Star Micronics Delta User Manual

Download

Delta User’s Manual

i’

THE PDWER BEHINDTHE PRINTED WORD.

_ _ __

NOT INTENDED FOR SALE

Federal Communications Commission

Radio Frequency Interference Statement

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

l Reorient the receiving antenna l Relocate the computer with respect to the receiver l Move the computer away from the receiver l Plug the computer into a different outlet so that computer and receiver are on

different branch circuits.

If necessary, the user should consult the dealer or an experienced radio/television technician for additional suggestions. The user may find the following booklet prepared by the Federal Communications Commission helpful: “How to Identify and Resolve Radio-TV Interference Problems.” This booklet is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 20402, Stock No. 004~080-00345-4.

A note about the programs in this manual:

This manual contains several programs that help to demonstrate the versatility of the Delta printers. Star Micronics has made every effort to insure that the programs are functional and accurate. However, Star Micronics cannot guarantee their accuracy or suitabil-

ity to any particular application.

Trademark Acknowledgement

Delta-lo, Delta-18 grafstar, UniversaUAtari Parallel Interface, Universal/Commodore Parallel Interface: Star Micronics

Apple, Apple II, Apple II + , Apple IIe, Applesoft: Apple Computer Inc. Atari 400, Atari 800, Atari 850: Atari Inc., a Warner Communications Company

Commodore, VIC-20, C-84: Commodore Business Machines, Inc. Compaq: Compaq Computer Corporation

CPIM: Digital Research

EasyWriter: Information Unlimited Software, Inc.

IBM Personal Computer, IBM PC, IBM XT: International Business Machines Corp.

Kaypm: Kaypro Computer Corporation Microsoft BASIC: Microsoft Corporation

Osborne 1: Osborne Computer Corporation SuperCalc: Sorcim Corporation TRS-80: Radio Shack, a division of Tandy Corporation

WordStar: MicroPro International Corporation

- -

L-

to the New Owner

‘L

Your new Delta printer and this manual are both setting new

A Special Message

standards for the computer printer industry - and you’re part of it! Congratulations, and welcome aboard!

First, about this manual. It’s another first in our industry the first to be truly written not just for the person who does his own programming, but for the first-time user or anyone else who prefers to leave the programming to others, and simply inserts his store-bought programs (software) into his computer/printer system. Someone very much like you, perhaps . . .

You’ll find using this manual easy and pleasant. We’ve gone to great lengths to make it so, as it’s master-minded by solid experts in the arcane art of computer science, and written by equally proficient practitioners in the art of Plain English!

Delta User’s Manual

As a first example, look over the Table of Contents and you’ll see what we mean, Whether you’re a greenhorn or a wizard, everybody will find what they need to know to fulfill their expectations. We suggest that each new owner/user, before you even unpack the box, read or at least scan Chapters 1 and 2 - “A Closer Look” and “Getting Started with Delta” - as well as Appendix A,

“Unpacking and Installation.”

Now you can unpack the box and

start putting things together.

When you’re ready to connect up your computer to your

Delta, look at Appendices B through G for directions applying to your make of computer. Remember, Delta has both serial and parallel interfaces, so there’s nothing extra to buy!

Which leads naturally to a few words of praise for some other special features that make the new Delta so satisfactory to own. Features like the high speed leOcharacter per second printout,

the capability to design your own characters, do your own plotting, your own infinite variety of dot graphics patterns and densities. You’ll have a ball! For you, Chapters 3 through 8 are a must, and of course everybody should look at Chapter 10 which tells how to maintain your Delta for a long and carefree life.

We’ll end this as we began, with congratulations for your wise

buying, and a most cordial welcome to the wonderful world of Delta printing. . . fast, clean and beautiful!

‘-

Table of Contents

L..

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

A Closer Look

Components and Controls Paper Selection and Loading

Loading single sheets Loading roll paper Loading sprocket-feed paper

Bottom feeding Delta-15 Ribbon Installation Adjusting the Gap Self-Test

Getting Started With Delta

Using Commercial Software

First, some terminology

Using Delta with SuperCalc

Using Delta with word processors

Using this book without learning BASIC Some Basics about BASIC

Establishing communications

The CHR$ function

Control codes

The escape code

Some problem codes

Printing Text With Delta

Changing the print pitch Expanded print Making Delta print darker

Some Special Kinds of Text

Italic printing Underlining

Superscripts and subscripts

Mixing modes

Summary

Line Spacing and Forms Control

Starting New Lines

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Delta User’s Manual -

Changing Line Spacing

Moving down the page without a carriage return

Forms Controls

Form feed Changing the Page Length Top and Bottom Margins Summary

Formatting Your Output

A one-shot tab command

Setting Left and Right Margins Using Vertical Tabs

A one-shot vertical tab command

Summary

Special Features of the Delta Printer

Now hear this Initializing Delta Putting Delta to sleep Printing to the bottom of the sheet Unidirectional printing Backspace and delete The seven bit dilemma Block graphics characters and special symbols International character sets The macro control code

Summary

Creating Your Own Characters

Dot Matrix Printing The Print Matrix Defining Your Own Characters

Rule 1: Download characters are seven dots high Rule 2: Dots cannot overlap Add up each column of dots Assigning a value to your character Download character definition

command Printing Download Characters Proportional Characters

Defining proportional characters Printing proportional characters Connecting characters

55 .--

- -

. .

c-.

‘se-

Table of Contents

vii

Mixing Print Modes with Download Characters A Utility Program Summary

Chapter 6

Printing With Dot Graphics

Comparing dot graphics with download characters

Using the Dot Graphics Commands

Specifying the number of columns of dots Specifying the graphics data

Combining text and graphics Printing a Design or Logo Plotting with Delta

How the program works

Using Delta for business graphics High Resolution Graphics If You Have Problems wi:h BASIC Summary

Chapter 9 Chapter 10

Getting It All Together Maintenance

119 123

Cleaning Delta Removing the Upper Case Replacing a Fuse

Replacing the Print Head

Appendix A

Setting Up Delta

131

Where shall we put it? What have we here? Removing the shipping screws

Removing the packing from inside the printer Installing the platen knob Removing the tractor unit

Attaching the paper separator and paper

guide Installing the ribbon

‘L-

Installing the printer cover Connecting Delta to your computer

L..

Appendix B

IBM Personal Computer and Compaq

139

Recommended DIP switch settings for

IBM-PC BASIC programming

9..

Vlll

Delta User’s Manual

Listing programs Program listings

Appendix C

Apple II Computers

Setting the switches Applesoft BASIC

Listing programs Program listings Chart program Special character chart program Macro program Bridge hand program Numeral program Download utility program Delta plot program

Pie chart program

Appendix D TRS-60 Computers

Recommended DIP switch settings for TRSSO TRSSO BASIC Chart program

Special character chart program Macro program Bridge hand program Numeral program

Download utility program Delta plot program Pie chart program

Appendix E Osborne, Kaypro and CP/M Computers

Setting the switches Using MBASIC

Program listings Chart program Special character chart program Macro program Bridge hand program Numeral program Download utility program Delta plot program Pie chart program

Appendix F

Atari 400/800 Computers

Setting the switches Using Atari BASIC Listing programs

143 _

- -

161 .-.

177

193

Table of Contents

Program listings Chart program Special character chart program Macro program Bridge hand program Numeral program Download utility program Delta plot program Pie chart program

Appendix G Commodore VIC-20 and C-64 Computers

Setting the switches Using Commodore BASIC

Listing programs Program listings Chart program Special character chart program Macro program

Bridge hand program Numeral program Download utility program Delta plot program Pie chart program

Appendix H DIP Switch Settings

Switch Functions

Appendix I ASCII Codes Appendix J Character Style Charts

Appendix K Function Code Reference

Commands to Control Print

Style

Font style controls

Font pitch controls

Special print modes Commands to Control Vertical Position of Print Head

Line feed controls

Form feed controls

Vertical tabs Commands to Control Horizontal Position of Print Head Download Character Commands Commands to Control Graphics

Macro Instruction Commands Other Commands

211

227

233 239 251

Delta User’s Manual

Appendix L Appendix M

Command Summary in Numeric Order ASCII Code Conversion Chart

Appendix N Technical Specifications

Appendix 0 The Parallel Interface

Functions of the Connector Signals

Appendix P Serial Interface Specifications

Configuring the Serial Interface Delta’s Serial Protocols

Serial busy protocols

XONlXOFF protocol

ACK protocol

Index Consumer Response DIP Switch Quick Reference Warranty Command Quick Reference

279

283

291 293

297

303

309

311

Inside back cover Inside back cover

Table of Tables

Table 3-1 Table 3-2 Table 3-3 Table 3-4

Table 3-5 Table 3-6 Table 4-l Table 4-2 Table 4-3 Table 5-1 Table 6-1 Table 6-2 Table 6-3 Table 6-4 Table 6-5

Table 6-6

Table 6-7 Table 7-l Table 7-2 Table 7-3

Table 8-l

Table 8-2 Table B-l Table H-l Table H-2 Table O-l

Table P-l

Table P-2 Table P-3 Table P-4

Print pitch commands Expanded print commands Print emphasis commands Italic commands

Underline commands Superscript and subscript commands Line spacing commands Form length commands Top and bottom margin commands Left and right margin commands Bell commands Some miscellaneous commands Printing direction Eighth bit controls International character set commands International character sets Macro instruction commands Download character definition commands Download character printing commands Mixing download characters with various print modes Calculating nl and n2 for graphics

Dot graphics commands IBM serial switch settings DIP switch settings International character sets Delta parallel interface Serial interface pin functions DIP switch 3 Handshaking protocols Data transfer rates

30 32 33 34 35 36 46 49

50 57 62 63 64 66 68 69 69 88 91

95 101 115 141 228 231 295 298 298 300 300

xii

Delta User’s Manual

\..

‘L.

*I-

Chapter I

A Closer Look

In this chapter, we’ll introduce you to your Delta printer. We’ll

cover:

l Components and controls l Paper selection and loading l Adjusting the gap-for different paper thickness

l Self-test-print-out of available characters

Components and Controls

First, the components. You saw most of these when you

unpacked your printer. Now we’ll give you a brief explanation of

Delta User’s Manual

what they do. (For directions on how to set up Delta, see Appen-

dix A.)

Printer cover

‘igure l-l. For instructions on attaching the various components, see Appendix A.

Roll paper holder

guide

Printer cover - protects ribbon and print head from dust and

dirt - and also reduces the sound level.

Paper separator and paper guide - used with roll paper and

sprocket-feed paper.

Roll paper holder and holder shaft - used only with roll

paper.

Tractor unit - feeds sprocket-feed paper with its drive gear

and sprocket units.

Platen - this is the rubber cylinder that carries paper to the

print head.

Now let’s take a tour around the controls. You’ll find that all of

the operating controls are on the right side of the printer.

On/off power switch - towards the backside. This turns on

the electricity to your machine.

Platen knob - middle, right side. Lets you manually turn the

platen, just like a typewriter.

CAUTION: Turn this knob only with power switch ofi. Turn-

ing it with the power on could damage the platen drive gears.

Cover ,

I-

_. .~

*_.

Platen knob

[ml

Power switch

..-

i_-

h...

Control panel

‘igure 1-2. All of Delta’s controls are on the right side.

Control panel - on top right corner. These three buttons and

four “status” lamps are your day-to-day operational controls.

II-

Here’s what they do:

Power lamp - glows green when the power is on.

--.

Ready lamp - glows green when the printer is ready to accept data. This light flickers during transmission. Don’t worry about the flicker; it’s normal!

On Line lamp - glows green when data transmission is possible.

Paper Out lamp - glows red when printer is out of paper and stops printing.

. -.

On Line button - lets you change the “mode” from on-line to off-line. When it’s on-line, the printer can receive data from the computer. When it’s off-line, you can advance the paper with the form feed and line feed buttons.

F.F. button - stands for “Form Feed.” When you’re off-line you can tap this button and advance the paper to the top of a new

page or “form.”

4 Delta User’s Manual

L.F. button - stands for “Line Feed.” When you’re off-line this

allows you to advance the paper one line at a time. If you hold the

button down, you’ll get multiple line feeds, one after the other.

Around the backside are some important components and

connectors. From right to left, they are:

Figure 1-3. Around on the back of Delta you’ll find the interface connectors.

DIP switches - primarily, these switches are used in interfacing the Delta printer to your particular brand of computer. See the appendix for directions on doing this.

Parallel interface connector - the place where you “hook

up” your computer to the Delta so they are “interfacing” and thus

able to communicate with each other.

Serial interface connector - this interface allows you to con-

nect Delta with a computer using serial communications.

Power cord - you know what it is for, don’t you? It furnishes

the electrical power to run the printer.

Paper Selection and Loading

That’s it for components and connectors. The next thing we’ll

look at is the variety of papers available for Delta, and how to load

A Closer Look

them, ready to print. For starters, Delta can handle single sheetswhether standard-size stationery, envelopes, multi-part carbonless business forms, or almost any other kind of individual sheets. You can also print on continuous paper-either in rolls or fanfolded perforated paper.

Here’s a good place to spend a minute talking about the release lever, which you’ll be using often. This lever controls the pressure of the paper against the platen. It has two settings - “F” and “T”.

Release lever

Figure 1-4. The paper release lever has two settings: “F”for friction feed and “T for tractor feed.

The “F” setting stands for “Friction Feed” and this setting is always used when running single sheets or roll paper. The “T” position stands for “Tractor Feed” and is used only with sprocketfeed paper. “F” tightens the pressure of the paper against the platen, while “T” loosens this pressure, so it’s easier to move the paper around.

Loading single sheets

Paper width must always be between 8 and 10 inches (8 and 15 inches for the Delta-15), and paper thickness between .O7 mm and .lO mm.

Paper press bar

Release lever

‘igure l-5. Inserting a single sheet ofpaper can be done “under power” with the ne feed button.

Delta User’s Manual

‘- __

Now, instead of rolling the paper in manually by turning the platen knob, we’re going to use the L.F. button, with the power switch turned on. (This means we’ll have to use the “F” (friction feed) position of the release lever.) Remember what we told you about that L.F. (line feed) button? This allows you to advance the paper one line at a time, and if you hold the button down, you’ll get multiple line feeds, one after the other.

