Epson LX-90 Parts User Manual

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sumed 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. assumes no responsibility for

errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

Printout on page 45 courtesy of PalSoftware Corporation, Los Angeles, CA, drawn using ArtPak Presentation System. Artpak is a trademark of PalSoftware Corporation. HomeWriter, LX-90, and PIC are trademarks of Epson America, Inc. IBM is a registered trademark and PCjr is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. WordStar is a registered trademark of MicroPro International Corporation.

P8592021

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Installation and Operation

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Inserting the Printer Interface Cartridge Printing the Test Patterns Connecting the Printer to Your PCjr Control Panel Using Your Printer

SelecType

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SelecType Operation Turning SelecType On

Selecting typestyles SelecType exercise Mode combination

SelecType Tips

Elements of Dot Matrix Printing

3. and Computer/Printer Communications

The Print Head

Changing Pitches

NLQ Mode

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ESCape and ASCII

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7 7

7 8 9

13 13 14 15 16

LX-90 Features

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Demonstration Programs How to Run BASIC Programs Pica Printing Changing Pitches Cancelling Codes

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Resetting the Printer Pitch Comparison Near Letter Quality Mode

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17 17 18 19 19 20 20 21 21

. . .

III

Print Enhancements and Special Characters

Bold Modes Emphasized Mode Double-Strike

Expanded Mode.. .............................

Mode Combinations Underline Mode Master Select Superscript and Subscript

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23 23 23 24 25 25 26 27 28

6. Page Formatting

Margins.. ....................................

Skip Over Perforation

Line Spacing.. ................................

Paper Out Sensor Justification with NLQ

User-Defined Characters

Defining Your Own Characters Designing Process

Definition program 1 Running the program Definition program 2 Running the program

Defining NLQ Characters

NLQ grid NLQ definition program NLQ definition program

8. Introduction to Dot Graphics

Dot Patterns The Print Head and Graphics Graphics Mode Pin Labels First Graphics Program WIDTH Statements Multiple-Line Exercise Density Varieties Reassigning Code Column Reservation Numbers Designing Your Own Graphics

String variables

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29 29 30 30 31 31

33 33 34 36 37 38 39 39 40 42 43

45 46 46 47 48 49 50 50 52 53 53 54 57

Appendixes

LX-90 Characters ..............................

Standard Character Mode (Draft) Standard Character Mode (NLQ) Alternate Character Mode (Draft) Alternate Character Mode (NLQ)

Control Codes in Numeric Order

Control Key Chart

Control Codes by Function

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

Near Letter Quality Mode Character Width (Pitch) Character Weight Print Enhancement

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

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Mode and Character-Set Selection

Special Printer Features

Line Spacing

Forms Control Page Format

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

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

User-Defined Characters

Dot Graphics

The DIP Switches

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

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

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

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

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

A-l A-2 A-4 A-6 A-8

B-l B-9

C-l C-l C-l C-l c-2 c-2 c-2 c-2 c-3 c-3 c-3 c-3

D-l

Troubleshooting and Advanced Features

Installation of Commercial Software Programs

SelecType Features and Solutions Troubleshooting Beeper Error Warnings Graphics

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Data Dump Mode IBM PC BASIC Solutions

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Index.. ......................................

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E-l E-l E-2 E-3 E-3 E-4 E-4 E-6

F-l

Introduction

The Epson LX-90 printer combines low price with the high quality and advanced capabilities formerly available only on more expensive printers.

The LX-90 User’s Manual tells you how to set up your printer. This Printer Interface Cartridge Operation Manual gives you the specific information you need to use the LX-90 with your PCjr computer.

This manual won’t waste your time with unnecessary information, but it also won’t neglect anything you need to know about the LX-90

and its features.

You can read as much or as little of this manual as you wish. The

first chapter tells how to test the printer and connect it to your computer. The second chapter explains SelecType, a feature that offers you five special typefaces. The other chapters explain the main features of the LX-90, and the appendixes give technical information on the printer.

Note

Although all references in this manual are to the Epson LX-90 printer, this PIC can also be used with the Epson HomeWriter™-10.

The samples of typestyles and graphics on the next page are a pre-

view of what your LX-90 can do.

Expanded emphasized

Typewriter-style Near Letter Quality

Emphasized bold printing

Double-strike bold printing

Compressed narrow

Elite printing

printing

Chapter 1

Installation and Operation

After you have set up your printer and loaded the paper (following the directions in the LX-90 User’s Manual), you are ready to plug in your Printer Interface Cartridge (PIP™) and begin printing.

Inserting the Printer Interface Cartridge

Inserting the PIC is easy. The cartridge slides into the rectangular opening, as shown in the LX-90 manual. Be sure the printer is OFF when you insert the PIC. Once the PIC is installed, you are ready to test your printer.

Printing the Test Patterns

It’s time to see the LX-90 in action. You’ll start with a test pattern. Don’t connect the printer to your computer yet-just follow these

steps:

1. Make sure that your printer has paper in it and that the power switch (on the right side of the printer) is off.

2. Press the LF button on the control panel, and at the same time, turn the printer on with the power switch.

The LX-90 begins printing letters, numbers, and symbols in the draft mode. It won’t stop until you turn it off or until it gets near the end of the paper.

To see the same test in the NLQ (Near Letter Quality) mode, turn the printer on while pressing the FF button. Figure l-1 shows what both test patterns look like.

Draft

/0123456789::<=>? 0123456789:;<=>?

123456789:;<=>?

23456789:;<=>? .3456789:;<=>?

456789:;<=>?

NLQ

@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]'

@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY

@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[

@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\

@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUUVWXYZ[\]

3456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\] 456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]ˆ 56789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]ˆ6789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]ˆ-' 789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\I^-'a 89:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\l

Figure I-l. Test patterns

Connecting the Printer to Your PCjr

Before connecting the LX-90, be sure that all your computer equip-

ment is turned off.

Plug the PIC cable into the socket marked S in the back of your

PCjr. Now the printer can communicate with your computer.

-'ab

Control Panel

After connecting your LX-90 to your computer system, turn on the

printer and look at the control panel on the top.

Figure 1-2. Control panel

You have already used the control panel for a special purpose, printing the test patterns. Here are the main functions of the lights and buttons on this panel:

The POWER light glows green when the power is on.

The READY light glows green when the printer is ready to accept

data. Don’t worry if this light flickers somewhat during printing;

this flickering is normal.

The PAPER OUT light glows red when the printer is out of paper or

the paper is loaded incorrectly.

The ON LINE light glows green when the printer can receive data.

In addition to the lights, the control panel has three buttons.

ON LINE-switches the printer between on-line and off-line status.

When the printer is on-line, the ON LINE light glows and the printer is ready to accept data.

The other two buttons, FF and LF, work only when the printer is off-line (when the ON LINE light is off). If the ON LINE light is on, press the ON LINE button before you use these.

l FF (Form Feed)-advances continuous paper to the top of the

next page or ejects a single sheet of paper.

LF (Line

Feed)-advances the paper one line at a time.

The control panel can also be used to turn on several printing func-

tions using SelecType, a feature which is described in the next chapter.

Using Your Printer

If you have a word processing or other commercial software program, just load the program into your computer, follow the printing instructions, and watch your LX-90 print.

If your software program requires you to specify which printer you

are using, see Appendix E for instructions.

If you plan to use your

LX-90

for printing program listings, load a program and use the appropriate listing command for the programming language you are using.

For example, if you are using the BASIC that is built into your PCjr

computer, type NEW and then enter the following simple program:

10 FOR X=1 TO 5 20 PRINT

NEXT X

Then make sure your printer is turned on and type the following:

X/3

LLIST

Then press

You can now begin using the LX-90 with your software, or you can find out about the special features of the printer in the next chapters. You may be especially interested in SelecType, the feature described in Chapter 2, which you can use with nearly all software.

ENTER

and your LX-90 will list the program.

Chapter 2

SelecType

The LX-90 enables you to use a feature called SelecType to produce

five special typestyles:

Typewriter-style Near Letter Quality,

Emphasized bold printing,

Double-strike bald printing ,

Compressed narrow printing,

or Elite printing.

Choosing typestyles with SelecType is simple. A few taps on the

printer’s control panel tell the printer which style you want, and SelecType lets you choose the typestyle each time you print. For example, you can print the first draft of a letter or report in the standard mode and the final version in the NLQ mode.

SelecType Operation

Using SelecType is simple. You turn on SelecType and select a

typestyle, then turn off SelecType and print.

Turning SelecType On

1. Make sure that the printer is on and that the POWER, READY, and ON LINE lights are all on.

Press both the trated in Figure 2-1.

ON LINE

and

buttons at the same time, as illus-

Figure 2-1. Turning SelecType on

When you press the

ON LINE

and

buttons, the LX-90 signals in

three ways that SelecType is on.

The printer beeps.

The READY light turns off.

The ON LINE light begins flashing.

Selecting typestyles

In SelecType, each button has a function:

ON LINE selects typestyles.

. FF sets the styles.

LF turns SelecType off.

After turning on SelecType, follow these three steps to select a

typestyle:

1. Find the typestyle you want in Table 2-1.

Table

2-1.

SelecType modes

Mode

NLQ

Emphasized

Double-strike

Compressed

5 Elite

2. Press the ON LINE button the number of times indicated in the

Typestyle

ABCDEFGHIJKLMnopqrstuvwxyz

ABCEDEFGHIJKLMnopqrstuvwxyz

ABCDEFGHIJKLMnopqrstuvwxyz

mode column. Be sure that the printer beeps each time you press the

ON LINE

button.

3. Press the

4. Press the LF button to turn SelecType off. The control panel

button to set the typestyle.

returns to its normal functions, but the printer is off-line.

5. Press the

ON LINE

button, and you are ready to print.

SelecType exercise

You will probably use SelecType mainly with commercial software,

but since there are so many different commercial software programs,

the sample exercises are in BASIC because it is built into the PCjr.

You don’t need to know anything about programming for this exercise because it is merely for practice. If you would rather not use BASIC, use your word processing or business program to create a short file or document of the type you will usually print.

If you do want to use BASIC for this exercise, simply turn on your

computer and printer. Then type the short program listed below.

Only the words inside the quotation marks are printed. You can put anything you want there.

l0 LPRINT "This is an example of" 20 LPRINT "LX-90 printing."

Now, run the program by typing RUN and pressing

ENTER,

print your file or document by following the printing instructions of

your software. The LX-90 will print your example in standard singlestrike printing, as shown below:

This is an example of

LX-90 printing.

Now that you have created a sample, follow these steps to print it in

emphasized mode:

1. See that both the ON LINE and READY lights are on.

Press the

ON LINE

and

buttons at the same time. You hear a

beep to signal that SelecType is on.

3. As shown in Table 2-1, the code for emphasized is two. Therefore, press the you hear a beep each time you press the

ON LINE

button two times. (Remember to make sure

ON LINE

button when

you are in SelecType mode.)

4. Now that you have selected the emphasized mode, push the

button once to set it.

5. Push the

button once to return the panel to its standard opera-

tion .

6. Press the

ON LINE

button so the LX-90 is ready to print.

Now you have set the LX-90 to print in emphasized mode. Print your sample once more. It should appear in emphasized mode just as you see below:

This is an example of LX-90 printing.

Turn off your printer to cancel the emphasized setting, and-if you wish-try this exercise with other modes. If you are using commercial software and SelecType will not change the typestyle, see “SelecType Features” in Appendix E.

Mode combination

Two of the SelecType modes (NLQ and emphasized) can be combined to create an impressive effect. If you want to see this combination, turn your printer off and back on and follow the instructions below :

1. See that the ON LINE and READY lights are on.

2. Press the ON LINE and FF buttons at the same time.

3. Press the ON LINE button once and then the FF button once.

Since one is the code for NLQ, you have now set the

Press the ON LINE button one more time and then the FF button

once again.

This makes a total of two times, and thus sets the sized also.

5. Press the LF button to return the panel to its standard operation.

Press the ON LINE button to put the LX-90 on-line.

Now print your sample document or run your sample program. If

your printing appears in

LX-90

for NLQ.

for empha-

emphasized Near Letter Quality

as you see here, you have successfully combined the two modes. If you get any other results, turn your printer off and back on and then try the steps again.

You can combine other modes using the same technique, but some

modes will not mix with others. Table 2-2 shows which modes can be combined. A dot in a box indicates that the two modes can be combined.

Table 2-2. Mode combinations

Mode

NLQ Emphasized

Double-strike

Compressed

Elite •

NLQ

Emphasized

•

Double-

strike

•

Compressed Elite

• •

•

Don’t worry about harming your printer if you try to combine two

modes that the LX-90 can’t mix. Your settings cannot damage the

printer because it is prepared for the possibility of receiving codes for

conflicting modes. If it receives codes for two modes that it can’t com-

bine, it uses only one of the codes.

SelecType Tips

After you turn on a mode with SelecType, it usually stays in effect until the printer is turned off. If, for example, you use SelecType to print a document in emphasized, anything you print after that will be emphasized unless you first turn the printer off and back on.

If you like NLQ or compressed well enough to use it most of the

time, you can turn it on and keep it on with a special switch in the

back of your printer. See Appendix D for instructions.

For more information on the SelecType typestyles, see Chapters 3,

4, and 5.

Chapter 3

Elements of Dot Matrix Printing

and Computer/Printer Communications

This chapter is for those of you who want to know something about

how your printer works. It’s a simple, non-technical explanation of

the basics of dot matrix printing that will help you understand some of the later chapters, particularly the ones on user-defined characters and graphics.

The Print Head

The LX-90 uses a print head with nine pins or wires mounted vertically. Each time a pin is fired, it strikes the inked ribbon and presses it against the paper to produce a dot. This dot is about 1/72nd of an inch in diameter. The size varies slightly depending upon the age of the ribbon and the type of paper used. As the head moves horizontally across the page, these pins are fired time after time in different patterns to produce letters, numbers, symbols, or graphics.

