Epson FX-80 User Manual

FCC COMPLIANCE STATEMENT

FOR AMERICAN USERS

This equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy and if not installed and used properly, that is, in strict accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, may cause interference to radio and television reception. It has been type tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B computing device in accordance with the specifications in Subpart J of Part 15 of FCC rules, which are designed to provide reasonable protection against such interference in a residential installation. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

- Reorient the receiving antenna

- Relocate the computer with respect to the receiver

- Move the computer into a different outlet so that computer and receiver are on different branch circuits.

If necessary, the user should consult the dealer or an experienced radio/television technician for additional suggestions. The user may find the following booklet prepared by the Federal Communications Commission helpful:

This booklet is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC 20402, Stock No. 004-000-00345-4.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Epson America, Inc. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, Epson America, Inc. and the author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

Centronics is a registered trademark of Data Computer Corporation. Concept is a trademark of Corvus Systems, Inc. DEC is a registered trademark of Digital Equipment Corporation. FX-80, FX-100, RX-80, and RX-100 are trademarks of Epson America, Inc. HX-20 Notebook Computer is a trademark of Epson America, Inc. IBM-PC is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Microsoft is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. NEC is the NEC Information Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of Nippon Electronic Company, Ltd. QX-10 is a trademark of Epson America, Inc. TRS-80 is a registered trademark of Radio Shack, a division of Tandy Corporation. 80 Micro is published by Wayne Green Publishers.

“How to Identify and Resolve Radio-TV Interference Problems.”

P8294017

Preface

The User’s Manual for the FX Series printers consists of two volumes: Tutorial and Reference. This volume, the Tutorial, is arranged in the following logical groupings:

Introduction (for everyone)

Programmer’s Easy Lesson (for experienced users)

Hardware description: Chapter 1

Software introduction: Chapter 2

Control of the way characters look: Chapters 3 to 6

Control of the way pages look: Chapters 7 to 9

Printer graphics: Chapters 10 to

User-defined characters: Chapters 15 and 16

Using everything together: Chapter 17 A complete table of contents for this volume is after this preface. For

your convenience, there is an index at the end of each volume covering the complete two-volume set. You can therefore find all the references to any topic in either one.

Conventions Used in This Manual

We provide sample BASIC programs that allow you to see how various commands control the printer’s capabilities. Frequently we start with a few program lines and then make several changes and additions to end up with a substantial program. We suggest that you use your SAVE command after each change to prevent losing programs because of power fluctuations or other accidents. When you can RUN a program, we show the results you should expect.

In our sample programs, we use Microsoft’” BASIC, which is widely used in personal computers. Because there are several slightly different versions of Microsoft BASIC and because your computer

iii

may use a version of BASIC other than Microsoft, you may need to modify some of the programs in this manual before they will run. Appendix F offers help, as do the next several paragraphs.

Methods for sending BASIC print and listing commands to the screen and to the printer vary widely. We have used PRINT and LIST as the commands for the screen display, and LPRINT and LLIST as commands for the printer. You may have to change those to the form used by your system.

If, for example, your system uses the you will need to change all instances of PRINT in our programs. Since we use PRINT to report progress to your screen and that command does not affect the printing, the easiest modification is to delete such PRINT statements. For example,

PR#1 and

PR#0 commands,

38 FOR D=1 TO 17: PRINT "ROW";D

would become:

39 FOR D=1 TO 17

because the only purpose of the PRINT statement is to display on the screen information that is not absolutely essential to the program.

Any BASIC system automatically provides a carriage return (and some BASICS add a line feed) after every program line that includes a PRINT or LPRINT command, whether that line prints text or not. To prevent the carriage return, we have you place a semicolon at the end of such program lines. You will see this technique throughout the manual.

A few versions of BASIC use semicolons between any two control codes that fall on one program line, as in:

LPRINT CHR$(27);CHR$(52)

If you use such a version of BASIC, you will need to add semicolons as appropriate.

After the ESCape code-CHR$(27)-the FX always expects another code. The second code tells the printer which mode to turn on or off, and you may enter it in either of two formats. One format is like the ESCape code-you use a number in parentheses after CHR$, such as CHR$(l). The other format is shorter since it uses only an alphanumeric symbol within quotation marks, such as “E” or “@“. We usually use the latter format.

This format allows you to shorten a program line by combining a command and its print string. In the case of Double-Strike, for instance, the quoted letter “G” turns the mode on and "H" turns it off. To see how combining the code with a print string works, compare:

10 LPRINT CHR$(27)"G";"DOUBLE-STRIKE PRINT"

with:

10 LPRINT CHR$(27)"GDOUBLE-STRIKE PRINT"

The second program line may look peculiar, but it gives the same output that the first version does. The G is not printed on the paper; instead, it is interpreted by the printer as part of the ESCape sequence.

In long programs with DATA statements or subroutines, we use END after the line that is executed last, but older BASIC systems require the use of STOP at such points. If yours is one of these, you should change our ENDS to STOPS.

When the presence of one or more blank spaces in a program line is

especially important, we use a special character ( , pronounced ‘blank’) to represent the spaces. This makes it easier for you to count the number you need. For example, the following:

SAMPLE STRING"

means that you should type in one blank space for each

The use of the symbol makes it easy for you to count the eight spaces needed between the quotation mark and the beginning of the first word. The also calls your attention to single blank spaces that are needed immediately before or after a quotation mark. For example, the following makes clear that you must type one space between the quotation mark and the word “and’:

SAMPLE STRING"

LPRINT " AND EASY TO TURN OFF"

When we include a programming REMark in a program line, it is always preceded by an apostrophe (‘), the short form of the BASIC command, REM. For example, we use:

10 LPRINT CHR$(27)"@"

and

' Data lines for graphics

' Reset Code

The computer ignores these remarks; they merely serve to help programmers understand at a glance the way a program is working. You may type them in or not, depending on whether you think you will want them in the future.

We use the caret symbol (^) to indicate exponents. For example:

x =

Y^2

means let X equal Y raised to the second power. Some computer systems use an up-arrow (t), which prints as a left bracket ([) on FX printers.

At the end of each chapter, a Summary section provides a concise review of the chapter’s subject matter and a list of the control codes (if any) that have been covered. For listings of the control codes in numerical order and in functional groupings, see Appendixes B and C.

When we refer to an FX mode by name, we capitalize it:

Compressed Mode Italic Mode Pica Mode Script Modes

and, for clarity, we capitalize such names even when the word mode does not appear: Script characters and Italic print.

FX Series Printer User’s Manual

Volume

Preface

Conventions Used in This Manual

List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

List of Tables

Introduction

Inside the Printer Inside This Manual

Programmer’s Easy Lesson

First Steps Ticket Program Ticket Program Description

The FX Printers

Additional Supplies and Accessories Printer Location Printer Preparation

Paper Loading

Starting Up

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Paper separator Covers Manual-feed knob DIP switches Ribbon Installation

FX-80: built-in tractor feed FX-80 and FX-100: friction feed FX-80 and FX-100: removable

Top-of-form position

Paper-thickness lever Control panel

The FX tests itself

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tractor unit (optional on the FX-80)

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Contents

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iii iii

xiii

xvii

2 2

10 13

16 16 17 17

18 19

20 23 24 24 28

29 32

32 32 35 35

vii

BASIC and the Printer

BASIC Communications

Character strings BASIC print commands ASCII and BASIC basics Control codes

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Escape-CHR$(27)-and other CHR$ commands

Change Commands

Reset Code Mode cancelling codes

DELete and CANcel

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Alternate Formats for ESCape Sequences Summary

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37 38

40 41

44 45 45 46

3 Print Pitches

Dot-Matrix Printing

Main columns

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............................ 49

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Intermediate positions

Modes for Pitches

Pica and Elite Modes Compressed Mode Mode priorities

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......................... 52

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Pitch Mode Combinations

Expanded Mode

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Multiple print pitches on one line

Summary

Print Quality

Bold Modes

Double-StrikeMode Emphasized Mode

Proportional Mode Mixing Modes Summary

Dress-Up Modes and Master Select

Four Modes

Underline Mode

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Script Modes: Super and Sub Italic Mode

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More Mode Combinations

Master Select

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Master Select combinations

Summary

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............... 69

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50 51

55 56

56 58 59

65 66

69 69

71 72 73 73 76

viii

Special Printing Features

Backspace

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Overstrikes Offsets

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Unidirectional Mode

International Characters Special Speeds

Half-SpeedMode Immediate-Print Mode (FX-80 only)

Summary

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81 81 81

82 83 85 88 89 89 90

Line Spacing and Line Feeds

Line Spacing

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Preset line spacing Variable line spacing Microscopic line spacing

Line Feeds

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One-time, immediate line feed Reverse feed (FX-80 only)

Summary

Forms Control

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Form Length Control

Form feed distance Not-so-standard forms

Paper Perforation Skip

Skip command

DIP switch skip

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Single-Sheet Adjustment Summary

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...................... 98

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99 99

101

103 103

103 105 107 107

109 109 110

Margins and Tabs

Margins..

Left margin

Margins and pitches Right margin Both margins

Tabs..

Horizontal tab usage Variable horizontal tabs Vertical tab usage Ordinary vertical tabs Vertical tab channels

Summary

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113 113

113 114 116 118 118 119 121 122

123

126

128

Introduction to Dot Graphics

Dots and Matrixes Print Head

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Graphics Mode Pin Labels

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First Graphics Programs

Straight line Slash

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Large caret Wave pattern Diamond pattern

Summary

Varieties of Graphics Density

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Graphics Programming Tips

Graphics and the Reset Code Graphics and low ASCII codes

Density Varieties

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High-Speed Double-Density Graphics Mode Low-Speed Double-Density Graphics Mode Quadruple-Density Graphics Mode Moredensities

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More Graphics Programming Tips

Reassigning alternate graphics codes Nine-Pin Graphics Mode

Pin Combination Patterns

Repeated patterns

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Repeated DATA numbers

Summary

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131

131 132 134 135 137 138 139 139 140 141 142

143

143 144 144 145 146 148 149 149 150 150 152 154

155 156

157

Design Your Own Graphics Planning

Process

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STRATA Program

Three-Dimensional Program

First version of 3D program Other versions

Summary

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159

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163 165 170

171

Plotter Graphics

Arrays

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DIMension and arrays Filling arrays

Circle Plotting

Ones become dots Pin firing sequences Code solutions Higher resolution

Reflections Exploding galaxy Big bang

Summary

Symmetrical Graphics Patterns

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................................ 177

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.............................. 180

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Pin Pattern Calculation Graphics Width Settings

Pattern Printout

Variations

Summary

User-Defined Characters

Preparation

Character Definition

Design

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Dots into DATA Attribute byte Proportional print

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............................ 202

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Printing User-Defined Characters Downloading Command Defining More Characters Redefining Control Codes

Mode Strings STRATA Summary

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....................... 207

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173 173 176

176

178 179

181

184 185 187

189

192

193

195 197

199

200 200 201

203

205

207

208

211

212

Combining User-Defined Characters

Large Letters: Double Wide Large Letters: Double High

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Giant Letters: Double High and Double Wide Core Sets Line Graphics Summary

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215 215 217 217

223 225

226

Business Application

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Preparation .................................

Barchart Statement Form 999 REM: The End

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Index ......................................... 239

227 227 227 231 238

xii

List of Figures

Easy-1 Easy-2

1-1

1-2 1-3 1-4 1-5

1-6 1-7 1-8 1-9 1-10 1-11 1-12 1-13

1-14 1-15 1-16 1-17 1-18

1-19 1-20 1-21 1-22

FX ticket program Ticket to success

The FX-80 and FX-100 printers Printer parts

Paperpath Paper separator Protective lids Tractor covers Manual-feed knob DIP switch vent

DIP switch location

DIP switch factory settings

Ribbon insertion Printer readied for paper insertion Pin feeder adjustment Loading the FX-80

Tractor unit release Tractor unit installation Hook and stud Adjusting the pin feeders Top of form Paper thickness adjustment Cable connection Sample automatic test

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10 14

15 17 18 19 19 20 21

22 22 25 26 27 27

28 30 30 31 33 34 35 36

2-1 3-1

3-2 3-3 3-4 3-5 3-6 3-7

4-1

4-2 4-3

Italic listing Dot-matrix characters

Theprinthead Main columns Intermediate positions Pica and Elite letters Pitch comparison

Pica and Expanded letters

Single-Strike and Double-Strike letters . . . . . . . . .

