HP PCL/PJL reference - Printer Job Language Technical Reference Manual
EN PJL Command Syntax and Format 2-9
Processing Invalid Commands
There are two general types of invalid commands: those commands 
with syntax errors, and those that have syntax or semantic warnings. 
Each type is handled differently. 
• Syntax errors cause the printer to ignore the entire PJL 
command, and include errors such as unrecognized 
commands and command modifiers, strings missing closing 
double-quotes, numeric values missing digits before the 
decimal point, and numeric values encountered when 
alphanumeric values are expected. When the printer receives 
commands with syntax errors, it ignores the entire command. 
For example, the value portion of the JOB command's NAME 
option is a string and requires double quotes around the value 
(as shown below). In the second example below, the JOB 
command is ignored since the string (April Paychecks) 
contains the opening but not the required closing quotes.
Valid command: 
@PJL JOB NAME = "April Paychecks" <LF>
Invalid command: 
@PJL JOB NAME = "April Paychecks <LF>
• Syntax warnings and semantic warnings are issued for 
commands such as those having unsupported options, values 
that are out of range, values that are the wrong type or 
missing, or values that are included when none are allowed. 
When the printer receives commands with syntax or semantic 
warnings, it executes as much of the command as possible, 
but the portion of the command containing the warning is 
ignored. 
• For example, in the following two sample PJL commands, 
START is a valid option for the JOB command, but FINISH is 
not a valid option (the END option should be used). The 
START option is executed, but the FINISH option is ignored.
Valid command: 
@PJL JOB START = 1 <LF>
Invalid command: 
@PJL JOB START = 1 FINISH = HOME <LF>










