1.2.5Printerdrivers
Most softwarepackagesahvadyincludethe printercommandsthey need. The programsthat sendcommandsto theprinterso you don’thaveto enter them yourselfa~ calledprinter drivers.
Manyprogramsask you to installor configureyourprinter,whichusually meanskeyinginto a menuthe particularsetupinformationdescribingyour StarLaserPrinter4. You enter suchthingsas how you want to underline, alterline spacing,or move to a new print position.
Someprograms,such as WordPerfect and the systemsfrom LotusDevel- opmentCorporation,let you put printerEscape sequencesbefore or right insidethedocumentyouwanttoprint.Toturnonboldface,forexample,you mightholddownspecialkeyson yourkeyboard,oftenlabelledCONTROL or ALT,as youpress anotherkey. Or youmightuse a specialFunctionkey, such as F6.
In fact,to take real advantageof yourStarLaserPrinter4’sspecialabilities, youmightopt for a wordpmcessorthatletsyouspecifyfontchangeseasily. WordPerfectandMicrosoftWord a~ strongatthis,butareby no meansthe only good font manipulator.
If you have troubleusing a particularprogramwith yourStar LaserPrinter 4, you’ll probably get answers most quickly by asking your software supplierhow the programinteractswith yourprinter.
Inthismanualwe referto programs,fontsandotherproductssoldby several companies.PleasemalizethatmentioningtheseproductsdoesnotmeanStar Micronicsendomesthem in any way.
1.2.6Sendingyour ownprinter commands
Withouta printer driver, sendingcontrolcodes and Escape sequencesto yourprinterproperlyrequiressomeknowledgeof a programminglanguage like BASIC!or Pascal,or at least of how to put such codesinto a program. Withprogramminglanguages,the computerdoesn’tact on the commands you put into a programuntil you tell it to run that program.
When you give a commandto the printer from a computerprogram,you normallyentereach part of the commandas a separatecharacter.This way
. you don’taffectanythingelse happeningon the computer.You often send each code or characterin the commandby givingits positionin the ASCII table, as a decimalor hex number.
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