The IBM Proprinter mode uses a different command to set margins. It is ESCape “X” followed by two numbers. The first number is the left margin and the second number is the right margin. In the IBM mode, the previous program would be written as follows:

NEW

10 LPRINT CHR$(27)"X"CHR$(10)CHR$(60)

Therefore, if you are using the IBM Proprinter mode, be sure to use the ESCape “X” command for margin settings.

Skip-over-perforation

If you are using continuous-feed paper for printing program listings or other material not controlled by an applications program, you may find that the FX-286 prints right over the perforations between pages. The FX-286 has an ESCape code to prevent this: the ESCape "N" com- mand. You send ESCape "N" followed by the number of lines you want the FX-286 to skip at the bottom of a page. For example, in BASIC the following line will make the FX-286 skip six lines after each

60 lines if your printer is set for 11-inch paper:

10 LPRINT CHR$(27)"N"CHR$(6);

Since an 11-inch page is 66 lines, this will give you one inch of blank space at the bottom of each page. If you prefer to have half of the blank space at the top of the page and half at the bottom, simply set the top of page approximately three lines (l/2 of an inch) below the perforation. (See Step 7 in Chapter 1 if you need to refresh your memory on setting the top-of-page.)

Line spacing

Ordinarily you don’t have to worry about how the printer moves the paper so that it doesn’t print lines of text on top of each other; the FX-286 takes care of this without any special instructions. The line spacing on the FX-286, however, can be changed with an ESCape code.

The movement of the paper between lines is called a line feed and the distance the paper moves is called a line space. In ordinary printing the line spacing is 1/6 of an inch, which produces six lines of print per inch. The standard spacing is the same as 12 rows of dots. Since the FX-286 characters use nine rows of dots, the 12-dot line spacing leaves three blank rows between the lines of text.

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