Guardian Programmer's Guide

Table Of Contents
Communicating With Printers
Guardian Programmer’s Guide 421922-014
11 - 10
Selecting a Printer Language (5577 Only)
5573 and 5573D printers, refer to the Tandem 5573 Laser LX Printer Reference
Manual.
Selecting a Printer Language (5577 Only)
The 5577 laser printer can accept commands written in PCL or PostScript printer
language. You can select the language in one of two ways:
Using SETMODE function 260
Sending character sequences to the printer
Using SETMODE 260 to Select the Printer Language
Call the SETMODE procedure specifying function 260 and use the param1 parameter
to select the printer language you require. Set param1 to either 2 or 1 to select
PostScript mode. If you set param1 to 2, a system-generated carriage return is issued
at the end of each line; if you set param1 to 1, no system-generated carriage return is
issued at the end of each line. If you specify either 2 or 1, the printer is returned to
PCL mode at the end of the job. Set param1 to 0 to select PCL 5.
The following example selects PostScript mode, with no system-generated carriage
return issued at the end of each line:
CALL SETMODE(260,1);
Using Character Sequences to Select the Printer Language
Use a combination of the Universal Exit Language/Start PJL (printer job language)
command and the @PJL enter-language command to change the printer language
using character sequences.
1. Send a Universal Exit Language/Start PJL command at the beginning and end of
each job. Doing so ensures proper language switching regardless of changes to
the default language established at the printer console panel and establishes clear
print-job boundaries.
2. Send the appropriate @PJL enter-language command.
Note. Language switching must be enabled by entering the SET SWITCH = ON command at
the printer console panel if you intend to use either of the language-switching techniques.
Without this command, the printer interprets switching commands as normal print data, which
will either appear as printer output or cause unpredictable errors in the job output. See the
5577 Printer User's Reference Manual for details about enabling language switching.
Note. Do not follow the Universal Exit Language/Start PJL command with a carriage-
r
eturn/line-feed sequence. At the start of a job, you must follow this command immediately
with a @PJL command; otherwise, an implicit switch to the default language occurs. Similarly,
at the end of a job, you should not follow the Universal Exit Language/Start PJL command with
a carriage-return/line-feed sequence.