5–1Vertical Format Units
CHAPTER 5VERTICAL FORMAT UNITS
Introduction
The
P3000 Series printers includes two vertical format
units:
Printr
onix
standard Electronic V
ertical
Format
Unit (EVFU) and Dataproducts Direct Access V
ertical Format Unit (DVFU). Although not a
“true” VFU, a vertical tab table is
provided for forms control in Serial Matrix protocol. All VFUs are
available
only in P–Series protocol and are enabled from the control panel, and the
Serial Matrix verti
-
cal tabs feature is always enabled in Serial Matrix protocol. This chapter describes:
•General VFU Programming Page 5–1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
•P–Series EVFU Page 5–2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
•DVFU Page 5–7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
•Serial Matrix Vertical Formatting Page 5–10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

General VFU Programming

A VFU provides an efficient way to slew paper rapidly during repetitive printing tasks. The type of
VFU
used is a configuration option selected from the control panel. If not used, disable the VFU option
from the control panel.
The general VFU programming procedure is as follows:
1.
Design a form, determining spacing and channel assignments for each line.
2.
Send the programming sequence to the host. The sequence depends on the type of VFU used.
Some
VFUs require the Paper Instruction (PI)
line normally associated with the Dataproducts parallel
interface. Note that data bit 8 of the standard RS–232 interface can be configured for use as the PI line.
The following information applies when programming and using a VFU:
Elongated
Characters
– Elongated (double high) characters can be used within VFU programs. The
VFU automatically counts one line of elongated characters as two normal character lines.
Paper Runaway Protection – If the VFU is selected but not loaded when a VFU command is sent
from
the host computer
, the printer will move the paper
a single line feed. If the VFU is selected and the
memory has been loaded, a channel code sent from the host, which is not a part of the assigned se-
quence currently in memory, will move the paper a single line feed.
Line
Spacing
– The printer can use any line spacing with the VFU. The VFU determines the forms
length according to the program specifications and the currently selected line spacing. Line spacing
may be mixed on the same form; however, do so with caution to avoid unpredictable results.
VFU
Deselected
– If any VFU is deselected from the control panel, the VFU data is ignored and the
forms
length definition returns to the previously set value. The current print position
becomes the top–
of–form.