For example, to print a pica capital T, the head fires the top pin, moves 1/60th of an inch, fires the top pin again, moves 1/60th of an inch, fires the top pin and the six below it at the same time, moves 1/60th of an inch, fires the top pin, moves another 1/6Oth of an inch, and fires the top pin once more to finish the letter. All this happens in only l/lOOth of a second.

Figure 3-7. A capital T

Changing Pitches

In addition to pica, in which there are LX-90 can also print in other widths, or pitches. It does so by reducing the distance between pin firings. In the elite mode it prints 12 characters per inch and in the compressed mode it prints slightly more than

characters per inch. The pattern of the dots is not changed, but the

horizontal space between them is reduced.

characters per inch, the

Figure 3-2 shows enlargements of four sample letters in three pitches. These letters are chosen to show how the LX-90 prints letters that are uppercase and lowercase, wide and and without descenders (the bottom dots of the j and y).

each of

narrow,

the

and with

This is pica.

This is elite.

This is compressed.

Figure 3-2. The three pitches

The dot pattern of each character is carefully designed so that in

pica no dot overlaps another. The reason is that in printing the pins cannot fire and retract and fire again quickly enough to print one dot overlapping another.

the LX-90

normal

high-speed

NLQ Mode

The preceding examples are in the LX-90’s draft mode, but the LX-90 also has the high-quality NLQ (Near Letter Quality) mode that you have seen in previous chapters.

The NLQ letters are more fully-formed than the draft letters because they are made up of many more dots as you can see below.

Figure 3-3 shows enlargements of two letters in draft mode compared

with the same two in the NLQ mode.

Figure 3-3. Near Letter Quality and draft characters compared

With the two modes, draft and NLQ, the LX-90 lets you choose high speed or high quality each time you print. You can print your ordinary work or preliminary drafts quickly in the draft mode and use the NLQ mode for final copies or special purposes.

SelecType makes it especially easy to change from draft to NLQ, but you can also select and cancel the NLQ mode with a software command or with a special switch in the back of your printer. You can find the software command in Chapter 4 and the operation of the switch (called a DIP switch) in Appendix D.

ESCape and ASCII

The details of printer-computer communication are complex, but for most purposes all you need to know is that the computer sends a series of codes (each consisting of one or more numbers) to the printer, and the printer interprets them.

Some codes tell the printer to print a character, and other codes tell it to turn on or off certain printer functions, such as emphasized or Near Letter Quality. Because the codes between 0 and cally standardized by the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) they are referred to as ASCII numbers in this manual.

Nearly all of the codes for printer functions require more than one number and begin with a special code, called the escape code. This code signals that the next number is a code for a printer function and its name is usually printed with the first three letters capitalized (Escape) or it is abbreviated ESC or (ESC) .

In the demonstration programs in this manual, you’ll see how ASCII and ESCape codes are used in the BASIC programming lan-

guage.

LPRINT signals that information is to be sent to the printer.

127

are basi-

The CHR$ (character string) function is used for numerical codes.

CHR$(27)

Quotation marks are used for printable characters, such as letters of

is the ESCape code.

the alphabet.

Your word processing or business program may use other methods to send those codes, such as pressing the ESC key for the ESCape code. See your software manual for further information and use Appendixes A and B of this manual to find the proper codes. Appendix E also has some suggestions on using LX-90 features with applications software.

Chapter 4

LX-90 Features

The next four chapters describe many of the printing features of the LX-90. You can read these chapters if you wish, but you may not need to. Whether or not you use the rest of this manual depends upon your expertise, your interest, and the software you plan to use.

Demonstration Programs

Along with discussion and examples of the LX-90 features, these

chapters include demonstrations in the BASIC programming language so that you can see these features in action. Although you will

probably not do much of your printing using BASIC, the demonstrations are in BASIC because it is built into your PCjr, so the examples are ones that every one of you can try.

You don’t need to know anything about BASIC to type in and run these programs. All the instructions you need are on the next page.

As you run the programs (or even as you read the explanations and

look at the printed examples), you learn how the LX-90 responds to

the messages your computer sends it by printing letters, numbers, symbols, and graphics in various print modes.

Even if you never use BASIC again, you will know the capabilities of your printer, capabilities that can often solve your printing prob-

lems. For example, if you need a special symbol, such as the scientific

symbol for one of the planets, you will know that you can turn to the

chapter on user-defined characters and create such a character.

If you don’t want to do the exercises in BASIC, you don’t have to. In most cases the software that you use for word processing, business, or graphics does the calculating and communicating with the

printer for you and all you have to know about the printer is how to turn it on and how to load paper. If you need help with the installation program for your software, see Appendix E.

How to Run BASIC Programs

If you want to know just enough about BASIC to run the demonstration programs in this manual, here’s all you need. For

more information, see the manuals for the PCjr.

Even if you don’t have a BASIC cartridge, you can still use the

version of BASIC that’s built into the PCjr’s memory. Simply

turn on your PCjr with no cartridges or disks in it. When the BASIC copyright notice and the message screen, you can begin entering and running programs.

If you do have a BASIC cartridge, plug in the cartridge, insert a disk containing DOS in the disk drive (if you have one), and turn

on the PCjr. Then enter the new date and time as requested by

the onscreen messages (or press displays the prompt A). Type BASICA and press ENTER. When the BASIC copyright notice and the message you can begin entering and running programs. If you want to save programs, replace your DOS disk with a blank formatted disk.

ENTER

appear on your

twice). The screen then

appear,

With either type of BASIC, manual exactly as you see them. Be sure to include all spaces and punctuation marks, especially semicolons. Press end of each line. Since the PCjr uses a 40-column display in the standard mode, it breaks some lines into two parts on the screen, but that does not affect the operation of the program. If you make a typing mistake, retype the whole line; the new line will replace the old one.

When you have typed all the lines, press the

key to run the program.

If you have made changes to a program and want to see all of it on the screen, press Fn, F1, and then ENTER to list the program. When you are completely through with one program and want to start another, type NEW and press

simply type the programs in this

ENTER

key and then the

ENTER.

at the

In Chapter 3 you saw the enlargements of the three LX-90 pitches.

Now you’ll learn how to produce them.

Pica Printing

The first exercise is a simple three-line program to print a sample

line of characters in pica, the standard pitch. Enter this program:

FOR X=65 TO 105

50 LPRINT CHR$(X);

60 NEXT X: LPRINT: LPRINT

Now run the program. You should get the results you see below,

pica characters per inch.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVXYZ[\]ˆ-'acdefghi

Changing Pitches

Now you can try other pitches. As explained in Chapter 3, the

LX-90 uses the same pattern of dots for pica, elite, and compressed

characters, but it changes the horizontal spaces between the dots to produce the three different widths.

In elite mode there are 12 characters per inch, and in compressed there are “M” command and prints in compressed when it receives the ASCII command. Print a sample line of elite characters by adding the line

below to your previous program. (Simply type this line and press

ENTER;

mode. When you run the program, your printout should look like the

one below.

17.16.

The LX-90 prints in elite when it receives the ESCape

you do not need to retype the other lines.)

20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"M";

This line uses the command for elite, ESCape "M“, to turn on that

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]ˆ-'abcdefghi

The next addition to the program cancels elite with ESCape “P” and turns on compressed with ASCII

LPRINT CHR$(27)"P"CHR$(15);

15:

Now run the program to see the line printed in compressed mode.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]ˆ-'abcdefghi

Cancelling Codes

As you saw in the third version of the print pitch program, you

must cancel a code when you don’t want it any more. With very few

exceptions, the LX-90 modes stay on until they are cancelled. It is important to remember this because an LX-90 mode can stay on even if you change from BASIC to another type of software. For example, if you run the program above and print a memo with a word processing program afterward, the memo is printed in compressed because the printer is still in compressed mode. To cancel compressed, use ASCII 18. In BASIC, you use this format:

LPRINT CHR$(18)

To avoid having one program interfere with the printing modes of

another, you can cancel a mode one of two ways:

With a specific cancelling code, such as the ESCape "P" used above

to cancel elite and the ASCII 18 to cancel compressed. Each mode

has a cancelling code, which you can find in the discussion of the

code and in Appendix B. Pica is an exception to this rule. To cancel pica, turn on elite or compressed.

By resetting the printer, a method explained in the next section.

Resetting the Printer

Resetting your LX-90 cancels all modes that are turned on. You can

reset the printer with one of two methods:

Sending the reset code (Escape “@“)

Turning the printer off and back on

Either one of these methods returns the printer to what are called its defaults, which are the standard settings that are in effect every time you turn the printer on. The two effects of resetting the printer that you should be concerned with are: it returns the printing to singlestrike pica, thus cancelling any other pitches or enhancements

you may have turned on, and the current position of the print head becomes the top of page setting.

Some of the demonstration programs end with a reset code (Escape “@“) so that the commands from one program will not interfere with the commands in the next one. After you run a program with a reset code in it, remember to change the top of page setting before you begin printing full pages.

Pitch Comparison

Now that you have used three short programs to produce samples of the three main pitches, you can choose the pitch that you prefer or the one that best fits a particular printing job. Most people use either pica or elite for printing text and compressed for spreadsheets or other applications in which it is important to get the maximum number of characters on a line.

In fact, if you need even more than the 132 characters per line that compressed gives you, you can combine elite and compressed for a mode called compressed elite. It is not really another pitch, because the size of the characters is the same as in the compressed mode; only the space between the characters is reduced. You can see this mode, which allows 160 characters to fit on a line, if you replace line 30 in your last program to produce the following program:

20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"M";

LPRINT CHR$(15);

FOR

X=65 TO 105

LPRINT CHR$(X);

NEXT X: LPRINT

With this addition, the program turns on compressed but doesn’t turn off elite, giving you the printout below:

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]ˆ_'abcdefghi

Near Letter Quality Mode

The examples so far in this chapter are in the draft mode, but you

can also use a software command to turn on the NLQ mode, which

you turned on with SelecType in Chapter 2.

Enter and run the following program to see how the NLQ mode is

turned on by an ESCape sequence:

NEW

10 LPRINT CHR$(27)"x"CHR$(l);

20 FOR X=65 TO 105

LPRINT CHR$(X);

NEXT X: LPRINT

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]ˆ-'abcdefghi

Note that you use a lowercase x, not a capital X, in line

10.

Because of the high resolution of the NLQ mode, it prints only in pica, not in elite or compressed.

All the modes demonstrated in this chapter are compared in Table

4-1.

Table 4-1. Summary

Print sample

1 inch On Off

Near Letter Quality

Pica print

Elite print

Compressed print

Compressed elite print

Remember that you don’t have to use BASIC to change modes; you can use any method or software that sends the proper codes to the printer.

LX-90 pitches

CPI

10.00

12.00

17.16

20.00

Codes

ESC "x" 1 ESC "x" 0

ESC "M"

ESC "M" 15 ESC "P" 18

ESC "P"

Chapter 5

Print Enhancements and Special

Characters

Besides the pitches (pica, elite, and compressed) covered in Chap-

ters 3 and 4, the LX-90 offers many other typestyles.

Bold Modes

Two of the typestyles (emphasized and double-strike) are bolder

than standard printing.

Emphasized Mode

In the emphasized mode the LX-90 prints each dot twice, with the second dot slightly to the right of the first. In order to do this, the print head must slow down so that it has time to fire, retract, and fire the pins quickly enough to produce the overlapping dots. This method produces better-looking, more fully-formed characters that are darker than single-strike characters.

To see an example of emphasized, type and run the following program. (See “How to Run BASIC Programs” in Chapter 4 if necessary.)

NEW

10 LPRINT "This is standard printing."

20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"E";

LPRINT "This is emphasized printing."

100 LPRINT CHR$(27)"@"

This is standard printing.

This is emphasized printing

Emphasized works only in draft pica and NLQ modes. In elite and compressed the dots are already so close together that even with the reduced print speed, the pins quickly enough to print overlapping dots.

You do sacrifice some print speed with emphasized, because the print head slows down and prints twice as many dots, but the increase in print quality is well worth it. Indeed, you may want to use emphasized instead of the NLQ mode for some purposes because emphasized printing is faster than NLQ printing. The code to turn off emphasized is ESCape “F”.

LX-90

cannot fire, retract, and again fire the

Double-Strike

The other bold mode is double-strike. For this mode the LX-90 prints each line, then moves the paper up slightly and prints the line again. Each dot is printed twice, with the second one slightly below the first as you “G” to turn on double-strike.

10 LPRINT "This is standard printing." 20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"G";

LPRINT "This is double-strike printing."

100 LPRINT CHR$(27)"@"

can

see if you

run

this program, which uses ESCape

This is standard printing.

This is double-strike printing.

Unlike emphasized, double-strike combines with any draft pitch (but not with NLQ) because it does not overlap dots horizontally. Since each line in this mode is printed twice, the speed of your printing is slowed. The code to turn off double-strike is ESCape “H”.

Some users prefer the effect of emphasized, and others prefer double-strike. You can look at the printout below and decide for yourself.

This

this is emphasized printing; and

is standard

printing ;

this is double-strike printing.

Expanded Mode

Perhaps the most dramatic mode on the LX-90 is expanded. It produces extra-wide characters that are good for titles and headings. For this mode, the dot pattern of each character is expanded and twice as many dots are printed. You can see the difference between pica and expanded pica if you enter and run this program:

l0 LPRINT "This is standard printing." 20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"W1";

LPRINT "This is expanded."

100 LPRINT CHR$(27)"@"

This is standard printing

This is expanded.

For this mode the letter W and the numeral one together turn the mode on and the letter W and the numeral zero together turn it off. Thus ESCape “Wl” turns on expanded and ESCape "WO” turns it off.

Those of you who are programmers may be interested in another form of expanded. In this alternate form, called one-line expanded, the printing is the same as that in the example but it is turned on by ASCII 14 and is turned off by a line feed, ASCII 20, or ESCape “W0”.

