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PROGRAMMABLE FUNCTION
STRINGS
General Information
Programmable function strings (PFSs) provide a means of storing
frequently used printer data and instruction strings and sending them to the
printer. PFSs are used by the ULTRA to implement special features found
on a variety of printers. These features include bolding, underlining,
overstriking, etc.
The ULTRA sends the appropriate PFS to the printer whenever some
special formatting or control function is required. PFSs are sometimes sent
to the printer automatically in response to a host command, sometimes in
response to the characteristics of the data stream, and sometimes as a
response to a trigger that the user has embedded in the data stream. For
example, the ULTRA looks up the contents of PFS 9 Bold On and sends
it to the printer if: a) the system requests bolding; b) Option #15 Bold
Print Emulation is set to (A) 3287 emulation or (B) DisplayWrite
emulation and a [character-backspace-same character] sequence is
detected in the data stream; or c) the user has placed the command ¢&9
[Trigger 1-Ampersand-PFS#] in the data stream.
Programming the PFSs is necessary to access the printers special functions.
Refer to the printer users manual for a list of escape sequences that control
the printer. Refer to Section 9 Coax Host Configuration and Section 10
Alternate Host Configuration for information on programming PFSs.
The user may also want to use the ULTRA PFSs in a way not anticipated by
AGILE. For instance, if the users printer can double underline, and if the
user would like to use double underlining instead of single underlining, PFS
5 Underlining On and PFS 6 Underlining Off can be replaced with
the printers escape sequences for double underlining on and off,
respectively.
SECTION 6