Single-Strike, Expanded and Emphasized letters .

Mode priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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43 49

50 51 51 53 53

xiii

5-1 5-2 5-3

Master Select Program Master Select choices

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Dress-up combinations

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74 75 77

6-1 6-2

7-1 7-2 7-3

8-1 8-2 8-3 8-4

9-1

9-2 9-3 9-4 9-5 9-6 9-7 9-8 9-9

9-10 9-11 9-12 9-13

Bidirectional line Unidirectional line

Default line spacing Cascading STAIR STEPS Staggering STAIR STEPS

Setting the top of form Two-inch form feed Two-line form feed

Standardskip Left margin setting

Listing at new margin Absolute left margin

Right margin set incorrectly Right margin set correctly Default horizontal tabs Tabs with text and numbers Variable horizontal tabs Absolute horizontal tabs Ordinary vertical tabs Text at tab stop Absolute vertical tabs

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Printout of multipage channels

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84 84

94 96

100 104

106 106 108

114 115 115

116

117

119 120 121 122 124 125

126 128

10-1

10-2 10-3 10-4

11-1 11-2 11-3 11-4 11-5 11-6

11-7

xiv

Pins numbered sequentially Dot pattern in two line spacings Pins labelled uniquely Pin combinations

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High-Speed Double-Density dots No overlapping dots Overlapping dots Seven density modes Nine-pin usage

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Printout using bottom pin

Curling design

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133 133 136 137

147 147 148 150 153 154

155

12-1 12-2

12-3

12-4 12-5 12-6 12-7 12-8 12-9 12-10 12-11

STRATA layout STRATA logo STRATA program

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Corner of the FX-80 design FX-80 figure Program for FX-80 figure FX-100 figure

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Program for FX-100 figure More distinct version Most distict version

Reversed version

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161 162 163 164 168 168 169 170

171 172 172

13-1

13-2 13-3 13-4 13-5 13-6 13-7

14-1 14-2 14-3 14-4 14-5 14-6

15-1 15-2 15-3 15-4 15-5

16-1

16-2 16-3 16-4 16-5 16-6 16-7 16-8 16-9

Computer memory as sketch pad Array in memory and on paper

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Ones and zeros become dots and blanks Labelled cell Plotting a circle Displaying an array Divide and conquer

Printing the array contents Pattern sets Program for SYMMETRY

Symmetric pattern 1 Symmetric pattern 2 Symmetric pattern 3

ROM and user-defined characters

User-defined E

Incorrectly designed E Pins chosen by attribute byte Attribute byte conversions

Side-by-side characters Double high and wide character Program for giant G Giant G Data for AMES Games seem same Messages in three pitches Tracks

Interlace

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174 174 175 175 177 178 182

191 191 194 195 196

196

199 201 202 203 204

216 218

220

221

222

223

224

225

17-1 17-2 17-3 17-4

Barchart

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Program for BARCHART

Statement form

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Program for STATEMENT

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228 230 232 234

xvi

List of Tables

1-1 2-1

2-2 2-3

3-1 4-1 5-1

5-2

6-1 6-2 6-3 6-4

7-1 11-1 14-1

DIP switch functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Several computers’ print LIST commands . . . . . .

Several computers’ printer activating commands .

ASCII codes on the FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Summary of print pitches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Summary of modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Master Select Quick Reference Chart

Print types Some special characters

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..................... 85

International characters in Roman typeface International characters in Italic typeface International DIP switch settings

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.....

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Line-spacing commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Graphics Modes

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Variables for SYMMETRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

23 38

40 42

76 78

88 102 151 190

15-1 16-1

International character locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ASCII pattern

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

210 219

xvii

Introduction

FX Features

Epson’s MX series of printers attracted enough attention to become

the most popular line of printers in the industry. Our FX printers fol-

low in the same grand tradition. The FX printers’ power-packed

assortment of features includes:

Upward compatibility with most MX III features

Several different print modes that can be combined to produce a variety of print styles. These include:

Roman and Italic print fonts Six different print pitches Two kinds of bold printing

Master Select feature for instant use of any one of

combinations

Proportionally spaced characters for professional looking documents

Easy-to-use Underline and Super/Subscript Modes

popular print

Detailed forms handling capability, including the setting of horizontal and vertical tabs, margins, form length, a skip-over-perforation feature, and variable line feeds

Up to 233 characters per line with the FX-100™ for spreadsheet users

User-definable character sets. With this powerful feature you can create your own alphabets and special symbols

High-resolution graphics capability with six densities to let you create your own charts, diagrams, figures, and illustrations

International character sets

Typewriter simulation mode with the FX-80™

Program debugging mode (hexadecimal dump of codes received

from the computer)

Fast print speed-160 characters per second-for rapid processing

of documents

2K print buffer for smooth operation

Adjustable tractor unit for narrow forms

Both friction- and tractor-feed capability

Replaceable print head

Easy-to-reach DIP switches to customize printer features.

Epson reliability, quality, and support

In short, the FX is loaded with features

that

will challenge your ability

to put them to work. This manual can help you use one or all of them.

Inside the Printer

The FX printers contain two kinds of internal memory: ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory). There are 12K bytes (approximately 12,000 characters) of ROM. This unchangeable memory contains all the logic required for the various print features as well as the patterns for all the built-in character sets.

The FX also contains a RAM memory buffer that stores up to 2K bytes of text and printer commands as they are received from the computer. This frees your computer so that you can continue working while the FX is printing. You can also use RAM another way; you can define your own set of characters and then store them in RAM so that you can print them at will.

It is always tempting (though not always wise) to start playing with a new printer the instant it is out of the box. Because the FX is a sophis-

ticated piece of equipment, it is important that you understand what the printer will do and how to operate it before you start printing.

Inside This Manual

This manual will guide you on a carefully planned tour of the vari-

ous features of the FX printers. In these pages, you use your computer to control the printer for a large variety of applications.

can

learn how to

You can use this manual as a reference, a tutorial study guide, or

some combination of the two.

For those of you who want to use the printer for one simple application (like listing BASIC programs or using a word processing package), a description of the hardware and an overview of the software may be all that’s necessary. In this case, you need only Chapter

the Quick Reference Card at the back of Volume 2, and a knowl-

edge of the program you are using. You can always learn about the FX’s advanced features at a later time. (You might, for instance, someday want to modify a word processing software package so

that its printer driver uses special FX features.) The lessons will be

waiting for you.

For those who prefer to roll up their sleeves and see how the printer

works, we’ve included sample programs to demonstrate each of the printer’s features.

For those who want only a quick and easy reference, the comprehensive Table of Contents, the Appendixes, and the Index provide ready access to information.

For computer professionals and other experienced users who simply can’t wait to find out what the printer will do, regardless of the consequences, we have a special section entitled “Programmer’s Easy Lesson.” It gets you up and running fast, then turns you loose on a program that demonstrates several of the printer’s features. This program, the Appendixes, and the Quick Reference Card will bring you quickly up to speed.

For those who are already familiar with the MX or RX series of printers, Appendix E provides a summary of the differences between the FX, the RX, and the MX.

Think of the manual as your personal guide in your exploration of

the FX’s many features.

For a preview of what your programs can produce, take a look at the following potpourri of print modes and graphics.

Programmer’s Easy Lesson

Before you start, note that we haven’t claimed that one easy lesson will make you an FX maestro. It takes more than one lesson to learn the full value of the feature-packed FX printer. In fact, the more time you spend with this manual, the more your printer will cooperate with your every command. But some of you want to see something from a new printer right now-no matter what. The next few pages are especially for you.

If you get stuck, the proper set-up procedures are covered in full in Chapter 1.

First Steps

1. Make all connections with the power OFF! Connect your FX to

your computer via the printer cable that you purchased separately. (Some computers require special printer interface boards, also purchased separately).

2. To use continuous-feed printer paper with pin-feed holes, set the

friction-control lever and the paper bail toward the front of the printer. If you are using the FX-80, pull the paper under the plastic separator and through the paper path. If you are using the FX-100, you may need to first install the tractor unit, then pull the paper under it. In case the paper starts to jam on either model, refer to Chapter 1 for tips on inserting paper. As you straighten the paper, you will probably need to adjust the pin feeders.

To use either a single sheet of paper or roll paper without pin-

feed holes on the FX-80, first move the pin feeders out of the way. If

a tractor unit is installed on your FX-100, you will need to remove it. Then, for either model, push the friction-control lever toward the rear of the printer, pull the paper bail forward, and insert the

paper under the plastic separator. Use the manual-feed knob to

feed the paper through. If you use single sheets of paper, the paper-

out sensor will cause a beep and stop the printing whenever the bottom edge passes the sensor. You can shut off the sensor by changing DIP switches as shown in Chapter

Turn the printer and computer on and load a short BASIC program. Then send a listing to the printer (using LLIST, LIST “I”‘, or whatever your computer’s listing command is). You should get a single-spaced listing. If the printout is double-spaced or printed without line spacing, you’ll have to change a DIP switch.

Since there are many implementations of the BASIC programming language, it is impossible to write one set of programs that will work on every computer system. This means you may need to modify our programs to suit your system. In Appendix F we discuss such compatibility problems and suggest solutions for several popular computers.

Ticket Program

Here is an example program, written in BASIC, that shows off a lot of the FX printer’s features. The program can give you a good survey of print control. If you don’t understand one or more features, you can check the index to find what part of this manual covers it.

10 N=29: E$=CHR$(27): H$=CHR$(137)

20 LPRINT E$"1";E$"D"CHR$(26)CHR$(1);

LPRINT E$":"CHR$(0)CHR$(0)CHR$(0);

40 LPRINT E$"%"CHR$(1)CHR$(0);

50 LPRINT E$"&"CHR$(0)"0:"; 60 FOR Y=1 TO 11: LPRINT CHR$(11); 70 FOR X=1 TO 11: READ D: LPRINT CHR$(D);: NEXT X 80 NEXT Y: LPRINT E$"U1"; 90 FOR X=1 TO N: LPRINT CHR$(95);: NEXT X:

LPRINT E$"A"CHR$(6) 100 LPRINT "7"H$" 9";E$"1" 110 LPRINT "7 ";:

FOR X=1 TO 25: LPRINT ":";:

NEXT X: LPRINT H$" 9" 120 LPRINT "7 :"H$": 9"

Figure Easy-1. FX ticket program

Ticket Program Description

This is not a complete explanation of the program. That’s what the rest of the manual is for. But this brief, line-by-line description should help those of you who wish to analyze the program.

10 Stores values in variables for easy access. E$ holds the ESCape

code, CHR$(27).

20 Uses ESCape "1" to set the line spacing to 7/2X-inch and the

ESCape “D” sequence to set a horizontal tab stop at column 26.

30 Uses the ESCape

set into RAM.

Designates RAM as the source for the active character set. 50 Prepares the printer to redefine characters “0” through “:“. 60 Sets a counter for the 11 letters being defined, and selects the

attribute byte of each new character.

70 Reads the data that defines the letters

15 for additional information on lines 30 through 70.) 80 Turns on the Unidirectional Print Mode. 90 Prints the top of the ticket and sets the line spacing to 6/72-inch.

100 Prints the newly defined symbol “7” (left ticket border), tabs to

the next stop, prints the other border (9) and sets the line spacing

back to 7/72-inch.

":" sequence to copy the entire ROM character

(11

sets of ll). (See Chapter

110

Prints the outside border, then the top of the inside border (which

was defined as the “:” character). 120 Prints another line of borders. 130 Prints more borders, then uses the Master Select to turn on

Emphasized Double-Strike Pica. Also turns on Italic and Under-

line Modes.

140

Prints TICKET TO SUCCESS, then resets the FX to its defaults,

including Pica, but does not affect the redefined characters. 150 Produces two more border lines.