Mode Combinations

You can also combine modes using control codes. For example, you can make a title especially vivid by combining emphasized and expanded. In fact, you can combine nearly all of the print modes on the LX-90; your LX-90 printer can print such complicated combinations as double-strike emphasized expanded underlined subscript, although you may never want such a combination. The point is, however, that the LX-90 has the ability to produce almost any combination you can think of; it’s up to you to decide which ones you want to use.

To see emphasized combined with expanded, change two lines in your previous program:

20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"Wl"CHR$(27)"E";

LPRINT "Emphasized expanded"

When you run the program, your printout should match the one

below, showing that the two modes combine with no ‘trouble.

This is standard printing.

Emphasized expanded.

A later section in this chapter explains a special ESCape code, Master Select, which allows you to control seven features with one ESCape sequence.

Underline Mode

The LX-90 also has a mode that will underline characters and spaces. You turn it on with ESCape “-1” and off with ESCape “-0”. Note that the underline code is like the expanded code in that it uses a character, in this case the hyphen or minus sign, combined with numeral one to turn it on and a character combined with the numeral zero to turn it off. You can see it in action with the following program:

NEW

10 LPRINT "This text is not underlined." 20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"-l"; 30 LPRINT "This text is underlined."

This is not underlined.

This text is underlined.

As shown in the printout above, the underline mode is continuous, but some word processing and other applications programs produce an underline that leaves small gaps in the line as demonstrated in the printout below.

This uses the underline character.

If your software prints this type of underline, it is using the LX-90’s underline character (ASCII underline character is only five dots wide, it does not fill the spaces between characters.

95),

not the underline mode. Because the

Master Select

The LX-90 has a special ESCape code called Master Select that allows you to choose any possible combination of seven different modes: pica, elite, compressed, emphasized, double-strike, expanded, and underline. The format of the Master Select code is ESCape “!” followed by a number that is calculated by adding together the values of the modes listed below:

underline expanded double-strike emphasized compressed 4 elite pica

For any combination, just add up the values of each of the modes you want and use the total as the number after ESCape “!“. For example, to calculate the code for expanded underlined pica, add the following numbers together:

underline expanded pica

To print this combination, therefore, you use ESCape "!” followed by the number 160. In the BASIC programming language the command is CHR$(27)“!“CHR$(l60).

To try this number or any other, enter and run this short program, which will ask you for a Master Select number and then give you a sample of printing using that code.

128

32 16

128

160

10 INPUT "Master Select number";M 20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"!"CHR$(M) 30 LPRINT "This sample of printing uses "

LPRINT "Master Select number";M

50 LPRINT CHR$(27)"@"

In this program, you can use any number you calculate by using the formula above, but remember that emphasized can’t combine with compressed or elite. If you try to combine emphasized with either of the two narrow pitches, you won’t harm your printer; it will simply use a priority list in its memory to determine which mode to use.

The printer’s priority list causes a combination of emphasized and

elite to produce elite only, a combination of emphasized and com-

pressed to produce emphasized only, and a combination of all three to

produce compressed elite. Also remember that elite or compressed will cancel pica.

Master Select is a powerful code that gives you an easy way to produce multiple combinations with a single command. To see double-strike emphasized underlined printing, for example, you need only one ESCape code instead of three.

Indeed, Master Select is such a powerful feature that it may occasionally be more powerful than you want it to be. Because it controls seven different modes, a Master Select code will cancel any of those seven that are not selected. For example, suppose that you have a page in elite and want part of it underlined. If you use ESCape "!”

turn on underlining, your instead of underlined elite because the Use

129

for underlined elite.

LX-90

will begin printing in underlined pica

128

code does not include elite.

128

Superscript and Subscript

Your

LX-90

can use for mathematical formulas, footnotes, and other items that require numbers or letters above or below the usual print line. ESCape

“SO” turns on superscript and ESCape

“T” turns off either one. You can see them in action with the program below:

can also print superscripts and subscripts, which you

"Sl"

turns on subscript. ESCape

10 LPRINT "The formula for water is H"; 20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"S1";"2"CHR$(27)"T"; 30 LPRINT "0." 40 LPRINT CHR$(27)"@"

The formula or water is H2O.

Now that you see how to use the ESCape sequences for superscript

and subscript, you can devise your own examples.

Chapter

Page Formatting

Although the LX-90 printer has many sophisticated commands to set margins, line spacing, and horizontal and vertical tabs, this chapter won’t take up your time with extensive discussions of these because most are taken care of by applications programs. Instead, this chapter describes a few commands that the average user might need. For more information, see Appendixes B and C, where all the commands are listed and described.

Margins

The LX-90 allows you to set the left and right margins with simple ESCape sequences. The left margin command is ESCape "1” followed by the number of the column you choose for the left margin. The right margin command is ESCape “Q” followed by the column number of the right margin you want. For the left margin command, be sure to use a lowercase letter 1, not the numeral one.

If your word processing program does not allow you to change the margins, you can send margin commands to your LX-90 with BASIC or another programming language before you print your documents. For example, if you prefer wider margins than your word processing program gives you, run the following BASIC program before printing. This program gives you a left margin of 60, but you can use any numbers you prefer for the margin commands .

and a right margin of

NEW 10 LPRINT CHR$(27)"1"CHR$(l0); 20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"Q"CHR$(60);

A program like this also allows you to choose the margins you prefer for program listings. Just remember that once you run a program that sets margins, those margins are in effect until you change them with new margin commands or turn off or reset the printer.

You should be aware that a few applications programs reset the

printer before each document or file they print. These programs will,

of course, cancel your new margin settings. If your program resets the printer, use its installation program to remove all codes from the initialization sequence. See Appendix E.

The maximum right margins on the LX-90 printer are 80 in pica, 96 in elite, 132 in compressed, and 160 in compressed elite. For further information on this command see Appendix B.

Skip Over Perforation

If you are using continuous paper for printing program listings or

other material not controlled by an applications program, you may find that the LX-90 prints right over the perforations between pages. The LX-90 has an ESCape code to prevent this: the ESCape “N” command. You send ESCape “N” followed by the number of lines you want the LX-90 to skip at the bottom of a page. For example, in BASIC the following line will make the LX-90 skip 6 lines after each 60 lines if your printer is set for II-inch paper:

10 LPRINT CHR$(27)"N"CHR$(6);

Since an ll-inch page is 66 lines, this will give you one inch of blank space at the bottom of each page. If you prefer to have half of the blank space at the top of the page and half at the bottom, simply set

the top of page approximately three lines (1/2 inch) below the perforation. (See the section on paper loading in the LX-90 manual if you

need to refresh your memory on setting the top of page.)

Line Spacing

Ordinarily you don’t have to worry about how the printer moves

the paper so that it doesn’t print lines of text on top of each other; the

LX-90 takes care of this without any special instructions. The line

spacing on the LX-90, however, can be changed with an ESCape code.

The movement of the paper between lines is called a line feed and

the distance the paper moves is called a line space. In ordinary printing the line spacing is l/6-inch, which produces six lines of print per inch. The standard spacing is the same as 12 rows of dots. Since the LX-90 characters use 9 rows of dots, the 12-dot line spacing leaves 3 blank rows between the lines of text.

The standard line spacing is the only one you need for almost all printing of text, but in some cases you may want to increase or decrease the space between lines. The LX-90 has several commands to do this. ESCape “0” or ESCape “1” decreases the line spacing to l/9-inch, and ESCape “2” returns it to l/6-inch.

In addition there are commands to specify the line spacing in 72nds of an inch and 216ths of an inch. If you need to make such fine adjustments in the line spacing, see Appendix B for the proper commands. In the chapter on dot graphics you will see how useful changes in line spacing can be.

Paper Out Sensor

Under the platen (the black roller) of your LX-90 printer is a small switch that senses whether or not paper is in the printer. When the end of the paper passes this switch, it triggers a signal that sounds the beeper and stops your printing. This saves wear on your print head, ribbon, and platen, but because of the distance between the switch and the print head, it stops the printing about 2 inches from the end of the page. Therefore, if you use single-sheet paper in your LX-90, you can’t print on the last two inches of each page without an adjustment.

If you need to print on the last two inches of single sheet paper, there are two solutions: send the printer an ESCape “8” or change one of the switches described in Appendix D. Then the printer will ignore the paper-out signal. This will allow you to print on the last part of each page, but be careful not to allow the LX-90 to print when there is no paper in it.

Justification with NLQ

The NLQ (Near Letter Quality) mode offers a justification command that gives you four choices in the formatting of your text. The command is ESCape “a” followed by one of these numbers:

0 Left justify 1 Center 2 Right justify 3 Auto justify

Left justification is the standard format, in which the left margin is

even and the right margin is not. This is the way most typewritten pages look.

The centering command centers a line of text between the margins.

This is handy for headings, titles, and captions.

Right justification is the opposite of left justification. The right mar-

gin is even and the left is not.

Auto justification puts extra spaces between words where necessary so that both the left and right margins are even. This is the way most magazines, newspapers, and books (including this one) are printed.

With this command, you need a WIDTH statement at the beginning of your program. The following line shows the proper format.

10 LPRINT WIDTH "LPT1:",255

When you are using auto justification use of paragraphs only, not at the end of each line of text. Also keep in mind that changing the right margin may make justified text look better. The next paragraph is printed with this feature.

Since most word processing programs have

carriage returns at the end

their own justification commands, use this ESCape code only with BASIC or another programming

language,

not

with a

word

processingprogram.

When you use any of the justification commands, be sure to send

the NLQ

command first.

Chapter 7

User-Defined Characters

The LX-90 has several hundred different characters stored in its Read Only Memory. Although this number includes draft, Near Letter Quality, international, and graphics characters, sometimes you would like to have a few more. For those occasions when you need a special character or a few letters in a different typeface, the LX-90 allows you to create your own characters and print them just as if they were ordinary letters.

Defining Your Own Characters

The printout below displays a few such characters to give you an

idea of what can be done, but remember that you can create whatever

you need or want.

It may seem that designing a character and telling the LX-90 how to print it would be extremely complicated, but in this chapter the task is reduced to a simple three-step process: planning your character, running one program that tests your work and calculates the required DATA numbers, and running another program to put the character in your printer’s Random Access Memory (RAM) for use whenever you need it.

Because the high-resolution NLQ (Near Letter Quality) mode uses

many more dots per character than the draft mode, defining NLQ

characters is somewhat more complex than defining draft characters.

You will find the programs for defining NLQ characters at the end of

this chapter.

After you have created your own characters, you can re-program seldom-used keys to generate the user-defined characters. For example, you will be able to type < to print R .

Your user-defined characters can be utilitarian or imaginative, anything from a scientific symbol to script letters for your initials. Just follow the simple steps below.

The only restriction on your creativity is that the characters you define must follow the same rules that govern the rest of the characters printed by the LX-90. In Figure 7-l are four pica letters with a grid of lines behind them so that you can see how they are designed.

As you look at these characters, notice the three rules that govern their design: the column on the right side is always left blank so that there will be spaces between the characters on a line; a character can use the top row or the bottom row, but no character uses both the top and the bottom row; and a dot can be placed on a vertical line only when the columns next to that line are not used.

Figure 7-1. LX-90 dot matrix characters

Designing Process

Suppose that you want to print the scientific symbol for the planet

Mercury. Although the LX-90 has a number of special symbols, Mercury’s symbol is not one of them. You can, however, create and print such a symbol with ease. First, use a grid like the one in Figure 7-2 to

plan where to place the dots.

123456789

Figure

7-2.

Grid for designing draft characters

Because the last two columns are reserved for the space between characters, they are not included in the grid. And since most characters do not use the bottom two rows, a heavy line indicates the usual lower limit for an LX-90 character.

When you place your dots on this grid, remember that dots cannot

go on horizontal lines, but they can go on vertical lines so long as they

do not overlap any other dots. As you design your characters, draw the dots as large as you see them in the example on the left in Figure

7-3.

If you draw them smaller, you may have overlapping dots with-

out realizing it.

8 7 7 6 5 4 3 2

1 1

6 5 4 3 2

dot on horizontal line

overlapping dots

dot on horizontal line

123456789

Figure

7-3,

123456789

Correct and incorrect designs

If you do accidentally call for overlapping dots, don’t worry. The

program will still work, but only one of the dots will be printed.

Definition program 1

The BASIC program below will help you translate your design into a character your LX-90 can print. Type it in now so that you can run it soon.

NEW

100 DIM F(9) 110 FOR I=1 TO 9 120 PRINT "WHICH ROWS HAVE DOTS IN COLUMN";I 130 INPUT R: IF R=0 THEN 150 140 F(I)=F(I)+2A(R-1) 150 IF R=0 THEN NEXT I ELSE GOT0 130 160 LPRINT CHR$(27)":"

CHR$(0)CHR$(0)CHR$(0); 170 LPRINT CHR$(27)"%"CHR$(1)CHR$(0); 180 LPRINT CHR$(27)"&"CHR$(0)"<<"; 190 LPRINT CHR$(128);

200

FOR X=1 TO 9 210 LPRINT CHR$(F(X));: NEXT X 220 LPRINT CHR$(0)CHR$(0); 230 LPRINT "YOUR CHARACTER IN PICA: < < <" 240 LPRINT "IN EXPANDED EMPHASIZED PICA: "; 250 LPRINT CHR$(27)"!*< < <" 260 LPRINT CHR$(27)

"!"CHR$(0)"YOUR DATA NUMBERS:"

270 FOR K=1 TO 9: LPRINT F(K);: NEXT K

300 LPRINT: END

So that you can see how the program works, the next paragraphs present the steps used to create the symbol for Mercury. First is the grid used to design the character.

123456789

Figure

7-4.

Design for character

Running the program

Now run the program. For each of the nine columns, the program asks for the numbers of the rows in which you want dots to appear. Enter the row numbers one at a time, pressing the ENTER key after

each one. When you have entered all the numbers for a column or

when you want no dots in a column, press ENTER without a number. Remember that the vertical lines in the grid are the even numbered columns.

