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- PRINT.DOC
- ---------
- Documentation for PRINT.COM
- v2.3 - Eric Meyer 3/85
-
-
- PRINT.COM is a file printing utility, originally written
- in C; version 2.0 has been rewritten in 8080 assembler, and is
- much smaller (1K) and faster. It is designed to give attractive,
- practical printouts of text files, with comfortable margins, and
- the filename and page number on each page top.
- Version 2.1 added better Wordstar support. V 2.2 fixed a
- bug which often caused PRINT to fail to print a file under CP/M
- 2.2. Version 2.3 fixes a bug which caused header comments to print
- incorrectly.
-
- SYNTAX:
- The only argument required is a valid filename. However,
- there are many convenient options. The general syntax is:
-
- A>print filename.typ [options]
-
- "Options" may be specified in any order, with or without spaces
- between them. Make sure your printer is set up as you wish
- (margins, pitch etc) beforehand.
- You may abort PRINT with control-C (^C).
-
- OPTIONS: (The first two are especially useful for WordStar files.)
-
- '.' - Instructs PRINT to ignore WordStar dot commands. Any lines
- beginning with a period (after a hard carriage return) will
- NOT print out when this option is in effect.
-
- '^' - Selects control-code filtering. All control codes (except
- CR and LF) will be replaced by two characters; thus DC3 (^S)
- will print as "^S". In this mode, a Wordstar file will print
- out much as it looks on your screen during editing.
- In default mode, all control codes are sent directly out.
- Thus you can, for example, get files with tabs and formfeeds
- printed properly, or put ESC codes for your printer in a
- file; on the other hand, nasty codes will also act (e.g. ^S
- will cause printing to stop).
-
- '@mm' - Begins actual printing "at" page number 'mm' (as counted
- by PRINT!) If the file isn't that long, nothing will print.
- The default is of course "@1".
-
- '#nn' - Prints out at most 'nn' pages. The default is "#255".
- (Note: PRINT cannot count beyond 255 pages.)
-
- "comment" - Puts the quoted comment, up to about 50 characters,
- at the top of each page, after the filename and page number.
- Useful for adding a date, or any other remarks. Be aware
- that the usual CP/M uppercase conversion will occur.
-
- รจ'-' - Suppresses the page header (filename and page number).
- Each page will hold 4 more lines as a result.
-
- '?' - Displays the file on your screen, instead of printing it.
- Good for proofreading, finding pages you wish to print, etc.
- The display moves quickly; use ^S to pause and examine it.
-
- EXAMPLES:
-
- A>PRINT B:MY.DOC
- This whole file will print out, with the filename and page number
- on every page top.
- A>PRINT B:MY.DOC .^
- This file will be printed, with dot commands ignored, and control
- codes filtered. A good way to study a WordStar rough draft.
- B>a:print my.doc #3"rough draft"
- The first three pages of the file will be printed, with the
- comment ROUGH DRAFT in the header on each page top.
- A>PRINT B:MY.DOC @10#4 ?-
- Pages 10 to 13 will be viewed at the terminal, with no page headers.
-
- USER PATCH:
- By default, PRINT prints 54 text lines per page, and the header
- takes another 4 lines, leaving 8 of the standard 66 lines blank for
- vertical margins. This was chosen for compatibility with my FTNOTE
- program, which also prints 54 lines per page. You can change this
- number to suit yourself by patching location 0104H in PRINT.COM. The
- default value is 36H (54 lines).
-
- ERROR MESSAGES:
- These are all fairly self-explanatory.
- ++ No file ++ The file given does not exist.
- ++ Bad option ++ You specified an illegal option.
- ++ Read error ++ PRINT cannot continue reading the file.
- ++ Aborted ++ You typed a ^C.