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1990-02-08
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PRINT CONTROL PROGRAM 2.0 (PCP)
(C) Copyright 1988 Blanchard Software
All rights reserved.
This is a shareware program. You may make copies
and share them with your friends provided that you
distribute only complete, unaltered copies of the
program and files.
INTRODUCTION
Print Control Program combines the capabilities of several
printer utilities.
1. Improved Print Screen capability for text screens.
2. Send commands to the printer from within other programs.
3. Type on screen before printing.
PCP comes with a printer code file for an IBM compatible
printer. Instructions are provided for preparing a printer code
file for other printers.
DOS print screen makes an unacceptable copy of screens that
use anything more than plain ASCII text. It doesn't print the
extended ASCII characters. It doesn't show underlining, reverse
video or high intensity text. Everything prints the same.
PCP produces a printed screen image that captures the most
important features of the video display. It shows normal print
and underlining. It represents high intensity display and reverse
video. It prints blanks for non-display mode characters
(passwords). It prints the extended ASCII characters.
PCP lets you control a printer from within other programs.
Just press the hot key and PCP pops up. You can send control
codes to the printer and then resume operation of the other
program without interruption.
PCP lets you type on the screen before printing. You can use
this for making notes on displays before printing. You can use it
for typing short notes. You can use PCP together with the (DOS)
MORE command to fill in forms.
The following list summarizes features offered by PCP.
1. PCP is memory resident. You can pop it up while
running almost any other program.
2. You can print any rectangular subset of the screen
from a single character to the whole screen.
3. You can set print margins to place the print
properly on the page.
4. You can send control codes (escape sequences) to
the printer to select print modes.
5. You can make the printer double strike each line
for darker and more uniform print.
6. The printed image shows underlining as it appears
on the (monochrome) screen. It shows high intensity
display as bold characters. It represents reverse
video display by printing a gray background with
the text characters.
7. The PCP pop-up menu also allows you to select the
original DOS print screen function.
8. (new) You can type anywhere on the screen before
printing.
9. (new) You can choose from two different hot keys
when you install PCP.
10. (new) You can remove PCP from memory without
rebooting the computer.
11. (new) You can select the printer that PCP will use
when you install PCP.
12. PCP uses less than 12k of memory.
USING THE PRINT CONTROL PROGRAM
In the discussion below the symbol <shift><PrtSc> means to
press the print screen key while holding down a shift key. <Esc>
refers to the escape key. <R_shift> refers to the right shift
key. <Enter> refers to the carriage return or Enter key.
PCP normally stays in memory as an inactive program until you
activate it by pressing the hot key. Then the program presents a
pop-up menu. You make menu selections by pressing the number key
(or first letter) of your selection.
There are eight menu options. Each is described below.
MENU OPTION 1 sends control codes (escape sequences) to the
printer. A second menu will pop-up when you choose this option.
Just type the letter corresponding to the set of codes you want.
You may send several sets of codes. When you have sent all the
required codes, press <Esc> to return to the main menu.
MENU OPTION 2 is for selecting the screen area you want
printed. When you choose this option, PCP removes its menu and
highlights the currently defined area. You adjust the boundaries
to define the area you want printed. You can undo the area
selection and reset for the entire screen by pressing <u> or <U>.
PCP prints only the highlighted area.
First move the top left corner of the highlighted area using
the arrow keys. When the corner is where you want it, press the
<Enter> key. You can also press <f> or <F> to FIX the corner.
After you have fixed the top left corner, use the arrow keys
to set the lower right corner. Press <Enter> or <f> or <F> when
the corner is where you want it. The main menu will pop up again,
and it will show that the area has been set.
MENU OPTION 3 sets print margins. A second pop-up menu asks
you for the number of top margin lines and the number of left
margin spaces. The menu shows the current settings.
Type the margin values you want in the highlighted areas and
press <Enter>. The main menu will appear again, and it will show
the margin settings. PCP will use these margins in all subsequent
printing.
MENU OPTION 4 tells the computer to begin printing. It prints
the defined screen area using the margins you selected. If you
have not defined an area, PCP prints the whole screen. If you
have not set margins, PCP uses zero margin values.
PCP remembers area definition and margin values from screen to
screen. The printer also retains its control code settings.
NOTE: PCP sends codes for underline or bold to the printer as
required by the screen text. If you have preset your printer for
a mode that is incompatible with underline or bold, you may not
get the desired print effects.
MENU OPTION 5 is the same as option 4 except that PCP double
strikes each line. This makes darker, more uniform print.
MENU OPTION 6 is the original print screen function. The
program transfers control to the actual BIOS print screen code.
Thus, normal DOS print screen is still available even if PCP has
taken over the <shift><PrtSc> key combination.
Original print screen always sends output to printer number
one.
