Compaq 5525B/31/32 manual Logical Page Length Selection, PCL Level

Logical Page Length Selection

6.This escape sequence must be sent to the printer before the data by embedding in the application or as part of an initialization string. A programmable or hardware RESET will clear the VFC RAM causing the printer to return to the default VFC.

NOTE: If either the RS-232E or the RS-422B interface is installed in the printer, the interface can be configured to have such things as STRIP NULLS AND DELETES. The Null and/or Delete character could be used as valid characters, so the user must either combine other channels on the same line to generate another character, or not configure the printer to strip these characters. Another factor may be the use of 8-bit data. If the user desires to use channels 8 and 16, then 8-bit data must be configured. For more detail please refer to the User’s Manual.

Logical Page Length Selection

(PCL Level II)

Two page length definitions exist for the printer; physical page length and logical page length. The physical page length is the length of the paper in inches. The printer also allows you to set page length in lines per page.

The logical page length is that which is received via an escape sequence and is calculated in lines per page. Therefore, one physical page can contain more than one logical page.

The default logical page length is the physical page length. In most cases, formatting problems can be solved by changing the physical page length and using the default logical page length.

NOTE: When loading a different size of form in the printer, it is usually best to have the operator set the physical page (from the control panel) to the actual size of the paper rather than programmatically setting the logical page to match the length of the new form (and leaving the physical page length at its previous value). This practice avoids problems if a paper-out occurs.

The logical page length is set using the ESC&l[1-128]P sequence, where the value field (1-128) is the desired number of lines per page. This command also defaults the text length to be one inch less than the logical page length, unless the logical page length is one inch or less, in which case the text length is set equal to the page length. Requests for a page length of zero cause the logical page length to equal the physical page length. Requests for a page length greater than 128 are ignored.

Although the logical page is specified in number of lines, this number represents the space occupied by that many lines (using the line spacing that was effective at the time the logical page length was specified). Therefore, if a logical page length of 66 lines is specified and the line spacing is currently at 6 LPI, the logical page length is 11 inches. If the line spacing is changed (to 8 LPI) in the middle of the page, the actual length of the page would still be 11 inches but the number of print lines would be 88 (8 LPI x 11 inches).

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