OK? Now let’s start.

1. Remove the printer cover and tractor unit (you can leave the

paper guide and paper separator on if you have installed them).

2. Turn the power switch on.

3. Lift up the paper press bar.

4. Set the release lever to the “F” position.

5. Insert the sheet from the back side of the platen (between the paper chute and the platen cover plate).

6. Press the ON LINE button until the ON LINE light goes off.

7. Press the L.F. button to roll the paper in until it appears on the front side of the platen, about where you want the first line to

start printing.

A Closer Look

NOTE: To straighten paper (if it’s in crooked):

l Move the release lever to “T” position. l Position the sheet where you want it, moving right or left if

necessary to get the paper located between the margins of the printing area.

l Move release lever back to “F” position.

8. Push the paper press bar back to its original position, flush against the paper.

9. Replace the printer cover.

10. Presto! You’re ready to start printing!

Loading roll paper

Roll paper, like single sheets, is fed into the printer by “friction feed,” using the platen as motive power. Thus, when using roll paper, you must first remove the tractor unit. However, you will need the three components of paper separator, paper guide, and roll paper holder in place. Appendix A tells you how to install the first two. We’ll explain here how to attach the roll paper holder and shaft.

The paper holder is [surprise!) the rack that holds the roll of paper. It is inserted into the two holes that you’ll find in the back of the printer. (On the Delta-X, the holder attaches the same way, but instead of at the middle, it’s over to one side, away from the electrical power cord, The roll of paper is placed on the holder shaft

and mounted on the wire rack holder as shown in Figure l-6.

Roll paper specs are the same for both Delta-10 and Delta-15

(8% ” wide, .CV to .lO mm thickness, and maximum 5” diameter

roll).

Let’s start to load the Delta. It’s done almost the same way as loading single sheets, except that the “single sheet” in this case is quite long!

1. Remove the printer cover and tractor unit.

2. Turn the power switch on.

3. Lift up the paper press bar.

4. Set the release lever in the “F” position (Figure 1-5).

5. Pull the paper separator upright (Figure l-7).

6. Load paper roll onto wire rack holder, so that the paper unrolls toward the printer from the bottom of the roll.

7. Unroll some paper, and pass it above the paper guide and beneath the up-ended paper separator.

8. Insert the end of the roll into the paper chute, located at the

back side of the platen.

9. Press the ON LINE button until the ON LINE light is off.

igure l-6. The roll paper holder is attached to the back of Delta.

Delta User’s Manual

Figure 1-7. Inserting roll paper into Delta is similar to loading single sheets.

..“.

..*. --

A Closer Look

10. Press the L.F. button to move the paper in until the leading edge appears on the front side of the platen, about where you want the first line to start printing. NOTE: To straighten roll paper (if it’s in crooked):

l Move the release lever to the “T” position. l Position the sheet where you want it, moving it right or left if

necessary to get the paper located between the margins of the printing area.

l Move the release lever back to “F” position.

11. Push the paper press bar back to its original position, flush against the paper.

12. Replace the printer cover.

13. Presto! You’re ready to start printing!

Loading sprocket-feed paper

This is the familiar perforated paper, with the holes along both sides, also called sprocket, punched, fan-fold, or just plain “computer paper.” It can be as narrow as 3”, and up to 10” wide (5” to

15%” on Delta-15).

To use this kind of paper, you’ll need to install the tractor unit,

with its two “sprocket” wheels to carry the paper along.

To install the tractor, identify the two “snap levers” shown in

Figure 1-8. At the same time, identify the two “stoppers,” nickel-

plated bars over which the hooked or cut-out bottom edge of the

L-

tractor frame fits.

OK? Now pick up the tractor unit. While depressing the two snap levers, guide it down to the two stoppers; when the hooks slide over the stopper bars, let go of the snap levers to lock it in place.

Next, if you haven’t already, install the paper separator and

- paper guide (see Appendix A), and we’re ready to start loading.

1. Turn the power switch off and remove the printer cover.

2. Pull the release lever (on left side) to position “T”.

3. Raise the paper press bar; lift the paper separator upright.

4. Place the stack of fan-fold paper behind the printer.

5. Open the tractor covers, atop the right and left sprocket units, as shown in Figure 1-9.

6. Flip the clamp levers forward. This allows the two sprocket units to move freely right and left, so you can align them with

the holes in the paper.

7. Pick up the top sheet, and feed it between the paper chute and platen cover plate.

8. Push the paper down and forward, so it wraps around the platen.

Figure 1-8. Replace the tractor unit by placing the hooks against the stoppers am lower the front into place while holding the snap levers.

Delta User’s Manual

Tractor cover

Figure 1-9. Open the tractor covers to expose the sprocket teeth.

A Closer Look

9. Return the paper separator to its original flat position,

10. Pull the paper up, past the sprocket units.

11. When holes fit snugly over the nubby teeth in both sprockets, close the tractor covers and snap the clamp levers back into

their locked position (Figure l-10).

12. With the platen knob, roll the paper up or down until the correct “start-print” position is reached. You do this by lining up

the horizontal perforation (where you tear apart individual

sheets] with the top of the ribbon guide (as shown in Figure Ill).

13. Now you’re ready to roll! Replace the printer cover and turn

the power switch on. Rapid printing!

Figure I-10. Delta ready to run with sprocket-feed paper.

Bottom feeding Delta-15

The Delta-15 can be loaded with sprocket paper in two

different ways-either from the back, as with Delta-lo, or through a slot in the bottom. To load Delta-15 from the back, follow the

steps shown in the previous section. But for loading through the bottom slot, you position the Delta-15 above the stack of fan-fold paper, with the paper being fed up through the bottom of the printer and on out the back.

Figure l-11. The perforation should be lined up with the top of the ribbon guide.

Delta User’s Manual

-- -

To use Delta-15 this way, you’ll need to install the tractor unit,

the paper separator, and the paper guide if you haven’t already. If

you’re unsure how to do it, see Appendix A and Figure l-8.

The steps for bottom loading Delta-15

1. Turn the power switch off and remove the printer cover.

2. Pull the release lever to position “T” (Figure l-4).

3. Raise the paper press bar.

4. Place the stack of sprocket-feed paper below the printer, ide- ally on a specially-built printer table with a built-in slot. -

5. Open the tractor covers, right and left (Figure l-9).

6. Flip the clamp levers forward. This allows the two sprocket units to move freely right and left, so you can align them with the holes in the paper.

7. Pick up the first “sheet” and lift it up and through the slot in the bottom of the Delta-15.

8. Push the paper up to the front of the platen roller.

9. Feed the top sheet inside the paper press bar and past the platen, high enough so you can grip the paper from above the

printer.

10. Pull the paper up past the sprocket wheels.

11. When the holes fit snugly over the nubby teeth, close tractor covers and snap the clamp levers back into the locked posi-

tions.

A Closer Look

12. With the platen knob, roll the paper up or down until the correct “start-print” position is reached. This position is achieved

by lining up the horizontal perforation with the top of the ribbon guide as shown in Figure l-11.

13. Now we’re ready to roll - replace the printer cover, and turn on the power switch. Speedy printing!

Figure 1-12. Delta-15 con be loaded from the bock like Delta-10 or from the bottom, OS shown here.

Ribbon Installation

Installing the ink ribbon with its two spools is described in

detail in Appendix A. Just follow the diagrams.

Adjusting the Gap

What’s the gap? The gap is the space between the print head and the platen, Adjusting the gap is simply adjusting the printer to take different thicknesses of paper.

Thickness adjustment lever

Delta User’s Manual

Figure l-13. Adjusting the print head gap lever allows you to obtain optimum print

quality on paper rongingfrom .07 mm to 28 mm thick-even ~-part carbonless sets.

To make the adjustment, move the “thickness adjustment lever” which is immediately in front of the “release lever” shown in Figure l-13. Pulling the thickness adjustment lever towards you will widen the gap; pushing it away from you will narrow the gap.

Five positions are available; you can feel the lever clicking into the various notches. The second step (illustrated) is the one most commonly used for single sheets of paper. The lever is straight up in this position.

You shouldn’t encounter any difficulty in getting the right gap setting to fit your paper. If necessary, experiment; you’ll soon find the best position for the paper you’re using.

Self-Test

The “self-test” is a trial run of your beautiful new machine. Delta carries a built-in program that prints out sample lines of let-

ters, numbers, and other characters-to show you that everything’s in good working order. It also serves as a display of all the characters available in the Delta. And, finally it’s a “warm-up” that permits you to check your installation of ribbon and paper, and the adjustment of the print head gap.

A Closer Look

Best of all, you don’t have to wait another minute-you can print the self-test without hooking up the Delta to your computer! It’s as simple as 1, 2, 3 . . .

1. Plug the printer’s power cord into a 120 VAC outlet.

2. Insert a sheet of paper.

3. While holding down the L.F. button, turn the power switch on. Surprised you, didn’t it? How did you like that blinding speed

- 160 characters per second! And the amazing array of type faces, symbols, and graphics! The sample print-out contains characters in the following sizes and type faces, all of them stored in the printer’s permanent memory.

‘igure l-14. The self-test gives o hint of what’s to come.

1. Standard pica type - 10 characters per inch

2. Standard elite type - 12 characters per inch

3. Condensed type - 17 characters per inch

4. Italic pica style - 10 characters per inch

5. Emphasized pica -

10 characters per inch

What next? Chapter 2 takes up the timely subject of “Com-

municating with Delta.” Now you’ll learn how to make your computer put your printer through its many paces.

Delta User’s Manual

Chapter 2

Getting Started With Delta

You have assembled and tested your printer, and seen a quick sample of Delta’s capabilities in the self-test. Now it’s time to do what you bought Delta to do: print information from your computer.

But first you need to connect Delta to your computer. Figure

2-l shows where the cables connect, but there’s more that you need to know. Complete instructions for connecting Delta to many popular computers are given in the appendix. Find the

appendix that covers your computer and follow the instructions for connecting Delta and for setting the DIP switches. If your computer isn’t listed in the appendix, then ask your Star dealer which computer that is listed is most like yours. If none of the listed computers are similar to yours, then your Star dealer will give you

Delta User’s Manual

advice on connecting Delta to your computer.

When everything is connected, come back here and we will

check it out!

Dip switch 2

Parallel interface connector

Parallel interface plug

Serial interface plug

Serial interface connector

Figure 2-1. Delta has both serial and parallel interfaces.

Using Commercial Sojtware

- -

Clip

Many of you purchased Delta to use with commercial software. You made a good choice because Delta is compatible with most commercial programs, from word processing programs to spreadsheet programs to accounting programs.

Many of these programs have a routine for describing your printer. These routines are often in “installation programs”. They typically give you a choice of printers or printer types to pick from. Some typical descriptions that you might pick for Delta are: “TTY type printer with backspace”, “IBM-dot matrix printer”,

“Centronics-type printer”,

“Dot matrix ASCII printer”. Delta

should work fine with any of these descriptions.

‘.

Getting Started With Delta

Many of these lists of printers are not very clear, and may not include anything that you think describes Delta. If you can’t decide which description best fits Delta, we recommend that you narrow the list to two or three choices (you can quickly eliminate ail the daisy-wheel printer types) and then experiment. You won’t hurt anything if you guess wrong; it just won’t work right. This should quickly tell you if your guess is right. If ail else fails, though, your Star dealer will be happy to give you some advice.

Some programs don’t ask you what kind of printer you have, but instead they ask some questions about what your printer can do. Here are the answers to the “most asked” questions. Delta can do a “backspace”.

Delta can do a “hardware form feed”.

With these questions answered, you are ready to start printing. Read the manual that came with your commercial software to see how to make it send information for Delta to print. This is ail you need to know to use Delta as a regular printer. But Delta isn’t just a regular printer. Delta has many capabilities that your commercial software isn’t aware of. A little later we will see what it takes to use some of Delta’s advanced features with commercial software.

First, some terminology

Delta knows what to print because it knows how to interpret the codes that the computer sends to it. These codes are numbers that the computer sends to Delta. Both the computer and Delta know the meaning of these codes because they are a set of standard codes used by almost ail microcomputers. This set of codes is the American Standard Code for Information Interchange, which is usually referred to as ASCII (pronounced ask-key). There are ASCII codes for all the letters of the alphabet, both lower case and capital, the numbers from 0 to 9, most punctuation marks, and some (but not all) of Delta’s functions.

ASCII codes are referred to in several different ways, depending on the way they are used. Some times these codes are treated as regular numbers. For example, the letter “A” is represented by the number 65 in ASCII. Appendix M shows ail of the ASCII codes.

In BASIC, ASCII codes are used in the CHR$ function. This function is used to print the character that is represented by the number in the CHR$ function. The BASIC statement PRINT CHR$(65) will print an “A” on the terminal.

In some other programming languages, ASCII codes are

referred to by their hex value.

“Hex” is short for hexadecimal

which is a base-16 number system. (Our usual numbers are base-

10) Since hex needs 16 digits, it uses the numbers 0 through 9 and

Delta User’s Manual

then it uses the letters A through F for digits. The ASCII code for the letter “A” is 41 in HEX.

Of course, most of the time we don’t even need to think about this code system. Our computers are smart enough to know that when we press the “A” key on our keyboard we want to print the letter “A”. The computer takes care of all the rest.

But there are a number of ASCII codes that don’t have keys on the keyboard. The most important of these codes are the codes that have ASCII values below 32. These codes control many of Delta’s functions. Even though there aren’t keys for these codes, most keyboards can send these codes. It’s done by holding down the “control” key (many times marked CTRL) and simultaneously pressing a letter key. The particular letter key that is pressed determines what code is sent. Control and A sends ASCII code 1, con-

trol and B sends ASCII code 2, and so on. Because of the way they

are created, these codes are often referred to as “control-A” etc.

So there are four common ways of referring to the same set of codes: the character or name of the code, the decimal ASCII

value, the hexadecimal ASCII value, and the “control-” value.