To see Program 1 produce the character in Figure 7-4 run the program and follow these instructions: When the screen message asks

what rows have dots in the column 1, respond with ENTER to indi-

cate that no dots go in that column. For column 2 (the vertical line), press

ENTER, 5, and ENTER again to indicate that you want dots

in rows 7 and

Then press ENTER alone to indicate that no more

dots go in column 2. For column 3 press 8, 6, 4, and 2, with an

ENTER after each of them. Then press ENTER to finish with column

3 and go on to column 4.

For column 4 press ENTER only. (The rest of the directions assume that you know to press ENTER after each number and one extra time to end the entries for each column.) For column

For column 6, press ENTER only; for column 7 enter 8, 6, 4, and 2; for column 8 enter 7 and

and for column 9 press ENTER only.

enter

6 ,4, 3, 2,

and

Now wait a moment for your computer to calculate the dot patterns and your LX-90 to print the new character in two different typestyles. Your printout also gives you nine numbers, which you will use in the next program. You should get the printout you see below:

When you get to this point with a character of your own, you see how it looks and whether or not you like it. If you want to make any changes, move the dots on the grid as needed and re-run the program.

If you want to put dots in the bottom row, change the number in line

190

from

128

Then the usable rows will be as shown in Figure

7-5.

123456789

Figure 7-5. Using the bottom eight rows

Definition program 2

Once the character looks right, type in the next program. The program as listed creates the symbol for Mercury, but you can use it for any characters you create if you make one or two changes explained after the program listing.

NEW

FOR P=58 TO

63:

LPRINT CHR$(P);: NEXT P

95 LPRINT

100 K=1: IF K>3 THEN A=58 ELSE A=60 110 LPRINT CHR$(27)

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

120 LPRINT CHR$(27)"%"CHR$(1)CHR$(0);

130

LPRINT CHR$(27)"&"CHR$(0)CHR$(A)CHR$(A-1+K);

140

FOR Z=1 TO K 150 LPRINT CHR$(139); 160 FOR X=1 TO 9 170 READ R 180 LPRINT CHR$(R);: NEXT X 190 LPRINT CHR$(0)CHR$(0);

200

NEXT Z

210 DATA 0,80,170,0,47,0,170,80,0

290 FOR P=58 TO 63: LPRINT CHR$(P);: NEXT P 300 LPRINT: END

To use program 2 for your own character or characters, change the DATA numbers in line program DATA numbers for each character on separate lines as you see in the example on the next page.

If you have created more than one character, put the

210

by substituting the numbers generated by

210 DATA 112,8,0,138,116,138,0,8,112 220 DATA 58,68,2,128,0,128,2,68,58

Check your work by making sure that there are nine numbers in

each DATA line and that the numbers are separated by commas.

To define more than one character, use the total number of characters you are defining instead of the 1 in line many as six characters at a time. Just run program 1 several times and enter all the DATA numbers in program 2.)

Running the program

When you run this second program, it prints six characters, then redefines some or all of them and prints them again, as in the example below.

When printed by your own program, the two lines provide you with a key to the characters your LX-90 will now print. When you press the key for one of the characters in the top row, the printer will print the corresponding character in the bottom row. In the example

above, if you press < your LX-90 will print (although your screen

will continue to show the character < ).

100. (You

can define as

Because the program puts these new definitions in your printer’s

Random Access Memory (RAM), it will print the characters in the

bottom row unless it is turned off or receives the reset code.

If you have designed a few characters and want to use them with your word processing program, for example, just run program 2 before you start using your word processing program. Then use the

two-line printout as your guide to tell you which keys to press for

your new characters.

Defining NLQ Characters

Since NLQ characters use many more dots than draft characters, defining NLQ characters is more complex than designing draft ones. If you use the grid and the program in this section, however, you will be able to design your own NLQ characters.

NLQ grid

Because the NLQ characters can use as many as 18 dots vertically

and 12 dots horizontally, you plan your designs on a different grid

than the one for draft characters.

128128

64 3232 16

88 44 22 11

128128

3232 16

88 44 22 11

128128

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Figure

7-6.

Grid for NLQ characters

On this grid you can use any numbered line or space. As you can see, that includes the bottom line and the line on the right side. You should remember to leave one or two columns blank for space

between characters, however.

Each NLQ character definition requires

data numbers. There-

fore, each vertical column must be divided into three sections for the

calculation of data numbers. The process is not difficult once you get some practice using it.

Figure

7-7

shows a single column to make clear how the data num-

bers are calculated. Notice that using circles instead of dots in design-

ing NLQ characters makes it easier to keep track of overlapping dots.

Figure 7-7. Data numbers for one column

To calculate the data numbers for this column, note which dots are

used in the top group (the top eight positions) and add their values

together. Then go down to the middle group (the next 8 positions) and add the values of any dots that are used there. Finally, look at the bottom group (2 dot positions) and add together the values used there.

If no dots are used in a group, the data number for that group is zero. All zeros must be entered in the DATA statements for the NLQ definition programs.

Figure 7-8 shows you how to use the NLQ character definition with a musical design. The figure shows the design drawn on a grid and the data numbers printed at the top or bottom of each column.

126

128

0 7 4 4 7 0

255 128 135 253 0

128 0 0 0 0 0

64 32 16

8 4 2 1

64 32 16

8 4 2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

0 0 4 4 4 0 1 3 0

128 130

128 0 0 0 0

135 0

Figure 7-8. Musical design and data numbers

If you look at each column individually, you can see how the data

numbers are calculated.

NLQ definition program 1

Now type in and run the following program. It has the data num-

bers for the musical design. For a character of your own, change the

data numbers in lines 130 - 150.

NEW

10 LPRINT CHR$(27)"x"CHR$(1)

20 LPRINT CHR$(27) ":"CHR$(0)CHR$(0)CHR$(0);

LPRINT CHR$(27)"%"CHR$(1)CHR$(0);

LPRINT CHR$(27)"&"CHR$(~)~((";

50 LPRINT CHR$(0)CHR$(12)CHR$(0);

FOR X=1 TO

70 READ C: LPRINT CHR$(C);

NEXT X

90 LPRINT "YOUR CHARACTER IN PICA: < < <"

100 LPRINT "IN EXPANDED EMPHASIZED PICA: "; 110 LPRINT CHR$(27)"!*< < <" 120 LPRINT CHR$(27)"!" CHR$(0)

130

DATA 0, 1, 0, 0, 3, 0, 128, 0, 3, 128, 7, 255, 0

140

DATA 4, 128, 0, 4, 128, 0, 4, 130, 0, 4, 135, 0

150 DATA 4, 135, 0, 7, 253, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

YOUR CHARACTER IN PICA:

IN EXPANDED EMPHASIZED PICA:

When you run this program for your own character, you find out whether or not it looks right. If it doesn’t, move the dots as needed, recalculate and change the data numbers, and run the program again.

NLQ definition program 2

When you are satisfied with the character you have created, enter

and run the next program. Use your data numbers instead of the ones in lines 130 - 150. If you want to define more than one character, change line 10 so that J equals the total number of characters you are defining (the maximum is six) and enter the extra data numbers

each character).

(36

for

NEW

10 J=1: IF J>3 THEN A=58 ELSE A=60 20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"x"CHR$(1) 30 FOR X=58 TO 63: LPRINT CHR$(X)" ";: NEXT X 40 LPRINT CHR$(27) ":"CHR$(0)CHR$(0)CHR$(0)

50 LPRINT CHR$(27)"%"CHR$(1)CHR$(0); 60 LPRINT CHR$(27)"&"CHR$(0)CHR$(A)CHR$(A-1+J); 70 FOR Y=1 TO J

80 LPRINT CHR$(0)CHR$(l2)CHR$(0); 90 FOR X=1 TO 36: READ C: LPRINT CHR$(C)

100 NEXT X: NEXT Y 110 FOR X=58 TO 63: LPRINT CHR$(X)" ";: NEXT X 120 LPRINT: END 130 DATA 0, 1, 0, 0, 3, 128, 0, 3, 128, 7, 255, 0 140 DATA 4, 128, 0, 4, 128, 0, 4, 130, 0, 4, 135, 0 150 DATA 7, 135, 0, 7, 253, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

When you run program

one or more of them and prints them again. As with the draft charac-

ters, you use this two-line printout as a guide to the new characters

your LX-90 will print. You can use them with an applications program

or a program you write yourself.

it prints six characters, then redefines

Chapter 8

Introduction to Dot Graphics

The dot graphics mode allows your graphs, charts, or almost any other pictorial material you can devise. Instead of using the standard letters and numbers, the graphics mode prints dots column by column and line by line. You plan where you want the dots to appear and then use a program to tell the where to put them.

Because many software programs use dot graphics, you may be able to print pictures and graphs like the ones on this page and the next

by simply giving your software a few instructions. A chart like the one

on the next page can be created and printed in less than 20 minutes.

LX-90

to produce pictures,

LX-90

INSTALLATIONS BY MONTH

0 JUL

The quickest and easiest way to print graphics on your LX-90 is to use a commercial graphics program. With such programs you usually create an image on your monitor or TV screen and then give a command to send the image to the printer.

If you use commercial software that produces graphics, all you need to know about dot graphics is how to use the software. If, on the other hand, you wish to do your own programming or merely wish to understand how the LX-90 prints graphics, read on.

AUG SEP

OCT

NOV DEC

Dot Patterns

Graphic images are formed on the LX-90 about the same way that pictures in newspapers and magazines are printed. If you look closely at a newspaper photograph, you can see that it is made up of many small dots. The LX-90 also forms its images with patterns of dots, as many as 240 dot positions per inch horizontally and 72 dots per inch vertically. The images you print on the LX-90 can, therefore, be as finely detailed as the one on the first page of this chapter.

If you plan carefully where you want the dots to appear and then use or create a program that gives the proper instructions to the printer, your LX-90 will print almost any picture you can imagine.

The Print Head and Graphics

Chapter 3 told you a little about how the print head on the LX-90 prints letters: it receives a code for a letter and then fires a pattern of pins to form that letter.

In the main graphics mode, however, the LX-90 prints only one column of pins for each code it receives, and it uses only the top eight of the nine pins.

Therefore, your graphics program must send codes for dot patterns, one number for each column in a line. For each of those columns the print head prints the pattern of dots you have specified.

To print figures taller than eight dots, the print head makes more

than one pass. It prints one line, then advances the paper and prints another, just as it does with text.

To keep the print head from leaving gaps between the graphics lines

as it does between the text lines, the line spacing must be changed to eliminate the space between lines. With a change in line spacing, the LX-90 can print finely detailed graphic images that give no indication

that they are made up of separate lines, each no more than 8/72nd of

an inch tall.

Each pass of the print head prints one piece of the total pattern, which can be as tall or short and as wide or narrow as you desire. You don’t have to fill the whole page or even an entire line with your

graphics figures. In fact, you can use as little or as much space as you

like for a figure and put it anywhere on the page.

Graphics Mode

The graphics mode command is quite different from the other commands covered so far in this manual. For most of the other LX-90 modes, such as emphasized and expanded, one ESCape code turns the mode on and another turns it off. For graphics, the command is more complicated because the code that turns on a graphics mode also specifies how many columns it will use. After the LX-90 receives this code, it interprets the next numbers as pin patterns and prints them on the paper.

The LX-90 has several different graphics densities, but the first exercises keep things simple by using only one. The code for entering single-density graphics mode is ESCape “K” n1 n2. In BASIC the command is given in this format:

LPRINT CHR$(27)"K"CHR$(nl)CHR$(n2);

ESCape “K” specifies single-density graphics, and the next two numbers (n1 and n2) specify the number of columns reserved for graphics.

The graphics command requires more than one number to specify how many columns to reserve because as many as 1920 columns are possible in graphics printing. Since the LX-90 doesn’t use decimal numbers larger than 255, the graphics mode command uses two numbers for reserving columns.

To figure the number of columns reserved, multiply the second

number by 256 and add it to the first number. Since the command is

set up for two numbers, you must supply two even if you only need one. When you need less than 256 columns, just make n1 the number of columns you are reserving and make n2 a zero.

Pin Labels

Once you put the printer into graphics mode and reserve the number of columns you want, your next step is to tell the print head which pins to fire in each column. There are 256 possible combinations of eight pins, and you send only one number for each column. The numbering system that allows you to use a single number to specify which

of the 256 possible patterns you want is shown in Figure 8-l.

128

64 32

8 4 2 1

Figure 8-1. Pin labels

To fire any one pin, you send its number. To fire more than one pin

at the same time, add up the numbers of the pins and send the sum to the printer. With these labels for the pins, you fire the top pin by sending 128. To fire the bottom graphics pin, you send 1. If you want to fire only the top and bottom pins, you simply add 128 and 1, then send 129.

By adding the appropriate label numbers together, you can fire any

combination of pins. Figure 8-2 shows three examples of how to calculate the number that will fire a particular pattern of pins.

Figure

With this numbering system, any combination of the eight pins adds up to a decimal number between 0 and 255, and no numbers are duplicated.

Now that you know the principles of Epson graphics, you’re ready for two simple exercises, more densities, and then something more complex as a basis for writing your own programs.

8-2. Calculating numbers for pin patterns

First Graphics Program

Your first graphics exercise could be a program that prints a single column of dots, but it is difficult to see the pattern in a single column of dots, so your first graphics program prints the same pattern 40 times.

The first line is the code for 40 columns of single-density graphics. As usual, the example is in BASIC, but you can adapt it to the programming language you prefer.

NEW 10 LPRINT CHR$(27)"K"CHR$(40)CHR$(0);

The second line is the data that is printed as pin patterns. Be sure

that you type in the semicolons in both lines:

20 FOR X=1 TO 40: LPRINT CHR$(74);: NEXT X

That’s it. Run the program to see the result below. Although it is not

as interesting as the examples at the beginning of this chapter, it does allow you to see exactly how the mode works.

