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Programmable Printer PopUp Users Guide
(c) Copyright 1987, 1988 Mark Allen Neil, All Rights Reserved
Revision 1.07
2/05/88
Programmable Printer PopUp Users Guide Version 1.07
Welcome to PPP - Programmable Printer Pop-Up
This program is being distributed as user-supported software.
A limited license is granted to all users of this program, to make
copies of this program and distribute them to other users, with the
following conditions :
1. The program is not to be distributed to others in modified form.
2. No fee is to be charged (or any other consideration received) for
copying or distributing the program without an express written
agreement with :
Mark Allen Neil
5627 Silver Leaf Road
San Jose, CA 95138
You are encouraged to copy and share this program with other users.
If you find this program useful, please consider sending a contribution
of $20.00 to the above address to support future enhancements. Thanks.
(c) Copyright 1987, 1988 Mark Allen Neil, All Rights Reserved 2
Programmable Printer PopUp Users Guide Version 1.07
Table Of Contents
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Features
2.1 Important files
2.2 The PPP Main Menu
2.3 The Help Menu
2.3.1 The HotKey Menu
2.3.2 The Printer Selection Menu
3.0 Command Line Switches
4.0 Printer Definition Files
5.0 Acknowledgments
6.0 Revision History
(c) Copyright 1987, 1988 Mark Allen Neil, All Rights Reserved 3
Programmable Printer PopUp Users Guide Version 1.07
1.0 Introduction
Programmable printer popup (PPP) is a utility which allows you to send
configuration codes to your printer. PPP can be loaded as a resident
utility (40 K), or it can be executed from a run time prompt with command
line parameters. This document will explain in detail what PPP does, and
how to use it to your advantage. First, however, I would like to give you
some background on why I wrote this program.
I recently purchased a dot-matrix printer, the Toshiba P321 to be exact.
I bought this printer because it has beautiful letter quality print and a
very fast, very legible draft mode. Unfortunately, many software
packages fail to support this printer, and I did not purchase an
emulation option. I immediately began searching through the bulletin
boards to which I belong for a resident printer control program for the
P321. I found a few programs which would configure the printer, but none
which were resident, and to be honest, none which had a sensible screen
layout (well, in my opinion).
It occurred to me that others might also have printers which weren't
commonly supported, and might like a utility to allow them to configure
their printers.
I started off by writing a simple program in TURBO PASCAL to send
configuration codes to the printer. Then I made the whole mess resident
using some PASCAL source routines downloaded from a local BBS (see
acknowledgements). Finally I sped the screen I/O up with some different
source routines, also downloaded (again, see acknowledgements).
One last note : I will be using trade names in this document (e.g. EPSON)
without designating the owner, but I will clearly designate trade names
in capital letter. I hope my use of the trade names doesn't step on
anyone's toes.
(c) Copyright 1987, 1988 Mark Allen Neil, All Rights Reserved 4
Programmable Printer PopUp Users Guide Version 1.07
2.0 Features
PPP was designed to be as easy to use as possible. There are now two or
three printer popup programs on the market which have more features, but
there are advantages to a program with fewer features :
- Easier to learn
- Easier to use
- 80 % of the "nifty" features are useless day to day
- PPP costs less
2.1 Important files
There are 2 basic file types which make up the PPP package. The first is
the PPP executable file, called PPP107.COM. The other type of files are
called "printer definition files". Each one of these files has the
extension ".PPP", e.g. P321.PPP. The printer definition files define the
control codes which PPP will send to the printer. You may have several
printer control files, and you can switch between them at will.
2.2 The PPP Main Menu
When PPP is invoked, either from a command line or by pressing the
"hotkey", the user is presented with a menu of choices. This menu consists
of a list of "options" from which the user can select. Any combination of
options can be selected. An option is selected by moving the ">" character
up or down to the desired option and pressing the space bar. Options can
be toggled off and on by pressing the space bar repeatedly. An option is
"selected" when it appears in reverse video.
An "option" is something you would like to tell the printer to do. For
example, turning on bold print, enabling compressed mode, or even sending
the string "Dear Sir," to the printer. The definition of each option is
completely under the users control, because the user can customize his
option menu (Section 4).
When finished selecting options, the user can either hit <RETURN> to send
the codes to the printer, or <ESC> to exit PPP with no action.
(c) Copyright 1987, 1988 Mark Allen Neil, All Rights Reserved 5
Programmable Printer PopUp Users Guide Version 1.07
Below is an example of a PPP main menu designed for use with the Toshiba
P321 printer :
+============================+
Title -------> | P321 Printer Control |
+----------------------------+
| |
Options -----> | > Eject Page |
(up to 16) | High Speed |
| Quality Elite |
| Quality Courier |
| 10.0 cpi |
| 12.0 cpi |
| 16.7 cpi |
| Italics On |
| Italics Off |
| Bold On |
| Bold Off |
| "DEAR SIR," |
F1 key brings up | |
Help Menu ----> +========[ F1 - HELP ]=======+
2.3 The Help Menu
If you have trouble remembering what to do, pressing the F1 key will bring
up a help menu screen.
This is the PPP Help screen :
+==========================================+
| PPP Help Screen |
+------------------------------------------+
| <UP ARROW> Select previous option |
| <DOWN ARROW> Select next option |
| <SPACE BAR> Toggle highlighting