For example, the code that causes Delta to advance the paper one line is ASCII 10 (decimal). This code is commonly referred to

by all the following names:

line feed

(LF) -

ASCII 10 ASCII OAH

CHR$(lO)

- its name the abbreviation of its name

its decimal value

- its hex value (the H signifies hex)

- the way it’s used in BASIC

control-J - the way you send it from a keyboard.

There’s a chart in Appendix M that shows these side-by-side so that you can convert back and forth.

The reason that we are telling you all this about ASCII codes is that people are not very consistent about how they describe ASCII codes. We are going to help you use Delta with commercial software, but we don’t know what its documentation is going to call the various codes. So if you know all the different things that

the codes might be called it will be easier to figure out what it is trying to tell you.

Now, armed with the knowledge of what to look for, you can delve into the manuals of your commercial software and dig out

the secrets of how to send “control codes” to your printer. When

Getting Started With Delta

you find the method that your program uses, then you can shop

through this manual to find the function that you want to use. By translating the codes from the system that we use, to the system that your commercial software uses, you should be able to use many of Delta’s advanced features. It may help, however if we look at a couple of examples.

Using Delta with SuperCalc

SuperCalc is typical of the many spreadsheet programs that are now available. It has the capability of using several of the advanced features of Delta. Perhaps the most often used feature with spreadsheet programs is compressed printing. Let’s see how to use compressed printing with SuperCalc.

In SuperCalc, the /Output command provides output to the

printer. One of the options of the /Output command is S(etup). This option provides you with a menu of functions to configure SuperCalc to match your printer. You can change the number of characters that SuperCalc will print on a line and the number of lines that will print on a page. You should be sure that these values match your printer. Delta-lo’s print 80 characters per line of pica type, or 136 characters of condensed type. Delta-15 can print 136 characters per line of pica type, or 233 characters per line of condensed type. One of the other options on this menu is “send setup codes to printer”.

This is how we tell Delta that we want to use condensed print. The code to switch Delta into condensed print is ASCII 15, or control-O. So to switch on condensed type, use the /Output command and, after selecting D(isplay) and entering the range to print, select the S(etup) option, and the S(etup)-“Manual setup codes” sub option, Then, at the prompt that says “Enter codes (CR when done)“, type control-O. Remember, to enter con-

-- trol-0 you hold down the CTRL key while you press the 0 key (That’s the letter Oh, not the number zero]. Then just press return and select P(rint) to print your report.

,You only need to go through this procedure once each time you use SuperCalc because Delta will stay in compressed print until it’s turned off or reset.

You might also wish to use some of Delta’s other features with SuperCalc. Find the code for the feature you wish to use in Appendix K and use the same procedure given here. Remember that

Appendix M can be used to translate between the different names for the codes.

Using Delta with word processors

Not many word processing programs recognize the advanced

Delta User’s Manual

features of printers like Delta. They usually provide for some method of making bold characters and underlining. But Delta can do much more than that. The people that write word processing programs do, however, know that there are a lot of different printers on the market, and so they usually, (but not always) provide a way of sending special codes to a printer. We will study one example of this to see how a typical word processor handles it. Once you understand the concept you should be able to use your program manual to figure out how your word processor does it.

The program that we will study is the EasyWriter word processor for the IBM Personal Computer. This uses a fairly typical method of handling special codes. Generally, word processing programs don’t want you to put non-printing codes in the file. They “know” that they won’t print anything, and so they “protect” you by not letting you use them. But the non-printing codes are the ones that you need to use Delta’s features. So EasyWriter provides a way to override this protection. If you precede a special code with a “control-O” then EasyWriter will accept the next non-printing code.

Let’s look at a specific example. Suppose you want to print the title of a book in italic. The code sequence to select italic type is Escape 4 (that’s two separate characters). Entering the 4 is no problem; it’s a printing character so EasyWriter won’t object (although in this case it’s not going to print). The Escape, however, is a non-printing character so it requires special handling. To enter the Escape code first enter control-0 (hold the Ctrl key while you press the letter 0). Then press the Esc key. The Escape character shows on the screen as a left pointing arrow. Now just type the

number 4 and you’re done.

When you want to end the italic, you need to enter Escape 5.

Use the same procedure: enter control-O, Esc, and then 5.

You can use many of Delta’s features this way. Find the codes that you need in Appendix K, and then if necessary, use Appendix

M to translate the codes into the form your word processor uses.

A note to WordStar users: WordStar is probably the most popular word processing program in the world. But it provides no way to enter special printer control codes from the keyboard. WordStar does, however, provide you with a way to use some of

Delta’s advanced features. WordStar has four special commands that you can use to access Delta’s features. These are called “user printer controls” and are control-P Q, control-P W, control-P E, and control-P R. You might use two of these to turn italic on and off and the other two for some other function. The process of setting up these codes is called “patching” and is done with the

Getting Started With Delta 23

install program that comes with WordStar. The procedure is fairly involved, but it is explained in the WordStar manual. If you have trouble figuring it out, ask for assistance where you bought WordStar.

Using this book without learning BASIC

Throughout most of this book we will be teaching you how to use Delta’s features using the BASIC programming language in our examples. This is because it is easy to communicate with Delta from BASIC and because, despite its shortcomings, BASIC is the nearest thing to a universal language among users of per-

sonal computers. But it’s not the only way to communicate with

Delta, as we have already seen. Even if you don’t know BASIC, you can learn how to use Delta’s features by reading on. When you find a function that you want to use, just apply what you

already know about translating from one name for codes to another. The examples will still show you how the commands are used, even if you are not using BASIC.

Some Basics About BASIC

Probably the simplest thing to do with your printer in BASIC is to list a program on the printer. But in this world of proliferating microcomputers even this presents a problem. It seems that every computer uses a different system of communicating with the printer. We are going to tell you about some of the more common ways, and hope that between this and your computer’s BASIC manual you will be able to stay with us.

First on our list is Microsoft BASIC’s way of communicating with the printer. They just add an “L” to the beginning of the LIST and PRINT commands, making them LLIST and LPRINT. This method is used by more computers than any other and so we will

use it throughout this book, after telling the rest of you how to follow along.

Microsoft BASIC is used by TRSSO computers, IBM-PC com-

puters, many CPlM computers, and many other computers. (Look in your BASIC manual; it will probably say if it’s Microsoft BASIC.)

Next we need to talk about Apple II computers. They have a

real simple system. To list a program that you have loaded into

24 Delta User’s Manual

memory, just type:

PR#l LIST PR#g

The PR#l says “send everything to the printer”, the LIST sends it, and the PR#O says “Ok, back to the screen now”. (There are some slightly different versions of these commands in Appendix C.)

Some other computers require you to open the printer as a numbered device, and then direct the output to that device. For

example, to list a program on the printer with a Commodore C-64 computer you type the following:

OPEN4,4 CMD4 LIST PRINT#4

This says that the printer is device 4, directs the output to it,

lists the program, and finally closes device 4.

The appendix gives more information about listing programs on various computers. Find the appendix that tells how your computer works, and try it.

Now that we all know how our computers address the printer,

let’s try listing a BASIC program. Load a BASIC program and

LLIST it (or however your computer does it).

We’ve crossed the first major hurdle-learning how to list pro-

grams on Delta. Now we are ready to jump into the world of programming with Delta. But first, there are a few fundamentals that we need to cover.

Establishing communications

: CLOSE4

We’ve learned something about communicating with our printer. Now we need to adapt what we know to printing in a BASIC program. Generally, computers use about the same procedure for printing in a program as they do to list a program. Again

take a few moments to look at the appendix that relates to your computer. We’ll continue when you have it all figured out.

Getting Started With Delta

Welcome back. Let’s try what we learned. Type the following:

NEW

18 LPRINT "TESTING"

RUN

Remember-we use LPRINT, you may have to use something

else!

At any rate, you should have the word “TESTING” on your printer. Quite an achievement, isn’t it? Let’s get done with this simple stuff so that we can go on to something interesting.

The CHR$ function

We mentioned CHR$ earlier as one way to express ASCII codes. We are going to use it a lot in communicating with Delta. Delta uses many of the ASCII codes that don’t represent letters and numbers. The CHR$ function gives us an easy way to send

these codes to the printer. Try this to see how the CHR$ function works:

NEW

18 LPRINT CHR$(68)

RUN

I, L

L 6

That should print a “D” for Delta. If you check the chart in

Appendix I you will see that 68 is the ASCII code for “D”.

Control codes

Delta uses many of the non-printing ASCII codes for control codes. These codes perform a function rather than printing a character. Let’s try an easy one right now:

NEW 18 LPRINT CHR$(7) RUN

Who made that noise? That’s Delta’s bell. We will learn more

Delta User’s Manual

about it in Chapter 6. We just wanted to illustrate a code that causes Delta to perform a function.

The escape code

There’s one particular ASCII code that we are going to be using more than all the rest. This is ASCII 27, which is called escape. In BASIC it’s CHR$(27). With all of Delta’s advanced features, there weren’t enough single ASCII codes to go around. So

escape is used to start sequences of control codes that open a

wider range of functions to us.

While you must call this code CHR$(27) in BASIC, we are

going to refer to it as (ESC) in this book. This will make it much easier to recognize when we use it.

A typical escape code sequence starts with (ESC) which is followed by one or more CHR$ codes. As an example, the escape code sequence to turn on italic print is:

(ESC) CHR$(52)

In a program, this would look like this:

NEW

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

2$3 LPRINT "TESTING"

RUN

Try this program, it will print the word TESTING in italic. -

Some of you fast students may have noticed that CHR$(52) is the same as “4”. That’s right, the program will work just as well if line 10 is changed like this:

lpi LPRINT CHR$(27) "4";

That’s just another form of the same ASCII code, and it’s all the same to Delta.

Here’s another shortcut for BASIC programmers: since

(ESC) is used so often, assign it to a variable. In a long program,

typing ESC$ is much easier than typing CHR$(27) each time! Now

Getting Started With Delta

our program looks like this:

5 ESC$=CHR$(27)

l@ LPRINT ESC$ “4”;

\..-

L..

Turn your printer off and back on now, or you will be printing

in italic for quite a while!

Some problem codes

Before we go too far we need to mention some codes that may cause you problems. Like most of the subjects in this chapter, we have to be a little vague because of the differences in computers.

Nearly all BASICS change some of the ASCII codes between your BASIC program and your printer. Some turn CHR$(lO) (a line feed) into a CHR$(13) (

a carriage return) before sending it on. Some other problem codes are 0, and 9 through 13. Once again we refer you to the appendix about your computer, where some more specific information awaits.

That’s it for the basics. You are ready to learn how to use the

many features of Delta.

Delta User’s Manual

- -

Chapter 3

Printing Text With Delta

Beginning with this chapter we will be exploring all the features of Delta. All our examples will be given in Microsoft BASIC as used by the IBM Personal Computer, but remember that you don’t need to know BASIC to use Delta’s features. Just use the same ASCII codes as we do in our examples.

If your computer doesn’t use Microsoft BASIC, look in the

appendix to see what changes you need to make for your BASIC. The appendix tells you how to change the short example programs, and gives complete listings of the longer programs, already converted for your computer.

You have already printed a few lines on your Delta printer.

Now it’s time to start looking at the many variations of printing

style that you have available to you. The first technique that we

30 Delta User’s Manual

will investigate is changing the width of the characters that Delta prints.

Changing the print pitch

In “printer talk,” character width is called pitch. Normally,

Delta prints 10 characters per inch. This is called pica pitch

because it’s the same spacing as a standard pica typewriter.

Delta can also print 12 characters per inch. This is called elite

pitch because it is the same spacing as an elite typewriter.

Condensed print is approximately 17 characters per inch

(actually it’s 17.14 characters per inch). Condensed pitch allows

you to get 136 columns of printing on an 8% inch page.

You tell Delta which pitch you want to use with the (ESC)

“B” command. The table below shows the three options of this

command.

Table 3-l

Print pitch commands

Pitch

Pica Elite Condensed

Characters/inch

12 17

Control code

(ESC) “B” CHR$(l) (ESC) “B” CHR$(2) ‘, ESC) “B” CHR$(3)

Let’s see how these three pitches look. Try this program:

NEW

18 LPRINT CHR$(27) "B" CHR$(2)

2@ LPRINT "THIS IS ELITE PITCH PRINTING"

30 LPRINT CHR$(27) "B" CHR$(3) 40 LPRINT "CONDENSED IS THE NARROWEST PITCH"

50 LPRINT CHR$(27) "B" CHR$(l)

60 LPRINT "NOW WE ARE BACK TO PICA PITCH PRINTING"

When you run this program you should get this:

THIS IS ELITE PITCH F’HiNTING

--.

.-.

CONDENSED IS THE NARROWEST PITCH

NOW WE ARE BACK TO FICA PITCH F’RINTING

‘L

i..

L *

Printing Text With Delta

Line 10 turns on elite pitch with ( ESC > “B” CHR$(2). Line 20 prints a line at 12 characters per inch. The (ESC) “B” CHR$(3) in line 30 changes Delta to condensed pitch and line 40 prints a line

in condensed pitch. Line 50 resets Delta to pica pitch and line 60

prints a line in pica pitch.

Pica pitch and condensed pitch can be set with “shortcut”

codes. Instead of using (ESC) “B” CHR$(n), you can set them with a single code. CHR$(18) sets pica pitch and CHR$(15) sets condensed pitch. You can not set elite pitch with a single code.

Expanded print

Each of Delta’s three print pitches can be enlarged to twice its

normal width. This is called expanded print. Try this program to see how it works:

i..

NEW

18 LPRINT CHR$(lh) "THIS LINE IS EXPANDED" 2@ LPRINT "BUT THIS LINE IS NOT"

T-HIS

L~INlzEI IS

BUT THIS LIME IS NO-r

Expanded print set with CHR$(14) is automatically canceled

at the end of the line. This is convenient in many applications, such as for one line titles. Note that you don’t need to put an

(ESC) in front of the CHR$(14), although (ESC) CHR$(14) works

just the same.

