Star Micronics NX-15 user manual

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Here, the value of n defines the print style to be selected. The value of n can range from Oto 255, which is the range of values that can be stored in one eight-bit byte. If you look at each bit in this byte, you’ll find that each one represents a printing style variation. Adding the binary values of the selected bits gives the value of n for a particular combination of print styles.

Table 4-10 shows the decimal values of the bits in the Master Print byte. To calculate the value n for a particular combination of printing styles, just add the decimal values of the features that you want to combine.

Table 4-10

Values of mixing print styles for Master Print

Bit	Print style	Decimal value
1	Elite print	1
2	Proportionalprint	2
3	Condensedprint	4
4	Emphasizedprint	8
5	Boldfaceprint	16
6	Expandedprint	32
7	Italics	64
8	Underline	128

For example, if you want to select elite expanded boldface print, you would calculate the value of n like this:

Elite1

Boldface 16

Expanded 32

n=49

The command would look like this:

CHR$(27);’’!’’;CHR$(49)

To better understand the way the print modes work, consider that each mode except pica (pica is the default) has a separate switch that can turned on and off via software. Once the switch is on, it stays on until turned off. However, when two modes that conflict are turned on at the same time, the printer must choose which one to use.

For example, suppose you turn on both Elite and Emphasized modes. These cannot combine, so the printer must make a choice; in this case, the printer chooses Elite.