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NU-EPSON The Pop-Up Printer Controller Version 2.3 Copyright (C) 1985 By Charles Rich NU-EPSON The Pop-Up Printer Controller NU-EPSON is a memory resident printer controller that pop's up for you any time you need to set your printer. With NU-EPSON you can change your printer's style and format instantly. You'll never need to exit to DOS to change your printer again. You can stay inside your word processor, editor or whatever. To load NU-EPSON, put your program disk in your default drive, type NU-EPSON and then press carriage return. When the brief installation message comes up, NU-EPSON is loaded. After that you can call NU-EPSON any time by pressing Alt-Caps Lock. Just hold the Alt key down and press Caps Lock. When summoned, NU-EPSON pop's up with a menu of printer styles and motion controls. The styles are on the left side of the menu. The motion controls are on the right. The styles are Compressed, Double-strike, Emphasized, Italic, Tiny, and Wide. The motion controls are: Form feed, Line feed, Quiet, and Uni-directional. NU-EPSON also offers Hex Input mode and a Reset feature. On a color monitor the styles are displayed in cyan, and the motion controls are white. This is a visual reminder. NU-EPSON is ready for your selections as soon as it comes up. Just type the letters corresponding to the combination of features you want. Press the backspace key to delete any entries. Submit your selections when everything is just right, by pressing the carriage return. NU-EPSON will disappear, sending your commands to the printer. You can enter up to eight selections on the regular entry line. Although you'll probably never need to send that many. If you try to enter more than eight selections NU-EPSON will beep to alert you. If you really want to send more than eight commands, just submit the first eight and call NU-EPSON a second time and submit the remaining commands. You can repeat this as often as you need. If you call NU-EPSON while your printer is turned off, or is off line, you will get a flashing "Printer" message. Just turn your printer on, or put it back on line and NU-EPSON will continue. Press the carriage return if you want to exit instead. The next few pages cover all the features of NU-EPSON in detail. If you have any questions or comments please let me know about them. My address is at the end of this documentation. If you'd like a reply, please enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope. Enjoy! Charles Rich. NU-EPSON Page 1 NU-EPSON'S PRINT STYLES The following is a detailed description of NU-EPSON's print styles. The best way to get familiar with them is to experiment. They can be combined almost any way you'd like, and many combina- tions are quite useful. C Compressed Mode This is easily the most popular print width after the standard pica. You get 132 characters per line with Com- pressed Mode instead of 80. This is great for any reports and spreadsheets that need extra width yet must retain high legibility. Your printer will print 17.16 characters per inch instead of the usual 10. D Double-Strike Mode This print mode gives you darker type by filling in the vertical spaces between dots. Your printer reprints each line after shifting the paper down 1/216". E Emphasized Mode This mode reprints each line after shifting the print head slightly, filling in the horizontal space between dots. This is darker than Double-Strike, and the two modes used to- gether make a very dark, solid type style. Note that the Epson printer won't print Emphasized and Compressed Modes together, it will ignore the Compressed Mode setting. I Italic Mode Use Italic Mode when you want your printing to look a little fancier. You can mix Italic Mode with any other mode such as Compressed, Wide, Tiny or any combination. T Tiny Type This is a combination of Compressed and Superscript modes, with 1/12" line feeds. This is the tiniest print you can get from the Epson, and it's still really legible. This is great for long program listings, archiving or novelty effects. You'll find other uses--it grows on you. W Wide or Expanded Mode This doubles the width of your type. When combined with Double Strike and Emphasized modes, this is the most atten- tion getting style. This is a good combination when printing bulletin board notices and announcements. You can also mix Wide Mode with any other mode for some interesting type styles. ---- END OF NU-EPSON'S PRINT STYLES ---- NU-EPSON Page 2 NU-EPSON'S MOTION CONTROLS F Form Feed This is an instant action key for Nu-Epson. Pressing "F" sends a form feed to your printer, advancing the paper to the top of the next page. This lets you begin print jobs at the top of a fresh sheet of paper. It spares you from reaching over, taking your printer off-line, pressing the form feed button and then putting it back on line. This doesn't echo an "F" on the entry line, and you can issue it as many times as you like. It won't fill the entry buffer. L Line Feed This is another instant action key for Nu-Epson. When you press "L", Nu-Epson sends a line feed to your printer, advancing the paper one line. This lets you skip lines instantly. This too, won't echo an "L" on the entry line, and you can issue it as many times as you like. It won't fill the entry buffer. Q Quiet or Half-Speed Mode This runs your Epson printer at half its normal speed for a slightly quieter print job. U Unidirectional Mode This makes your Epson print in one direction only. This is good for graphics output in non-standard print modes since it reduces misalignment from row to row. H Hex Input Mode This gives you the "Hex:" prompt so you can send customized control strings with your menu choices. When you're through with Hex Input, hit the carriage return to come back to the regular entry line. You'll see an "H" in the command line as a reminder of