MENU OPTION 7 lets you type on the screen. If you choose this
option, PCP clears its menu from the screen so you can type
anywhere. Move the cursor with the arrow keys. Switch between
insert and replace with the <Ins> key. The cursor size changes to
show the change. Press <Enter> when you have finished typing.
The typed text will stay on the screen for printing, area
selection etc. The original screen is restored when you exit from
PCP.
MENU OPTION 8 (or the <Esc> key) ends the PCP session and
removes the menus from the screen. It restores the original
screen that was present when you called PCP. The program remains
memory resident. You can call it again by pressing the hot key.
PCP retains area definition and margin values.
PROGRAM SETUP AND CHECKOUT
PCP controls printer operation by inserting special hex
control codes into the stream of characters it sends to the
printer. The printer uses the codes to reset the internal printer
mechanism for bold printing, underlining, compressed characters
etc.
For example, consider what happens when PCP does a screen
print that includes some underlined text. PCP reads the screen,
character by character. When it gets to the first underlined
character, it inserts the Underline Start code in the character
stream. Your printer notices the code and resets for underlining
before it prints the character. Your printer will stay in the
underline mode until another code tells it to reset.
PCP continues reading underlined characters and sending them
to the printer. When PCP get to a character that is not
underlined, it inserts the Underline Off hex code into the
character stream. Your printer detects the code and turns off
underlining before printing the character.
PCP uses a file called PRINTER.COD to define printer control
codes. The file supplied with the program has codes for an IBM
compatible printer. You can change the codes in the file using a
word processor that produces ASCII output.
File entries are arranged in pairs. Each pair consists of the
name of a printer function, such as "Start Underline," and the
hex codes for that function. PCP displays the names on the
printer command pop-up menu.
The name of the printer function can be up to 15 characters
long. The hex codes must be two characters each (Use leading zero
if necessary) with a space between them. There is room for five
control codes with each named function. You can find printer
codes (escape sequences) in your printer manual.
The printer codes for bold and underline must always be the
first through fourth pairs of entries in the file. PCP uses these
printer commands and expects to find them there. After the first
four pairs, you can put whatever printer control codes you find
useful in the file.
The printer code file supplied with PCP is listed below to
show the proper format for the file. Note that codes and names go
on separate lines and are arranged in pairs. Each line should be
ended with a carriage return. The file can contain up to 16 sets
of printer function codes.
Bold Start
1B 47
Bold Stop
1B 48
Underline Start
1B 2D 01
Underline Stop
1B 2D 00
17 CPI Start
0F
17 CPI Stop
12
1/8" space
1B 30
7/72" space
1B 31
Full space
1B 33 2C
6 LPI
1B 33 24
Emph. Start
1B 45
Emph. Stop
1B 46
Some printers offer several variations of bold print. These
may be called enhanced print, emphasized print or similar names.
I recommend that you use whichever variant of bold print is
compatible with condensed print for the first pair of entries.
I have found condensed print and line spacing controls to be
useful for adjusting the relative proportions of the printed
image. It lets me make condensed screen printouts that have the
same proportions as the screen. You may also find page eject
followed by a carriage return to be useful for ejecting pages
from the printer.
Load a copy of PRINTER.COD into your word processor. Change
the hex codes using digits from 0 to 9 and letters A to F. Change
the names of the functions if you want. Then write the file to
disk without any margins, extra spaces or formatting.
You will want to test the printer codes with your printer. A
test file called PRTXT.EXE comes with PCP. This program generates
lines of normal, high intensity, reverse video, underlined and
non-display text. It leaves enough room at the bottom of the
screen for you to execute PCP in nonresident mode. This should
simplify testing.
Type PRTXT<Enter> to display the test character strings.
Then type PCP<Enter> to load PCP in its nonresident mode. Use
PCP menu option 1 to send codes, and then print the screen with
option 4. Try all of the printer codes.
It is important that the codes be correct. PCP will not be
able to detect errors in the printer code file.
Once the printer codes are correct, you can load PCP in its
memory resident mode. The program should be loaded before any
transient programs are loaded.
There are two options to consider for resident operation:
(1) Which printer do you want PCP to use?
(2) Which hot key do you want to trigger the program?
There are nine possible command lines to load PCP. You can
type any one of them from the DOS command line. They are show in
the table below.
COMMAND LINE MODE HOT KEY PRINTER
PCP<Enter> nonresident none #1
PCP 2<Enter> nonresident none #2
PCP 3<Enter> nonresident none #3
PCP R<Enter> resident <Shift><PrtSc> #1
PCP R 2<Enter> resident <Shift><PrtSc> #2
PCP R 3<Enter> resident <Shift><PrtSc> #3
PCP K<Enter> resident <Alt><R_shift> #1
PCP K 2<Enter> resident <Alt><R_shift> #2
PCP K 3<Enter> resident <Alt><R_shift> #3
Normally, you would load PCP as part of your power up
sequence. Add any one of the last six command lines to your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file. This will set up PCP with the printer and hot
key you want.
