Star Micronics Delta manual

Delta User’s Manual 1 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 [...]

c. i i. L L- ‘L c A Special Message to the New Owner Your new Delta printer and this manual are both setting new 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[...]

iv 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, ev- erybody will find what they need to know to fulfill their expecta- tions. We suggest that each new owner/user, before you even unpack the box, read or at least scan Chapters 1 and 2 - “A Closer [...]

i L.. i. L i. L. Table of Contents Chapter 1 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 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Getting Started With Delta Using Commercial Software First, some ter[...]

vi Delta User’s Manual - Chapter 5 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 - - - 55 .-- - - - Chapter[...]

. . c-. ‘se- ‘L- L.. I. -. Table of Contents vii Mixing Print Modes with Download Characters Chapter 6 A Utility Program Summary Printing With Dot Graphics Comparing dot graphics with download characters 99 Using the Dot Graphics Commands Specifying the number of columns of dots Specifying the graphics data Combining text and graphics Printing [...]

- 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 Com[...]

Table of Contents ix 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 211 Setting the switches Using Commodore BASIC Listing programs Program listings Chart program Special char[...]

X Delta User’s Manual Appendix L Command Summary in Numeric Order 279 Appendix M ASCII Code Conversion Chart 283 Appendix N Technical Specifications 291 Appendix 0 The Parallel Interface 293 Functions of the Connector Signals Appendix P Serial Interface Specifications 297 Configuring the Serial Interface Delta’s Serial Protocols Serial busy pro[...]

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 Table of Tables Print pitch commands Expanded prin[...]

xii Delta User’s Manual - -. -[...]

.- 1. i. i. N. . i i .. ‘L. Chapter I A Closer Look _. ._ In this chapter, we’ll introduce you to your Delta printer. We’ll cover: l Components and controls L, l Paper selection and loading l Adjusting the gap-for different paper thickness *I- l Self-test-print-out of available characters i. Components and Controls First, the components. You[...]

2 Delta User’s Manual what they do. (For directions on how to set up Delta, see Appen- dix A.) Printer cover Roll paper holder / guide - ‘igure l-l. For instructions on attaching the various components, see Appendix A. Printer cover - protects ribbon and print head from dust and dirt - and also reduces the sound level. Paper separator and paper[...]

_~ .- - _. .~ *_. ..- i_- i_- h... . II- --. .- . -. I- Cover , Control panel - on top right corner. These three buttons and four “status” lamps are your day-to-day operational controls. 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 du[...]

.- 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[...]

A Closer Look 5 them, ready to print. For starters, Delta can handle single sheets- whether standard-size stationery, envelopes, multi-part carbon- less business forms, or almost any other kind of individual sheets. You can also print on continuous paper-either in rolls or fan- folded perforated paper. Here’s a good place to spend a minute talkin[...]

6 Delta User’s Manual Paper press bar Release lever ‘- __ ‘igure l-5. Inserting a single sheet ofpaper can be done “under power” with the ne feed button. 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 “[...]

A Closer Look 7 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 p[...]

8 Delta User’s Manual igure l-6. The roll paper holder is attached to the back of Delta. ,,-;“ 1:: : -. -_ .- Figure 1-7. Inserting roll paper into Delta is similar to loading single sheets.[...]

A Closer Look 9 -- ..“. 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 rig[...]

10 Delta User’s Manual 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. Tractor cover .- - - - - - - Figure 1-9. Open the tractor covers to expose the sprocket teeth.[...]

A Closer Look 11 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 th[...]

12 Delta User’s Manual .~ - -- - - Figure l-11. The perforation should be lined up with the top of the ribbon guide. 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 [...]

A Closer Look 13 12. With the platen knob, roll the paper up or down until the cor- rect “start-print” position is reached. This position is achieved by lining up the horizontal perforation with the top of the rib- bon 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 [...]

14 Delta User’s Manual Thickness adjustment lever I I 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[...]

A Closer Look 15 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?[...]

16 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 com- puter. But first you need to connect Delta to your computer. Figure 2-l shows where the cables connect, but there’s[...]

18 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 Clip / Serial interface connector - - - - - - - Figure 2-1. Delta has both serial and parallel interfaces. Using Commer[...]

, -. ,. , .,, . . ‘. : ; Getting Started With Delta 19 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)[...]

20 Delta User’s Manual 10) Since hex needs 16 digits, it uses the numbers 0 through 9 and 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 o[...]

Getting Started With Delta 21 L 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[...]

22 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 print- ers on the market, and so they usually, (but not always) provide a w[...]

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 Word- Star. Using this book without learning BASIC ._ Throughout most of this book we will be teaching you how to use Delta’s[...]