WIDTH Statements

Some software (including IBM Personal Computer BASIC) auto-

matically inserts the control codes for a carriage return and a line feed

after every 80 - 130 characters. This insertion is usually no problem

with text, but it can spoil your graphics. In the graphics mode it may

insert the control codes in the middle of a line.

You can usually prevent these unwanted control codes with a

WIDTH statement. The format in BASIC is shown below:

WIDTH "LPT1:",255

Put a WIDTH statement in one of the first lines of all your graphics programs. It is easier to put a WIDTH statement in all of your programs than to examine each one to see whether or not such a statement is necessary.

Multiple-Line Exercise

Now that you’ve entered and run a simple graphics program, you

can go on to an exercise that shows you how the LX-90 combines several lines of graphics for a figure taller than eight dots.

Start with a line for 100 columns of single-density graphics and lines to print two pin patterns. Notice that since there are two pin patterns in the loop, it is only executed 50 times.

NEW

10 WIDTH "LPT1:",255

LPRINT CHR$(27)"K"CHR$(100)CHR$(0);

50 FOR X=1 TO 50: LPRINT CHR$(85)CHR$(42);

60 NEXT X: LPRINT

100 LPRINT CHR$(27)"@"

If you run the program now, you’ll see how one line of the pattern

looks:

To see how more than one line combines to form a figure, enter and run the following program, which uses the lines you have already typed and adds several more.

10 WIDTH "LPT1:",255 20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"A"CHR$(7) 30 FOR R=1 TO 3 40 LPRINT CHR$(27)"K"CHR$(100)CHR$(0); 50 FOR X=1 TO 50: LPRINT CHR$(85)CHR$(42); 60 NEXT X: LPRINT 70 LPRINT CHR$(27)"K"CHR$(100)CHR$(0); 80 FOR X=1 TO 50: LPRINT CHR$(42)CHR$(85); 90 NEXT X: LPRINT: NEXT R 100 LPRINT CHR$(27)"@"

Now run the program to see the six print lines combine into a pat-

tern:

Because the short and simple program that produced the pattern demonstrates many elements of graphics programming, each line is explained below.

Line

changes the line spacing to 7/72 of an inch, which is the height of the dot patterns used in the program. Therefore, there is no space between the print lines.

Line 20 begins a loop to produce multiple print lines. Lines 30 and 40 were explained previously. Lines 60 and 70 are similar to lines 30 and 40 except that line 70 uses a reversal of the patterns in line 40. As the loop is executed, the program prints lines 40 and 70 alternately so that the patterns of the print lines will fit together well.

Notice that the graphics command can be in effect for only one print line. The command is in lines 30 and 60 so that it is issued each time a new print line is begun. To print more than one line of graphics, the graphics command must be issued before each line.

Line 90 is the reset code to return the printer to its defaults.

Density Varieties

Although all the examples so far in this chapter have been in the single-density graphics mode, the LX-90 offers five other eight-pin density modes and two nine-pin ones. Nine-pin graphics is not necessary for most uses, but you can find its command (ESCape “A”) in Appendix B. All the eight-pin densities and their commands are described in Table

8-l.

Table 8-1. Graphics modes

You are familiar with the command format that uses the ESCape code and a letter, but LX-90 graphics commands can also be in the

following format:

LPRINT CHR$(27)"*"CHR$(m)CHR$(nl)CHR$(n2);

with m being the mode number found in the left column of Table As usual, nl and n2 reserve the number of columns for graphics. The

seven modes include six densities, with two speeds for double-density.

8-l.

Reassigning Code

The LX-90 has a graphics command that changes one graphics

mode to another. You can use it with many commercial graphics soft-

ware programs to change the density and shape of your printouts.

The code is ESCape “?s” n, where s is one of the four alternate graphics codes (K, L, Y, or Z) and n is the number of the new code

For example, if you send the following code before you run a

graphics program, it will change every instance of mode “Y”

(high-speed double-density) to mode 5 (one-to-one).

(O-6).

LPRINT CHR$(27)"?Y"CHR$(5)

As usual, this example is in BASIC, but you can send the code in

any programming language.

Even if you don’t know which code your graphics program uses, a little experimentation should tell you whether the reassigning code can improve your graphics printouts.

Column Reservation Numbers

Now that you’ve seen the rest of the 8-pin graphics densities and the reassigning code, this section explains in more detail the part of the graphics command that reserves the number of columns for graphics (the numbers nl and n2 in the examples).

If you need fewer than columns you want and n2 is zero. As you can see in Table ever, a single line will hold as many as 1920 columns in quadrupledensity. Specifying more than (n2) fits in. The first number that you send (n1) indicates a number of columns, but the second does not represent a number of columns; it is multiplied by 256 and added to n1. The command for the maximum number of dots you can reserve on the LX-90, then, is:

255

columns of graphics,

255

is where the second number slot

is the number of

8-1,

how-

CHR$(27)"Z"CHR$(l28)CHR$(7);

or, in the other format:

CHR$(27)"*"CHR$(3)CHR$(128)CHR$(7);

which is 128 dots plus 7 times 256 dots, for a total of 1920 dots in one row.

Once you have chosen the number of columns you want to use, you can have your program do the calculations for you with the following format:

CHR$(27)"L"CHR$(N MOD 256)CHR$(INT(N/256));

N is the total number of columns you want to specify. The MOD (modulus) function calculates the value for n1, and the INT (integer) function calculates the value for n2. For programming languages other than BASIC, consult your manual for the proper form for these functions.

This format can be used with any graphics density and with any value of N up to the maximum number of columns per line for that density.

Designing Your Own Graphics

This section takes you through the development of a graphics pro-

gram. The example is not especially complicated, but it does include the same steps you would use for a more complex figure so that you have the basis for designing graphics on your LX-90.

You should plan your figure with dots on graph paper, but before

beginning to place the dots, you must decide which graphics density you want. Figure 8-3 shows the differences between the three mostused graphics modes so that you can choose the one you want.

Low-speed

Double

Figure 8-3. Designing in different densities

In this figure you can see the main rules for graphic design in the

three densities. In single density no dots can be placed on vertical

lines. In high-speed double density dots can be placed on vertical

lines, but no dots can overlap. In low-speed double density dots can be placed on vertical lines and they can overlap.

Now look at the figure designed for high-speed double density. It

should point you in the right direction for your own designs.

Figure 8-4. Arrow design

After plotting all the dots as in Figure 8-4, you calculate the numbers for each pin pattern by dividing the design grid into separate print lines. For the arrow design, the grid was divided into three lines, each seven dots high. Then each column was examined and the sums of the pin values determined. This process for the first line is shown in Figure 8-5. The pin values are on the left side and the sums are at the bottom

of each column.

Because IBM Personal Computer BASIC will not send CHR$(26), do not use that number in any of your graphics programs.

Those of you who have read the previous chapter will see that designing graphics is much like designing user-defined characters.

8 10 8 8 8 8 8 8 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 4 1 0 0

4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 2 0 0 0

Figure 8-5. First line of arrow figure

The numbers for the second and third lines were calculated in the same manner. Once the numbers for the pin patterns are calculated, they go in DATA statements, separated by commas.

First is the whole program and its printout, then an explanation of two techniques not used before:

NEW

90 WIDTH "LPT1:",255 100 LPRINT CHR$(27)"A"CHR$(7)

590

FOR K=1 TO

600

LPRINT CHR$(27)"Y"CHR$(50)CHR$(0);

610 READ N: IF N=128 THEN 650 620 IF N>=0 THEN LPRINT CHR$(N);: GOT0 610 630 READ P,R: FOR J=1 TO -N 632 LPRINT CHR$(P)CHR$(R);: NEXT J

640

GOT0 610

650 LPRINT: NEXT K: LPRINT CHR$(27)"@": END

800 DATA 8, 4, 10, 1, -6, 8, 0, 4, 0, 2, 0, 1, -9, 0, 0, 0 805 DATA 23, 8, 4, 2, 1, -2, 0, 0, 0, 128 810 DATA 0, 0, 0, 0, 64, 32, 17, 10, 4, 0, -6, 0, 0, -10 815 DATA 64, 0, 0, 0, 0, 64, 32, 17, 10, 4, 128

820 DATA 2, 4, 10, 16, 34, 64, -5, 2, 0, 4, 0, 8, 0, 16

825 DATA 0, -9, 32, 0, 61, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 0, 0, 0, 128

In this program the number

end of a print line. This is the reason for the IF-THEN statement in line

610

that skips to line

The other special technique used in this program is found in lines

620

and 630. Since some of the data numbers are repeated many times, using negative DATA numbers for repetitions saves typing. Line 620 tests for a negative number, and if it finds one, reads the next two numbers and prints their pin patterns the number of times indicated by the negative number.

For example, when the minus 6 in line 800 is read, the program then reads the next two numbers (8 and 0) and sends them to the printer 6 times. This feature is not a necessary part of the program, but it does allow you to type fewer data numbers.

Otherwise the program is a straightforward graphics program that uses ‘-/-dot line spacing and reads numbers from DATA statements and sends them to the printer. If you want to see the figure in other densities, change the "Y" in line 600 to “L” or “Z”.

String variables

In a long and complicated graphics program, typing in the graphics command or repetitive data numbers over and over can become timeconsuming. You can avoid much of the repetitive typing by storing commands and data in string variables.

650

128

in the DATA statements signals the

and causes a line feed.

Look at the program below. It is the same as the multiple-line exercise earlier in the chapter except for the string variables.

10 WIDTH "LPT1:",255 20 G$=CHR$(27)+"K"+CHR$(100)+CHR$(0) 30 A$=CHR$(85)+CHR$(42) 40 B$=CHR$(42)+CHR$(85) 50 LPRINT CHR$(27)"A"CHR$(7) 60 FOR R=1 TO

70 LPRINT G$; 80 FOR X=1 TO

50:

LPRINT A$;: NEXT X

90 LPRINT

100 LPRINT G$; 110 FOR X=1 TO 50: LPRINT B$;: NEXT X 120 LPRINT: NEXT R

130

LPRINT CHR$(27)"@"

Notice that the first line stores the whole graphics command in a

single string variable. In order to do this you must put plus signs

between the elements of the command. Once you have done this at

the beginning of the program, each time you enter LPRINT G$; you have issued the graphics command. Lines 20 and 30 do the same thing with the data used in this program. As you can see, the use of string variables saves some typing even in this short program. In a long program it can save you much more time and effort.

Appendix A

LX-90 Characters

This appendix is a listing of the characters produced by the decimal

codes from 0 through 255. For each code the listing provides the deci-

mal number (Dec), the hexadecimal number (Hex), and a printout of

the character that is printed by that code (Char). If the code does not produce a printable character, the word none or the abbreviation for its control code is in the Char column.

This listing is given four times: standard draft, standard NLQ, alternate draft, and alternate NLQ. The alternate character mode can be selected with a DIP switch (see Appendix D) or an ESCape code (see Appendix B) .

The codes for printer instructions, such as expanded and emphasized printing, are in Appendix B.

A-l

Standard Character Mode (Draft)

Dec Hex Char

0 00 none

01 none 2 02 none 3 03 4 04 5 05 6 06 7 07 8 08 9

09 HT

10 0A LF 11 0B VT 12 0C FF 13 0D CR 14 0E SO 15 OF SI 16 10 17 11 18 12 DC2

19 13 !! 20 14 DC4 21 15 22 16 23 17 24 18 CAN 25 19 26 1A 27 1B ESC 28 1C 29 1D 30 1E 31 1F

Dec Hex Char

32 20 blank

33 21 34 22 35 23 36 24 37 25 38 26 39 27 40 28 41 29 42 2A 43 2B 44 2C 45 2D 46 2E 47 2F 48 30 49 31 50 32 51 33 52 34 53 35 54 36 55 37 56 38 57 39 58 3A 59 3B 60 3C 61 3D 62 3E

63 3F ?

Dec Hex Char

64 40 65 41 66 42 67 43 68 44 69 45 70 46 71 47 72 48 73 49 74 4A 75 4B 76 4C 77 4D 78 4E 79 4F 80 50 81 51 82 52 83 53 84 54 85 55 86 56 87 57 88 58 89 59 90 5A 91 5B 92 5C 93 5D 94 5E 95 5F

Dec Hex Char

96 60

97 61 98 62 99 63

100 64

101 65

102 66

103 67

104 68

105 69

106 6A

107 6B

108 6C

109 6D

110 6E

111 6F

112 70 113 71 114 72 115 73 116 74

117 75 118 76 119 77 120 78 121 79 122 7A 123 7B 124 7C 125 7D 126 7E 127 7F none

A-2

Standard Character Mode (Draft)

Dec Hex Char

128 80 129 81 130 82 131 83 132 84 133 85 134 86 135 87 136 88 137 89 138 8A 139 8B 140 8C 141 8D 142 8E 143 8F 144

145 91 146 92 147 93

148 94 149 95

150 96

151 97 152 98

153 99

154 9A 155 9B 156 9C 157 9D 158 9E 159 9F

Dec Hex Char

160 A0 161

162

163

A3 164 A4 165

A5 166

A6 167

A7 168

A8 169

A9 170

AA 171

AB 172

AC 173

AD 174

175

AF 176

177

B1 178

B2 179 B3 180 B4

181

B5 182 B6 183 B7 184 B8 185

B9 186

187

BB 188 BC 189

190 BE

191

Dec Hex Char

192 C0 193 C1 194 C2 195 C3 196 C4 197 C5 198 C6

199 C7 200 C8 201

202 CA 203 CB 204

205 CD 206 CE 207 CF 208 D0 209 D1 210 D2 211 D3 212 D4 213 D5 214 D6 215 D7 216 D8 217 D9 218 DA 219 DB 220 DC 221 DD 222 DE 223 DF

Dec Hex Char

224

225

226

227

228

229

230

E6 231 E7 232

E8 233

E9 234

EA 235

EB 236

EC 237

ED 238

EE 239

EF 240

F0 241

F1 242

F2 243

F3 244

F4 245

F5 246

F6 247

F7 248

F8 249

F9 250

FA 251

FB 252

FC 253

FD 254

FE 255 FF none

A-3

Standard Character Mode (NLQ)

Dec Hex Char

0 00 none

01 none

2 02 none

3 03

04 5 05 6 06 7

8 08

9 09 HT

10 0A LF 11 0B VT 12 0C FF 13 0D CR 14 0E SO 15 0F SI 16 10 17 11 18 12 DC2

19 13 20 14 DC4 21 15 22 16 23 17 24 18 CAN 25 19 26 1A 27 1B ESC

28 1C 29 1D 30 1E

31 1F

Dec Hex Char

32 20 blank

33 21 ! 34 22 " 35 23 # 36 24 $ 37 25 % 38 26 & 39 27 '

40 28 (

41 29 ) 42 2A * 43 28 + 44 2C , 45 2D 46 2E . 47 2F / 48 30 0 49 31 1 50 32 2 51 33 3 52 34 4 53 35 5 54 36 6 55 37 7 56 38 8 57 39 9 58 3A : 59 3B ; 60 3C 61 3D = 62 3E > 63 3F ?

