If you print from the DOS command level very often, it will be advantageous to create a
printer setup file. Then instead of setting font style etc. manually each time, you can
complete the setup with asingle command from your computer. For example, you can
create afilecontaining printer commands to select Economy mode, and select elite pitch
with the Standard You can find the commands in Chapter 6. We suggest the
following:
.Economy mode <ESC> “O”
.Elite pitch <ESC> “!” <1>
<ESC> “!” <1> is apowerful command that, in addition to selecting elite pitch, cancels
unwantedfeatures such as underlining which might be left from previous commands. The
anglebrackets around the <1> indicate character code 1, which is acontrolcode, not the
printabledigit “l”.
Youmay want to piaceadditionalcommands in this file,such asleft andrightmargins, line
spacingand bottom margin commands. Or you may want to create avariety of setup files
with adifferent setof commands in each.
To avoid excess linefeeds, you should place the commands on one line in the setup file.
You may or may not be able to generate asetup file with word-processing software; it
dependson whether yoursoftware lets youenter control codes. If your system includesthe
file EDLIN.COM, however, you can easily create asetup file with the DOS lineeditor.
An appropriate name for this setup file would be SJELITE.DAT. To use the DOS line
editor, type the command EDLIN SJELITE.DAT, then type the underlined parts of the
followingdisplay. PressRETURN at theend ofeach line. Donot typethe symbol“A”.This
symbolmeans to hold the CTRL key down while pressing the next key: for example, ‘V
meansto type CTRL-V. ACmeans to type CTRL-C, which indicates the end of the input.
A>EDLIN SJELITE. 13AT
New file
AV indicates that the following character is acontrol code. *V[ enters the <ESC> code.
<ESC> hascharacter code 27, and “[” is the 27th character from Ain the ASCII sequence.
Similarly, ‘VA enters the control code <1>. See your DOS manual if you need further
information aboutEDLIN.
Youcan now set upthe printer by sending itthe fileSJELITE.DAT. To avoid unnecessary
logging of commands, switch hard-copy output off (by pressing CTRL-PRTSC if hard
copyis on).To print thefileREADME.DOC in Economyelite type,givethe followingtwo
commands:
A>COPY SJELITE .DAT PRN
A>PRINT README. DOC
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