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1991-11-09
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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