Piper's Pit BBS/FTP: ibm 0020 - 0029/ibm0020-0029/ibm0028.tar/ibm0028/PRINTBOS.ZIP/PRTBOSS.HLP

Text File | 1985-05-02 | 8.0 KB | 169 lines

$A                   TYPE OF PRINTER

This function is used to set the type of printer you have
connected to the computer. You must select one of the
printer types displayed or the printer currently selected
with the arrow will be asssumed. To select a different
printer, enter the appropriate number from the printer
type list in the right window. You may also change the
port designation if you wish in case you have more than
one printer connected. If you have a non-Epson printer,
choose the printer type with which your printer is most
compatible. If you are not sure, try different ones.

Note..An indication of "na" on any of the menu means that
particular option is not available because of conflicts with
previously selected options.
$B                   PRINT MODE


This function specifies the type of printing desired.
The types are normal draft type printing, several types of
quality printing, and sideways printing (usually used for
wide spreadsheets). The normal draft type printing yields
the type of printing normally obtained. The one pass quality
printing improves the appearance of the printing by filling
in dots horizontally. The two pass quality further improves
printing quality by filling in dots horizontally as well as
vertically. Each successive improvement in quality sacrifies
print speed. Some printers have an improved letter quality
mode built into them such as the Epson LQ1500. If you have
one of these printers you may select that option from the
right window. If you select sideways printing, you should
set any needed or desired sideways options with the
Sideline(TM) Options Function.
$C                   DOWNLOAD SET
This function allows for the selection of different
character sets. The optional character sets may be either
one of those specifically listed or one created by yourself
with one of the BFONT programs. Of particular interest might
be the screen set font for getting literal display screen
printouts by using PrtSc.

If you select one of the user fonts, it is very important
that they were created by the appropriate BFONT program
otherwise the result may be unpredictable. Only try user
fonts once you are familiar with Printer Boss.
$D                CHARACTER SET

This function allows for the selection of an international
character set. You might also choose one of these character
sets if the set contained some special character you needed.
Consult your printer manual for a display of the character
sets.
$E                 SIZE OF CHARACTER

This function allows for the selection of different size
characters.
$F                PRINTING OPTIONS

This function allows for the selection of different print
enchancement options. Several at a time may be selected.
You might experiment with different options to see the
effect on your print appearance. It should be noted that
certain combinations of printing options may conflict with
one another, with one canceling or overriding another.
This does not cause any problem or damage but may explain
why certain combinations do not yield the result expected.
$G                  LINE SPACING

This function allows for the selection of different spacing
between print lines. There are different increments for
setting line spacing as indicated in the right window.
$H                     MARGINS

This functions allows for the selecting of left margin,
right margin, form length, and bottom margin. The default
setting of form length equal to 66 lines (normal paper
length) and a bottom margin of 0, allows continuous
printing. This is normal setting for use with word proces-
sing or spreadsheet software which keeps track of the
perferation. Setting the form length to 62 and the bottom
margin to 4, will cause the printing to skip over the perf.
$I                 BUFFERED PRINT

Buffered print allows printing in background so you can do
something else. Printing occurs much more slowly so as to
leave enough computer time available to perform your fore-
ground task. You can select select different buffer sizes.
The larger the buffer (up to 32K), the larger the file you
can print in background. The buffering action can be turned
on and off. The buffer can be dumped quickly to the printer
with the "Print Current Buffer" option. The buffer contents
can be canceled with the "Abort Current Buffer" option.

Once a buffer size if selected, that amount of memory is
effectively subtracted from the memory available to your
application programs. This memory can only be regained by
re-booting the computer system.
$J                SIDELINE OPTIONS

This function is for setting different options for sideways
printing. To enable sideways printing, you must select
sideways printing by the "Print Mode" function.

If you are printing a spreadsheet sideways (the most common
application), you need to specify the number of rows in the
spreadsheet. This will enable a special feature of Printer
Boss that will automatically "glue" together a very wide
spreadsheet (greater than 240 print positions). For this
glueing to take place properly, you must properly create
a print file from your spreadsheet program. For LOTUS
products, specify a top margin of zero, a bottom margin of
zero, a left margin of 0, and a right margin of 240. You
should also erase the print file first if it exists, since
LOTUS products add to the end of print files rather than
write over them. Do not use the "unformated" or "no-margins"
LOTUS options.
$K                  BUILD FONTS

PRINTER BOSS allows the user to build fonts of different
types. "Normal" font is the standard draft appearance font.
By specifing every horizontal dot with the normal font
builder, you would achieve "one pass" quality. "Two Pass"
font is the high quality font. LQ1500 font allows users to
build draft, letter quality, or proportional fonts for the
EPSON LQ1500. Once built, your font can be loaded via the
"User Defined Fonts" option within the "Download Set"
function. Sideways fonts can be built for use with
sideways printing. Your new sideways font would have to be
renamed to the corresponding size sideways font filename.

Fonts can be build for MX and RX printers as well as the
the FX series. PRINTER BOSS has a unique built-in FX font
simulator for the MX and RX printers.

A word of caution. Building fonts is somewhat complicated.
We would suggest that you read the PRINTER BOSS manual.
$L                   SPECIAL FUNCTIONS

These functions are used for a group of unique features.

A number of newer EPSON printers have a feature called
"MASTER SELECT". This feature allows for a code to be
specified to quickly select a variety of features. Please
consult your printer manual for the particular codes.

The Typewriter function allows single lines to be typed on
the screen and then sent to the printer upon hitting the
Retrn key. The backspace key may be used to correct errors.
All appearance options indicated in previous menus will be
used. This function is handy for envelopes, special forms,
labels, etc. Control codes may be sent by entering a slash
following by the 3 digit decimal code. A carriage return
and line feed will be sent at the end of the line. Esc
cancels the current line. Esc at the left margin returns
you to the main menu.
%The custom setup is similar to the Typewriter function but
is used for special escape sequences not covered in the
menus. The string entered will be added to current printer
setup. The string will be sent after the menu choices.
Return or ESC at left margin returns you to main menu.
Backspace to correct. The entered string will be remembered
and saved as part of the current configuration. The current
remembered setup string will be displayed when the option is
selected. Del will erase the remembered string. Control
codes may be sent by entering a slash following by the 3
digit decimal code. A carriage return will be sent at the
end of the setup string.