Sometimes you may wish to stay in expanded print for more

than one line. Change your program to this:

E x l==‘aNwER

18 LPRINT CHR$(27) "W" CHR$(l) "THIS LINE IS

EXPANDED"

2fl LPRINT "AND SO IS THIS ONE"

39 LPRINT CHR$(27) "W" CHR$(@) "NOW WE'RE BACK TO

NORMAL"

Now the results look like this:

‘L

-l-H I s LINE

6rNR su IS

NOW WE’ RE BACK TO NCIRMAL

I s

ECXF-‘RNlDEr)

-l-H153 CBNE

32 Delta User’s Manual

When you turn on expanded print with (ESC) “W” CHR$(l) it stays on until you turn it off with (ESC) “W” CHR$(O). That’s what we added line 30 for.

Table 3-2

Expanded print commands

1 Function

One line expanded Expanded ON ExDanded OFF

1 Control code

CHR$(14)

(ESC) “W” CHR$(l)

‘,ESC) “W” CHR$fOI

By combining expanded print with the three pitches, Delta

has six different character widths available.

Enter this program to see how the print pitches and expanded

print can be combined:

18 LPRINT CHR$(llt) "EXPANDED PICA PITCH" 2@ LPRINT CHR$(27) "B" CHR$(2)

38 LPRINT CHR$(14) "EXPANDED ELITE PITCH" 48 LPRINT CHR$(27) "B" CHR$(j)

58 LPRINT CHR$(14) "EXPANDED CONDENSED PITCH"

6@ LPRINT CHR$(27) "B" CHR$(l)

79 LPRINT "NOW WE ARE BACK TO UNEXPANDED PICA

PRINTING"

-.-

- -

Here’s what you should get from this program:

EXF19NRED ELITE PITCH

EXPANDED CONDENSED PITCH

NOW WE ARE BACK TQ UNEXF’ANDED PICA PRINTING

Making Delta print darker

Delta has very good print density when it’s just printing regularly. But sometimes you may want something to stand out from the rest of the page. Delta provides two ways to do this: doublestrike and emphasized print. Both of these go over the characters

Printing Text With Delta

twice, but they use slightly different methods to darken the characters. Let’s try them and see what the difference is.

The following table shows the control codes for getting into

and out of double-strike and emphasized modes.

Table 3-3

Function

Double-strike ON Double-strike OFF

Print emDhasis commands

Emphasized ON

Emphasized OFF

Control code

‘, ESC) “G” (ESC) “H” (ESC) “E” (ESC) “F”

Try them now with this little program:

~ j L.

I ) IN...

NEW 18 LPRINT CHR$(27) "G" 28 LPRINT "THIS IS DOUBLE-STRIKE PRINTING"

3p LPRINT CHR$(27) "H" CHR$(27) "E"; 4@ LPRINT "THIS IS EMPHASIZED PRINTING" 5!2 LPRINT CHR$(27) "G"; 69 LPRINT "AND THIS IS BOTH AT ONCE"

7pI LPRINT CHR$(27) "H" CHR$(27) "F"

Run this program. The results will look like this:

THIS IS DOUBLE-STRIKE PRINTING

THIS IS EMPHASIZED PRINTING

AND THIS IS BOTH AT ONCE

Line 10 turns on double-strike with (ESC) “G” and line 20

prints a line of text. In line 30 double-strike is turned off with

(ESC) “H” and then emphasized is turned on with (ESC) “E”. Line 40 prints a line of emphasized text. Line 50 then turns double-strike back on so that line 60 can print in both at once. Finally, line 70 turns both off, so that Delta is set for normal printing.

Look closely at the different lines of printing. In the line of double-strike printing each character has been printed twice, and they are moved down just slightly the second time they are

34 Delta User’s Manual

printed. In emphasized printing, they are moved slightly to the

right the second time Delta prints. The last line combined both of

these so that each character was printed 4 times. Now that’s pretty nice printing, isn’t it?

Some Special Kinds of Text

We’re just getting started on the kinds of text that Delta can

print. Still to come are italic characters, underlined characters,

superscripts and subscripts.

Italic printing

Italic letters are letters that are slanted to the right. Delta can print all the kinds of letters that we have seen so far in italic as well as the roman (standard) letters we have been using. Italics can be used to give extra emphasis to certain words. The command codes to turn italic on and off are shown in Table 3-4.

Table 3-4

Italic commands

Function

Italic ON Italic OFF

Control code

(ESC) “4” (ESC) “5”

Use this program to see italic characters:

NEW 18 LPRINT CHR$( 27) “4”; 2p LPRINT “THIS LINE IS PRINTED IN ITALIC”

3g LPRINT CHR$(27) “5”; 4pl LPRINT “THIS LINE IS NORMAL PRINTING”

Here is what you should get:

THIS LINE IS PRINTED IN ITALIC

THIS LINE IS NORMAL PRINTING

Printing Text With Delta

This program is easy; line 10 turns italic on with (ESC) “4”,

and line 30 turns it off with (ESC) “5”.

UnderJining

Not only can Delta print all the styles of printing that we have seen in both roman and italic, but it can underline them too. The control codes are shown in Table 3-5.

Table 3-S

Underline commands

Function

Underline ON Underline OFF

Control code

(ESC) “-" CHR$(l)

(ESC) “-"CHR$(O)

Again, that’s simple. Let’s try it with this program:

NEW

18 LPRINT CHR$(27) '-' CHR$(l);

2g LPRINT "THIS IS UNDERLINED";

3@ LPRINT CHR$(27) 11-u CHR$(a); 49 LPRINT v AND THIS IS NOT"

It should come out like this:

TtiIS IS UNDERLINED AND THIS IS NOT

__-_-_.-- -.-..._.-- ------“--_--

In this program underline is turned on in line 10 with (ESC) “

- ” CHR$(l), and then off in line 30 with (ESC) “ -” CHR$(O). There’s a new little wrinkle in this program, though. It all printed on one line. The semicolons at the end of the first three lines told BASIC that those lines were to be continued. Therefore, BASIC didn’t send a carriage return and line feed at the end of those lines. We just did this to illustrate that all these control codes can be used in the middle of a line. It’s easy to underline or italicize only part of a line.

Superscripts and subscripts

We have seen how Delta can print in 6 different widths. Delta

Delta User’s Manual

can also print in two different heights of characters. The smaller characters are called superscripts and subscripts and are half the height of normal characters. Superscripts print even with the tops of regular printing while subscripts print even with the bottom of regular printing. They are frequently used to reference footnotes, and in mathematical formulas.

Table 3-6 has the codes for using superscripts and subscripts.

Table 3-6

Superscript and subscript commands

Function

Superscript ON Subscript ON Super & subscript OFF (ESC) “T”

Control code

(ESC) “S” CHR$(O) (ESC > “S” CHR$(l)

Try this program to see them work:

NEW

18 LPRINT "THIS LINE USES";

28 LPRINT CHR$(27) "S" CHR$(@);

3pI LPRINT 11 SUPERSCRIPTS"; 48 LPRINT CHR$(27) "T";

5pI LPRINT " AND"; 6p LPRINT CHR$(27) "S" CHR$(l); 7pI LPRINT " SUBSCRIPTS"; 88 LPRINT CHR$(27) "T"; 90 LPRINT t~ BOTH"

THIS LINE USES *UPER-CRxPTa FIND BIU~~SCRIPT(B BOTH

Here line 20 turns on superscripts with ( ESC > “S” CHR$(O).

It’s turned off in line 40 with (ESC) “T”. Then, between printing text, subscripts are turned on in line 60 with (ESC) “S” CHR$(l), and finally off in line 80. Again, everything prints on one line

because of the semicolons.

Mixing modes

We have learned how to use Delta’s many different printing

modes individually. Now let’s see how we can combine these

Printing Text With Delta

modes for even more printing effects. Condensed, italic, doublestrike, underlined subscripts are something that you are probably just itching to print!

There are 288 “theoretical” combinations of the modes that we have learned. Of these, a mere 112 will work! (Some combinations, like expanded superscripts, just don’t work.) Instead of try-

ing to list all the combinations that work, we have a program that prints a chart showing all the combinations. There is a sample of each of the 112 possible combinations on the chart. (The dots just

indicate the few combinations that don’t work.) Enter the follow-

ing program and run it to make your own chart.

lplpl WIDTH "LPTl:", 255

'CANCEL AUTO CR & LF AFTER

80 CHAR'S

110 GOSUB 1$30$3 'BUILD INSTRUCTION SET REQUIRED

120 GOSUB 20&J 'PRINT HEADING

130 LPRINT "*REGULAR*"

140 GOSUB 3000 'PRINT FOUR LINES REGULAR

150 LPRINT "*DOUBLE STRIKE*" 160 LPRINT DOUBLE.STRIKE$; 170 GOSUB 3000 'PRINT FOUR LINES DOUBLE STRIKE 180 LPRINT "*EMPHASIZED*"

190 EMPHASIZED = TRUE 200 GOSUB 3000 'PRINT FOUR LINES EMPHASIZED 210 LPRINT "*DOUBLE STRIKE & EMPHASIZED*" 220 LPRINT DOUBLE.STRIKE$ EMPHASIZED$;

230 GOSUB 3000

'PRINT DOUBLE STRIKE & EMPHASIZED 240 END 250 ~******************************************

260 '*****XttXXtffXXXttf***********************

lllllllllll1llll1fIllllIllllllllllflllI,lll

1000

lpll0 ' '

1020 ’ 1030 ’ ’

flll1rrflllllllllllrllllllllllllllllllIllfl

1040

BUILD INSTRUCTION SET '

1059 """FONT (CHARACTER) STYLES""""""" 1060 ITALIC$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(52) 1070 ROMAN$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(53)

@,Qj ll,llIllllI'PITCH ~~~~~IllllllllIlllIlfllll

1090

ENLARGED$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(87) + CHR$(l) 1100 NOT.ENLARGED$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(87) + CHR$(@) 1110 PICA$

1120 ELITE$

1130

CONDENSED$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(66) + CHR$(j)

= CHR$(27) + CHR$(66) + CHR$(l) = CHR$(27) + CHR$(66) + CHR$(2)

Delta User’s Manual

1140 fllllll'SP~CIA~ PRINT ~~~~~Ill,llllllllllIt

1151a

EMPHASIZED$

116g NOT.EMPHASIZED$

11.7g

DOUBLE.STRIKE$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(71)

= CHR$(27) + CHR$(69) = CHR$(27) + CHR$('I@)

1180 NOT.DOUBLE.STRIKE$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(72) 1190

UNDERLINED$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(45) +

CHR$(l)

12pl0 NOT.UNDERLINED$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(45) +

CHR$(0)

1210 SUPERSCRIPT$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(83) +

CHR$(0)

1220 SUBSCRIPT$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(83) +

CHR$(l)

1230 NOT.SCRIPTED$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(84)

1240 RESET.ALL$ = NOT.EMPHASIZED$ + NOT.UNDERLINED$

+ NOT.DOUBLE.STRIKE$

1250 RESET.ALL$ = RESET.ALL$ + ROMAN$ + PICA$ +

NOT.ENLARGED$

1260 IlllllllllltlllI~~~~~~~~~l"ll"l,lf'll"l,'

1270 TRUE = 1 :FALSE = 0 1280 REGULAR.HEADING$ = STRING$(27,"*") + "REGULAR"

+ STRING$(27,"*")

1290 RETURN

,r,,,11l1,lll,111l111llr1l1ll,l1l,,r11lf1111

2000 2010 I 2020 1 2030 ’

,,1l,,11l111r1111l111ll11ll1!1l11,11l111rlll

2040

PRINT HEADING '

2050 LPRINT RESET.ALL$

2060 LPRINT ENLARGED$ lr

NORMAL ENLARGED lr 2070 LPRINT RESET.ALL$; 2080 LPRINT UNDERLINED$;

2090 LPRINT CONDENSED$ "CONDENSED I'; 2100 LPRINT ELITE$ 2110 LPRINT PICA$

" ELITE I'; " PICA I';

2120 LPRINT CONDENSED$ "CONDENSED ";

2130 LPRINT ELITES " ELITE 'I;

2140 LPRINT PICA$

" PICA " 2150 LPRINT RESET.ALL$ 2160 RETURN

,,ll,1llrl,11,l,l11l1ll,l1l,1l1l11r11,1,1fl

3000

3010 ' ' 3020 ' 3030 ' '

,111,l,,,,,,,ll,,,1!1~1111,1111,1l1111f1111

3040

PRINT FOUR LINES

Printing Text With Delta

3050 ITALICS = FALSE

3060 UNDERLINED = FALSE

:LPRINT ROMAN$; :LPRINT

NOT.UNDERLINED$;

3070 ENLARGED = FALSE

:LPRINT NOT.ENLARGED$;

3080 PICA = FALSE

3090 IIIIII~~~II~~~RINT PI~CHESftlfl~fff~~flfffl

3100 LPRINT CONDENSED$;

3110 GOSUB 3500 'PRINT AS REQUIRED

3120 LPRINT ELITE$;

3130 GOSUB 3500 'PRINT AS REQUIRED 3140 LPRINT PICA$; :PICA = TRUE 3150 GOSUB 3500 'PRINT AS REQUIRED

3160 '~~"""SEE WHAT HAS BEEN D0NE"""""" 3170 IF ENLARGED = TRUE THEN LPRINT :GOTO 3190

'CHECK IF UNDERLINED

3180 LPRINT ENLARGED$; :ENLARGED = TRUE :GOTO 3080

'ELSE CONTINUE LINE

3190 IF UNDERLINED = TRUE THEN LPRINT :GOTO 3210

'CHECK IF ITALICS

3200 LPRINT UNDERLINED~; :UNDERLINED = TRUE :G0~0

. .

3070

3210 IF ITALICS = TRUE THEN LPRINT RESET.ALL$

'ELSE PRINT UNDERLINE

:RETURN

3220 LPRINT ITALICS; :ITALICS = TRUE :GoTo 3060

'REPEAT WITH ITALICS

111!1l1ll111111ll,1l1ll11ff111ll1ll11l1lflll

3500 3510 ’ 3520 ’ 3530 '

l1l1ll111!rl11ll11llllllllll1ll1lllll11111l1

3540

3550 BLANK$ = STRING$(6,32)

PRINT AS REQUIRED

:FOUR.DOT$ = "...."