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 Appen- dix C.) Some other computers require you to open the printer as a - numbered device, and[...]

Getting Started With Delta 25 L i c i i L L L i I, .- L i L 6 : 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 [...]

26 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 fea- tures, there we[...]

Getting Started With Delta 27 our program looks like this: . 5 ESC$=CHR$(27) l@ LPRINT ESC$ “4”; ..- Turn your printer off and back on now, or you will be printing in italic for quite a while! L.. 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 hav[...]

28 Delta User’s Manual - - - - - - - - -.[...]

Chapter 3 Printing Text With Delta Beginning with this chapter we will be exploring all the fea- tures 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 [...]

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 chara[...]

c ‘L i.. L L. L * i.. L L L i L. L c ‘L Printing Text With Delta 31 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 prin[...]

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. 1 Function Table 3-2 Expanded print commands 1 Control code I I I One line expanded Expanded ON ExDanded OFF CHR$(14) (ESC) “W” CHR$(l) ‘,ESC) “W” CHR$fOI -.-[...]

Printing Text With Delta 33 twice, but they use slightly different methods to darken the char- acters. 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 Print emDhasis commands L. i c Function Double-strike ON Double-strike OFF Empha[...]

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 pr[...]

Printing Text With Delta 35 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. Function Underline ON Underlin[...]

36 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 f[...]

Printing Text With Delta 37 modes for even more printing effects. Condensed, italic, double- strike, 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 combina- tions, like expanded superscripts, just d[...]

.- 38 Delta User’s Manual 1140 fllllll'SP~CIA~ PRINT ~~~~~Ill,llllllllllIt 1151a EMPHASIZED$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(69) 116g NOT.EMPHASIZED$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$('I@) 11.7g DOUBLE.STRIKE$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(71) 1180 NOT.DOUBLE.STRIKE$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(72) 1190 UNDERLINED$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(45) + CHR$(l) 12pl0 NOT.UNDERLINED$ = CHR$(27) + CHR$(4[...]

.. b. i i . . 1. Printing Text With Delta 39 3050 ITALICS = FALSE 3060 UNDERLINED = FALSE NOT.UNDERLINED$; :LPRINT ROMAN$; :LPRINT 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 'P[...]

an Delta User’s Manual Here is the chart it produces: NOKMF=lL ENL-eRGED CONDENSED ELITE --F’ICA CONDENSED ELITE ---P I CA tHEtULARX bBcd%, APcdX”v, ABcdX” vy ABcd CIRcd ABcd h&d%, ABcd-‘v, ABcd”“v, ABcd FIEcd - e..=cd - fEMF’HAS1 ZEDt .,.a . . . . ABcd ..I. m--m FlBcd FlBcd . . . . ,... ABcd ..I. m--w *IfOUHLE STRIKE % EMPHAS I[...]

Printing Text With Delta 41 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 expand[...]

42 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 l[...]

44 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 confus- ing (especially with BASIC). Carriage return is the easiest. Each time that the printer receive[...]

i-- i L j L i or : c- c Line Spacing and Forms Control 45 This is what you will get: 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 LINE LINE LINE LINE 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 [...]

46 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 LINE SPACING DELTA HAS VAF:IAELE LINE SPACING DELTA HAS VARIABLE LINE SF’ACING DELTA HAS VARIABLE LINE SPAClNG DELTA HAS VAH[...]

Line Spacing and Forms Control 47 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” 5[...]

48 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 n[...]

Line &acing and Forms Control 49 run the program, the results will look like this: -L--p----- 0 ~ LINE NUi'lEEFi 1 LINE NUMBER 2 0 ’ O / O ~ --L----p-- o / LINE NUMBEH :Z / LINE NUMBER 4 O I I 0 ~ 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 us[...]

50 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 O[...]

Line Spacing and Forms Control 51 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 Delt[...]

52 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 [...]

Line Spacing and Forms Control L- 53 / I CHR$(12) Form feed L I (ESC) “C” CHR$(n) Set page length to n lines (ESC) “C” CHR$(O) CHR$(n) Set page length to n inches j L (ESC) “R” CHR$(n) Set top margin; start printing on 1 / line n I I - (ESC) “N” CHR$(n) Set bottom margin; leave n lines blank ESC) “0” Clear top and bottom margins[...]

54 Delta User’s Manual - - - - -[...]

Chapter 5 Formatting Your Output You have probably used the tab and margin features on a type- writer. 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 vertic[...]

56 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[...]

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 examp[...]

58 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 sub- routine that starts in line 100. This subroutine prints 80 X’s in a ,_ row. The first time that the subrou[...]

. . Formatting Your Output 59 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[...]

