Glossary

The following definitions apply specifically to printers. Many words used in a definition may themselves be defined elsewhere in this glossary.

application program

A software program that helps you carry out a particular task, such as word processing or financial planning.

ASCII

Acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A standardized coding system for assigning numerical codes to letters and symbols.

auto line feed

When this feature is enabled using a DIP switch, the printer automatically feeds the paper one line after receiving a carriage return (CR) code.

baud rate

A measure of the speed of data transmission. Usually expressed in bits per second or bps.

bidirectional printing

Printing in which the print head alternates printing a line left to right, then the next line right to left, and so on. Because the head prints in both directions, this increases the overall printing speed by eliminating wasted (non-printing) movement.

binary

See number systems.

Glossary GL-1