Epson FX First Graphics Programs, Figure 10-4.Pin combinations

Print head

Decimal sum of the desired pin pattern

Figure 10-4. Pin combinations

Now that you, know the labels for the pins, how would you fire the top pin? Why, by sending LPRINT CHR$(128), of course. And how about the bottom graphics pin? That’s right, LPRINT CHR$(l). If you wanted to fire only the top and bottom pins, you’d simply add 128 and one, then send LPRINT CHR$(129). By adding the appropriate label numbers together, you can fire any combination of pins you want.

Now you can see why not being able to send an ASCII code above 127 is the same as not being able to fire the top pin.

First Graphics Programs

The next few exercises show you what you can do by printing with one pin per column. That may sound simple, but with one pin at a time you can create interesting figures; you move from a straight line to a slash, a large caret, a wave pattern, and finally to a diamond pattern.

137