60 - 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 Function C[...]

i, i . e L i L i .- i 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 con- trol 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 [...]

62 Delta User’s Manual days of computers, when teletype machines were used for com- puter 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,[...]

i- c c_ i. i i ‘L. ‘L.. 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 De[...]

64 Delta User’s Manual Table 6-3 Printing direction Function Control code Print in one direction (ESC) “U” CHR$(l) Print in both directions (ESC > “U” CHR$(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 [...]

Special Features 65 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 bot- tom. 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 t[...]

RR 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[...]

Special Features 3pl LPRINT I II= 11 CHR$(I) CHR$(9); 4pI NEXT I : LPRINT : NEXT J 67 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[...]

68 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 [...]

Suecial Features 69 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-instruc- tion which refers to an instruction that “calls,” or uses a group of normal instructions. In computer programming macro-instruc- t[...]

‘:‘. ‘,. - 70 Delta User’s Manual 10 LPRINT CHR$(27) "+"; ' START DEFINITION OF MACRO 20 LPRINT CHR$(18); ' PICA 30 LPRINT CHR$(27) "W" CHR$(g); ' EXPANDED OFF 40 LPRINT CHR$(27) "F"; ' EMPHASIZED OFF 50 LPRINT CHR$(27) "H"; ' DOUBLE-STRIKE OFF 60 LPRINT CHR$(27) '-"[...]

I j i . . i .. ! i. f A, I L. j L” ! L. i Special Features 71 Summary Control code Function CHRW Bell (ESC) “Y” CHR$(O) Disable bell (ESC) “Y” CHR$(l) Enable bell ( ESC) “@” Reset CHR$(lS) Off-line CHR$(17) On-line (ESC) “8” Paper-out detector off (ESC) “9” Paper-out detector on (ESC) “U” CHR$(l) Unidirectional printing ([...]

72 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[...]

74 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 h[...]

Creating Your Own Characters 75 1 00 00 0 0 l l eeS &fee l e :eee: : : : l l l eeg l l ee J 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[...]

- 76 Delta User’s Manual Defining Your Own Characters You’ve seen how the engineers at Star designed their charac- ters by using a grid to lay out the dots. Now you can define charac- ters 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 [...]

Creating Your Own Characters 77 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 ar[...]

78 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 [...]

Creating Your Own Characters 79 1 l - 1 2 l - 2 l - 2 4 l - 4 a o-a 16 32 0 - 32 64 0 - 64 Sum 42 71 . . . l - 1 l - 2 l - 4 .- 8 0 - 16 0 - 32 0 - 64 127 Figure 7-7. By adding the values of each dot in a column, you’ll get a unique description for any combination of dots. answers!). Across the top of the grid you’ve probably noticed the crypti[...]

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 char- acter we want to print? Exactly the same way it knows which standard character we want to print: every char[...]

.-,,--. ., Creatinn Your Own Characters 81 R = LMscemr ‘16 Fwmal ESE~i”,P,m m, + Wdl” Figure 7-9. Character designs for the four card suits. 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 [...]

82 Delta User’s Manual Figure Y-10. The attribute byte (n2) for our heart character. You’ll probably recognize ml. . .mll from the top of our lay- - out 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 show[...]

Creating Your Own Characters 83 100 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[...]

- 84 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 incon- venient for a couple of reasons. First, every time you wanted to use a downloa[...]

L i L. L L L i i L c. L.. L L L. L, ‘. L Creating Your Own Characters 85 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. ’ “[...]

86 Delta User’s Manual 2020 LPRINT CHR$(27) CHR$(43) CHR$(27) CHR$(36) CHR$(0) CHR$(27) CHR$(69) CHR$(30) 'Macro 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[...]

Creating Your Own Characters a7 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 RET[...]

88 Delta User’s Manual - Table 7-l Download character dejfinition commands Function Control code Define download character (ESC) ‘I*” CHR$(l) nl n2 ml.. . ml1 Copy ROM to download RAM (ESC) ‘I*” CHR$(O) - - - Proportkmal Characters - Up until now, all the characters that your Delta has printed - have been of a fixed width-either 10, 12, o[...]

Creating Your Own Characters 89 igure Y-14. These download characters are defined as proportional characters. 100 FOR I = 1 TO 11 llg READ BITS 12@ LPRINT CHR$(BITS) ; 138 NEXT I 14@ GOT0 68 15@ LPRINT ' Mississippi" 155 LPRINT 16@ LPRINT "Standard characters without proportional spacing" 17g LPRINT 175 LPRINT 18g LPRINT CHR$(27[...]

- 90 Delta User’s Manual - One thing to remember about defining proportional charac- ters: a character cannot be wider than the specified width. That seems obvious enough! For example, if you specify a width of 6 for a character, the seventh through eleventh columns of dots [if you specified any) will not print. You must, however, send informatio[...]

Creating Your Own Characters 91 Hi ssi ssippi Standard characters without proportional spacing Mississippi Download characters without proportional spacing Download characters with proportional spacing Figure 7-15. This printout shows the same text, printed with the same download characters, in both normal and proportional widths. Table 7-2 Downloa[...]

Delta User’s Manual r igure 7-m. Lacn alglt 1s up 0J Jour mcllvldual characters. 10 'Program to define and print numerals 20 'Each numeral is made up of 4 characters (2 wide x 2 high) 38 DEF.DOWN.CHAR$ = CHR$(27)+CHR$(42)+CHR$(l) 4$J DOWN.CHAR.PROP$ = CHR$(27)+CHR$(88)+CHR$(l) 50 NOT.DOWN.CHAR.PROP$ = CHR$(27)+CHR$(88)+CHR$(0) 60 LINE.7[...]

Creating Your Own Characters 93 210 NUMERAL.BOT$(NUM) = CHR$(ASCII + 2) + CHR$(ASCII + 3) 220 ASCII = ASCII + 4 230 NEXT NUM 240 BLANK$ = CHR$(200) 250 LPRINT DOWN.CHAR.PROP$; LINE.7$ 260 FOR NUM = 0 TO 9 270 LPRINT NUMERAL.TOP$(NUM);BLANK$; 280 NEXT NUM 290 LPRINT 300 FOR NUM = 0 TO 9 310 LPRINT NUMERAL.B~T$(NUM);BLANK$; 320 NEXT NUM 330 LPRINT NO[...]

94 Delta User’s Manual 630 DATA 11,64,0,96,1,48,15,48,15,16,15,0 640 ' SIX 650 DATA 11,0,96,0,112,0,=0,0,92,0,102,0 660 DATA 11,98,0,98,0,98,0,70,0,~4,0,6 670 DATA 11,7,8,23,8,55,8,99,0,65,0,64 680 DATA 11,0,96,0,112,1,62,1,30,1,14,0 690 ' SEVEN 700 DATA 11,0,16,8,6,8,6,8,6,8,6,8 710 DATA 9,70,8,102,8,54,8,6,0,2,0,0 720 DATA 11,0,64,0,9[...]

Creating Your Own Characters 95 TaMe 7-3 Mixing download characters with various print modes Standard Characters Italic Pica Normal width (Escape $1 * * Proportional (Escape X) * * 1 Elite I * I - I A Utility Program If you’ve followed along this far you’ve probably become pretty proficient at designing download characters. And even the additio[...]

96 Delta User’s Manual 139 Pl=l:M$=CHR$(179)+ STRING$(2,32):N$=STRING$(2,196)+ CHR$(197):L$=STRING$(2,196)+CHR$(193) llt(Tl LOCATE 4,lp:PRINT CHR$(218);CHR$(196); 15pI FOR I=1 TO la:PRINT CHR$(l96);CHR$(l94);CHR$(196); :NEXT I _- 16g PRINT CHR$(l96);CHR$(l9l):LOCATE 5,lg:FOR K=l TO 12:PRINT M$;:NEXT K:PRINT 17@ FOR J=l TO 6:LOCATE 5+Pl,l@:Pl=Pl+l[...]

L i i- r I 1 j L : L- &. L . c i. c Creating Your Own Characters 97 480 Z(G,H)=l:COLOR 31,l:LOCATE X+4,Y+l@:PRINT SC$;:COLOR 7,g:RETURN 490 Z(G,H)=@:COLOR 7,g:LOCATE X+4,Y+l@:PRINT CS$;:COLOR 7,g:RETURN 500 REM,**** GET OUT OF EDIT MODE **** 510 FOR I=2 TO 10:LOCATE 1,55:PRINT STRING$(20,32);:NEXT I 520 IF Z(G,H)=l THEN LOCATE X+4,Y+@:COLOR 7,g[...]

98 Delta User’s Manual 790 FOR I=20 TO 23:LOCATE 1,S:PRINT STRING$(55,32);:NEXT I 800 IF SH=l THEN SH=16 ELSE SH=0 810 Nl=AS:N2=PR+SH 820 FOR I=1 TO ll:MM$=MM$+CHR$(MM(I)):NEXT I 830 LPRINT CHR$(27);"*";CHR$(l);CHR$(Nl);CHR$(N2);MM$ 840 IF AN$="N" THEN LPRINT CHR$(27);"$";CHR$(l) :GOTO 860 850 LPRINT CHR$(27);"X[...]