3560 IF EMPHASIZED = FALSE THEN LPRINT "ABcd";

:GOTO 3610

3570 IF PICA = FALSE THEN LPRINT FOUR.DOT$;

:GOTO 3590 3580 LPRINT EMPHASIZED$ "ABcd" ; 3590 IF ENLARGED = TRUE THEN LPRINT 11 ";

:ELSE LPRINT BLANK$;

3600 RETURN

3610 llllft~~lfl~~~~~~~~~~ = FA~SElf"llllflll"

3620 IF ENLARGED = TRUE THEN LPRINT v ";

:RETURN

3630 LPRINT SUPERSCRIPT$; "Xx"; 3640 LPRINT SUBSCRIPT$;

"YY " ;

3650 LPRINT NOT.SCRIPTED$; 3660 RETURN

Here is the chart it produces:

Delta User’s Manual

NOKMF=lL

CONDENSED

tHEtULARX bBcd%, APcdX”v, ABcdX” vy h&d%, ABcd-‘v, ABcd”“v, ABcd FIEcd

fEMF’HAS1 ZEDt .,.a

. . . .

ELITE

. . . .

,...

--F’ICA

ABcd ABcd

ENL-eRGED

CONDENSED

ABcd CIRcd

..I. m--m ..I. m--w

ELITE

---P I CA

ABcd

e..=cd -

FlBcd FlBcd

*IfOUHLE STRIKE % EMPHAS I ZEDlr

III.

I”’

. . . .

.,,.

ABcd

. . . . .m.m cSEcd

ABcd . . . . I

Summary

Control code

(ESC) “B” CHR$(l) (ESC) “B” CHR$(2) (ES0 “B” CHR$(3)

CHR$(18)

Function

Sets pica pitch Sets elite pitch Sets condensed pitch Sets pica pitch

Printing Text With Delta

CHR$(15) CHR$(14) (ESC) CHR$(14)

(ESC) “W” CHR$(l) (ESC) “W” CHR$(O) (ESC) “G”

( ESC) “H”

(ESC) “E” (ESC) “F” (ESC) “4” (ESC) “5” (ESC) “ - ” CHR$(l) (ESC) “ - ” CHR$(O) (ESC) “S” CHR$(O)

(ESC) “S” CHR$(l)

(ESC) “T”

Sets condensed pitch One line expanded One line expanded Expanded on Expanded off Double-strike on Double-strike off Emphasized on Emphasized off Italic on Italic off Underline on Underline off Superscript on Subscript on Super & subscript off

Delta User’s Manual

Chapter 4

Line Spacing and Forms Control

We have learned how to print in many different ways, but so far we haven’t looked at how to position the printing on the page. In this chapter we will learn how to change the vertical spacing and the length of the page.

Starting New Lines

Up until now the only time we have thought about printing on a new line is when we didn’t want it to happen. We learned that

putting a semicolon (;) at the end of a BASIC line will not end the

line of printing. So somehow, the computer is telling the printer

Delta User’s Manual

when to end one line and start another.

There are two codes that are used to end one line and start another. They are carriage return (CHR$(13)) and line feed (CHR$(lO)). The codes are simple, but their action is a little confusing (especially with BASIC). Carriage return is the easiest. Each time that the printer receives a CHR$(13) it returns the print head to the left margin. It does not advance the paper (if DIP switch 2-4 is off; see below).

Line feed is more complicated. Each time the printer receives a CHR$(lO) it both advances the paper one line and returns the print head to the left margin, ready to start a new line.

Now to add a little confusion-most (but not all) versions of BASIC add a line feed (CHR$(lO)) to every carriage return (CHR$(13)) that they send. If your version of BASIC doesn’t do this, then you should turn DIP switch 2-4 on so that Delta will add

the line feed for you. When you have DIP switch 2-4 on the printer

will do the same thing when it receives a carriage return as it does when it receives a line feed.

If you find that your printer double spaces when it should single space, then you probably need to turn DIP switch 2-4 off.

Changing Line Spacing

When you turn Delta on the line spacing is set to 6 lines per inch (or 8 lines per inch if DIP switch l-5 is off). This is fine for most printing applications, but sometimes you may want something different. Delta makes it easy to set the line spacing to whatever value you want.

Try this program to see how easy it is to change the line spat-

ing:

NEW

$2 FOR I = 1 TO 25 29 IF I = 13 THEN 51a 38 LPRINT CHR$(27) "A" CHR$(I); 4g LPRINT "DELTA HAS VARIABLE LINE SPACING"

5p NEXT 6pl LPRINT CHR$(27) "2"

Line Spacing and Forms Control

This is what you will get:

i--

i L

j L

i or

: c-

DELTA HAS VARIABLE DELTA HAS VARIABLE DELTA HAS VAR I ABLE

DELTA HAS VAR I ABLE DELTA HAS VARIABLE DELTA HAS VARIABLE

DELTA HAS VARIABLE DELTA HAS VARIAELE

DELTA HAS VARIABLE LINE SPACING DELTA HAS VARIABLE LINE SFACI NG DELTA HAS VARIABLE LINE SPACING

DELTA HAS VARIABLE LINE SPACING

DELTA HAS VARIABLE LINE SF’ACING

DELTA HAS VARIABLE LINE SPACING

LINE

LINE LINE

LINE

SF-AC I NG

SPAC I NG St-AC I NG SF’ACING

SF’AC I NG

SF’AC I NG SPACING

WAC I NG

Line 30 changes the line spacing. The command (ESC) “A” CHR$(n) changes the line spacing to n/72 of an inch. The loop that is started in line 10 increases the value of n (the variable I in the program) each time it is executed. So the line spacing increases as the program continues. Line 20 just shortcuts the loop when I =

13, since BASIC won’t let us send CHR$(13) without adding an unwanted CHR$(lO) to it. Finally, the (ESC) “2” in line 60 resets the line spacing to 6 lines per inch. This is a shortcut that is the

same as ( ESC > “A” CHR$(12).

You may wonder why they picked l/72 of an inch as the increment for the line spacing command. There’s a good reason: the dots that the printer makes are l/72 inch apart. So this means that you can vary the line spacing in increments as fine as one dotunless you want finer spacing, like one half dot spacing.

The (ESC) “3” CHR$(n) command sets the line spacing in

Delta User’s Manual

increments of l/144 inch. Change line 30 in your program so it is like this:

3!i!J LPRINT CHR$(27) “3” CHR$(I);

and run the program again. Now the results will look like this:

DELTA HAS VAKIAPLE DELTA HAS VAF:IAELE LINE SPACING DELTA HAS VARIABLE LINE SF’ACING DELTA HAS VARIABLE LINE SPAClNG

DELTA HAS VAHIAlEiLE LINE SPACING DELTA tdAS VARIABLE LINE SPACING DE:LTA HAS VARIABLE LINE SPACING DELTA HAS VARIABLE LINE SF’ACING

DELTA HAS VARIABLE LINE SF’ACING

LINE

SPACING

The program works just the same as before, but the line spacings are just half what they were. This is because (ESC) “3” CHR$(n) sets the line spacing to n/144 inch.

Here are all the line spacing commands, including several “shortcut” commands for commonly used line spacings.

Table 4-l

Line spacing commands

1 Function

Set line spacing to n/72 inch Set line spacing to nl144 inch Set line wacine to l/8 inch Set line spacing to 7172 inch Set line spacing to l/S inch One-time line feed of n/144 inch

. ”

I Control code

(ESC) “A” CHR$(n) (ESC) “3” CHR$(n) (ESC) “0” (ESC) “1" (ESC) “2” (ESC) “J” CHR$(n)

Let’s take a look at the last command in the table, which gives a one-time line feed of n/144 inch. The (ESC) “J” CHR$(n) com-

Line Spacing and Forms Control

mand does not change the setting of the line spacing, but it does cause the printer to make one line feed of n/144 inch. Try this program to see how it works:

NEW

18 LPRINT "LINE NUMBER 1" 2g LPRINT "LINE NUMBER 2";

3pI LPRINT CHR$(27) "J" CHR$(l@d); 4pI LPRINT "LINE NUMBER 3” 5p LPRINT "LINE NUMBER 4”

Here is what Delta will produce:

LINE NUMBER 1 LINE NUMbER 2

LINE NUMBER 3

LINE NUMBER 4

The (ESC) “J” CHR$(lOO) in line 30 changes the line spacing

to 1001144 for one line only. The rest of the lines are printed with the normal line spacing. Notice that both line 20 and line 30 end with semicolons. This prevents the normal line feed from occur-

ring.

The value of n in all three commands (( ESC) “A”, (ESC) “3”, and (ESC) “J”) can range from 0 to 255. A value of 0 means that there is no line spacing. This allows you to print multiple lines in the same position on the page. This is useful when you want to overprint graphics and text.

Moving down the page without a carriage return

So far, all the commands that move the paper also move the print head to the left margin. And normally this is what you want. Sometimes, though, you may wish to move down the page without moving the printhead back to the left margin. The (ESC) ‘&a” CHR$(n) command does just that. This command advances the

Delta User’s Manual

paper n lines (using whatever the current line spacing is) without moving the printhead. Change line 30 of your program so that it is like this:

3@ LPRINT CHR$(27) "a" CHR$(3);

Now when you run the program the results will look like this:

LINE NUMBER 1

LINE NUMBER 2

LINE NUMBER 3

LINE NUMEEl3 4

The new line 30 moves the paper up 3 lines, but the printhead doesn’t move. Therefore, line 40 prints its message starting in the column that the printhead was left in at the end of line 20.

Forms Controls

We have seen how to control the spacing between lines on a

page. Delta also has commands that control the placement of printing on the page, and even adjust for different size pages.

Form feed

The simplest forms control code is the form feed. Form feed is

CHIQ(12) and causes the printer to move the paper to the top of the next sheet. Try it by changing line 30 to this:

38 LPRINT CHR$(12);

Before you run the program, turn your printer off and adjust the paper so that the top of the sheet is even with the top of the ribbon guide on the print head, then turn the printer back on. If you don’t remember how to do this, review Chapter 1. When you

Line &acing and Forms Control

run the program, the results will look like this:

-L--p-----

0 ~

LINE NUi'lEEFi 1

LINE NUMBER 2

O ~

--L----p--

o /

LINE NUMBEH :Z

/ LINE NUMBER 4

0 ’

O I

O /

The form feed (CHR$(12)) in line 30 caused the printer to

move to the top of a new page before printing the last two lines.

A note to TRSSO users: CHR$(12) is a problem code for the TRSSO. To send a form feed command to Delta you must add 128 to it making it CHR$(140). Use CHR$(140) where we use CHR$(12) in these programs.

0 ~

Changing the Page Length

You may have some computer forms that you wish to use with Delta that are not 11 inches high. That’s no problem, because you can tell Delta how high the forms are that you are using. There are

two commands for doing this, shown in this table:

Table 4-2

Form length commands

Delta User’s Manual

Let’s set up a 7 inch high form length, which is typical of

many computer checks. The following program will do it.

NEW

l@ LPRINT CHR$(27) "C" CHR$(@) CHR$(7);

2@ LPRINT "PAY TO THE ORDER OF:"

3@ LPRINT CHR$(12);

49 LPRINT "PAY TO THE ORDER OF:"

This program should print

“PAY TO THE ORDER OF:” twice, and they should be 7 inches apart. Line 10 sets the form length to 7 inches. After line 20 prints, line 30 sends a form feed to advance the paper to the top of the next form. Line 40 then prints its message.

After you have run this program, turn off the printer and adjust the top of form position. When you turn the printer back on the page length will be reset to its normal setting (usually 11 inches).

Top and Bottom Margins

Many programs that use a printer don’t keep track of where they are printing on the page. This causes a problem when you get to the bottom of a page because these programs just keep on printing, right over the perforation. This makes it very hard to read, especially if a line happens to fall right on the perforation. And if you separate the pages then you are really in trouble.

Of course Delta has a solution to this predicament. Delta can keep track of the position on the page, and advance the paper so that you won’t print too near the perforation. There are two commands to do this. One controls the space at the top of the page and the other controls the space at the bottom of the page. The control codes are given in the following table.

Top and bottom margin commands

1 Function

Set top margin Set bottom margin Clear top and bottom margins

Table 4-3

I Control code

(ESC) “R” CHR$(n) (ESC) “N” CHR$(n) (ESC) “0”

Line Spacing and Forms Control

In both cases the value of n tells Delta how many lines to skip,

although there is a slight difference in the usage. When you set the top margin with (ESC) “R” CHR$(n), the value of n tells Delta what line to start printing on. When you set the bottom margin with (ESC) “N” CHR$(n), the value of n tells Delta how many blank lines should be left at the bottom of the page.

Let’s try a simple application to see how these margins work. Enter this program, which will print 150 lines without top and bottom margins.

NEW 3p, FOR I = 1 TO 15g 4@ LPRINT "THIS IS LINE "; I

5jil NEXT

7pl LPRINT CHR$(12);

When you run this program it will print 150 lines right down

the page and across the perforations. When it’s done line 70 sends

a form feed to advance the paper to the top of the next page. Look at the lines that have printed near the perforations. Separate the sheets and see if any of the lines have been torn in half. These are

the problems that the top and bottom margins will solve.

Now add the following lines to your program. (Don’t forget

the semicolons or you won’t get quite the same results that we

did.)

18 LPRINT CHR$(27) "N" CHR$(6); 2@ LPRINT CHR$(27) "R" CHR$(6); 6p LPRINT CHR$(27) "0";

Now when you run the program Delta will skip the first six lines and the last six lines on each page (except for the first page, where Delta started printing at the top). That’s because the top margin only works after a form feed, and we didn’t send Delta a form feed after we set the top margin.

Line 10 sets the top margin, line 20 sets the bottom margin,

and line 60 clears both margins when we are done.