PCP checks the printer number during installation. It will
warn you if you select a nonexistent printer.
PCP.COM and PRINTER.COD must be in the default directory.
Usually, this will be the root directory.
PCP works for DOS text mode only. If you are working in the
DOS graphics mode, PCP will not respond to the hot key.
PCP is a well behaved TSR program. It follows Microsoft's
recommendations for TSR programs. But that does not guarantee it
will work with all other programs. Many older programs will not
work properly with a memory resident programs. You should try out
the programs you use to see if there are problems.
If you find problems with other memory resident programs, try
loading them one at a time to determine which ones cause the
problem. Sometimes changing the order in which TSRs are loaded
can eliminate problems.
PCP allows you to choose from two hot keys, and this may help
you resolve problems. Usually the better choice will be the
<shift><PrtSc> hot key. Few other programs use that combination.
If you sometimes do DOS print screens in the graphics mode,
then you should use the <ALT><R_shift> hot key for PCP. This will
leave the <Shift><PrtSc> key assigned to its normal DOS function.
You can use it for graphics printing. All PCP options will still
be available in the text mode from the PCP menu.
To remove PCP from memory, first remove all other programs
that were loaded after PCP. Then activate PCP by pressing the hot
key. When the PCP menu appears, type <Ctrl><R> or <Ctrl><r>. PCP
will remove itself from memory, release the hot key and return to
DOS. Press the <Enter> key.
NOTES, COMMENTS, PROBLEMS
The IBM character set includes some characters which will
display properly on the screen but not on the printer. For
example, ASCII 13 (hex 0D) displays a musical note on the screen,
but the printer reads it as a carriage return. The printer reads
ASCII character 10 (hex 0A) as a line feed. PCP will intercept
these two characters and change them to blanks before sending
them to the printer.
For some printers there may also be a problem with characters
just above ASCII 127 (hex 7F). If you get an unexpected line feed
or page eject in a print screen, check the screen character at
the point where the effect occurs. You can use menu option 7 to
change the offending characters.
These problems occur infrequently because the offending
characters are rarely used in displays.
PCP is compatible with both monochrome and color monitors.
Note however, that the color monitor (CGA) cannot display
underlining. Furthermore, some color monitors are incapable of
producing high intensity text. If your software package sends
underlined text to the screen, the color monitor displays it as
blue characters on a black background. PCP will read this text
from the screen and print underlined text. If your software
package sends high intensity text to the screen, PCP will print
bold characters whether or not your color monitor can display
high intensity text.
Most printers are not capable of executing all combinations of
their individual print modes. If you leave your printer in its
data processing mode, it should be able to handle the mode
changes sent by PCP. If you preset your printer for another mode,
you may get unexpected results.
If you preset your printer for bold print and then do a PCP
print screen, PCP will turn off the bold print. This is because
PCP sends commands to control bold printing and underlining in
order to match the text on the screen.
If you preset your printer for bold printing and do a DOS
print screen, it will print all of the screen in boldface. This
is because the DOS print screen routine does not recognize
underline, high intensity, reverse video, etc on the screen. It
sends just the characters to the printer.
The best way to determine which features of your printer you
can use is to experiment. Put commands for the different printer
features in your PRINTER.COD file and try them.
REGISTRATION
Shareware gives you free home trial of new software. If you
don't plan to use PCP, then there is no obligation to pay for it.
If you use Print Control Program, please register your copy and
pay the ten dollar fee.
Send your $10.00 check payable to Walter Blanchard, along with
any comments, suggestions or complaints to
Walter Blanchard
Blanchard Software
P.O. Box 1650
Norristown Pa. 19401
I will keep you informed of program improvements, and I will send
you a disk with other shareware programs that I distribute.
REGISTRATION FORM
I expect to use the Print Control Program 2.0 on a regular or
occasional basis. I have enclosed a check payable to Walter
Blanchard for the ten dollar registration fee.
Name: ________________________________________________
Company:________________________________________________
Street: ________________________________________________
City: ________________________________________________
State: __________________________ ZIP _____________
I use Print Control Program on an:
[ ] IBM PC [ ] IBM XT [ ] IBM AT
[ ] OTHER _____________________________________
Hard disk? (Y/N): ________
Monitor? [ ] Monochrome [ ] Color
Printer ________________________________________
Where did you get your copy of PCP?
[ ] From a friend.
[ ] Shareware library ____________________________
[ ] Bulletin board ________________________________
[ ] User group ____________________________________
Suggestions/Comments/Complaints:
Mail to: Walter Blanchard
Blanchard Software
P.O. Box 1650
Norristown Pa. 19401