160

Prints the upper half of the FX letters in Expanded Emphasized

printing. The user-defined character 0 produces the top of the F

and 2 produces the top of the X.

170 Turns off Expanded and Emphasized Modes and prints SERIES in

Superscript Mode and then prints the right side of the border. 180 Prints the bottom half of the FX letters. 190 Turns OFF the codes, prints PRINTERS in Subscript, then prints

a border. 200 Prints borders.

210 Prints borders, then switches to Compressed and prints BY. Sets,

with ESCape ”!X”, Emphasized Double-Strike Pica, and prints

EPSON. This new mode automatically turns off Compressed. 220 Sets Superscript Mode (Escape “SO”), returns to normal print

(Escape”!@“), prints INC in Superscript, then cancels Script

Mode, then prints borders. 230 Prints another line of borders, then sets Master Select with

ESCape ”!Q”, giving Double-Strike Elite. 240 Prints GENERAL ADMISSION, resets the FX to its defaults, and

prints right borders. 250 Prints the outside borders and the bottom of the inside border. 260 Prints the outside borders and sets line spacing to l/72-inch. 270 Prints the bottom of the outside border.

280 Returns the printer to its defaults. 300-330 Provides data for the FX letters as user-defined characters

0-3.

350-410

Provides data for the ticket borders.

Chapter 1

The FX Printers

Once you’ve unpacked your new printer, the first thing you should do is make sure you have all of the parts. With the FX-80 or FX-100 printer, you should receive the items shown in Figure

1. The printer itself

2. A manual-feed knob

3. A paper separator

4. Two protective lids

5. One ribbon cartridge (in a box)

6. This FX Series Printer User’s Manual

The FX-80 has a tractor built into its platen for handling continuousfeed paper between 91/2 and continuous-feed paper, you must purchase the optional FX-80 tractor unit.

inches in width. To handle narrower

1-1:

On an FX-100 you will find these items installed:

7. A tractor unit

8. A dust cover for the tractor unit

As you unpack your printer, you may want to save all protective plastic, paper, and cardboard to use in the future for repacking. Figure 1-2 displays with labels the parts of each model that we discuss in this chapter.

Figure 1-1. The FX-80 and FX-100 printers

Figure 1-2. Printer parts

Additional Supplies and Accessories

The following items may be purchased separately from your Epson

dealer:

Printer cable or interface kit. Each computer system has its own way

of connecting to a printer. Some computers need a cable only, others require both a cable and board. The FX printers use the Centronics standard parallel interface scheme described in Appendix K. If your computer expects to communicate through a serial rather than through a parallel interface, you must purchase a serial board for your FX. Your Epson dealer stocks a variety of FX interface boards as well as cables.

Printer paper. FX printers are designed to accommodate several types

and sizes of paper. Both printers include tractors so that you can use continuous-feed paper with pin-feed holes and friction mechanisms so that you can use paper without these holes.

Ribbon cartridge replacement. The expected life of a cartridge is three million characters (roughly 1,000 pages of text).

Print head replacement. The expected life of a print head is one hundred million characters (over 30,000 pages of text).

Roll paper holder. For the FX-80, you may purchase an optional roll-

paper holder.

Printer Location

Naturally, your printer must sit somewhere near the computer (the length of the cable is the limiting factor), but there are other considerations in finding a choice location for your computer/printer setup. For instance, you may want to find an electrical outlet that is not controlled by a switch-since a switch may be accidentally shut off while you have valuable information stored in memory Be sure the

outlet is grounded (do not use an adapter plug). To minimize power fluctuations, avoid using an outlet on the same circuit breaker with large electrical machines or appliances. Finally, for continuous-feed operations you must allow enough room for the paper to flow freely, as in Figure 1-3.

Figure 1-3. Paper path

Printer Preparation

Once you’ve found a good home for FX, you’ll need to do some preparing before you can print. This section describes the first steps, which include installing a few parts, checking the setting of some internal switches, and then inserting the ribbon cartridge.

Note: The printer should be turned OFF during all set-up operations.

Paper separator

To install the paper separator, hold it vertically so that it rests on the two slots at the back of the metal frame as shown in Figure down gently but firmly until the separator snaps into place.

To remove the separator, pull up on the left side first, letting the right side slide out of its slot.

1-4.

Press

Figure 1-4. Paper separator

Covers

For protection from dust and foreign objects and for quiet opera-

tion, FX printers use two types of covers. When you use the friction

feed on either the FX-80 or the FX-100 or the built-in tractor on the

FX-80, use the pair of flat protective lids (Figure 1-5). When you use the removable tractor unit, use the tractor cover (Figure

Install the center protective lid by inserting tabs into slots (one tab

per side on the FX-80, two on the

FX-100).

Fit the left side of the lid

over the friction-control lever (you may need to slightly bow the middle of the lid before you can snap the tabs into their slots). When you need to change the setting of the pin feeder on the

tractor unit on either model, remove this lid by giving it a slight upward tug.

Install and remove either the front protective lid or the tractor cover by using the hinge posts at the front of the printer opening. This arrangement allows you to easily raise and lower the cover to load paper or ribbon. To install the cover, hold it at its full vertical position, slide the right hinge fitting over the right hinge post, and set the left

FX-80

1-6).

or install a

fitting over its post. Lower the cover. To remove the cover, move it to its full vertical position and then lift it up and a little to the left.

Figure 1-5. Protective lids

Figure 1-6. Tractor cover

Manual-feed knob

The manual-feed knob (Figure 1-7) can aid you in loading and

adjusting paper. To install the manual-feed knob, hold it in position on

the right side and twist until the flat sides of rod and fitting match. Push the knob straight in with a steady pressure. To remove, pull straight out.

Figure 1-7. Manual-feed knob

DIP switches

Several tiny switches, called DIP (for Dual In-line Package) switches, are located inside the FX. They control a number of important printer functions, such as line-feed adjustment, the paper-out sen-

sor, the beeper, and the default print modes. You can check these

switches now, or you can skip to the ribbon section and check the switches later.

The design of the FX printer allows easy access to the internal switches. They are located under the upper-right vent. To remove the vent, you need a Phillip’s-head screwdriver. Once the top screw is removed, take the vent off by pressing down and sideways with the palm of your hand (Figure

Do not replace the screw because in the course of this manual, we will sometimes suggest that you reset switches. Keep the screw in a safe spot so that you can replace it later.

Locate the two DIP switch assemblies as shown in Figure check that they are set as shown in Figure

1-8).

1-10.

1-7

and

Figure 1-8. DIP switch vent

These switches are set at the factory, and most of them you will never need to touch. You may, however, want to take the time now to match up the switches with their functions, as shown in Table 1-1. For a further discussion of the DIP switches, see Appendix E.

Figure 1-9. DIP switch location

Figure 1-10. DIP switch factory settings

Always turn the power off (with the switch on the left side of the

printer) before touching any internal switch. The printer checks most

switch settings only at power-up. If you make changes when the power is on, they may be ignored until you turn the printer off, then back on. So set all switches with the power off. Use a non-metallic object, such as the back of a pen, to change the DIP switches.

One switch deserves your immediate attention; it is the switch labelled 4 on switch assembly 2. This switch (let’s call it 2-4) adjusts the automatic line feed (the movement of the paper up one line) at the end of each print line to match your computer system’s needs.

Table 1-1. DIP switch functions

Switch 1

Some computer interfaces automatically send a line-feed code to the printer at the end of each print line. Other interfaces send only a carriage return (which returns the print head to its left-most position), and rely on the printer to perform the automatic line feed. Switch enables the FX to match either requirement. With switch

2-4

printer automatically adds a line feed to every carriage return it receives from the computer; with the switch off, it expects the computer to provide the line feed. If you are not sure what your system requires, leave the switch the way you find it, but remember that you can adjust this if your first printing occurs either all on one line or with the lines spaces twice as far apart as you requested.

2-4

on, the

We recommend two changes now. Turning switch 1-2 on adds a slash to the zero character, which makes program listings easier to read. If you are not going to create your own characters, turn switch

1-4

on to take advantage of the internal

buffer.

Ribbon installation

First, be sure the printer is turned off and move the print head to the middle of the platen.

Remove the ribbon cartridge from its packing materials. Holding the cartridge by the plastic fin on the top, guide the pair of tabs at each

end of the cartridge into the corresponding slots in the printer frame (Figure 1-11). The cartridge should snap neatly into place.

With the paper bail resting on the platen, you can tuck the ribbon

between the metal ribbon guide and the black print head.

As Figure 1-11 suggests, you can ease the ribbon into place with the deft application of a dull pencil. To remove any slack in the ribbon, turn the ribbon knob in the direction of the arrow.

Note: When you replace a ribbon, remember that the print head may

be hot from usage; be careful.

Paper Loading

How you load your paper depends on which model of FX you have and which type of paper and feeder you are using. This section covers each type of paper loading and then illustrates the top-of-form position on both models.

Both the FX-80 and the FX-100 include tractors so that you can use continuous-feed paper with pin-feed holes and friction mechanisms so that you can use paper without these holes.

Continuous-feed paper usually comes fanfolded into a box and has pin-feed holes arranged on half-inch tear-off strips at each side. This allows the printer’s pin feeders to engage the paper and pull it evenly through the printer. After printing you can remove the tear-off strips and separate the pages.

The FX-80’s built-in tractor handles continuous-feed paper that is 9½ inches wide, which is the standard 8½-inch width with the tearoff strips removed. The FX printers’ removable tractor units (optional on the FX-80, standard on the FX-100) handle continuous paper in widths from 4 inches to the width of the platen - 10 inches on the FX-80,16 inches on the FX-100. The friction feeder on each FX handles all papers narrower than the width of the platen.

To refresh your memory about names of the parts, refer back to Figure 1-2.

FX-80: built-in tractor feed

The FX-80’s built-in tractor will accommodate 9½- to 10-inch wide continuous-feed paper with pin-feed holes. You should have few problems loading it if you follow these instructions carefully.

Figure 1-11. Ribbon insertion

Figure 1-12. Printer readied for paper insertion

Be sure the printer is turned off. Lift the front protective lid and

move the print head to the middle of the platen.

Remove the center protective lid.

Pull the paper bail and the friction-control lever toward the front of the printer. Your printer should now look like Figure 1-12.

Adjust the pin-feed levers to approximate the width of paper you

are using. Pull the levers forward to release the pin feeders, move them so their arrows line up with the correct position on the scale (e.g., for 9.5 for 9½ -inch paper), and push the levers backward to lock them into position (Figure 1- 13).

If you are using fanfold paper, start by positioning your paper

directly beneath or behind the printer, as in Figure 1-14, so that the

paper won’t kink or pull to one side.

Insert the paper under the plastic separator, guiding it with your left hand while you slowly roll the manual-feed knob clockwise. It is

Figure 1-13. Pin feeder adjustment

very important to keep the paper straight so that the pins on both

sides engage at the same time. If the paper does not move smoothly, remove it by reversing the manual-feed knob and start again with an unwrinkled sheet.

Figure 1-14. Loading the FX-80

As the paper comes up the front of the platen, watch to be sure that

it is feeding under the black edges of the pin feeders. If your paper is wrinkling as it comes through, you may need to readjust the pin feeders.

Reinstall the center protective lid underneath the paper. Push the paper bail back against the paper and close the front protective lid. You are now ready to set the top of form, as shown at the end of this

section.

l The friction-control should remain toward the front of the

printer as long as the tractor is used.

FX-80 and FX-100: friction feed

The friction feed is for paper without pin-feed holes.

Before using the friction feed on the FX-80, disengage the pin feeders by pulling the levers forward, then move the feeders as far toward the edges as possible. Remove the center protective lid if it is on.

If a tractor unit is installed on the top, remove it. Push both tractor-

unit release levers back (one is shown close up in Figure

the unit up and back, pulling it gently toward the rear of the printer. The tractor will come off easily-you should not have to tug on the unit to remove it.

1-15).

Rock

Figure 1-15. Tractor unit release

Now follow these steps to load your paper into the friction feeder:

Be sure the printer is turned off, Lift the front protective lid and move the print head to the middle of the platen (refer back to Figure

1-12). Pull the paper bail up.

