Type in and run the following program. Be especially careful to include both semicolons. The program produces the printout you see below.

10 WIDTH "LPT1:",255

20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"*"CHR$(32)CHR$(40)CHR$(0); 30 FOR X=1 TO 120

40 LPRINT CHR$(170);

50 NEXT X

Line 20 selects single-density 24-pin graphics mode (mode 32) and also reserves 40 columns for graphics. Because 24-pin graphics requires three bytes of data for each column, line 30 begins a loop to supply 120 bytes of data. Line 40 contains the number 170, which produces the first pin pattern shown in the section on pin labels, and line 50 ends the loop.

Designing Your Own Graphics

With what you know now, you can use the simplest application of graphics—calculating by hand the data to print the graphic image. While this method is the most tedious, it helps you understand dot graphics. It is also useful for small graphic elements that are used many times.

Software and Graphics 4-13