Delta User’s Manual

Summary

Control code

CHR$(lO) CHR$(13) (ESC) “A” CHR$(n) (ESC) “3” CHR$(n) ( ESC > “0” (ESC) “1”

(ESC) “2” (ESC > “J” CHR$(n) (ESC) “a” CHR$(n)

Function

Line feed

Carriage return Set line spacing to n/72 inch Set line spacing to n/144 inch Set line spacing to l/8 inch Set line spacing to 7/72 inch Set line spacing to l/S inch One-time line feed of n/144 inch Advance the paper n lines

L/ I

L I

j L 1

/ I

I -

Line Spacing and Forms Control

CHR$(12)

(ESC) “C” CHR$(n) (ESC) “C” CHR$(O) CHR$(n) (ESC) “R” CHR$(n)

(ESC)

“N” CHR$(n)

ESC) “0”

Form feed Set page length to n lines Set page length to n inches Set top margin; start printing on line n

Set bottom margin; leave n lines blank Clear top and bottom margins

Delta User’s Manual

Chapter 5

Formatting Your Output

You have probably used the tab and margin features on a typewriter. They make it easier to format the text on a page. Delta also has tabs and margins that you can set. But it goes beyond the capa-

bilities of a typewriter because besides having tabs that go across the page, called horizontal tabs, Delta has vertical tabs that go

down the page. In this chapter we will discover how to use the

tabs and margins on Delta.

When you turn Delta on there are horizontal tabs set automat-

ically every ten spaces. If you start counting at column 1 they are

at columns 10, 20, 30, 40, etc. It’s easy to use these tabs; you just send a CHR$(S) to Delta and the print head will move to the next tab position. CHR$(S) is the ASCII code (HT) for horizontal tab.

Delta User’s Manual

Try this one line program to demonstrate the use of the

default horizontal tabs.

NEW

29 LPRINT "ONE" CHR$(9) "TWO" CHR$(9) "THREE" -

CHR$( 9) "FOUR"

Here’s what will print:

ONE

I-Wcj

THREE

FOUR

Even though the words are different lengths, they are spaced

out evenly by the horizontal tabs.

CHR$(S) is a problem with some computers. Some BASICS convert CHR$(S) to a group of spaces that act like a sort of pseudotab. This is fine if the computer and the printer have the same tab settings, but it doesn’t allow us to use our own tab settings on Delta. We can “outsmart” these computers by adding 128 to the ASCII value that we use. Instead of using CHR$(S), use CHR$(137) for a tab command. Even this trick won’t work for Apple II computers, for they use CHR$(S) for something else entirely. Apple users can get some help in Appendix C.

Now add the following line to your program to set different horizontal tabs.

1g LPRINT CHR$(27) "D" CHR$(8) CHR$(M) CHRS(24)

CHR$(la)

(ESC) “D” is the command to begin setting horizontal tabs. It

must be followed by characters representing the positions that you want the tabs set. In our program we are setting tabs in columns 8,16, and 24. The CHR$(O) at the end ends the string of tabs.

In fact, any character that is not greater than the previous one will

stop setting tabs. This means that you must put all your tab values

in order, from least to greatest, or they won’t all get set. (It also

means that a CHR$(l) is just as good as a CHR$(O) for ending a

group of tabs; some computers have trouble sending CHR$(O).)

Formatting Your Output 57

When you run the program now it produces this:

iiNE TWO THREE

FCIIJR

The words are now closer together, but still evenly spaced.

Turn your printer off and on again to reset the default tabs.

If you set tabs in one pitch, such as pica, and then change the pitch, say to elite, the tab settings will also change. If, for example, the tabs are set every eight spaces, when you change pitch they

will still be set every eight spaces, but the spaces will be a different

width.

A one-shot tab command

Suppose you need to move to a position across the page, but you only need to do it once. It doesn’t make much sense to set up a tab to use only one time. There must be an easier way-and of

course there is.

The solution is called a one-time tab and is (ESC) “b” CHR$(n). This command moves the print head n columns to the right. It has the same effect as sending n spaces to the printer.

Setting Lefl and Right Margins

Delta’s left and right margins work just like a typewriter-

once they are set all the printing is done between them. The commands to set the margins are given in the following table:

Table 5-1

Left and right margin commands

Function

Set left margin at column n Set right margin at column n

Control code

(ESC) “M” CHR$(n) (ESC) “Q” CHR$(n)

Try setting Delta’s margins with this program:

NEW

lpi GOSUB l@@

2a LPRINT CHR$(27) "M" CHR$(l@;

Delta User’s Manual

3!2 LPRINT CHR$(27) "Q" CHR$(7@) 4121 GOSUB l@

5B END

1(&Z FOR I = 1 TO 8@ ll@ LPRINT "Xl'; 12pl NEXT I

13@ LPRINT 149 RETURN

The first thing that this program does is to branch to the subroutine that starts in line 100. This subroutine prints 80 X’s in a row. The first time that the subroutine is used, all the X’s fit in one line. Then line 20 sets the left margin to 10, and line 30 sets the right margin to 70. Once again the subroutine is used, but this time the X’s won’t all fit on one line since there is now only room for 61 characters between the margins. (There’s room for 61 (instead of 60) characters because you can print in both the first and last column that you name.)

Run the program. The results will look like this:

When you want to reset the margins to the default values, you

have two choices. You can either turn the printer off and back on, or you can set margin values equal to the default values. This means that you should set a left margin of 1 and a right margin of

80 on Delta-10 or 136 on Delta-15.

If you change the pitch of your printing after you set your margins, the margins will not change. They stay at the same place on the page. So if you set the margins to give you 65 columns of printing when you are using pica type, and then you change to elite type you will have room for more than 65 columns of elite printing between the margins.

Using Vertical Tabs

Vertical tabs have the same kinds of uses that horizontal tabs

do-they just work in the other direction. Horizontal tabs allow

you to reach a specific column on the page no matter where you

start from. Vertical tabs are the same. If you have a vertical tab set

. .

Formatting Your Output

at line 20, a (VT) (or vertical tab) will move you to line 20 whether

you start from line 5 or line 19.

The default vertical tab settings are every six lines. If you send a CHR$(ll), which is the ASCII code for (VT), before we have set up tabs it will advance the paper to one of these preset tabs. Enter this program to see how this works.

NEW 2pl LPRINT CHRfJ(1.1) "FIRST TAB"

3@ LPRINT CHR$(ll) "SECOND TAB" 40 LPRINT CHR$(ll) "THIRD TAB"

50 LPRINT CHR$(ll) "FOURTH TAB"

The CHR$(ll) in each line advances the paper to the next vertical tab. The lines should be spaced evenly, six lines apart.

Now let’s set some vertical tabs of our own. Add this line to the program:

10 LPRINT CHR$(27) "P" CHR$(l@ CHR$(Z@) CHR$(@)

CHR$(50) CHR$(PI);

(ESC) “P” is the command to set vertical tabs. Like the horizontal tab setting command, tab positions must be defined in ascending order. Our example sets vertical tabs at lines 10, 20,40 and 50. Then the CHR$(ll) in each of the following lines advances

the paper to the next vertical tab. Figure 5-l is what you get.

Add one more line to the program to demonstrate one more

feature of vertical tabs.

60 LPRINT CHR$(ll) "FIFTH TAB"

Now when you run the program the first page looks just like

before, but line 60 sends one more (VT) than there are tabs. This

doesn’t confuse Delta-it advances the paper to the next tab posi-

tion which happens to be the first tab position on the next page. That’s nice, isn’t it?

Delta User’s Manual

Figure 5-1.

A one-shot vertical tab command

There’s a one-time vertical tab command that works just like

the one-time horizontal tab command. It is (ESC) “a” CHR$(n),

and it causes the paper to advance n lines. It doesn’t change the settings of the vertical tabs.

Summary

Control code CHRW)

(ESC) “D” nl n2 n3. . . (ESC) “b” n

(ESC) “M” n (ESC) “N” n

CHR$(ll)

(ESC) “P” nl n2 n3 . . . (ESC) “a” n

CHR$(O) Set horizontal tabs

CHR$(O) Set vertical tabs

Function

Horizontal tab

One-time horizontal tab of n spaces Set left margin Set right margin

Vertical tab

One-time vertical tab of n lines

i, i

. e

h e

! c

r i

i L

Chapter 6

Special Features of

the Delta Printer

In the previous chapters we have learned about several groups of control codes. In this chapter we will look at more control codes. These codes don’t fit neatly into any of the groupings that we have studied, but they add a lot of capability to Delta. So here goes.

Now hear this

You may have heard Delta’s bell if you have ever run out of paper. And you may have wondered why it’s called a bell when it beeps instead of ringing! It’s a long story that goes back to the early

Delta User’s Manual

days of computers, when teletype machines were used for computer terminals. These mechanical marvels had a bell in them that could be heard for blocks. This bell was used to signal the operator that something needed attention. The code that the computer sent to the teletype machine to ring the bell was, reasonably enough, called a bell code. Well the name bell code is still with us, even if the

bell has changed to a beeper, and a lot of people still call the beeper

a bell, even if it doesn’t sound like one. So with our trivia lesson out of the way, let’s see how we can “ring the bell.”

The code to sound Delta’s “bell” is CHR$(7), which is ASCII code 7 or (BEL). Any time Delta receives this code it will sound the bell for a quarter of a second. This can be used to remind an

operator to change the paper or to make another adjustment to the

printer.

You can try this by typing:

LPRINT CHR$(7);

There are two other codes that affect the bell. One disables the bell, so that Delta will ignore a CHR$(7), and the other turns the

bell back on. All three codes that affect the bell are shown in the following table.

Table 6-l

Bell commands

Function

Sound bell Disable bell Enable bell

Control code

CHRW) (ESC) “Y” CHR$(O)

(ESC) “Y” CHR$(l)

Initializing Delta

Up to now when we wanted to reset Delta to the power on condition we have had to either turn the printer off and then on again, or to send the specific codes that reset the particular features. There is an easier way. The control code (ESC) “@” will reset all of Delta’s features to the power on condition (as determined by the DIP switches), with two exceptions. Those exceptions are that (ESC) “@” will not erase any characters that you have stored in Delta’s RAM memory (Chapter 7 tells you how to

create your own characters), and it won’t erase the macro if you

Spedal Features 63

have one stored in Delta’s RAM (this chapter will tell you how to create a macro).

Putting Delta to sleep

You know how to put Delta off-line with the ON LINE button

so that you can use the FF and LF buttons. Delta has another off-

line state that can be controlled from your computer. When you

turn Delta offline from your computer, Delta will ignore anything that you send it, except for the code to go on-line again. CHR$(lS)

is the code to turn Delta off-line; CHR$(17) returns Delta to on-line status.

Printing to the bottom of the sheet

‘L.

Sometimes when you are using individual sheets of paper you may want to print near the bottom of a sheet. The paper-out detector usually stops Delta when you are about 2% inches from the bottom of the sheet. This is to notify you if you are running out of continuous paper.

Delta has the ability to print right to the bottom of the sheet. You can disable the paper-out detector so that it doesn’t stop the printer. This will allow you to print to the end of the sheet, and even beyond if you are not careful. The codes to control the paperout detector, along with the other codes that we have just learned are in the following table.

Table 6-2

Some miscellaneous commands

1 Function

Master reset Off-line On-line Paper-out detector off Paper-out detector on

‘L..

Unidirectional printing

1 Control code

(ESC) ‘xv CHR$(lS) CHR$1171

1 (ESC; ‘6” 1 (ESC) “9”

Unidirectional printing is a big word that means printing in one direction only. Delta normally prints when the printhead is moving in both directions. But once in a while you may have an application where you are more concerned about how the vertical

lines align than with how fast it prints. Delta lets you make this choice. The table below shows the commands for controlling how

Delta prints,

Delta User’s Manual

Table 6-3

Printing direction

Function

Print in one direction

Print in both directions

Control code

(ESC) “U” CHR$(l) (ESC > “U” CHR$(o)

Try this program to see the difference that printing in one

direction makes.

NEW l/a LPRINT CHR$(27) "A" CHR$(7);

2@ FOR I = 1 TO lp,

3!2 LPRINT "1"

4!2 NEXT I

50 LPRINT : LPRINT

60 LPRINT CHR$(27) "U" CHR$(l);

70 FOR I = 1 TO l/a

80 LPRINT "1"

90 NEXT I

100 LPRINT CHR$(12) CHR$(27) '9';

Here is what you will get. The top line is printed bidirectionally, and the bottom is printed unidirectionally. You will have to look hard because there isn’t much difference.

Special Features

Let’s analyze the program. Line 10 sets the line spacing to 7/72 of an inch so that the characters that we print will touch top to bottom. Lines 20-40 print 10 vertical line characters. Then line 60 sets one-direction printing and the vertical lines are printed again. Finally line 100 sends a form feed to advance the paper to the top of a new page, and then uses the master reset to restore Delta to the power-on condition.

Backspace and delete

Backspace (CHR$(8)) “backs up” the printhead so that you can print two characters right on top of each other. Each time Delta receives a backspace it moves the printhead one character

to the left, instead of to the right. You can strike over multiple

letters by sending more than one backspace code.

Delete (CHR$(127)) also “backs up” one character, but then it “erases” the previous character (it’s erased from Delta’s buffer, not from the paper).

The following program shows how these two codes work.

NEW 10 LPRINT "BACKSPACE DOES NOT"; 20 LPRINT CHR$(8) CHR$(8) CHR$(8);

30 LPRINT 40 LPRINT "DELETE DOES NOT";

'I=== WORK"

50 LPRINT CHR$(127) CHR$(127) CHR$(127);

60 LPRINT "WORK"

Here is what this program will print:

EAC;t:::SF’ACE DOES WOV WORC:;

DELETE DOES WOKC,

The backspace codes in line 20 move the printhead a total of three spaces to the left so that the first part of line 30 will overprint the word “NOT”. The delete codes in line 50 “erase” the three letters in the word “NOT” so that it doesn’t even print.

The seven bit dilemma

Certain computers (most notably the Apple II) don’t have the capability to send eight bits on their parallel interface. They can only send seven bits. This would make it impossible for these

Delta User’s Manual

computers to use Delta’s block graphics characters and special

symbols if Star’s engineers hadn’t thought of a solution. (All of these characters have ASCII codes greater than 127 which means that the eighth bit must be on to use them.) The solution lies in the three control codes given in the following table.

