You are familiar with the command format that uses the ESCape code and a letter, but LX-86 graphics commands can also be in the following format:

L P R I N T C H R $ ( 2 7 ) “ * “ C H R $ ( M ) C H R $ ( N 1 ) C H R $ ( N 2 ) ;

with m being the mode number found in the left column of Table 9-1. As usual, nl and n2 reserve the number of columns for graphics. The seven modes include six densities, with two speeds for double- density.

Reassigning Code

The IX-86 has a graphics command that changes one graphics mode to another. You can use it with many commercial graphics software programs to change the density and shape of your printouts. The code is ESCape “?s” n, where s is one of the four alternate graphics codes (K, L, Y, or Z) and n is the number of the new code (O-6).

For example, if you send the following code before you run a graphics program, it will change every instance of mode “Y” (high- speed double-density) to mode 5 (one-to-one).

LPRINT CHR$ (27) “?Y” CHR$ (5) ;

As usual, this example is in MBASIC, but you can send the code in any programming language.

Even if you don’t know which code your graphics program uses, a little experimentation should tell you whether the reassigning code can improve your graphics printouts.

Column Reservation Numbers

Now that we’ve introduced you to the rest of the 8-pin graphics densities and the reassigning code, we’ll explain in more detail the part of the graphics command that reserves the number of columns for graphics (the numbers nl and n2 in our examples).

If you need fewer than 255 columns of graphics, n1, is the number of columns you want and n2 is zero. As you can see in Table 9-1, however, a single line will hold as many as 1920 columns in quadruple -density. Specifying more than 255 is where the second number slot (n2) fits in. The first number that you send (n1) indicates a number of columns, but the second does not represent a number of columns; it is multiplied by 256 and added to nl. The command for

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