Printek FormsMaster 8000se Series manual ANSI X3.64 EMULATION, Introduction, ESC f, ESC n f

ANSI X3.64 EMULATION

Introduction

This section describes the control codes and escape sequences comprising ANSI X3.64 emulation. This emulation may be selected by setting “Emulation” to “ANSI X3.64” in the appropriate interface setup menu, or via software with the ESC ESC 1 sequence. While this emulation is selected, control codes and escape sequences from other emulations are not available.

Control codes and escape sequences are used to control printer operation. An ASCII control code is a single character in the range 00 hex through 1F hex, and 7F hex. The ESC (Escape) control code (1B hex) is used to introduce character strings called escape sequences, which provide an extension of the commands available with ASCII control codes.

Many ANSI escape sequences begin with a two character Control Sequence Introducer (CSI), Escape Left Square Bracket (ESC [, 1B 5B hex). If 8-bit data is selected via control panel setup, these two characters may be replaced by a single character CSI, 9B hex. The sequences are always documented in this section with the two character CSI (ESC [), because this format seems to be much more common, and works equally well with 7-bit or 8-bit data.

Some escape sequences accept one or more numeric parameters. A numeric parameter is a decimal number represented by a string of ASCII decimal digits (“0” through “9”). Leading zeros may be supplied, but are not necessary. Due to implementation constraints, the largest value that can be accepted is decimal 255. Larger values will be treated as zero. Omitting a numeric parameter is equivalent to supplying a value of zero.

If a sequence accepts one numeric parameter, it will be represented as “n”. If a sequence accepts more than one numeric parameter, they will be represented as “n1; n2; ... nx”. Note that multiple numeric parameters are separated by a semicolon.

Most ANSI escape sequences will assume one of the following formats:

ESC f	(no numeric parameters)
ESC n f	(one numeric parameter)
ESC n1; n2; ... nx f	(two or more numeric parameters)

The “f” at the end of the escape sequence represents the final character. It terminates the sequence, and specifies the function to be performed.

Spaces are used when documenting escape sequences to increase readability. The spaces within the sequences are for readability only; they are not part of the sequences themselves. Characters that appear in italics (such as “n” and “f” above) are not sent to the printer as is; they are used as a place holder indicating that some value must be supplied.

Multiple character strings without intervening spaces typically represent control codes. For example, BS is the Backspace control code (08 hex), not the two characters “B” and “S” (42 and 53 hex). An ASCII Control Code Table is prvided on page 152 for your convenience. If you have any doubt about how to interpret a documented control code or escape sequence, refer to the hex representation in the example.

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