Table 6-4

Eighth bit controls

Function Control code

Turn the eighth bit ON Turn the eighth bit OFF (ESC) “=‘I Accept the ei

“as is” from t

hth bit

a e computer

(ESC) “>”

(ESC) “#I’

Block graphics characters and special symbols

Besides the upper and lower case letters and symbols that we

are by now familiar with, Delta has a whole different set of characters that are for special uses. These characters include block

graphics characters for drawing forms and graphs, and special

symbols for mathematical, engineering and professional uses. The following program will print out all of the graphics characters

available.

NEW

10 FOR J = 160 TO

20 FOR I = J TO J

Figure 6-l.

255 STEP 8 + 7

Special Features

3pl LPRINT I II= 11 CHR$(I) CHR$(9); 4pI NEXT I : LPRINT : NEXT J

Figure 6-l shows what this program will print. If your chart doesn’t look like this because it has regular letters and numbers instead of the special symbols, then your computer is only using seven bits (unless you have set DIP switch 2-3 on by mistake). You can get the correct printout by changing line 30 to this:

3(Tl LPRINT I )1= u CHR$(27) ">" CHR$(I) CHR$(27) '='

CHR$(9);

So how are all of these strange characters used? Here is a short program that demonstrates how the graphics characters can be combined to create figures. If you have a i’-bit interface, add lines 5 and 70 shown below the main listing.

NEW lpi LPRINT CHR$(27) "A" CHR$(6); 20 LPRINT CHR$(235) CHR$(231) CHR$(231) CHR$(236)

30 LPRINT CHR$(233) CHR$(163) CHR$(161) CHR$(2%) 40 LPRINT CHR$(233) CHR$(162) CHR$(160) CHR$(234)

50 LPRINT CHR$(237) CHR$(232) CHR$(232) CHR$(238)

60 LPRINT CHR$(27) "2";

Delta User’s Munual

If you have a y-bit interface, add the following lines to the

program given above.

5 LPRINT CHR$(27) ")";

70 LPRINT CHR$(27) "=";

In this program line 10 sets the line spacing to 6 dots which is the height of the graphics characters. Then lines 20-50 print the figure, and line 60 resets the line spacing to l/6 inch. Here is what this program prints:

International character sets

Delta is a multi-lingual printer for it can speak in eight languages! Delta changes languages by changing 11 characters that are different for the different languages. These sets of characters are called international character sets. The control codes to select

the international character sets are given in the following table.

Table 6-5

International character set commands

Country

U.S.A. England Germany Denmark France Sweden Italy Spain

Control code

(ESC) “7” CHR$(O) (ESC) “7” CHR$(l) (ESC) “7” CHR$(2) (ESC) “7” CHR$(3) (ESC) “7” CHR$(4) (ESC > “7” CHR$(5) (ESC) “7” CHR$(G) (ESC) “7” CHR$(7)

The characters that change are shown in Table 6-6.

The macro control code

The last of our group of miscellaneous control codes is defini-

tely not the least. It is a user-defined control code, called a macro

Suecial Features

Table 6-6 Table 6-6

International character sets International character sets

lCountrv 1 35 1 92 I93 194 I96 1123 1124 1125 11261

control code. The term macro is from the jargonese macro-instruction which refers to an instruction that “calls,” or uses a group of

normal instructions. In computer programming macro-instructions (which are similar to subroutines) save programmers a lot of time and effort. Delta’s macro can save you a lot of time and effort

also.

Here is how Delta’s macro works. You define your macro by

telling Delta what normal control codes are to be included in the

macro. Then you can use the macro any time that you want and

Delta will do all the things that you included in the macro definition. You can include up to 16 codes in a single macro. You can even use the macro to store a frequently used word or phrase. There are two control codes for the macro: one to define it, and

one to use it. They are given in the table below.

Table 6-7

Macro instruction commands

Function

Define macro Use macro

1 Control code

1 (ESC) ‘I+“. . . codes vou include. . . CHR$I3OI 1 (ES& I‘!”

. I

To see how this works we can build a macro that will reset the printing style to normal, no matter what style it may be to start with. The following program will define a macro to do this.

10 LPRINT CHR$(27) "+";

Delta User’s Manual

' START DEFINITION

OF MACRO

20 LPRINT CHR$(18);

30 LPRINT CHR$(27) "W" CHR$(g); ' EXPANDED OFF 40 LPRINT CHR$(27) "F";

50 LPRINT CHR$(27) "H";

' PICA

' EMPHASIZED OFF ' DOUBLE-STRIKE OFF

60 LPRINT CHR$(27) '-" CHR$(@; ' UNDERLINE OFF

70 LPRINT CHR$(27) "T"

' SUPER & SUBSCRIPTS

OFF

80 LPRINT CHR$(27) “5”; 90 LPRINT CHR$(30);

' REGULAR PRINT

' END MACRO

DEFINITION

As the comments in the program listing show this will define a macro that will reset all the print style functions. Delta will remember this macro until the power is turned off or until a new macro is defined. A macro can hold up to 16 bytes (characters) of information, The one that we defined contains fifteen.

Now that you have defined a macro, let’s see how to use it. This program will print one line using several printing style features. Then it “calls” the macro in line 50. When line 60 prints the

style is “plain vanilla” because the macro has reset it.

10 LPRINT CHR$(27) “4”; 20 LPRINT CHR$(27) "G";

30 LPRINT CHR$(27) "W" CHR$(l); ' EXPANDED

' ITALIC ' DOUBLE-STRIKE

40 LPRINT "TESTING ONE, TWO, THREE"

50 LPRINT CHR$(27) "!";

' USE THE MACRO

60 LPRINT "TESTING FOUR, FIVE, SIX"

TESTINc3

TESTING FOUH. FIVE, SIX

In this chapter we have learned many different commands

that have many different uses. In the next chapter we will make up

for this diversity-the whole chapter only covers three commands! But they are some of the most powerful that Delta offers. They give you the ability to create your own characters.

ONE . .

TWO .r

7HlcaEE -

j i

. .

i \..

! i.

f A,

I L.

j L”

! L.

Special Features

Summary

Control code CHRW

(ESC) “Y” CHR$(O) (ESC) “Y” CHR$(l)

( ESC) “@” CHR$(lS) CHR$(17)

(ESC) “8”

(ESC) “9”

(ESC) “U” CHR$(l)

(ESC) “U” CHR$(O) CHRW)

CHR$(127)

(ESC) “)”

(ESC) ‘I=”

(ESC) “#”

(ESC) “7” n

(ESC) “+“. . .

(ESC) ‘I!”

CHR$(30) Define macro

Function

Bell Disable bell Enable bell Reset Off-line On-line Paper-out detector off Paper-out detector on Unidirectional printing Bidirectional printing Backspace . Delete Eighth bit on Eighth bit off Eighth bit as-is Select international character set

Use macro

Delta User’s Manual

Chapter 7

Creating Your Own Characters

In the previous four chapters of this manual you’ve learned how to control the Delta printer to give you dozens of different typefaces. By using various combinations of pitches, character weights, and font selections, you can create nearly any effect you want to in text. And with international character sets and the spe-

cial text and graphics characters described in Chapter 6, you can

print almost any character you can think of.

But if “almost any character” isn’t good enough for you, then

it’s a good thing you have a Delta printer! With it you can actually create your own characters. As you’ll see in this chapter, download characters can be used to print a logo, special characters for foreign languages, scientific and professional applications, or any other specific printing task.

Delta User’s Manual

Dot Matrix Printing

In order to create download characters, you’ll need some

understanding of how dot matrix printers work. They’re called

“dot matrix” because each character is made up of a group of dots. Look closely at some printed characters produced by your Delta and vou will see the dots. Figure 7-l shows how the letter

“A” is formed by printing 17 dots. -

Figure 7-1. The letter “A” is created by pnntlng 17 dots.

The printhead in Delta consists of nine thin wires stacked one

atop the other. Figure 7-2 shows an enlarged schematic view of

the front of the printhead, showing the ends of the wires and their

relationship to the printed characters. As you can see, the capital letters use the top seven wires of the printhead, and the descen-

ders (such as the lower case “g” shown) use the bottom seven pins. As the printhead moves across the page (in either directionthat’s what is meant by bi-directional printing) it prints one column of dots at a time. Each time a dot is supposed to print an electromagnet inside the printhead causes the appropriate wire to

strike the ribbon (making Delta an impact printer).

The Print Matrix

All of the standard characters that Delta prints are formed from patterns of dots that are permanently stored in the printer’s ROM (read-only memory). This includes all of the standard ASCII characters, the block graphics and special characters, the interna-

tional character sets, and the italic characters.

But there is another area of memory in Delta reserved for

Creating Your Own Characters 75

0 0

l e

:eee: : : : l

l l eeg l

l eeS &fee

l ee

igure 7-2. As the printhead moves across the page, each of the wires prints one

row of dots.

user-defined characters. These are characters that you design and download into Delta. When download characters are defined they are stored in RAM (random access memory), which allows you to define or modify them at any time.

Each of these characters, whether it is from the standard character ROM or in download RAM, is constructed on a grid which is six “boxes” wide by nine “boxes” high. The dots used to print a character can be inside any of the boxes. In addition, a dot can straddle any of the vertical lines. As an example, take a look at the enlarged “9” superimposed on the grid in Figure 7-3. As you can see, some dots are inside the boxes, and some are centered on the vertical lines. This, in effect, makes the character grid 11 dots wide by 9 dots high. To see how the rest of the characters in the standard character ROM are constructed, take a look at Appendix J.

Figure 7-3. Dots can be inside boxes or straddle the vertical lines of the grid.

Delta User’s Manual

Defining Your Own Characters

You’ve seen how the engineers at Star designed their characters by using a grid to lay out the dots. Now you can define characters exactly the same way. Make up some grids (photocopy Figure

7-4 if you wish) and get ready to be creative! (Just in case you are not feeling creative, and to make our explanations a little clearer, we’ll be using a heart as an example of a download character. You can see how we’ve laid it out in Figure 7-5. You’ll find this especially useful if you’ve always wanted to write a bridge column like Charles Goren.)

1 n, =

2 Descender

4 Width

. .

16 n2 = Descender l 16 + Width

Total

Figure 7-4. Use this grid (or one similar to it) to define your own characters.

Format: Esc*ln,n,m, m,,

You’ll notice that Figure 7-4 includes a lot of information around the grid. Don’t be intimidated; we’ll explain each item as we come to it in our discussion of defining and actually printing download characters. You may have noticed another difference between this grid and the one shown in Figure 7-3: it’s only seven

boxes high. Which leads us to. . .

Rule I: Download characters are seven dots high

As you noticed in Figure 7-2, capital letters, most lowercase

Creating Your Own Characters

letters, and most special characters use only the top seven pins of the printhead. This is also the standard for download characters, so our grid is only seven dots high.

It’s also possible to use the bottom seven pins, just as the “g”,

“ P “,

“q”, and “y” of the standard character sets do. These are called descenders (because the bottom of the character descends below the baseline of the rest of the characters).

One bit in the download character definition command is

used to tell Delta whether a character is to be treated as a descen-

der or not. We’ll get to the command in due time. For now, if your character uses the top seven dots, write in a zero next to the word “Descender” on the layout grid; if it uses the bottom seven dots, write in a one. In our example, we’ll want the bottom of the heart to line up with the baseline of the other characters, so it will not be a descender. As shown in Figure 7-5, we’ve written in a “0” on our grid.

n, =

Descender

Width

n, = Descender l 16 + Width

Format: Esc*ln,n2m, m,,

Total

Figure 7-5. We’ve designed a character and decided that it would not be a descen-

der. hence the “0” written in.

Rule 2: Dots cannot overlap

As you can see in Figure 7-5 our heart will print fairly solid.

But, you may ask, why not make it really solid and print all the

intermediate dots, as shown in Figure 7-6? Because the dots that

straddle the vertical lines in the grid actually overlap those inside

Delta User’s Manual

the boxes. If we tried to print overlapping dots, Delta’s print head would have to slow down and back up to print both dots-not very efficient! To avoid this inefficiency, Delta will not allow you to define a character like Figure 7-6. (Actually, you can define it, but when it prints, Delta will leave out the overlapping dots, so that it would print like Figure 7-5.)

m, m, m, m, m5 m, m, m, nww-h,

Total

Figure 7-6. Dots cannot overlap; those in immediately adjacent “half columns

will be ignored when the character is printed.

Add up each column of dots

Now it’s time to give our creative side a break and get down to some basic arithmetic. That’s where the numbers down the left side of the grid come in. Notice that there is a number for each row of dots and that each number is twice the previous number. By making these numbers powers of two we can take any combination of dots in a vertical column and assign them a unique value. Some examples will make this clearer. As shown in Figure 7-7, if we add the numbers for the dots that print in a column, the sum will be a number in the range of 0 to 127. Each number from O-127 represents a unique combination of dots.

So add up the values of the dots in each column using this system. This way it takes one number to describe each column of dots. In Figure 7-8 we’ve shown our grid with the sums of the columns filled in across the bottom (see if these agree with your

WRONG!

Creating Your Own Characters 79

l - 2 l -

o-a

16 32 64

Sum

Figure 7-7. By adding the values of each dot in a column, you’ll get a unique

0 - 32

l -

0 -

64 71

1 2 4

l l l -

.0 -

16 0 - 32 0 - 64

127

1 2 4 8

. . .

description for any combination of dots.

answers!). Across the top of the grid you’ve probably noticed the cryptic labeling of each column: ml, m2, m3, etc. These labels correspond to the labels in the command syntax statement, which

we’ll get to shortly.

n, =

Descender

Width

n, = Descender l 16 + Width

Format: Esc*ln,n2mr.. m,,

Figure 7-6. Add the values of the dots in each column and write the sum of each

column at the bottom.

80 Delta User’s Manual

Assigning a value to your character

We’ve done a pretty thorough job of designing and describing a user-defined character. But the Delta has room for 189 download characters-how does it know which user-defined character we want to print? Exactly the same way it knows which standard character we want to print: every character is assigned a unique number.