Engage the friction-control mechanism by pushing the friction-

control lever to the back.

Guide the paper under the paper separator and the platen with your left hand, while turning the manual-feed knob with your right

hand.

If you hear a crinkling noise, stop. This can result from the paper

getting slightly wrinkled; it is best to remove the paper and start

over with an unwrinkled sheet.

Do not pull on the paper as it comes up from the platen; leave the

friction feeder in charge. Push the paper bail back against the paper, close the front protective lid and reinstall the center protective lid.

You are now ready to set the top of form, as shown at the end of this

section.

There is one more point to consider if you are printing on single sheets of paper. DIP switch 1-3 is set to active at the factory, and this means that the paper-out feature will sound the FX’s beeper and halt

printing whenever it senses the bottom of your sheet of paper. In prac-

tice, this means that without deactivating the sensor, you won’t be able to print on the bottom of a single sheet of paper. You can, usually, deactivate the paper-out sensor easily by changing switch 1-3. Some computer systems, however, ignore the setting of DIP switch 1-3 (See Appendix F.)

FX-80 and FX-100: removable tractor unit

(optional on the FX-80)

The removable tractor will accommodate pin-feed paper in any

width from four inches to the width of the platen.

To install the optional tractor unit on the FX-80, begin by removing the center protective lid if it is on. Move the built-in pin feeders as far as possible to the right.

To add the tractor unit to either the FX-80 or the FX-100, hold the tractor unit over the printer with the gears to your right as shown in Figure 1-16. Lower the rear hooks over the rear studs as shown in Figure 1-17, pushing the unit back against the studs to ensure that both

sides of the tractor assembly are firmly in place. Rock the front of the unit downward, pressing firmly until it locks into place.

Figure 1-16. Tractor unit installation

Figure 1-17. Hook and stud

To load the paper into the unit, use this procedure:

Be sure the printer is turned off; then open the front protective lid to move the print head to the middle of the platen.

Pull the paper bail and the friction-control lever toward the front of the printer (refer back to Figure

Insert the paper under the paper separator and the platen and push

1-12).

the paper through to the front.

Position the pin feeders, using the pin-feed locking levers to make

the adjustment. One is shown in Figure

Raise the black covers of both pin feeders and ease the paper over

1-18.

the pins. Adjust the paper or pin feeders as necessary so that there are no wrinkles or dips in the paper. Now you are ready to set the top of form.

Figure

1-18.

Adjusting the pin feeders

Top-of-form position

After you have loaded the paper, you should set it to the top of

form, which is the position of the print head when you turn the printer

on. (Since the computer term form corresponds to the word page, it may be easier for you to think of this as the top of the page.) To make this setting, advance the paper until a perforation lies slightly below the top of the ribbon.

The relationship between the perforation and the printhead is the same on both models of the printer, as you can see in Figure 1-19. You need to leave some paper above the ribbon so that the paper moves up

smoothly.

When you have the position set, lower the bail and replace or repo-

sition the lids or cover.

Although you have arranged the paper correctly, you are not done. The printer will not recognize the top of form until the next time you

turn it on. The FX considers a form to be 66 lines long unless you change this length as discussed in Chapter 8.

Paper-thickness lever

The paper-thickness lever shown in Figure 1-20 moves the print

head to accommodate various paper thicknesses. The factory sets it for ordinary paper (which is 1/5OOth of an inch thick), but you can adjust it for printing one original and up to two copies. For thick paper or multiple copies, move it toward the front. Do not use the extreme rear setting, however. This position is used for head alignment and

will shorten the life of the print head if used in normal operation.

starting up

It is finally time to connect the printer to the computer; remember

that some computers need interface kits and all need cables. First make sure the power switch is off. Connect the printer end of the printer cable to the connector at the right rear of the FX (as shown in Figure

Figure 1-19. Top of form

1-21). The other end of the cable plugs into your computer. If your

cable includes grounding wires, be sure to fasten the wires to the grounding screws at each end.

With the paper loaded, turn the printer on with the toggle switch at

the left-rear comer of the FX. You get a little dance from the print head and three lights go on: the POWER light, the READY light, and the ON LINE light. If the ON LINE and READY lights are not on, push the button marked ON LINE. If the PAPER OUT light is on, the paper is not loaded correctly.

Figure

1-20.

Paper thickness adjustment

Figure 1-21. Cable connection

Control panel

When the control panel’s ON LINE light is on, the printer and computer are in direct communication and the FF (form feed) and LF (line feed) buttons have no effect. Go ahead, try pushing one.

To use the FF and LF button; press the ON LINE button to turn it off. Now you can see what the other buttons do.

Press the LF button briefly, then release it. That produces one line feed. Now hold the LF button down for a moment to produce several line feeds.

The FF button advances the paper one complete page(form). If you hold the button down, it advances several forms. Ideally, you’ll set the top-of-form position before you turn on the printer. That way, your printing can start on the first line of the paper. If you turn the printer on while the print head is sitting in the middle of a form, that is precisely where the next form will start when you press the FF button or

your program sends the FX a form feed.

Remember that the ON LINE light has to be off for the FF and LF buttons to work.

The FX tests itself

Now it’s time to see how your new FX operates. If you’re using an FX-100, be sure you have full-width (15-inch printing area) paper

loaded because the printer’s test uses all 136 columns. Turn the printer completely off (with the switch on the left side of the printer), press down the LF button, and turn the printer back on again while still holding down the LF button.

Figure 1-22. Sample automatic test

Figure 1-22 shows the FX’s automatic test, which prints the standard characters that are stored in the printer. The test pattern continues until you turn the printer off. If you let it run long enough, you’ll see two sets (Roman and Italic) of upper- and lower-case letters, plus many other characters.

If you plan to use your FX printer primarily for word processing or with some other commercial software, you are now ready to follow the printer set-up instructions in your software menu or manual. Because most software packages include set-up routines for dot matrix

printers, this set up may be merely a matter of specifying which printer you are using.

In case your software asks for specifications that you do not understand, check the appendixes or consult your computer dealer.

Some programs allow you to insert codes to activate such FX features as Emphasized and Compressed printing. Your software manual

will tell you how to use this feature, and the Quick Reference Card in Volume 2 will give you the necessary ESCape and control codes.

Chapter 2

BASIC and the Printer

While you read this manual, you’ll be testing your FX with programs in the BASIC language. You can, of course, use another language with your printer; see Appendixes A through D for the ASCII and ESCape codes that your software manual will explain how to use. Here we use BASIC because it is the most popular language for personal computers.

One of the simplest things you can do with any FX printer is print listings of your BASIC programs. You merely load a BASIC program into the computer and send the LISTing output to the printer instead of to the screen.

Unfortunately, different computer systems access the printer in different ways. For example, most computers that use Microsoft BASIC send PRINT or LIST commands to the printer by adding a leading L to a screen command: LPRINT, LLIST, etc. Some other computer systems use PRINT# in place of LPRINT Another group uses PR#l to route information to the printer and PR#O to restore the flow of information to the screen. If you aren’t familiar with your system’s command conventions, consult its manual.

We will use the LPRINT and LLIST commands for our examples in this manual because the widespread acceptance of Microsoft BASIC makes these commands as close to a standard as exists in this industry. But remember that you may need to modify such commands to match the unique aspects of your system. The Preface and Appendix F can help.

Once you have discovered how your computer communicates with the printer, load a BASIC program into memory. Now list it onto the printer, using your computer’s version of the LLIST command. Some examples are shown in Table

2-1.

Table

2-1.

If your listing is more than a page long (or if you didn’t start the listing at the top of a page), your printer may have printed right over the perforation. Set DIP switch 2-3 to the on position, and the printer will automatically skip over the perforation. We discuss this further in Chapter 8.

Meanwhile, printing a program LISTing is a fundamental function of the printer. Be sure you manage this before continuing (if you have trouble, consult your computer’s manual for help).

Several computers’ print LIST commands

BASIC Communications

Part of the difficulty in controlling communications between computer and printer is the lack of a completely standard coding scheme. When your computer sends out a numeric code for the letter A, you naturally want your printer to interpret that code as an A. Most manufacturers of computers, printers, and software use the American

Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII, pronounced ask- ee) to code such frequently used characters as the letters of the alphabet, numerals, and keyboard symbols. Of the 256 ASCII numbers, most are codes for specific characters; some are codes for such computer or printer functions as sounding a beep or performing a carriage return.

The ASCII standard does not yet allow for the advanced features in today’s computers and printers. Individual manufacturers therefore adjust the codes to suit their own needs, which means that we are often faced with compatibility problems between printers and computers. (To compare your computer’s version of the ASCII table with

the FX’s version, see your computer manual and this manual’s Appendix A.) You can usually overcome the code inconsistencies by sending control codes for advanced printer functions in care of a special ASCII code that is called an ESCape code. The next five subsections discuss these matters in more detail.

Character strings

The character-string (or CHR$) function converts any decimal number from zero through 255 to a character or action. Its format is CHR$ followed by a number in parentheses, for example, CHR$(84). The character-string command follows a PRINT or LPRINT command and causes your computer system to send an ASCII code to the computer’s screen or to the printer. What gets printed or performed is determined by the particular modified ASCII table that is used by your system. Where the printing or action happens-on your screen or your printer-depends on the print command that precedes the character-string command.

For a fast check on what your computer does with this function, try printing a few characters on your computer’s screen. The usual format for this is PRINT CHR$(n). The n represents one of the numbers from zero to 255, each one of which accesses a unique character or action. Try typing this:

10 PRINT CHR$(65)

and RUNning it. Since most computers use the numbers from 32 to

127 to mean the ASCII set of characters, you should see a capital A on the screen.

It’s the numbers less than 32 and greater than 127 that produce different results on nearly every brand of computer. Try entering:

10 PRINT CHR$(193)

and RUNning it. If you don’t see anything on the screen, don’t worry. Remember that this was just a quick check. We are mainly interested in sending that 193 to the printer, and what it prints on the screen is not as important right now.

BASIC print commands

Well then, what happens when you send such a non-standard code as 193 to the printer? To test this out, you need to know what program commands your computer uses to activate the printer. Some typical command sequences are shown in Table 2-2.

Table 2-2. Several computers’ printer

activating commands

Check your computer’s reference manual and type in the com-

mands appropriate to your computer. Then type RUN.

With any luck, you will get an Italic capital A on the printer:

If nothing prints, it’s time to double-check your computer manual and cable connections. Make sure the printer is ON LINE and the READY light is lit.

ASCII and BASIC basics

If you end up with a Roman A:

instead of an Italic A, pay close attention to the next three paragraphs.

The original ASCII code was designed to use the decimal numbers zero through 127. Computer systems designers soon decided to extend this range (to 0 through

255)

in order to make room for more features. Unfortunately, some designers did not anticipate that printers would make use of this extended range. So they designed BASIC printer drivers that intercept any number in the upper half of the range

255)

and automatically convert it to the lower half of the range by

subtracting

128.

(128 -

In these systems such a code as CHR$(193) never makes it to the

printer. The printer driver subtracts

128,

which means that the code for Italic A gets to the printer as a CHR$(65). The printer then produces a Roman A.

For many applications, you won’t need the upper half of the ASCII codes. For others, the inability to generate codes greater than 127 will be an obstacle. Whenever we can, we suggest ways to get around this obstacle. In Chapter 5, for instance, we discuss Italic Mode, which is the FX designers’ method of making Italic characters easily accessible to all users.

If you’re patting yourself on the back because your printer printed an Italic A, postpone your celebration for a bit. Nearly all computers’ BASIC programs intercept codes on their way to the printer and alter some of them. For example, some popular systems intercept a CHR$(10)-line feed-and send out a CHR$(13)-carriage returninstead. Typical problem codes involve the numbers 0 and 9 to 13. Your computer manual may alert you to these problems, Or experience may have to be your guide.

In order to help computer systems that can’t send a zero in a CHR$ command, several printers’ instruction sequences allow such options as using “0” (quote-zero-quote) in place of CHR$(O). Besides mentioning some of these solutions within the text of this User’s Manual, we have written a troubleshooting appendix, Appendix F.