your Hex string, if you entered one. Your Hex string will then be sent along with your menu choices. Hex Input is discussed more fully below. R Reset This sends the "Master Reset" code to your Epson. After that, your printer is in the same state as when it's first turned on. This means that all the mode settings are cleared and the current line position is the new top of form. When used with the line feed key, this is an easy way for setting the top of form. Just advance to where you want the new top of form to be and press Reset. NU-EPSON will chirp and flash "Reset" to alert you, when pressed. Reset also clears the command entry line. ---- END OF NU-EPSON'S MOTION CONTROLS ---- NU-EPSON Page 3 NU-EPSON'S HEX INPUT MODE In the back of your Epson User's Manual you'll find a complete set of control codes for your printer. There are commands for setting your printer's margins, underlining, changing character sets, defining form lengths, line feeds and so on. These are all the possible ways you can set your printer. With Hex Input Mode, NU-EPSON lets you send all of these, easily. Press "H" to invoke the Hex Input Mode. The "Hex:" prompt will appear and you can create your hex string by simply typing it from the keyboard. As an example, let's turn on underlining. You can make your printer print underlines by sending it this sequence: <ESC>"-1". So, in Hex Input mode press the escape key, then the negative sign, then the number 1. NU-EPSON will convert them to hex for you. You'll see these hex values echoed on the Hex Input line as: 1B 2D 31. Press the carriage return and you'll go back to the usual input line. The "H" in the entry line reminds you that you have defined a hex string at that point. Press the carriage return again and NU-EPSON will disappear, submitting your commands to the printer. That's all there is to it. No more fooling around with hex conversion tables and firing up the BASIC inter- preter every time you want to change your printer. The Hex Input Mode will let you send up to nine hex characters to your printer. If you try to send more than nine characters, NU-EPSON will beep to alert you. Since most control codes are about three characters long this lets you send two or three configurations at once. For example, you could set the left and right margins, and redefine the number of lines in a page with just one hex input string. We'll do this later. If you need to send a longer sequence simply call NU-EPSON again and submit the rest of the sequence. You can repeat this as many times as you need to. If you make mistakes in your hex entry, press the backspace key to correct them. This will step the cursor backwards, clearing entries one by one. Press the carriage return when you're happy with your hex input string. This returns you to the regular entry line where you can continue setting your printer from the menu if you want. If you created a hex string in Hex Input mode you'll see an "H" on the regular entry line where you called Hex Input. This is to remind you of your Hex input string. If you didn't enter anything in Hex Input mode, there won't be an "H" in the regular command line. Since NU-EPSON holds only one line of hex input, NU-EPSON Page 4 you can only create one hex string at a time. This means you can only have one "H" on your command entry line. If you try to get into Hex Input Mode twice from the regular command line NU-EPSON will beep, alerting you that you have already created a hex input line. If you want to get into Hex Input Mode anyway, just delete the "H" from the previous hex input. NU-EPSON will then let you enter hex commands again. If you need to submit a hex string that's too long for one entry line, simply send it piece by piece. Enter the first nine hex characters and send them. Then call NU-EPSON again and send another nine characters. You can repeat this as many times as you like. USING THE ALT-KEYPAD Some of the Epson printer commands need you to give a number for a parameter. For instance, you need to give a number when setting margins, or the number of lines to print per page, or for the number of line feeds per form, and for character spacings, etc. The control codes in the back of the User's Manual ask for these numbers like this: CHR$(n), with "n" being the number you want. The Alt-Keypad lets you send these numbers to NU-EPSON. Whenever a control code says CHR$(n), you'll use the Alt-Keypad to send that number. The Alt-Keypad is a normal feature of the IBM PC's keyboard. If you hold the Alt key down and then enter a number using only the numeric keypad on the right hand side of the keyboard, the keyboard will send the ASCII character corresponding to that number. In Hex Input mode, NU-EPSON converts all your keystrokes into the hexadecimal value for the character you pressed, in- cluding characters entered from the Alt-Keypad. So, to put the number 50 in NU-EPSON's Hex Input line, hold the Alt key down and press the 5 and 0 on the numeric keypad. when you release the Alt key you'll see a 32 in the hex string. That is the number 50 in hexadecimal. As another example, to put the number 127 into a hex input command, hold the Alt key down and type 127 on the numeric keypad, release the Alt key. This generates a 7F in the entry line. 7F is 127 in hexadecimal numbers. Note that when the Caps Lock key is turned on, your computer will invert the case of the letters of the alphabet, changing "A"'s to "a"'s and vice versa. This means then, that if Caps Lock is set and you enter the number 100 from the Alt-Keypad, which corres- ponds to the letter "d", with Caps Lock on, your computer will NU-EPSON Page 5 intervene and convert that lowercase "d" to a capital "D". Now, the "D" character is ASCII character number 68, not 100 as you intended. Since NU-EPSON converts keboard input into hexadecimal, you'll get the hex number 44 instead of hex 64. The upshot