Laser Printer Applications Manual

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Hints: The hex dump
● To make yourStar LaserPrinter8 print in hexadecimalratherthanthe
usual ASCIIsymbols,pressthe frontpanelbuttonsthat put the pnntcr
offlineandinPROGRAMmode.Moveto theCOMMANDparameter’s
HEXDUMPsettingand selectON.
● SomccontrolorEscapecodescanbeproblemsonafewcomputcrs;those
computerschangecertaincodeswhensendingthemtotheprinter.If you
thinkyouhavethisproblemyouneedto seeexactlywhatyourprinteris
receiving.Werecommendyourunashortprogramthatloopsthroughand
printstheASCIItable.PrintinhexadecimalratherthantheusualASCII
symbols.
● If youspota problemcodeyoucantry to bypasstheproblem,eitherby
sendingeachcodedirectlyto the printer,or by changingyoursystem
printerdriver.Suchcomputer-specificsolutions,though,arebeyondthe
scopeof this manual.Wesuggestthatif necessaryyouconsultanother
programmermorefamiliarwith yourcomputer.
● Actually,ifyouaredebugginganyprogramyou mayfindthishex-dump
modehelpful.It can be a greattrouble-shooter.
CONTROLLING THE PAGE
In this section we look at two controls you have over how the Star
LaserPrinter8 handlesand formatsits pages: You can set valuesfor the
PAPERFEEDandLAYOUTparameterson thefrontpanel.Atthe end of
this sectionwe’llalsopreviewdifferentwaysto movethe printposition.
The PAPER FEED parameter
ThePAPERFEEDparameterletsyouspecifybothwhatkindofpaperyou
wantandhowtheprinteris to handleautomaticprint-positionmovements
(carriagereturnsandso on).
Oneconvenientthingaboutalaserprinteris thatitdoesn’tneed
continuous
forms,
sometimescalled~an~okipaper. Otherprintersfeed in a stack of
forms—withpagesalljoinedbyperforations-by havingsprocketsengage
andpull
alongpinfeed holespunchedalongeachsideofthepaper.Afterit’s
printedyou have to tear off the pinfeed-holestrips and then separatethe
pages.
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