Control codes

Enough talking about problems. Here’s a program line to try:

10 LPRINT CHR$(7)

Be sure to use the appropriate printer access commands for your system.

Now RUN it. You should hear a short beep. (If you don’t hear it,

check DIP switch 2-2, using the procedure we gave in Chapter

1.)

That’s the printer’s beeper, which most often sounds to inform you that you’ve run out of paper (Appendix F lists other causes of beeping). When you produce the beep, you’ve proved that on your com-

puter certain codes do indeed perform printer functions. Table 2-3

shows the ranges that the FX uses when it interprets ASCII codes for characters and functions.

Table 2-3. ASCII codes on the FX

ASCII

code

FX interpretation

group

0 to 31, 127 Printer control codes

32 to 126 Standard (Roman) character 128 to 159,255 Additional control codes (Function same as 0-31 , 127

160 to 254

Italic character set

set

See either Appendix A or the Quick Reference Card for a chart of

the FX interpretation of each ASCII code number.

This would be a good time to try printing a few of these codes on your own. And you may want to take a break before you start the next section.

Escape-CHR$(27)-and other CHR$ commands

As more features are added to the printer, even the extended range of codes (0 - 255) is inadequate if only single-code CHR$ instructions can be used. Because of this, Epson has designed the FX printer’s logic to understand special sequences of control codes, the ESCape code sequences. You use these code sequences to select one or more printing features, or modes.

Such modes as Italic Mode and Expanded Mode affect the way the characters look. Other modes affect spacing and therefore the formatting of your pages. Appendix C, which is reprinted on the Quick Reference Card, collects the modes into categories for quick reference.

Each ESCape code sequence consists of the ESCape code, which is CHR$(27), plus one or more of the FX’s other CHR$ control codes.

Here are two examples of ESCape code sequences:

LPRINT CHR$(27)CHR$(71) LPRINT CHR$(27)CHR$(38)CHR$(@)CHR$(l)CHR$(3)

To see how such sequences work, start a new program now by entering:

10 LPRINT CHR$(27)CHR$(52)

20 LPRINT "ITALIC CHARACTER SET"

and RUNning it. When you can RUN a program, we show you the results that you should expect:

ITALIC CHARACTER SET

Note: If you haven’t yet read the Preface, which includes “Conven-

tions Used in This Manual,” this is the time to do it. Especially

important now are the passages on semicolons and on saving

programs.

The FX interprets the a command to switch from Roman to Italic characters. The LPRINT in line printer is in Italic Mode.

Now type:

to check the printer’s status as in Figure 2-1:

Since all the text is still printed in Italic characters, you can see that this mode stays on until it is turned off. This is typical of the modes on FX printers: nearly all modes stay on until turned off. We will alert you to the few exceptions.

spacing, you need to change the setting of the FX’s DIP switch

sends a string of characters to the printer to verify that the

LLIST

If your printer is printing one line on top of another or if it is double

(or your system’s version of the print LIST

command)

CHR$(27)CHR$(52)

Figure 2-1. Italic listing

sequence in line

above as

2-4.

Change Commands

After you have sent commands to the printer, you will often want to change them, either to turn off one or more modes, or to erase text. To understand what happens when you use one of the several FX methods of making changes, you need to know about two special aspects of the printer, defaults and the printer buffer.

We often talk in these pages about resetting the printer to its defaults. By defaults, we mean the settings that are in effect whenever you turn the printer on. The printer has default settings for such features as the size of a line, the size of a page, and the print mode or mode combination that is in effect (see Appendix G or the Quick Reference Card for a list). Although all of these defaults are originally set at the factory, you can reset some of them by hardware, by changing the appropriate DIP switches. You can also change most features that have defaults by software. But whenever you turn your printer off and back on, you will have reset its default settings.

For example, you can use the software control codes to make your pages be four inches long, but the next time you reset your printer, the page length will return to 11 inches.

Every control code that you send to the printer is stored in the printer’s RAM buffer right along with the text. All material goes through this buffer to get to the printed page. This buffer is like a holding tank in which each print line is collected.

The buffer can hold a full line of text characters (on the FX-80, characters for normal-width print, more characters for narrower widths; on the FX-100,136 for normal and more for narrower widths) as well as control codes. All information resides in the buffer until the

buffer is filled or a control code that empties it is received. (One such

control code issues a carriage return; another type selects graphics, as discussed in Chapter at a time. As the printer encounters characters and codes, it prints text characters on the page and activates the print modes according to the control codes.

If you understand the concepts of defaults and buffering, you will rarely be surprised by what happens when you send a change code. The next three sections concern change codes: the first two cover changes you make to commands you have sent to the printer; the last concerns making changes to text.

11.)

Then the FX processes the line, one character

Reset Code

You could turn off the Italic Mode by turning the printer off, then back on. Although turning the printer off resets the printer to its defaults, which include Roman Mode, cycling the printer off and on may disrupt computer/printer communications. FX printers have a Reset Code to avoid that: ESCape CHR$(64).

To see the Reset Code work, add these lines to your budding

program:

LPRINT CHR$(27)CHR$(64)

LPRINT "BACK TO ROMAN WITH THE RESET CODE"

and RUN it.

RACK TO ROMAN WITH THE RESET CODE

The Reset Code of line the printer to its default settings, which include Roman typeface. The top of form is also reset; now it’s at the position of the print head when

your program issued the Reset Code. You can test this by using the FF

button to advance the paper one page.

Notice that there is a blank line between the two lines of text in the printout. This happens because BASIC provides a line feed after every line of print commands unless you put a semicolon at the end of the

line. As you will see, we often end lines with semicolons to prevent unwanted line feeds.

The Reset Code is useful when you want to turn off all printer modes. It resets everything to its start-up condition. If you have several different modes active in the printer at one time, they are all shut off by the ESCape CHR$(64).

turns off all special print modes and resets

Mode cancelling codes

The FX printer also provides specific codes to turn off each mode separately. For example, an ESCape CHR$(53) turns off the Italic character set and leaves everything else untouched. To see how the specific cancelling code for Italic Mode works, change the Reset Code in line 30 above to an ESCape CHR$(53):

LPRINT CHR$(27)CHR$(53);

40 LPRINT "BACK TO ROMAN WITH ITALIC OFF"

ITALIC CHARACTER SET

BACK 'TO ROMAN WITH ITALIC OFF

Notice that CHR$(53) turned Italic off and the semicolon at the end of line 30 eliminated the blank line between the two lines of text.

DELete and CANcel

But suppose you don’t want want to erase text in the print buffer without affecting any print modes. Two codes do this: DELete and CANcel. DELete, which is CHR$(127), removes the latest text character from the buffer without affecting control codes. CANcel, which is CHR$(24), is a slightly more powerful code. It removes all the text currently in the buffer, but it also does not affect the control codes.

These codes are seldom used, but they can be helpful if your system sends unwanted characters at the beginning of a program listing or a program run. You can then use one or more DELete or CANcel codes at the start of your program to clear out these characters.

that

much power. Suppose you only

Alternate Formats for ESCape Sequences

Activating each of the many FX features with a sequence that con-

sists of the ESCape code plus another character-string command can

be cumbersome to use and difficult to remember. Fortunately, there

are techniques for shortening the format.

The simplest method is to shorten

that follows the ESCape code. Instead of using CHR$ and a number in

parentheses, you can use-inside quotation marks-the ASCII char-

acter that corresponds to the number. For example, you have already seen that you can send the Reset Code with CHR$(27)CHR$(64). Because the @ symbol is the ASCII equivalent of 64, this command

can also be typed in as CHR$(27) ” @ ” .

the

character-string command

We use this shorter format whenever possible. To see it in your

current program, change lines 10 and 30. The ASCII symbol for the 52

of line number 5, so enter the following:

is the number 4, and the symbol for the

of line 30 is the

10 LPRINT CHR$(27)

LPRINT CHR$(27)"5";

Now use RUN to make sure that both ESCape sequences work as before.

You can also shorten your programs by storing the ESCape code in

a character string. If you enter A$=CHR$(27) in an early line of a

program, you can simply enter A$ each time you want the ESCape

code. For example, the following lines produce the same results as the previous ones:

“4”

5 A$=CHR$(27) 10 LPRINT A$"4"

LPRINT A$"5";

This technique can help if you use the ESCape code frequently.

If you use a certain ESCape sequence often in a program, you can

store it in a character string as shown in this example:

5 B$=CHR$(27)+"&" 10 LPRINT B$

Note that in this case you must use a plus sign between the elements of the ESCape sequence.

Summary

You use CHR$ to send numeric codes from BASIC, and you use

CHR$(27), the ESCape code, to earmark the printing or action to

occur on the FX printer. You turn on an FX mode by using the ESCape code and adding to it either the character-string command and an appropriate FX control code or else the ASCII equivalent of the con-

trol code enclosed by quotation marks.

Nearly all printer modes stay active until they are turned off (we cover the exceptions later). You can turn off one printer mode or set of modes by shutting the printer off or by sending the Reset Code, either

of which resets the FX to its default modes. In addition, each mode has

its own cancelling code that turns

You can delete all the text characters in the FX’s buffer by using the

CANcel code or

Neither affects the control codes.

the

latest text character by using the DELete code.

off

only

that

particular mode.

See the Preface for a list of the conventions used in this manual, Appendix A for a table of the ASCII codes, and Appendixes B and C for tables of the control codes. Appendix F offers programming solutions to interfacing problems, while Appendix E lists the defaults and shows the DIP switch settings. See also the Quick Reference Card.

Here are the DIP switches that we mentioned in this chapter:

Switch 2-2

Switch 2-4

Controls the beeper Controls the number of vertical lines that the

printer spaces at the end of a print line

Here are the codes that we have covered in this chapter, listed in the order of their appearance:

CHR$(7) CHRS$(27)

Causes a beep Prepares the printer to accept other control

codes (Escape code) CHR$(27)“4” CHR$(27)” @ ”

Turns Italic Mode ON

Resets the printer to its defaults (Reset Code) CHR$(27)“5” Turns Italic Mode OFF CHR$(127)

DELetes the latest text character in the print

buffer CHR$(24)

CANcels all text in the print buffer

Chapter 3

Print Pitches

One of the big advantages an FX printer has over a daisy-wheel printer or a typewriter is the ability it gives you to choose from a variety of widths, or pitches, for your characters. To use this feature well, it’s important to understand just how an FX prints. The technique used by an FX printer is called dot-matrix printing.

Dot-Matrix Printing

A dot matrix is a grid or graph that someone who designs a charac-

ter set for a dot matrix printer uses. The dot-matrix designs for the characters, which may be letters of the alphabet, numbers, or symbols, are stored in the printer’s read-only memory (ROM).

The FX’s dot matrix is nine rows of dots high and six columns of

dots wide. Look at any letter on your printout-it’s made up of a series of dots. And, as you can see in Appendix A, every letter fits inside this six by nine grid.

Figure 3-1. Dot-matrix characters

Figure

3-1

shows one each of lower- and uppercase letters. The p gives an example of the way a few lowercase letters use the bottom two rows of the matrix. All numbers, uppercase letters, and most symbols are formed within the top seven rows of the matrix.

Main columns

The construction of the print head restricts the maximum height of

any character to nine dots.

As shown in Figure a vertical column of mine pins (actually, wires). Because there is only one column of pins, the head must move sideways sequentially to

each of the different column positions of the matrix, then fire the

appropriate pins. Electrical impulses cause the FX to fire pins at the paper. As a pin is fired, it presses against the ribbon to produce one dot of the matrix. At each position, the printer fires only the pins that are necessary to print the current column of the character.

3-2,

the print head uses

Figure 3-2. The print head

To print a capital H as in Figure

in column 1;pin4in

in column

columns

3-2,

2,3,

the print head fires pins 1 through

and4;and pins1through7again

Intermediate positions

FX characters are designed to be five or fewer columns wide. Leaving the sixth column blank allows for space between letters. Figure 3-3 shows the 6 main columns, numbered

Figure 3-3. Main columns

Because the use of 5 dots does not give quite enough detail for the

highest quality characters, an FX prints some dots half way between

the main columns in the 6-dot-wide matrix. This enhancement results

in a matrix grid that is actually

intermediate columns. You can count the shown as Figure 3-4.