The standard characters are assigned the ASCII codes-num-

bers from 0 to 255. For the download character sets there are two banks of characters that can be defined: values from 33 to 126 and

160 to 254. This means that once a character is defined and assigned a value (and the download character set is selected), you can use that character on the printer the same way you would any standard character. You can send the character with the same

ASCII value (for instance, if you had assigned your character a

code of 66, it would print each time you sent a character “B” to the

printer). You can also access the character from a BASIC program with the CHR$ function-in this case LPRINT CHR$(66) would print the character.

Except for the limitation that download characters must be assigned values in the range of 33 to 126 or 160 to 254, there are no rules or restrictions on the use of numbers. This means you can

use whatever is most convenient for you-perhaps seldom-used keys can be replaced by more useful characters. In our example, we’ll assign the heart a value of 72, which is the ASCII value for the letter “H”. This way, when we want to print a heart, all we have to do is send the printer an “H”-that’s easy to remember!

We could hardly write bridge columns with just a heart, so in Figure 7-9 we’ve made completed grids for all four card suits. In order to make them easy to use, we’ve assigned the club a value of

67 (the ASCII value for “C”), the diamond is 68 (“D”), and the spade is 83 (“57’). The information on the grids is now complete (except for proportional width data-a more advanced topic we’ll take up shortly).

Download character definition command

You’ve read through a long explanation of download characters and we haven’t even told you the command syntax yet! Now the wait is over. This is the most complex command in the Delta

repertoire and now you’ve got the necessary knowledge to implement it. Here it is:

(ESC) "*" CHR$(l) nln2mlm2m3m4m5m6m7m8m9m10mll

Creatinn Your Own Characters

Figure 7-9. Character designs for the four card suits.

R = LMscemr ‘16 Fwmal

ESE~i”,P,m m,

+ Wdl”

Like the other Delta commands, it starts with an (ESC) (CHR$(27)). The next character is an asterisk (*), which is CHR$(42), followed by a CHR$(l).

nl is the value we assign to the character-in the case of the

heart it is CHR$(72).

n2 is called the attribute byte, for it describes two attributes of

the character we have designed: descender data and proportional

width information. A byte consists of eight bits. In the attribute

byte, the first three (high order) bits are unused, the fourth bit is used for the descender data, and the last four bits are used for

proportional widths. We’ll be discussing proportional character widths in detail later in this chapter; for now, we’ll leave it at 11. The descender data was discussed earlier: to use the top seven pins, this bit should be 0; to use the bottom seven pins this bit should be 1. Figure 7-10 shows the bits of the attribute byte as we’ll use them for our heart character. Since the descender data is 0,

the value of the byte is equal to the value of the proportional data-

11. By now you’ve probably seen an easier way to determine the

value of the attribute byte. Instead of translating everything to binary, merely assign the descender data a value of 16 (the value of the fourth bit) if you want descenders, or 0 if you don’t want descenders. Then just add the descender data to the proportional width. This way, it’s simply a matter of adding two decimal numbers. (In our case, it’s 0 + 11 = 11.)

Figure Y-10. The attribute byte (n2) for our heart character.

Delta User’s Manual

You’ll probably recognize ml. . .mll from the top of our layout grid. That’s right, each column is described by one byte. Now we’ve got everything we need to download one character to the printer. The complete command for our heart character is shown in Figure 7-11.

CHR$(27) CHR$(42) CHR$(I) CHR$(72) CHR$(ll) CHR$(4)

Escape *

CHR$(lO)CHR$(2O)CHR$(IO)CHR$(52)CHR$(72)

CHR$(52)CHR$(lO)CHR$(20)CHR$(lO) CHR$(4)

Figure 7-11. This is the complete command to send our heart character to the JJelta

printer.

me m,

m4 m5

9, ml,

n2 ml

. . . -.

Now let’s send the information to the printer. The following

program will send the character definitions for all four characters

to the printer. Enter the program and run it.

- -

10 FOR I=1 TO 4 2@ LPRINT CHR$(27) "*" CHR$(l);

39 READ Nl,N2

4p LPRINT CHR$(Nl) CHR$(N2); 5pI FOR M=l TO 11 69 READ Ml

70 LPRINT CHR$(Ml);

80 NEXT M

90 NEXT

Creating Your Own Characters

100 LPRINT 110 DATA 72,11,4,10,20,10,52,72,52,10,20,10,4 120 DATA 83,11,16,8,20,8,86,41,86,8,20,8,16 130 DATA 67,11,8,16,8,18,65,62,65,18,8,16,8 140 DATA 68,11,8,0,28,0,62,65,62,0,28,0,8

When you run this program, it looks like nothing happens. That’s OK. We’ll see why in just a moment. Save this program. We’ll need it again shortly.

Printing Download Characters

You’ve now defined and sent four characters to the Delta. But how do you know that? If you try printing those characters now (type LPRINT “HCDS”) you don’t get a heart, club, diamond and

spade. Instead you get. . . characters are stored in a different part of Delta’s memory. To tell it to look in download character RAM instead of standard character ROM it requires another command:

HCDS. That’s because the download

(ESC) ft$ll CHR$(n)

This command is used to select the download character set (if n = 1) or to select the standard character set (if n = 0). Let’s try it out. Enter this command:

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

Voila! It should have printed out the four characters we

defined. Your printout should look like this:

(If it doesn’t, check the last program we ran for errors, then re-

run it.)

Let’s find out if there are any other characters in the

download RAM. Try this program:

Delta User's Manual

10 LPRINT CHR$(27) CHR$(36) CHR$(l) 20 FOR I=33 TO 126 : LPRINT CHR$(I); : NEXT I

30 FOR 1=16g TO 254 : LPRINT CHR$(I); : NEXT I 40 LPRINT

50 LPRINT CHR$(27) CHR$(36) CHR$(@

Nope! Just four characters in the download set. This is inconvenient for a couple of reasons. First, every time you wanted to use a download character you would have to switch back and forth between character sets. Knowing that you wouldn’t want to do that, Delta won’t even allow it. Standard characters and

download characters, the command should appear at the beginning of the line. All subsequent characters (even on following lines) are printed with the download set until you return to the

standard characters with an (ESC) “$” CHR$(O). (Note that the

(ESC) “$” CHR$(l) command can be in the middle of a line, and that entire line will be printed with the download characters. Likewise, if you select the standard character set anywhere in a line, the entire line will be printed with the standard characters. Con-

flicting commands within a line can cause unpredictable results.)

So does that mean that in order to print something meaningful with our card suits we have to define an entire alphabet? Fear not. The engineers at Star have made it an easy task to use mostly standard characters with just a few special characters thrown in. This command copies all the characters from the standard character ROM into download RAM:

.- download characters cannot be mixed in a line. If you want to use

(ESC) "*" CHR$(@)

Since it will copy all characters into the download area, it will wipe out any characters that are already there. So it’s important to send this command to the printer before you send any download characters you want to define. With that in mind, add this line to the program we used to send the characters to Delta:

5 LPRINT CHR$(27) Ir*" CHR$(g)

Now try the download printout test program again. Your results should look like Figure 7-12. You probably noticed that our

Creating Your Own Characters

printout test includes the characters with ASCII values from 160 to 254, but nothing prints. The (ESC) “*” CHR$(O) command copies only the standard ASCII characters (those in the range of 33 to 126) to download RAM; it does not copy any block graphics characters.

’ “#$%!GZ (1 t+! -. /0123456789: ; .:::=:>?@AB~FGv

;JKLMN~POK+TU~WXYZC\~~~.,_ ‘ab&defghi$klmnnp

qr stuvwx yr I ! 3. *

Figure T-12. Printout of the download character set, into which all the standard

characters have been copied, and the C, D, H, and S have been changed.

To demonstrate how to use these characters, let’s use this

character set to print a typical bridge hand. This program will do just that:

10 'Program to deal bridge hands and print on Delta

20 GOSUB 1000

30 GOSUB 2000

L..

40 GOSUB 3000 50 GOSUB 400pl

'Initialize variables 'Initialize printer 'Deal cards

'Print hands 60 END 1000 'Initialize variables 1010 DEFINT A-Z 1020 DIM HAND(4), DECK(52), CARD$(13), SUIT$(3) 1030 CARD$(~)=" 2" : cm~$(2)=7~ 3” : cARD$(3)=~f 41’ :

CARD$(lt)=" 5"

: CARD$(5)=" 6"

1040 CARD$(6)=" 7" : CARD$(7)=" 8" : CARD$(8)=" 9" :

CARD$(9)=" 10"

1050 CARD$(l@=" J" : CARD$(ll)=" Q" : CARD$(12)="

K" : CARD$(13)=" A"

186p SUIT$(@)="S" : SUIT$(l)="H" : SUIT$(2)="D" :

SUIT$(3)="C"

1070 INPUT "Random number seed";1 1@8@ RANDOMIZE I

1090 RETURN 2000 'Initialize printer

‘.

2010 LPRINT CHR$(27) CHR$(68) CHR$(20) CHR$(40)

CHR$(0)

'Set tabs

Delta User’s Manual

2020 LPRINT CHR$(27) CHR$(43) CHR$(27) CHR$(36)

CHR$(0) CHR$(27) CHR$(69) CHR$(30)

instruction is used to select standard characters, emphasized

2g3@ LPRINT CHR$(27) CHR$(42) CHR$(0)

'Load standard characters in RAM

2p14@ FOR I=1 TO 4

'This loop reads data for the four

2050 LPRINT CHR$(27) CHR$(42) CHR$(l);

'card suit characters and sends it

2jJ6@ FOR J=l TO 13 'to the printer

2070 READ X : LPRINT CHR$(X);

2(38@ NEXT J 2898 NEXT I

2100 LPRINT 2110 RETURN 2120 DATA 72,11,4,10,20,10,52,72,52,10,20,10,4 2130 DATA 83,11,16,8,20,8,86,41,86,8,20,8,16 2140 DATA 67,11,8,16,8,18,65,62,65,18,8,16,8 2150 DATA 68,11,8,0,28,0,62,65,62,0,28,0,8 3000 'Deal cards

3010 FOR CARD = 1 ~0 52

3920 X = INT(RND * 4 c 1) 3030 IF HAND(X)=13 THEN 3020 ELSE HAND(X)=HAND(X)+l 3040 DECK(CARD)=X 3050 NEXT CARD 3060 RETURN 4000 'Print four hands 4010 LPRINT CHR$(27) "!" CHR$(9) "NORTH"

4020 LPRINT CHR$(27) "$" CHR$(l) CHR$(27) CHR$(70) 4030 HAND = 1

4040 FOR SUIT = 0 TO

3 4050 LPRINT CHR$(9); 4060 GOSUB 4300 4070 LPRINT 4080 NEXT SUIT 4090 LPRINT CHR$(27) 'I!" "WEST" CHR$(9) CHR$(9)

"EAST" 4100 LPRINT CHR$(27) "$" CHR$(l) CHR$(27) CHR$(70) 4110 FOR SUIT = 0 TO

3 4120 HAND = 2 4130 GOSUB 4300 4140 LPRINT CHR$(9) CHR$(9); 4150 HAND = 3

4160 GOSUB 4300

'Macro

Creating Your Own Characters

4170 LPRINT 4180 NEXT SUIT 4190 LPRINT CHR$(27) "!" CHR$(9) "SOUTH" 42jap; LPRINT CHR$(27) "$!I CHR$(l) CHR$(27) CHR$(70); 4210 HAND = 4 4220 FOR SUIT = 0 TO 3 4230 LPRINT CHR$(9); 4240 GOSUB 4300 4250 LPRINT 4260 NEXT SUIT

4270 LPRINT CHR$(27) "$" CHR$(@) CHR$(27) CHR$(70) 4280 RETURN 4290 'Print one line 4300 LPRINT SUIT$(SUIT); 4310 FOR CARD = 13 TO 1 STEP -1 4320 IF DECK(SUIT*13+CARD)=HAND THEN LPRINT

CARD$(CARD); 4330 NEXT CARD 4340 RETURN

Note that we didn’t have to re-enter the download characters, since they were already sent to the printer with the previous program. They will stay with the printer until you download new characters to replace them or turn the printer off. Even the (ESC)

“@I” command, which initializes the printer, does not destroy the

contents of download RAM.

Figure 7-13. The card program shuffles, deals, and prints out a bridge hand.

Delta User’s Manual

Table 7-l

Download character dejfinition commands

Function

Define download character

Copy ROM to download RAM

Control code

(ESC) ‘I*” CHR$(l) nl n2 ml.. . ml1 (ESC) ‘I*” CHR$(O)

Proportkmal Characters

Up until now, all the characters that your Delta has printed have been of a fixed width-either 10, 12, or 17 (or 5, 6 or 8.5 in enlarged mode) characters per inch. Whichever pitch you select, all the characters are the same width. You’ll notice though, that in typeset books, such as this one, each character has a slightly _ different width. For instance, the “i” is quite narrow, and the “W” is very wide. This is more pleasing to the eye and easier to read.

So, if you’re going to go to the trouble of designing your own

download characters for Delta, you might as well make them pleasing to the eye! Proportional download characters allow you to do just that. As you’ll remember from our initial discussion of

download character definition, part of the attribute byte is for pro- -.

portional width data. We skipped over that, with the promise of

describing it later. Well now is the time!

Defining proportional characters

Except for the actual width, defining characters for propor-

tional printing is exactly the same as defining normal width

download characters. Characters can range from 4 to 11 dots

wide. This means that characters can be as narrow as one-third

the normal width. The examples in Figure 7-14 show characters of - different widths. These characters are defined in the program that follows.

10 DATA 77,11,1,126,1,2,4,8,4,2,1,126,1

20 DATA 105,4,64,61,64,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0

30 DATA 112,23,127,0,17,0,17,14,0,0,0,0,0

40 DATA 115,6,8,84,0,84,32,0,0,0,0,0,0

50 DATA -1 60 READ CHR 70 IF CHR ( 0 THEN 150 80 READ CODE 90 LPRINT CHR$(27) Ir*" CHR$(l) CHR$(CHR) CHR$(CODE) ;

Star Micronics Delta User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual