BBS: Inland Empire Archive
Date: 03-07-93 (15:35) Number: 326
From: DIK COATES Refer#: NONE
To: DIRK RACKLEY Recvd: NO
Subj: Epson Graphics Conf: (2) Quik_Bas
> Looking for some code or someone familiar with epson compatible printer
>proramming. I have written a program that makes modifications to NASA
You should try to obtain copies of the printer manuals... but here are some
basics... For an FX85/185... common old type
the pin values are as listed below:
128 o x o x To have the printer print a dot with the top pin
64 o o o o (EX 1), you would instruct it to print the value
32 o o o o 128, similarly for it to print the middle two pins
16 o o x o (EX 2), you would have to instruct it to print
8 o o x o the value 24 (16 + 8). This latter instruction
4 o o o x would cause pins 16 and 8 to fire. Instructing it
2 o o o x to fire the pins shown in EX 3 you would issue the
1 o o o o instruction 134.
EX1 EX2 EX3
The number of printer head columns is based on the printing mode, and must
be declared. The various modes are as follows:
Mode Density Code Using Description Available in
<ESC> Key IBM Mode
0 single K 60/480/816 Yes
1 LS Dble L 120/960/1632 Yes
2 HS Dble Y 120/960/1632 Yes
3 Quad Z 240/1920/3264 Yes
4 CRTI na 80/640/1088 No
5 Plotr na 72/576/979 No
6 CRTII na 90/720/1224 No
7 DDP na 144/1152/1958 No
Note: LS and HS denotes low speed and high speed, respectively. Quad
is quadruple density. Plotr is one-to-one and is used for
plotting. DDP is dual-density plotter and has twice the density
of mode 5. na- not available
Description is given as the following:
n1/n2/n3, where n1 is dots per inch
n2 is dots per 8 inch line
n3 is dots per 13.6 inch line
The number of columns is declared using one of the following:
LPRINT mode n1 n2
LPRINT <ESC>mode n1 n2
The numbers n1 and n2 represent the number of columns reserved for
graphics and must be less than those specified for the mode. If the
number of graphics columns is defined by ngraphcol%, then, the
number n1 is the value obtained by the function ngraphcol% MOD 256, and
the value n2 is obtained by the function ngraphcol% \ 256 (int div).
If n2 is zero, it must be declared as 0.
The line spacing that the printer advances horizontally is declared by
using <ESC>"A". This converts the line spacing from the number of pins
used for graphics (8) to the number of pins on the print head (9). The
typical printer has 6 lines per inch, and 12 dot spaces per line (3 are
used for spaces between lines). 6 lines * 12 = 72 horizontal dot spaces
per inch. <ESC>"A" is used as follows:
LPRINT <ESC>"A" n1 where n1 is the number of spaces (<72) per the
printer advances with each CR-LF.
So much for the basics of Epson 9 pin printers...
To print something in graphics, the following pseudo code must be used,
the CHR$(27) is the same as <ESC>:
WIDTH LPRINT 255
LPRINT CHR$(27) "A" CHR$(7)
LPRINT CHR$(27) "K" CHR$(120) CHR$(2);
LPRINT CHR$(n1) CHR$(n2) CHR$(n3) CHR$(n4) CHR$(n5) CHR$(n6);
LPRINT CHR$(27) "@"
Note: the n1, n2, n3,... represent the pin patterns noted above. A
must be added because the mode and number of columns declaration
must be made for each new line.
Since you've been tryin' it for a year, an extra couple of weeks to dabble
with the above won't make much difference!
With a 24 pin printer, the procedure is similar to the above, except that
the 24 pins are broken into 3 groups of 8 pins... the same pin numbering
method is used and the data passed represents the pins for the top 8,
mid 8, and bottom 8...
The modes for an LQ1050 (I assume other 24 pin Epson's are similar) are as
follows:
Mode Density Num.of Pins Horiz.Density
0 single 8 60
1 double 8 120
2 HS Dble 8 120
3 Quad 8 240
4 CRTI 8 80
6 CRTII 8 90
32 single 24 60
33 double 24 120
38 CRTIII 24 90
39 triple 24 180
40 hex 24 360
and the method of declaring the number of graphics columns is as follows:
LPRINT CHR$(27) "*" CHR$(mode) CHR$(n1) CHR$(n2) data....;
Hoping the above will get you started... thought I could do it in a couple
of lines, but nearly a book... suggest that you review the manual that came
with the printer, or try to scrounge one! Will leave the conversion of
data to printer info to you... or others on the board...
>will be pumped through Dik Coats curve routine for intermediate points.
>( Thanks Dik hope you dont mind if I slice and dice ).
If I did, wouldn't have posted it! Good luck, Dik, Oshawa, Canada
... Backup aborted: Please remove disk #92 and start over.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.10
--- Maximus 2.01wb
* Origin: Durham Systems (ONLINE!) (1:229/110)