1, 3, 5,

etc.

dots wide-6 main columns with 5

positions on the grid

Figure 34. Intermediate positions

The dots printed in intermediate column positions would overlap with those in the main columns if they were printed in the same row.

If you look through Appendix A, you’ll notice that none of the FX’s characters use dots in consecutive main and intermediate columns in the same row. There is a reason for this: the printer’s speed. The FX recalls a character’s dot-matrix pattern from ROM and prints it in 1/160th of a second. At that speed, the print head is simply moving too fast to pull the pins back and forth in time to print an overlapping dot. This fact is critical when you design characters, as you will see in Chapter 15.

Modes for Pitches

Several of the FX printer’s modes produce characters in different widths, or pitches. You may recognize two of these pitches as standard character widths used on typewriters; a third produces a narrower character. Each of these three is covered in one of the subsections below, followed by a discussion of how the FX assigns priorities to its print modes. We discuss other pitch modes later.

Pica and Elite Modes

At start-up the FX prints 10 characters per inch (cpi). This is the same pitch as that of a typewriter’s Pica character set. The FX can also print characters in an Elite pitch (12 cpi). When you print in Pica on the FX-80, you can get up to 80 characters on a line; changing to Elite Mode gives you 96. When you print in Pica on the FX-100, you get up to 136 characters per line; Elite Mode gives you 163.

Changing the print pitch between Pica and Elite does not change the number of columns in each character, nor does it change the pattern used to create each character. It simply moves the columns closer together or farther apart to change the width of see how this works, compare the Pica and Elite letters shown in Figure 3-5. Since the columns used to print Elite characters are packed more closely than those for Pica, more of them fit on one line of print. Notice

Try it in this program:

that

Elite pitch compresses spaces as well as characters.

Elite Mode (which produces Elite pitch) is set with an ESCape “M”.

each

character. To

NEW 10 LPRINT CHR$(27)"M" 20 LPRINT

COMPARE ELITE PITCH WITH THE

PICA BELOW"

Figure 3-5. Pica and Elite letters

30 LPRINT CHR$(27)"P";

40 LPRINT

WIDTH"

PICA PITCH THE NORMAL PRINT

When you RUN it, you should get:

Figure 3-6. Pitch comparison

The

blank spaces in line 20 above print as corresponding spaces in line 40 print as Pica spaces. This means, as you can see in Figure 3-6, that the different width modes affect spaces as well as characters. The modes also affect tabs, which we will discuss in Chapter 9.

The ESCape “P" in line 30 turns Elite Mode off and returns the printer to Pica pitch. Notice that, because Pica is the factory-set default, it comes on whenever you turn the printer on (unless you’ve changed the pitch default by changing a DIP switch).

Elite spaces; the

Compressed Mode

To see a third handy print pitch that is available on FX printers, replace your current program with this one:

NEW

20 LPRINT CHR$(15)"COMPRESSED MODE IS SET WITH

CHR$(15)"

LPRINT "IT WILL STAY ON UNTIL YOU CANCEL IT"

LPRINT CHR$(l8)"PICA AGAIN"

COMPRESSED MODE IS SET WITH CHR$(15) IT WILL STAY ON UNTIL YOU CANCEL IT

PICA AGAIN

Notice that we had you use only CHR$(l5) to turn Compressed Mode on-that is, we didn’t have you type in an ESCape code first. If you prefer consistency to brevity, you may add one and use ESCape CHR$(15) to get the same effect.

most other print modes on FX printers, Compressed stays on until you turn it off. And there is a specific code that turns Compressed Mode off--CHR$(18). The Reset Code would work just as well, but remember that it also resets all other current printer modes to the defaults. The FX gives you a choice of resetting codes one at a time

or all at once.

At 17.16 characters per inch, Compressed Mode is the narrowest character pitch available on FX printers. FX-80 users can fit 132 Compressed characters into each line (up to 137 by changing the right margin setting; see Chapter 9). FX-100 users can get 233 Compressed characters per print line. Compressed Mode is especially useful for printing spreadsheets or reports that require several columns of information.

If you find yourself using this pitch more often than not, you can

change the default pitch from Pica to Compressed Mode by setting

DIP switch 1-1 on. This adjustment will make the printer reset to Compressed Mode, after which you can switch to other modes as needed. You could get Pica Mode with control codes, for instance, by using the Compressed shut-off code: CHR$(18). Then you could return to Compressed with either of the usual commands-CHR$(15) or ESCape" @ “-or by turning the printer off and back on.

Mode priorities

These first three pitches-Pica (10 cpi), Elite (12 cpi), and Compressed (17.16 cpi)-are mutually exclusive. That is, only one can be in use at a given time. When a program activates conflicting modes, one of them will take precedence. In the case of Elite, Compressed, and Pica Modes, for example, Elite has the highest priority. To check this, try RUNning this line in your current program. In this example and many others throughout the manual we use the format that combines the command with the print string. The printer will interpret the letter M as part of the command and will not print it. This format is further explained in the preface.

10 LPRINT CHR$(27)"MELITE PITCH"

This time the printer doesn’t make it to Compressed Mode. Your entire printout is in Elite pitch even though Compressed Mode is turned on in line 20. Does that mean the printer ignores the CHR$(15) when it is in Elite Mode? Let’s find out. Change line 30 to read:

LPRINT CHR$(27)"PCANCEL ELITE TO SEE COMPRESSED"

ESCape “P” did cancel Elite Mode, which caused line 30’s text to print in Compressed. So the printer did recognize the command for Compressed Mode-CHR$(15)--in line 20, but its program masked that command as long as Elite was in effect.

Don’t take this lesson lightly-it is a good example of how print

modes interact on FX printers.

Pitch Mode Combinations

The previous three modes can’t be mixed, but the next mode can be used in combination with any one of them. And you can add it to a printout for either of two durations, for one print line or for a longer passage.

ExpandedMode

Expanded Mode doubles the width of the current pitch mode. Since

it can be combined with all previous pitches, Expanded Mode doubles the number of available print pitches to six.

You can turn on the Expanded print feature for either of two dura-

tions. If you activate it with CHR$(14), it turns off after each print line. If you want Expanded Mode to stay on line after line (continuously), you activate it with ESCape “W” followed by CHR$(l).

Also notice that ESCape “W”CHR$(l) is turned off with ESCape

“W”CHR(0). CHR$(14), on the other hand, can be turned off either

with CHR$(20) or with ESCape “W“CHR$(O).

To see Expanded characters, type in:

NEW 10 LPRINT CHR$(14)"EXPANDED PRINT" 20 LPRINT "TURNS OFF AFTER EACH LINE WITH CHR$(14)"

LPRINT CHR$(27)"W"CHR$(l)"EXPANDED PRINT STAYS

ON"

LPRINT "CONTINUOUSLY WITH ESCAPE W"

50 LPRINT CHR$(27)"W"CHR$(0)

The printer extends the dot matrix by spreading the dots horizontally to twice their normal distances apart, and then it adds a duplicate of each dot to the next main dot column (see Figure 3-7).

Figure 3-7. Pica and Expanded letters

Those of you who like compact program lines and those of you

whose computer systems have difficulty sending a CHR$(0) or

CHR$(l) can use an alternative form for this pair. For continuous

Expanded, and for the other modes which use CHR$(l) and CHR$(0)

as a toggle switch, you can use an abbreviation. Here, for example,

you can use:

LPRINT CHR$(27)"W"CHR$(l)

or you can use:

LPRINT CHR$(27)"Wl"

for the same result.

Expanded Mode works equally well with any of the three basic

pitches. Type and RUN this program:

NEW 10 LPRINT "YOU CAN PRINT EXPANDED:" 20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"WlPICA" 30 LPRINT CHR$(15)"COMPRESSED" 40 LPRINT CHR$(27)"MAND ELITE" 50 LPRINT CHR$(27)"@CHARACTERS"

YOU CAN PRINT EXPANDED:

PICA COMPRESSED AND ELITE

CHARACTERS

Most of the FX modes stay on continuously, and so your program must turn off each mode when you are finished with it. We tell you about the few exceptions to this rule-such as the CHR$(14) version of Expanded-as they come up.

Multiple print pitches on one line

Suppose that you want to emphasize just one word within a line by printing it in a different pitch. The following program shows how it can be done:

10 LPRINT "YOU CAN MIX:

20 LPRINT "PICA 30 LPRINT CHR$(14)"EXPANDED," 40 LPRINT CHR$(20)CHR$(15)"

50 LPRINT CHR$(14)

60 LPRINT CHR$(27)"M AND ELITE

70 LPRINT CHR$(14)"EXPANDED" 80 LPRINT CHR$(27)"@CHARACTERS ON THE SAME LINE"

EXPANDED,";

COMPRESSED":

YOU CAN MIX: PICA EXPANDED,

COMPRESSED EXPANDED, AND ELITE EXPANDED

CHARACTERS ON THE SAME LINE.

By deleting the semicolon at the end of line 10 and adding a semicolon to the end of line 30, you can mix all six print pitches on a single print line.

In program lines 30 to 70, CHR$(14) and CHR$(20) move the

printer in and out of Expanded Mode.

This program turns Compressed Mode on in line 40, and Compressed stays on until the Reset Code turns it off in line 80. It gets replaced (masked) in line 60 when the program turns on Elite Mode,

which has a higher priority.

Since doubling the width of the three standard pitches adds more dots to the matrix of each character, doubling gives you a darker

print. There are other ways you can get darker print, plus many other ways you can change the looks of the type, and we discuss these techniques in the next three chapters.

Summary

The FX uses a dot matrix to plot the characters it prints. Vertically, the matrix consists of 6 main and 5 intermediate columns. Horizon-

tally, the matrix consists of 9 rows. Appendix A shows how each of

the FX’s characters fits into this matrix.

Using these potential positions, the print head is capable of printing in a large variety of modes. In this chapter we introduced three sets of commands that add five pitches (widths) to the factory-set default, Pica. You can change the default to Compressed by changing DIP switch 1-1.

Table 3-1 shows six pitch modes, their densities in characters per inch, and the commands you use to turn them on. In this table, we assume that you are using Pica as the default. If you have changed to Compressed, you activate Pica with CHR$(18).

Table 3-1. Summary of print pitches

Here is the DIP switch that we mentioned in this chapter:

Switch 1-1

Allows you to change the pitch default from

Pica to Compressed

Here is a list of the commands that we introduced in this chapter,

listed in the order of their appearance: CHRS(27) “M”

Turns Elite Mode ON CHR$(27)“P” Turns Elite OFF CHR$(15) CHR$18)

Turns Compressed Mode ON

Turns Compressed (set either by software or

by hardware) OFF CHR$(14)

CHR$(20)

CHR$(27)”Wl”

Turns Expanded Mode (1-line) ON

Turns Expanded (1-line) OFF

Turns Expanded Mode (continuous version)

ON CHR$(27)”W0” Turns Expanded (either the 1-line or the con-

tinuous version) OFF

Chapter 4

Print Quality

In the last chapter you learned how to change the width of the printed characters to achieve six different print pitches. The FX printer also offers several modes that improve print quality without affecting pitch. The three new modes that we discuss in this chapter are Double-Strike, Emphasized, and Proportional. After we cover these modes separately, we discuss combining them with pitch modes.

Bold Modes

Each of the modes we discuss here produces darker characters than do the Single-Strike modes we discussed in Chapter 3, and each gets its bold effect by printing overlapping dots. Because Proportional Mode includes Emphasized, it also produces bold characters. The difference between Double-Strike and Emphasized Modes lies in the direction the print head moves before it prints the overlapping dots.

Double-Strike Mode

The Double-Strike Mode prints each line twice. You turn DoubleStrike on with ESCape “G”. ESCape “H”. To see its effect, try this:

It stays on until you turn it off with

NEW

18 LPRINT CHR$(27)"GDOUBLE-STRIKE PRINT IS DARKER";

29 LPRINT CHR$(27)"H THAN SINGLE-STRIKE"

and RUN it:

DOUBLE-STRIKE PRINT IS DARKER THAN SINGLE-STRIKE

In this mode the individual dots are less noticeable, and the characters are more fully formed than in Single-Strike.