Dec Hex Char

64 40 @ 65 41 A 66 42 B 67 43 C 68 44 D 69 45 E

70 46 F 71 47 G 72 48 H 73 49 I 74 4A J 75 4B K 76 4C L 77 4D M 78 4E N 79 4F O 80 50 P 81 51 Q 82 52 R 83 53 S 84 54 T 85 55 U 86 56 V 87 57 W 88 58 X 89 59 Y 90 5A Z 91 5B 92 5C 93 5D 94 5E 95 5F

Dec Hex Char

96 60 '

97 61 a 98 62 99 63 c

100 64 d 101 65 e 102 66 f 103 67 g 104 68 h 105 69 i 106 6A j 107 6B k 108 6C l 109 6D m 110 6E n 111 6F o

112 70 p

113 71 q

114 72 r 115 73 s

116 74 t

117 75 u 118 76 v

119 77 w

120 78 x 121 79 y 122 7A z 123 7B { 124 7C | 125 7D } 126 7E ~ 127 7F none

A-4

Standard Character Mode (NLQ)

Dec Hex Char

128 80 129 81 130 82 131 83 132 84 133 85 134 86 135 87 136 88 137 89 138 8A 139 8B 140 8C 141 8D 142 8E 143 8F 144 90 145 91 146 92 147 93 148 94 149 95 150 96 151 97 152 98 153 99 154 9A 155 9B 156 9C 157 9D 158 9E 159 9F

Dec Hex Char

160 A0 161 A1 162 A2 163 A3 164 A4 165 A5 166 A6 167 A7 168 A8 169 A9 170 AA 171 AB 172 AC 173 AD 174 AE 175 AF 176 B0 177 B1 178 B2 179 B3 180 B4 181 B5 182 B6 183 B7 184 B8 185 B9 186 BA 187 BB 188 BC 189 BD 190 BE 191 BF

Dec Hex Char

192 CO 193 C1 194 C2 195 C3 196 C4 197 C5 198 C6

199 C7 200 C8 201 C9 202 CA 203 CB 204 CC 205 CD 206 CE 207 CF 208 D0 209 D1 210 D2 211 D3 212 D4 213 D5 214 D6 215 D7 216 D8 217 D9 218 DA 219 DB 220 DC 221 DD 222 DE 223 DF

Dec Hex Char

224

225

226

227

228

229

230

E6 231 E7 232

E8 233

E9 234

EA 235

EB 236

EC 237

ED 238

EE 239

EF 240

F0 241

F1 242

F2 243

F3 244

F4 245

F5 246

F6 247

F7 248

F8 249

F9 250

FA 251

252

253

254

255

none

A-5

Alternate Character Mode (Draft)

Dec Hex Char

0 00 none

01 none 2 02 none 3

04 5 05 6 06 7 07 8 08 9 09 HT 10 0A LF 11 0B VT 12 0C FF 13 0D CR 14 0E SO 15 0F SI 16 10 17 11 18 12 DC2 19 13 !!

20 14 DC4 21 15 22 16 23 17 24 18 CAN 25 19 26 1A 27 1B ESC 28 1C 29 1D 30 1E 31 1F

Dec Hex Char

32 20 33 21 34 22 35 23 36 24 37 25 38 26 39 27 40 28 41 29 42 2A 43 28 44 2C 45 2D 46 2E 47 2F 48 30 49 31 50 32 51 33 52 34 53 35 54 36 55 37 56 38 57 39 58 3A 59 3B 60 3C 61 3D 62 3E 63 3F

blank

Dec Hex Char

64 40 65 41 66 42 67 43 68 44 69 45

70 46 71 47 72 48 73 49 74 4A

75 4B

76 4C 77 4D

78 4E

79 4F 80 50 81 51 82 52 83 53 84 54 85 55 86 56 87 57 88 58 89 59 90 5A 91 5B 92 5C 93 5D 94 5E 95 5F

Dec Hex Char

96 60 97 61 98 62

99 63 100 64 101 65 102 66 103 67 104 68 105 69 106 6A 107 6B 108 6C 109 6D 110 6E 111 6F 112 70 113 71 114 72 115 73 116 74 117 75 118 76 119 77 120 78 121 79 122 7A 123 7B 124 7C 125 7D 126 7E 127 7F none

A-6

Alternate Character Mode (Draft)

Dec Hex Char

128

80 none

129

none

130

82 none

131

132

133

134

135

136

137

138

139

VT 140 8C FF 141

CR 142 8E SO 143

SI 144

145

146

92 DC2

147

148

DC4

149

150

151

152

98 CAN

153

154

155

ESC 156 9C 157

9D 158 9E 159

Dec Hex Char

160

161

162

163

164

165

166

167

168

169

170

171

172

173

174

175

176

177

B1 178 B2 179 B3 180 B4 181

B5 182

B6 183 B7 184 B8 185 B9 186

BA 187

BB 188 BC 189

BD 190 BE 191

Dec Hex Char

192 C0 193

C1 194 C2 195 C3 196 C4 197 C5 198

C6 199 C7

200

201 C9 202 CA 203 CB 204

205 CD 206

207 CF 208

209

210

211

212

213

214

215

216

217

D9 218 DA 219 DB 220

DC 221

DD 222

DE 223 DF

Dec Hex Char

224

225

226

227

228

229

230 E6

231

232

233

234

235

236

237

238

239

240

241

242

243

244

245

246

247

248

249

250

251

252

253

254

255 FF none

A-7

Alternate Character Mode (NLQ)

Dec Hex Char

0 00 none

01 none 2 02 none 3 03 4 04 5

05 6 06

07 8 08 9 09 HT

10 0A LF 11 0B VT 12 0C FF 13 0D CR 14 0E SO 15 0F SI 16 10 17 11 18 12 DC2 19 13 20 14 DC4 21 15 22 16 23 17 24 18 CAN 25 19 26 1A 27 1B ESC 28 1C 29 1D 30 1E 31 1F

Dec Hex Char

32 20 blank 33 21 ! 34 22 " 35 23 # 36 24 $ 37 25 % 38 26 & 39 27 ' 40 28 ( 41 29 ) 42 2A * 43 2B + 44 2C , 45 2D 46 2E . 47 2F / 48 30 0 49 31 1 50 32 2 51 33 3 52 34 4 53 35 5 54 36 6 55 37 7 56 38 8 57 39 9 58 3A : 59 3B ; 60 3C 61 3D = 62 3E > 63 3F S?

Dec Hex Char

64 40 @ 65 41 A 66 42 B 67 43 C 68 44 D 69 45 E 70 46 F

71 47 G

72 48 H

73 49 I 74 4A J 75 4B K 76 4C L 77 4D M 78 4E N 79 4F O 80 50 P 81 51 Q 82 52 R 83 53 S 84 54 T 85 55 U 86 56 V 87 57 W 88 58 X 89 59 Y 90 5A Z 91 5B [ 92 5C \ 93 5D ] 94 5E ^ 95 5F _

Dec Hex Char

96 60 ‘ 97 61 a 98 62 99 63 c

100 64 101 65 e 102 66 f 103 67 g 104 68 h 105 69 i 106 6A j 107 6B k 108 6C l 109 6D m 110 6E n 111 6F o 112 70 p 113 71 q 114 72 r

115 73 s 116 74 117 75 u

118 76 v 119 77 w 120 78 x

121 79 y 122 7A z

123 7B {

124 7C | 125 7D }

126 7E ~

127 7F none

b d

A-8

Alternate Character Mode (NLQ)

Dec Hex Char

128

80 none

129

none 130 82 131

132

133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 8C FF

141 142 8E

143

144 145 146 147

148 149 150 151

152 153 154 155 156 9C 157 158 9E 159

none

86 87 88 89

CR SO

SI 90 91 92

DC2

DC4 95 96 97 98 CAN 99 9A 9B

ESC 9D 9F

Dec Hex Char

160

161

162

163

164

165

166

167

168

169

170

171

172

173

174

175

176

177

B1 178 B2 179 B3 180 B4 181

B5 182 B6 183

87 184

B8 185 B9 186

BA 187

BB 188 BC 189

BD 190 BE 191 BF

Dec Hex Char

192

193

194

195

196

197

198

199

200

201

202

203

204

205

206

207

208

209

210

211

212

213

214

215

216

217

218

219

220

221

222 223 DF

Dec Hex Char

224 E0 225 E1 226 E2 227 E3 228 E4

229

E5 230 E6 231 E7 232 E8 233 E9

234 EA 235 EB 236 EC 237 ED 238 EE 239 EF 240 F0 241 F1 242 F2 243 F3 244 F4 245 F5 246 F6 247 F7 248 F8 249 F9 250 FA 251 FB 252 FC 253 FD 254 FE 255 FF none

A-9

Appendix E

Troubleshooting and Advanced Features

This appendix presents explanations of the LX-90’s advanced features and solutions for possible problems. If you have trouble or want to know more about some of the LX-90 features, consult the appropriate section in this appendix.

Installation of Commercial Software Programs

Many commercial software programs require that you specify which printer you are using. Because the LX-90 has many capabilities but is not listed on the menus of many software programs, you may want to experiment a bit to see which choice will be best for your program. A few examples may help.

For WordStar® install the printer as a serial printer and as COM1:

with 1200 baud, no parity, 8 data bits, and 2 stop bits. Also use

WordStar’s install program to remove all codes from the initializa-

tion sequence. Removing the codes from the initialization sequence

allows SelecType to work correctly. Follow the instructions in the

WordStar manual for custom installation, and consult your dealer

if you need more information.

For Artpak™ use the “Set-up of System” operation to select Epson

with Graftrax. Also select the alternate character set with DIP

switch 1 - 6 (see Appendix D) because Artpak uses some of the control codes above 137 decimal.

Even if you are not using either of these programs, the settings for one of them may work for your program. Consult the manual for your software. If you are still not sure, consult your dealer or simply try different options. Remember to try changing DIP switch 1-6 if you do not get the correct results. (See Appendix D.) If the installation program asks whether your printer can backspace, choose non-backspacing.

E-l

SelecType Features and Solutions

Some software sends a reset code before it begins printing. This cancels any SelecType settings. If you find that SelecType does not change your printing, the reset code is probably the reason. The solution is to use the installation program for your software to remove all codes from the initialization sequence. See your software manual for details.

If you want to cancel the modes you have set with SelecType, you can turn your printer off and back on with the power switch on the left side of the printer. This cancels all SelecType settings, returns your LX-90 to its defaults, resets the top of page, and empties the contents of the buffer, including any user-defined characters that you have stored there.

Occasionally you may wish to cancel one or more modes with

SelecType instead of resetting the printer with power switch. To cancel all modes controlled by SelecType, simply enter SelecType mode and then press the FF button without pressing the ON LINE button. This is useful when you make a mistake while setting codes and want to start over again, and it does not interfere with top of page, user-defined characters, or other items that are not controlled by SelecType.

If you do make a mistake while using SelecType, just press the LF

button to turn off SelecType and then turn it on again and press the

FF button before you press the ON LINE button.

In fact, some users like to use the FF button to cancel any previous

SelecType setting each time they use SelecType. If you want to be absolutely certain that no previous settings interfere with your use of

SelecType, always press the FF button once immediately after you enter SelecType mode. For this procedure, after you press the

ON LINE and FF buttons to turn on SelecType, press the FF button

once, and then make and set your selection or selections as outlined in

Chapter 2.

You can also cancel individual modes with SelecType if you wish. You do this with the same procedure that sets them. When a mode is already set, selecting it again cancels it, as demonstrated in the example below.

Suppose that you have set emphasized and NLQ Modes and then you decide that you don’t want emphasized. You can either cancel all the modes and reset NLQ, or you can use the following steps to cancel emphasized and leave NLQ.

E-2

See that the ON LINE and READY lights are on. (Be sure that you do not touch the power switch and cancel all the modes.)

2. Press the ON LINE and FF buttons to enter SelecType.

3. Press the ON LINE button twice. (This is the code for empha-

sized.) Notice that the ON LINE light is blinking and that it is on more than it is off. This tells you that the emphasized mode is set.

Press the FF button once. Now the ON LINE light is still blinking, but it is off more than it is on. This tells you that the emphasized mode is cancelled.

5. Press the LF button once to leave SelecType mode.

Press the ON LINE button to put the printer on-line.

Now you have cancelled emphasized without affecting any other

modes.

Some users think that this procedure is too complicated and prefer to cancel all the SelecType settings and then reset the ones they want. Use whichever method you prefer. If you want to cancel modes individually, remember to watch the ON LINE light. It blinks mainly on

when a mode is set and mainly off when it is not.

