32 Line Matrix Printer PCL II Programmer's Reference Manual

Escape Sequences

An escape sequence consists of the ESC control code followed by one or

more characters in succession. Both two-character and structured escape

sequences control the printer. Two-character escape sequences take the

form ESCX, where X is a character from the ASCII table (0 through ~).

Structured escape sequences take the following form:

ESCXy[parameter]Z

This sequence is explained below:

ESCXy Prefix. This part of the escape sequence indicates that the

escape sequence is structured and also specifies which type of

control is being performed. “X” is referred to as the structured

character; “y” is referred to as the group character.

Parameter This string of ASCII characters specifies a value (either numeric

or alphanumeric).

Z Terminator. This ASCII character indicates the function to which

the previous parameter value applies. If this character is lower

case (a,b,c, etc.), it indicates a combined escape sequence,

meaning that more structured information will follow. If the

character is upper case (A,B,C, etc.), it terminates the escape

sequence string.

NOTE: Brackets [ ] are shown in many of the escape sequences for

clarification purposes, but are not actually part of the escape

sequence. For example, the brackets in the escape sequence for

selecting page length (ESC&l[1-128]P) specify a range of values (1

through 128) for page length. To specify a page length of 35 lines, the

escape sequence ESC&l35P would be sent to the printer.

Combining Escape Sequences

Structured escape sequences can be combined to save keystrokes.

Combining sequences involves adding the parameter value and terminator of

one or more sequences to another escape sequence. Structured sequences

can be combined only if their prefixes are identical. When a parameter/

terminator of one sequence is added to another sequence, all of the

terminators except the last should be lower case. For example, to set the left

and right margins using two separate escape sequences, the following two

sequences would be sent:

Set left margin at position 10 ESC&a10L

Set right margin at position 99 ESC&a99M

Using one combined escape sequence, the following would be sent to the

printer:

ESC&a10l99M