The way Double-Strike gets this result is rather clever: the FX prints each character in the regular fashion until it reaches either the end of the line or the point at which you have Double-Strike turn off. Then the FX shifts the paper up slightly and prints the Double-Strike passage again. This means that every dot in each row of the character gets a shadow (see Figure 4-1). Double-Strike Mode fills in some of the more visible gaps between the dots of a character. The end result is better looking print.

Figure 4-1. Single-Strike and Double-Strike letters

Differences between Double-Strike and Single-Strike printing don’t stop with the quality of print. Since each passage prints twice, the throughput of the Double-Strike Mode is less than that of SingleStrike. It’s the old trade-off between speed and print quality. With

normal print speed of 160 characters per second (cps), the FX still moves along pretty quickly in the Double-Strike Mode.

Emphasized Mode

There is yet another way you can increase the boldness of your

printed characters. ESCape “E” produces what we call Emphasized print. As in Double-Strike, each character gets two sets of dots. In

Emphasized, however, the print head does not make two passes and does not move down the page. Instead, it slows down so that it can

print overlapping dots, and prints each dot twice, the second time

slightly to the right of the first, as illustrated in Figure 4-2.

To see Emphasized, add these lines to your program:

LPRINT CHR$(27)"EEMPHASIZED ADDS A TOUCH OF

CLASS"

LPRINT CHR$(27)"@"

DOUBLE-STRIKE PRINT IS DARKER THAN SINGLE-STRIKE EMPHASIZED ADDS A TOUCH OF CLASS

That’s right, Emphasized is very similar to Expanded print, except that

Expanded Mode prints a duplicate set of dots a full (rather than a half) column to the right of the initial set. Figure 4-2 shows Expanded and Emphasized characters.

Figure 4-2. Expanded and Emphasized letters

Although the print head slows to half normal speed (i.e., 80 cps) in

Emphasized Mode, the increase in print quality is well worth it. If you

like Emphasized so well that you want to use it for most of your

printouts, you can set it as a default with DIP switch

1-5.

This adjustment will make the printer automatically reset to Emphasized Mode, after which you can switch to other modes as needed.

Whether you turn Emphasized on with ESCape “E” or by DIP

switch, you can turn it off with ESCape “F”.

Emphasized Mode is always a variation of Pica; it can never be combined with either the Elite or the Compressed Mode. It can, however, be added to Double-Strike. See this by adding:

LPRINT CHR$(27)"GCOMBINED THEY CAN'T BE BEAT"

to your program.

DOUBLE-STRIKE PRINT IS DARKER THAN SINGLE-STRIKE EMPHASIZED ADDS A TOUCH OF CLASS COMBINED THEY CAN'T BE BEAT

Emphasized Mode (line 30) stays on until you shut it off. DoubleStrike comes on (line 40) before Emphasized is turned off. You see the result above.

Proportional Mode

Have you ever wondered why most computer printouts don’t look as good as typeset books, even when you use bold characters? It’s because most dot-matrix printers use a uniform width for each charac-

ter (monospacing) whereas typesetting machines set the width for each character proportional to its size. That is, narrow characters like i and ! are printed without the excess space that would be used if they were printed in the same width as m and w.

Now the FX offers you a Proportional Mode on a dot-matrix printer. In this mode characters are printed with a uniform amount of blank space between them. ESCape “p1” turns on the Proportional Mode. If your computer system doesn’t allow you to use lowercase letters, you may use a longer form instead: ESCape CHR$(112) “1"

Here’s an example of the difference between Monospaced and Proportional Modes. Enter:

NEW 18 LPRINT "!!!!!!!!!!!!:; 20 LPRINT CHR$(27)

“p1"

40 LPRINT "!!!!!!!!!!!!PROPORTIONAL ON" 60 LPRINT CHR$(27)

“p0”;

70 LPRINT "!!!!!PROPORTIONAL OFF" 80 LPRINT CHR$(27)"@"

Lines 10 and 40 print the same number of exclamation marks, but the characters from line 40 are packed more closely. Proportional Mode prints the characters in Emphasized and strips off all unused space between characters.

The shut-off command for Proportional print is either ESCape “

or ESCape

that it was in before it entered Proportional Mode. As an example, if

the printer enters Proportional Mode from Compressed Mode, ESCape “P0” returns the printer to that mode.

CHR$(112)“0”.

Either puts the printer back into the mode

0”

Since all Proportional characters are Emphasized, it makes sense

that Proportional characters, like Emphasized, can only be printed in Pica pitch, not Elite nor Compressed. In addition, Proportional Mode cannot be mixed with Double-Strike.

The cost of all this high-powered printing is the slower speed of printing and the wear and tear on the ribbon. Understandably, these dense modes shorten the life of a ribbon compared to Single-Strike printing. Used sparingly, however, they can give you increased capability for little increased cost.

Mixing Modes

Much of the fun of owning an FX is trying out all the different mode combinations. In the process you’ll find that some modes make magic together, while others cannot be mixed at all. Most important, you’ll gain an insight into the way the print modes work, and you’ll attain a higher level of control over your printer.

With the many modes available on the FX, there are enough mode combinations to suit just about any palate. It’s impossible, however, for each print mode to get along with all others as well as Emphasized does with Double-Strike. For example, you cannot mix either Emphasized or its variation, Proportional, with Elite or Compressed pitches for a very good reason.

Emphasized characters already violate the rule that two overlapping dots cannot be printed in the same row. Since the FX prints Emphasized in Pica Mode at half normal speed, it can make an exception. But the dots in Elite and Compressed characters are already so closely packed that printing them in Emphasized print as well is not possible, even at the slower speed. The print head simply cannot fire and retract the pins fast enough.

So what does the printer do when it receives a request for two conflicting modes? Ignore one of them, take a vacation, or beep loudly? The answer is: none of the above. It turns both modes on internally,

but-based on a factory-set priority list-selects only one of them for

printing text.

As you found out in Chapter 3 when you cancelled Elite to see Compressed print, the FX remembers that a mode is on even though that doesn’t affect the current print line. Just to produce a little more

printout evidence, change your program to turn on Double-Strike at

the same time as Proportional, Then, when you turn Proportional off,

the printer will prove that Double-Strike has been turned on all the time.

Add lines 30 and 50, and make some changes to line 70:

30 LPRINT CHR$(27)"G";

50 LPRINT "WHEN PROPORTIONAL GOES"

70 LPRINT "!!!!!!!!!!!!OFF, DOUBLE-STRIKE CAN COME

ON"

Even though Proportional Mode will not permit Double-Strike to affect lines 40 and 50 (since Proprotional Mode has priority), Double-

Strike does take hold as soon as Proportional is shut off.

Figure 4-3 shows the priorities for the modes we‘ve covered so far.

Note: Each mode takes precedence over the modes beneath it.

Figure 4-3. Mode priorities

Not all mode combinations create conflicts. You’ve already seen how well Emphasized and Double-Strike combine. In the next chapter we show you more modes to mix with these.

Summary

Double-Strike, Emphasized, and Proportional Modes can be used to produce bold characters. Proportional, which prints in Empha-

sized, strips excess space from between characters. Double-Strike can be combined with all other modes except Proportional, whereas Emphasized, and thus Proportional, cannot be combined with either Elite or Compressed.

Mode combinations are governed by the FX’s priority list. This list determines which mode gets printed when two or more conflicting modes are active at the same time.

Table 4-1 shows the modes we have covered so far.

Table 4-1. Summary

Type of mode

Typeface

Pitch

Weight

Spacing

Note:

Pitch and weight together make up print density The defaults are those set at at the factory By changing DIP switches, you can change the pitch default from Pica to Compressed and the weight default from Single-Strike to Emphasized.

modes

Mode name

Roman (default) Italic

Pica (default) Elite Compressed Expanded

Single-Strike (default)

Double-Strike Emphasized

Monospaced (default)

Proportional

Here is the DIP switch that we mentioned in this chapter: Switch 1-5

Allows you to change the weight default from

Single-Strike to Emphasized Here are the commands that we introduced in this chapter: CHR$(27) “G”

Turns Double-Strike Mode ON. Double-

Strike prints in Half-Speed CHR$(27) “H” CHR$(27) “E”

Turns Double-Strike OFF

Turns Emphasized Mode ON. Emphasized

prints in Half-Speed CHR$(27) “F”

Turns Emphasized OFF CHR$(27) “p1” or CHR$(27) CHRS(112)“l”

Turns Proportional Mode ON. Proportional

prints in Emphasized and thus Half-Speed. CHR$(27) “p0” or CHR$(27) CHRS(112)“O”

Turns Proportional OFF

Chapter 5

Dress-Up Modes and Master Select

In the first three subsections of this chapter, we cover four more print modes: Underline; two Script Modes-Superscript and Subscript; and Italic. Each of these modes allows you to add a particular finishing touch to your printouts. After we show how you can quickly select

combinations of pitch and weight by using the Master Select

feature, we demonstrate combining the combinations.

Four Modes

These four modes give you capabilities that are unusual for dotmatrix printing: an underline of any character or blank space, true Super- and Subscript characters, and an Italic Mode that any computer system can select without software adjustments.

Underline Mode

In the old days, dot-matrix printers could not underline words.

Even in the not-so-old days, printer users like you had to use all kinds of tricks to underline words. The technique usually involved using either the hyphen (-) or underscore (_), along with either a change of line spacing or the use of backspace. When it worked, the right words did get underlined, but those methods were tedious and time consuming.

Those days are now gone, thanks to the FX. It has a built-in Underline Mode that makes underlining very easy. You can toggle the control code for Underline, ESCape “-“, on and off just as you toggle the code for Expanded Mode. To turn Underline on, you use:

CHR$(27)"-"CHR$(l) or

CHR$(27)"-1"

You can turn Underline Mode off with:

CHR$(27)"-"CHR$(0) or

Enter and RUN this program to see what FX underlining looks like:

CHR$(27)"-0"

NEW 20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"-1UNDERLINING IS SIMPLE";

LPRINT CHR$(27)"-0 TO TURN ON/OFF"

You can underline virtually anything you want-even a series of

blank spaces. Try adding this line, typing in the spaces where we have

used characters:

Being able to underline a blank space really helps when you want to make a form that has lines to be filled in later with signatures or data. The FX Underline Mode can even underline leading spaces with BASIC TABS-although it doesn’t work with the FX’s internal tabs

that are set with ESCape “D” (see Chapter 9).

Underline Mode does not use the FX’s underline character. Since the

underline character is itself only five dots wide, it would not print in

the spaces that separate the text characters. See this by printing a row

of underline characters above the text in the current program:

10 FOR X=1 TO 42: LPRINT CHR$(95);: NEXT X: LPRINT

When the FX is in Underline Mode, it is simply using the ninth pin to

underscore the entire passage.

How far under a character its underline appears depends on the

model of FX that is printing. The FX-100 prints a character and its

underline at the same time, and the underline occurs on the ninth row

of the nine-row character matrix. This means that the underline prints

over the bottom row of the descender for a few lowercase letters, such

as y and g.

The FX-80, on the other hand, can perform a reverse line feed, and it uses this capability to place the underline one row lower than any text dot. To do this, the FX-80 prints the text to be underlined, moves the print head down the paper one row’s worth to print the underline, then moves the print head back up to the original text line.

To see which method your printer uses, delete line 10 and replace

line 30:

FOR X=1 TO

UNDERLINING IS SIMPLEggggg TO TURN ON/OFF

On the FX-80, the underlining does occur below the descenders of the gs.

LPRINT CHR$(l03);:

Script Modes: Super and Sub

Print pitches, such as Pica, Elite, and Compressed, affect the width of characters: both Elite and Compressed Modes may be seen as squeezing Pica characters horizontally. FX printers can also squeeze a character vertically-to about half its normal height. These short characters are called Script characters (not to be confused with cal-

ligraphic manuscript lettering). Because the Script characters are so

short, they can be placed high or low on the line; thus you can use them for either SUPERscripts or SUBscripts.