Troubleshooting

If the printer freezes and a program will not run, try turning off both the computer and the printer, then turn the printer on first and the computer on second before you try the program again.

If you’re printing labels and a self-adhesive label comes off of the

backing, it may stick behind the platen and cause problems with paper

feeding and irregular darkness of printing. If this happens, take your

LX-90

yourself.

to a qualified service person; do not attempt to remove the label

Beeper Error Warnings

When the is out of paper. The beeper can also be sounded by certain error conditions in the printer itself.

LX-90's

beeper sounds, it usually indicates that the printer

E-3

If the printer beeps and stops printing when it is not out of paper, turn the printer off and check to see if the paper is loaded correctly. If the paper is loaded correctly, turn the printer back on and try to print again. If the printer beeps and does not print again, take it to a qualified service person.

Graphics

There are three common sources of problems with graphics programs in BASIC:

Unwanted codes for carriage returns and line feeds may be inserted by BASIC if lines are over 80 columns long or if semicolons are not used at the end of program lines between the graphics command and its data. See Chapter 8 for the proper format for a WIDTH statement and for sample programs that show the proper use of semicolons.

2. Some software will not send certain codes. For example, IBM PC

BASIC will not send CHR$(26). Do not use such codes in graphics programs.

3. If the printer stops during a graphics program, it may not have

received enough data. The printer expects a certain number of pin patterns, determined by n1 and n2 in the graphics command. It will wait patiently until the quota is full. Note that 9-pin Graphics Mode requires two bytes for each column of graphics.

Data Dump Mode

The LX-90 has a special feature that makes it easy for experienced printer users to find the causes of problems. Called the data dump mode, it gives a printout of exactly what codes reach the printer.

Enter this mode by turning on the power switch on the right side of the printer while holding down the FF and LF buttons at the same time. The printer responds by printing the words “Data Dump Mode.” Then, when you run a program, either an applications program or one you have written in any programming language, the LX-90 prints one or more lines. Each line has three parts: the line number (four digits), the hexadecimal codes (up to 16 numbers), and the guide section (16 characters at the end of each line except the last).

E-4

The hexadecimal numbers are the codes received by the printer, and the guide section helps you find a certain place in the list of codes. Each character in the guide section corresponds to one of the codes. If the code is for a printable character, that character is printed. If the code is

for a non-printable character, such as the ESCape code or the code for a line feed or carriage return, a dot is printed.

Therefore, if you ran the following BASIC program while your LX-90 was in the data dump mode, you would get the printout below it. The printer will print all but the last line and then stop. Press the

ON LINE button to make the printer print the last line.

10 FOR X=70 TO

20 LPRINT CHR$(X): NEXT X

LPRINT CHR$(27)"E"

40 LPRINT

“Sample text”

50 LPRINT CHR$(27)"@"

You can consult Appendix A to see the meaning of the hexadecimal

codes. The explanation below of the first line will put you on the right

track for using the data dump mode.

The first code in line 0000 is hex 46, which is the same as decimal 70,

which is the code for “F”; therefore “F” is printed in the first position in the guide section. Then, because there is no semicolon in line 20, BASIC sends a carriage return and a line feed, hex codes 0D and 0A. Each of these is represented by a dot in the guide section. The program then sends the hex codes 47, 48, and 49, with each followed by a carriage return and line feed.

When the program gets to line 30, it sends ESCape “E” and a car-

riage return and line feed. These are hex codes 1B, 45, 0D, and 0A, which are represented in the guide section by a dot, an E, and two more dots. Now you can follow a data dump printout on your own.

E-5

Some software changes one or more codes when sending them to

the printer. The ability of the LX-90 to dump in hexadecimal lets you

determine which codes are creating problems for your system.

A data dump printout of a program shows you exactly what the

printer is receiving, regardless of what the computer is sending. The following test program lets you check to see what codes, if any, are problems for your software. This program is in BASIC; use an equiv-

alent program for another programming language.

10 FOR X=0 TO 255 20 LPRINT CHR$(X);

NEXT X

Put the printer in data dump mode and then RUN the program. Remember to press the ON LINE button to make the LX-90 print the final line. Then compare your printout with the list of hex codes in order in Appendix A. If any are skipped or repeated, you will know that your software changes some codes before it sends them to the printer.

For example, in the lines below, which are the first two lines of the printout of the test program run with IBM PC BASIC, you can see that in this case BASIC adds hex 0A, which is the code for line feed, after hex 0D, the code for a carriage return. You will also notice that the program does not send hex characteristics are discussed in the next section.

1A,

which is decimal 26. Both of these

The data dumping capability can help you debug a program

quickly. Appendix A will help you translate the hex codes to ASCII equivalents.

IBM PC BASIC Solutions

There are three problems in using the IBM Personal Computer BASIC to drive a printer. First, the IBM PC BASIC inserts a carriage-

return/line-feed (CR-LF) after each 80 characters you send it. Second, it adds an LF to each CR in an LPRINT statement. Third, it will not

send hex

E-6

(decimal 26).

Here is the way to adjust the width when it is the only problem. Tell the computer that the print line is wider than 80 characters with this WIDTH statement:

WIDTH "LPT1:",255

The 255 is a special number that prevents the computer system from inserting a CR-LF into the line. Unless, of course, there’s one in your program.

The extra line feed-CHR$(10)-that accompanies each carriage return-CHR$(13)-is no problem except when you need to use CHR$(13) in a graphics program. Getting rid of the extra CHR$(10) is rather complicated. First you open the printer as a random file:

OPEN "LPT1:" AS #l

Although this allows you to send any code to the printer, you can no longer use the LPRINT command. Instead, you must use a PRINT #1 command:

PRINT #1, "Now I can print anything"

This does allow you to print anything, but it ignores any previous WIDTH statements.

If you want to print more than 80 columns per line in a graphics program, you must therefore change your opening statement to include the appropriate WIDTH statement:

OPEN "LPT1:" AS #1 : WIDTH #1, 255

And for the programs in this manual, don’t forget to use PRINT #1 instead of LPRINT.

There is no easy solution to the problem with CHR$(26). It is best to change any instance of decimal 26 (hex 1A) in your programs to another number.

E-7

Appendix B

Control Codes in Numeric Order

Different programs use different methods to send these control codes to your LX-90. If you use BASIC, you send a control code using LPRINT CHR$(27) followed by CHR$(n), where n is a number from the decimal (Dec) column below. For a few codes, those with a dash in the ESC column, you omit the ESCape code. For the codes above decimal 27, you can use either the character in the symbol column (in quotation marks) or CHR$(n). For example, the command for turning on emphasized can be entered as:

LPRINT CHR$(27)CHR$(69) or LPRINT CHR§(27)“E”

Some applications programs can use control key codes for decimal codes O-27. See the control key chart at the end of this appendix for a complete list of control key values.

Abbreviations: cpi = characters per inch

cps = characters per second

ESC Dec Hex Symbol Function

0 00 NUL

9 09 HT

10 0A LF

0B VT

12 0C FF

Terminates horizontal and vertical tab setting ESCape sequences.

Horizontal tab. Empties the printer buffer, then

moves the print head to the next tab stop.

Default setting is every eight spaces. Line feed. Empties the printer buffer, performs

a line feed at the current line spacing, and

resets the buffer character count to 0.

Vertical tab. Empties the printer buffer, then advances the paper to the next vertical tab stop.

Form feed. Empties the printer buffer, then advances the paper to the next top of form.

B-l

13 0D

Carriage return. Prints the contents of the

buffer and resets the buffer character count to

ESC

14 0E

15 OF

18 12

DC2

DC4

CAN

Shift out. Turns expanded mode ON for the length of the line. Can be cancelled by ASCII 20

or ESC “W0”. Works with pica, elite, or com-

pressed mode. Shift in. Empties the buffer and turns com-

pressed mode (17.16 cpi) ON. Cannot work

with emphasized or pica mode. Can also be set

with DIP switch l-l. Device control 2. Turns compressed mode

OFF

Device control 4. Turns the expanded mode set

by ASCII 14 OFF Cancels all text but not control codes in the

print buffer. Sets the optional cut-sheet feeder. Format:

ESC 25 n where n toggles the cut-sheet feeder on and off: 0 turns it OFF and 4 turns it ON. You cannot use “EM” in place of 25 for this command. Can also be turned ON and OFF with DIP switch

1-3.

27 1B

ESC 33 21

ESC 37 25

B-2

ESC

ESCape. Prepares the printer to receive control codes.

Master Select. Selects 1 of 48 unique print

mode combinations. Format:

ESC “!"

where n stands for a number between 0 and

255. See Chapter 5 for details. Activates user-defined character set.

ESC "%" 0 0

selects the ROM set, and

ESC "%" 1 0

selects the RAM set defined by ESC "&"

ESC 38 26 &

Defines user characters in RAM. Format:

ESC “&” 0 c1 c2 a d1 . . . d11 The 0 is for future use, cl is the starting character, c2 is the ending character. Both cl and c2 must be between 58 and 63 inclusive. If a> = 128, character uses top 8 pins; if a< 128

character uses bottom 8 pins. Each character in the range c1 - c2 requires an attribute byte

(a)

and 11 data bytes (d1 - d11).

If NLQ mode is selected first, the command requires 3 bytes for a. The first, a0, is ignored,

the second, a1, is the printing width and values

above 12 are ignored. The third, a2, is the value of the right spacing and is automatically adjusted to 12-a1. In NLQ the command also requires

3xa1

data bytes.

ESC 42 2A *

ESC 45 2D -

ESC

Turns graphics mode ON. Format:

"*" m nl n2

ESC

followed by n data numbers, where

= total number of dot columns,

= n MOD 256,

= INT(n/256)

m selects mode 0 - 6.

See Chapter 8 for modes. Turns underline mode ON. Format:

ESC “-” where n toggles underline on and off: 0 turns it OFF, 1 turns it ON.

Sets line spacing to 1/9-inch. Sets line spacing to 1/9-inch. Returns line spacing to the default of 1/6-inch. Sets line spacing to n/216-inch (l/216-inch is

1/3 dot). Stays on until changed. Format:

ESC “3”

where

n = O-255.

B-3

ESC

ESC 57

ESCape “5” 1 causes the LX-90 to perform an automatic line feed with each carriage return. ESCape “5” 0 cancels ESCape “5” 1.

Selects standard character set if alternate character set has been previously selected. See Appendix A for character set tables.

Selects alternate character set. See Appendix

A for character set tables.

Disables the paper-out sensor. Can also be dis-

abled with DIP switch 1-5. Enables the paper-out sensor. Can also be

enabled with DIP switch 1-5.

ESC 60 3C <

ESC

ESC 63 3F ?

ESC 64 40 @

ESC 65 41 A

Turns one-line unidirectional mode ON. Prints

each line from left to right. Copies the ROM character set to RAM. For-

mat:

ESC “:” where n1, n2, and n3 are all 0. They are included for future expansion. The RAM character set must be activated with ESC “%".

Redefines one of the four alternate graphics codes-“K”,“L”,“Y”, or “Z’‘-as one of the seven graphics density numbers used with the ESCape

where s is K,L,Y, or Z and n is 0 - 6.

Reset Code, which resets the printer to its power-up state, including resetting top of page.

Clears all text and control codes from the print

buffer. Sets line spacing to

where

“*” command. Format:

n = O-255.

n1 n2 n3

ESC “?s” n

n/72

inch (n-dot). Format:

ESC “A”

B-4

ESC 66 42 B

Sets up to 16 vertical tabs in the current line spacing. Tab settings are not affected by subsequent changes in line spacing. Format:

ESC “B”

n1 n2 ... nk O

where nk = 1 - 255. Terminate this tab sequence with 0 or a number less than the last defined tab

(nk).

ESC 67 43 C

ESC 67 43 CO

ESC 68 44 D

ESC

69 45

Sets the form length ton lines in the current line spacing. The default line is 66 lines. Also resets top of form. Format:

ESC “C”

where n = l-127. Sets the form length to n inches, regardless of

the current line spacing. The default is 11 inches. Also resets top of form. Format:

ESC “C” 0

where

n =

1 - 22.

Resets the current tabs and sets up to 32 horizontal tabs in the current pitch. Tabs may range up to the maximum width for the character and printer size. For example, the maximum tab for pica characters on an 8-inch line is 79. Tab settings are not affected by subsequent changes in pitch. Format:

ESC “D” Terminate this tab sequence with 0 or a number less than the last defined tab

Turns emphasized mode ON. Cannot mix with elite or compressed modes.

n1 n2 ... nk O

(nk).

ESC ESC

ESC

70 71

46 47

Turns emphasized mode OFF. Turns double-strike mode ON. Cannot mix with

NLQ. Turns double-strike mode OFF:

B-5

ESC 74 4A J

Forces an immediate line feed of

without changing the current line spacing.

Prints the contents of the buffer without a carriage return. Format:

ESC “J”

where

n = O-255.

n/216

inches

ESC 75 4B K

ESC 76 4C L

ESC 77 4D M

ESC 78 4E N

Turns single-density graphics mode ON. Prints

480 dots per 8-inch line. Format:

ESC “K”

followed by n data numbers, where

= total number of dot columns,

n1 = n n2 =

For example, to print 480 dots, n1 = 244,

n2 = 1.

Turns low-speed double-density graphics mode ON. Prints 960 dots per 8-inch line. Format: ESC “C” where

n n1 = n n2 =

For example, to print 960 dots, n1 = 192,

n2 = 3.

Turns elite mode (12 cpi) ON. Cannot mix with NLQ, pica, or emphasized.

Sets skip over perforation to n lines. Format:

where n = 1 - 127.

MOD 256,

INT

(n/256).

n1 n2

= total number of dot columns,

MOD 256,

INT

(n/256).

n1 n2

followed by n data numbers,

ESC “N”

ESC 79 4F 0 ESC 80 50 P

B-6

Turns skip over perforation OFF Turns elite mode OFF Returns to pica unless

compressed mode is active.

