from the University of Washington. Right now... that date is uncertain. OTHER PROGRAMS FROM DYNAMIC DESIGNS =================================== There are two other programs being distributed under the Dynamic Designs Software label: SQM and DDPC. DDPC stands for Dynamic Designs Park Controller. It will park up to 32,767 hard discs installed in a system! DDPC v2.50 (release at the same time as SQC 2.50) also supports a screen- saver mode. It will also display information on all drives installed on the system. SQM is a mouse utility for MS-MOUSE compatible mouse systems (including Logitech). It allows MANY options in using the mouse: speeding it up, slowing it down, disabling it altogether, enabling, a "test" mode to see what speed is best for you, saving/loading states so that different programs can have different settings. Upon registration of SQC, you will automatically receive the others.