of all this is that if you start getting numbers that aren't right, check the Caps Lock key. The numbers from 65 to 90 correspond to uppercase letters. They should all start with 4's or 5's in hexadecimal. The numbers from 97 to 122 correspond to lowercase letters. They should all start with 6's or 7's in hexadecimal. Note that if you forget to hold the Alt key down when you type on the keypad it will generate 00's. This is useful for when you need to send a CHR$(0). Also, ProKey users should remember that ProKey wants you to press Shift-Alt while using the numeric keypad, otherwise you'll only get 00's, too. AN EXAMPLE OF HEX INPUT Hex Input Mode is a very simple way to send your custom codes. You'll get the hang of it quickly. for practice, try sending "Hi there" to your printer by just using the Hex Input Mode. Call up the Hex Input Mode and type "Hi there" right from the keyboard. You should see: 48 69 20 74 68 65 72 65. Those are the hexa- decimal values for those letters. Before sending it do one more thing. Enter the number 10 from the Alt-Keypad. Hold the Alt key down and press 1 and 0. This generates a 0A, the line feed character. We need the line feed to flush the printer buffer and print our message right away. Your Hex Input Line should look like this now: 48 69 20 74 68 65 72 65 0A. Now, let's submit it. Press the carriage return and get back to the regular entry line. Then press carriage return again to exit NU-EPSON and submit the hex string. Your printer will print "Hi there". Sending hex command strings to your printer is the very same thing. But instead of being sequences of characters that spell something meaningful to you, they say something meaningful to your printer. AN EXAMPLE USING MANY FEATURES When you use Tiny Type to print programs source code, or long lists, you'll find that margins of 26 and 106, with skip over perforation set for 12 lines make nicely formatted listings. You can set it as follows. NU-EPSON Page 6 Start by re-establishing the top of form three lines down from the perforation, about 1/2-inch down. Simply tap "L" three times, until the paper is positioned correctly, then press "R" to send a Master Reset to the printer. That is now the new top of form. You'll see why we did this when we set our skip over perforation "clear zone," below. Next, press "T" to invoke Tiny Type. Press "H" for Hex Input Mode. In Hex Input Mode press Escape, l (lower case "L"), and use the Alt-Keypad to send the hexadecimal number for 26. This will set the left margin at 26 spaces. Next press Escape, Q (capital "Q"), and use the Alt-Keypad to send 106. This establishes the left margin at 106 spaces. Finally, press Escape, N (capital "N"), and use the Alt-Keypad to send the Number 12. This sets the skip over perforation zone to twelve lines. We want to reserve 1/2-inch above and below the perforations. One-half inch is equal to six tiny lines, since we're setting the printer to Tiny Type. That's why we set the top of form 1/2-inch below the perforation. Now, subsequent perforations will fall right in the middle of our 12 line perfor- ation zone, giving us 1/2-inch top and bottom margins. Your Hex Input entry line should say: 1B 6C 1A 1B 51 6A 1B 4E 0C. Press carriage return and you'll come back to the regular entry line. It should look like this: "TH". "T" for Tiny Type, and "H" for your Hex Input string. Press the carriage return to send your new configuration to the printer, and that's it. That's all there is to it. In practice it's very simple. Now print a listing from your word processor, or from DOS. It will be centered in the pages with a half inch margin at the top and bottom of each page. ---- END OF NU-EPSON'S HEX INPUT MODE ---- NU-EPSON Page 7 SOME USEFUL COMMAND STRINGS These are some of the control codes you'll probably use the most. Set Elite Mode On <Esc>M That's Escape, then uppercase "M". Set Elite Mode Off <Esc>P That's Escape, then uppercase "P". Set left margin at # <Esc>l# That's Escape, then lower case "l", then use the Alt-Keypad to enter the number for your left margin. Set right margin at # <Esc>Q# Press Escape, then capital "Q", then the number for your right margins. Skip over perforation, variable <Esc>N# Press Escape, then capital "N", then the number of lines for your "perforation zone". Set the form length in lines <Esc>C# Press Escape, then capital "C", then use the Alt-Keypad to enter the number of lines for your new page definition. Set the form length in inches <Esc>C(00)# Press Escape, capital "C", hex 00 (get this by pressing any of the numeric keypad keys without pressing the Alt key), then use the Alt-Keypad and send the length of your new page in inches. Turn underline on <Esc>-1 Press Escape, the minus sign, then press the number 1. Use the numbers at the top of the keyboard for this. Turn underline off <Esc>-0 Press Escape, then minus sign, then type the number 0. Again, use the numbers at the top of the keyboard for this. Sound the printer bell 7 Use the Alt-Keypad and press 7. The printer bell will ring once. NU-EPSON Page 8 A Word About ShareWare Shareware is based on the concept that good software shouldn't cost an arm and a leg. Share- Ware gives you a chance to use your software before paying for it. Also, you are actually encouraged to copy ShareWare programs and share them with your friends. Once you know you like a program, then send a check or money order for the price of the utility. Prices are usually very modest. NU-EPSON is a ShareWare program. Please make as many copies as you like and share it with others. I only ask that you don't alter NU-EPSON or this documentation, and that you include this documen- tation when passing it around. You can support ShareWare development, and share back by sending your $25.00 donation to: Charles Rich P.O. Box 95650 Seattle, WA 98145-2650 Thanks! and enjoy NU-EPSON NU-EPSON Page 9