Star Micronics 8 Series manual Hints The hex dump, Paper Feed parameter

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Hints: The hex dump

●To make your Star LaserPrinter8 print in hexadecimalrather than the usual ASCII symbols,press the front panel buttonsthat put the pnntcr offlineand in PROGRAMmode.Moveto the COMMANDparameter’s HEX DUMPsettingand selectON.

●SomccontrolorEscapecodescanbeproblemsonafewcomputcrs;those computerschangecertaincodeswhensendingthemto the printer.If you thinkyouhavethisproblemyouneed to see exactlywhatyourprinteris receiving.Werecommendyouruna shortprogramthatloopsthroughand printsthe ASCIItable.Print in hexadecimalratherthan the usualASCII symbols.

●If you spot a problemcodeyou can try to bypassthe problem,either by sendingeach codedirectlyto the printer,or by changingyour system printerdriver.Suchcomputer-specificsolutions,though,are beyondthe scopeof this manual.We suggestthat if necessaryyou consultanother programmermore familiarwith yourcomputer.

●Actually,if youaredebugginganyprogramyou may findthishex-dump mode helpful.It can be a greattrouble-shooter.

CONTROLLING THE PAGE

In this section we look at two controls you have over how the Star LaserPrinter8 handles and formats its pages: You can set values for the PAPERFEED and LAYOUTparameterson the front panel.At the end of this sectionwe’ll also previewdifferentwaysto movethe print position.

The PAPER FEED parameter

The PAPERFEEDparameterlets you specifybothwhatkind of paperyou want and how the printeris to handleautomaticprint-positionmovements (carriagereturnsand so on).

Oneconvenientthingabouta laserprinteris thatit doesn’tneed continuous forms, sometimescalled~an~okipaper. Other printers feed in a stack of forms—withpagesalljoinedbyperforations-by havingsprocketsengage andpullalongpinfeed holespunchedalongeachsideof thepaper.Afterit’s printed you have to tear off the pinfeed-holestrips and then separatethe pages.

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