This command turns Superscripting on:

LPRINT CHR$(27)"S0"

This one turns Subscripting on:

LPRINT CHR$(27)"Sl"

Try this program to see both kinds of Script characters:

20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"S0SUPER";

LPRINT CHR$(27)"TSCRIPT AND";

LPRINT CHR$(27)"S1 SUB";

50 LPRINT CHR$(27)"TSCRIPT"

LPRINT "CAN EVEN GO ON THE SAME LINE"

Notice that ESCape “T” turns either kind of Script Mode off and also that both versions of Script Mode are automatically printed in Double-Strike. Since Double-Strike prints at half speed, so do the

Script Modes. And since Double-Strike can’t mix with Proportional,

neither can either type of Script.

If you are using the FX-100 and you switch in and out of Double-

Strike Mode several times in the same line, you will see that

the

print line slopes slightly to the right. This happens because Script prints in Double-Strike, for which FX printers use two passes. After one pass to

print the characters on the current print line, the print head moves

down the page one-third of a dot to print

the

second set of dots.

The FX-80 can use reverse feed to return to the original print line,

but the FX-100 cannot. This does not make much difference when you

use Double-Strike infrequently. If you are using an FX-100, you can

add Underline Mode to your program to see exactly where the jog

comes:

10 LPRINT CHR$(27)"-1"

We mention this now because it is with Script characters that you are

most likely to move in and out of Double-Strike several times on one

line. If you do that on an FX-100, you’ll get a line

that

declines.

If Double-Strike was the current mode before the printer entered Script Mode, the printer exits from Script to Double-Strike. If not, the printer returns to Single-Strike.

Italic Mode

This is the last print mode characters are printed in a completely different typeface than are the more usual Roman characters. Appendix A shows the dot-matrix patterns used to define both Roman and Italic characters, along with their corresponding ASCII numbers. As you saw in Chapter 2, characters’ numbering begins in the top half of 160, to be exact). And some computer systems won’t let the numbers of the top half through to the printer.

that

we introduce in this chapter. Italic

the

ASCII range (at

Italic

Whether your computer system is one of these or not, with ESCape

“4” you can print Italic characters. Prove it by adding these lines to

your program:

10 LPRINT CHR$(27)

“4”

70 LPRINT CHR$(27)"@"

When you want to turn off only the Italic Mode, you use ESCape "5" (instead of line 70’s Reset Code) in your program.

More Mode Combinations

With all the handsome print types we’ve covered up to this point, you’re probably wondering how many different print combinations are waiting in your FX. Well, hang onto your hat. By combining the various print modes, the FX can print text in 128 type styles.

Instead of counting these one by one, we’ll begin by describing a special FX feature, the Master Select, which lets you choose any one of

16 popular mode combinations more simply than by calling up each

mode separately. Then we’ll demonstrate mixing Master Select choices with the modes of this chapter.

Master Select

For Master Select you use the code sequence of ESCape ’ ! ” followed by CHR$ and a number in parentheses. With Master Select you can quickly produce any possible combination of the following:

Single-Strike

Pica

Elite

Compressed

Emphasized

Double-Strike

Expanded These are the modes for pitch and weight. Master Select will accept

any number between 0 and 255. Since there are only 16 unique combinations, however, we’ve devised a program (Figure 5-1) with which you can print out a handy reference chart (Figure 5-2) listing one set of Master Select numbers.

Figure 5-1. Master Select Program

If you want to see this in underlined Italic add the following line:

10 LPRINT CHR$(27)"-1"CHR$(27)"SO"CHR$(27)"4";

Now when you want to use Double-Strike Emphasized Expanded Pica, you do not have to type out the long sequence:

LPRINT CHR$(27)"G"CHR$(27)"E"CHR$(27)"W1"

since you can get the same result by using:

LPRINT CHR$(27)"!"CHR$(56)

or even (after consulting the ASCII table for the equivalent of

56):

LPRINT CHR$(27)"!8"

Because this latter format is the ultimate in simplicity, we use it in

Table

5-1

below. You can find the Master Select code for any valid

combination of pitch and weight by reading across in the row for the pitch you have selected and down in the column for the weight you want. Where the two intersect you will find the ASCII symbol to use

in the simplified format. For example, to combine Compressed with

Double-Strike, use LPRINT

CHR!$(27)“!T”.

N/A indicates that the

two modes cannot be combined.

Table 5-1. Master Select Quick Reference Chart

WEIGHT

PITCH

Pica Elite

Compressed

Expanded Pica

Expanded Elite

Expanded

Compressed

Single Strike Emphasized Double Strike

A N/A D

N/A

NIA N/A

P Q T

If you rely on Master Select to change print modes, you don’t have to turn each mode off separately when you want to change to a different combination. When you select a new mix by Master Select, it takes care of all resetting. Because the Master Select also overrides the DIP switch settings, you use the same codes even if you have reset some of the DIP switches.

Double Strike

Emphasized

N/A

N/A N/A

Master Select combinations

At the beginning of this chapter we introduced you to four print

modes. Figure 5-3 illustrates the 11 different ways these can be com-

bined.

If you add the default Pica Mode, there are 12 different combinations. Four of these Super- or Subscript) can be combined with any of the

modes. Four times combinations that involve Super- and Subscript Modes can be combined with the eight Single-Strike Master Select modes. Eight times eight gives another get the total of 128 unique print modes that we mentioned previously.

To create a new combination that uses both Master Select and one

or more of the dress-up modes, the simplest method is to choose a

combinations (the ones that don’t involve

Master Select

gives you 64 combinations. The other eight

combinations. Add these to the first

64,

and you

Figure 5-3. Dress-up combinations

Master

embellish it. Here is a program that does just that, several times.

Select base and then add the sequence(s) that you want to

NEW 18

N=4:

GOSUB 70: LPRINT CHR$(27)"S1THE

FX"CHR$(27)"T"

20 N=17: GOSUB 70: LPRINT CHR$(27)"-1PRINTERS"

30 N=8:

40 N=49: 50 60

GOSUB 70: LPRINT CHR$(27)"-@HAVE EVER"

GOSUB 79: LPRINT "EXPANDING"

N=56: GOSUB

70:

LPRINT CHR$(27)"4POSSIBLITIES"

LPRINT CHR$(27)"@": END

70 LPRINT CHR$(27)"!"CHR$(N);: RETURN

Notice that we‘ve stored the Master Select sequence as a subroutine in line 70 to save typing. As we’ve called up the subroutine and given it a new number, we’ve three times added the ESCape codes for Subscript (line 10), Underline (line 20), and Italic (line 50) Modes. The Reset in line 60 returns the printer to its defaults.

To aid you in quickly finding your way around in this forest of possibilities, we offer Table 5-2.

Here are the commands that we introduced in this chapter.

CHR$(27)“-1” CHR$(27)“-0” CHR$(27)“Sl”

CHR$(27)“S0” CHR$(27)“T”

CHR$(27)“4”

CHR$(27)“5” CHR$(27)‘!“CHR$(n)

or CHR$(27)“!n”

Turns Underline Mode ON Turns Underline OFF Turns Subscript Mode ON. Script characters

print in Double-Strike and at half speed Turns Superscript ON Turns either version of Script Mode OFF

Turns Italic Mode ON

Turns Italic OFF Selects one of the 16 Master Select combina-

tions, where n stands for a number between 0 and 255

Chapter

Special Printing Features

In this chapter you’ll discover several new features that will enhance your control over the printer. Backspacing, for example, allows you to combine characters. You can use a set of software commands to switch in and out of international character sets, and you can control the speed of printing.

Backspace

The backspace function is handy for making overstrikes. Because it moves the print head backward one character, you can print two characters in one print position. You can also shift the print head slightly to print offsets. You activate backspace by typing a CHR$(8) between the two characters.

Overstrikes

Typically, backspace is used for single-character overstrikes. Here are a few examples that create some useful mathematical symbols:

NEW 18 LPRINT "="CHR$(8) “/” ' Not-equal

For the not-equal symbol, the backspace moves the print head back over the equal sign so that the slash can be printed on top of it. You can

use the same technique to produce the plus-or-minus symbol:

10 LPRINT CHR$(27)"S0+"CHR$(8);

Plus/minus 20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"S1-" 30 LPRINT CHR$(27)"@"

How about that, and it only took three lines. Next try this approximately equally short program:

10 LPRINT CHR$(126)CHR$(8);

Approximately equal

20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"J"CHR$(ll)CHR$(126)

LPRINT

This program prints CHR$(126), a diacritical mark used in Spanish

that is called a tilde. You backspace the print head by using CHR$(8), then force a partial line feed by using Escape” J”CHR$(ll). The FX prints the second tilde just below the first one to form the desired figure.

offsets

CHR$(27)"@"

The backspace function works in all pitches, which opens up some interesting possibilities. To see what happens when you mix backspacing with different pitch modes, we’ve prepared a special program that shows off the backspace function in two passes: first in Pica and then in Expanded Pica. We cause all backspacing to be done in Compressed Mode to create a slight offset. Enter:

NEW

10 FOR J=0 TO 1 20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"W"CHR$(J); ' Expanded when J=l 30 LPRINT "BACKSPACES"CHR$(l5); 'Compressed

FOR X=1 TO 17: LPRINT CHR$(8);: NEXT X

50 LPRINT CHR$(18)"BACKSPACES" ' Compressed off 60 NEXT J: LPRINT CHR$(27)"@" ' Reset

and RUN the program.

The 17 backspaces (line difference in character widths makes the second printing of the word BACKSPACES be offset from the first.

In the next program, the offset is a little more dramatic. Change the

following lines:

40)

are printed in Compressed Mode. The

30 LPRINT "BACKSPACE"CHR$(l5); 40 FOR X=1 TO 15: LPRINT CHR$(8);: NEXT X

50 LPRINT CHR$(18)"BACKSPACE"

After the FX prints each BACKSPACE, it moves the print head Compressed positions backward. Instead of bold characters, you get a shadow effect. You could spend all day mixing pitch modes to get different eye-stretching effects.

Unidirectional Mode

The FX printers provide high quality printouts in their normal bidirectional print mode. However, there may be situations in which vertical columns printed in Elite or Compressed Mode get slightly misaligned. The printer has a Unidirectional Mode to prevent such problems .

To see how effective Unidirectional Mode can be, let’s create a long vertical line. First we’ll print it in the usual, bidirectional manner. Begin by typing:

20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"l"CHR$(27)"1"CHR$(40) 40 FOR X=1 TO 10: LPRINT CHR$(124): NEXT X

50 LPRINT CHR$(27)"@"

Line

sets the line spacing to seven dots and the left margin to create the vertical line, line ASCII

124) 10

defaults.

times (on

prints one character (represented by

print lines). Line

resets the printer to its

40.

Epson FX-80 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Preface

Conventions Used in This Manual

Introduction

Inside the Printer

Inside This Manual

First Steps

Ticket Program

Ticket Program Description

Additional Supplies and Accessories

Printer Location

Printer Preparation

Paper separator

Covers

Manual-feed knob

DIP switches

Ribbon installation

Paper Loading

FX-80: built-in tractor feed

FX-80 and FX-100: friction feed

Top-of-form position

Paper-thickness lever

starting up

Control panel

The FX tests itself

BASIC Communications

Character strings

BASIC print commands

ASCII and BASIC basics

Control codes

Escape-CHR$(27)-and other CHR$ commands

Change Commands

Reset Code

Mode cancelling codes

DELete and CANcel

Alternate Formats for ESCape Sequences

Summary

Dot-Matrix Printing

Main columns

Intermediate positions

Modes for Pitches

Pica and Elite Modes

Compressed Mode

Mode priorities

Pitch Mode Combinations

ExpandedMode

Multiple print pitches on one line

Summary

Bold Modes

Double-Strike Mode

Emphasized Mode

Proportional Mode

Mixing Modes

Summary

Four Modes

Underline Mode

Script Modes: Super and Sub

Italic Mode

More Mode Combinations

Master Select

Master Select combinations

Backspace

Overstrikes

offsets

Unidirectional Mode