Star Micronics NX-2410 user manual With DOS and Basic, HARD-COPYING the Screen MS-DOS and PC-DOS

Chapter 4 USING THE PRINTER

WITH DOS AND BASIC

Although you will probably do most of your printing with the aid of commercial software, at times you will want to employ direct commands or programs of your own. This chapter will give you some ideas. Three subjects are covered:

•Hard-copying the screen

•Programming the printer with DOS commands

•Programming the printer with BASIC

HARD-COPYING THE SCREEN (MS-DOS AND PC-DOS)

If your computer has a PRTSC (or PrtSc) key, there is an easy way to get hard copy of the screen. Press the SHIFT and PRTSC keys. The printer will print the current screen contents. The PRTSC key works both at the system command level and while you are running application software.

Normally the PRTSC key prints only text data, but if your DOS system includes a file named GRAPHICS.COM, you can hard-copy graphics dis- plays by first typing the command:

A>GRAPHICS

You will find that graphics printing takes considerably more time than text printing. See your DOS manual for further information on the GRAPHICS command.

At the DOS command level, there is also a simple way to have the printer print hard copy continuously, instead of one screen at a time. Press the CTRL key, hold it down, then also press the PRTSC key. If your computer does not have a PRTSC key, press the CTRL and P keys. Nothing visible will happen, but you have just switched on the print-screen function. After this, the printer will hard-copy all text displayed. For example, try typing the directory command:

A>DIR

You will obtain a printed directory.

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