ESC 81 51 Q

Sets the right margin. Also cancels all text that

is in the print buffer. Format:

ESC “Q”

where n ranges from:

2 - 80 in pica

3 - 96 in elite* 4 - 137 in compressed* 4 - 160 in compressed elite*

* You may need a WIDTH statement. ESC 82 52 R ESC 83 53 S

Returns tabs to default setting.

Turns subscript or superscript mode ON. Either type of script is printed in double-strike. For-

mat:

ESC”S”CHR$(n) where n = 0 produces superscript, and 1 produces subscript.

ESC 84 54 T ESC 85 55 U

Turns script mode OFF Turns unidirectional mode ON. Prints each line

from left to right. Format:

ESC “U”

where n toggles the mode on and off: 0 turns it

OFF, 1 turns it ON.

ESC 87 57 W Turns expanded mode ON; stays ON until

turned OFF Cannot be turned off with ASCII 20.

Format:

ESC “W”

where n toggles the mode on and off: 0 turns it

OFF 1 turns it ON.

ESC 89 59 Y

Turns high-speed double-density graphics

mode ON; gives the same density as ESC “C” but cannot print two adjacent dots in the same row.

B-7

ESC 90 5A Z

Turns quadruple-density graphics mode ON.

Prints 1920 dots per 8-inch line. Format:

ESC “Z”

followed by n data numbers, where

= total number of dot columns,

= n MOD 256

n2 =

INT

(n/256).

For example, to print 1920 dots, n1 = 128,

n2 = 7.

n1 n2

ESC 94 5E ^

ESC 97 61 a

ESC 108 6C I

Turns nine-pin graphics ON. Format:

"A" d n1 n2

ESC

followed by 2 times n data numbers, where

= total number of dot columns,

n1 = n n2 =

The printer expects 2 data numbers for each column of print. The d selects the density, where 0 produces single-density and 1 pro duces double-density

Sets justification format in NLQ mode. Format:

where n = 0 for left justification; tering; n = 2 for right justification; and

auto justification (justificiation on both sides).

Sets the left margin. Format:

where n ranges from:

0 - 78 in pica

0 - 93 in elite 0 - 133 in compressed

0 - 156 in compressed elite

MOD 256,

INT

(n/256).

ESC “a”

ESC “I”

(n)

n =

1 for cen-

n = 3

for

ESC 115 73 s

ESC 120 78 x

B-8

Selects the print speed. Half-speed mode can be employed to reduce noise. Format:

ESC “s”

where n toggles half-speed on and off, so that 1

produces 50 cps, while 0 produces 100 cps. Selects draft or NLQ mode. ESC “x” 0 selects

draft. ESC “x” 1 selects NLQ. ESC “x0” and ESC “x1” will also work.

Control Key Chart

Some applications programs can use control key codes for decimal values key column indicates that you press the control key at the same time you press the key for the letter or symbol in that column. For example, you press the control key and A at the same time to send the value 1.

O-27.

The table below gives you the proper values. The Control

Some programs that use this system cannot use control-@.

Decimal Hexadecimal Control key

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08

09 0A 0B 0C 0D

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1A

B C D

E F

R S T U V

X Y Z

[

B-9

Appendix C

Control Codes by Function

This appendix shows the control codes that are in Appendix B, but

this time they are arranged by categories.

This appendix enables you to find a particular code quickly but does not give all the details on the format and use of each code. See Appendix B or the appropriate chapter for further information.

Near Letter Quality Mode

ESC “x” 1 ESC “x” ESC “a”

Character Width (Pitch)

ASCII 15 ASCII 18 ASCII ASCII ESC "M” ESC “P" ESC "WO” Turns either expanded mode OFF. ESC

"W1”

Turns NLQ mode ON. Turns draft mode ON.

Activates NLQ justification modes.

Turns compressed mode ON. Turns compressed mode OFF. Turns one-line expanded mode ON.

Turns one-line expanded mode OFF.

Turns elite mode ON. Turns elite mode OFE

Turns continuous expanded mode ON.

Character Weight

ESC “E” Turns emphasized mode ON. ESC “F” Turns emphasized mode OFF. ESC “G” ESC “H” Turns double-strike mode OFE

Turns double-strike mode ON.

C-l

Print Enhancement

ESC

“SO”

ESC “S1”

ESC ‘7” ESC “-0” ESC “-1”

Turns superscript mode ON.

Turns subscript mode ON. Turns either script mode OFF. Turns underline mode OFF. Turns underline mode ON.

Mode and Character-Set Selection

ESC “!” n Master select. ESC “6” ESC “7” ESC "@”

Returns to standard character mode. Selects alternate character mode. Reset code.

Special Printer Features

ESC 25 ESC “5” ESC "<“ ESC “U0” ESC “U1” ESC

“so”

ESC “s1”

Enables and disables the optional cut-sheet feeder.

Selects or cancels automatic line feed. Turns one-line unidirectional mode ON. Turns continuous unidirectional mode OFE Turns continuous unidirectional mode ON. Returns to normal speed.

Turns half-speed mode ON.

Line Spacing

ESC “0” Sets line spacing to 1/9-inch. ESC “1” Sets line spacing to 1/9-inch. ESC “2” ESC “3“ n

ESC “A” n Sets line spacing to n/72-inch. ESC “J” n

c-2

Sets line spacing to 1/6-inch (default).

Sets line spacing to n/216-inch.

Produces an immediate one-time line feed of n/216-

inch without a carriage return.

Forms Control

ESC “8”

ESC “9” ESC “C” 0 Sets the form length in inches. ESC “C” ESC “N” n Turns variable skip over perforation ON. ESC “0”

Turns the paper-out sensor OFF. Turns the paper-out sensor ON.

Sets the form length in lines. Turns skip over perforation OFF.

Page Format

ASCII 9 ASCII 10 Line feed. ASCII 11 Vertical tab. ASCII 12 Form feed. ASCII 13 Carriage return. ESC “D”

ESC “Q” n Sets the right margin. ESC "1” n Sets the left margin.

Horizontal tab.

Sets horizontal tab stops.

User-Defined Characters

ESC “&“ ESC “:” ESC “%”

Defines characters in user RAM. Copies the character set from ROM to RAM. Activates ROM or RAM character set.

Dot Graphics

ESC "*” ESC “?”

ESC “K” ESC "L” ESC “Y” ESC “Z”

ESC “A"

Selects one of seven graphics densities. Reassigns a graphics density. Turns single-density graphics mode ON. Turns double-density graphics mode ON. Turns high-speed double-density graphics mode ON. Turns quadruple-density graphics mode ON. Turns nine-pin graphics mode ON.

c-3

Appendix D

The DIP Switches

Several tiny switches called DIP (for Dual In-Line Package) switches are in the back of your LX-90 printer. These switches control a number of important printer functions. Although the factory set-

tings are the best for most uses, you may want to change some of them.

The design of the LX-90 gives you easy access to the switches, which you can locate using Figure D-l.

Figure D-1. DIP switch location

D-l

Always turn the power OFF (with the switch on the right side of the printer) before you change the setting of any of these switches. Any changes made while the power is on will be ignored until you turn the printer off and back on. So set all switches with the power off.

Table

D-l

shows you the functions of all the switches, and the rest

of the appendix explains each of them.

Table D-l. DIP switch functions

Switch 1

No. ON

1-1 Compressed

1-2 NLQ

1-3 Active

1-4 12 inches l-5 Inactive 1-6 Alternate 1-7

l-8

Function

Print mode Print mode Cut-sheet feeder

Page length

Paper end detector

Character set selection

Baud rate selection

See Table D-2

OFF

Pica Draft

I Inactive

11 inches Active Standard

Switch 2

No. ON

2-1 0 (slashed) 2-2 2-3 CR + LF 2-4 Mute

Note:

The factory setting of all these switches is OFF.

Function

Zero character

Not used (Automatic line feed Beeper

OFF

CR only Active

Switch 1-1 selects pica or condensed printing. ON is condensed; OFF is pica. Regardless of the setting, you can still select condensed with SelecType and either condensed or pica with ESCape codes.

Switch 7-2 selects draft or Near Letter Quality. When it is ON, the printer prints in the NLQ mode. When it is OFF, it prints in the draft mode. If the switch is off, you can still select the NLQ mode with

SelecType or an ESCape code.

Switch 1-3 controls the optional cut-sheet feeder. When it is ON, the cut-sheet feeder is enabled. When it is OFF, the cut-sheet feeder is disabled.

Switch

7-4

selects the paper length. When it is OFF, the length is

11”;

when it is ON, the length is 12”.

D-2

Switch 1-5 controls the paper-end detector. When it is ON, the detector is inactive, causing printing to continue even when the printer is out of paper. When it is OFF, the printer stops when the end of the paper passes the paper-end detector. See Paper Out Sensor in Chapter

Switch

acter set is used, when it is ON, the alternate character set is used. See Appendix A for listings of both character sets. Notice that the alternate character set has some control codes between mal). If a software program prints a character instead of performing a printer function, such as a line feed, try selecting the alternate character set.

Switch Z-7 and 1-8 select the baud rate as shown in Table D-2.

Many software programs require a baud rate of 1200, but a higher

baud rate may increase the speed of other programs. The software documentation or experimentation should be your guide to the best baud rate for each program.

1-6

selects the character set. When it is OFF, the standard char-

137

and

152

(deci-

Table D-2

Switch 2-1 controls the printing of zeroes. When it is ON, the zeroes

are slashed (0); when it is OFF they are not.

Switch 2-2 is not used. It must remain OFF. Switch 2-3 controls line feeds. When it is ON, the LX-90 adds an auto-

matic line feed to each carriage return; when it is OFF it does not. If your printing has an extra space between lines, turn the switch OFF. If all the lines of your printing are on top of each other, turn the switch ON.

Switch

the beeper cannot sound.

2-4

enables the beeper to sound when it is OFF; when it is ON,

D-3

INDEX

Alternate character mode, Al, A6-A9, D3 American Standard Code for Information Interchange. See ASCII

Applications programs. See Commercial software Artpak, El ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange), 16

codes listed for all characters, Al-A9

Automatic test. See Test pattern

Automatic line feed, D3

BASIC programs, how to run, 18 BASIC, IBM PC, E6-E7 Baud rate, D3, El Beeper, D3, E3-E4 Bold modes. See Double-strike; Emphasized

Cancelling codes, 20-22 Changing pitches, 14 Characters printed by the LX-90, Al-A9 CHR$, 16 CHR$(27). See ESCape code Codes. See ASCII codes; Control codes; ESCape code;

cancelling, 20, E2-E3

Commercial software, 6, 9, 45-46

installation, El

Compressed mode, 14, 19-22, D2

Can also be set with SelecType or a DIP switch

compressed elite, 21 Computer-printer connection, 4 Control codes

data dumping in hexadecimal, E4-E6

listed by function, Cl-C3

listed by number, B1-B8

See also specific modes and functions Control Key Chart, B9 Control panel, 3-6

Selecting typestyles with. See SelecType Cut-sheet feeder option, D-2

F-l

Data dump mode, E4-E6 Default settings, 20 DIP switches, Dl-D3 Dot graphics. See Graphics Dot matrix printing, 13-15 Double-strike mode, 24, 27

Can also be set with SelecType Draft mode, 3, 15, D2 Dumping data in hexadecimal, E4-E6

Elite mode, 14-15, 19-22

Can also be set with SelecType

Emphasized mode, 23-28

Can also be set with SelecType

ESCape code, 16

listed by function, C1-C3 listed by number, B1-B8

Expanded mode, 25-27

FF (form feed), 6, E2-E3 Formatting, page, 29-32 Function switches. See DIP switches

Graphics, 45-58

designing your own, 54-57 nine-pin, 52, E4 pin labels, 48-49 reassigning code, 53 summary table, 52 troubleshooting, E4

WIDTH statements, 50

Head. See Print head Hex dumping. See Data dump mode

F-2

IBM Personal Computer BASIC, E6 Installation. See Set-up operations; Commercial software Interface. See PIC

Justification with NLQ, 31-32

Left margin. See Margins Length of page. See Page LE, 6, E2-E3

Epson LX-90 Parts User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Introduction

Inserting the Printer Interface Cartridge

Printing the Test Patterns

Connecting the Printer to Your PCjr

Control Panel

Using Your Printer

SelecType Operation

Turning SelecType On

Selecting typestyles

SelecType exercise

Mode combination

SelecType Tips

The Print Head

Changing Pitches

NLQ Mode

ESCape and ASCII

Demonstration Programs

How to Run BASIC Programs

Pica Printing

Changing Pitches

Cancelling Codes

Resetting the Printer

Pitch Comparison

Near Letter Quality Mode

Bold Modes

Emphasized Mode

Double-Strike

Expanded Mode

Mode Combinations

Underline Mode

Master Select

Superscript and Subscript

Margins

Skip Over Perforation

Line Spacing

Paper Out Sensor

Justification with NLQ

Defining Your Own Characters

Designing Process

Definition program 1

Running the program

Definition program 2

Running the program

Defining NLQ Characters

NLQ grid

NLQ definition program 1

NLQ definition program 2

Dot Patterns

The Print Head and Graphics

Graphics Mode

Pin Labels

First Graphics Program

WIDTH Statements

Multiple-Line Exercise

Density Varieties

Reassigning Code

Column Reservation Numbers

Designing Your Own Graphics

String variables

Standard Character Mode (Draft)

Standard Character Mode (NLQ)

Alternate Character Mode (Draft)

Alternate Character Mode (NLQ)

Installation of Commercial Software Programs

SelecType Features and Solutions

Troubleshooting

Beeper Error Warnings

Graphics

Data Dump Mode

IBM PC BASIC Solutions

Control Key Chart

Near Letter Quality Mode

Character Width (Pitch)

Character Weight

Print Enhancement

Mode and Character-Set Selection